Smart phones for dumb people?

I’ve recently had some debate with someone who is best described as a fanboy. Except that she’s a girl.

The topic of our conversation was, in part, Blackberry. Not the naturally occurring capsule of fruity goodness, mind, but the seemingly popular mobile device by Research in Motion. You see, this person just bought one of Apple’s new iPhone 3Gs, and was keen to point out some issues that she thought the Blackberry did better with. This led to some absolutely useless arguing over personal preference, but it also got me thinking about the topic of mobile phones in general; now, I can say with certainty, smart phones are for dumb people.

Product Review: “No More Heroes” for Nintendo Wii.

A Wii-exclusive title not made by Nintendo? Yes, it’s true! (And yes, there will be many, many more thanks to Wii sales)

No More Heroes places you into the action as Travis Touchdown, a young thug from Santa Destroy, who’s out to raise his rating on the list of top assassins. Seriously, this game really keeps a list.

At first glance, the game may seem like one to pass up. But the art design, the controls, and (amazingly) the story make this game a must-have for any Wii owner.

Product Review: Samsung SyncMaster 953bw

For any of you in the market for a new monitor, take note: you won’t do better than Samsung.

For me, this is a rather new development. I’ve used a Mag Innovision CRT at home for… oh, about 8 years now, and I’ve used a ViewSonic at work. I’ve been happy with both, until now.

Samsung’s SyncMaster 953bw is brand new. It’s more stylish than its predecessors, has a quicker response time, better color management features, and (most importantly), it’s cheaper.

Woz speaks… again.

Steve Wozniak isn’t known for playing nice with the company he co-founded, Apple Computer.

In fact, the Woz has said some downright upsetting things about Apple and Apple products in the past; amazingly, however, he’s still regarded as a veritable god by the Cult of Mac, a title that’s decidedly hard to keep when you’ve been known to criticize the Macintosh. Still, Wozniak is known for his old-school tech savvy (he designed the Apple I & II - the latter of which was extremely popular in the 1980s and still holds a cult following) and his down-to-earth, honest mentality - qualities which allow him to speak frankly about Apple and Apple products without being demonized by the Mac faithful.

He’s got some things to say about two of Apple’s newer products, the Macbook Air and the iPhone, and… well, they aren’t exactly kind words.

What continent is it from?

Take a careful look at the above automobile, and then answer me this: where is it from?

It’s got the curves of a new Mercedes or a BMW. It’s got the proportions of an Audi. That side signal: quintessentially European, right? Wrong.

This car is not from where you’d expect.

It has begun: Wiimote knockoffs at Wal-Mart.

We’ve all seen them: cheap little games (normally football, soccer, poker and the like) sold at places like Wal-Mart, generally powered by a button-cell battery and controlled by pocket watch circuitry. Normally, these games try to look like some old game system in order to try and “fool” the consumer into buying something that they’re not (I’m thinking of a soccer game I saw once that resembled a Genesis controller). This one, however, might be going a bit far:

Safari 3 vs. Camino 1.5

vs.

Alright, so it may not be a proper contest in the sense that they weren’t released at the same time. However, on the Macintosh these two browsers might be considered direct competitors, and so I felt the need for a little match-up.

Nintendo and the video game paradigm shift.

How many readers have played an old Atari system (perhaps a 2600)? How about an NES? Or a Sega Genesis?

The Atari, of course, was from the first era of video gaming. Let’s call it the Pong era. Characteristic: the joystick.

This era was fun. Really. Who would’ve thought that bouncing a ball back and forth between two sticks would be so amusing (no offense to cricket players). But soon, gaming would change.

After Atari and others, floundered, the NES was released by Nintendo, ushering in the second era of video gaming, aka the Button Masher stage.

It is this stage which has dominated the majority of video gaming history. Gone is the Atari-esque joystick, replaced with an NES controller, or a Genesis controller, or a Playstation controller, all of which share many common characteristics. You hold them in your hands, you use your thumbs to push buttons, and, depending on the controller, you use the other fingers as well. This goes for portable systems, such as the Game Boy and PSP, as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached the end of one era and the beginning of another. The third era of video gaming is upon us. Let us call it the Wii era.

Red Steel for Nintendo Wii [Product Review]

There’s no denying it, the Nintendo Wii is hot. Really hot. And that is a bit surprising, considering the fact that the Playstation 3 is the graphics powerhouse, and the Xbox 360 was out a full year before it. And still, the Wii is consistently outselling both systems. And with games like Red Steel, that’s not surprising.

Red Steel has gotten- shall we say- mixed reviews since the launch of the Wii. Some seem to love it, and some seem to hate it. It seems there really is no middle ground with this game. In fact, a simple search for video game reviews on the title will find scores ranging from 95/100 all the way down to 10/100. That’s a big range.

Let’s start with what we know. Red Steel was a launch title, meaning it was released at the same time as the console itself. Generally, launch titles feel a little bit rushed, meaning that some areas may lack the “polish” that good games often sport. Does Red Steel feel rushed. In a word: no.

Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” Preview

As I am writing this, I have to stop every few seconds to enjoy the scenery. You see, I have just loaded the developer preview version of Mac OS X 10.5, code-named “Leopard,” onto my trusty iBook G4. And I’m amazed- it’s actually lived up to its hype. Apple’s claim of Leopard being “the world’s most advanced operating system,” may well be replaced by a new adage: “Vista-killer.”

When I first heard about 10.5 (oh, that was ever such a long time ago) I expected another 10.4, which, as a release, was a bit boring. That’s not to say that 10.4 is a bad system (on the contrary, it is amazingly stable and fast), but there really was no “flash” or “bang” around Tiger’s release.

When Jaguar came out, it was a vast improvement over 10.1. When Panther came out, it was improved enough that the end user could tell the difference. But really- how many out there have to look for the spotlight icon to see if you are in 10.3 or 10.4? The finder worked and looked identical in both releases, as did the windows, and the menus. With the exception of dashboard and spotlight, the only reason to even have 10.4 would be if you wanted to run software that required it.

But 10.5 Leopard is different. The menus are different. The windows are different. The finder is vastly different. And it’s all for the better.