I did find a new place to grab some interesting NetCasts.  Learn Out Loud.  I have picked up several new NetCasts and have included them in my regular feed.  I suggest you check it out if you have an interest in Biographies, History, Literature, Philosophy, Politics, and Technology [among several other subjects].  They report they have over 25,000 audiobooks, MP3 downloads, and videos.

iron wil

I can see replacing my 13″ MacBook with the iPad and using my iMac to do the heavy lifting.  I can see using Dropbox and Evernote even more.  I can see converting all my current OOo [OpenOffice] documents to iWork which means that it easily justifies the expense [not that I consider iWork expensive].  In fact, I think that I could buy 1 iPad for each of my family members and then set up accounts on our iMac as the kids get older.  This would allow my boys to each have one for online games and Apps and their own music selections.

While my personal transition to eBooks has been slow, this may entice me to make that move.  I am using Stanza on my iPhone & it isn’t really a compelling experience.  I also don’t have a lot of reading time and find that Audible is a better resource for me right now.  I hope that this iBook software allows for marking and notes because that would be a big failure right out of the gate if it wasn’t included.  I hope that Amazon gets on board like Audible has with Audiobooks available via iTunes; especially if they can keep the books at the low cost they already are for Kindle owners.

I think this beats the NetBook model hands down even if it isn’t quite what I thought it would end up being. Now, a few weeks ago I published my own predictions for the iPad.

I predicted that Apple would release a multi-touch device similar to the JooJoo [aka CrunchPad] that ran Apps, eBooks, with WiFi/3G, iTunes, a built in battery, Lala, and the content aspects of the Sports Illustrated Tablet demo.  I was right on some items and we could still see Lala become part of the service package MobileMe [I was not the first to suggest this].  I will admit that I am still blown away.  I love the device and look forward to heading into town in 60 Days and testing one out.  I think I will have to get a sitter & take the wife to a movie to justify the whole thing.

I know that many people will not get it until they see others using it and that I can understand.  It was the same way with the Kindle and other devices.  I didn’t get the iPod until I owned one.  Yeah, until I owned one and then I felt dumb because I had not invested in it before then.  It was a mind blowing music experience and since then, I have bought a couple dozen albums.

New Prediction, iSlate with Inkwell for writing with a finger or 3rd party stylus.  This will be more like the Axiotron ModBook.  It will be slide between the iPad and MacBook.

iron wil

I have 1 major problem and two real irritations.  First Bluetooth, I have a BlueAnt X5i that works better with my iPhone than my MacBook [13" Black Late 2007].  I have discovered that my iPhone has a bit of a problem.  If I let the headset die while connected to the phone I lose all sound.  I turned the Bluetooth off and back on then off again, but that didn’t work.  I had to power-cycle the device [No, I didn't try a soft reset which might have worked].  I had to run the battery down before I got the audio back.  It was really annoying.

Second, I was using my headset to listen to music in the office and turned off the Bluetooth [on the phone] before turning off the headset.  I lost all audio again, I was frustrated; but then reconnected them and I was able to listen to the audio through the X5i.  I then turned it off and then turned off the Bluetooth [on the phone].  My audio returned.

Sheesh, can’t they just release the audio channel when Bluetooth is turned off???

Okay, this relates to both iTunes and the iPhone.  Why does the software not remember my Account Password?!?!?  I don’t understand what is wrong or not working in iTunes or the iPhone App [Store]?  Why does the software not save the password even when the check box is selected in iTunes and why does the iPhone App [Store] or iTunes App.  This seems pretty simple to me, it is MY phone and MY account, if content is downloaded it is going to be . . . where . . . on my iPhone!!!  I tried several tricks from The MacCast and still iTunes doesn’t save my password for downloading new Apps or Digital content.

I realize that Apple & Mr. Jobs have their way of doing things; however, this doesn’t meet the simplicity rule that Apple likes to apply to almost everything else they do.  I really like the simplicity model that is used in many things; yet, this seems like something that would make sense.  Make it a feature and allow users to turn it off and on, so I can decide if I want to save the password or not.

Oh, yeah and don’t forget to make a check box area for Audiobooks so that I can decide what Audiobooks I put on my iPhone or iPod!!!  Seriously, I have a dozen Audiobooks on my phone & I know that I can delete them from iTunes; but I would rather just control them like other media on my devices.

No, I still love my iPhone and am happy with it . . . let’s keep it simple Apple!!!

This rant is now over.

iron wil

Last month, I got my iPhone [finally - 32 gig] and decided to pair my iPhone and X5i so that I can listen to music and Audiobooks while commuting, in the office, or at home.  I hadn’t really thought about how much I really liked this combination until I walked to the water fountain to pour out some water and left my phone on my desk.  This was an “I didn’t even think about my phone because it is on my person 90% of the time” moment; next thing I know, I am rounding the corner and thinking gee will I loose my connection?  Will my devices stop working because I am about to put a second corner and 40′ between them?

I have to say that I was very happy to still hear music as I dumped out the water and then headed back to my desk.  There are some design changes I would make to the X5i, but that is because I have a big head and thick ears . . . but between the two devices I am in audio heaven!  I hardly ever pull out my ear-buds, unless the X5i is recharging.

iron wil