Leo’s Basic Mistake

I hate all this my smartphone is better than yours playground arguments that go on in the comments of blogs and websites over which is better Android or iOS4. I have an iPhone and I love it. I’m sure if I had an Android phone I would love that as well. I’d like both, but the limiting factor of money gets in the way. We all can’t be Leo Laporte or Robert Scoble and have multiple phones.

But mentioning Leo reminds me of one thing that really does annoy me at the moment about him when I listen to his podcasts. That one thing is that when they discuss the iPad sales since launch, and the factoid of 3 million iPads sold in the 3 month peroid since launch. Leo always chips in with the following, “yeah but Android phones are selling 160,000 a day.” Which is totally irrelevant. Leo is comparing apples with pears. It doesn’t matter how many Android phones are sold, they are PHONES!!!! How can you compare phone sales against those of a completely different device type? I am really shocked that Leo keeps repeating this basic mistake across all his podcasts when discussing the iPad sales. If they were discussing iPhone sales like the recent stat of 1.7 million iPhone 4’s sold in 3 days, then yes his Android fact would be relevant. But not when talking iPad. Come on Leo wise up and stop making yourself look foolish.

I suppose what is even worse is the guests he has on the shows don’t pick him up on this. They just nod and agree with him like mindless puppets. I thought these guests were meant to be the good and the great of the IT scene, intelligent commentators and the technorati. Yet not once have they said “hey hang on their Leo, how is that relevant to iPad sales?” Not that great and intelligent then are they?

Oh well I suppose it could be worse, Leo could have a nobody like me on his show, pretending they know it all, and that they have great indepth thoughts on the subject matter.

It’s like my other bitch about Leo and his technorati club and their moaning about Apple refusing to let Google’s official Google Voice app on to the iPhone. At the time it was a none issue in the US and outside. Why? I’m glad you asked, and let me tell you. Back then it only affected a very very small minority of users out there. Google voice was invite only, and only available in the US. Not an issue for 99.9% of the iPhone using population. (I made that percentage up, just to illustrate how small a number I think were bothered by it.) But now in the last week Google has opened Google Voice up to anyone (as long as they are in the US). So now it has become (potentially) more of a relevant issue. And I expect that there will be more pressure from within the US for Apple to approve the Google Voice app now if it gets resubmitted. Still for those of US outside the US it is still a non issue.

iPhone 4 Day

Well it’s new iPhone day for the lucky few countries that are getting it today. On twitter news broke early of queues starting up outside the O2 stores around the country. Hundreds at the O2 store in London, 80 plus at the Farnborough store, over 100 at the Southampton store. Well you get the picture. Stories were also circulating that supply would also be extremely limited. I read that some stores had no more that 6 in stock. So it was obvious that some folks would be going home disappointed this morning. Conspiracy theorists where saying that the short fall was a deliberate tactic from Apple to generate the queues for publicity purposes.

O2 had stated there initial stock was being reserved for existing customers. So no queue outside from an early hour to get my hands on an iPhone 4 today. My queuing was a brief on hold at 8am when the O2 phone lines opened. I already knew what I wanted, so the process was pretty smooth. Being an Apple Fanboy I already knew more about what O2 were offering than the person handling my call. Finances dictated that I could only get the iPhone 4 16GB model which will have to do. Maybe next year I will be in a better position to get the higher capacity iPhone.

I still need to confirm the wifi data restrictions I thought that O2 had a cap, but the person I ordered my new iPhone from said that it was unlimited. So a difference of opinion there within O2.

UPDATE: Just checked the O2 website and it shows that the wifi is unlimited which I can live with as the other providers are even capping this usage. [link to O2 iPhone 4 Tariffs]

Ok I have to wait an extra day before getting my iPhone 4, but hey calling O2 at 8am was better than having to get up at silly-o-clock to be early in line to sand a chance to walk away with one today.

So now tomorrow can’t come fast enough, for that is when the delviery has been promised. Tonight will be spent preparing and backing up my iPhone 3G so I am ready for getting the iPhone 4 up and running as quick as possible.

My old iPhone has been promised to my son Nath. I have been hearing that a lot of iPhone 3G and 3GS users are experiencing problems updating their phones to iOS4. When I did it the other day (day of release) I had no problems, I set the upgrade off when I went to bed, and woke up with a nicely upgraded 3G running iOS4.

Meanwhile Elsewhere

Over on whitespider1066 I have a couple of posts looking at developments in the mobile phone market place. I’ve done them over there because there was some cross over, and these developments have huge implications for the use of the technology in the outdoors world.

The most recent post entitled “Capped” discusses how the newly introduced data caps from the likes of O2 and Vodaphone will impact the use of smart phones in the outdoors.

In a post called “iPhone Mapping Software Updates Out” I look, well list using screen captures the latest updates to a couple of app updates on the iPhone that use OS map data. At the end of the post I briefly look at the new iOS4 update that is arriving imminently on the iPhone.

Now one of the things that really does get my blood boiling is when companies just don’t get it when it comes to social media, or the use of IT. Sadly there are many companies in the outdoors industry that fall in to this net. It’s only because I care that the it gets to me so. And that is where I am coming from in the ironically titled post “Another Good Call From Cicerone”.

While I’m here I should mention that I am learning to program the iPhone (admittedly slowly, I am trying to help get the new whitespider towers ready for moving into as well). So at some point I will do a post or two about my learning experience.