revision 3 and apple (sort of)
May 28, 2010
Why The Kindle is Better Than The iPad - Penn Point
...So his complaint is that it's a distracting multitasker. (Whereas my complaint would be that it can't multitask enough, but then,if I'm spending that much money, I'd rather have a computer than an appliance, which is what the iPad is designed to be.) And getting grouchy because something is exactly what it's meant to be and designed to be is just a bit silly. That said, I still think they should have turned the Air into something, you know, functional and affordable instead of doing an appliance. I mean, consider: the screen is more or less the same size on the Air and the iPad. If they'd just stuck a central hinge on the Air, made it so that you could rotate and flatten the screen against the keyboard, then you could have something a lot more useful. And then they could bring the price down into something that's reasonable for Apple -- Apple's prices are infrequently reasonable in regular terms -- and people would be plotzing themselves with happiness even more than they are. (And considering as the iPad is reportedly selling a million per month world wide, we're talkin' a whole lotta plotzin' here.)
Practical ideas like this, no doubt, are why I have the money I have, and why Apple has, quite insanely, surpassed Microsoft in the market cap value of the company. (Seriously, you've got software on something like 90% of all computers in the world, most of the hardware is made to work with your system, and the value of your company is surpassed by one that makes a computer that's only used by a very small segment of the population. However, the population LOVES your toys. Not your productivity stuff -- except for a couple of the software programs -- but the toys. Everyone loves iPod! Everyone loves loves loves iPhone -- even though they pretty much universally loathe AT&T, or rather, being bound to the company unwillingly.
And now for a slight veer: Have I mentioned that I love revision3.com? No? I love revision3.com. So far, I watch three shows on their site. In part, I must confess, I watch because it's where Robert Heron and Patrick Norton landed, and as an old-time TechTV/dl.tv watcher, it warms the cockles of my heart to see them gettin' their geek on with HD Nation, even though I only just got any sort of HD anything with the new computer. Sadly, Patrick seems to have retired the kilt from the tech.tv days -- although he still has the tam. He also does Tekzilla with Veronica Belmont, covering computer technology more generally. Veronica also gets her geek on just as much as they do -- even more so, really, since she's a hard core gamer, and Patrick doesn't seem to be.
Revision3 seems to be branching out beyond the merely techy these days. They've got a new show called Food Mob, with Niall Harbison, which is, of all things, a cooking show. Done on what looks like something slightly more than a shoestring budget -- it's got a very static camera style, and as far as you can tell from the way things are handled, it's done primarily by Niall, his cameraman Aaron (who is also the official food taster) and a producer. Each show also gets broken into something called Food Mob Bites, these little 3 minute recaps of each recipe. They're actually kind of annoying; they don't have the chyron notes and things that make up for the fact that, despite that the show is clearly aimed at beginners, Niall never tells you the amounts of anything. You chop some of this, cut in some of that, and if it weren't for the chyron sidenotes that fill in the quantities, beginners could be very lost in trying to repeat some of what he does. But still, it's fun to watch overall. It reads sort of like the concept was, "Hey, let's get a bunch of our mates together and do a cooking show!" The vibe is deliberately homespun, and weirdly Andy Hardy.
Revision3 does do a bunch of other shows, but honestly, most of them are too geeky even for me. Which is saying something, if you think about it. LandlineTV comes as close as they really get to being something that I like -- they do manage the odd moment of interestingly acid commentary (that one will go over the heads of anyone who didn't know about the Lane Bryant bra controversy, however), but it's overally not really my thing.
For Revision3 as a whole: Come for the geekery, stay for the cooking, and, if you like, stay for the gaming and even more geekery and the odd bit of comedy.
Posted by iain at 11:21 PM
singing off
May 4, 2010
NBC's singing competition series "The Sing-Off" has been renewed for a second season. The network is bringing back the Sony Pictures Television reality series for another eight episodes planned for next season.
The "Sing-Off" is an a cappella competition series where contestants perform in themed groups. The program had a competitive run when it launched in December as a short-order series, giving Fox's musical-themed reality hit "So You Think You Can Dance" a run for its money in the ratings.
I'm glad to see that "The Sing-Off" is coming back this December. I really enjoyed it the first time through; they managed to get a nicely eclectic group of groups together, and it was very entertaining. (Plus, the right group won.)
Now that it's been renewed, however, I really hope that the University of Oregon's On The Rocks tries out and gets onto the show. Why? Mostly because I want to see them do the number below on national television, just because.
That would play even better with them all dressed in similar clothing, as the groups did last season.
Regardless, I'm glad to see that the show will be back, and that the network didn't decide to overkill a good thing, keeping it down to a very limited series.
Posted by iain at 12:28 PM