Ramblings of a Geek

Finally, after one crazy week, it’s the weekend!

I went through with it. I pre-ordered the iPhone 4S. We will see if I keep it, or not. Unfortunately, the unveiling of the Nexus phone has been pushed back, some have conjectured because of the death of Steve Jobs. But, if it does turn out to be awesome enough, I’m not above eBaying the iPhone after a little bit of usage–it’ll probably go for its usual astronomical price, particularly in selling it without a contract.

Anyway, pre-orders began early yesterday, and the phone will presumably be here next Friday. Good thing it’s a short week ;) I will probably do my usual thing and call FedEx to tell them to hold, as opposed to delivering it. Apple, quite smartly, requires a signature for their deliveries. If no one is at the residence, there are other delivery attempts. So, I short circuit that since Ruthie and I both work during the day when most deliveries occur and just pick things up from Apple directly from the local FedEx facility.

Headed out to Chattanooga on this fine Saturday, to partake in a beer-fest and to see Rock City. Ruthie has never seen it before, and the last time I saw it was in high school. Should be a hoot.

So, yesterday it was unveiled. I’ve waited until tonight to let it all sink in. In the end, I think the device isn’t very revolutionary. The media hype leading up to this unveiling really was quite astounding. So many rumors permeated the Internet, ranging from wildly obscure to mildly interesting.

The iPhone 4S is pretty much equivalent, as far as an upgrade cycle goes, to the change between the 3G and 3GS. The phone is of the same form factor, though has a couple of nice hardware upgrades on the inside–dual A5s, a new camera that does 1080p video, and some pretty cool updates to iOS 5 that were very much needed. It seems their inspiration comes from Android, particularly the notification system and the new voice input package called Siri.

I am certainly still considering getting one. The question is whether or not I’ll keep it. That’ll depend on the phone that the Nexus Prime–or whatever they’ll call it–turns out to be. If I do find it awesome enough, I’ll probably flip the 4S on eBay. I am certain I could get at least $600 for it, if there is a shortage as there was with the iPad 2.

On a sadder note, it would seem that Steve Jobs died today.

So, up to a few times a year Apple throws a gigantic press party. Typically, this is to unveil a new piece of hardware/software that they’re getting ready to throw to the masses. In this case, it’s no different. Today, they’re revealing the next generation iPhone.

There has been much speculation as to what this new little beast would look like. Will it have LTE, the next generation standard for cellular data? Will it be as thin as pictures of new accessories seem to indicate? Will the phone finally be opened up another carrier, Sprint? The latest nugget I’ve heard in those regards is that Sprint gave Apple a huge amount of payola to ensure that they’d be the only ones to get a 4G flavor of the next iPhone.

I’ve been thinking about getting a new phone, so today is certainly quite exciting this geek–to see what rumors were true and what are to be laid to rest until the next hardware cycle.

Today is part one of geek reckoning, for me. I’m going to wait and see what the new Nexus phone looks like–the Nexus (or Droid) Prime, the flagship Android device which will (hopefully) be as vanilla and untainted as the previous Nexus phones. I have a thing for plain Jane Android, without all of the carrier and manufacturer UI tweaks.

I’m not really a fan boy of either; I’ve had both platforms, and each have their own caveats. An LTE iPhone would really go a long way in making me lean in that direction, and perhaps become my next phone at release. But, Android is so hackable–and who knows when/if the newer hardware will be jailbroken? You can never take that for granted, that they’ll always find a hole…it may not be until the next unveiling that they have that down.

So, we shall see.

Welcome to my new & improved website! For the longest time my bro, Keith, has used WordPress. I thought I’d try my hand at it. Maybe it will get me into writing again; it’s been a long time since I’ve written stories that perhaps this might be an avenue back into that. And, since it’s on my server, I can make things as long and drawn out as I want, and I don’t have to be all paranoid about losing it all if LJ or Facebook ever goes extinct–pffft, as-if, right? :) Now, if I lose it all, it’ll just be because my backups were inadequate *furiously fortifies his backups*

Anyway, here’s to hopefully reinvigorating an amateur writer. And, perhaps at least some of it will be interesting to the greater Interwebs. I’ll put everything up here, from news stories to code, to my crazy & cooky political rants…pretty much anything goes.

Enjoy your stay!