“If John McCain is elected in November, I'm moving to Canada, and I plan on sleeping on Susan Sarandon's couch while Tim Robbins, Alec Baldwin and I start a punk band.”
The burning question is: What would the name of the punk band be? - Aden
I doubt McCain can win either. And when Obama wins, I won't whine or make false promises to move out of the country, even though he's a slightly worse choice than McCain. - Charles LePage via fftogo
Better yet, lets start a Rock Band punk band. - Mathew Ballard
The Canada move has crossed my mind a number of times over the past few years. Seriously. Nova Scotia is nice and not too far away (I'm in NH). And Canadians don't seem to make a habit out of invading other countries. *shrugs* - Joanmarie
Well if Barack Obama is elected I'm moving to Canada. - Jim Williams
Jim, please let us know where we can forward your mail. :) - Ruth Ferguson
To those who think McCain will lose no he won't we just must mobilize and explain how wrong Obama would be. - Cecil Sandus
Looks like we get new citizens no matter who wins in November. Don't forget, mortgages are not tax deductible here -- but lottery winnings are tax free. Sweet deal eh? - David Muir
McCain will win after everyone figures out that Obama is a socialist. - Barbara Davis
I don't really want Obama or McCain to win, so where does that leave me? But I think it will be interesting to see who Obama really is and we won't know that until/if he gets elected. He's kind of like a chameleon. - JMS
i dont care who wins, as long as we get full frontal nudity at some point. - Grizzled Librarian
if John McCain wins, you can all move in with me! - Lauren P
Canada really rocks. I love living here. Toronto is sweet since your into big cities. - Keke
I would never move to Canada. I heard the toilets flush the opposite way, that would just freak me out. Also, their houses have no doors. It's true. - Pete Delucchi
I'm all aboot Canada. Soory if you don't appreciate it, eh? - Steve Isaacs
Wow. It took you that long Robert. You early adopter you. Did someone squat your name on identi.ca or did you get @scobleizer? - Brian Daniel Eisenberg
I was an early adopter of Twhirl, but when Twitter had all of its problems I moved away from clients and just used the Web page. - Robert Scoble
why does twhirl keep notifying me of the same content - Mike Szczygiel via twhirl
All the identi.ca talk is really starting to wear away on my nerves. Identi.ca is just one instance of laconi.ca, and as such is just another single point of failure just like Twitter. In fact, it's probably no more stable than Twitter was two years ago. All these tools pointing at identi.ca totally miss the fact that the real advantage of laconi.ca, the open source service, can run on many other servers and not just identi.ca. However, there's no way tools like Twhirl can support all laconi.ca instances. - Ken Sheppardson
twihrl gives me nothing but problems. I can't use my scrollwheel because it scrolls two full pages with each click, on every PC i've used it on, regardless of configuration. It's a memory hog for the little it does, and everytime I click a link, it opens the page twice. I' ve tried reinstalling it to no avail, anyone else having these problems? - Richard Lawler via twhirl
Is there any way to easily add all twitter friends in identi.ca? - Mike Cohen via twhirl
Yeah. I use it for the "other" services I use, and also when I have my Macbook hooked up to my 56" HD set, but I really wish they would consolidate the 4 windows into single window with multiple tabs. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg
Ken: personally it's just another point to communicate with you other than Twitter. Our system is becoming stronger thanks to these. Now we have FF, Twitter, and Identi.ca and Plurk. Four ways. Will all four systems go down at the same time? Doubtful. - Robert Scoble
@mike3K ah, the holy grail of data portability! when is open mesh arriving! - The Pageman
I'd kill for them to add an RSS reader into it. - Bradley McSpinn
Why not just use Ping.fm and Gtalk as a client? - Rutger Blom
I like Twhirl. They keep adding support for other clients. - Jim Williams
twhirl def needs an rss reader and a way to combine account windows into one - Mike Szczygiel via twhirl
I used to like Twhirl but now I use TweetDeck. It is amazing and its a great way to manage your Twitter feeds. You should give it a try. A new version is about to come out with notifications if that is one of the things you are looking for. Im testing it right now and it works really well. - pcnerd37
I moved from Twhirl to TweeterDeck and then to FriendFeed and Identi.ca back to FF. - Scot Duke
Why is it that, when I try to update Twhirl, Firefox just wants me to download an .air file? When I click the .air file, nothing happens. - Bradley McSpinn
Robert: I think you mentioned that on GG yesterday... wanted to respond then :-) Relying on four+ independent services (or four devices for that matter ;-) might work for a select few, but for this stuff to move beyond the "twitterati" some service needs to provide utility-like reliability. "Oh, my phone is broken today, I'll just write a letter" won't be acceptable to the main stream. A true open source twitter-like cloud could do that. Identi.ca can't, at least not any time soon. - Ken Sheppardson
seconding and thirding @Mike Szczygiel: "twhirl def needs...a way to combine account windows into one" - Derrick Burns
Twhirl's creators have promised, very soon, some other than multiple floating windows. But I don't get the popularity of TweetDeck. I found the interface overly rigid and far less usable. Twhirl is what I'm sticking with -- and I keep notifications off. (Notifications, beyond direct messages or even replies, seem like a time suck to me.) - Peter Kirn via twhirl
@Peter Kirn: not to mention that the incessant 'bing!' on every tweet is enough to make you schizophrenic. - Derrick Burns
Scoble just said shiznit. This is now tagged as BEST TWEET EVAR. - Rob Diana
But are you going to come up with a Twhirl gang sign to complement the FriendFeed gang sign? Fotwizzle. - Ontario Emperor
using post-to-any-service clients is like suffering from disorganized schizophrenia at a block party. it just ain't fun for all participants - thomas marban via Alert Thingy
identi.ca feels like a step backwards from FF. - Thomas Hawk
I also like Twhirl. It's simple and yet elegant. - imabonehead
@Thomas I think Identica (could be) a good independant service alongside FF, depending on how they grow their service of course. - Roger Kondrat
Its got the twitter disease. Thats why you should just come on over to friendfeed. we are talking about you here anyway :-) - Richard Binhammer
My iPod touch crashes and then reboots. - Jim Williams
not a single problem with 15+ apps installed via the phone... - Ian Schafer via twhirl
I installed a few on my iPhone, first couple times I tried it didn't work, but now it's been working fine. I think the first days of iphone3g saw a lot of apple services not faring so well, but things seem to be going well now. - felix
It takes a long time. Maybe you're impatient. - Sam Pullara
The last character you type is visible - assumedly to make it easier for you to spot mistakes. - l0ckergn0me
Yeah - that's a great new feature - and mimics password field behavior on lots of platforms. Also - an asterisk probably doesn't count as encryption so much as, perhaps, obfuscation. :) - David Geller
Agreed with Chris and Dave - this is intentional to make password entry easier. Personally I always just use the visual feedback of the keyboard bubbles to ensure accurate entry, but every little bit helps on a field where precision is required. - Sparky
Nevertheless, it doesn't conform to what the SDK says is supposed to happen.... - Mitch Ratcliffe
and it isn't a consistent thing -- an intermittent feature ain't much of a feature - Mitch Ratcliffe
I like it but often I have to clean the little ball out. I am thinking about getting the Bluetooth one. - Jim Williams
I have lots of trouble with the scroll ball. I have to clean it every few weeks and it still stops working suddenly. - Mike Cohen
I have used one on an iMac before, but I still like my Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0 better. It is the only Microsoft product I use. And if I got a Mighty Mouse, it would be the only Apple product I would own. - Jake (aka Jawee)
I like the Mighty Mouse too. Been using it for about a year. It takes a beating. - Mitch Wagner
“Media is clueless on what 3G means. Some news reporters claim that "the three-gigabyte iPhone" was released. Some report that it's the 3rd Generation iPhone. Ugh.”
To be honest, I don't even know what 3G means. 3Ghz band? - Aaron Brazell
Aaron- it stands for 'Go wait in line while a Get a burrito because we're going to be here all night. Goodnight...'what? they're sold out?' Greeeeat. - Ryan
I'll take a guess - 3G refers to the iPhone using the 3G or 3rd generation high-speed mobile phone data network? - Tad - just Tad
Yuck. I've seen this, too. Luckily our reporter didn't even get into it, but I made sure I looked at her copy before the story was released. It's not just the media though -- lots of buyers are saying ridiculous things. Like, they're buying this version of the iPhone because "the OS is more of an open platform than the previous model." Ehhhh. I cut that quote, along with a quote about "speedier cell phone service." No, the phone service is not faster. - Kevin Hessel
I heard a Canadian reporter call it a G3 iPhone. Nice try lady, but you're about three processor brands too late. ;-) - Cecily Walker
LOL @ "3rd Gen" iPhone! Had that same discussion with the three iPhone users in my office. They swore this was the third gen phone, thus 3G. Ugh... - JA Castillo
Gee, you mean ordinary non-technical people get confused by the mobile industry's vast array of acronyms, and don't even bother to try to comprehend? You don't say? Seriously, you can say "3rd generation high-speed mobil phone data network" but now try to explain what THAT means to someone who doesn't really care. - Jason Wehmhoener
its the mobile phone standard/technology between 2g & 4g - mike "glemak" dunn
G is for "generation" The original iPhone used the 2G GSM standard, but, because it took advantage of some updated standards for data, it was called a 2.5G phone. GSM and other 2G standards like CDMA are all digital, as distinguished from the first gen analog phones. 3G (of which there are a few competing standards) offers faster data transmission than the the fastest 2.5G data standardsstandards, and in theory can support higher quality voice too. 4G will be faster still. WiMax is sort of a 4g preview. - Erik S
People tend to lose interest when they hear an acronym explained with more acronyms. What's the difference between GSM and CDMA? What makes 2.5G different from those? Why are there so many different incompatible standards? (I follow this stuff and have answers to these questions, but most people are just irritated by the whole mess) - Jason Wehmhoener
@Jason, (a) Not caring doesn't excuse a journalist's obligation to get the facts right, (b) a journalist's job is to cut through the mumbo jumbo to make it understandable, (c) one would hope the reporter covering such an event is either a biz or tech reporter and they DO understand it. If that's not possible, it doesn't negate "a" and "b," (d) they can avoid the issue and just call it "faster" because the average *reader* of an iPhone story as a news story (rather than as a tech story) probably doesn't care - Kevin Hessel
Kevin I want to agree with you but the mobile phone technology space is fragmented beyond reason. I don't expect a reporter on a culture beat to get it. - Jason Wehmhoener
Most people are clueless about "3G" -- they don't care about the things we think they do. - Mitch Ratcliffe
The main stream media is generally clueless about tech. It never ceases to amaze me how lazy some reporters are. If they did just 5 minutes of research before writing or reporting on a story they would be 100% more informed and not look like idiots. Even here in silicon valley we still have reporters that fit this MO. - Jeff P. Henderson
1 - Who would want a 3 gb iPhone and 2 - All most people know about 3G is that its faster than whatever was on the 1st gen iPhone (EDGE). - Ethan
Well, they are THE media.. What do you expect? They are not geeks, like us. =) - Winston Teo
That's almost as funny as their use of the word 'hacker' - Rob Fuller via twhirl
OHH...and i thought 3G stands for three grams. - Nir Ben Yona via twhirl
And they tell that old media are very careful about fact checking. As a blogger I at least have a habit to google everything I'm not 100% sure about. I have a feeling they are connected at least. - Svetlana Gladkova via twhirl
The reporter on the culture beat who isn't sure talks to either the tech colunist or looks it up. That's his or her JOB. - Cyndy
This is incredible. When was the last time AOL didn't destroy everything it touched? - Dan Kaplan
Pandora is great, too. It's the death knell for broadcast radio. - Leo Laporte
Is it too much to pray that Sirius/XM puts up an iPhone app, even if it's just for subscribers? Would LOVE that. - Omar Gallaga
@Omar. The pay radio business model is broken, streaming is certainly one of the options to be considered in reinventing their business. - Dave Martin
I would have never tried this if you didn't mention it. I'm loving it already! Just listened to KCRW's Left Right & Center this morning (which is still better in podcast format though). - Jeff Schneiter
AOL Radio has kicked ass for a good year now, even as it transitioned away from XM stations and picked up CBS stations. I've been telling friends, and always have to say "Yeah, I know it's AOL. Trust me. This is a good project." I'm glad it's finally getting its due. - Jason Bentley
Sirius streams now, it would just be a matter of doing something like the Sirius Yahoo Widget for iPhone. - Omar Gallaga
@Omar. And, by design, making it pay. - Dave Martin
Phrases I never thought I'd read: "AOL is just awesome" - xero
Not sure about AOL, but I just went driving and used Pandora over Edge on my 1st Gen iPhone. Short delay to start, but worked fine thereafter. - Omar Gallaga
The AOL app works quite nicely on both wi-fi and 2G/Edge. I did note that the CNN Radio feed appears to either not be on the air or was dead for some reason. No programming at 1900 PT. Otherwise, it really rocks. Excellent audio and a very nice selection of the normal AOL stations as well as CBS Radio O&Os. Cool. - Dave Rutter
Ed Dale just talked about this, minutes ago, on the #30DC broadcast on Ustream - Chris Johnston via twhirl
...and, yes, I know that CBS really doesn't own these stations any more. - Dave Rutter
Omar, I would also love to see a Sirius streaming app for the iPhone - Mike Doeff
Last.fm / Pandora plus this... gonna seriously dent iTunes sales, I bet. - l0ckergn0me
@l0ckergn0me But how quickly will streaming Last.fm/Pandora drain your battery compared to locally stored downloaded media? - Jim McCusker
I'm going to start liking AOL just because its been so "uncool" to like AOL for such a long time. - Robert
Awesome, found an affiliate on the list that tunes into Coast 2 Coast :) Great having AM radio back. - Rodfather
Leo, off hand do you know if any of the stations on the AOL app carry your Sat & Sun shows? - Carroll
panasonic ftw any luminex. only because canon pictures always have this odd yellow-ish tint and the post processing is a PAIN. plus panasonics have this anti-shake feature that is OH so bad ass (and i have a powershot and an xti) - Mona N.
I bought the 890IS and like it. flaws: too much plastic and the power button is weird - RAPatton
I have to agree with the folks who are pimping the Panasonic Lumix line. I have a Canon XTi, but our point and shoots are all Panasonic Lumix and we're getting great pictures. - David Thomas
Go with either the Powershot SD870 IS (not the 890) or Panasonic Lumix TZ5. The 870 is smaller but the TZ5 has one sweet zoom range. Both start at 28mm which gives you a bit of a wide angle that no other P&S compacts have which is why I like these two. - saeba
I have a little SD750 Elph. Fitd in my short pocket & takes amazing quality. You may want soething geekier but I really love the camera. - shelisrael1
Even the cheapest ones (A590 IS) take good pictures. Canon is good. - Dillon K. Hoops
I have heard good things about the Canon Powershot G9. But I have the S3 IS and I love it. It does not shoot in the RAW format however. The G9 does. - Jim Williams
Have a PowerShot Elph SD600 and a S5is. The Elph is great to take anywhere, the S5 is excellent for the "serious" shots. - Jared B. Luther
Chris, if you go with the 870, which you should, grab it at Costco (kirkland or woodinville). Costco has a great return policy. They give you cash back. Return for any reason. - Christian Anderson via fftogo
I have a G9, but they're all good. My wife had a Panasonic Lumix, but dropped it for my old Ixus (Elph or SD depending on market). The G9 is great if you want RAW images to get the best quality, but it's big, heavy and expensive, so not the best option if you don't care about RAW and full manual control. - Michael Randall via twhirl
Another vote for the G9. :) Currently the ultimate PowerShot for image quality and controls. If you don't feel the need for RAW shooting, then the S5 IS is probably the next in line as far as pro features go. Actually, I've found the G9 to be light and easy to carry, certainly a lot more manageable than my previous S3 IS. - Alan Ralph
My favorite PowerShot of all time has been the A650IS because of the Vari-Angle LCD screen. The specs are very similar to the Canon G9 but a lot smaller. - Michael Narciso via NoiseRiver
I'd love a Powershot but my Panasonic Lumix DCM-FX3 does everything i need it to do. - Zach Underwood
Great post! All in all, I'd say Apple is better-positioned to weather this "storm" than Microsoft would be (not that *that's* the competition at hand): 1) they can probably react quicker to make the fixes necessary (Microsoft REALLY needs to overcome their "build lethargy" and be more nimble in that regard) and 2) the fanbase & the detractor base is much more forgiving of Apple-the-up-and-comer than they are of Microsoft-the-evil-behemoth. - Craig Eddy
Good point! Apple is the only one that can do that. Any other company would get flames! - fbrunel
It means that products are so good that people can endure anything for getting them. - fbrunel
I'm trying to want to go get an iphone.. really. Can someone tell me something it does that I need? Specifically, I'm rarely more than 5 minutes away from a computer so I'm struggling with upgrading my 40$ att plan to a $100 one? I passed the first time around, but I serious need a new phone and waited for launch hoping to be wowed. - Doug Brooks
I still can't download the iPod touch firmware. I wondering if I ever will be able too. - Jim Williams
Robert, I think you're right about nothing else coming close to the iPhone. But I'll tell you what - I wouldn't repeat today's frustration. As someone once told me "one 'oh, shit' cancels five 'atta-boys'." Let's all learn something from this. - Tom Landini
I can't even fully describe exactly why I love my first iPhone. It's just amazing, despite the activation problems. Long term, Apple will recover from this hurdle...and I'll buy iPhone 4G! - Brian Wilson
I bitch. But you know I have to agree as well. - MG Siegler
So Robert, was the atmosphere in line as interesting as it was while waiting for the original iPhone? Was it worth being in line from the social aspect? Do you think you will bother waiting in line for the third gen iPhone? - Jeff P. Henderson
Funny, but I never have any such issues with my blackberry - no queues, no activation nightmares. I still say it's the corporate choice... - Tom Quinn
Jeff: I only waited in line a couple of hours. The Palo Alto store is geekier but last year was extraordinary. The lines were fun, though. - Robert Scoble
Just linked to the piece ... bottom line ... it's true :) - Charlie Anzman
I waited in line 4 hours in NJ. Well worth it! Better than my stupid work Blackberry. - Ernie Oporto
hmm let me try a different approach.. does anyone know if you can return a phone and cancel a plan if it's not your thing? - Doug Brooks
I agree, it was worth it. Nice article Robert. - Eric Thompson
It just amazes me that microsoft, sony, google, nokia et alia have let Apple get away with this massive coup. They must have all seen the iphone coming a mile away and yet all these years later none of them has yet managed to launch a decent competitor. How hard is it just to copy? - Charlie
The reasonaApple gets away with it is they appeal to the desire to feel elite and special. Features wise the iPhoen is sadly lackign and the companies support for it is miserable. They picked the worst carrier on earth to boot. But since they can make folks feel special for having one, they win the mindshare. The same 10% will pay any price to get that feeling. - Soulhuntre via feedalizr
"Apple is an amazing company. One that can abuse you, and make you love it at the end of the process. " I've dated women like this. :) - Adam Turetzky
CHarles - why copy it? Honestly. No MMS to speak of, a bad camera, no video, no copy / paste, no background tasks, weak gps, locked in OS and a difficult developer kit. Yes, it loosk cool... but other than that the hardware and software is well below current standards for Blackberry and Windows Mobile systems. I know, I'm a heretic. - Soulhuntre via feedalizr
Not loving Apple today-- My cool aid appears to be tainted - Mark Nassal via twhirl
It really wasn't so bad at all. The launch today was a bottleneck of too many people and: 1) not enough technology (the servers), and 2) knowledge (AT&T). I was inconvenienced for a while in the afternoon, but once the servers opened back up, It was all systems go with the 3G and I was back in a state of wonder at what a great product this is. - Steve Isaacs
Did you really cut the line with your son? Just to be first?Tell me, was it worth it? How many people were there before you? Do you really think that it was fair, or are you both that "special" that you get to jump the line. I am sorry, but to brag about jumping the line is tacky. You didn't even acknowledge, nor thank those who supposedly let you jump the line. Talk about gratitude or lack of. Oh well. - R.A.K.
The moral of the story, son... it's good to be King (Douchebag) - Shawn Collins
I thought he jumped the line so he could film the event, not to get his own iPhone. - Victor Ryden
RAK: I didn't cut in line. I was invited into the line by the group of people in the front. Everyone saves spots. We did it last year for people, too. Or did you forget that I bought Dave Winer and Steve Gillmor's iPhones last year? (I waited in line, they did not). - Robert Scoble
I think that the kool-aid the tech world is drinking has not caught on mainstream. Not even close. Was talking to a group of friends today, they don't even know what the iPhone 3G is. Awesome phone (over-hyped of course), great tools, app store launched, etc. But it'll take some time for the average, non-wealthy Joe to care why it exists ...maybe the iPhone is not really changing the world the way everybody thinks it is... - David Adewumi
In the meantime, new iPhones are now selling on Ebay for close to $2,000 :-) Definitely worth the hell... ;-) - Jesse Stay
They should have put big hamster wheels along the lines, so that people waiting could get some exercise. - Tal Ater
Hamster wheels a good idea - we should get them to generate electricity by connecting them to the grid - the queue could get some excercise and actually do something useful - Brian Sullivan
Glad to hear your son made it out of there ok. :) - David Cook
Unless I'm missing something -- Hope the API gets this feature as well. We had to convert NewsJunk to us the API because their polling was too slow and they didn't pick up the descriptions through the feed. We have podcasts in NewsJunk, for the big Sunday shows, and for FreshAir when they cover politics. Shame you won't be getting those right away. Unless of course I'm missing something. - Dave Winer
@Thomas It has to use media enclosure in the RSS feed, I'm not sure it will work with Blogger, but maybe with Blogger + Feedburner? - cmiper
Friendfeed introducing podcasting into the stream, interesting! I would like to see customizable ways to take parts of the audio and place them into the discussion so that people can make a comment against someone else's comment made on a podcast! - Josh Chandler
