Great Moments In Technology Journalism

From some brain surgeon at ZDNet, Ken Hess:

[N]ow there’s an added bonus way to burn up that [iCloud] free space: your PC. Apple wants me to use their Cloud-based storage on all of my devices not just Apple ones. Pretty darn sneaky, if you ask me. Smart too.

...

But, the most intriguing of all is the Photo Stream part of the iCloud application.

To setup your PC to use Photo Stream, click the checkbox and then click Options to see the screen in Figure 2.

Here’s the really sneaky part: People take more photos with digital devices because it doesn’t cost anything to do so. Why is that sneaky? Because everyone wants those photos to be of the highest quality. Higher quality photos means bigger photos. Bigger photos means that they take up more space. Sneaky.

This means that you’ll burn through that five free gigabytes with one or two uploads from your iPod, iPhone, iPad or PC. You’ll have to buy more space as described in, “Avoiding the iCloud storage gotcha.”

From Apple's press release on iCloud:

the storage required by Photo Stream doesn’t count towards this 5GB total

Took me about 10 seconds on Bing to find this. I guess technology journalism is hard.

Have I Got A Deal For You

Like many new cars, my Hyundai Tuscon came with a 90-day XM trial. So I gave it a shot and generally liked it - it was miles better than the pathetic set of Austin radio stations, and did pull songs from time-to-time that weren't already on my 80 GB iPod. However, I didn't like it enough to want to pay the full $160 or so per year fee (as my friends will tell you, I'm pretty much a cheapskate).

Soon after the trial ran out, I got a call from a telemarketer for XM, who offered me a five month subscription period for $20. Well, four dollars a month is pretty different from $14, so I decided to accept that deal. They warned me that I would have to call to renew at that rate once the five months was up, and sure enough, I missed the notification. So I was automatically renewed at a rate of about $85 for six months.

OK, that was my fault, so I sucked it up, but once that six month period was about to end, I called up XM and requested a renewal at the original promotional rate, which they readily accepted. So I am back on for another five months at $20 total.

So in summary, we have here about four different subscription rates for the same service - free (for the initial trial), $4/month (for the discount renewal), $13/month (for the normal retail price), and about $15/month (the rate they renewed me at for some reason).

I find that I have a hard time trusting companies or industries that live on this kind of pricing structure - that you have to "know" how to get the good deal. You have to know the magic code, or know how to work the customer service lines, or know to get this special package, or whatever, to avoid paying double or triple the price. Other industries where this happens are airlines and hotels, for example. I don't know why some companies feel they have to hide the ball - provide a good product or service that I like, tell me what it costs, and I will make a decision. Don't make me wonder if I somehow missed the magic incantation that the guy next to me found. Don't make me wonder why you can sell me this service for $5/month when last month you charged me $15 for the same thing.

It shouldn't have to be like this. For example, compare Apple to other computer or cell phone manufacturers. Apple has a relatively small number of models, with a relatively simple number of options (usually installed disk space, memory or screen sizes). They don't have 40 varieties of touch screen models, each with slightly different sets of features. And they don't have lots of special deals - in fact, Apple clamps down pretty severely on their retailers to make sure they sell at the same price. They provide a good product and don't make it hard to purchase. Do their customers squeeze out every last penny that could by running the salesman gauntlets? No - but on the whole they are more satisfied as customers than most other companies.

The New Civility, continued

Al Gore to run a 24-hour "full-on assault" on climate skeptics?

My, my, what violent language.

When You Are A Hammer...

...everything looks like a nail.

Too many Travis County residents are going hungry unnecessarily. Sustainable Food Policy Board member Arthur D'Andrea says only 47% of Travis County residents who are eligible for food stamps actually participate in the program.

See, if the government says you are eligible for food stamps and you don't apply, then of course, you must be going hungry.

Or perhaps, you know, you have other means of support. Or the eligibility requirements are too lenient. Nah, that couldn't be it.

D'Andrea says the county leaves over 150-million in federal money on the table.

And this is a bad thing? I guess in some eyes (i.e. a bureaucrat's), it is. To a tax-payer's eyes, this is a good thing.

D'Andrea says the city needs to make it easier to apply for food stamps and get the word out what it takes to qualify for the assistance.

Look, I actually agree with this - I find it extremely easy to believe that federal, state and local governments have managed to come up with the most complex way possible to apply for aid, and streamlining it (and removing some of the associated bureaucracy) would be a good thing. But I don't think that it's a big problem that not enough people are living off on the behest of the government; quite the contrary, the problem is that too many people are. So efforts to get more people dependent on tax dollars get a thumbs down from me.

Reason #1 Why I Will Not Be On Twitter

Fox News Politics twitter account hacked.

Seems like putting your corporate or personal identity in the hands of Twitter is a bad idea.

Movie Review: Inglorious Basterds

Well, much like his prior movie Death Proof, Tarantino swings and largely misses with Inglorious Basterds. It is a better movie than Death Proof, which I found to be a few minutes of awesome sandwiched in between two long boring stretches of Quentin trying to recapture earlier successes. But that doesn't mean that Basterds turns out to be better. The lengthy stretches of dialog do a better job of building up the tension, at least when there are Nazis present. But much of it just lies there, waiting for something to happen. I'm sure the movie insiders appreciate the various discussions of cinema, and probably treat the whole exercise as some kind of fable on the role of movies in society...but for me, I found myself reaching for the fast forward button.

That's not to say the movie has no moments. The concluding scenes, especially a shot with a movie projected onto the smoke in a burning theater, are suitably eerie. But as with Death Proof, the good moments are few and far between.

And whoever thought sticking in a Mike Myers cameo was a good idea...they're fired. Two stars.

Still Alive

Not that anyone really cares, I am still alive. Still employed (having dodged at least 4 layoff sweeps now). Still addicted to World of Warcraft (which is why my Jackie Chan Film Festival has not made any progress recently - just can't get excited enough to watch Who Am I?).

But someday, it will happen.