Riding the iPhone Rollercoaster

Sitting in a starbucks with itunes ads all over the place I am reminded of the last apple event announcing the online store coming to the iPhone & iPod touch. Theoretically I could buy that Marvin Gaye song I'm listening to, but one thing stands in my way ... Apple.

They released the update with the music store for the iPhone but I'm not upgrading. Why? Well I'm on another turn of this rollorcoaster ride of being an iPhone owner.

The anticipation of this ride was the best part. We heard rumors for months before hand stocked with patent filings, fake ads on youtube, and the leaked announcement on diggnation.

Then there was the line to get on this ride, people were lifecasting, the news was all over it, and people were calling it the launch of the century.

Of course we early adopters will never forget the $200 price drop & $100 credit.

The next high I got was when I found my way through jailbreak and started installing third party apps. I could now play games, keep track of my checking, and draw on my iPhone.

Now apple has come out with a new update that will kill all those apps if I install it. So I like so many iPhone owners are holding out on the install. Who is the biggest loser in this situation? I say it is apple. Now they won't have their music store on these phones for impulse buys and they also have a core group of users making awsome apps that make this phone more appealing to potential buyers. Sure people like the photo capabilities and coverflow but I get more ohhs and ahhs with ttr (iPhone Guitar Hero) and sketch (high tech etch-a-sketch).

I would like to think someone at apple will read this and have an epiphany but I'm thinking I have a better chance of mutating into a superhero.

Apple's missing Buttons

Apple anounced a new line of iPods today and a update to the iPhone which adds the iTunes music store to this wonder gadget.

from: engadget

Apple did it to us once when they first announced the iPhone, they left out the youTube button only to announce it at a later time. Now they have announced that they will be adding the iTunes store to the iPhone, but there are still three spots left on the homepage. Will we be seeing a games button there soon? What else could they be plotting to add. It does look out of place, that new little button there on the bottom of the screen, a little lonely.

Will there be the addition of sanctioned third party apps in this void at the bottom of the screen? With the abundance of iPhone hacks out there that prove this can be done, will Apple give in? There is already a hack that allows multiple homepages on the iPhone and one that allows you to scroll this page so the possibilities are endless. It is doubtful that Apple will implement these hacks but they still have a little over three months till Christmas to entice those who haven't given in already.

AT&T Shrinks Paper bills

Today AT&T announced through a text message that they are shrinking their paper bills by getting rid of itemized data transfers. At my estimation this is due to a viral video that iJustine released after she received a 300 page phone bill in a box (see video below).

Not only that but she was on the front page of Yahoo news, CNN, Fox news and a few other news sources because of it

Now you may say that she talks on the phone way to much but the real meat of the bill comes from AT&T itemizing every data transfer. In this day and age of the internet I am glad AT&T woke up, though they were probably looking at their bottom line, thinking $9 is to much to spend sending out bills.

Got Pownced

Yesterday I was invited into the new world of Pownce (thanks LaceyFelix). Not only did I get Pownced but I found my way into Zooomr. Pownce is a new micro blog/messager ala twitter and Jaiku; Zooomr is a photo sharing site ala Flickr and PhotoBucket with some Facebook like features and unlimited photo storage.

Pownce is the product of Leah Culver, Daniel Burka, Shawn Allen, and digg founder Kevin Rose. Like Twitter and Jaiku it lets you update your friends with messages though here are are not limited to 140 characters. You also have the choice of sending a link, a file, event, or just a message. Not only that but you can also group your friends into sets and send messages to a set of friends, a individual friend, or out to the public. The sets I can see being handy being a twitter addict and only wanting to say something to a few people on my list i.e. co-workers, on-line friends, family. The friend feature works a lot like Twitter and Jaiku in the fact people can follow you without you having to be their friend. There is a pro option that allows you to send 100mb files instead of the 10mb limit imposed on the free users and no advertisements for $20 a year.

Pownce also has harnessed the power of air (adobe integrated runtime) to build a desktop program. It is a nice little program that could use a few more features but as it is still in alpha mode so I'm sure they will be adding them shortly. Kevin Rose already announced on Pownce yesterday that they are working on making the desktop program self updating along with the fact that more invites will be coming soon after the next version (don't ask me for an invite yet, I don't have any). The desktop program did have some connection issues from time to time but I'm thinking that has to do with the 15,000 invite requests Pownce received in the first 24 hours of existence.

The only thing I see keeping me away from Pownce is the lack of sms text messaging which is one of the main ways I use twitter. I'll just have to see how it works with my cell phone.

I found my way into Pownce when a tweet came my way about a live diggnation feed on Zooomr being broadcasted from the Apple Store in Palo Alto with everyone camping out for the iPhone. After diggnation Robert Scoble took over with the guys from Zooomr and it seemed like everyone from Silicone Valley stopped by. I am excited to see what comes from Pownce and Zooomr but with so many different web services these days it is becoming hard to keep track of them all.