iPhone hat

Need a little privacy while watching that movie on your iPhone. Long for that Big Screen viewing experience. You can have it if you’re willing to look like an ass clown.

My friend Tom grabbed this must-have item at MacWorld and brought it to the Coffee Zone where I tried it on.

Your iPhone goes in a little sleeve at the front of the bill and the lens slides forward and back for proper focus. Like sitting in row 10 of the Bijou.

A little child shall lead them

I am endlessly fascinated by technology. How we use it and how it changes us. The photo is of a couple of regulars at the Coffee Zone. I remember when dad switched to the iPhone. And later when he started asking me about the iPad. It seems ages ago but it was only months ago.

She plays games on the iPad and watches Netflix movies. But there will soon be nothing she cannot do on the device.

It’s inconceivable (to me) that she won’t have this with her in class. That will be delayed because not all of the kids will have them and etc etc.

I can’t even imagine how this will change education. Of course, education will have to change but that seems inevitable.

We’ve had hallway discussions at our company about the various tablets and platforms (Android, Windows, iPad, etc). My friend Phil (a very smart guy) assures me a lot of companies will take the “safe and secure” route of Windows devices.

But the kids in this little girls class could care less about Word and Excel and all the rest. They want to have fun and create and that will be on the iPad (for the forseeable future). You can take it to the bank.

Tiny projector for iPhone/iPad


Tom Piper demos Laser Pico Projector. A little pricey at $450 but a cool gadget. Just not sure if/when/where I would use it. If the setting is cozy enough for this wee projector, why wouldn’t I just use my laptop or iPad? If I didn’t have those with me, however, the projector (almost exactly same size as iPhone) fits easily in my pocket. What do you think?

End of the desk-top era

I’ve had a computer on my desk at home since 1984. A lot of them. Zenith, Gateway, IBM, Dell and, most recently, a Mac Mini. No longer. I’m selling the Mini.

Oh, there are still lots of computers around the house. The MacBook Pro long ago became my main box (slab?). And there’s the iPad and the iPhone. But it felt like the end of an era.

This weekend I’ll replace my printer and scanner with a wireless all-in-one from HP and as I started making room, I was struck by how many usb hubs and power-strips were being relegated to a box in the closet.

Yesterday I had a chat with one of our IT guys about where things are headed from a business perspective. Are we getting closer to the day when a company tells a new employee they can use their own computer (any flavor they choose) and hook into the company content via the cloud.

I took a little further and suggested the device of chose would be some sort of tablet, not a laptop. Whatever shakes out, things are going to be much different for the users and the IT folks who support them.

The end of wallets

I’m not a wallet guy. I rarely have it with me and keep no more than the bare minimum in when I do. Health plan card from work; auto insurance car; voter registration card, etc. No money.

Today I scanned a couple of cards and dropped them into GoodReader on the iPhone. Probably wouldn’t satisfy a trooper or the lady at the doctor’s office (even though all she does is photocopy the health plan card), but better than nothing and the info is there.

I think the days of carrying around little pieces of plastic are just about over. Already over in more technically sophisticated countries.

JotNot Scanner Pro

Call 911, I’m having a handy attack! George turned me on to a wonderful iPhone app called JotNot Scanner Pro. Snap a photo of a document or page in a book or magazine, and the app converts it to a PDF. And the quality is very good, almost the same result you’d get with a flat-bed scanner.

I’ve been snapping pix of text and saving the images since I got the iPhone. But having it converted to PDF on the fly is the bee’s knees (mixed insect metaphors).