Tag Archives: iPhone

This tweet just in…

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Yesterday’s dust up in Jefferson City provided a good look at how local news media (and civilians) would use Twitter to “cover” a breaking news story. I haven’t seen all the tweets posted by @misourinet but during the few minutes I was in the newsroom, our reporters we’re being cautious about what they posted. I think we did retweet some stuff that turned out to be inaccurate but I’m not sure about that. I did get he sense they were trying to be restrained and confirm information.

Some news outlets were posting corrections as fast as updates. And the public was under no constraints at all. Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder had his BlackBerry hotter than Tim Pawlenty’s wife. Unfortunately, much of what he tweeted was wrong.

Old news dogs will decry such Twitter frenzy but I didn’t have any trouble sifting the wheat from the chaff. And this kind of rumor wildfire has always been there, it just wasn’t up where we could watch it. It was one-to-one, not one-to-the-universe.

At one point, I saw a young woman –a reporter, I assumed– with a Marantz recorder and microphone (I had one just like it). The plan was, I suppose, to record an interview or some “nat sound,” go back to the radio station (?), “cut up” the audio, write a story and hope to get it done in time for the next newscast. Or post it to the station website.

I don’t know if that’s enough –or fast enough– any more.

All I had was the iPhone but if I could have gotten an interview, I could have posted audio and/or video immediately. From where I was standing.

Back on Twitter for a minute… people like Tony Messenger and Chad Livengood long ago established their Twitter cred. Following their updates was as close to real-time updates as you’re gonna get in a situation like this (one of the local radio stations did cut into syndication natioal shows with updates a couple of times).

I think our network (@missourinet) picked up 50 or 60 new followers yesterday, on the stength of frequent, accurate posts.

Was there a “better” way to follow yesterday’s events? I’m not sure what it would be. Will we get better at using this tool (both to monitor events and to report them)? I’m sure we will.

Whither the web page?

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The iPhone is clearly changing the way I get and read the news. I’ve recently added apps for the New York Times and The Huffington Post that make it easier to find, read and share stories.

If you’re already using the iPhone, you know what I’m talking about. If not, I probably can’t explain it here. But the web site as we have come to know it is feeling more and more like the tail than the dog.

I think something else is at work here as well. What is the value of having your app icon be one of the 16 on someone’s iPhone “home” screen?

Why can’t I back up my wallet?

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I don’t carry a wallet. I keep some cash in my pocket and leave the wallet in the car. All it contains is a few credit cards, an insurance card and my drivers license. But when I couldn’t locate it for a day or so, I was facing the hassle of replacing those few items. No big deal.

Bigger deal? Updating dozens of online accounts that have my credit card info. Being without those services, even for a day, would be a major pain in the ass.

After looking in all the obvious places for my wallet, one of my first thoughts was why can’t I locate my wallet like I do my iPhone? Make it beep or show it on a map.

For that matter, why do we need to carry pieces of plastic at all. My phone is smart enough to contain all of the data and identity represented on the plastic.

I know that in some Asian countries, a growing number of services can be purchased with your mobile phone.

The only part of my life that isn’t backed up is on some pieces of plastic in a little leather envelope. Sad.

UPDATE: Looks like we might be closer than I thought. See link in comments and this story at Apple Insider.

DirecTV iPhone app

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directv-appI got out of the fitness center a little late tonight and realized I wouldn’t make it home in time to watch or record The Daily Show re-feed. Comedy Central used to re-run TDS and The Colbert Report one day later at 7:00 p.m. For some reason they moved the shows up an hour. I could watch the first run at 10 p.m. but I’m deep in REM sleep by then. And I think Barb Tivo’s the shows, so this was hardly an emergency.

But I remembered the DirecTV app on my iPhone. I got it mostly for the schedule but seemed to recall that I could set a show to record from the phone.

It was easier to make this happen on the iPhone app than it is with the remote from home. Seriously, the app UI is much easier than the on-board software that comes with the service.

Better tool for journalists, iPhone or BlackBerry?

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Etan Horowitz, posting on E-Media Tidbits, attempts (and succeeds, in my opinion) to answer the question: Which is better tool for journalists, BlackBerry or iPhone? I’ll just share his conclusions here and you can read the full post:

“In the days when producing content mainly happened from a laptop or the office, the BlackBerry made a lot of sense. It is a perfect tool for communicating quickly by e-mail or text and looking up information online. But now that many journalists are expected to post stories, blog posts, photos and videos from the field, the iPhone is a better option.

As a profession, journalism is still struggling to find its footing in the digital age. Since most of the innovative mobile applications are being developed for the iPhone, using an iPhone will help journalists stay current with technology and get them excited about its potential for news.

Don’t believe me? Just give an iPhone to one of the old-school types in your newsroom and see how they react after a few days of use. They’re likely to tell you the device changed their life. You won’t get the same response by giving someone a BlackBerry.

But that doesn’t mean the iPhone is best for all journalists. Editors, Web producers and others who don’t report from the field but frequently communicate with a team will probably be better served by a BlackBerry. And the fact that BlackBerrys cost less, run on multiple carriers and have removable batteries and memory cards are also valid considerations.” [Thanks, Aaron for the link]

The siren call of Posterous

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http://ihnatko.posterous.com/damn-i-really-like-posterous-now-what
The siren call of Posterous
I continue to be enamored with Posterous, the bare-bones blog service to which you post via email. So much so, I’m moving one of my Typepad blogs over.
My friend Taisir doesn’t have time (on inclination) to post to a traditional blog. With Posterous and his iPhone, he can update the blog with minimal effort. And Posterous did a pretty good job importing the the 160+ posts I had on Typepad.
Like tech columnist Andy Ihnatko, I’m boiling down my online life to my WordPress blog, Twitter and –now– Posterous.

I continue to be enamored with of Posterous, the bare-bones blog service to which you post via email. So much so, I’m moving one of my Typepad blogs over.

My friend Taisir doesn’t have time (on inclination) to post to a traditional blog. With Posterous and his iPhone, he can update the blog with minimal effort. And Posterous did a pretty good job importing the the 160+ posts I had on Typepad.

Like tech columnist Andy Ihnatko, I’m boiling down my online life to my WordPress blog, Twitter and –now– Posterous.

Posterous is the mosterous

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A really good review of Posterous by Andy Ihnatko of Chicago Sun-Times. The more I use Posterous, the more I like it. Can’t see myself giving up the WordPress blog but if I were just starting today… If you haven’t seen my previous posts on this, Posterous is a blog you update via email. It’s really that easy but the resulting site is far nicer than you’d expect.

Is it iPhone friendly?

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While we’re getting more and more information online without ever visiting a website (at least the home page), I think this is going to be an increasingly important question.

Before getting an iPhone, I really didn’t worry that much about how the websites I worked on looked on a mobile device. That was a mistake.

I did give it some thought as I moved smays.com from Typepad to WordPress and chose a theme that displayed reasonably well on a small screen.

We might be nearing the end of my Breakfast Reading Evolutionary Cycle. And it’s an iPhone propped up against a napkin dispenser.

Never answer the phone while having intercourse. Texting is okay.

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July is Cell Phone Courtesy Month. As with all such months, there’s a list of cell phone no-no’s. There are a lot of lists. As I scanned them I saw that I was guilty of a couple of the more venial sins. I still catch myself talking too loudly and I answer the phone in the middle of a conversation. I’ve chalked these up to still being something of a newbie to the cell phone experience and plan to break these bad habits.

Nathan Waddell is the director of sales for U. S. Cellular in Missouri and a nice PR lady named Susan arranged for me to talk with Nathan about this important topic.

AUDIO: 15 min interview (MP3)

All I need is this bowling ball. And this ash tray.

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Steve Rubel lists five ways in which he is simplifying his technology:

  1. Eliminating any bookmarks, software/webware that I haven’t used in the last seven days
  2. Cutting back to two devices for everything – a laptop and a cell phone. Period, end of story
  3. All critical data seamlessly syncs between these two devices. If a service doesn’t allow me to sync stuff via the cloud and access it both online and off, it’s toast
  4. He’s dumped tons of of stuff: RSS feeds and virtually every email newsletter
  5. Setting up lists on Friendfeed to help me find signals in the noise

That sounds really good to me. I’m feeling more cluttered every day. Too many atoms, too many bytes (bits?)

  • #1 will be a snap for the bookmarks. I’ll have to nut up to kill some of the software I’m not using. Wish me luck.
  • #2 is equally appealing. I could get by with my MacBook and my iPhone. But the big iMac at work belongs to the company, so… and the Mac Mini at home really gets very little use.
  • #3 The whole Mac/Mobile Me experience has made me very reliant on sync’ing. I have a couple of apps that don’t but not many.
  • #4 is pretty easy to do. Got my RSS subscriptions under 50. If I add one, I’ll try to find one to delete
  • #5 I’ve never been able to get with the Friendfeed thing. I’ll take another look but…