O2 madness (updated)

Phone companies' payment schemes are now so complex that even the staff are completely out of their depth.
When it became possible to use the iPhone 4 for wireless tethering (make the phone a mobile hotspot for a laptop or tablet), I went to their shop to get that done. We got it done for a small fee, and I was told to wait until the Hotspot option turned up in the menu.

I waited and waited, but it never did. So I called them. I was told I'd been given the wrong "bolt-on" as they call it. So I got another one. And I was told to wait until the option appeared on my phone... And I waited and waited, never appeared.

So I mailed them, and now I'm told that the tethering is not compatible with pay-as-you-go. I'd suspected this from the start (this would be too simple to be "good business" wouldn't it?), but all had said it was no problem.

But typically I have not been told how to remedy this problem. So I've spent half an hour on their extensive web site, trying to figure out how to change to a monthly plan so I can use tethering. And it just seems like I can't. It seems I have to get a new SIM card and a new phone number in order to get this to work. Good friggin' grief already. [Turns out I could change the phone number back to my old one later, in a separate procedure.]

Update: the whole thing is mind-bogglingly complex. Just one example: to send them *any* question by their site I have to log in, password and all. And then, again just to ask a question, I have to fill out a couple of letters from a *different* password which is used for support. And clearly this is not enough, for I *also* have to give them the exact amount I have on my account. ... Aaaaaaaand, get this: I *also* have to tell them two phone numbers I call frequently! This is complete insanity.

Another example, there are apparently two types, with many variations, of monthly contracts: "simplicity 30-day tariff" and "O2 Pay Monthly". There is no way that I've seen of telling the difference.  I've just signed up for the Simplicity thing since it was the only thing I saw presented, but seeing the other thing now, I wonder if maybe tethering does not work on the Simplicity thing either. Probably not, it would be too simple.

Update: Not to flog a dead horse, but it's just getting too funny how looong this saga is becoming. I can't even remember all of the newest meanderings, but here are some of them:

So I got the new SIM card for monthly payments. (I don't know why you'd need to get a new card for that, doesn't make a lot of sense.) So, it was the wrong size. It should be micro-SIM for iPhone 4. So I mailed it back, and some days later I got a correct one.

I signed up for a monthly bill. It turns out I need a special tariff for iPhone, so it has to be changed. So I do that. Later over the phone, it turns out there are even newer tariffs, where there is *not* special pricing for the iPhone, and I need that instead. OK.

So I need a "bolt-on" to get data over the phone. The good news is that at least they are not charging extra for using the phone as hot-spot, like some companies do. And the pricing is much more reasonable than it was a couple years ago, or than it is in the US. Less than 25 Sterling for like 300 minutes, unlimited texts, and 500MB of data. The minutes in particular are much more than I need, which was why I had Pay-as-you-go from the start.

So now it should work. So once again, for maybe the 30th time in five weeks, I try to set up the Hotspot on the iPhone. Still doesn't work, I just get a link to a web page... sometimes when I load this page, it gives general data which don't help me, and sometimes I get a 404 page.

So I just called up, and the tech says: "you've been given the wrong bolt-on. The one you need is the same price and the same data, but it's specific to the iPhone." So he changed it for me, and it should work from tomorrow.

Holy cow.

Robot Library

Robot Library. Fully automated paperbook storage and retrieval system.
Very cool. But about ten years too late, ne'st pas? In five years, students will hardly remember what a paperbook looks like.

iPads were everywhere at Musikmesse 2011

iPads were everywhere at Musikmesse 2011, article.
...almost every developer of audio software and manufacturer of keyboards and mixers was demonstrating some way of using an iPad to perform or produce music.

I say it again: incredible. Surely the iPad must be the fastest-adopted product in the history of... well, anything.

Grove "Birdland" iPhone case

So I finally got my Grove "Birdland" iPhone case. It's as beautiful IRL.

Inside, on the back side, it has some rubberized material, and it fit very snuggly on the phone indeed. In fact, it won't even fit if the phone has a screen protector! But I'm sure it won't fall off. 

PadPivot

The PadPivot, for almost any tablet or reader, seems highly interesting.
Here is their FAQ page.

(The video has loud music.)

Another iPad videocast

Imagine my joy when I found a new iPad-based video blogcast I had not seen. And it was called by the most central name possible: The iPad Show! So it had to be great.
Sadly not. These two guys have the figures and the stage presence of slugs. They have the zing and the zap and the stage discipline and the drive of... well, slugs.

So instead I recommend iPad Today and... well, sadly that's so far the only iPad-specific show I've found I really like.

Help me out if you know other good ones. Other platforms welcome too, shows about ereaders and tablets. Video or audio.

GoFlex Satellite

GoFlex Satellite seems to be an interesting new iPad accessory. Seagate sez:
Take your media library with you. Stream it to your iPad®.
Take more than 300 HD movies on-the-go1
Stream media over Wi-Fi to 3 iPads at the same time
Automatically sync media and documents from your PC or Mac® computer


Might be a handy way of bringing a large video library without having to set up and run a computer. I wonder what software it uses, and how flexible it is with video formats etc.
And how reliable it is. I use AirVideo, and it's good, but there's always connection issues, it's a pain.

In fact I'm gonna come right out and say it: with handheld devices connection speed and reliability is still a big birthing problem. My desktop Mac download big files rock solid and at over ten times the speed I get with my tablet of various kinds. Some blame it on the slow writing speed of Solid State Disks. I dunno, I just know it's irritating. You're just all set in to enjoy some video, and it runs for ten seconds, and then it the buffer is empty. And it's filling out at snails page. And very often, going away for a while doesn't even help, it's hardly moved, which is even more weird. They really need to solve this.

So I still use iTunes a lot. Subscribe to many video podcasts on my speedy desktop connection, and sync up to my iPad, and blammo, we're off. But it shouldn't be necessary.

Samsung Announces 10-Inch "Retina" Display for Tablets

Samsung Announces 10-Inch "Retina" Display for Tablets, article.

Way cool. Now we know it can be done at least. Samsung is presenting a ten-inch display at 300 PPI (Apple's Resina display has 336 I think, but that's well beyond the call of duty). And the Samsung screen uses an interesting four-pixel technology, "Pentile", where the fourth pixel, of all things, is white! There's a lot of white being used on web sites, and with a normal display you need all three sub-pixels (red, blue, green) turned on to show white, whereas with this one you may only need one, saving a lot of power. Didn't see that one coming.

Whether this will be used on iPad 3 or not, it seems it's coming soon, which pleases me. Some poeple ask: but it's way beyond even HD video, who needs it? Well, the issue is not video, which when playing looks a lot sharper than it is (try and freeze any video and see), the issue is text. My Dell Streak has a five-inch display, but my iPhone 4 is actually at least as good an e-reader despite the smaller 3.5 display, because of the high-resolution display. Text is very demanding of resolution, and for reading of any kind, this will made a difference. And for text incorporating crisp graphics, wow.

New iMac Gains Thunderbolt

New iMac Gains Thunderbolt... article.

A tricked-out top iMac is now $3700! Holy cow, so much for the "entry level machine" the iMac was once!

It seems Apple has gone back to their habit of really over-charging for pre-installing memory or disks. For example they charge $600 for installing 16GB of RAM, about four times the going price of such memory. That's a big shame and a blot on their reputation, there's no reason for such profiteering, it's not like they are not earning money. It is simply taking advantage of the ignorance or laziness of your customers, and I think there's no good excuse for it. Buy via a good reseller, for example Jigsaw24 here in the UK, they have better service and much more reasonable prices.

DVDs in my bedroom

A couple of months ago the DVD player I had in my bedroom died. And today I decided that for hyper-back-leaned entertainment, I just missed it too much, so I moved my MacBook Air with 27-inch screen into the bedroom for movie duty.

The 27-inch monitor is better quality than the 26-inch TV screen I had before, better contrast for one thing, and the built-in speakers are surprisingly good for built-in speakers, I don't find them lacking at all, surprisingly, in volume or space or anything.

And of course if the mood takes me, I can surf or watch web videos from the bed, or write or wha'ever, with a USB keyboard. Or watch the 199 movies and TV shows I have ripped to disk, as well as web- and Net-acquired videos/films. That's actually something I've been wanting a solution to for a long time, to watch such in comfort.

iPad, the machine Apple was born to build

Leo on iPad Today said something I've thought myself:
"... the iPad is the machine that Steve Jobs founded Apple to build, only it took 35 years for technology to catch up." 

BTW, on this lively show is also the doubly lively Sarah Lane:

... Don't hurt, does it? I'm a fan, man.

---
I love their studio, by the way: big leather soft chairs, surrounded by more screens and technology than you can shake a memory stick at.

The End of Content Ownership

The End of Content Ownership, article.
A couple of weeks ago I dragged some of my favorite super-large hardcover books out of the attic and placed them on a shelf in my living room. I may read them again, but it's more likely they'll live out their golden years as decorative objects. Interestingly, I think most of my old VHS, CDs, and even DVDs and Blu-rays may soon be joining these books as objects d'art instead of useful content objects. [...]
For the majority of consumers, however, they will come to fully trust the cloud and believe in subscription pricing for everything. [...]
At home, our bookshelves will contain artifacts of a bygone content-ownership era. We'll touch those books, Blu-rays and CDs, but only to dust them.

I think it's happening. I no longer have to buy new bookshelves all the time. And the books on them are very slowly, but inexorably in most cases, losing interest for me. One day I'll realize that since I don't read anything on paper anymore, that and that room would look much nicer and orderly without the clashingly-colored rows of books everywhere...

Slow process though, there's a lot of old sentiment to chew through.

More on Apple stock

I honestly thought Apple stock must surely be overvalued, but listen to this guy. He's got some good points, like their cash surplus, how many companies sport big cash mountains?

Nook Color’s New Software: It’s the Netbook of Tablets

Nook Color’s New Software: It’s the Netbook of Tablets, article/review of Nook Color.

Is the Nook Color worthy, considered as a tablet, not just an ereader? This article says it's not bad for the price.

Update:
Stephen said:
Had one since the day it was rooted, it's a full bore tablet and arguably one of the best. The processor is of sufficient speed, the screen is excellent, it runs anything I throw at it. It runs Honeycomb just fine. It has excellent battery life. Very clean design. What's not to love?
And all this for $250, $200 on sale! A fraction of the cost of the iPad.
Despite all the Steve Jobs FUD 7" is an excellent form factor, which is arguably the best trade-off between screen size and portability.
I always carry my nook color with me and use it constantly. At work it has saved my neck by holding all my critical O'Reilly tech books.

Apple iMac hands-on, with dual 30-inch displays

Apple iMac hands-on, with dual 30-inch displays, article/video.

A 27-inch iMac, with *two* extra monitors at 30 inches each!
That's ridiculous. Just a few years ago when I got the first Apple 30-inch monitor for my tower Mac, I had to get a graphics card for it which was the size of a video cassette! Took up two expansion slots too. And now my 11-inch MacBook Air can run such a display!