CBC’s “Little Mosque on the Prairie” has been getting a lot of buzz with it’s debut this past week. Being stateside, I don’t have access to CBC television, so I’m hoping that they will release it on iTunes.If you also want to see it on iTunes, why not contact the CBC and let them know.
Steve Jobs gave a indication as to why the iPhone needs to remain a closed box. Namely:’You don’t want your phone to be an open platform,’ meaning that anyone can write applications for it and potentially gum up the provider’s network, says Jobs. ‘You need it to work when you need it to work. Cingular doesn’t want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up.’You mean, I can’t extend my iPhone and make it smarter, because the network is to fragile?Hmm, this doesn’t seem to be a problem for the internet, does it? Steve’s comment is a really good argument for why dumb networks are superior.I can’t wait for the day that I can buy an iPhone that uses something like WiMAX instead of the cell network.Dumb networks trump (so-called) smart networks any day!
I guess it’s time to drop the i and add the . After all, Apple already has the TV. By the way, the code for  is
VC Michael Eisenberg chimes in on why he is disappointed with the closed nature of the iPhone.
Now that 24 hours have passed, some commentators have noted that the iPhone will not allow third party apps.It is of course, just a day after the annoucement and 5 months until it actually comes out. But it is interesting to guess why it might remain a closed box, at least in it’s first release.Did Cingular insist it remain closed, out of fear? Telcos and cablecos know their customers are slowly realizing how irrelevant they and their services are. After all, once you and I have a network connection, we can:Get videoGet audioSkypeAccess cool services and content that Telcos could never even think of.Get the idea?Once we pay for access, why would we want or need to pay for all of those expensive services that telcos and cablecos want us to buy from them? Why pay for a smart network when a dumb network saves money and gives us more?The Telcos must already be feeling this. I know more than a few folks who have already canceled their long distance contracts or shutdown their landline in favor of Skype. New Skype phones are making it easy, and more were announced just this week.Cingular CEO Stan Sigman said that he agreed to work with Apple, sight unseen. Perhaps he knows that he didn’t have much of a choice. Changes to the network and the way we users use them are coming. Soon.By the way, Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang said, “I hope that we can bring Yahoo! Onesearch to the iPhone”. Did I hear that right? Hope? From a $38B company? What’s the hangup? Who is preventing you?
Michael Gartenberg (via Scripting News) informs us that only Apple can extend the phone. Five guesses as to why:S – K – Y – P – EIf I have WIFI and I’m connected via WIFI, why would I run down my Cingular minutes?I hope that at least you will be able to upload widgets.
Still trying to take it all in, but here are some thoughts:Built-in WIFI/EDGE means I can get and create my news/podcasts/vodcasts everywhereBuilt-in camera – photoblogging! Just need a small app for thatRecord voice for podcastsConference call recording for podcast interviews? (legal issues?)Bluetooth means I can write blog entries – need a small compact keyboardSMS chats to blogProximity RSS – fractional horsepower HTTP server – my friends can find meThere’s a lot to think about here…
Netgear announced their Digital Entertainer HD at CES and it plays YouTube content, among many others.Some questions come to mind:Does it do RSS? (apparently not)What must Big Media be thinking? (who cares)I think it is silly to offer a media device these days that does not do RSS straight out of the box.
Nial Kennedy writes about a new Sony TV that can subscribe to RSS. His comment? “Crazy!”Why yes, it is crazy. Let’s have more craziness like this. Anything to route around the mediocre fare on cable.
Here’s my review of the just announced Netgear SPH200D cordless Skype phone. I had the opportunity to beta test it for about three months, and I’m really happy with it.