Sanibel Island Smarts

Photos from Sun-coast Smarts Sanibel Island trip 11-8-09.

Smart car in Gulfport

My Smart car in downtown Gulfport, FL. The Lincoln parked next to me and I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition of past and future.

Shot with my Nikon D300S in raw and processed in Adobe Lightroom 3 beta. I went for the super saturated postcard look. Basically, bringing up the shadows and lowering the highlights, compressing the dynamic range. Google "HDR" or "High Dynamic Range Photography."

Home Again

Back home from Frankfurt, back to my MacBook Pro.

It was a good trip and not as big a sacrifice as I thought to be without my main computer. In a pinch I can get everything done on the iPhone. It's the convenience factor that works two ways.

I took the photo of the subway station entrance in Frankfurt on the iPhone. A few steps later, without breaking stride, it was on it's way home in an email. Try that on a laptop!

On the plus side for the iPhone there's the fact that it's always with me and always connected. Emails are pushed to me right away and the web is a touch away. Walking down the street, Google Maps are in the palm of my hand. I didn't have to lug the MacBook and it's bag around airports or drag the laptop out at security for X-ray. I was really traveling light!

On the down side is the inconvenience of only running one app at a time. On my MacBook Pro I use Spaces with 4 "desktops" running different apps at the same time. It's easy to move from one app to another, and they're all active. If I"m in iTunes and my RSS reader gets a new post the icon bounces and there's a flag with the number of unread posts. Same thing with Mail.

I'll be bringing the MacBook Pro on my next trip. The benefits of having a big screen and multitasking are greater than the inconvenience of lugging the thing around. The MacBook Pro will stay in the room and the iPhone will be in my pocket when I'm out and about. The best of both worlds!

One thing at a time.

I'm in Frankfurt on my layover without my MacBook.

Boingo is working out fine on the iPhone, no issues.

Skype is working well. Voice quality is excellent on the iPhone.

I can check my emails and websites just fine on the iPhone. I can Skype home. I'm updating my blog. I just can't do It all at the same time like I can on my MacBook.

The iPhone doesn't multitask. It can only run one app at a time. If I'm chatting on skype and I want to check out a website I have to log out and start safari. Skype can't run in the background while I'm on the web. I have to restart Skype to continue my chat.

If there's a Achilles heel to the iPhone, I think it's the lack of multitasking. The ability to run more than one app at a time is missing. I always have 4 or 5 apps open on my MacBook, it's what I'm used to.

Still, it beats not being online. I can get things done. And it's incredible that I can fit all of this capability in my pocket.






-- Post From My iPhone

Traveling light.

At Dulles on my way to Frankfurt, I left my MacBook Pro home. I'm trying an experiment to see how well the iPhone does solo.

I'm using the iPhone app "BlogPress" to write this post. My Internet connection is via Boingo's iPhone plan.

It's a little slower typing on the iPhone's software keyboard than the MacBook. I'm a fast touch typist but the iPhone suits my writing style. I tend to edit as I write and go slow anyway. The iPhone keyboard isn't that bad.

More updates to come...

-- Post From My iPhone

I'm a proud Dad

My son, Robert just got word that he was awarded a scholarship to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. That makes two years in a row! Way to go!

An Artifact from the Future

I just turned over a thousand miles on my smart! The car is still a lot of fun to drive and I've had no problems to report.

Everywhere I go the smart gets a lot of attention. I met my daughter at Firestone yesterday to get a tire on her car replaced. All of the guys from the shop came out to see the smart. They even asked to see the engine. One of them knew it was made by Mercedes and had a safety cage. They all seemed to like it but said it was too small to fit on their lifts.

I catch lots of other drivers staring open-mouthed at my smart like they've never seen anything like it before. I"m afraid I'll cause an accident! Lots of drivers give thumbs up or shout "I like your car!" I haven't had any negative gestures or remarks yet. Maybe it's because I'm such a positive person? People of all ages are always asking about the car in parking lots. I've given away quite a few of the smart handouts.

The positive reactions I'm getting regarding the smart are an indication that this country is ready for a change. People have started to think about ditching the SUV. They know that energy is important economically, environmentally and politically. They know we're headed for a crisis and something needs to be done.

When the iPhone first came out a reviewer described it as "an artifact from the future." It was a paradigm change, so far ahead of the competition it seemed like it came from a time machine.

I've seen the automotive future--I'm driving it.