Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady possibly being voted into the NBA All-Star Game by moronic fans, J-E-T-S, or A.J. styles and Kurt Angle putting on a clinic last night, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
This week’s coffee: Intelligentsia Ethiopia Sidama.
According to research firm Gartner, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common devices for Internet access in 2013. It sounds a little bit crazy, but it makes sense on several levels. Web browsers on phones have gotten way better in the last few years. A lot of phones are great for accessing online social-media services like Facebook and Twitter. In general, phones are cheaper and more accessible than PCs — particularly in developing countries. With these factors in mind, Gartner’s prediction is pretty reasonable.
Then there’s the whole usage aspect to phone browsing. I often find myself reading web sites and working on this blog from my iPhone or BlackBerry. Sometimes it’s just looking for story ideas before I go to sleep. Sometimes I’m multitasking by watching WWE Monday Night Raw and sifting through the site’s comments. This was pretty much impossible to do (efficiently and enjoyably) a few years ago. Thanks to advancements in WebKit, Opera Mini, and specialized apps (Tweetdeck, WordPress, etc.), it’s totally doable today. Could further advancements lead to me surfing the web more from my couch or bed than my desk? Yeah, I could see that.
Still, there are going to be people that refuse to do the majority of their web surfing on their phone. Some prefer looking at sites on large monitors. Others are more comfortable reading from an office chair. Perhaps there will still be people — probably older ones — that can’t fathom the idea of using their phone for anything but phone calls.
I want to hear what you think of Gartner’s prediction. Do you find yourself reading web sites from your phone more often? Do you think your phone will be your primary Internet access device in three years? Why or why not?
@Ray
What Browser do you use on your BB?
@Topic
I have a BB Bold. BB's browser is just horrible for actually trying to accomplish stuff. Also until mobile browsers are able to fully render everything and show how a page is supposed to look no matter what the content, then I will always prefer a PC.
Then there is the matter of time. I can get far more done with a keyboard and mouse than a track ball and texting.
But technically I use my phone for far more internet than my home computer since I tether to my work PC and my tablet nearly 60% of the day.
I agree…but I would like it if my phone wasn't automatically directed to a mobile site. Mobile sites are just too limited and often don't contain what I'm looking for.
If mobile browsers do allow us to view the full site instead the mobile version than i would do more surfing on my iphone. I don't have an issue with the text being small because i can just zoom in but not having full access to a site does deter me, especially when i need a flash player!
My phone makes calls. That's really all I need it to do right now.
I cannot wait for MacWorld. I would like to see what Apple has up their sleeves this time.
I use my Palm Pre to get online when I am not near my laptop, but my primary means of getting online IS my Mac.
Nah, I don't want an electronic leash on me.
@SlickyFats I use Opera Mini 5 beta. It's much better than the standard BB browser, but not as good as WebKit browsers.
@Smartguy I thought Apple pulled out of MacWorld and is doing its own independent press conferences, no?
@Ray
Yeah they did, but there is still info released there as far what they will be supporting. I also look forward to the new mac softwares discussed. I like all tech conventions really.
@Smartguy Apple is having its own presser on 1/27. At the very least, people are expecting i5 MacBook Pros (I want!!!). Supposedly the iTablet will be there too.
You are close to that huh Ray? Are you going to go or is the knee too bad off for that?
@Smartguy It's actually up in SF, where I used to be. I'm in LA now. I wanted to go, but I have heavy physical therapy for the next few weeks and shouldn't be traveling.
Wait, Apple pulled out of MacWorld. Isn't MacWorld all about Apple?
@ Sandrock
Not sure, I always get it confused with the Punch-Out convention "Little MacWorld".
Which of course is not to be confused with the McDonald's convention… "Big MacWorld".
I'm just gonna stop now.
Ok… just one more:
The 2 $hort convention… "Born To MackWorld"
Now I'm done, I swear.
Did you know that they have an annual Mac (and cheese) convention in Chapel Hill, NC?
http://www.carrborocitizen.com/mill/2007/02/first…
This is not to be confused with the Mack Bolan Convention in San Fransisco:
http://www.donpendleton.com/bolanconvention.htm
Damn you, N8R! Look what you've started!
-M
@Sandrock323 Yes, but there are a lot of companies involved in the Mac ecosystem — software companies, peripheral companies, etc. Still, I don't know how much longer the show can go on without Apple. I guess we'll get a good barometer of that in a few weeks.
Funny, CNBC just ran 2 documentaries about Mac. After watching them and showing the user groups as well as Apple's general attitude with the user groups and other companies that work within the Applesphere… MacWorld might have a good chance of sustaining without Apple directly involved.
It's almost fair to say that the community is stronger than the company itself.
@N8R Fake Steve Jobs could annihilate the community.
That sounds like the dumbest PR mistake ever. When you are the star of the show, you don't just up and leave.
@ Sandrock;
I've seen dumber PR moves. Besides, I think that Apple knows that the show will still be strong without them, and they are probably right. That, my friend, is the true testament to the company's followers. In fact, I would hazard to say that by Apple leaving the show, they are adding to an aura of mystique and making themselves more attractive by doing so. Normally, I would agree with your comment 100% if it were any other company. Apple, however, is not "any other company". They are a force of nature unto themselves.
They don't call it "Cult of Mac" for nothing. Cults, by definition, defy all logic and reasoning.
-M
@Iceman
I think MacWorld will just move into or around whatever day Apple tries to hold for themselves. Obviously everyone is going to want to "ride the coattails" of Apples announcements.
@apple mac convo
being a PC user, I feel relieved that I don't necessarily have to confuse myself with what everyone is talking about here. Participating on this site and paying so much attention to technology new, I probably should understand everything and will probably also make myself sound very ignorant (but I won't let a little thing like that stop me)…I thought apple was mac, and vice versa. I know that's not completely true, but close enough. So I don't really understand the difference between mac and apple.
Personally, it sounds to me like windows vista is less complicated. lol.
@Sandrock323 It doesn't quite work that way. MacWorld 2010 has been schedule for about a year. Invites for the Apple press, before MacWorld, just went out today. Apple can play things pretty close to the vest, but it's more difficult for the conference organizers.
@bsukenyan Apple is the company. Mac is the OS. It's true that they used to be interchangeable, but Apple as a company has broadened with products like iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV.
@ bsukenyan
Actually (technically) R Pad is a little off… but only by a little bit. Mostly accurate though.
Apple is indeed the company and Mac is the PC's themselves. There's Macbooks (plain, Pro, and Air), iMacs, Mac Minis, and Mac Pro. The OS is currently OSX but when refering to the history of their OS, you can get away with Apple OS because they weren't always called Mac (granted anyone still running a IIe is either much nerdier or poorer than me… and that's saying alot from both angles). The current versions of OSX people generally use are code named Snow Leopard (10.6), Leopard (10.5), and some poor bastards are still running Tiger (10.4). Just about every other Apple OS is now obsolete. As for the Macs… just about all of them that don't have the Intel chips are obsolete. I say just about because there are apps for them that are still great even by today's standards and lots of people still run them.
All that said, R Pad is right. They were interchangeable when all Apple really made were computers and software for said computers. Now, they make more stuff than that in case you've been living in a whole for the past 10 years and have recently learned what the internet was.
You may laugh at the concept of that last sentence, but I once saw this guy on the Daily Show who was considered the smartest guy in his African Village because he figured out how to build a windmill. He said "Where was this Google when I was building this thing?"
@ray and @N8R thanks for the explanations. That does make more sense to me now, but not using anything that apple makes other than an iPod touch, and being a pretty big fan of Microsoft and Windows, I usually don't pay too much attention to apple/mac. I know the words (tiger, leopard, snow leopard) because all three of my roommates and my fiance and my sister, and most of my friends, prefer apple; I just don't know too much more than that.
I do think it is a little harder to understand sometimes though, because I have used all three of those OS's, and I can't think of any differences between them right now. But I can see differences between Windows 98, XP, Vista, 7, etc.
@N8R I feel sorry for the person who does not have access to Google and Wikipedia, I feel like I would be lost without them, haha.