luminary blur » iPhone

Ridiculous Line for IPhone 4

Ben — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:33:48 +0000

This was what I was greeted with on June 24 when I attempted to pick up my “reserved” iPhone 4 at Orland Square Mall in Orland Park, IL. The line went from the center of the mall (past the Apple store) almost all the way down one of the spokes to Sears. It was around 11 AM and I stood in line for about 20 minutes, moving up a foot or so. I bailed after that and vowed to come back later.

I didn’t. So my iPhone for is now on order, “shipping by June 14.”

Posted via email from Ben’s posterous

More Thoughts on Apple and Patents

Ben — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:02:56 +0000

I keep hearing over and over that patents stifle innovation. That it is the iteration of innovation that creates new innovation. I’m sorry, but I really don’t think that’s true. The mark of true innovation is something that is truly innovative, not some mere iteration of someone else’s idea. Take, for example, the iPad. I would wager that no one would call the device innovative—after all, it’s just a giant iPod touch. But wait, it’s more than that. It’s an iteration of the technology used to make the iPod touch and iPhone. But it is far from innovative.

Innovation happens when someone breaks the mold. It happens when something new is created where there wasn’t something before. The original iPhone was an innovation in this regard. And, to those who hold up Apple’s past “transgressions” as proof that stealing ideas is ok, I also put forward the claim that the original Macintosh was an innovation. Sure, it used bits and pieces of different technologies that were already there. But, it put them together in a wholly new and innovative way.

Compare the story of the Mac’s creation with, say, the HTC phones that supposedly violate Apple’s patents. These devices aren’t taking what the iPhone started and making something new with them—they’re still just phones. I think Apple has every right to demand that HTC actually come up with something innovative rather than the derivative drivel that they’re pushing today.

Oh Apple, what does this mean?

Ben — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:16:24 +0000

I’ve got an Apple TV and two iTunes libraries on my local network. Remote (on my iPhone) connects fine to my main iTunes library but gives this error message when connecting to either the aTV or the secondary library:

Obviously it’s not a router issue since all the devices in question (iMac, MacBook, and aTV) are connected to the same Airport Extreme.

So…what’s the deal?

Posted via email from Ben’s posterous

WordPress for iPhone…Working Again

Ben — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:35:32 +0000

Apparently there was an update to the WordPress app for the iPhone today and it finally works with my blog again!!! For some reason the previous version would crash every time I tried to acces this blog. Not any more!

What Happened Today

Ben — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:11:53 +0000

This is somehow not a compilation of my various Tweets and Plurks but rather an independent compendium of what happened today.

Finally received my highly anticipated Rode PSA 1 Studio Arm. It doesn’t work. I’m either going to send it back to B&H or deal with Rode. Sending it back requires paying return postage but to me if it’s defective it should be free. Right?
My disappointment over the studio arm is almost tempered by the highly anticipated release of iPhone 2.2 software. Podcast downloads, here I come! Oh and the Google Street View sounds cool too.
Scheduled to podcast a murder mystery dinner on Saturday. I have a long history with such events (as a performer) so it will be interesting to be on the “other side.”

That is all. Well maybe a video too…

Rode PSA 1 – NOT WORKING! from Ben Hinc on Vimeo.

My First Real iPhone Blog Post

Ben — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:28:09 +0000

I’m really more interested in trying this out than anything. When Apple finally announced official 3rd party app support, my initial idea of a “killer app” was mobile blogging software. Now that WordPress for the iPhone is out, my wish has been realized (I know TypePad was first but I’m a WordPress guy) and here I am blogging from work. Will this newfound ability increase my output? Doubtful. I’ve vowed to be more prolific too many times to count yet this blog still chugs along at one post a month.

Still, the idea of slowly crafting a post via iPhone throughout the day when a spare moment presents itself is an attractive proposition. Heck, it sure beats wasting time on Twinkle which seems to be slowly morphing into some sort of Web 2.0 dating service (see attached screen grab – “female playmate” – enough said).

And so concludes my first truly mobile post. I hope there will be many more.

Note: After posting originally with WordPress on my iPhone, I went back in with ecto to center the image (for some reason I hate left-aligned images) and also to add a few links to the body of the post. Despite some minor post-production, I think posting from my iPhone is powerful indeed and will—hopefully—drive me to be more active.

Home Screen Update

Ben — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:04:24 +0000

Now that I’ve got 1.1.4 jailbroken on my iPhone with not one but two package managers with which to obtain 3rd-party apps, I may not care what Apple announces on Thursday. For now, here’s some shots of my home screens…after the jump.

Home Screen 1 – The Main Screen

Home Screen 2 – The Secondary Screen

Home Screen 3 – Games + ScreenShot

Home Screen 4 – Package Managers + BossPrefs

The Ben Show 013 – Unbricking My iPhone

Ben — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 05:52:32 +0000

You asked, I answer. Normally I don’t flash-embed on the main page (or the RSS feed) but in this case I will. It’s a video blog post after all.

The Ben Show 013 – Unbricking My iPhone from Ben Hinc on Vimeo

1.1.3 Wi-Fi Jailbreak Liveblog

Ben — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:11:08 +0000

Liveblog contained after the jump. Enjoy!

6:00pm – Began the process. Started by asking me if I wanted to “hacktivate” the phone eventually. I do not – I am a law-abiding AT&T customer.

6:03pm – The firmware downloaded.

6:07pm – The firmware extracted.

6:09pm – The firmware is currently being “decrypted.”

6:12pm – The firmware is being “decompressed.” Wonder how many more steps there will be to get the firmware going?

6:14pm – Still decompressing. Wish I had a bit more patience.

6:15pm – Finally. Now “reading existing image.”

6:19pm – Now “Mounting new system image.” Whatever that means. Also “Copying data to system image.”

6:21pm – All right. How much “data” is there? I’m up to 500 files. Hmm.

6:23pm – Over 1000 files. Who knew I had this much crap on my phone?

6:26pm – The file count has stopped but the thingie is still spinning. Ok never mind, it started again.

6:30pm – Stuck at file 1548. Waiting…

6:38pm – Around file 2200 now. Still going.

6:45pm – Finalizing image, performing userland migration, writing image!!!

6:47pm – 75% done writing image.

6:48pm – 95% – what will happen next?

6:49pm – Rebooting!!!

6:50pm – Still stuck on the Apple logo.

6:51pm – It worked!!! I have jiggly icons! Now to test the other “new” features….

6:53pm – Refreshing Installer.app to see if there are any urgent updates now that I have 1.1.3.

6:57pm – Uh oh. I have a seemingly bricked iPhone. Going into emergency mode now…

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

iTunes Help in Video Form

Ben — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 04:07:08 +0000

Know someone with a new iPod or iPhone? Apple’s newly released iTunes Tutorials may come in handy. Heck, I might even learn something.