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December 20, 2009

Be a Specialist (DLSR) or Generalist (iPhone)?

The ever long debate I've had as a consultant - be a specialist or generalist. I answered this with the former as a consultant and changed the course of my life. But today, I thought I'd look at something I love doing and apply the same thought.

Would you buy a 'dedicated' DSLR camera aka SPECIALIST OR an 'all-in-one' gadget (like iPhone) aka GENERALIST?

When the iPod originally came out - it focused on one and only one thing... becoming the best mp3 player available! It was simple to use, hardly anything extra... somewhere down the road, they forked - they introduced the iPod Touch AND the iPod continued (in Nano and Shuffle and Classic modes). The fact remains, iPod Nano got the upgrade recently (with a camera and fm radio) whilst iPod Touch was... untouched!

Back to the point, Apple's success was in creating the best mp3 player. Now with iPhone, it's trying to be an all-in-one device (Phone, Multimedia, Laptop, Gaming, GPS, etc). 

I like that... but I still like going through my photos, and only putting the best ones up after editing for exposure and touching up on contrast or color depth. I don't want to upload grainy amateur photos to flickr. 

Ok, so ease of uploading is another factor, with apps like PicPosterous - you can upload instantly (provided u have an internet connection) - however, there's the EYEFI SD card which does (almost) the same thing - and you can use it on any camera! Today, a number of cameras especially with HD Video allow you to upload directly to YouTube (and I think in some cases flickr).

So my question is this... would you like a dedicated device or an all-in-one gadget? Would you prefer to lug around all these specialist devices or just carry a single, no-so-perfect, all-in-all device? If you're time is sacred... which would you chose?

Here's something to think about on the SPECIALIST vs. GENERALIST debate:
  • Mp3 Player: iPod Nano/Shuffle/Touch [OR] iPhone
  • Laptop/Netbook: Macbook Air [OR] iPhone
  • GPS: Garmin [OR] iPhone
  • Gaming: PSP [OR] iPhone
  • Camera: DSLR/Point N Shoot [OR] iPhone
  • Video: FlipHD [OR] iPhone
  • Phone: Blackberry Bold [OR] iPhone
Ok, the last one was unfair... nevertheless, I'm still debating this... and have a Blackberry.

 

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Filed under  //   blackberry   dslr   fliphd   garmin   generalist   iphone   ipod   macbook   macbook air   mp3   nano   psp   shuffle   specialist   touch  

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July 15, 2009

The Mac Software List

Just completed installing all the latest updates on my MacBook Air.

  1. 1Password (just installed today)
  2. Adium (havent been using this in a looong while)
  3. Airfoil (Bought. Connected wireless to my Bose Musicwave)
  4. AppCleaner (very useful)
  5. Chromium (testing out Chrome for Mac - its fast)
  6. DropBox (Ultimate Backup/Synchronize software)
  7. Firefox (Switching to Safari/Chrome for speed)
  8. iMobimac Modem (not really able to tether this to my blackberry)
  9. Last.fm (Can't live without it)
  10. MAMP (Stop site designing after installing DIY Themes!)
  11. MindNode Pro (I just love using this once in a while)
  12. Neatworks (Scanning all my cards/receipts/invoices/documents)
  13. Onyx (keep Mac OSX running smoothly!)
  14. Pixelmator (Photoshop move aside)
  15. QuickTime Player (pro)
  16. ShareTool (never got around to using this - VNC)
  17. Skype (VoIP over the phone is what I have with ViaCloud Bahrain)
  18. Speed Download 5 (Can't live without it)
  19. SuperDuper (Can't live without it - I learnt my lesson)
  20. Stuffit (Winzip alternative)
  21. TextMate (Trial edition - occaisional web/css editing)
  22. ThinkOrSwim (Trading Platform)
  23. Transmission (Torrents - used once in a while)
  24. Transmit (FTP)
  25. TweetDeck (Twitter)
  26. Tweetie (Twitter - just testing this out)
  27. Vidalia (Ahem)
  28. VLC (throw any media file at it)
  29. VMWare Fusion (incase I need to work on Excel)
  30. WePrint Server (iPod App)
  31. XMarks for Safari (Synchronize Bookmarks across Office/Home)
  32. XPad (Text Edit... neat and free)
  33. Adobe Air (for certain apps)
  34. WMV Player (when I need to convert certain windows media files to ipod)
  35. Growl (just notify)
  36. Logitech Control Center (for logitech wireless mouse)
That's a long list! Any suggestion to reducing this is welcome!

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Filed under  //   list   mac   macbook   software  

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January 6, 2009

Living In THE CLOUD

Cloud computing has become a hot term these days, with the onslaught of NetBooks - people are accepting the concept of Information/Software/Apps as a Service (SAAS, IAAS, AAS). I've been talking about this for a long time, actually it was Larry Elison of Oracle who talked about this first - he used the term, Dumb Terminals. Bill Gates certainly rubbed it off. But today, If we have enough computing power and bandwidth - we can easily live the Cloud Lifestyle.

I've recently purchased the MacBook Air (after switching a year ago to Mac) - and I'm reorganizing my life around this. This means simplifying a lot of things. Chucking out apps that I don't need, reorganizing my desktop (real one). Decluttering and eliminating stuff, applications, subscriptions etc is essential to this.

Furthermore, I'm also learning alot from experts like Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion.com and building my own knowledgebase of cloud computing, living a nomadic life (at avcion.pbwiki.com). One thing I've learn from my previous consulting profession, was that you should be very familiar with your tools if you really want to use them efficiently.


To end this, I'm adding a photo on Steve Jobs, yes life was simpler - it still can be!:

CAPTION FOR PHOTO
"This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that's what I had."..... Steve Jobs.
Photo credit: Diana Walker

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Filed under  //   cloud   digital   knowledgebase   macbook   simple  

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