The Muse

I live in South Carolina, home of the missing governor who now has made me unable to say “hiking” with a straight face. Sanford, along with Alaska governor Palin, have made very public (and rambling) statements in the past weeks, and the media dissection would still be going had Michael Jackson not died and the spree killer in Gaffney not appeared. What of these public confessions? What’s wrong with believing them at face value. Stanley Fish argued the same in a recent blog post:

So what’s the bottom line story? Simple. Sanford is in love. Palin is in pain. Sometimes what it seems to be is what it is.

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Today I sat with my father and grandfather (and the rest of my family, of course) and had a great lunch, followed by a few hours of family time. I came home and looked at the news, and out of what must have been a sick sense of curiosity, I saw the YouTube video of what will undoubtedly be the poster incident for the Iran election protests: a young girl named Neda cut down by a policeman’s bullet, her father crying over her as her life slips away.

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fowlerjk commentary, life humanity, iran, neda, politics

As a fan of Craigslist, I browse the writing & editing gig sections often. There’s always at least one post asking talented writers & editors to do the work without pay, or for peanuts.

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fowlerjk business, commentary business practices, craigslist, customer service, fairness

I’m a coffee geek. Back in college, if I was in a library (which was most of the time), I had some sort of espresso beverage nearby. I don’t drink nearly as much as I used to, but it’s a daily ritual, at the least. I spent many hours in Clemson’s Cooper Library writing lit crit papers with a tall mocha from Java City sitting beside my laptop. In 2003, during a summer at the College of Charleston for a couple of Latin classes (Clemson didn’t offer them at the time), I spent much of my time in the old library.

Fast-forward to today. My wife & I stopped by the local Starbucks. We prefer independent joints, but the spring semester is finished at Clemson and the hours of other (independent) coffee shops are spotty. I ordered an iced mocha. I haven’t had one of those in quite some time, having developed a taste for the simpler iced latte. As I sat and enjoyed the drink, I started thinking about the summer of 2003.

Why? There’s a Starbucks across the street from the old college library in Charleston, and I would often walk across Calhoun to get an iced mocha. The taste became forever associated with that summer, those hours in the cool library studying Latin and listening to classic Chicago, then walking out into the sun and muggy air of Charleston. Iced espresso beverages vary in taste, and I know I’ve had an iced mocha between now and 2003, but not one from Starbucks. Taking that first sip from the straw really brought me back to a great summer.

        

fowlerjk commentary, life charleston, clemson, coffee, college, memory

Life circumstances have kept me away from the blog. My apologies.

A few posts ago, I wondered if the new iPod Shuffle would become Apple’s own version of the MemoryStick. Proprietary technology has its place, but when you’re dealing with memory or headphones, it’s best to play nice. In the last issue of MacWorld, Dan Moren has similar misgivings:

Alas, no more. The decision to put the controls on the headphones means that unless Apple opens up the controls to third parties, you can’t even play music on the iPod without using Apple’s own earbuds. What happens if, as is also not unheard of, Apple’s stock earbuds break? Your iPod is completely useless until you get another pair of approved headphones. This is not Sparta, this is madness.

        

fowlerjk business, commentary apple, usability

I didn’t bother with Facebook (or facebook, as it is properly named) until grad school, at the urging of my classmates. Since then I’ve had on-and-off periods. But for the past month, I haven’t spent more than five minutes there. Why? The redesign is horrible.

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fowlerjk business, commentary facebook, technology, usability, websites

Apple has released a new version of the iPod Shuffle, and while it is smaller, the lack of onboard controls has many consumers upset. MacWorld’s Dan Moren calls it “a step back in both the usability and compatibility departments.” The Industry Standard’s Paul Bolin (who seems surprised that Apple consumers know how to revolt at all) suggests that costs related to the remote-control headphones are problematic.

On the other hand, as Tom Reestman writes, mastering the new Shuffle still requires only three basic functions, it’s the most feature-rich Shuffle yet, and being able to store the 3G Shuffle on your person without having to keep pulling it out for control is a handy thing.

Rob Beschizza hints at the hesitation I share about the new 3G Shuffle: “…for today’s show, the part of Sony will be played by Apple.” When Sony introduced the MemoryStick, I worried about the proprietary technology. It’s turned out reasonably well, but isn’t it frustrating that you can’t use a MemoryStick in all digital cameras, and you can’t always use a XD/SD card in Sony digital cameras?

The bottom line here is that, like a Sony camera and MemoryStick, your iPod will be forever paired with a set of headphones to control it. Forget using your custom headphones, and if you lose the pair that came with the Shuffle, it’s not like you can just grab a spare set from another device. Further, the comparisons to the other iPod models that have headphone remotes don’t fly, because if you lost the headphone remote, you could still control the iPod by the buttons on the device.

        

fowlerjk commentary apple, business, ipod, proprietary, sony, technology, usability