Egg Freckles has a post that reminded me of an old favorite product of mine from Apple.

The 17” Apple Studio Display fits an interesting niche in history, having been launched during the period of time when the term “Apple Tax” was coined.  Apple was selling a 15” LCD for $999 and a 20” LCD for $3999 when monitors from other manufacturers were going for less than half that.  Even the 17” ASD itself was arguably overpriced at $499 - despite its advanced color calibration features.  At the time though, it served two purposes - Apple needed a monitor in that price range, and CRTs were still outperforming LCDs in areas like color calibration, bit depth, contrast, and refresh rate.  Or at least some die-hard CRT fans insisted they did.

But aside from the specs, it’s simply a beautiful piece of engineering.  Its design falls between the Fruit style of early iMacs, and the eventual evolution into the White theme, when graphite grey plastic rather than aluminum distinguished the “Pro” products.  This design style didn’t last long - encompassing just this monitor, the iMac DV line, and a couple of G4 desktops - including the legendary G4 Cube.  But it did inspire some great Apple accessories like the Harmon Kardon SoundSticks, which have been in production for over a decade now.

It’s rare for a product like this to see the light of day, even from Apple, which increasingly likes to hide the workings of its devices behind layers of aluminum and glass.  But if you look at teardowns of their recent products, you can see the same attention to internal details, even if they’re no longer visible.  

Hey remember that thing about Verizon not getting the iPhone until at least 2012? Turns out I was right.  If you’re on Verizon and you want an iPhone, it’s time to pony up that absolutely ludicrous ETF and switch to AT&T.  But you might want to wait until July then the new one comes out.  Until then, you may want to give the Kin a shot.  The reviews actually aren’t bad, and it’s certainly one of the more interesting products Verizon has had in awhile.

It’s not just the gear, it’s what it can do. I’ve always liked gear that can tell me where I am.  In my formative years, that was maps, charts, compasses, and when I could get my hands on it, my dad’s Magellan NAV 1000.  Now I’ve got two devices within arm’s reach that can tell me exactly where I am, and display it in a thousand different ways.  The weird thing is, my iPad doesn’t even have a GPS receiver.  How does that work exactly?

I re-watched this video and thought I sounded kind of…uninformed.  So here’s the long version of “I think it uses wifi.”

Skyhook Wireless is a really interesting company.  With considerably less fanfare than Google’s much-talked-about Streetview, they’ve managed to accomplish a feat of similar scope.  They wardrove 70% of of the population centers in the US and Canada (and continue to do so, to update their database).  Now they have a database of over a hundred million wifi access points (identified by their MAC address), and their associated geographic location. 

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Opera for the iPhone is now the #1 most downloaded free app in all 22 app stores.  This pretty well showcases Apple users’ desperation for third party replacement for the stock apps on the iPhone.  It’s also amazing, considering it’s currently not a very good browser.

Now, I’m a fan of Opera on the desktop.  It’s always been the enthusiast browser of choice - chock full of cool features and settings.  But it does feel a little rough around the edges, with a design and polish that looks fine on a PC, but a little out of place on the iPhone.

So far, most of the reviews I’ve read have focused on the speed.  Here are my informal benchmarks:

• Somemotivationrequired.com - Opera: 10s Safari: 10s
• Nytimes.com - Opera: 10s Safari: 1:28m
• Bensbargains.net - Opera: 24s Safari: 24s
• Kotaku.com (mobile) - Opera: 13s Safari: 9s
• Reddit.com - Opera: 14s  Safari: 12s

This wasn’t conducted in any kind of scientific capacity (I did clear my browser cache first), but it looks like they’re pretty evenly matched, excusing the Times website.  So what don’t I actually like about it?  Well…I’ve only read one review that really sums it up nicely, and it wasn’t even from a major website - it was by some dude in the comments on Gizmodo.  Yes it’s a wall of text, but it’s a good wall of text.

Personally, I’m happy to have a second browser, because sometimes Safari just can’t load a page properly, and maybe Opera will be able to.

Now I want Chrome on my iPad.

My beard should have its own show.

I get it, guys.  Seriously.  Everyone I know who doesn’t have an iPhone has one of two reasons.

1. They’re on their mom’s family plan and she won’t switch carriers.
2. They’re on a company plan.

And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.  You’re cheap, you’re owned by your company, whatever.  But if you’re a journalist, you have something of an (oh god I can hear people laughing) obligation to report well-researched, or at least plausible facts.  The latest article cites the following highly credible sources:

• “People familiar with the situation”
• “People familiar with the device”
• “People briefed by the company”

And, none of those people said anything about Verizon.  Just CDMA.  So, employees of WSJ, with your Blackberries; I sympathize, I really do.  But Apple isn’t going to make a Verizon iPhone just because you write an article every week, predicting it.

One “we told you so!” isn’t worth years of bad journalism and failed predictions.

It’s that time again - time to venture into the primitive fringe of civilization known as the San Juan Islands.  And what does a gear enthusiast like myself bring on an expedition like this? Short answer: a lot.  Long answer: see below.

REI Thermo Fitted Cap.  This hat proved itself on a couple of trips that involved snow, and one where it rained the whole time.  The only problem with it (and I’ll admit this is minor) is that there’s no way to identify, at a glance, where the back is.  The logo is offset, and there isn’t a medial seam.

Osprey Stratos 40.  It seems like I’m linking to a lot of dead products.  Does this mean I need to update some of my gear? Anyway, I need a main bag to carry the kind of stuff normal people bring on trips - you know, like clothes.  I got this one by going to REI and talking to Boots (if you’ve been to the flagship store much, you’ve probably met Boots). I told him I wanted the biggest backpack that could fit in an overhead bin without making me look like a jerk. This is my primary travel bag for any trips longer than overnight.  I’m not a huge fan of it, but it gets the job done. Mostly it’s just not very interesting looking, and it doesn’t have enough pockets to organize things in a useful way.

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D550.  If I’m driving somewhere, I don’t bother to repack my laptop bag, I just throw it on top of everything else.  I may write a whole article about this at some point.

The Crumpler Keystone.  Gotta bring a day pack, right?

Merrel Chameleon Stretch.  I just pulled these out of storage.  They’re not waterproof or insulated, so I mostly use them in the summer.  They are ridiculously comfortable though, and have great traction.  This pair went with me on several trips last year.

Black & Decker Simplestart. I’ve had this in my car since Christmas.  I tried to use it on Friday but I think the battery was dead.  Guess I should recharge it every month or so.

Thule Cascade XT 1700 roof box.  Never know when I may need to transport a bunch of stuff back from the island.  It happens.

1998 Subaru Impreza. I love my car.  It’s like a big piece of gear.  AWD is unstoppable in snow, and the hatchback design can fit a ton of stuff in the back.  It’s also unpretentious and blends in everywhere - I consider this a feature.

AN/PVS-7 Night Vision Goggles with head mount.  It actually gets dark in the islands (unlike Seattle).

iPhone 3Gs. Gotta bring my phone.  I’m also rocking a six foot sync cable from Monoprice (so handy).

Meebo. I used this a ton on the ferry, when it turned out that their plethora of “WE HAVE WIFI!” signs were in fact vile, unscrupulous lies.  The Meebo iPhone app is free, and is considerably better than the my former favorite IM app - the for-pay BeeJive.  It’s just lacking one feature - it works in landscape mode, but not upside down.

Well, I *just* got back from that trip (needed broadband to finish this article, arg).  So I think I’m going to wrap this up and unpack.  

Yeah, unpacking takes me awhile. 

I’m not a big fan of the design of the Magic Mouse.  It’s just too flat, and I can’t imagine that’s good for your wrist.  Functionally it’s awesome, and I’d like to see the technology in more devices - I just think they sacrificed ergonomics for style.  Apparently someone else noticed this problem, and fixed it (pictured above). Will Davidson (owner of Hybrid Racing) came up with a simple silicon pad that attaches with a suction cup, and provides that important bit of support for your palm.  Personally, I would’ve liked to see it follow the lines of the Magic Mouse a little more. Maybe that will show up in the next version.  Either way, good idea.

I was going to write something about this.  But really all I can think of is how much it reminds me of a toilet seat.  And this.

God I hate bezels.  I really do.  Besides the obvious - they’re hideous - they just tend to indicate that the device is a cheap piece of crap.  That the manufacturer couldn’t even be bothered to put in an LCD that fits.  I’ve always been aware on some level that thinner bezels look better, but I hadn’t seen it properly implemented until this came out.

That’s how you make a bezel.  Now let’s look at some Fail.

Hey, it’s not like Apple is immune to Fail.

In all fairness, it has been pointed out that it would be hard to hold a tablet if it was all screen. But it sure would be pretty.

The original Asus Eeeeee PC has no excuse.  Well, except that it was designed from the ground up to be cheap crap.

Before there were any pictures of it, the specs just said it was a “7 inch screen laptop,” which I thought sounded pretty awesome.  I remember actually making a barfing sound when it was revealed.  One of the most popular things to do with wasted bezel space is put speakers in it.  Which in this case just emphasizes the tiny screen.

I guess this is kind of supposed to double as a picture frame, but god damn it’s ugly.

It’s literally half bezel.  Gross.

Fortunately, this is mostly a problem in the low to mid-range laptop market.  Televisions, by their very size, tend to have a low bezel to screen ratio, and computers monitors are starting to head the same way.  Most major panel manufacturers even offer truly bezel-less models for use in video walls.

My point is this.  If you’re designing a device of some kind, for the love of god, make the LCD the same size as the frame around it.  Or I’ll blog about it, and make you feel bad.