February 26, 2010

@crust_pizza online order fail

February 24, 2010

Apple hypocracy

The geek news over the past few days has been full of the fact that Apple has decided to remove a whole bunch of "adult" applications from the App Store. Fare thee well, iBoobs et al.

Now, while I don't have an issue with this at all - cleaning the crap out of the App Store is just going to make it easier to find good stuff - I do have a problem with two aspects that stick out as wrong.

Firstly, it's inconsistent. They've removed all the kind of crappy adult apps (shake your phone and watch the girls boobs wobble), but have left the name brand stuff like Playboy (iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/playboy/id340150554?mt=8). Again, I don't have an issue with this, but surely it would be a simple matter to create an adult app category and be done with it?

Secondly (and this isn't technically an adult app issue, but does relate to random and inconsistent censorship of apps), how can some applications be refused submission for offensive content, and yet others can get away with both offensive content and an age rating of 4+? For example, have a look at the electronic version of Irvine Welsh's book, "Crime". (iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/irvine-welsh-crime/id327785710?mt=8)

An e-book reader application, such as the Kindle app (http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/kindle-for-iphone/id302584613?mt=8), Stanza (http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/stanza/id284956128?mt=8), or whatever, should be rated 4+ as it in and of itself does not contain anything offensive. The individual books, however, might contain material that is offensive. That content is outside the control of Apple, and up to the discretion of the e-book purchaser.

Let's examine the "Crime" app for a moment. This isn't an e-book reader, it's a dedicated application that contains a single book. That book contains a whole bunch of stuff that many people would consider offensive. And it is rated 4+, and Apple have approved that application for that age group.

A plea to Apple on behalf of the developers of the world: Let's get some clear guidelines in place, and then stick to them. Apply them equally to everyone. Don't change the rules on a whim. Let the adults buy adult content if they want to.

The developer community is what has enabled the iPhone to become the success that it is. Sure, it's a great device, and the interface really did set a new bar for everyone to aim to, but without the third party application support it would never have been the success that it now is.

For the record, I'm a big fan of Irvine Welsh, and have most of his work, which is why I can single this application out, 'cause I know how he writes. And love it. Go and buy his books, they're awesome. But not really suitable for a four-year-old.

January 28, 2010

Virgin - what they need to do

I'm currently hanging around in the wasteland known as LAX (terminal 3, which manages to be even more desolate than the Tom Bradley terminal) waiting for a flight to San Francisco. Thanks to some amazing pricing, I decided to fly over on Virgin, rather than Qantas. Virgin, here are a few things you guys really need to sort out if you're going to seriously cut into the other airlines.

Actually, I'll delay that for a second - first, I'll run through what was good!

First will have to be the service. While I normally fly Qantas, it's usually a force of habit thing for domestic flights, and a lack of routes out of Melbourne for international. While I know some people who will disagree with me, I cannot fault the service I have received from Virgin Blue. On every flight they have always been friendly and attentive from check-in through to the flight, and on the ground at the other end.
On-time performance has never (until now!) been an issue, and my current delay is weather related, so what can you do? My Virgin Blue flight left Melbourne on time, and my V Australia flight pushed back a minute or two early.
The planes themselves always seem to be in reasonable condition. The domestic leg on a 737 was pleasant enough. The international sector on a new 777 was great, and the entertainment system really is top notch.

So, where's the issue?

Well, it's the little things, around the edges:

Virgin Blue can't check me in for the V Australia or Virgin America flights; I had to recheck in both Brisbane and Los Angeles.
Lounge access. While Virgin Blue has the major domestic airports covered, it's really lacking on the international side. Then when you get to the US, you're stuffed because there are no reciprocal agreements to cover being on a Virgin America flight (if I was on V Australia, I could use the Alaskan Airlines lounge). Right now I'm just hanging out at the gate. Yes, I'm a snob, but that comes with spending a lot of time on planes.
Virgin America - sort out your frequent flyer program! I can't believe I don't earn Velocity points. I do on Virgin Atlantic.

Of course, if they are really serious they need to increase their destinations from other Australian capitals. I'm not going to make a habit of flying via Sydney or Brisbane when I could just jump on a Qantas flight and go direct. What I'd do is ditch the Virgin Atlantic flight from Hong Kong to Sydney, and replace it with V Australia from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. You have to get off the plane in HKG anyway, so if you're travelling through to London you just jump on the Atlantic flight. I know, they are all operated as separate companies, and they all want to maintain their revenue streams. I'm just saying...

Overall, like I said, it's only little things. But the little things can add up to a lot, especially when you're travelling a lot for work. Given my flight has just been pushed back another 30 minutes I'm really missing the lounge right now!

January 27, 2010

Having only just got back from our annual sales conference in Israel on Friday, this morning I'm heading out to San Francisco for a training session that I decided was essential.

This trip is a bit of a departure (no pun intended) from my usual practice. Normally I would have flown Qantas direct into SFO via Sydney, but, being a little jaded with service levels lately decided to look at alternatives. Glad I did!

For the same price - almost to the dollar - as the QF economy service I've got premium economy on V Australia.

Only downside is they don't have a direct service from Melbourne to LA today, so I'm currently chilling in the Virgin Blue lounge waiting for a flight to Brisbane. It's premium as well, so all good.

Sent from my iPhone

January 18, 2010

View from my window

January 18, 2010

Back in Tel Aviv

After what seemed a marathon journey (nine hours from Melbourne to Bangkok, and then another 12 to Tel Aviv), I landed safe and sound this morning. Nothing too harsh from the security guys. Got off quite lightly compared to one of my work collegues, who managed to trip the explosives detector!

Flight out from Melbourne was great - hardly anyone on board, so had lots of seats to myself with a nice buffer zone all around. No such luck on the next leg. As usual LY82 was quite crowded. To add to the joy I was right down the back of the plane, and all the overhead lockers were taken up with either spare life jackets or bread rolls.

Now, just trying to stay awake until dinner; then have some munchies and off for a good night of sleep. Sales conference starts tomorrow, fingers crossed I can stay awake.

January 11, 2010

Thank you Apple

I just wanted to publicly thank the nice people at the Apple Store at Doncaster.

For some reason my iPhone died on Saturday, displaying a strange error message about not being able to make calls, and that I should do a restore with iTunes. The restore failed. On three computers.

Disaster! Not only do I kind of need a phone for work, I'm heading overseas this week.

I jumped on the web site and tried to get an appointment with the Genius Bar. Earliest I could get (that would fit with my schedule) was Wednesday morning. Argh.

So, I decided to chance it. Sunday morning I just turned up, and explained my plight, and asked to go on the waitlist. The concierge who checked me in took the time to do some initial troubleshooting, and then agreed it looked fatal and said if I could hang around they'd do their best to try and see me. I didn't even get to finish browsing the audio input devices!

After less than ten minutes someone was working on my phone, and in less than another ten I was walking out with a brand new unit.

Okay, so, bummer it failed, but an awesome response!