First take two things that seem the same but aren’t…

Love this but not for the reasons you might think. 10 things Linux does better than OS X 

It’s the sheer pointlessness of it, you might as well write a piece on “10 things a van does better than an estate car” or “10 things a biro does better than a pencil”.  Hang on there’s an idea.

My history podcast gets to Number 3

The Binge Thinking History Podcast seems out of the blue to have risen up the charts on iTunes.  On the UK site under History (of course) it’s now No 3 keeping excellent with Melvyn Bragg, Matthew Parris and Neil Oliver.  Not sure how long this fame, if that what it is, will last but it’s nice to know people are listening and enjoying.

Zune vs iPod Smackdown. Not quite…

Many of the ‘fanboys’ of both Microsoft and Apple might find it contradictory that you can work for one organisation and still be a fan of the other, but fellow ‘Microsoftie’ Steve Clayton and I are members of this as it turns out not so exclusive club.  So I read with some interest Steve’s post linking to a piece giving 10 reasons why Zune beats the iPod.  A bait for flame if ever there was one.  However I’ve have been scratching my chin wondering if such as comparison really tells us anything because Apple has the Classic, Touch and iPhone all of which share features as do Zune and Windows Mobile (Smartphone and Pocket PC in old money), besides anyone who has spend more than say five to ten minutes in the world of tech and gadgets knows that ‘feature wars’ are pointless exercises at the best of times, especially now as the categories (puts on marketing hat) that devices like these fall into are blurred.

However for the sake of adding my tuppence here’s a few of my thoughts. 

Apple have 3rd party support nailed…no question.  A Black iPod Classic was purchased specifically to sit on the front of my brilliant and beautiful B&W Zeppelin.   The problem with the Classic though is that now we’re looking at laptop size capacities the interface is running out of puff despite improvements like Cover flow, search really needs looking at especially as iTunes makes some really strange decisions about categories and tagging of a significant minority of my music collection.

iTunes.  I have a bit of a love hate relationship with iTunes.  Because it’s really a Mac app posing as a Windows one it’s not, how shall I put it, an optimal experience.  OK it’s slow.  I always have to help it out with artwork and the UI is great if you use the iTunes store but not as good if you don’t.  I’m not convinced by Genius either.  Where it hits the back of the net is with podcasts, both as a listener and a producer I fall into both camps and 90% of listeners download my humble production from iTunes.  

I can’t officially buy a Zune in the UK.  I do however really like the UI and Marketplace is refreshing free of clutter, easy to use and Zune Social is a compelling USP.  It’s the podcasting shtick again that prevents me moving from like to love; it’s all the obvious professional US centric shows that get screen time and for the rest of the podcasting world you need to know the RSS feed.  And no they are not always obvious apart from the last three letters.

Whilst some might consider the inclusion of an FM radio on the Zune or lack of one on the iPod a minor issue it’s like much of this debate down to preferences and listening habits.  As an avid radio head, well Radio 4 head, Zune makes my wish come true about listening to R4 whilst on the move without having to have yet another device.  I know you can get an add on for the iPod…but why? 

In the end though unless you’re a geek, and a particular kind of geek at that, decisions about purchasing this kind of technology are rarely down to a feature by feature comparison, there is all important and endless questions about preferences, heuristics and brand that no amount of marketing or research and development can predict. 

I will take issue with one thing from Jeff Blankenburg’s post where he wrote, “…being popular just because you’re popular isn’t enough.”  Sorry Jeff but more often than not it is.

Aren’t the odd numbered ones always rubbish?

OK I need to confess.  I understand it’s good for the soul.  I’m a bit of a ‘fanboy’ when it comes to the original series of Star Trek.  Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the crew are all TV heroes of mine and of course NCC 1701 too.  ‘Next Generation’ got into it’s stride eventually but by and large everything has been a gentle downwards spiral since then, the last series ‘Enterprise’ was particularly poor.  The movies to have been a mixed bunch, mainly in the ‘not good’ category with ‘Khan’ probably being the pick as far the better ones are concerned.

So a remake or ‘re-imagining’ as Hollywood likes to pretentiously call them of the original series in movie form ought to be a good thing…right?  My initial Pavlovian response was “&%$£ yeah!” but my Trekkie heart sank when it turned out to be JJ Abrams is in charge.  Lost.  Who cares now?  Mission Impossible III.  Oh please.  Cloverfield.  Yawn.  And even in the new trailer I see this isn’t going to be the Star Trek movie that I hoped would banish the memory of the mediocrity that has gone before. 

In any ‘re-imagining’ you have to stay true at last in part to the source material, in particular the characterisations.  Kirk still has to ‘Kirk’, Spock still has to be ‘Spock’.  You can’t bugger about with these archetypes  as they are what makes Star Trek…Star Trek.  Miss that point and you’ve no business anywhere near a movie like this but already Chris Pine, who plays the young Kirk, said he wants to bring some Harrison Ford style humour to the part.  This artistic sodding about does not bode well.

Come to think of it whenever has a remake of a classic TV show or movie ever been a patch on the original? I can only think of one.

Alistair Cook @ 100

Alistair Cook is what journalism should be about and the world is a poorer place without him.  Catch the Radio 4 programme hosted by James Naughtie and remind yourself why.

The past by way of the future

For me one guitarist stands out above all others…forget the two Jimmys, Eric and Carlos, I’ve always preferred Yorkshire’s first and probably only guitar hero.  And today I’m going to see something I never thought I’d witness; Bill Nelson playing live…but not only that rumour has it he’ll be, along with a band formed specially for the occasion called The Gentlemen Rocketeers, playing a full set of material ‘from the past’.  This cryptic pronouncement probably means Be Bop Deluxe and who knows maybe Red Noise and typical of the man it’ll be a one off never to be repeated treat for those present.  He’ll also be performing material he’s written specifically for the event and if he runs out of ideas, which he doesn’t, there’s always the sixty plus other albums he’s made to fall back on.

I’m sat on the train travelling to York now and it and seems in it’s own way rather like a pilgrimage.

Top 20 Brands

You’d be forgiven on occasion for thinking we are a nation obsessed with lists, Top 100 this and Best Whatever that, many are pointless but some are an insight into how we at one specific moment view the world around us and ourselves.   The Observer this week has a whole section dedicated to the ‘Cool Brands of 2008′ using as a start point the annual CoolBrands survey, which collates it’s results from a mixture of ‘brand experts’ and Joe Q Public.  I scratched my new beard at the idea of ‘experts’ picking a list especially when you see  how it compares it the one the public would chose, a object lesson in the subjectivity of such lists I guess.  The ‘experts’ included Tate Modern and The Soho House Group whereas the public ignored them and picked Nintendo and YouTube instead.  To me that speaks volumes. 

Maybe though all this analysis is pointless, after all isn’t what makes a brand successful something we can’t bottle up and give to others…your brand is either in vogue or it isn’t.  You can spend millions, as many have, trying to turn a brand into something special only to see it ignored, that’s not to say you can’t improve it’s perception, maybe even get on some top 20 cool list, however be prepared for the way it happens to be different to how you expect.

Oh and here’s the list:

01. Aston Martin.
02. iPhone.
03. Apple.
04. Bang & Olufsen.
05. YouTube.
06. Google.
07. Nintendo.
08. Agent Provocateur.
09. Rolex.
10. Tate Modern.
11. Dom Perignon.
12. Virgin Atlantic.
13. Ferrari.
14. Ducati.
15. PlayStation.
16. Sony. 
17. Nike. 
18. Bose.
19. Facebook.
20. Lamborghini.

Mobile Bluetooth headset perfection?

Maybe it’s because I have an odd concha or more accurately the combined shape of my cymba conchæ and cavum conchæ aren’t the same as everyone elses I have a collection of used Mobile Bluetooth headsets; no matter how hard I try I just don’t seem to able to get any of them to fit properly.  My friends at Plantronics however have recently given me a Discovery 925 and I think the quest maybe at an end and like all great solutions it’s simple, not to say rather neat.  Rather than have a loop over the Auricula or Pinna, or try to create some kind of shaped insert for the External Acoustic/Auditory Meatus, the earpiece as a small handle which holds the device in place in the concha and it works a treat.  Pick the right sized one and you’d hardly know what’s sat in your ear.  The small carry case also doubles as a portable charging unit as it contains a rechargeable battery for when mains or USB power is unavailable; there is even a gold version for the more ‘bling’ orientated.

GTR is back…if it ever actually went away

As a fan of fermented grape based drinks you do end up with favourites and this is one of mine, Rosemount GTR.  GTR standing for Gewürztraminer Riesling it is about a drinkable as wine is allowed to but recently I haven’t been able to find the stuff anywhere.  Well Mrs C found some today in the new style Rosemount  bottle.  Hurrah!

Tag Galaxy

If your a fan of Flickr take a look at this.  Enter any tag you like and see the rather nifty visualisation…the ‘Galaxy’ moniker is the clue.  Brilliant.

Cap doffed to Steve Clayton.