Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

This is where we call out by names the actions and companies that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack.  Technology is an odd realm where PR speak doesn’t hold a lot of water if the 1s and 0s don’t line up.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.  Here is what caught my eye this week:

Copyright Royalty Board

While the digital music world teetered on edge, raised arms emerged from the meeting shouting, “all is OK, go back to downloading.”  While iTunes may have hung in the balance, these nut jobs decided to play chicken with the biggest seller of music.  Guys, the only thing keeping me from torrenting everything is that I am lazy.  $1 a song, I’ve rationalized (especially after going to a store to purchase a CD and coming home feeling ripped about dropping $22).  iTunes makes it too easy for me to do otherwise.  Mess with this formula and you’ll find more and more of us moving off your radar.  You know, until Johnny Law comes knocking about my download sizes.

Editor Iyaz and Associate Editor Robert

These two guys got together and chatted a bit about why the netbooks are succeeding and the UMPCs and tablets failed.  You both are on crack; tablets are alive and well.  I’ve got news for you: my iPod touch is a tablet.  And it kicks butt.  I thought this was my little secret but it seems everyone from Ryan Block, now with gdgts to these crackhead itouchfans all agree this is the gold standard for portable Internet.  Forget form factor, Apple has nailed it with the touch.  Need something bigger?  You have to know Apple is going to bow to my demands and make a tablet/netbook in a form factor like this.

I was really pulling for the new touch to come with a 3G connection.  I could almost believe I could get away with texting everyone, email and IM on that.  It would be an almost perfect device.  Oh with GPS, too, please.  Voice is for suckers and crackheads.  Though a VOIP solution might be real interesting.  I’d argue the iPhone is a web tablet as well.

Real Networks vs. the MPAA

Real, you know I think you are great.  But come on.  You must have come up with this idea binging in White Castle ‘cause it don’t make sense anywhere else.  Even better, the Real rep at an industry press event wasn’t even slightly worried that it may never see the light of day.  What am I talking about?  RealDVD of course.

The deal was, you scan your DVD into your machine.  Real even adds another anti-steal encryption.  But the MPAA says no freaking way.  The MPAA is so 1986 at this point, I don’t even know why we bother talking to them or listening for that matter.

Blackberry

Could you have a few more models please?  I can’t keep track of the Storm, Thunder, Flip Pearl 3000, Hailstorm, good old 8820 and the zillion others you’ve introduced in the last 6 months.  I need a family tree or something.  There is a reason most Americans have exactly two children: it is easy to remember their names.  Unless you start going by Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3; you are going to lose me.  I do love that you’ve moved off numbers though.

And finally,

Nokia

Thinner is not always better, at least that is what I tell my doctor.  No, your “Tube” 5800 phone looks thin.  Too thin.  The key to this is the Internet and squishing it lots makes for wicked tough viewing.  Learn from the Samsung Instinct which I though was too thin.  Maybe Euro’s love the thin, but look around the USA, you’ll fine a lot more not-thin than you will uber-thin (and yes, we are still talking about phones).  If you want to crack the USA, it is time to team up; cracker.

That’s what I found this week, what did you see?