I figured that I would resolve some housekeeping business with a post:
- Facebook does have some RSS - I stand corrected. After complaining about Facebook's lack of RSS a few weeks ago, I discovered today that your notifications can be read as an RSS. Unfortunately, I already get most important notifications sent to my mobile via SMS. This also doesn't address the Newsfeed RSS problem either.
- Wider blog design - Unlike the NYTimes, which seems to be getting more narrow every time I visit (more on this in a later post), I increased the width of the blog by about 60 pixels. The non-designers reading won't care, but I did this to increase my line lengths.
- New domain names - So I now have a whole bunch of domain names that I own: danielwromero.com, blazamos.com, dratius.com, coupondj.com, he.rodot.us, milliondollarhillary.com, feehanbooks.com. And now I have two more: danromero.tv and kville.tv. What they will be use for, that's still up in the air.
- Upcoming birthday - A much less pertinent piece of info, I will be turning 20 on the 12th. Scary.
- iPhone typing speed - I have been using the iPhone for over a month now and I just want to say that I can type very fast on the keyboard (with thanks to the auto-correction software). I will be doing a complete "one month after" analysis sometime next week.
- Next week - Expect some posts about Twitter/Pownce/Facebook next week. I also think a post about the new MMOG company Multiverse and Indiana University's The Synthetic Worlds Initiative. Exciting stuff.
I have now been using the iPhone for a little more than a week and it really is the most incredible piece of technology I have ever used. But that doesn't mean I don't have improvement suggestions.
- The default package of 200 SMS messages are definitely not enough. The SMS interface is so elegant, I found myself approaching the 200 message limit within 5 days. Make all plans $5 - $10 more a month and give everyone unlimited.
- Not as much an Apple problem as a Google one: Gmail support is horrible. When I log on to Gmail on my PC, I have most of my email sorted and filed using Gmail's labels and filters. On the iPhone, I get all my email lumped in a single inbox. For me, I am subscribed to a number of mailing lists that I browse occasionally, but on my phone they overwhelm my important email. I also receive email from (no lie) 7 different email addresses in my main Gmail account. Google needs to allow users to selectively choose which email should be sent to the phone. They could solve this problem by allowing IMAP access instead of POP, but I don't think that is happening any time soon.
- Make the Home button have a double-click function that allows me to instantly jump to my phone contacts.
I bought a case, DLO's Jam Jacket, in an appropriate Duke blue. I am also planning on ordering a cheap Go Phone to use when I am in iPhone-unfriendly environments (boats, beaches, ski slopes, pools, backyards, etc...).
I got my iPhone the Saturday morning at the Palo Alto Apple store.
- The UI is incredible. Like everyone else out there, I am in love with the "flick." It is natural feeling, like how you sort through mail or CDs on a shelf. The "zoom" feature is also well done.
- The keyboard is not as bad as I thought it would be. Like Jason Kottke, I too feel that the predictive text entry system works quite well, and typing with two thumbs is quite feasible.
- The camera takes great photos for a phone.
- The AT&T EDGE network is slow. Really slow. But browsing with Safari makes up for it. It's incredible to use when connected to a WiFi network.
- You really can move as quickly as the big hand does in the Calamari commercial. Yum, calamari.
- There are two things that I am craving: an integrated RSS reader (reader.mac.com is nice, but it only handles one feed at a time) and games. I can only imagine the fun and interesting games that developers could produce for this thing. Bejeweled anyone?
Alright, back to playing with my new toy.
