The Gateway One: iMac on Crack

Can somebody tell Gateway to stop feeding crack cocaine to their designers?

Earlier this week, Gateway announced the new Gateway One PC. It is pictured above in all its hideousness. Allow me to explain what happened in this situation: Gateway purchased 10 iMacs for their 10 most daring and creative designers. Then they locked them in a room and fed them Cheetos and crack cocaine for one solid month.  They were given one impossible task: to create an iMac killer.

Some of these designers had so much crack cocaine that they began feeding it to the iMacs. The Gateway One is the result of that. As the iMacs became strung out on drugs (along with the designers), they actually became deformed and discolored into the shape that you see in the new Gateway One PC.

THIS IS WHY ILLEGAL DRUGS ARE DANGEROUS.

Gateway’s new iMac ripoff all-in-one PC costs MORE than the iMac, even though the iMac has a bigger screen, faster processor, better design, and an actual graphics board (you can pay for the $1800 model to get a better graphics card).

Besides the fact that your USB and Firewire (400) cables will have to come pouring ungracefully out of the side, it looks like the thing could tip over at the slightest breeze. Take a look at the wimpy stand for this beast:

I predict that this PC will appeal largely to the drug user market, which is good, since they won’t remember much about their “user” experience.

iPod Touch: a Short Review

I played around with an iPod Touch this past weekend, and I was impressed overall, but have some observations that took it out of the running for me as a purchase option.

First of all, this iPod is THIN, which is great. It’s about a third of an inch in depth, and that makes it feel very light and comfortable in your hand. The “multi-touch” interface, also a part of the iPhone, is quite nice. I found it to be easy to adjust to the typing. It wouldn’t take long to become quick.

A missing piece that I didn’t notice while I had it in hand was that you cannot make entries in the Calendar application. I am baffled by this since it has the onscreen keyboard available for other purposes. There is also no way to enter or view notes. It would be great to at least match the Classic iPod’s capability to upload notes from my Mac, but that’s not possible at this point. I had thoughts of using this as an iPod/quasi-PDA, but if I can’t enter short notes or a quick calendar entry then it can’t serve that purpose.

I was glad to be able to surf the internet in Safari, using a WiFi connection, though there is no Mail application. YouTube videos are also available through the included YouTube app, but this didn’t change the fact that the lack of a Mail app leaves it feeling a bit incomplete.

At this point I am calling the iPod Touch an iPhone “teaser,” designed to cause us to crave the full capabilities that are a part of the iPhone.

My 2G iPod just died so instead of the Touch, I’ve decided to go with the 80 GB Classic (though i must confess that I have had lustful thoughts toward the Nano, just because it is cute… forgive me father, for i have sinned).

Nano Lives Up To Its Name

Look it up in the dictionary, and you’ll find that the word “nano” is a prefix which indicates something that is extremely small.  I got my hands on the new Apple iPod Nano today and can confirm that it lives up to its name.   Stacking a few credit cards next to it would just about equal its thickness.  It feels terrific in your hand and I thought the scroll wheel was fine, though some have complained about it.

At .26 inches, it is hard to believe that I can watch a movie on this thing.  And that’s the other point that struck me:  the resolution looks fantastic!  I didn’t really think someone would want to watch a movie on something this small, but now that I’ve seen it I can certainly imagine taking that on an airplane or a visit to the driver’s license bureau and watching an episode or two of The Office.
I’ve set my savings on a new iPod Classic, but if the Nano came with about 3x more space, I would easily take it as my first choice.

A Big Day for iPods

I’m late to the party on this so I’ll just sum up today’s announcements from Apple and pick my favorite:

• The 4GB iPhone has been dumped and Apple will now charge $399 for the 8GB, a $200 price drop.
  • This is their way of saying, “Yes, we realize $599 was highway robbery. Admit it though… You liked it.”
• The new iPod Touch.
  • It uses the technology of the iPhone, without the phone. Wi-fi enabled, but a little short on space if I’m going to replace my iPod with it. Either 8GB or 16 GB. Speaking of the iPod…
• The standard iPod is now called iPod Classic.
  • Up to 160 GB of space. You could crawl inside and take a nap if you want.
• The iPod Nano is now movie-ready in 4GB or 8GB versions (with new colors and a new shape).
  • It went from tall and skinny to short and… well, it is still skinny. It is probably a tad small for movie watching for some people, but you can still hold it up to your face and watch an episode of 24.
• Apple will now begin offering ringtones for the iPhone for .99 cents apiece.
  • “Uhh… Hello?” “Yes, this Apple. Congratulations! You are now eligible to pay us .99 cents for ringtones using songs you’ve already paid for!” I’ll pass.

Of all the announcements, the new iPod Nano is my favorite. There is a good review of it at Gizmodo, and early indications are that this is a great piece of hardware for those who want a small and affordable music/movie player (along with a few games).