Up On the Roof…

I highly recommend iTunes U (University). If you’ve never heard about it its certainly worth a look. You can find it inside the iTunes Store. iTunes U is a repository of free online multimedia courses including K-12, under grad and graduate courses, not to mention a variety of higher learning in wide range of subjects.

Tonight I stumbled upon a trove of “old” television commercials. They’re there as part of Duke University’s AdViews. The collection, many from the golden age of advertising, have been digitized from 16mm film “…for use in research, teaching and private study” according to the page description.

I didn’t count (or watch) them all, but there seems to be well over a thousand available there now. Among my favorites are 249 different toilet tissue spots by Proctor and Gamble. If you were around in the 70′s you couldn’t help but watch Mr. Whipple and all of the fuss around squeezing the Charmin. Enjoy!

During Apple’s media event today, there was discussion around the new device and who’d use it.

I can see some appeal for use in the medical field, although medical apps or device connections were not covered at all today. With a large screen, it’s better at charts, photos, graphics (x-rays) than an iPhone ever could be. See also Upcoming Apple Tablet is Generating Significant Hype — Will it affect Healthcare? on MedPage Today.

What about home use? The iPad was designed for games, iBooks, movies, etc. So, the home user is in the sweet spot of the iPad’s target user.

iPad vs Kindle. With a $499 entry level iPad, the prices are close enough to make potential Kindle purchasers consider an iPad. Current prices are $259 for the 6″ Kindle and $489 for the 9.7″ Kindle DX (a match for the iPad screen size). I think the answer pretty clear here; the iPad wins. For me its as simple as “Color” vs “Black and White” TV.

Business Users? The iPad makes a great presentation device thanks to Read Full Post

An article on Ars Technica today covered a new patent by Apple, that could tie its Nike+iPod device to particular pieces of clothing.

If they carry through with it and you have intentions to buy this pedometer on steriods, you could find yourself limited to the shoes you run, jog or walk in. Additionally, it could restrict your choice of any garments, such as head gear, jackets, sweatpants, etc…

There were plenty of comments on Ars, mostly negative, most on how evil Apple is becoming, but maybe not? This could be start of something big.
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