Offline Links

Here's a list of the sessions from Offline 2010. If the presentation is available on the web, there is a link.

• Mark Sheehan - New Technologies
• Liz Babbitt & Jason Clark - Open API
• Phillip Curtiss - Rocky Mountain Supercomputing
• Mary Anne Hansen/Sheila Bonnand - Synchronous Library instruction
• Matt Beckstrom - Google Wave and Open Source Update
• Suzanne Reymer - eBook Readers
  Previous MT Bibliotechies postings on eBooks
  
• Tony Hines – Posting Secrets: The Paradox of Online Privacy
  
• Catherine McMullen - Considering the Digital Branch
• Sarah McHugh - Webscale for Libraries (Andrew Pace presentation)
  Webscale Management Services (pdf)
  
• Colet Bartow - Social Networking for Schools
• Suzanne Reymer - Mobile Computing and Libraries: Are you ready?
  Previous MT Bibliotechies postings on Montana cell phone issues/reviews
• Mark Sheehan - Sustainable Technologies
  

Feel free to keep the conversations going in the comments.

Nexus One - or the next new phone to disappoint us in Montana

I recently replaced my jailbroken unlocked iPhone with a brand new Google Nexus One. I got tired of fighting with Apple over updates. My iPhone is running OS 3.0.1 and several of the new apps I've wanted to download recently require 3.1 or newer. If I had unlimited time and patience, I could probably go through the jailbreaking process every time I needed to update, but it seemed time for a phone without all the hassles. At this point, I'm angry with Apple for putting me through this because they continue to go with AT&T as their sole service provider in the U.S.

Along came Google's unlocked Nexus One. So, I bought one, transferred my Cellular One SIM card from my iPhone, put in the data settings and it worked. Of course, we don't have 3G coverage over a GSM network in Montana so it has to run on the painfully slow Cellular One EDGE network, but that's good enough to check Facebook updates, email, do web searches, etc. And much of the time, I can find a wifi network to jump on.

As for features, this is the phone that Google put all of it's cool new toys into:

• Google Goggles - you can take a photo with the phone and Google does a search on the object. If it's a well known piece of art, you can find out the name artist. If it's a building, it uses GIS and Google maps information to identify the business. If it's a book jacket, it will give you prices at nearby stores and/or the internet. I suggested to WorldCat that they should get library info in this.
• Google voice recognition - I hate typing on touch pads. I love the fact that Google has voice recognition down well enough that I can usually just dictate into the phone.
  
• Google translator - Not that I really have a need for this at present, but you can speak an English phrase into the phone and it will translate into another language. Right now you get a written translation. I tried the Polish version and it seemed pretty accurate. I understand that soon the phone will be able to speak the translated phrase. It's the babble fish.
• It works great with just about all of the Google's products. So, if you use Gmail, Google calendar, etc., it seamlessly updates.
• The recent update was wonderfully easy. It was just sent to the phone. I didn't have to do anything. You have to update iPhones through iTunes. So, Big Brother Apple can check on you and make your life difficult if you're not playing by their rules.
• OverDrive has a media console for Android and Windows Mobile devices. You still have to use the clunky search interface in a separate browser. But if you can find an MP3 title you want to listen to, you can download it directly to your phone. Now that is the promise of mobile technology! Once again, this is something you'll want to take advantage of via wifi instead of EDGE, unless you're VERY patient. EDGE is like a dialup connection.
  

Now for the disappointments:

• Many of the cool new features don't work over the EDGE network. You need a faster connection. So, I find myself looking for wifi connections. I have yet to try out the turn by turn navigation on Google Maps. But if it requires a fast connection, it's not going to do me much good in Montana. Rarely do I find myself in need of direction inside a wifi enabled building.
• A lot of iPhone apps are not yet available on the Android platform. Amazon and B&N ebook readers, various news apps, Gale's Access My Library app... And some of them that do exist don't work as well on the Android, e.g., Facebook.
• Like many open source software products, Android is not entirely user friendly, particularly when compared to Apple products. I think you have to be a person who likes to fiddle with things to figure them out. If you're someone who just wants it to work without fiddling, you'll prefer the iPhone. For example, it took some hunting in Google's help to figure out how to get photos off the phone. I never did figure out how to remove some of the bizarre things that showed up in my photo gallery on the phone. I finally realized it's pulling them off Picasa web so graphics from Blogger show up on my phone. Apparently my customization options are limited.
• The battery life is pretty limited. All the updating from the Google cloud takes a toll. I'm not yet in the habit of recharging every night. So, it often happens that I pull my Nexus One out of my purse only to discover the battery's dead.
• I haven't been able to figure out how to do a screen shot of my Nexus One without rooting the device. Apple forced me into jailbreaking my iPhone by bricking it when I did an update. I'm not yet willing to risk my new $500 phone.
  

I'm sure there are a lot more pros and cons. I just thought I'd share a few of my initial impressions. And for anyone who reads this before Offline, you'll have some background for the Mobile Computing session.

I'd love to hear comments from people using the Android on Verizon's network that actually does offer 3G. The Android 2.1 OS is supposed to be rolled out this week. What do you think?

Update 11Feb10 - Bad news for Montanans waiting for an iPhone on Verizon. Apple just extended their exclusive contract with AT&T into 2011. That and news about 4G network developments has led to speculation that iPhone won't unlock in the U.S. until 2012. At that point, AT&T and Verizon will probably be using the same LTE standard. I know a lot of this is gibberish. But the gist is, if you're looking for a smartphone on Verizon I'd be looking at Blackberries and Androids.

iphone in montana?

As some of you who follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook know, I recently got an iPhone. After contemplating just about every smartphone option openly available in Montana, including Blackberry and Nokia, I decided that what I really wanted was an iPhone. Actually, I did own a Nokia E63 for a couple of weeks. I concluded that while it wasn't a bad phone, it was too complicated for me. I continue to believe that needing instructions to use any electronic device constitutes a serious design flaw.

I've had several people ask, how do you get an iPhone to work in Montana? I'm not going to go into the details here, if anyone's really interested I'll give him/her the lowdown offline. But for this posting, I'll just talk in general terms and address some of the pros and cons to going this way.

It is possible to get an unlocked iPhone along with service from a local wireless provider. An unlocked iPhone is going to be used and probably an earlier model. So, if what you really long for is the latest greatest iteration - at this point a 3GS, this will not be an option. And you're going to be paying full price for the older used model you get. There aren't a lot of unlocked iPhones out there. It appears to be a sellers/hackers market. Knowing all this, I have to admit being a bit taken aback that I was getting a 1st gen iPhone. But since we don't have 3G in Montana, it didn't seem a big deal upon reflection. And the 1st gen iPhone actually has better battery life than its successors. Besides it's got the 3.0 software so it can run all my apps.

Those are the first two cons, price and hardware antiquity. Add to that, the additional data surcharge I found out I needed to buy to use the data network. This is going to end up costing me about as much as an AT&T contract would. But with a painfully slow data network. Remember, we don't get 3G speeds in Montana. The final con would have to tech support difficulties. I have to find the manager at my wireless store whenever I have a question or problem. The iPhone is not an officially supported device.

Still, I'm very happy with my purchase. I now have one purse-sized device I can use to take pictures, send and read email, check my calendar, twitter, post facebook updates, listen to Mariners games, watch movies, browse the internet, listen to music and audiobooks. Oh yes, and I can also ignore phone calls coming in on it. I really do hate phones, cellular and otherwise so the phone is probably the least important part of it for me. That's probably a good thing because techies claim that it's really not a very good phone.

For me that's where the iPhone really stands out is with the apps! There's a Kindle app whereby I can read books on my iPhone and it will sync with my Kindle so I can start up on one where I left off on the other. It's a bit quirky in practice but the potential is certainly there. I've got Epicurious with which I can look up recipes and compile a grocery list in the store. AroundMe lets me find drugstores, gas stations, restaurants, etc. in my vicinity. This probably would have saved me from a recent extended tour of Idaho Falls, looking for a gas station. The big plus of the iPhone being so popular is that there are big incentives to create apps for it. And it works like a dream with my Mac. The first time I plugged it in, it automatically synced with my iPod Touch - email accounts, calendars, everything. I can't tell you how long I struggled with the Nokia trying to set up a couple of email accounts.

Weighing the pros and cons, I'd have to say that in Montana, the cons seem to definitely outweigh the pros - particularly the high cost and lack of a high-speed cellular network. So, unless you're pathologically geeky and/or have more dollars than sense (sorry, couldn't resist), you'll probably want to wait a bit on the iPhone (hmm, apparently both of those descriptions could apply to me). I continue to think that the iPod Touch is a pretty good alternative for Montana, especially if the rumors about cameras in future models comes to pass. It runs just about all the iPhone apps as well as music and video. All you need to do is get on a free wi-fi network and you can do just about everything you can with an iPhone for no monthly fee.

One complication for Montanans who've been hoping that Verizon may offer iPhones at some point in the future are the competing standards. The iPhone is set up to run on GSM networks such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Cellular One and others. Verizon uses CDMA. I don't pretend to understand the difference between the two standards, but apparently, for the iPhone to work on a CDMA network, it would need an entirely new chip set. Even if Apple decides to drop their exclusive AT&T agreement, they're probably not going to build an entirely new iPhone with a Verizon-compatible chip set.

Would I trade in my iPhone? At the moment no, but ask again after a few months of wireless bills. We'll see if the always connected promise is worth the cost.