Category: Technology
Today I was clearing out old apps, tidying up my machine when I came across something interesting.
It makes me wonder how often anyone else ‘really’ uses Central, and when if ever there will ever be any killer applications for it. So far only the ‘Blog Reader’ has interested me, and to be fair, there are many better alternatives out there. What will become of Central I wonder, is it destined to become a one hit wonder, installed once, used once, never again… :?
I’ve always wanted an iPod, but have never been able to bring myself to spend that much on a luxury item. Here at Mirashade, my boss man Baz McCarthy has one, as does Drew. They’re very nice things, all white and shiny like. I think the appeal for me is linked to listening to music in my car, to have all my music at my fingertips without the associated multitude of CD cases rattling around would be great.
Well yesterday Apple announced the iPod mini, just like the iPod, only mini like! Now, the confusion for me is this. The base level iPod can store 10,000 songs are costs $299, yet the iPod mini stores only 1,000 songs, and costs $249. Can anyone here do math?
A few months back I bought a ‘network MP3 player’, my first purchase of this kind, the idea being that it would replace my old Yamaha multidisc CD player (Which regularly refuses to eject the CD tray completely, making nasty grinding noises as it does so).
The device that I opted for was the ‘Slim Devices‘ SLIMP3 Player. I placed my order through a UK distributor and within less than 2 days the unit arrived complete with appropriate cabling. Before running the 20 metre network cable from upstairs office to downstairs lounge I plugged the unit in for a quick test. Everything worked, the player connected to the network and detected the SlimServer (The PC on which I had installed the Server software).
Now, regardless of the fact that the unit, server software and customer service was stunning, there was one thing which was holding me back from being blown away by my little SLIMP3, I had to drill through one internal wall, out through an external wall down, and then back through the external wall again to get the network cable to the lounge. Now, I ‘could’ have set up a wireless LAN connection, but I didn’t. Now that the hard work is done I couldn’t live without my SLIMP3, and now I hear that they have released the ‘Squeezebox’, a SLIMP3 player with an integrated wireless LAN and standard Ethernet connection… bliss.
Now if I could just convince my wife that we need another network music player… :)
What this means for developers is that any site which you have built using ‘plug-in’ technology such as Flash, Windows Media Player, QuickTime or Real Player will act differently.
Every instance of plug-in content will prompt the user to click an ‘OK’ button in order that the plug-in can execute content. On some sites this will have a huge impact, other will not be affected.
Macromedia has identified some early workarounds, but these require significant changes to existing site code.
You can find out more about these solutions here: http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/activecontent/
On Thursday last week I finally ordered a SLIMP3 player from Slim Devices after months of dribbling. It arrived on Friday morning, on Saturday I enrolled the help of my Father in law to drill the required holes for the LAN cable, and now it’s all up and running.
