I have no idea where this week went.
Snow. I'm pretty anal-retentive about making sure my car has all the snow scraped off of it. Not only is it safer for me, but also safer for other drivers out there. Unfortunately, a lot of other dumbasses on the road aren't so courteous. On the way into work this morning I was pummeled with chunks of snow from an idiot ahead of me who hadn't bothered to clean off his car. Fortunately, karma came calling when the dipshit pulled up to a stop and the entire shelf of snow and ice on his roof came spilling down on his windshield. He had to pull over, get out, then clean off his windshield as I drove around him, laughing my ass off. Sometimes justice is a dish best served cold.
Storm. Finally got to play with the "iPhone killer" known as the "Blackberry Storm." I'm not impressed. It gets rid of the things that I actually liked about other Blackberry models, but has nothing from the iPhone that would make it any kind of competition to me. Once you've had multi-touch, you never go back. I can't fathom owning a mobile device without it. Apparently, Microsoft can't either. They're Live Labs has just released "Seadragon" for the iPhone, yet it's currently nowhere else to be found... not on Windows Mobile devices and not on Blackberry.
Auto. The saga of the American auto industry drags on. Personally, I don't know what to think about it all. I would certainly feel terrible for all the workers losing their job because management has run the companies into the ground... but, then again, that's the peril of a free market. Does the government really have a responsibility to save a business if it's going under? If they rescue the auto industry, what about all the other businesses in trouble? Do they get help too? The one thing I don't understand is how everybody keeps saying that the US auto-makers are "making cars nobody wants." Because when I research sales by brands, over half of the top twenty cars are made by American companies...
Of course, just because a company is American of foreign means nothing. The Toyota Camry, for example, is assembled in the right here in the US and is made from over half American parts. Ford, on the other hand, is shipping manufacturing to Mexico and Canada and does use foreign parts in their autos. So the issue here isn't quite so cut and dry, and one has to wonder if the "Big Three" US auto makers go under, is that a bad thing? Won't that mean that sales of the remaining American-made cars will increase so the jobs will just be shifted to companies who know how to make a profit? Sure they're foreign companies, but if the jobs are here, isn't that what's important? And who knows? Maybe letting the companies who can't make money fail will clear the way for new American companies with fresh ideas to be born? I honestly don't know. Hopefully people making the decisions do.
Car. All that being said, my dream car is the new BMW Z4 Roadster...
Sex. On. Wheels.
And now I really need to get back to work. And some Snack-Pack chocolate pudding.
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So don’t miss driving in the snow and having that happen – chunks flying off other cars and into mine!
mmmmmmmmm……Snack-Pack chocolate pudding…
Me likey!
It’s like every other cell phone manufacturer said, “holy crap, the iPhone is light-years ahead of anything that we make! Touchscreens are hot, start cranking out phones with touchscreens!” And of course, nothing else is even coming close, because after all the innovations that Apple did with the multi-touch interface regular touchscreens are just a gimmick by comparison, no better than the phone having physical buttons.
Exactly. I’d go so far as to say that they’re worse, because a touch screen is never going to be superior to buttons… no matter how good the tech behind it. In order for the touch interface to be worth the sacrifice, there has to be a compelling reason for it, and multi-touch is what makes iPhone worth it. So very worth it. 🙂
I think that a combination of overly powerful unions and greed led the “US” car companies to hire fewer US employees than the “foreign” car companies who build the cars here, and now they should bear the brunt of their poor decisions. Maybe this will allow some new innovative car companies to grow that are US owned and built.
You know that car will need to be parked in the winter, right?
I never thought about the pile of snow on top of my car and how it affects those behind me. Thanks for pointing that out.
Ford has admitted it only wants something for ‘reserve’ because they are not in dire need of the money at the moment (but may be soon).
I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE snow. Can’t fucking stand it. I just don’t see the “beauty & wonder” that other people use to describe it. All I see is the slick roads, assholes who can’t drive in it, and all the shoveling and clean up you have to do because of it. This is why I moved back to Florida. Fuck snow, bring on the hurricanes. Them I can deal with!
Since we’re not entirely familiar with the terminology, is “multitouch” that ability you have to scroll, zoom in, zoom out, etc., by touch?
It really doesn’t take that long to clean off your car – I don’t understand why so many people don’t do it.
The picture you made cracked my sh*t up. Thanks! I was a bit constipated.
The only companies that are “too big to fail” are those huge ones that are successful due to their own merit.
“they bought their tickets; they knew what they were getting into. I say… LET ‘EM crash.”
I’m not sure why everything is now highlighted in yellow. It’s hurting my eyes. Is it because you think one of us is the idiot from this morning and you’re trying to torture us until we confess? No?
Umm. then forget I said anything. Carry on.
Oops. My Mac managed to close the tags properly… I guess Windows didn’t want to? I’ve changed them to “spans” instead. 🙂
Ooooh. Yeah, now that I’ve officially been assimilated into the cult of Mac, I must say that I wouldn’t want to give up the multi-touch pad on my MacBook Pro. I was skeptical at first but it’s really one of those ‘you have to try it to appreciate it’ kind of things.
If an iPhone isn’t an option, would you say that the Storm is NOT the next best thing?
And what would you call the next best thing?
Oh, and how’s the browser on it?
I’ve been asking around, but so far you’re the best expert I’ve found that knows both!
I don’t think the issue is the Big 3 “making cars nobody wants.” There’s a lot of people that want giant-ass boats that have fancy names on them that get horrible mileage. It’s the Big 3 that catered to the whims of these people (and the oil companies) to keep making the same cars that rely on mostly oil to operate. If they would have kept going and pursuing alternative fuels over 12 years ago, they wouldn’t be hurting as badly as they are and we would be well on our way to reducing our reliance on oil for fuel.
I am 100% against the bailout of the automakers. They are the ones that put themselves in this position. As with you, I’d hate to see workers lose their jobs, but if there’s enough other startups that are making cars for the future, then they can grow and get bigger and smartly start rolling out vehicles that use alternative fuels.
I would take a regular Blackberry over the Storm, to be honest. I think eventually the Storm could be a nice addition to their lineup, but I am really not impressed with this first effort.
Still, your mileage may vary, so you might want to drop by Verizon and take a look for yourself. 🙂
I LOVE your drawing with the huge pile of snow on the car roof — it’s like people TRY to preserve the roof-snow. Living in a snowy place I see these asshole cars all the time. Cops should issue big fines to these lazy-assed people!!!!
My wife just got a new Blackberry Bold and I found that many of the things that annoyed me when I played with a Storm were the same on the Bold. The whole design of the menu and back buttons just doesn’t seem to do what I expect. I think it needs a home button. At least with the Bold you can still assign shortcuts to the keyboard keys.
If you get that BMW, I’ll totally go straight for you.
Ok, I won’t. But it’s the thought that counts, right? 🙂
Please look at the Honda S2000. Smoother lines, and less expensive, less maintenance. Every bit as fun.