When I first saw the MacBook Air commercial on TV it wasn’t the notebook I was paying attention to, but the music. It seems I wasn’t alone as this post from the PromoGuy.net site reveals the identity of the artist and the song as Yael Naim’s New Soul. There’s also a link in the article to the album on iTunes if you’re into that. Most of her lyrics are in French or Hebrew, with New Soul being — I think — the only English song on the album.
Yael’s Web site links to the following video, which I hope means it won’t get yanked due to copyright violation.
Back in June when the iPhone was released I wrote an annoyed post saying “it’s a phone.” Well last night I got to use one for a little while and I have to say I was pretty impressed. While the network speed is not the EvDO I’ve gotten used to with my Verizon XV6700, the Web browsing experience was rather impressive. Navigating the applications on the device was also very pleasant and far more intuitive than most Windows Mobile devices which have small controls designed for use with a stylus, not fingers. And did I mention the display was amazing?
Release a 3G-capable version with native Exchange ActiveSync support, and I’d probably buy one. I’ve got to give Apple a lot of credit. I find their elitist attitude as a company very annoying and at times insulting — especially their advertising — but they do make some damn impressive hardware. The iPhone brings some powerful and innovative technology into the hands of regular consumers in the form of a device which is easy to use, intuitive to interact with, and — dare I say — fun. That is something that Microsoft and Palm really haven’t been able to do with most of their devices. Seeing and using an iPhone really illustrated to me just how clunky Windows Mobile is. There is hope of improvements with upcoming Windows Mobile releases, but in the regular consumer market, it may be too late to get the ball back from Apple. Even long-time Windows Mobile enthusiasts are considering a move toward other solutions involving the iPhone.
I will be so happy when the next 1-3 weeks are over and the mindless endless chatter about the iPhone subsides. I mean seriously… camping out for days outside a store? It’s a phone! How do you even pitch that to your boss? (I assume these people are employed given the price of the phone, but I could be wrong.)
“Hey boss?”
Yes?
“I need to take a few days off next week.”
That’s short notice. What’s up?
“Well, the new iPhone comes out and I have to get in line for a few days so I can buy one.”
[The sounds of crickets punctuate the stunned silence which follows]
“So, uh… can I have some time off?”
For the next few days I will probably be skipping over a lot of the gadget sites I normally follow due to the amount of iPhone coverage that will be saturating things. Wake me when it’s over.