Attack of the App

I don't know why Ray Richmond is but I read his recent blog post with disdain.

He was pontificating about how his new iPhone app, News Fuse, supplies you with content from 18 different news outlets.

The app gives you the content in a brilliantly streamlined, slick fashion without littering icons all over your screen. The news sources appear en masse or disappear with a single touch. Every one of the sites features comprehensive, up-to-the-minute content, laid out simply and attractively. It takes roughly five seconds for each of the 18 to refresh, update and appear on your screen.

He loves that this costs him only a one-time fee $0.99. He estimates that if he paid for all this content it would be over $100 a month and once you got around to reading them the news would be old.

Hurrah for the News Fuse? Maybe to people like Ray Richmond who can't seem to slow down enough to enjoy a magazine or a cup of coffee with the newspaper. Reading news content on a cell phone sounds as appealing as churning butter. Call me crazy, but who wants to squint to read the iPhone screen? How much thicker does Apple want my glasses to get?

To me, this app sounds like a good idea in theory, but in practice isn't so hot. My eyeballs are hurting just thinking about it. Do any of you out there read stuff like this on your phones?

iPhone hatred

I loved reading this piece in The New York Times today about why this woman hates her iPhone.

At 4 in the morning, I was in bed, fighting rage. I couldn’t stop thinking about that device’s tarty little face and those yapping “apps” you can download for it. The whole iPhone enterprise seemed to require so much attention, organization, explanation, praise, electricity. I know — I know: in the morning, Apple’s latest miracle machine would fill my palm with meaning and magic. So why couldn’t I contain my annoyance? I had no new-thing excitement. It dawned on me: I hated my iPhone.

I do not like the iPhone for many reasons.

1. I can't afford it or the phone plan.
2. I live in Maine where you have to be choosy about your carrier if you want to actually use your phone.
3. The fact that you can read The New York Times on it is cool if you have magnifying lenses attached to your eyeballs.
4. It looks like it's going to break easily.
5. With the way Apple works, a new one will come out every 6-months to a year. I can't keep up with technology.

I had my first cell phone for 4 years. It was a Samsung and my carrier was Sprint. The only reason I got a new one was because after dropping it a dozen times it was breaking. Other than that it worked fine.

Of course it didn't take photos, send text messages, or allow me to send emails. That was ok with me. I carry a small digital camera with me at all times anyway that has video capturing capabilities.

The more your cell phone can do for you the more you will rely on it. I have a friend who texts me constantly asking me silly questions. His phone is his crutch. He no longer has to make decisions for himself -- he can just text or twitter all his friends and they'll tell him what to buy, see, do. His phone is turning him into a robot.

I am on the computer all day long. Literally. The last thing I want to do is watch a video on my tiny little phone. Or read a book on it. Or play a game on it. IT'S TOO SMALL! My eyesight is deteriorating at it's own pace, thank you very much.

I have the most simplest cell phone out there. It still takes photos, but I don't use that feature. And I don't connect to the internet on it because it costs too much money. I am a creature who can sit still and observe and listen to what's around her. I don't need to be constantly entertained by an iPhone.

Photo by Kevin Van Aeist, NYT