I picked up my first iPad just over a week ago with the release of the New iPad. That was a Friday, and Monday I was flying to Istanbul. I spent a little time using the new toy over the weekend before traveling, but there was plenty to do with family and preparing for my trip, so not a lot of time to play.
Now that I’ve been on site for a week, the iPad has changed the way I work when managing these events. I always travel with a binder to hold timelines, drawings, gear lists, etc. I had converted all of these documents to PDF files before I left and loaded them into iBooks on the iPad. It took me a little while to break the habit of carrying around the binder, but after three days I haven’t even bothered to bring it down from my hotel room. Finding the information I need using the iPad is so much easier and more efficient than using a notebook, especially when standing in a hallway with your hands full. It’s truly liberating.
I’ve downloaded an app that lets me trigger audio files for instant playback of announcements and awards music. I have several applications for that on my computer, but being able to touch the button instead of navigating around with the mouse is so much simpler. It also frees up my computer for the video rolls I need to make.
I have used the notes application extensively to, you know, take notes. Additionally, I’ve got many of the production apps I’ve normally used on my iPhone on the iPad now, so I have a second method for using some of these tools.
Currently I’m researching additional apps that will make having the iPad more productive for me, but I need to go through the process of weighing cost vs performance and need.
Overall I have quickly realized how much of a game changer this tablet is. I’m already starting to approach tasks and projects in a new way.
Posted from my iPad, of course.
Tags: apps, iPad, work
I have now been in Istanbul for nearly a week, and have been amazed at how warm and friendly the people are here. They are generous with their time, and proud to share their local cuisine and culture. When I travel for work I occasionally get out to see some of the city I am working in, but usually it’s after dark and I rarely get to do any of the touristy things like visit landmarks or museums. I do, however get out to a fair amount of restaurants and bars as the evenings are the only times I get a chance to leave the hotel.
One night our video & lighting techs took us to a local restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. This restaurant appeared to be small without any room for us, but we followed our hosts into the back of the restaurant and up a flight of stairs to another floor of dining, which was full. We continued up another flight and another to find a table. I have since learned that this is common among many dining establishments here, where they expand upward. Entering them sometimes feels like using a parking garage.
Turkish appetizers
Once we found a seat our hosts ordered traditional turkish appetizers which we all shared.
Chee Kufta
One of my hosts preparing some Chee Kufka for me
My favorite dish was Chee Kufta, which is spiced raw meat that is rolled into a lettuce leaf with a little fresh lemon. Very tasty and a bit spicy. The Chee Kufta at this restaurant was better then a dish I had later, so the taste does seem to vary.
Adana Kebab
My main dish was an Adana Kebab. I had one of these at my hotel my first night there, and I didn’t care for it much. I decided to try it again as I was truly in a locals place, and again found it not to my liking. I am not really sure what they spice this kebab with, but whenever I come across this flavor is a dish I find it more and more distasteful, rather than something I get more accustom to.
Ayran
To drink we had Ayran, which is water mixed with yogurt and a little salt added. It’s probably an acquired taste. It was ok, but too sour for my tastes, but I am glad I tried it. The copper cup, I think, added a flavor to the taste. I couldn’t say if that made it better or worse had I tried it in a glass.
After dinner we went down another block to a beer house where we met up with our video tech’s wife and a couple of her friends from her company. We spent a few hours drinking the local beer, Efes, and sharing stories. Afterwards we stopped at an outdoor cafe for some Turkish tea. It is very common to finish off an evening with a small glass of tea. Apparently you ca’t get this in a decaffeinated form, so I have not tried this. Despite being relatively cool and after 11pm, the cafe was quite crowded with people enjoying their tea. This may have been in part because there is no smoking allowed in most establishments, including the beer house where we were at, so many people where enjoying cigarettes with their tea.
Raki
A very popular local drink is Raki, a liquor with a strong licorice or anise flavor. I have found that I really enjoy this drink and intend to bring several bottles home from this trip.
A night out with the locals
Another evening we were invited to join some of the crew to go to a bar where one of their friends was celebrating a birthday. More of their friends gathered as the evening went on, and nearly all of them spoke english well, with many of them having lived for a year or more in the US at some point. All of them were friendly, always trying to include us in the conversation.
Overall I am really enjoying my time here in Istanbul. If all of Turkey is as open and friendly as they are here in Istanbul then America truly has a poor understanding of this country and the muslim people. I will not be heading for home for another five days, but I’m already looking forward to when I can return.
Tags: Ayran, Che Kufka, Istanbul, Raki, Turkey, Turkish Cuisine
I’m in Istanbul this week and next working on a meeting. This is my first trip to this city, and to Turkey. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but had pre-conceived notions that it would very Muslim influenced. To a certain extent that is true, but I find the city to be much more European in it’s feel. I imagine as you go further east in the country onto the Asian continent that the Muslim influence is stronger. I am in the part of Istanbul that is on the European continent but Istanbul is also part of Asia, making it the only city in the world to span across two continents.
But there are reminders of the Muslim heritage here. The skyline is dotted with mosques, including the famous Blue Mosque, which I can see from my hotel window (but not so well that I would include my own picture of it here). Morning prayers are broadcast across the city at 5am, and then at other times throughout the day, but because I am in the hotel ballroom most of the day I rarely hear it. Most people on the street are dressed fairly contemporary, but there is also a fair percentage of women wearing a hijab.
Security in the hotels is a little tighter than what you would experience elsewhere. Often cars need to stop before they pull up to the entrance, and a guard will scan the underside of the vehicle with a mirror and some kind of sensor. When walking into the hotel everyone walks through a metal detector alongside an X-ray machine for bags. This is a little daunting at first, but at the hotel I’m staying at they’re pretty relaxed about it. When people walk through the detector while talking on their cell phones security doesn’t seem to care.
The hotel rooms are typical, but one difference is that there is a compass rose in the bottom of the desk drawer so people know which way north is when it’s time to pray.
An interesting bit of censorship on the television – all cigarettes, pipes, cigars, and other smokable things are blurred out. They were showing Quiz Show the other day, and the period piece had a lot of smoking, so a lot of blurred mouths and hands. Very amusing, since nearly everyone here smokes.
Tags: Istanbul, Turkey
When buying a smartphone, I know a lot of people who have chosen Android phones over the iPhone. The arguments for their choice were varied, and over the past year (since the availability of the iPhone on networks other than AT&T) there has only been one person who was able to give me what I considered to be a convincing reason for doing so (being a graphic designer, she wanted to be exposed to other design aesthetics).
Full disclosure here, I am an Apple fan (as if you didn’t know) and a stock holder. That being said, I’m not so ignorant as to not be able to recognize good technologies from companies other than Apple. I think Windows Phone is a really good and interesting mobile OS, and found it really well designed the couple of times I’ve had a chance to play with one. In fact, I find it superior to Android, and am perplexed at it’s lack of traction and can only chalk it up to their late start.
There are several reasons that I think the iPhone is a better purchase for people than Android phones. The number one reason is software. Not the number of Apps available – I find this argument disingenuous, as there were years in the 90’s when Windows users held up the number of apps available for their systems, and the counter argument was that while the Mac platform had less software available, it was generally of higher caliber. When I say software, I am referring to the Operating System; iOS for iPhone and Android (pick your favorite dessert) for android phones. My problem with Android is how slowly the newest OS from Google gets distributed to new or existing phones.
Yesterday Apple released an update to their iOS software for their mobile devices. Today, my 21 month old phone is running that software. I know of no Android phone, save the occasional Google Nexus, that gets this kind of quick software update. Late last year Michael Degusta wrote an article titled Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support. He made a graph which demonstrated how far behind most Android phones are in running the most current operating system, if at all (Motorola seems to have a particularly bad track record). Some of his results:
• 7 of the 18 Android phones never ran a current version of the OS.
• 12 of 18 only ran a current version of the OS for a matter of weeks or less.
• 10 of 18 were at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period.
• 11 of 18 stopped getting any support updates less than a year after release.
• 13 of 18 stopped getting any support updates before they even stopped selling the device or very shortly thereafter.
• 15 of 18 don’t run Gingerbread, which shipped in December 2010.
• In a few weeks, when Ice Cream Sandwich comes out, every device on here will be another major version behind.
• At least 16 of 18 will almost certainly never get Ice Cream Sandwich.
Let me reiterate: Yesterday Apple released an update to their iOS software for their mobile devices. Today, my 21 month old phone is running that software.
This week another blogger, Frasier Spears, wrote a great post that reflects many of my own feelings on Android. But his take on the disadvantages of being behind on one or more OS releases was something I hadn’t considered before:
The Android platform is currently stuck in second gear because Google, their OEMs and the carriers can’t, won’t or simply have no incentive to get the installed base past the Android 2.x API set. There are better and more powerful APIs in Android 4, and there will be better ones again in the future, but developers can’t take advantage of them because almost nobody is running the latest OS.
For example, Google recently shipped Chrome for Android which, by all accounts, is a pretty great mobile web browser. Unfortunately, it requires Android 4 and around 1% of the installed base is currently running that release.
This means that iOS apps are not only better than Android apps today, they’re getting better faster than Android apps because Apple is deploying, and the installed base is rapidly upgrading to, much more powerful APIs on the devices in consumers’ hands.
Another reason I hear people give for choosing Android over iPhone is they’re dislike of Apple’s requirement to vet every App before making it available in it’s App Store. I can understand where some people may have a philosophical issue with this, but really, unless you’re a developer, this should not have a significant impact on your smartphone experience. Again, Spears has a great point about this concerning the slow adoption of operating system upgrades:
There are problems with security on Android. Roughly speaking, they fall into the categories of security exploits and malware. Every platform has security exploits – heck, the very basis of iOS jailbreaking is finding security holes to exploit – but the incidence of malware is not evenly spread.
One of the claimed strengths of the Android platform is the ability to download software from anywhere and install it on your device. No gatekeeper! No walled garden! That’s a perfectly valid thing to aspire to.
I take the claimed importance of this at face value: if you want it, I assume you’re planning to actually use it. If you’re going to download and install apps from all over the web, you had better be sure that the base OS is bang up to date with security patches.
Another argument I have against Android phones is their monetary value. With so many Android phones being released on the market, each touting the next big improvement (3D! Bigger than your pocket!) they tend to lose their value faster than a new car being driven off the dealer lot. I bought my last iPhone in June of 2010, and for 16 months, it still had a list price of $199. Not so with Android phones. They may start at $199 when they hit the market, but their value soon plummets and you would be hard pressed to find anybody willing to pay you money for an Android phone that was a year or more old.
If your thing is buying new gadgets and trying out the latest technologies, than I suppose Android phones are fine, but if your making an investment in a smartphone that you intend to keep and use for a reasonable length of time, then, in my opinion, there’s only one option, the iPhone.
Tags: Android, Apple, iOS, iPhone
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