There has been a lot of product introductions in 2007. The Eee PC, Amazons Kindle, the Eye-Fi wireless SD card. Some of these products were good, some came and went, but none were more overhyped and overrated than this years winner of Bull-ish.com’s Most Overrated product of 2007. Rumors of the iPhone had actually been around for a few years but at the end of 2006 there were some concrete evidence that the iPhone was indeed coming. In January Apple finally announce the product and the whole web went wild. a couple months later and the iPhone was released and for months on end it has been one of the hottest, most talked about product.
So why is the iPhone the most overrated product of 2007
2 reasons.
Why do I say its crippled? First let me say the iPhone is not a bad device, it is a good device. its just overrated. There are a lot of things done right with the iPhone, such as the large screen, the multi-touch technology. The browser and the email client. Beyond that, theres pretty much nothing else to the phone. The phone doesn’t even have any games for Christ sakes. When was the last time a cell phone shipped with no games at all, an no way to purchase them. And why cant I send or receive picture messages?
As it stands today, the iPhone is barely a smartphone, most other devices that fit into the smartphone category can do a lot more. Hopefully, Apple will update the phone to add more features, it is definetly capable of doing a lot more, its just crippled. If you hack your iPhone, you can do tons of stuff with it, but then you risk having it bricked by Apple.
In a few days we will be ringing in the new year. This year has been a trip. Today I want to introduce you to my version of year end awards, Bull-ish style. The first award on this list is for the most embarrassing moment of 2007.
Maxim is a popular mens magazine that usually have list like Hollywood’s 100 sexiest women etc. This year they did something a little different. They published a list named "5 unsexiest women alive". Yes I did say unsexiest. Boy did they hit the nail on the head with their number one choice. Sara Jessica parker. It seems like they found the worse possible picture of her to associate with her spot at the top.
Sarah Jessica Parker taking the number one spot in Maxim’s 5 unsexiest women alive list isn’t what won most embarrassing moment of 2007. Just imagine how embarrassed Mathew Broderick, her husband and former Ferris Bueller star was to read about this. He has to hear it from his friends, reporters asking him about it everywhere he goes. Id imagine the first time he was asked about it, he probably looked a little like this…
Even though this isn’t really an award to be proud of, Sarah Jessica parker doesn’t seem to mind it that much, when asked about it in an interview she responded ‘I never thought I was sexy". I bet Mathew isn’t taking it as lightly
Sony’s marketing has sure got everyone blinded.
The Power of the PS3!!!
PS3 has a few more Horses than the 360!!!
The Cell Processor!!! RSX!!!
Its all Bull-ish. Who knows which system is more powerful other than the developers? And they arent going to tell us the truth. All we know is that we dont know what the hell a cell processor is. I can create something no one understands and say its better than everything else. And that is what Sony is doing with the PS3. They have the cell processor, no one knows what it is or what it does. Hell, people are still saying it has 7 cores verses the 360’s 3 cores. THEY ARE NOT CORES!!!!. There is one 3.2 ghz core in the PS3’s cell chip. And that may not even be true cause noone knows what the hell a cell processor is.
And the RSX chip… Can we say overclocked Geforce 7800?
NO WE CANT CAUSE NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE HELL A RSX IS!!
Even though it is just an overclocked Geforce 7800. What you all dont know is that the ATI GPU in the 360 and the RSX chip in the PS3 are about as equal as 2 video cards can get. Dont let Nvidia’s current dominance in PC video cards fool you. It was only about 2 years ago that ATI had the best video cards. Any difference you will see between the PS3 and the 360 right now are all developer differences, not hardware capability differences. Forget what you heard, neither the Xbox 360 nor the PS3 has been pushed to its limits. Most of the games this generation has been built with the 360 as lead skew, and pretty much has only used a single thread, which the 360 has 2 threads per core. Yea the other threads act as helper threads and sometimes are used to handle things like decompression etc but as far as actual game processing, I dont think there is a game yet to use more than 2 threads, with most so far just using 1. The PS3 is no different, there are 7 SPE controllers that are similiar to threads, but more specialized and the only game that actually utilize them correctly is Unreal Tournament 3. and that game doesnt even fully utilize all of the PS3’s power. Actually there may be a few more games that use it correctly but thats not the point. The point is the claim that the PS3 is the most powerful is really only a claim. And thats Bull-ish.
I still remember the first time I heard someone refer to downloading illegal music as "stealing music". It was some form of RIAA publication to make people aware that the music that they are downloading, for free is wrong. Since then the phrase "stealing music" has been used more frequently. It has almost become the common phrase for downloading or copying copyright material. The term "stealing music" still makes my stomach turn every time I hear it. Basically because that is a false statement.
Yep I said it
Stealing Music is a lie!!!
Today, Im going to go to Walmart. I’m going to walk over to the electronics section and find Jay Z’s newest CD. Im going to pick it up and put it in my jacket and walk out of the store…without paying. I’m kidding, I wouldn’t do anything like that but that is what it means to steal music. You actually go to a store and pick up the cd and walk out without paying. That is stealing music.
When you download a song online, you are not stealing.
Why? I know what you’re thinking. You think I feel that if it isn’t a psychical item, like a CD I think it isn’t stealing. No that is not what Im getting at. I know you can steal virtual and digital items. It doesn’t matter what form the item comes in, what matters is how you are getting the item. The main simple fact about most music that is being downloaded is this…
The music that you are downloading has been made available to you.
It is there for you to download. That song is there with the sole purpose of people coming along and downloading it just like everything else on the Web. Its not like you hacked iTunes and are downloading songs that iTunes is expecting you to purchase…that would be stealing. But downloading some file that is made available for you to download is not stealing. I don’t care how illegal the file it, it is not stealing! Stop calling it "stealing music"
Thats not to say I think there is nothing wrong with illegally downloading music. Im not saying that. The RIAA and MPAA uses words like Stealing and Theft to let you know that it is wrong, but it is misleading.
Pimpin is an old profession. Throughout the years there have been millions of people making a living with their stable of women. "Better have my money" is he words uttered out of the mouthes of many when Pimps are looking to get paid. Todays Pimp come in all forms, some Pimp with the traditional Pimp / Whore set up that we are all use too. But if you look closely there is some Pimpin goin on without the use of whores. Actually the women they are aligned with to get paid are in a lot of cases very smart, nice, wholesome women. Still beautiful and us guys are still pretty much attracted to them. But there is no sex involved. Not even a little cleavage. Just a pretty face and imagination.
The smiley face Pimps of the net is what I call them. These Pimps are all happy smiling internet entrepreneurs. Not looking to do anything any less moral than your sweet grandmother. And the women that are being Pimped are doing so in a very respectful manner. No shame or disrespect here. Its all a complete mutually beneficial arrangements. Why do I call them Pimps? Well what they do is create some form internet entertainment, most of the time video, headed up or occasionally featuring a very pretty young lady. What would you rather watch, a internet show with some bearded overweight guy in a skull cap talking about his favorite past time, or a very pretty bubbly young lady?
Who are these Pimps of the net?
Well I’m not going to list all of the Pimps of the net but I’m going to go down the top 5.
| 5. Kevin Rose / Revision 3
We all know and love Kevin Rose, but how is he a Pimp of the net? Actually, Kevin is kindof late to the game. He has been doing internet shows for a few years now, have some pretty popular shows with Diggnation and System. Most of the early Shows have been major "guyfests" but if you visit revision 3 you’d notice that they are starting to build a little Pimpnation on some of the shows. I first noticed it when I started watching one of the new shows called "the Revision 3 Gazzette", staring the lovely Sarah Lane. Then you have Tekzilla with Jessica Corbin and Patrick Norton. That show has become quite the Chick fest. First you have Jessica Corbin, whom I have drooled over since she was on Tech TV. But they also throw in a good mix of other eye candy with appearances from Morgan Webb And Sarah Lane. The new hottie they have been Pimpin lately goes by the name of Neha Tiwari.
  
|
|
4. Dr. Tiki
Dr Tiki from Tikibar TV, what a Pimp. He has one of the hottest women on the web in his stable. The fun loving, giggly Lala. I actually think Dr Tiki fell into his Pimpin unexpectedly. It seems like the comedic troop over at the Tiki Bar may have just started doing the show not knowing that people would fall in love with Lala. They know now though. Lala is clearly the star of the show, when you look up the show in iTunes, the image is now just a picture of Lala. If that isn’t pimpin I don’t know what is.
|
|
3. Andrew Baron
Andy Baron is what I would call an unstoppable pimp. He adds the lovely Amanda Congdon to his stable. She runs things, get him started and brings Rocketboom to the top of the online video podcast charts.
Then Andy tells her to "kick rocks" and gets someone else just like her! (Joanne Colan)
Now thats Pimpin.
|
|
2. Jason Calacanis
The famous pimp "Goldie" once said "You heard that, yo chick chose me" or something like that, maybe with a little profanity but you get the picture. Jason Calacanis is sortof like Goldie with his new induction to his Mahalo stable. The lovely Veronica Belmont was Cnet’s property until Jason came along and laid down his gift of gab…er…cash and straight stole her like a Pimp. Now Veronica is holdin it down over at Mahalo Daily…which is a really good show I might add.
|
|
1. Leo Laporte
Talk about the Mack of Mack’s, the Pimps of Pimps, Leo has figured out how to really Pimp out his lifestyle a long while ago. He himself is a personality in the tech world and he knows it. But one thing he is good at doing is surrounding himself with other Net Talents. Not just the lovely ladies, but the combination of Leo and whoever he chooses seem to make a Gold product. But we are here to talk about the ladies and over the years Leo has introduced us to a lot of them. The really Pimp thing about Leo is even if a young lady isn’t a part of his stable, he still is able to borrow her on temporary basis. His main squeeze goes by the name of Amber Macarthur of Net@Nite. She has been with Leo for a long time on several different projects. Then you have the lovely Megan Morrone from the Jumping Monkeys podcast (remember her from TechTV?) and Denise Howelle from This Week in Law. Other than that, Leo has probably had every other lady mentioned in this post on one of his shows at one time or another. Some that haven’t been mentioned here, like Geekbrief’s Cali Lewis, and Buzz out Loud’s Molly Wood. He’s fighting it right now, but one day he should become part of Revision 3. Imagine Leo and Kevin together again.
  
|
Theres one thing I don’t understand. Why is it that people are like they are. I always have had a lot of respect for "working" people, no matter what they do. Its all work, they are making a living. I respect that. What I hate is when people act like their job is so hard that they have the right to be nasty to you. I hate to stereotype but I find that with a lot with people that work in 7-11s and other gas station/convenient stores. To take this stereotype even further, it seems like its even worse when there are women working in the store. Not all the time, but enough to where it is very noticeable.
The other morning I went to a 7-11, I was getting gas and a soda. It was really early so no one was in the store except for the 2 ladies that worked there. There were 2 registers open, a girl standing behind each. I walk into the store, in a pretty good mood and walked over to one of the registers with a soda in my hand. Neither of the girls are saying anything, just standing there as if they are waiting for a customer. I stand there for about 20 seconds while they both are staring at me as if I’m not waiting for anything. The girl behind the register where I was waiting grabbed the closed sign and puts it on the counter in front of me. I’m thinking that was a little rude but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was closed and forgot to put the sign up since no one was in the store.
I walked over to the other register.
"I’m closed, she can help you" the second girl says.
Now, one girl has thrown the closed sign in front of me. The second girl tells me she’s closed and to see the first girl. I look back at the first girl and she says
"Im closed" and points to the sign.
Normally this would be very frustrating, but I just laughed to myself. I asked if there was anyone else working? No Answer. Finally the first girl said
"I’ll ring you up…Damn" with a real nasty attitude.
Now thats some Bull-ish!!!
