the turtle speaks

(Bias disclosure: I’ve been a Mac user for over 20 years and am an AAPL shareholder. I do not claim to be dispassionate about this :-)

So the iPad has come out, and the questions have begun: Is there a place for it in the average computer user’s life? Isn’t it just a big iPod touch? Why doesn’t it do X?

When people find out I’m a travel agent, I normally get asked a question or two- How much does it cost to fly here?  What’s the top hotel to stay in there?  I imagine it’s much like people showing the guy in line ahead of them at Wal-Mart their newest ailment as soon as they realize he is a medically trained professional– except the questions directed to me normally don’t involve gross details and rashes.

I was at a worship service the other night and was a little taken aback by some of the connotations of the lyrics. One in particular repeated “Holding me close, holding me still, in your loving arms” over and over. It seemed a little strange, and perhaps shallow, to refer to the Creator in language reminiscent of late night soft rock. The examples could be multiplied, but the theme is the same.

MacWorld opines about the enhanced features of the iPhone and what that may mean for individual devices. I’ve switched my mind on this one, in no small part to using the iPhone itself. Formerly all-in-one devices had limited appeal to me (such as print/fax/scan options) because they didn’t seem to do any of those things exceptionally well. However the prospect of having one smart phone that replaces a Flip for video, a point-and-shoot for snapshots, a DS/Gameboy/etc for games, a TomTom for GPS and directions, a small tape recorder for memos, and paper copies of invoices/itineraries, etc is quite appealing.

A few thoughts from Apple’s announcements are underwhelming.

NOT EVEN Apple messiah Steve Jobs could be bothered to get out of bed for the fruit-themed company’s announcements at its World Wide Developers Conference yesterday.

but the blog is back and alive. More info soon.

for this contribution to YouTube with some guy named Don singing in the background.

I think it’s timely and well done. You may have to watch it more than once to catch the subtleties.

I’m back in Canada at Nueltin with my father-in-law. Good Times™

For the interested, there are some Facebook photos.

How was N.T. Wright on the Colbert Report last week and I didn’t watch?

Definitely want to read the book…

I received the call tonight at 6:36. Moments early, my dad explained, Judy had passed away.