Taking Liberties

Apple has announced that the new iPhone 3G will be launched on July 11. Readers may recall that I got an iPhone for Christmas - and I was reasonably happy with it until a couple of weeks ago when the phone bit of it stopped working and I found I could only access email or the internet via my home wi-fi (which is not much good when I am away from the house).

I sensed that something wasn't right because, even before that, the iPhone kept shutting down, even when the battery wasn't exhausted. Connecting to the internet was often painfully slow, but the positives outweighed the negatives - just. (One of the negatives is the fear of losing the damned thing. And it's so sleek I always feel I'm about to drop it.)

We are told that the iPhone 3G will be half the price of the existing iPhone, and three times faster. If that is true I may be tempted to upgrade but I won't be ditching my (reliable) old mobile for some time to come. For now the iPhone is more like an executive toy than an essential piece of kit.

The new-look BBC website - introduced this morning - has come in for a ferocious pasting on The Editors blog (HERE). Personally, I like it, and I'm sure that within a few days most people will get used to it and will like it too.

I do, however, have the advantage of having access to several computers that use a variety of browsers and I can understand why some people are complaining. Looking at the site using Internet Explorer (allied to Windows XP) on a PC laptop is not a great experience.

However, when I use Firefox or Safari on my new MacBook Air, the site looks fantastic. OK, it benefits from the crystal clear screen, and I guess the screen resolution will play a significant part, but the design just ... works. It works better too on my iPhone where the less compact design is not only easier on the eye but also aids the touch screen navigation.

I'm interested in this not just because I use the BBC website all the time but because we are currently "refreshing" the Forest site and I'm curious to see the latest design trends and how people react to change. From a technical standpoint, there is also the issue of how a website will work using a particular browser. In the days when almost everyone used Internet Explorer this wasn't an issue, but it is now.

Fingers crossed, the new-look Forest site will go live this month and I hope it will look good whatever browser and/or computer you're using. In the meantime I'd be interested to know what browser you are using to read this and whether you have any comments on the matter. For example, I am so impressed with Safari on my Mac that I downloaded it on to my PC - where it looks dreadful.

Likewise, I recently (and belatedly) downloaded IE7 on to my PC but there are so many icons and navigation bars - for Google, Yahoo and the rest - that the screen is hopelessly cluttered. Give me Safari (or Firefox) on a Mac any day. As with government, less is more.

The Apple Store in Regent Street is a few hundred yards from our London office.
On Wednesday I popped in to buy the new MacBook Air. They were sold out. Fortunately John Lewis is just around the corner. I got the last one before they too were out of stock.

When I got home it took two minutes to set up and connect "the world's thinnest laptop" to the internet via our BT Home Hub. Two years ago it took several days - and numerous pleas for technical help from a call centre in India - before I could connect my old PC laptop to the same wi-fi network.

A lot has changed - notably the operating system - in the five years since I last worked on a Mac, but a Mac is still a Mac. And if you're one of those crass, insensitive people who say, "It's still just a computer", you're wrong. That's like saying a BMW 3-series is just a car. It's not. In its class, it's a great car.

I stopped using Macs because I was no longer editing and designing magazines and - crucially - the content management system on the Forest website was not Mac compatible. Thankfully, the CMS on the new site - to be launched next month - is compatible, hence my return to the fold.

Next week I may even treat myself to an iMac so we can make (and edit) videos for the new site. Happy days.

I may have given the impression (HERE and HERE) that modern technology is more trouble than it's worth. Now that my iPhone is up and running, and Sky finally made good their promise to install a Sky+ box in my home, I would like to say that the iPhone is the best toy I have ever had. It is truly scrumptious.

Sky+ too is a modern miracle. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing as an iPhone, but I predict that it will have a greater impact on my life because it really does liberate you from the tyranny of the TV programmers.

Sure, videos and DVDs have been around for yonks and do a similar job, but I can't tell you how easy Sky+ is to use. I have just seen the future - and for a Luddite like me, it works.

If you've been following my trials and tribulations with gadgets, gizmos and flatpack furniture you may be interested to know that I finally activated my beautiful new iPhone yesterday. It took the best part of the morning to get it working and sync all my contacts, email accounts, bookmarks, music etc.

Then, when I tried to customise my voicemail, it froze and I was forced to "restore" the original factory settings by downloading the relevant software. This took 70 minutes during which the network "timed out" and I had to start all over again. I then had to sync all my contacts, email accounts, bookmarks, music etc. (Fortunately I didn't have to re-register with O2. The phone remembered my number and account.)

Coincidentally, while all this was happening, I received an email from Brian Monteith asking me how I was getting on with my iPhone. I was only too happy to tell him. His response when, finally, I got the blasted thing working, was: "Well done.  You'll be using Lego next, ha, ha! Meanwhile, stay away from my laptop!!" Charming.

I have said it before - in the right hands, technology can be a wonderful thing. In the wrong hands it can be used to enslave rather than liberate. Today General Motors will unveil a car which "doesn't need a driver". The Daily Mail seems to think this is A Good Thing:

Imagine going for a drive - and being able to sit back and enjoy the view. Or taking the car to the pub - and then taking it home. For most of us, that's a pipe dream involving a chauffeur or perhaps a particularly selfless spouse. But the car that drives itself may be only a few years away.

I don't know about you, but the car that drives itself is one step from motoring hell. For a start, the government will make sure it is programmed never to exceed the speed limit (which will no doubt be slashed to reduce the potential carnage from a pile-up of driverless vehicles).

Unlike the Starship Enterprise, it won't be allowed to boldly go where no man has gone before. Quite the reverse. Stealing an inch at traffic lights? No chance. Unauthorised U-turns? Forget it. Off-roading? Never. Not in a billion years. (Think of the environment.)

As for the pub (if it still exists in 2018 when GM expects the driverless car to be on the streets), does anyone really think they will be allowed to get in, even as a passenger, under the influence of alcohol? Of course not. The driverless car will come, I'm sure, with an immobiliser that will detect automatically the faintest whiff of alcohol. (Woe betide anyone who has just consumed a sherry trifle.)

General Motors calls the car The Boss. How appropriate. Full article HERE.

I got my wish at Christmas - a brand, spanking new iPhone - but it's still in its box. I can use most modern gadgets, including computers, once they're set up, but that's the problem. I'm hopeless at DIY of any sort.

Last year I spent most of Boxing Day trying to rig up BT's Home Hub system (a Christmas present to myself) and failed dismally. When, finally, it kicked into life and I could access the internet wirelessly via my laptop, it was thanks to a BT employee in India who managed to operate my computer remotely and click the right buttons.

The year before it took the best part of six hours to erect a flatpack desk from John Lewis. Even then I got it wrong, glued some wooden dowels into the wrong holes and had to pay someone to sort out the mess.

Last Friday, with the clock ticking on my mother-in-law's imminent arrival, I made a similar mistake with our new spare bed. No glue was involved this time so the error wasn't catastrophic, but it still took two hours to complete a job I was told would take ten minutes.

On Saturday I had to register (online) my children's new pay-as-you-go mobile phones. I'm sure this is as easy as pie for most of you, but after several attempts - during which I was asked for security and ID codes I didn't seem to have - I gave up, jumped in my car and drove 20 miles to the nearest Orange shop to let them sort it out.

The point I am trying to make is this: what is the point of modern gadgets and flatpack furniture if they make our lives even more complicated and stressful? To be fair to Apple, their products are (usually) incredibly intuitive. So, today, I shall get my shiny new toy out of its pristine black box, consult the instructions, and master the iPhone "tool by tool" (if it kills me). Watch this space.

Postscript ... I have just spotted the following in today's Telegraph: "Rumours are swirling of some important new product launches in the next few weeks, not least ... a much-improved version of the iPhone." Aaarrrggghhh!!