Indycar’s Tony Kanaan uses his iPad during races – out geeks the competition
Well, looks like we found at least ONE customer for Scosche’s iKit iPad car mount! In this clip, professional racecar driver (and apparently professional tech geek) Tony Kanaan gives a brief overview of how his team has already incorporated the iPad into their workflow to help streamline the pit stop experience.
I must admit I never really got into the whole driving quickly in an oval thing (or whatever shape track Indycar guys race on) but still, this is pretty cool. Tony’s use of the iPad not only appears to be the first merging of sports and iPad technology, but it actually doesn’t come off feeling like Tony shoehorned the iPad into his workflow just because he loves it (which he clearly DOES. He even bought Apple’s lame case for crying out loud!).
So from now on, if anyone asks, I’m a Tony Kanaan man when it comes to Indycar. Although so far in the first 30 or so years of my life no one has asked me who I back in Indycar… but I’m sure it will come up eventually, and when it does, I finally have an answer.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Mark for the tip!
[via Indycar.com]
Prepare to be pulled over – Scosche unveils its iPad car mount
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, iPad, video
Oddly enough just yesterday morning I tried to put my iPad into a Magellan iPhone GPS cradle to see if I could use any core location-based navigation apps on the iPad, and the answer was unfortunately “No”. However, despite navigation apps apparently not being an option on the iPad, it looks like Scosche feels there will be enough demand from those people looking to Tweet and play Plants Vs Zombies while driving to create a car iPad mounting system called the iKit.
I don’t know… I actually had a near fatal fall just walking around my house while using the iPad this week, so this just sort of screams “trouble”. There’s no doubt this ranks a 10 on the Geek-o-meter in terms of sheer awesomeness, but on the other hand, I can’t really think of any reason to have an iPad right up front with me while driving. I suppose with the iPad 3G’s presumed ability to use cell towers to get a rough idea of location, it’s possible you might be able to use Google Maps on an iPad, but it won’t be nearly as accurate as the iPhone 3Gs. (I stand corrected, the iPad 3G actually DOES have a real GPS chip, and therefore this would be pretty sweet for navigation apps. Thanks guys!) Personally I think it makes more sense to come up with a back-seat mounting system for the kids, but that being said, I totally want one.
Review: IDAPT I3 – Our pick for the geeky Dad
Filed under: Awesomeness, Product Reviews, iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch, iPod nano
This year anyone looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift for the tech obsessed Dad need look no further than the iDapt I3 charging station. Well, MY kids at least need look no further (and yeah, I suppose there might be a geeky Mom or two out there who would love it as well).
The I3 is available in “Manly Pink”, as well as 8 other colors.
Designed to minimize the cable clutter and outlet overload of today’s kitchens, the I3 get’s its name from the three separate charging “tips” you can pop into the available openings which will allow you to charge pretty much any handheld device known to geeks. Each I3 comes with tips for the iPhone/iPod, as well as phones from Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, and both a miniUSB and a microUSB tip, pretty much assuring that you can charge anything from a GPS or digital camera to an iPhone external battery from the likes of Mophie, Mili, or Novothink.
Awww… it’s like they’re getting a couple’s massage…
Swapping tips is easy, simply press on the two raised pressure buttons on either side of a tip to lift it up, and snap in a new one.
The I3 ships with a nice assortment of popular tips, or you can order your own.While odds are the I3 will meet all your charging needs out of the box, you can order additional tips on a tip-by-tip basis if you’d like. For example, being a 2-iPhone, 2-iPod house, I figured I needed 3 iPhone tips. IDAPT sells tips covering most mobile phones, as well as other gadgets like the Nintendo DS, and it even has an adapter for Read more
Jon Stewart gives his take on the whole iPhone 4G thing
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Opinion, Theft, iPhone
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart voiced his opinion on the lost/stolen iPhone 4G that seems to have landed Gizmodo in so much trouble. I won’t ruin which side of the fence Jon lands on here, but I DID get this link from the Gizmodo Australia website… Enjoy.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Appholes | ||||
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Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month” (April 2010): Jessica Vaugn
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Mac Chick of the Month
Welcome to Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month”. Each month we feature a different die-hard, Mac-loving girl who is (almost) as well designed as the Apple products they love. This month we present you with the lovely Jessica Vaugn, a full time student and model just two weeks away from graduating! And of course, a die hard Mac Chick!
So, what does Dilbert DO, exactly?
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Humor, iPhone
With The Far Side gone and all but forgotten, Dilbert is pretty much the only comic worth reading these days (with the exception of course of any Family Circus comic where the kid’s dead grandpa looks down on them from heaven). However, I never quite understood what Dilbert’s job was, and now I’m even more confused. Apparently he’s been promoted from nameless cubicle worker to iPhone engineer?
[via Daring Fireball via 9to5]
And the award for “Most Optimistic iPad Developer” goes to….
(image by Ian Silber)
Nekori, who just released their Huge Pedometer app for the iPad. Good luck fellas!
Personally I think this is a great way to get a workout. Not only will the extra weight help build muscle, but you’ll be inspired to pick up the pace to avoid all the small, rock-throwing children who taunt you. It will be like having your own personal trainer!
OK, that’s just eerie…
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Games, Slow News Day, That's Weird..., iPad
I suppose with the amount of Words with Friends I’ve been playing odds are I would eventually find words spelled out for me in my tile rack, but as a Mac geek, I thought this was pretty bizarre.
And yes, this was one of the few games I actually won.
Not exactly what Apple intended the iPad to be used for – WARNING! NSFW
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Geek Love, Gilrs, iPad
I don’t know who Ryan Kelly is, but apparently she’s French, hot, naked, and owns an iPad. This clip is EXTREMELY not safe for work, and I hesitated (briefly) in posting it, but I just got back from the MOMA in New York where there was some super lame video installation with real, live naked people, and let me tell you, this is every bit as artistic as that was – it just doesn’t have a bunch of security guards standing around making sure you don’t tough the exhibits (I learned THAT the hard way…). But hey, art or not, it’s a naked chick with an iPad, so I more or less had to publish it. You’ve been warned, proceed at your own risk. Read more
Ren & Stimpy creator John K. disses iPhone/iPad’s design
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Opinion, design, iPad, iPhone
Apple is widely regarded in the electronics industry as a design leader and innovator. There is little doubt that even Apple’s stiffest competition look to Apple for “inspiration” for their own designs. But is this a good thing? Not according to Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi, it isn’t.
In a recent blog post, John singles out Apple’s iPhone and iPad as examples of the lack of thought and design in today’s gadgets. And after reading John’s post, quite frankly I think he might have a point.
Writes Kricfalusi:
I remember a time when you’d swear everyone was a design genius. Every TV, appliance, Fridge, Toaster and even transistor radio was beautiful to look at- and there was an endless variety of designs for each humdrum everyday household item. We took all this wealth of eye candy for granted.Now everything looks like this:
Even Sony, arguably the PC industry’s “Apple” got some flack.
…and check out this retarded ad:
90% blank space and a tiny black sliver of the featureless product. This is supposed to induce us to buy it? Yet everyone thinks this way today…Look what Sony used to be capable of:
As an animator of far less talent than John, I have much respect for his opinions on design, and in looking at the samples above, one can see John’s point. There certainly did seem to be a sense of “art” to the designs of old that one could argue is missing from today’s gadgets. However, I can’t help but wonder if some of their charm relies simply in how dated and innocent they look when seen with today’s eyes. Cotton Candy-colored electronics remind us of the Back to the Future movies where people all wore hats and said “Gosh” and “Swell” and nothing bad ever happened (well, except for the whole clock tower thing).
And while I can see John’s point, I think he is missing something with respect to today’s consumer electronics and Apple’s gadgets in particular. First and foremost, advances in technology have made it so it is no longer necessary for a TV to take up half your living room in order to give you a whopping 12-inch screen. In the good old days designers had to do something to dress up the vast unadorned panels that would otherwise be visible, simply to accommodate the giant tubes and pre-transistor guts of the machines.
But to address John’s Apple critique in particular, I think what he’s missing here is that the iPhone and iPad are designed with two things in mind – portability, and providing as large a viewing screen as possible. Apple’s design philosophy has always been to take away any distractions from the end user experience, and put the focus squarely on the purpose of the device, in the case of the iPhone and iPad, to give the user a way to view and interact with the content on the screen, something that was not possible in the art deco days. Apple has stripped its designs down to the barest essentials, allowing the TRUE design elements to come via software and programming. Yes, it can feel sterile when compared with older technology, but all it really is is the evolution of design away from hardware and towards software. And here too one can find some truly inspiring designs.
