A typical day for me begins with the following before getting out of bed:

1) Turning off my alarm (iPhone 3GS).

2) Starting the download for the WSJ This Morning podcast (iPhone 3GS).

3) Checking the temperature (iPhone 3GS).

Once I get out of bed:

1) I get dressed to take my dog for a walk while listening to the WSJ podcast on my iPhone that has finished downloading.

2) I feed myself and my dog while continuing to listen to the WSJ podcast.

3) I connect my iPhone to some powered speakers and finish the WSJ podcast as I shower and get dressed for work.

As I leave the house to go to work:

1) I listen to music on my iPhone as I walk to bus stop.

2) While waiting for the bus I check my personal and work e-mail.

3) After checking e-mail, I play games and listen to music on my iPhone until I reach work.

It’s amazing how fast time seems to pass when you have so many productivity and entertainment options available.

Depending on what I’m doing that day at work, I might listen to music, Pandora, or local sports talk from Dallas (the ESPN Radio iPhone app is great) as I work.

At work I’m always connected to the Internet. Most of my collegues are located remotely or at another office. Work is done primarily via e-mail and chat. I’m on the phone no more than once or twice a day. I used the phone far more when I was doing Business Development.

My primary applications include Outlook, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Excel on a 10″ Dell laptop running Windows XP docked with dual 20 inch LCD monitors. I use Word and PowerPoint far less in product management than I did in Business Development.

I also keep Meebo’s web-based chat application open all day on a small USB monitor to access AIM, Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger. I keep up with industry news using Google Reader and Techmeme.

Prior to heading home from the office, I start the downloads for a few ESPN podcasts which keep me company until I get home and walk the dog.

After I walk my dog and feed the two of us, I catch up on TV shows waiting for me on my DirecTV DVR or stream some music using my Apple TV.

I’ll typically surf the web and read the days news and tech blogs on my laptop as I watch TV or listen to music. I have a 17″ Dell laptop running Windows 7. I primarily use Google Chrome to browse the web at home.

I actually have print subscription to Business Week (it was free).

When I crawl into bed at night I set my alarm, plug in the charger, and turn on some relaxing tunes on my iPhone 3GS.

As you can see, the iPhone has been deeply integrated into my daily activities. I have a hard time seeing how I’d get by without it.

]]> http://randyweber.com/blog/2010/03/13/technology-and-me-a-day-in-the-life-of/feed/ 0 http://randyweber.com/blog/2010/03/06/technology-and-me-2001-through-2010/ http://randyweber.com/blog/2010/03/06/technology-and-me-2001-through-2010/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:06:13 +0000 Randy Weber http://randyweber.com/blog/?p=491 This is the first of 3 posts that have to do with technology changes over the last decade. I’ve been thinking about this since January but finally got around to writing it down this weekend. We’ll start with the basics – what I was using in 2001 and what I’m using in 2010.

Technology I used in 2001:

- Nokia cellphone for mobile and long-distance calls

- landline for local calls and Internet access

- dial-up Internet access

- company provided laptop with Windows NT 4 for work and for getting online at home

- basic cable

- standard definition 20″ TV

- cheap battery-powered alarm clock

Technology I’m using in 2010:

- iPhone 3GS for all calls, MP3 player, Pandora, yellow pages, maps, mobile web access, gaming, e-mail (personal and work), controlling my Apple TV, alarm clock, calendar, and contacts.

- NOTE: no landline

- cable Internet access with wireless router

- Apple TV

- Mac mini

- 17″ HP laptop with Windows 7 (personal)

- 10″ Dell laptop with Windows XP (work)

- Samsung Internet-connected Blu-Ray player

- 65″ Panasonic Plasma HDTV

- DirecTV with dual tuner HD DVR, NFL Sunday Ticket, and ESPN Game Plan (no premium channels)

- Hulu for catching up on shows that I may have missed

- Netflix for DVDs and streaming video (but I’m unimpressed with their streaming content, so I’ll probably cancel when football season resumes in Fall 2010)

- PS2 used primarily for Karaoke games

- Harmony remote that controls my Sony receiver, Samsung Blu-Ray player, DirecTV DVR, Apple TV, and Panasonic HDTV

The process took 5-6 hours. It was easy, not a lot of hand-holding needed. I didn’t wipe the drive and start fresh. Rather I installed it as an upgrade to Vista.

After using it all evening, I’m underwhelmed. It doesn’t seem to boot any faster. It does wake up from sleep faster, but it also takes longer to go to sleep.

The OS assumes way to many things, like the fact that I would want to put all of my pictures and videos into Windows Media Player to be viewed at once. NO. I do NOT want to do this. It was a pain to undo this.

After installing, I decided to start uninstalling a bunch of software that came on my HP laptop. It took forever to uninstall things. This felt much slower than Vista and XP.

I wish I’d kept my $49.

After holding steady for most of 2008, Yahoo’s share of all search engine advertisers dropped like a rock in October, November and December — plummeting from 30.4% to 19.4% at the end of Q4, according to search marketing firm AdGooroo.

How do you explain this? Everyone else is gaining share and they’re losing it. This is very sad to see. I’ve always liked Yahoo!

Is it just me or does Live Search put the coolest pics up?

Let me start this with the fact that I LOVE TiVo. However, the lack of a viable HD product has led me to use the PVR in the set-top box from Time Warner. I hate it, but I have no choice. None-the-less, I still have my TiVo which I use as a music server to get my tunes from my PC to my entertainment system. It’s slicker than anything else out there, trust me, I’ve tried them.

Now, on with my point. I want TiVo to survive. I think it has major opportunities that it has not been able to capitalize on:

1. The set-top box that integrates audio, video, PCs, and the Internet in the living room.
2. It could change the way that audio and video is monetized by content owners and distributors.
3. It could change they way that audio and video is distributed by content owners – pay-per-view, video on demand, stored content that can be moved to various devices, etc.

I want this device BAD. PVR Wire has their arguments on who is most likely to buy TiVo – they believe it will be Yahoo or Google. I want it to be Yahoo or Apple. Yahoo seems to be able to integrate a variety of Internet content and could really use TiVo rather than screwing around with their own vaporware product. Apple would be great because they’d be able to avoid screwing up TiVo’s incredible UI (they might even be able to improve it) and they have done very well with integrating various types of content on various devices.

Whether it’s Yahoo or Apple, please let it happen.