The Reader's View: Best of your feedback, comments and opinions
Welcome to The Reader's View, a new weekly TUAW column that will feature insightful and well-written commentary by you -- our readers.
The comments are the one place where our readers can get on their virtual soapboxes and tell the world what they're thinking. Not all comments are created equal, however, and we want to recognize and celebrate the ones that rise above the rest by showing thought, knowledge, and constructive/considerate feedback. Enjoy this week's cream of the crop, and remember that you also have the opportunity to have your comments showcased here.
First, our giveaway of a limited edition set of Beatles MusicSkins required that readers leave a comment telling us who their favorite Beatle was. This, of course, brought up some fun memories and commentary from kathycorby: "Bet I'm one of the few who saw the Beatles in person, Milwaukee, 1963 (I think), first US tour. Of course, by the time I stood near the back of the auditorium screaming and weeping, I already knew it was Paul, Paul, just forever Paul....."
To the post about Celebrity Cruises adding an "Apple Store" to the new Celebrity Eclipse, quinton provided some nice input about other cruise lines that are using Macs: "Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have already been using Macs aboard their ships for years. Currently the first ship in the Solstice class (the Celebrity Solstice) has Mac Minis running a modified custom media center OS in every stateroom on the ship (Eclipse is Solstice class). Royal Caribbean has done the same. I have personally used the services and they work great. A bit like Front Row but even cooler. Over a hundred new release movies are free to watch on demand (like iTunes.) In addition, you can order room service, view your account, and track the ships location on a map. What I wonder is, is Apple working with Celebrity to integrate these systems and design the software, or is Celebrity doing this on their own. The former seems much more likely. The ships backbone for the equipment is run on Xserves as well."
Navigation app / service provider TeleNav told TUAW about how GPS and search services apparently helped a lot of guys on Valentine's Day. For TUAW reader Phil H., an iPhone really kept him out of trouble: "Oh my god did my iPhone save the day here. First it helped me find a show to go to, buy tickets on the go. Get the showtimes. Get me directions to the theater so I got there just as the show was starting. Find a parking garage which is impossible to do in downtown Philadelphia. Then I used it to get directions to get from the garage to the theater. Used it as a light to see the playbill :) Then found directions to the Hard Rock cafe which was like 5 blocks away. After [we were] done [with] dinner, used it to hail a cab so I didn't have to walk at midnight and get mugged. Then used it to get directions on how to get out of the maze of downtown streets. Didn't really realize how much it helped until now. Thank god I have it!"
Auntie TUAW always helps out her nephews and nieces, and David F. was nice enough to respond to her post about buying a 3G iPad vs. the Wi-Fi model: "...I'm really glad I went the iPhone route because I was thinking about a touch. You would be surprised at just how handy 3G access is. Especially when it is in your pocket every minute of the day.
Now iPad is certainly a different animal that will result in profoundly different usage patterns. Frankly I suspect that is why Apple pushed for the no contract plans as pay as you go is likely to be a better arraingement for many. The common example being someone taking off on a trip and buying a months 3G coverage.
As a side note one place I see iPad winning big is with travelers, especially once the better GPS mapping apps hit. Vacationers are only the tip of the iceberg here, truck drivers and other on the road professionals will be quick adopters. Air crews would be in that list too. All of these people would need 3G access.
Apple certainly has a winner in iPad but I suspect it will win in ways that aren't expected by the general Mac Community."
We'll be back with another edition of The Reader's View next Saturday here on TUAW.
Original post photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabine01/ / CC BY-NC 2.0
