TechPhobia.info

The following is an email conversation that I had with a colleague. His email is in bold, my response follows.

I just saw a commercial for the iPhone, and I wanted to ask you if you own one

No, I do not own an iPhone, but I do own an iPod Touch. (An iPod touch is just like an iPhone, but it doesn’t have a phone and it doesn’t have a camera.) To buy an iPhone you have to have a phone plan with AT&T and we have Sprint as our cell carrier. Some day I hope to have an iPhone, but I really don’t want to switch to AT&T, so I’m hoping that Apple opens up the phone for other carriers.

It a little crazy to me, but it looked like something you would know about. What do you think about it overall?

The iPhone is a really slick piece of technology. For starters it’s absolutely gorgeous. It is very well designed and it looks great. The iPhone has several key features that make it shine above other phones. First off is the interface. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use. It looks good and it works. The interface on my Motorola Razor phone (one of the more popular phones of the day) is mediocre at best. The menus work and it’s not terrible, but compared to the iPhone interface it looks like something you would pull out of a trash can.

The iPhone also is an iPod, and as such, makes for a good MP3 player. Something that no other cell phone seems to do well with. Finally, one of the best parts, the iPhone has wifi capabilities. What’s more, it has a “full feature” web browser on it. With “Mobile Safari” as the app is called you can surf the web just as you would at your computer. You can zoom in and out of the web pages, you can go to any site you want, it’s amazing. (I say “full feature” but in reality it doesn’t allow Flash or Java to be run. The main reason for this is probably memory, as the iPhone only has 128MB of RAM. But I like it because it means that none of those stupid flash banners show up as you surf either!)

The commercial I saw says it changes everything. Is that true or false? Any idea. I’d bet false.

It really depends on how you look at it and how you much “everything” covers. Here are a few things to think about:

The iPhone came out with new features that no one had yet, instantly everyone started to try to copy the iPhone. Now if the iPhone is really good and everyone is trying to copy or even out do the iPhone, this is great for end users.

The iPhone has introduced concepts like “Visual Voicemail” which treats voicemail like email, you can select what you want to hear from a list rather than listening to them sequentially. Why didn’t someone do this before?

A large number of people have purchased the iPhone, which means a large number of people are using their iPhone to surf the internet. Surfing the internet on a small screen is different than using a 24 inch monitor, how will this change the internet? (Apple made a push for “web apps” when the iPhone first came out. These were “applications” that would run on your ipod, but in reality they were just websites that you could point your browser too and use them if you were connected to the internet. These apps included maps, to do lists, games, etc. How do web apps change the internet?)

The iPhone has created a new set of expectations, what effects will this have on consumers?

What about this, “App Store”, where users buy things from other users.

Okay, I feel that in order to write a complete response I have to dive into some history. So here we go:

When the iPhone first came out people were complaining that you couldn’t put applications on it. The phone came with a web browser, a map program, a mail program, a calculator, a calendar, photos viewer, movie viewer, etc… but you couldn’t make your own app and put it on your phone. Apple said that they were working on making it possible for developers to write applications, but they wanted to do it right. Apple wanted to make sure that the end uses would have a good iPhone experience, and if they opened up the phone for all developers they knew that some bad developers would write poor software which would crash or worse, people would write malicious software for the iPhone.

So finally Apple announced their plan: They would release their SDK and developers could use it to write applications. This was great but the developers needed a way to get their apps to users. Apple’s solution to this was that they would set up a section of the iTunes Store for iPhone Applications. A developer write an application, then submits it to Apple and after Apple checks it over to make sure it’s not malicious, and then they put it up in the App Store. Consumers can either use iTunes or their iPhone to go to the App store and buy/download applications.

There are a few clarification points here. There is a one time $99 fee for every person/company who wants to sell their application on the App Store. From what I’ve heard, this is meant to act like a “stupid filter” so that if you want to get your app on the app store, you really have to mean it. Also, developers may give their application away if they like, (that is, some apps are free). If you are selling your app, apple takes a 30% cut of the price, which actually is really good compared to deals with other phone companies.

Any idea what they might sell there? Everything? Junk? Anything else worth noting about it?

I think that many people are disappointed with the offerings available at the app store. When Apple launched the app store they touted that they had 500 applications.

In the words of Mike Lee: “When people started talking about 500 apps on the store for launch, I counted all the developers I knew. Then I wondered where the other 450 apps were going to come from. This lower 90% seemed like it might be unpleasant, and oh my sweet chocolate lord did that turn out to be so.”

That being said there were some amazing applications that made it into the app store. There was a version of Super Monkey Ball along with a number of other really fun games. There’s a huge selection of ToDo list applications. They have everything: tip calculators, eBooks, photo applications, chat programs, drawing programs, weather apps, etc. They have lots.

Most of the stuff in the app store is free. Most of the paid apps are under $10. Some higher end applications can cost $20-40, depending on what it does and the target audience.

For my money, I have only found a few (under 5) apps that I have found worth paying for. The quality of many of the apps are sub standard. They need to be debugged and tested, but since it’s really hard to give out your app without going through the app store, it’s hard to test and debug your program. User feedback in the reviews tends to be be rather unhelpful for the developers.

I don’t want to beat down the app store too much though. There are a few applications that are solid gold. I have a few that I use and they are indispensable. It will be interesting to watch the App Store as well as the apps in it evolve and get better.

When viewing a drop down Menu, application commands are aligned on the left-hand side of the menu. On the right-hand side of the drop down menu, there is sometimes a string of symbols and or letters. These are called keyboard shortcuts. Each symbol or letter in a keyboard shortcut refers to a key on the keyboard. When all the listed keys are pressed at the same time the application command is executed. In other words, pressing the right key combo is the same as clicking the item from the menu.

Mac vs PC

Both the Mac OS and Windows software offer Keyboard Shortcuts, they differ though, on how they display them. In Mac software the key symbols are shown, which will not always appear on they keyboard keys.

Example:

On Windows the key abbreviation is shown followed by a “+” (plus symbol) and then the appropriate letter.

Example:

The Symbols (For Mac OS X):
The most confusing thing about keyboard shortcuts are the symbols listed in the menu. Even a tech-savy user like myself can have trouble deciphering what keys need to be pushed. It is not necessary to remember which symbol is which, but it is good to know what possible buttons the symbol could be referring too. This will at least allow you to try different key combos if you ever need too. (For times when choosing the menu item is not an option.)
Shift:
Control:
Option/Alt:
Command:
Function/fn:
Keypad directions:

Example:
In most applications there is a menu labeled “Edit”. Clicking on the “Edit” menu will offer choices such as “Copy” and “Paste”. The Keyboard shortcut for Copy is “” on Mac and “” on Windows. Pressing this button combo will copy any selected text (and or images) to the clipboard.

Windows Keyboard Tip:
When using a Windows App, pressing the Alt (or Option) Key will Underline specific letters in the program menu or in a drop down menu. Pressing these key corresponding with the underlined letter will either open the menu or activate the menu item. In effect, Windows is underlining the appropriate letter to push for each keyboard command.

Related Links:
Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449

Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcuts
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343

List of the keyboard shortcuts that are available in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301583

Passwords have been around for a long time. They provide a method of proving that “You are who you say you are.” Security experts would refer to this as “Something (only) you know.” When logging into a website it is customary to input a username and password. The username is who you are and the password confirms that you are who you say you are.

Usernames are usually public. This allows people to find each other and interact with people they know online. Passwords, on the other hand, are private and provide security for the account.

How secure is your password?
Most people choose passwords that are easy for them to remember, rather than passwords that are secure. Often times people choose the first thing that comes to mind, sometimes that’s a password they are already using. (See Convenience vs Security.) If it’s possible to figure out your password then it is possible to get into your account. To make a password secure, keep these things in mind:

Password Length
The longer the password is, the harder it is to guess. That means the more secure it is.

Randomness
If the password is or contains common english words it will be easier to guess. To create a more secure password it is good to use letters and numbers as well as symbols and punctuation. If the service differentiates between upper and lower case it is good to use both as well. The more the password looks like gibberish the more secure it is. (But, it’s harder to remember.)

Use Different Passwords
Many people use the same password for everything. This is a very insecure practice. What it means is that if someone finds out your password for one account they essentially have your password for every account you have.

Creating “Perfect” Passwords
The perfect password would be a long string of completely random characters. For even more security, every different account a user has should have a different password. That is why experts such as Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte suggest having a Personal Password Policy. Using a Personal Password Policy allows for the easy creation of random-esque passwords.

Personal Password Policy
The concept of a Personal Password Policy is simply having a method of creating a random looking password that can both be easy to remember and very secure. The purpose of having a Personal Password Policy is to know exactly what your password will be, even before you sign up for an account somewhere.

Creating a Personal Password Policy is simply creating an algorithm or method that can be used to create a password at any given time. Here are two example algorithms: (Since these are examples, it is advised that you do not use these for your actual algorithm.)

Take the letters of the website name or service and intersperse them with a specific date.
Example: Site: Amazon.com, Date: 6/7/08
Password: A6m7z0o8n

Shift letters of a word or phrase one letter to the left on keyboard.
Example: Phrase: Green-Tea
Password: Fewwn0Rw’

There is no limit extent of the algorithm. The important thing is to have one in place so that it can be used when a new password must be created. For more information on Personal Password Policies, I would highly suggest listening to Episodes 4 and 5 of Security Now (links below.)

Password Links:
Perfect Passwords from GRC
https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

Security Now Episodes:
Personal Password Policy (Episode #4) Security Now Homepage
http://media.grc.com/sn/SN-004.mp3
“Everyone who uses web-based services such as eBay, Amazon, and Yahoo, needs to authenticate their identity with passwords. Password quality is important since easily guessable passwords can be easily defeated. Leo and I recap a bit from last week’s program, then discuss passwords. We suggest an approach that anyone can use to easily create unbreakable passwords.”

Personal Password Policy -Part 2 (Episode #5) Security Now Homepage
http://media.grc.com/sn/SN-005.mp3
“Our previous episode (#4), which discussed personal password policies, generated so much great listener feedback, thoughts, ideas, and reminders about things we didn’t mention, that we decided to wrap up this important topic with a final episode to share listeners’ ideas and to clarify some things we left unsaid.”

Convenience and Security are polar opposites. Something that is convenient is usually not very secure and things that are secure are not always very convenient. It is the user’s duty to decide which of the two is most important and how to balance between them.

Example:
It is very convenient to leave your car keys in the ignition and never lock your car doors. You can always get into your car when you need too and you always know where you car keys are: the only place you would ever need them. However, this is not secure, because anyone is then able to get into your car and take it for a drive, whether you want them to or not.