Yes, a new piece of Apple II hardware will be coming our way very shortly. The cat’s almost out of the bag! The good ol’ days of the Apple //e and Apple IIgs are what really make me nostalgic. I even purchased an Apple IIgs recently on eBay and I’m just saving it in the box with plans to break it out when I get around to finishing my new attic office space.

For clues on the odd antics of the 16 Sector site, check the commentary at A2Central.com in their post, “More 16 Sector riddles“.

p.s. A big “hear! hear!” goes out for that post in regard to the return of the great Carrington Vanston of 1MHz fame!

Many developers were frustrated–and many web developers had our curiosities pleasantly piqued–when Apple initially announced that “software” would be available for the iPhone in the form of Ajax web applications. Naturally, many of the disappointed folks were irritated because the web platform is something that they’re entirely unfamiliar with, probably having backgrounds in Objective C or something similar; probably a minority were disappointed because their target application legitimately could not be powered by HTML and Ajax.

That said, it is indeed a very thought-provoking concept: Using web technology as your application environment. As most web developers will attest to, there honestly isn’t that much that a typical application does that cannot be accomplished with web technology. With the advent of Ajax frameworks, applications built with web technology can have very similar responsiveness and dynamics of a “classic” application. Especially when you remove the burden of cross-browser compatibility, in the iPhone’s case.

But with the iPhone/iPod Touch scenario, it is irritating that the application has to reside in Safari and has to be loaded off the web. It almost feels as if Apple was trying to push something that wasn’t…quite…ready. Something like AIR!

AIR accomplishes everything that Apple was suggesting for the iPhone environment, but for the desktop. Use web technology, but write a “compiled”, stand-alone application that really doesn’t even have to use the web. Use HTML. Use Ajax. Use Flex and Flash. Have a nice encapsulated application on your desktop. Especially when you throw the Flash technology into the platform, it is now a very capable environment for a large variety of applications, without being constrained to the browser. Wouldn’t it be great if that same cross-platform environment, AIR, worked on the iPhone as well?

Oops, Flash technology isn’t currently supported by the iPhone. That is actually another source of contention. And the AIR environment does lose some of its punch without Flash and Flex, even though its HTML/Ajax implementation can do a very decent job with most typical applications.

Steve Jobs has made it clear that he likes the idea of web technology powering iPhone apps. Now, consider some of the facts. Apple announces the iPhone SDK will be released in February, and then fails to deliver. Meanwhile, Flash still isn’t found on the iPhone, and Adobe “invents the wheel” by getting web technology to drive native apps through its work with AIR. Is there a common theme with these events? Perhaps something like: Are Apple and Adobe working together to get the much-needed Flash technology onto the iPhone and, subsequently, releasing an SDK that uses AIR technology, with hooks into the iPhone system just like AIR currently has hooks into the Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X desktop operating systems?

It wouldn’t be the first time Apple has had to wait for its partners, or take the heat for them. For instance, Apple has clearly been taking a lot of heat for many factors of the iPhone that are clearly not in Apple’s interest, but in AT&T’s.

And this scenario would fit the circumstances around Adobe’s development of AIR. Adobe has been working on AIR since well before the iPhone was released, but AIR wasn’t officially released until February 25, 2008. Even if Apple and Adobe were working closely together, there just hasn’t been enough time for AIR to get released and hooks to be developed to provide iPhone-specific functionality in AIR. Adobe has understandably concerned itself with its own business first. With that done, attention can turn to Apple to support them in concluding their own business.

Of course, this prediction is a reflection of my own desires as much as it fits the circumstances. As a developer that uses Adobe technology including Flex and AIR, and an Apple enthusiast for more than 20 years, I would love to see things happen this way. Undoubtedly we will have a clearer idea of Apple’s iPhone development roadmap after this Thursday.

As if the thought of an “iPhone AIR” isn’t confusing enough.

“Just a second, let me double-check that we haven’t received another shipment,” says the Apple salesman. “It looks like we have one 16GB model left. Are you interested?”

“Give it to me!”

Sold. Woohoo!

Alex King is someone I respect and occasionally read, and he recently canceled his iPhone plan in line with TUAW’s instructions so that he could use his iPhone as the world’s coolest widescreen iPod and internet device–apparently the syncing and WiFi capability continue to function just fine with the phone components disabled.

My first reaction was how awesome that was. And more power to Alex for having the gumption to try it and for buying himself the coolest iPod ever. In the end, though, you’re paying $599 + $49 for first month of service = $650 minimum for an 8GB video iPod. The cool factor may be here now, even if the high price tag doesn’t deter you, but it may feel a bit more foolish when the heat and excitement of the iPhone cools and Apple brilliantly times the release of a 60GB widescreen multitouch iPod 3 months out from now, for a comparable $400-$600 price range because it lacks the complexity, price and hassle of the phone components. The price, the timeframe, the mere existence of said iPod are all pure fabrications to indulge my point (although “sources” do claim these things). It could happen. And it would make business sense.
Yes, there may be some phoneless iPhone owners grumbling in October.

Then, watch this followup demonstration, by the same engineer, which blows away the first demonstration.

This technology is obviously too expensive right now, but it exists and it is coming!

It’s the sound of a million Mac rumor addicts exhaling on what I’m calling “iPhone Monday”.

Last Friday, Brian Lam made a misleading post about Apple’s supposed iPhone coming out today. How did the Mac rumor club react? The term “hook, line, and sinker” comes to mind. To their credit, that’s a bit harsh; everyone seemed to recognize that it seemed a tad fishy. (a) Apple normally releases their hardware on a Tuesday. (b) The iPhone was previously rumored to be announced at MacWorld, which would have made today’s announcement exceptionally early. (c) The catalyst rumor post was noticeably vague.

Nevertheless, everyone woke up on Monday and checked Apple’s website. When no news was to be found, everyone undoubtedly went to their feed readers, scouring new entries for an explanation. Alas, Gizmodo pulls out the punchline. The iPhone Lives: But the Trademark Belongs to Cisco.

Let this Monday be a lesson to everyone that the rumor mill has become too eager and too gullible. Don’t get me wrong; I read the rumor sites too, and maybe that’s the problem. We can’t stop reading due to our insatiable curiosity over what will be coming down the pipe. And perhaps our readership only encourages the rumor sites to keep it up.

Unfortunately, we’re going to have many more iPhone Mondays.

Yawn. All of that is old hat now. This camcorder is starting to feel long in the tooth. The image seems a bit grainy now, having to use a tape feels so turn-of-the-century, and it doesn’t even support widescreen video!

Fast-forward to this past week. I went to Best Buy on Monday with a 12% off coupon in my hand, on top of a general camcorder sale they were having, with full intentions to buy a camcorder before I go on vacation. I already had the camcorder picked out; I was going to buy the Panasonic PV-GS500, because MacWorld gave it a glowing review. It was perfect: I already like Panasonic; it supports SD cards, which is my preferred memory card format; it uses MiniDV and FireWire, guaranteeing smooth operation with my Mac; it supports widescreen video; and most importantly, it is a 3 CCD camcorder, instead of using a single CCD like most.

I had been in stores playing with it a few times in the past. This time, I stood in front of it ready to make the purchase. As we stared each other down, I came to a realization. I don’t really like this camcorder! Its bulkiness is disturbing, its appearance is worse, and the UI, although not horrendous, is very boring. Frankly, I’m disappointed that a Mac magazine, written by people who appreciate the importance of these kinds of things, rate this camcorder as one of their “Best Picks”.

And then I started browsing around. I let my eyes incorrigibly wander over to the hard drive camcorders, and before I knew it, I was looking at the camcorders with all the features I’ve been wanting…with the price tag I don’t.

Let me introduce to you what a camcorder should be like nowadays, and it is almost exemplified in the Sony HDR-SR1. This camcorder was gorgeous. I couldn’t put it down. Warning: If you have a problem putting down cool tech toys, it might be best for you to just not even pick up this camcorder in the first place!

For starters, it features a beautiful widescreen 3.5″ LCD. It’s a good thing too, because it can show off the amazing 1080i video you’ll be recording using Sony’s AVCHD format. The great picture is achieved by using a CMOS sensor versus a CCD, which is not only arguably better quality, but also consumes less power. The quality is so good that, despite being a video sensor, this camcorder can still take 4MP still images. Oh, and while you’re enjoying that notably high-quality picture, you might try navigating through the great UI, which has been improved over Sony past models, and like its past models, the UI is a touch-screen interface on the 3.5″ LCD. A screen large enough to make touch-screen really nice, with (finally) a pretty UI that is a joy to use. To top things off, it features a 30GB hard drive supporting 10 hours of video in LP mode, and 5.1 surround sound audio recording.

A hard drive camcorder that records high-definition widescreen video with surround sound and a touch-screen 3.5″ LCD. I like. I like very much. Look. I’m drooling.

After haggling with the salesperson for a deal (only the demo model was left, even though it was just put on the floor that day), on top of an existing sale price, and with a 12% off coupon, I bought this beauty and still paid too much money.

Then I brought it home and discovered some serious cons. This list is a lot shorter than the list of pros, and yet they were still deal-breakers for me. The Sony HDR-SR1 doesn’t have a FireWire port (only USB 2.0), meaning iMovie on my Mac doesn’t want to import its video. And it wouldn’t be able to import it anyway, because iMovie and Final Cut Pro do not support AVCHD at this time. Frankly, there may not be any video editing software that currently supports AVCHD except the software that Sony includes with the camcorder, because it is a very new format.

These cons aren’t really faults in the camcorder itself; nevertheless, I can’t buy a camcorder that I can’t use with my Mac. I returned it the same night. It is rumored that Apple will announce AVCHD support in January at the MacWorld Expo, but until that happens, I will keep my poor little PV-DV851.

In the meantime, I will keep on the lookout. I await Apple’s support for AVCHD in iMovie and Final Cut Pro. And when I do buy a camcorder, I hope it can have all of the bold features listed above.