as you may have suspected, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what it is that amuses me so much about a podcast whose purpose is commentary about technology. I mean, I usually edge slightly away from discussions about things like microprocessors, but these podcast conversations are so charming that I not only stick around, I go out of my way to tune in. I've realized that the show is fun to listen to, despite its subject matter, because it's not only about technology. the podcast is also about the relationship between the three hosts. I have no idea how well they know, or like each other, but while the conversation is ostensibly about something like nvidea vs intel, I think that it's equally about these guys hanging out, having a good time talking to each other. the fact that they're each good at talking certainly does a lot to elevate the podcast listenability level.
as ever, podcast #114 is chockablock with amusing moments. the big events this week were 1) apple laptops, and 2) google's g1.
a discussion of apple's laptop manufacturing video leads to a place where each host enacts a crystalline portrait of themselves. I'm not trying to say that I know exactly who they are, so forgive me if this is offensive. nilay calls the segment gadget porn, describing elements that lead him to that comparison. paul chimes in to say that he found it evocative (even tearful), and josh provided a witty recap of paul and nilay's remarks with additional josh commentary. which is to say: nilay = dude; paul = emo; josh = nerd. they're all smart and funny.
6:50 straight to me, "if you haven't watched the livecast, or read the engadget blog entries, you have no idea what we're talking about. and yet you're listening, so congratulations, that makes you the oddest media consumer ever." odd indeed. emo paul puts his two cents in, "but we appreciate it."
the first half of 114 is barely more than a digression and I love to hear the range of cadence and volume/pitch in josh's speech/voice as he succeeds to varying degrees in getting nilay back on track, or in leading him to certain points. josh's best utterance of the podcast happened during nilay's firewire rage rant. he made it with an air of resignation, in a low, but audible voice that nilay either didn't hear, or didn't pay attention to, "yeah, ok. I see what you're saying." the firewire passage was great because it played out exactly like a who's on first bit, but occurred naturally. I feel like I may have let out a "ha!" when josh got nilay to say he'd buy the macbook pro. nilay following that up by stating that he wanted $700 from steve jobs, is pure hilarity (by the way, I was right there with nilay. there was empathy coursing through my body). sometimes I wonder if maybe josh gets frustrated by nilay and his propensity to go on.
there's a poignant passage, where josh rues the fact that he once synced his iphone contacts to gmail. I enjoy picturing him the moment he realized what he'd done.
also poignant, I think, would be a montage of cell phone styles chosen by each of the cast members going backwards in time, from their present-day phones to their very first cell phone. I was surprised to hear how much josh liked the design of the bberry bold last week. this week, I'm straining my ears to hear sarcasm in his voice as he admits that he's not totally uninterested in the motorola krave. krave? motorola obviously doesn't know anything about the pejorative nature of swapping cs with ks when they're lead-off letters. I think we all know not to expect something fresh when ordering krab. would you choose the cotton shirt, or the kotton one? I refused to even think about enrolling my kid in a daycare that spelled school, skool. ketchup is the exception to the rule because catsup is just plain weird. besides, hello, make fun of the sidekick all you want guys, it's still easier to text with the keyboard in landscape position. so what if the g1 is sidekicky? originality of design the g1 may not have, but it does possess a sensible keyboard. goodie for motorola that it put a logo/earpiece into a clear flip-top for the krave. that earpiece gets pretty stupid when you open the phone then try to text on it in landscape position. it is overkill to go with a trackball, physical keyboard and touchscreen tho. people. do you really need all of those navigation methods in one, little device?
funniest off-the-cuff quip goes to josh, "the only part of the macbook that apple didn't make glossy was the glass trackpad." near tie for funny from nilay, "wait, did you know I'm camped out in cupertino right now?" and one more funny one from josh, "no, it's not a new idea, but it is a bad one."
it turns out that this entry is really all about josh. it could as easily have been all about nilay, but certainly not all about paul. he seems to be hiding in the shadows, only chiming in politely every once in a while. it's fun, though to hear josh complain about being "low ranked," while simultaneously making self-deprecating jokes and telling the listening audience that engadget readers need to believe everything written on the blog.
headline: nilay patel's claims of "read[ing] a little site called, engadget," are challenged, and an android army is being assembled (somewhere).
6:50 straight to me, "if you haven't watched the livecast, or read the engadget blog entries, you have no idea what we're talking about. and yet you're listening, so congratulations, that makes you the oddest media consumer ever." odd indeed. emo paul puts his two cents in, "but we appreciate it."
the first half of 114 is barely more than a digression and I love to hear the range of cadence and volume/pitch in josh's speech/voice as he succeeds to varying degrees in getting nilay back on track, or in leading him to certain points. josh's best utterance of the podcast happened during nilay's firewire rage rant. he made it with an air of resignation, in a low, but audible voice that nilay either didn't hear, or didn't pay attention to, "yeah, ok. I see what you're saying." the firewire passage was great because it played out exactly like a who's on first bit, but occurred naturally. I feel like I may have let out a "ha!" when josh got nilay to say he'd buy the macbook pro. nilay following that up by stating that he wanted $700 from steve jobs, is pure hilarity (by the way, I was right there with nilay. there was empathy coursing through my body). sometimes I wonder if maybe josh gets frustrated by nilay and his propensity to go on.
there's a poignant passage, where josh rues the fact that he once synced his iphone contacts to gmail. I enjoy picturing him the moment he realized what he'd done.
also poignant, I think, would be a montage of cell phone styles chosen by each of the cast members going backwards in time, from their present-day phones to their very first cell phone. I was surprised to hear how much josh liked the design of the bberry bold last week. this week, I'm straining my ears to hear sarcasm in his voice as he admits that he's not totally uninterested in the motorola krave. krave? motorola obviously doesn't know anything about the pejorative nature of swapping cs with ks when they're lead-off letters. I think we all know not to expect something fresh when ordering krab. would you choose the cotton shirt, or the kotton one? I refused to even think about enrolling my kid in a daycare that spelled school, skool. ketchup is the exception to the rule because catsup is just plain weird. besides, hello, make fun of the sidekick all you want guys, it's still easier to text with the keyboard in landscape position. so what if the g1 is sidekicky? originality of design the g1 may not have, but it does possess a sensible keyboard. goodie for motorola that it put a logo/earpiece into a clear flip-top for the krave. that earpiece gets pretty stupid when you open the phone then try to text on it in landscape position. it is overkill to go with a trackball, physical keyboard and touchscreen tho. people. do you really need all of those navigation methods in one, little device?
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| this is the first cell phone I had. my boyfriend (now my husband) used to drive me crazy by harping on about how the device was "meant to be used." I resented being reachable all the time, and didn't carry it around much. needless to say, my sprint contract didn't last very long. |
funniest off-the-cuff quip goes to josh, "the only part of the macbook that apple didn't make glossy was the glass trackpad." near tie for funny from nilay, "wait, did you know I'm camped out in cupertino right now?" and one more funny one from josh, "no, it's not a new idea, but it is a bad one."
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| my next cell phone had some cool, flipping action. I had come to terms with being in touch at all times, although I became a champion call screener. I felt pretty sassy flipping the phone open and snapping it shut. |
it turns out that this entry is really all about josh. it could as easily have been all about nilay, but certainly not all about paul. he seems to be hiding in the shadows, only chiming in politely every once in a while. it's fun, though to hear josh complain about being "low ranked," while simultaneously making self-deprecating jokes and telling the listening audience that engadget readers need to believe everything written on the blog.
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| my most recent non-iphone was this popular nokia. I was tired of flip action by the time I moved away from the samsung. I thought this candy bar was fairly elegant, but I really wanted something much more rectangular. there was a sony ericsson I would have bought if it weren't so darned expensive. I actually ended up really liking this one, and only left it behind once it became unreliable. I was resistant to the idea of the smart phone. I wanted to be a phone luddite. |
headline: nilay patel's claims of "read[ing] a little site called, engadget," are challenged, and an android army is being assembled (somewhere).
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| I chose white without a second of hesitation. |
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