iPod Touch vs. Zune

In one of my earlier posts, a friend of mine commented that I would probably regret my purchase of the iPod Touch and should pick up a Zune. He knows how to get to me. Normally, I just write off his Microsoft-loving comments as gibberish. But before I did that, I figured I should actually go out and see what the differences are. Honestly, I had no idea what the Zune could or could not do. I've just never really cared about the Zune.

A Google search later, I am looking at a comparison of features between the iPod Touch and the Zune. Most of the features are really pretty much the same. Screen size, weight, battery life... (yawn). There is a couple of areas that stood out though. Turns out they each have something the other does not: The Zune has a FM tuner. The iPod Touch has the Internet.

Which one would you choose?

Wake Up

I access my home computers from over the Internet all the time. Because of this, I typically leave them on 24x7 so that I can always log into them. Yeah, this uses some power, but the convenience of it has always been more important to me. I knew about wakeonlan capability, but just never took the time to figure it out.

After I read this write-up, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. Turns out to be way easier then I thought. You should give it a try!

I ended up using a different utility then the ones suggested in the article though. Since I tend to log in via ssh, I needed a utility that will work via command line. This one works nicely on my Mac (cuz OS X just comes with PERL out of the box). I also grabbed it on my Debian system with "apt-get install wakeonlan".

One thing to note, it will be easier to use this if you happen to recall the ethernet address of all your home machines. I could tell you that I have all mine memorized, but I would be lying. Instead, I just created a quick notebook on Google and stored them all there.

My machines now have power management settings enabled. They will enjoy a well deserved rest tonight. Give it a try and let me know how it goes...

The Magic Touch

I got an iPod Touch the other day. Yes, they've been out for a while now, big deal. Some of my friends will tell you that I am afraid of new technology. They are liars.

At any rate, I got a used one from my cousin who recently upgraded to an iPhone. If not for that, I probably still wouldn't have one. I played around with it for about 4 hours last night and I'm just blown away by the possibilities in this little device.

However, I don't necessarily like it for the same reasons that Apple has intended. Sure, the screen is beautiful, and the form factor is nice. Problem is, I have a perfectly good iPod that plays music and video just fine. And no, I really don't need to watch it sideways. That isn't the reason that I like the Touch. The reason I like the Touch is twofold; the wi-fi capability, and the full web browser.

I carry a laptop for a living. It is a heavy beast and I have a bag full of accessories to go along with it. It certainly has its place, but I find that I won't take it into a coffee shop or some other place with wi-fi access because it is just to painful to lug it around, boot it up, and log in just to check my email or catch up on some RSS feeds. Sometimes, I feel like these guys.

Enter the Touch. It fits nicely in my laptop bag or in my pocket. It is flash based, boots immediately, and has a fully capable web browser. Take that, add in the excellent applications provided by Google, and I have a very powerful device that can replace my laptop in a lot of scenarios. Gmail and Greader are apps that I use daily. Both are quite usable on this handy little device. Next I will have to try creating one of these posts with it!

Do you have an iPod Touch or iPhone yet?