Rick and Dave - Head2Head

Revisiting PDAs, One Last Time

2005-07-09T12:48:00.000-05:00

Over the years, the countless arguments we've had about PDAs usually focused on specific features: screen resolution (how high is high enough?), Bluetooth (does it suck or not?), multimedia capabilities (who needs 'em?), and so on. But I think we always agreed that that Palm OS platform was largely superior to Pocket PC.

What about now? I still give Palms the edge in terms of simplicity, but I must reluctantly admit to having switched to a Pocket PC--specifically, a Dell Axim X50v. It has the features I want in a PDA, namely Wi-Fi, two expansion slots, a removable battery, and excellent audio/video capabilities. Sure, the new Palm LifeDrive has a 4GB hard drive and Wi-Fi, but it's slow, bulky, and expensive. Plus, it has the same old Palm OS. Where's the innovation?

Why plan for a funeral? Live forever instead

2005-05-21T11:21:00.000-05:00

For years, I've considered Ray Kurzweil one of my personal heros. The inventor of the very first text-to-speech book reader for the blind and a leading force behind the growth of the voice reciognition industry in the 1990s, Kurzweil is also a vocal advocate for immortality. He pops up in the media every few years to remind everone that he thinks pracical human immortality is not just possible, but is only about 50 years away from reality. He surfaced all over the Web and TV again just a few months ago with proclamations about impending advances in science that will facilitate Not Ever Dying.

I'm intrigued by the notion that humans might live forever--or, at the very least, live many, many time longer than they do today--through medicine or cynernetic technology. In fact, all I can say is, "sign me up." I'd download my brain into a computer in a heartbeat if it meant that my consciousness would be able to see the wonders of flying cars, robot dogs, and cloned dinosaurs in the next century. of course, I can already see Rick Luddite Broida winding up his cranky pitch to say why this is Just Wrong, or, at the very least, Utterly Impossible. Just like rockets to the moon and no-fat ice cream.

Napster To Go begs the question: buy music or rent it?

2005-02-08T15:47:00.000-05:00

So Napster To Go debuted last week, enabling subscribers to not only stream and download the service's million-plus songs, but also copy them to their portable players. Personally, I hate anything that charges me a monthly fee, but the more time I spent fiddling with NTG, the more I liked it. And it got me thinking... Is this the future of music? Will we subscribe to digital libraries instead of purchasing individual songs and albums? I'm really starting to think we will. (Cue Dave: "Have you been abducted by mind-controlling aliens again?")

Battlestar Galactica Vs. Star Trek Enterprise

2005-01-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

As you know, I didn't care much for the Battlestar Galactica mini-series that debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel a few months back. You also know that I have despised Enterprise from the beginning. Having now seen four episodes of the former (now a full-blown series) and nearly four seasons of the latter, I am forced to amend a few opinions.

BG rocks. I'm not saying it's the perfect sci-fi show, but the first few eps have been more compelling, more interesting, and more original than the first four seasons of ENT combined. I think the BG mini-series tried to pack in too much, and came across as a little shallow and disjointed. But the first two eps, "33" and "Water," were truly stellar.

As for ENT, it has certainly improved with time, but not much, and not enough. For me it boils down to the characters; I don't really like any of them because they haven't been sufficiently developed. I continue to watch the show out of some bizarre and misguided sense of loyalty, but it disappoints me almost every week.

Can Apple get any more lame?

2005-01-17T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well, Apple has rolled out two new products to the adulation of Macheads everywhere. The iPod Shuffle, a depressingly bad digital music player, and the MiniMe Mac, a knockoff of a million small form factor PCs, would be written off as just another pair of so-so products if anyone *but* Apple had released them. But since the Hand of Jobs has touched these devices, they apparently float on water. You, I assume, love them, simply becuase you're always putting stakes down on the wrong side of right.

Where are the TV show downloads?

2005-01-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

If the networks had half a brain between them, they'd start offering downloadable TV shows for around 5 bucks apiece. It'd be free money for them, plus people wouldn't be able to fast-forward the commercials (as they can with TiVo, Replay, etc.). Someday they'll get a clue...