In Bed With Ed

While in rehearsals today, I was a little bored and started running some numbers through my head. Conservative estimates on the number of downloads and the amount of bandwith which Apple would’ve been hit with yesterday. I have no idea how accurate these guesses are, but even so, perhaps when you stop and think about it, you can understand why the servers crashed and failed to deal with the load.

So, without further ado:

• iTunes 7.7 - 100TB
  Downloads: 2 million
  Size: 50mb
• MobileMe - 30TB
  Users: 15, 000
  Data Transfer: 2gb each, on average
• iPhone Software 2.0 - 44TB
  Downloads: 200, 000
  Size: 220mb

Based on those estimates alone, 174TB of data was moved from Apple’s servers to computers around the world. Woah. That’s a lot of data and strain on the servers themselves. I have even tried to factor in the biggest problem of the day: iPhone activations. I have no idea how many iPhones were sold, or how much data would be exchanged per phone (I’m guessing 500kb). The main issue, though, may have simply been the volume of simultaneous connections.

Oh, and iPod Touch 2.0 software is now live. Have downloaded and am upgrading now.

I’m about to head off to work for the dfay (yes, even on a Saturday the theatre industry keeps working…). I was hoping to get the iPod Touch 2.0 software update before leaving, but no such luck.It appears that, although iTunes is telling me there is a 2.0 software update, clicking the “Update” button takes me to the iTunes store, which thinks about it for a little bit, then does nothing. I guess their server problems from earlier are still plaguing them.

Probably not helped by people like me constantly checking for the update.

In the meantime, I’ve been browsing about the App Store and have already downloaded some in anticipation of the update. So far, I’ve got Evernote, Facebook, Remote and Twitterific. All free. I’ll check out some of the games and paid offerings when the update goes live. I really hope that some of the AAA games don’t make me look like a complete idiot while playing them. Cool concept, using the device as a steering wheel in a car game. Not so great when you’re on a tram and waving your iPod around will make you look like a crazy person! Engimo is looking like it might fit the bill.

Anyway, I’ll update when I get home. Hopefully the update will be available by then!

About 45 minutes ago, I visited MobileMe (me.com) to see if it had gone live. To my surprise, it has!

MobileMe is now live and fully functional. I have created a trial account and have synced my iMac and Macbook. It was all flawless for me, except that both my computers still display .Mac in System Preferences instead of MobileMe. That’ll change, no doubt.

The process for obtaining a trial requires a valid credit card. It is a 60 day trial, like .Mac, and they will charge your credit card at the end of that 60 days if you do not cancel your account before hand. The sign-up process was simple and standard enough. I would get it quick, though, to make sure you get an email and username you want. Mine is edward.dowling (at) me (dot) com. Very cool, easy to remember addresses!

One big unknown so far has been about whether or not MobileMe will allow you to use your GMail or other IMAP email address with it. So far, I think the answer is no. Although you can sync your email accounts across multiple computers, it appears those email accounts are not available in MobileMe, which is a real shame. That said, I’ve synced my mail accounts and can’t actually check the webmail interface now, it is just showing a spinning “Loading” symbol. Maybe it is polling and downloading messages from multiple accounts. I would like to think that! But I’ll update when/if it finishes “Loading”!

Contacts and Calandar are very easy to use and are full-featured, web-based versions of their desktop counterparts. One cool feature I didn’t know about (not sure if .Mac had it) is the ability to store your iDisk offline, and have it sync when you go online. Will no doubt come in quite handy!

The Gallery feature also works as expected - which is perfectly. It is a very clean, elegant interface. Uploading from my iMac to my Web Gallery was a simple, two-click process that didn’t require any configuration or editing.

As a side note, it is interesting to see how well Apple interface design has translated into Web 2.0 applications. The interfaces to all of the applications maintain many of the same graphical and UI elements of Mac OS X and the iPhone/iPod Touch. There is very little AJAX in use here.Besides the raw data that is obviously being transferred using push technologies, there are no Protoype or Scriptaculous effetcs in play here. This is good, in my opinion. MobileMe is designed to be lean, fast and efficient.

There appears to be no difference in capability between Safari and Firefox 3. I’ve briefly tested it in both browsers and they both behave the same way. There are no Safari-exclusive special effects or features. A wise move on Apple’s part.

On the support front, detailed install instructions are easily located for various configurations (Windows + iPhone, Mac + iPod Touch, Mac only, etc). So it is very easy to get up and running. Also, modifying profile settings requires you to re-enter your password. A nice little security addition!

I will update this post as I use the service more, but right now, I’m impressed and won’t be cancelling my account.

Lynx Deodrant have started a new advertising campaign in Melbourne, and the model they have chosen has a striking resemblance to Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com, the social news website, and co-host of associated show, Diggnation! Here is a pic:

What do you think? Does this look like Kevin? Vote on this at Defuddle.

Within the last 24 hours, 3 Australia have launched a new website, http://www.three.com.au/iphone, in order to petition Apple into giving 3 Australia the iPhone. I’m sorry, what? A well-reputed, multi-billion dollar company has to publicly lobby a handset provider to get a phone? They must be desperate, and negotiations must have broken down completely for this to be happening now!

But that isn’t the biggest problem. The biggest issue, for me, is that I was lied to by Three. Two weeks ago, I called them and asked them point blank “Will the iPhone be coming to 3 Australia?” In no uncertain terms, I was told that yes, it would be and that an announcement would be coming within the next few weeks with pricing details and upgrade deals for existing customers.

I then confirmed, on 2 seperate occasions, this information with Three stores around Melbourne (Elizabeth Street and Melbourne Central), who both said that the iPhone would be coming to Three and that it would be out in August. So definite were they about this that they told me I should not cancel my contract, because I would be eligible for upgrade deals.

And then this website! It just blatantly annoys me that they lied to me and so many othe customers. A simple “We don’t know yet” would’ve done the trick just fine. But instead, they give customers misleading information and have to resort to the public humiliation of launching a petition! I’m sorry, but this is just outrageous and utterly ridiculous. Because of this, I will be cancelling my contract with Three. As most web users are aware, online petitions simply do not work. And if Three can’t convince Apple that they would be a good carrier for the iPhone, then they can’t convince me I should stick around waiting.

Defuddle has been up and running for a few weeks now and it’s been really interesting and a great learning experience to put up a new web site and to promote it. We’ve been constantly looking at how people have been using the site and have added a few new features:

Categories
When you ask a question, you now catagorise it. You can customise your question by assigning tags to it. This way, the site is kept organised and neat while tags create sub-catagories and dynamic groups between questions.

Twitter
Now this a cool feature! You can now ask Defuddle a question using Twitter. Simply go to your Defuddle.com account page and link it to your Twitter account. Then all you need to do is send “defuddle” a direct message on Twitter with a question and it will appear on Defuddle a few minutes later! You will even get a SMS message to your mobile phone with your answer Iif you have enabled this feature in Twitter).

We have also made a whole lot of bug fixes and have made a few changes to the interface. So if you haven’t already, check out Defuddle now!

Last week, the iPhone 3G was announced and I’m sure you already knew that, unless you have been living under a rock. No offence.

What isn’t known about this device is how much and what plans will be available for Australia. Shortly after the announcement, Optus came to the party with http://www.optusiphone.com.au, allowing people to put a $100 deposit down.

Vodafone quickly followed suit, with its own iPhone web page. Noticably absent were two major telco companies, Telstra and 3. So where are they?

Telstra has long ties to Microsoft and their Windows Mobile platform. This is a relatively minor point, compared to a much larger one: Telstra charges a huge amount of money for data transfer at the moment. Carrying the iPhone would require them to offer a very low-cost, high-usage data plan. This would cause Telstra to lower their data prices across the board and drastically affect their bottom lines. Optus and Vodafone have long been promoting their cheap data plans, so the iPhone fits quite naturally into their current mobile plans and would not negatively affect their bottom line.

3, also, has relatively cheap data plans. But it hasn’t come to the iPhone party because of it’s X-Series mobile offering. It has spent many, many years developing relationships with Microsoft (by offering MSN/Live Messenger), eBay and Orb. None of these relationships could exist with the iPhone, as these applications are not available for the iPhone. Also, the Apple iTunes Wi-Fi Store and Apps Store is in direct competition to 3’s current offerings (it makes a sizeable chunk of money from charging for games). All of these things would cut into 3’s bottom line.

It is difficult for me to list these reasons against 3, as I’m currently with them and won’t be able to get an iPhone if I stay with them.

So there are two questions that remain - will I be able to buy an iPhone outright with no contractual obligation. If not, how much is it going to cost me to cancel my 3 contract?

A picture from the rehearsal room of the show I’m currently Stage Managing. Five macs - 3 MacBooks, one PowerBook and one iBook. There are at least 2 other MacBooks belonging to other members of the production team that aren’t here…there isn’t enough table space!

I’m really excited to announce the launch of Defuddle.com, a brand new website I have been developing with friend and colleague Oliver Bolton. Defuddle is a place to answer questions. When faced with dilemmas we make it easy to make up your mind. Ask a question, provide your choices (you can let other people suggest other options if you like), and see what the world has to say. Don’t waste time - you can get an answer in as little as an hour (but if you’re not in a rush you can leave it much longer). We’ll send you an email with the best answer (and of course, detailed results are available too) so you can be on your merry way.

So please, check out www.defuddle.com and sign up yourself and ask questions!

A few weeks ago, I finished up work as a Stage Management secondment (internship) with Melbourne Theatre Company. While there, I worked on The 39 Steps, a completely reworked comedy version of the Alfred Hitchcock film and John Buchan novel. If you live in Melbourne, go and see it! It is simply amazing and is a fantastic production.

This is the same production that is currently playing on Broadway, in Boston, in London and touring the UK. MTC bought the original director, Maria Aitken, over to direct the Aussie version.

It features four great actors (Marcus Graham, Tony Taylor, Grant Piro and Helen Christinson) doing 130 roles, and is absolutely hilarious. I can almost guarantee you have not seen anything like this ever before.

So head out and see it now! More information and ticket bookings here!