daveGoyette

I bought the iPhone 3G about 9 months ago switching from a Sony Ericsson W580i. At first I thought it was an upgrade, but now looking back and looking at my increased phone bills I see that in fact it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy my iPhone, but going from a phone that I paid 100$ on the release day in August of 2007, has the same camera as the iPhone 3G (released a year later), with video capturing capabilities and the same storage as my iPhone is pretty mind boggling (on top of the 299$ price tag).

When people asked me, when I first got the iPhone, how much I loved it I told them that Apple had won me over that this phone was fantastic, that I didn’t need anything else; I could take pictures, listen to music, browse the web and check my email on 3G or WiFi (something that I usually only due when I was in class… with a laptop), I thought it had replaced my laptop/digital camera. I could also play fantastic games to waste away study time in the campus library.

When I look back at those times that I played tetris on my iPhone, listened to the latest tracks and took those pictures of my friends after one to many drinks, I realise… I could’ve saved the initial 299$, and the extra 25$ a month for ‘unlimited’ (6GB) mobile web-browsing, and done it all on my Sony Ericsson.

The most appealing thing about the iPhone is not it’s sleek design or the Apple name that’s attached to it, but the AppStore, and I think that’s the only reason why so many people – that I know – have switched from their Nokia, BlackBerry, and various other handsets. Like the Apple commercial says have a problem, or need something?

There’s an App for that.

But my problem with the iPhone 3G is that for a phone that was released in 2008, and was hailed to be a phone that advances cellular technology… man did it ever fall short. The camera, a mere 2.0 mega-pixel, is disappointing compared to the Nokia n95’s 5.0 mega-pixel (released March 2007). The Nokia also allows multi-tasking, MMS, video conferencing out of the box. It took Apple almost a year before they updated the iPhone’s firmware to have the ability to MMS, without jail breaking. And now with the release of the iPhone 3GS Apple has finally, almost, caught up to other phones in their forward thinking (GPS?! No way!), but still the phone can not multi-task (out of box – for those who are looking for this check out Background on Cydia), does not have the technology for video conferencing – which I think would be fantastic – and still is behind the n95’s 5.0 mega-pixel (latest iPhone has added one mega-pixel to it’s predecessor, an amazing 3.0!)

Now you’re probably asking why I don’t just switch phones if I dislike my iPhone so much, well the reason is – like I said – the variety of applications, and with my phone being jail broken I can access even more apps, and the ability to customise the appearance of it.

All this to say that my poor old W580i is now collecting dust in it’s original box.

Chicane does it again. This track is fantastic, with a great melody that accentuates this warm feeling and with the weather out there cooling down its a great track to listen to while being out there. Have a listen to Chicane’s rework of Sigur Ros – Hoppipolla.

I was recently introduced to thesixtyone.com, it’s a great site to check out new artists and genres. Not to much electronica that would be in the same genre as Armada musicians, but I found this one chill-out track. It’s a track from The Crystal Method’s latest CD featuring the voice of Meiko. Have a listen!

This week’s track comes from A State of Trance 400 Albert Vorne – Formentera What (Gareth Emery Remix)

Found this post on the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums: Link Anyways here’s my response (page 4 if you plan on reading the entire thread):

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghostscore
I do ask for some constructive reply’s, not short 2 word reply’s. I am trying to get this all on paper for a project (non-school related) that i am working on trying to get gaming addiction on the map, as scientificly, people are stil debating heavily on wether it is a valid addiction. Wich i believe is, as a gambling addiction is seen as a valid one too. and i think a gaming addiction is similar to a gambling addiction

I’ve heard of ‘video-game’ addiction, and seen the effects of alcohol, drug and gambling addictions. I don’t believe in video-game addiction as much as I believe in sports addiction, or car addiction, or reading addiction. Putting video-game addiction in the same sentence as alcohol, drug, gambling addiction is wrong. Those are substance abuse that cause major bodily harm to the host as well as emotional, physical, and monetary damage to those around them.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghostscore
To name an example. In asia a baby died, cause the childs parents neglected the child. The fact was, that they simply were to busy BOTH playing World of Warcraft. Wich they thought was more important then their child.

How many children die due to neglect from their drunken, high parents? Yes it is sad to see a child die because their parents neglected them while playing a game. These parents could have left the child inside a car while they went to lunch, shopped, work, or went to a bar and got shit faced and forgot they had a baby.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghostscore
Also, several people had break-ups, or divorces. One quote that i could give you as an example, how your spouses feel like when you play to much Quote:”He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he’d play until three a.m. Weekends were worse — it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night,” she told Yahoo! Games in an interview. “It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life.”

How many divorce cases have happen because of a partner drinking themselves to the hospital, or here’s a new one; they were workaholics. “He would get home from work at 6PM, but the work day didn’t end for him then. He’d work until midnight and finally come to sleep, and wake up the next morning at 6AM. Rinse and repeat.” I believe that video games are a hobby and those that have addictive personalities use gaming as a mean to escape. Would you rather a parent see their child in the safety of their own home than in the dark alleys crawled up puking, or passed out with a needle in their arm? Couples break up over many things, and gaming was just a way for one of them to leave because there was something already wrong in the relationship.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghostscore
You said you playED like that. So im assuming you are not anymore? If so, how did you overcome this?

You overcome it by quitting, by being “strong” and leaving the game. If you can’t do that then you’re lucky as hell you were “addicted” (as you think it should be called) to WoW than drugs, alcohol, or gambling. In these stressful times people need to escape from their lives and video games give them a safe way to do that. Should we put a stopper on euphoric moments? I don’t think so. Is it healthy to sit at ones computer for 18 hours a day? Of course not, but there are many jobs are out there created for computer, and demand that they sit at their desk working at computers all day. We don’t live healthy lives, period. The work day never ends for most people, and those that find a way to escape it are lucky. Personally I’ve played my fair share of exam-crunching all nighters, but also gaming all nighters. The ones that I’ve gamed through have been with friends and e-friends. I’ve also drank my fair share of beers, bottles of alcohol and to be honest I rather be at my computer than having a hangover the next morning and stumbling into work because I went out with my friends, even though we were sitting on their couches playing NHL before, arriving to the bars.

Life is about balance. Not many have achieved it.