Origami = iPad

5 years ago I happened across this little video that got my heart going pitter-pat.  It was a ‘concept’ video from Microsoft highlighting a product called “Origami”.  It may be hard to imagine in the age of Android and iPhones, but it used to be that computers were big and bulky and the idea of carrying something so small and powerful in your pocket was a pipe dream.  In the video (you can view it below), there were a handful of people interacting with this small hand-held computer.  It was different than what was currently going on in the PC world not because it had unique features, but because the product was seen as a part of life…not in an office or at a desk…it’s with you wherever you go, useful for whatever you do.  I saw this video and I thought, “could this really happen?  is this real?”.  It turned out that the video was more or less a teaser and there was little information at the time about an actual product existing.  About a year later though, products called UMPC’s (ultra mobile personal computer) began trickling out from a handful of manufacturers…but the early reviews were less than stellar.  So it seemed that the dream was better than reality.

While all of this was happening though…I have the distinct feeling that someone at Apple watched the concept video and thought to themselves “We can do that.”  And they did and they called it the iPad.

So, I guess the moral of the story is…if you have an idea and you want to inspire people, make sure you can follow through with it.  Otherwise, you may just inspire your competition.

Video Blog – Episode One

Typing is so 1950′s…

The gear mentioned/used in the video:

Canon 7D
Zoom H1
DSLR Slate
Lowel DV Creator
Sekonic L-358

Not mentioned, but used:
Sigma 30mm f1.4
Apple Final Cut + Compressor
Magic Bullet Looks

QR Codes – Technobabble

Much like life, I’m not sure where this is headed, but I’ve been prompted a few times lately that I should start blogging more. Even if it’s short or possibly irrelevant to my readers. How can I expect people to be faithful readers/followers if I’m not a faithful poster/writer. So…with that said…

I just discovered QR Codes. Maybe I’m late to the party, I know I’ve seen them around for a long time, but with the purchase of an iPhone 4 there are a lot of old things that are new again. I won’t bore you too much with all of the technical details of what QR codes are…for that you can head over to wikipedia. This is the simple version- QR codes are basically like barcodes only a lot more complex. They can contain text, URL’s, contact information, geographic locations, and so on. The appeal is that you can grab a large amount of info in the blink of an eye…and that the information is somewhat encrypted without a reader. So, it’s kind of like the old days of invisible ink and decoder pens only a much higher tech version. Of course some of it is somewhat redundant since you could just use bump to transfer contact/facebook info or take a photo of a billboard or product and just google it later…but there’s also a bit of a game attached to QR Codes. We’ll see where it goes, but it could be an interesting technology to use in the future…just as long as there’s no tattooing it on my hand or forehead!

My Five [Tech]

My boss/pastor asked me to send out a little survey to find out some information about leaders in our denomination. They were fairly simple questions like “What are the top 5 books you’ve read in the past 3 years”. I think it will be interesting to hear what comes back in the results.

That led me to a question of my own- What are the top 5 pieces of technology that make my job easier/better? Well, without further due, here they are:

5. Amazon Prime – I’ve mentioned this a time or two before, but I just love this service. Amazon as we all know has pretty much everything under the sun. Add to that the idea of getting it shipped to you in two days for free or overnight for just $4 and you have a winning combination. With gas prices and time being as tight as they are, this service just makes it easier for me to get what I need quickly and cheaply.

4. Scansnap Sheetfed Scanner – from the moment I plugged this thing in I was in awe. Scanning documents used to be a big pain in the neck, but the scansnap is…well…a snap! Drop in your document, hit the big green button, and within seconds it scans and drops everything into a PDF. No more flipping through file folders looking for certain documents…all it takes is a keyword search and I have the document on my screen.

3. Dropbox/Mozy – until I actually had a job I didn’t really see the value in online storage solutions, but within the first few weeks my eyes were opened. I used a flash drive to transfer files back and forth between home and work, but I would forget it or forget to save it on the drive and it quickly became a pain. So, dropbox allows me to sync files between home and work so I don’t have to worry about what is here or there. Mozy backs up my documents to an offsite location which is particularly handy when I’m using the scansnap to scan documents and I no longer have hard copies.

2. Adobe Illustrator – oh wow, what can I say about this program…I would be lost without it! Everything from brainstorming, to print graphics, to powerpoint presentations are worked out in illustrator. At first I didn’t get it and I still have trouble jumping from Illustrator to Photoshop, but Illustrator definitely makes sense to me and I can make it do just about whatever I want. My only complaint is that I wish Adobe would make something for presentations so I could avoid dealing with Powerpoint!

1. THE iPhone. – it’s no secret that I’m a fan of this little piece of genius. It’s one of those devices that you wonder how you did life before you had it! It’s essentially a computer in my pocket, constantly within reach of the web, my photos, my music, and of course the phone and texting isn’t bad either.

So that’s it. What would be on your list?