I want an iPhone! Being a gadget geek and addicted to my BlackBerry, I covet new devices all the time. My husband just got a cool new Windows Mobile phone that I was envying until I saw the iPhone. It's bringing the world closer to my dream of a single device that replaces my TabletPC, BlackBerry, and desktop PC. Just give me a docking station for my fantasy of an all-in-one handheld and I'll have everything I need! I'm seeing Ultra-mobile devices from CES that are getting really close to my dream, but the iPhone just trumped them all.
OK, that's not a Hey Microsoft topic, but this is a blog after all, and I just had to join everybody else in the tech world who's lusting after the iPhone.
Speaking of Hey Microsoft topics, I want to answer a question about this blog. Let me just clarify that I don't intend for this blog to replace my Hey Micrsoft column in the Windows IT Pro print magazine. This is meant to supplement that column and provide a more real-time forum and hopefully engage some Microsoft people in our dialog.
I got another email about the value of Vista from one Bill, a systems and network administrator and author for our publications. Bill said,
"I was genuinely surprised that there weren't any comments on Microsoft's draconian licensing practices. I, for one, will avoid Vista simply because of product activation. I think it's absurd for Microsoft to dictate how we install an OS in a corporate environment. We don't have this problem with Windows XP: We can use volume license media, a volume license product key, and we don't have to worry about activation. With Vista, we will be forced to activate, even corporately. Microsoft's point of view is that they don't trust us, and this doesn't foster a positive business relationship."
Licensing is always a huge concern, and I know MS did a lot of revamping to "simplify" Vista licensing. This is a thorny issue around MS protecting itself from piracy while still respecting its paying customers.
I'd love to hear from someone at Microsoft about licensing. Whenever we've tried to write about it in the magazine, going back to the mid-1990s, we've had no success in getting official cooperation. Maybe it's just too complicated to explain. <g>
That's it for today. We're having a snow day in Seattle. It's gorgeous outside my window, with the snow-covered cedars, but all the schools are closed and cars are sitting abandoned all over the place. I'm scheduled to do that podcast interview on Forefront today, but the weather might prevent the meeting.
