Customer:  If we could understand the difference between these numbers, the gulf so to speak, we’d be able to make choise based on them.

Dilberty:  The difference is 3%.

Customer:  Yeah, but if we could really understand the difference, the decision making enablement would greatly empower our business.

Dilberty:  Wait, the difference is 3%, it is accurate, you can make a decision based on a 3% difference.

Customer:  We really need to understand these numbers though.

Dilberty:  ?!?!!?@?@#$!%(!$&%^(!#$@!?$!??!?!  What?

I’ve started ramping hard core of Adobe‘s suite of products.  There are numerous reasons why, but I won’t bore anyone or myself.  The cool thing is the technologies that Adobe has created.  I started to write up a description but I found this video which describes the differences between Flash & Flex Development Environments, and the difference between Flash and AIR.

This player, unto itself is rather awesome, I really dig it.

The second thing I?ve started reading through is the Inside RIA Entries.  This is a valuable knowledge base from actual bloggers and users of these Adobe toolsets.

As I’m going through all of this material I’ll post more of the information I’m accumulating.

On a side note from the market perspective, Microsoft really needs to bulk up against the competition, Adobe has some amazing products that really are years ahead of the competition for developing well thought out and usable user interfaces and designs in general.

[Rant On]

I went to re-download a video I had purchased, Casino Royal, and realized after some searching that I couldn’t.  I have purchased music, video, and other content on the Internet before and this is the FIRST time ever that a recoverable solution wasn’t provided.  Not only does Apple not provide movie downloads for the same content you?ve bought, they offer some second downloads on other things, let you download apps multiple times, and in certain circumstances might let you do this or that.  Needless to say, for a company that is supposed to keep it simple, that is the WORSE UX (user experience) and mismanaged business logic that simply, I wouldn’t have expected from Apple.

I’ve been contemplating getting an Apple PC for a while now.  With this policy, I’m not sure I want to.  What other ways does Apple jack somebody for hard earned cash?  I also started contemplating getting an IPhone for personal use, but just realized that IPhones operate like Windows 3.11, they pretend to be multi-tasking but they aren’t.  Every time I’m trying to listen to music I get interrupted by text messaging or something.  VERY annoying.

In addition to these two silly little things, the new Windows Mobile doesn’t look or perform too bad.  Guess what else, I can have two apps running at one time!  OMG are u serious!  Yes, hell, I can even run 3 or 10 apps.  I guess MS developed the OS for real business use, and that usually requires the ability to do multiple things.  Sure, Windows Mobile is still rough around the edges, but it in my opinion is gaining pretty fast and already has some unique advantages.

Don’t even get me started on the Blackberry Business Leader.  The functionality on it along with the fun of apps like Pandora really don’t leave anyone reasons to switch from Blackberry over to IPhone.

Between bad purchase policies, betting you’ll just leave whopping backups of your crap everywhere on all those extra drives and tapes people always buy (NOT) Apple is making some rather huge mistakes.

But this is why, Apple has been a 2-bit player in the competition between Apple & Microsoft for a LONG time.  Apple is by far more monopolistic, with bad business practice, and other concerns all because they expect their users to ?not think about using the computer? mess.  Bad idea.

I’ll be sticking to Vista reluctantly after these two divisive observations and getting screwed out of my $15 bucks for Casino Royal.  BTW Apple, no, I’m not reading your stupid 8 gazillion page EULA about movie purchases, if I can’t download what I’ve bought before ? and I’m buying a single time download ? it really should be a little more obvious.

Then of course, I guess I’m used to the Internet that has choices, with my options being my choice versus handed to me.

Thanks Apple, I’ll keep my choices with more computing power and more options, more applications, more games, and *gasp* more hardware.

[Rant Off]

Fini.

After my general protection fault with the alarm clock, I did manage to make it into Code Camp for the day.  Got to meet a lot of awesome people & attended a few good talks.  Of all the talks, the one that caught my attention the most was by Jason Olsen on MEF.  I had read maybe 2-3 paragraphs on this in the past few months, but after seeing the presentation he gave and seeing actual code, I’m chomping at the bit to use it.

Since I’m not in a writing mood at the moment, rarity that this is, I’m going to leave this entry at this.

Thanks to all made this possible, I’ll definitely be helping again next year, which I understand starts now!  🙂

This post is great so I just had to throw a trackback into the fray.  If you want to know a thing or three about IPhone Development be sure to swing into Code Camp this weekend and check out that session or any one of the dozens and dozens of others that have been put together.

It’s free, there is no reason not to come, and it rocks!  Plus I helped put it together so you know it’ll be good!  😉

So check out Rory’s post and be sure to check out Code Camp this weekend.