Seeing as I wasn't there....

Really good MacBreak Weekly this week initially down to three due to Robert Llewellyn being MIA for the first part of the show due to snow. Would have been a good show to be on (and thanks for the messages and tweets from the guys in the MBW chat room seeing if I was about) but as I was away from my Mac and not monitoring Twitter via Tweetie it was a missed opportunity. Anyway, the reason for this post is to add in something I would have chipped in with had I been on, regarding the discussion on the iPhone and the Palm Pre. Alex made a great point about the chinks in the armour of the iPhone and how it was missing some key features such as copy and paste, video camera, higher memory capacity, higher resolution camera or even a camera you can focus. It led me to ponder on why Apple would leave out such important features that seem to be available on most other smart phones from the get go. My only reasoning is that it's a deliberate policy from Apple to ensure that next generation iPhones have an immediate take up from existing iPhone users. There aren't many companies that have the confidence (or long term vision) in a product to deliberately leave out key features with the intention of bringing on stream later, giving early adopters a clear upgrade path. I would expect the next couple of generations of iPhones to include some or all of these features making it a no brainer for the majority of the existing 10+ million iPhone users upgrade plus bring on board the many millions of people who are holding off until these new hardware features are available. OK, except for Cut & Paste, goodness knows why that isn't on now! I must give Leo my cell phone number in case of emergency MBW duty!

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MacBreak Weekly Taping - Macworld 2009

MacBreak Weekly Taping, 1/6/2009 - Full Panel
Originally uploaded by Dan_H

Much to my delight, Leo invited me onto the full panel for the Live MacBreak Weekly taping here at Macworld!

Thanks to Dan_H for the photo on Flickr
You can checkout the audio for the session here

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MacMania 8 Sets Sail Tomorrow

As you may already know if you follow my blog or have heard on MacBreak weekly, I'm fortunate to have been invited to present on MacMania 8 - a geek cruise sailing around the Eastern Mediterranean. I'm currently in Genoa, Italy preparing to depart at 5pm tomorrow. The cruise is organised by Insight cruises who combine all the benefits of a traditional cruise with themed events for enthusiasts. The MacMania cruises are obviously put together for Mac enthusiasts but they also put on other themed cruises such as Shakespeare cruises and Scientific based cruises. I'll be giving 4 sessions around Mac and Personal Productivity, but the cruise also has others sessions by such notables as David Pogue, Lesa King, Randall Schwartz, Dan Frakes, Sal Soghoian, Bebo White and Josimar King. The sessions are delivered whilst we are at sea, allowing us to take part in the shore excursions, which is great as we visit 6 countries and 7 ports in 10 days!

There should be wifi and internet access available at various times throughout the cruise so I'll still catching up with emails, twitter and RSS feeds and might even post a couple of photos if time permits. The next two weeks ScreenCastsOnline episodes are already recorded so hopefully, I'll be able to publish them remotely from the ship with just a couple of clicks! I'll also try and update the blog, so keep checking back for any updates.

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Leo, Chris, Me and Bob

Well my second appearance on MacBreak Weekly actually happened (although it was touch and go at one point!). This weeks show (MBW105 - Don't lick the glass) was slightly unusual as none of the regulars were available to attend - I didn't take it personally - but instead, a familiar and not so familiar guest were on the show:

• Chris Breen - The bouffant of Mac knowledge and host of the Macworld podcast
• Robert Llewellyen - That guy off the TV most notable for his portrayal of Kyrten in the BBC Red Dwarf series and Scrapheap Challenge (Robs Website)

I was honoured to be invited to be part of such an esteemed group of mac heads! The episode has now been published and is available for download. I hope you enjoy it, I know I certainly enjoyed being part of it! PS Chris, sorry for not mentioning the Macworld coverage of the Apple "Lets Rock" in the first part of the show. Yours was one of the sites I had opened in my multitude of browsers!

Technorati Tags: Leo Laporte, MacBreak Weekly, ScreenCastsOnline, Red Dwarf, Scrapheap Challenge

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MacBreak Weekly

What a 24 hours! I've been a huge fan of MacBreak Weekly for ages and it's one of those must listen to podcasts that I consume as soon as it's released. As if you didn't know, it's hosted by Leo Laporte, one of the most prolific and most respected tech broadcasters both in podcasting and traditional media. Add in a great panel of witty and well informed Mac tech pundits and you have a recipe for a brilliant, must listen to show. Leo was at the New Media Expo streaming live for two days during the Expo and had invited podcasters to come along to his booth for a chat. Unfortunately, I was late to step up due to other commitments but I saw many of my good friends such as Allison Sheridan and Victor Cajiao managed to get a slot on his show. Ah well perhaps next time! All was not lost as I later discovered I'd received a name check from Leo on an episode of This Week in Media that had been recorded at the Expo - fantastic! My name, and that of ScreenCastsOnline, had been mentioned with respect to the business side of podcasting and how I'd been able to make my living as a professional podcaster. Out of courtesy, I thought I'd send Leo an email thanking him for the mention. I wasn't really sure if he'd actually get the email as I'd heard that email wasn't really his strong point and he's such a busy guy recording up to 40 hours of live video each week (how does he do it!). Anyhow, after asking the twitterati if there was an email address that he might pick up from, I duly sent off my email to thank him. As an aside, I wishfully mentioned that if ever they wanted a contribution from a UK based podcaster for MacBreak Weekly, just say the word. I knew that he regularly has Wil Harris from Channelflip.com on TWIT and Wil always gets a good reception from the Twit army. Imagine my incredulity on receiving an email back from Leo within the hour. Not only that, but saying that he would love to have me on, oh and by the way, would I be available later that day to appear on MacBreak Weekly! After picking myself up of the floor, I of course responded YES! An hour or so later, I was watching the Twitlive.tv stream as Leo started to prepare for the MacBreak Weekly show when he announced me as a guest and called me via Skype! So that's the background to my first appearance on MacBreak Weekly - Episode 103 - which has now been released. Despite being incredibly nervous (I hope it didn't show) the guys were consummate professionals and made me feel right at home. Ninety minutes flew by and I had a great time, even if it did feel somewhat surreal being able to enter into a two way conversation with voices previously I could only listen to. Even better, I was invited to return to the show anytime as a "stand in" for absent members, my next appearance being on the 9th September standing in for Scott Bourne. So my thanks Leo, Scott and Andy for a great show! As I said, what a 24 hours! Technorati Tags: Podcasting, Leo Laporte, MacBreak Weekly

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