Tim
This user hasn't shared any biographical information
Posts by Tim
The Unnecessary Public Show-Off Fanboy
Jul 12th
Everyone has heard the old saying “No one likes a show-off.” I however completely disagree with that. Different people are attracted to different things. Some people are attracted to wealth and power. To draw the attention of this crowd, people show-off their wealth and power with a brand new Ferrari. Others are attracted to athletic and competitive individuals. In order draw their attention, people will show-off their talents in sporting and competition events. While others are attracted to those who live a simplistic hippie life style. This can be shown-off by driving a hybrid and eating granola. The point is that showing-off is necessary for human advancement and procreation. If no one felt the need to impress others, we would still be in the dark ages. (You can’t tell me the Wright brothers didn’t have fame on their minds when they started building their first plane.)
With that said there is a line between jackassness and showing-off. Taking your Ferrari on an African Safari through starving villages would be a jackass thing to do. So would completely skunking a team of crippled kids at basketball. In fact, both these ideas are flat out stupid. Your assets are so unevenly matched with the “competitions” that it voids any real comparison. Also on top of that your audience is wrong. Very few if anyone would be impressed with your accomplishments. Those who are impressed with nice cars or athletic ability are not anywhere near either one of these activities.
This brings me to the unnecessary public show-off Fanboy. We have all seen these Fanboys. They are the ones that bring their MacBook Air’s to the bar or bring their Amazon Kindle DX to a Barnes & Noble to sit and read. (You can’t read any Barnes & Noble books on the Kindle.) The ultimate unnecessary public show-off Fanboy is the person who brings their personal iPad to work to replace their company purchased laptop.
I completely agree that taking your laptop, e-reader, or tablet to a coffee shop or library is completely acceptable. Coffee shops and libraries are designed to improve the experience of using these devices. I will even go as far as bringing your new gadgets to work for 1 day to show your work friends also does not make you a Fanboy. I think you should be proud but not too proud of your new gadgets. If you don’t have some pride in what you bought it means you just wasted your money.
Let’s get back to the Unnecessary Public Show-Off Fanboy. Why is someone who unnecessarily publicly shows-off their gadgets defined as a Fanboy? The answer to that is because people who publicly show-off their gadgets in an unnecessary way are doing it for one of two ways. First, they want people to notice that they are one of the 20 million unique users who own that particular gadget. They want to make the point that their gadget is so awesome it even works in the competitions lair. If they are really lucky, someone will strike up a conversation with them and maybe even get into a long debate about who’s gadget is better. One of the best ways to do this is like the example the Kindle in a non-Amazon bookstore. (Which to my knowledge is any bookstore.) The second reason they are doing this for is because they are so completely in awe of their device that they believe everyone everywhere needs to be in the same state of awareness of their gadget. The best way to accomplish this is through subtle but forceful showings of the device to a population of people who are not used to seeing such a beautiful and sleek looking gadget. Such as bringing a high end laptop to the bar where everyone will ogle over it. Both reasons are classic Fanboy ideals. Fanboys know that their gadget is in every way better than the competition and everyone needs to know the truth about it so that they too will realize that they need to go out and buy one for themselves.
Not only are these points Fanboyish but both of these points also cross the line into stupid and jackassness. What point is there to make about the competition by bringing your gadget into a place where your device’s weakness are enhanced and your experience enhancement is absolutely zero? Unless you have the Barnes & Noble Nook you should not be reading any e-reader in any Barnes & Noble bookstore. Do you read better at Barnes & Noble? Does the in-store Starbucks sell better coffee than the 6 other starbucks that are within a 2 min walking distance? No! You just look like an idiot! As far as the Fanboy’s Macbook Air that is taking up bar space next to me, I care about it as much as the crippled child who just got his ass handed to him cares about someone’s basketball skills.
I understand that this post comes across as attacking Fanboys but understand that is not my intentions. There is nothing wrong with being a Fanboy. In fact our economy relies on them. I am just telling you to not be a Fanboy who is also a jackass and an idiot.
The Pre Order Fanboy
Jul 2nd
Some people may argue with me that because someone pre-orders something does not constitute them as a Fanboy. However, let’s break it down. First let us use software as an example (videogames typically). I know many people who are Halo Fanboys and they don’t even know it. I know this because they are the ones who buy the “special edition” Halo sets that come with the little plastic figurines for who knows what reason… maybe they play with them, maybe they put them under their pillow, or maybe they just think that because it is the “special edition” it will be worth more someday even though the company mass produced the shit out of it… I don’t know. Anyway, for whatever reason they buy it. The other reason they are Fanboys is because they pre-order everything that is Halo. Software and videogames are not like gadgets, video games cost the manufacturer pennies to burn and print new copies. This allows them to print and burn millions and millions of copies. This negates any reason to pre-order software. 
You will always be able to find the game in stores without waiting. Unless of course you take your Fanboy status to the next level and create the wait by forming lines outside the store with other Fanboy’s before the release. When in reality you can just walk in 10 min after the store opens and the line of Fanboys gone and pick up a copy from the 3000 other copies still left on the shelf. For example, look at the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. (No I do not want to have a stupid argument over which game did better, if you think Halo did better than COD:MW2, then you’re right… I just don’t give a shit.) COD:MW2 sold more copies than any other game on the market on the first day. However, on that day, I went to the busiest Best Buy in Grand Rapids at 7pm and picked up a copy off the shelf. I even had the choice if I wanted buy the stupid toy or whatever it was that was in the Special Edition version. The next day I went to Target and Meijer (Meijer is a regional retailer similar to Walmart but better) and guess what? Both stores still had shelves full of copies still in stock… Case and point there is absolutely no reason to pre-order a video game or software unless of course you are a Fanboy.
Let’s switch gears to gadgets. Again most people will argue that pre-ordering a gadget doesn’t make you a Fanboy. You need to pre-order hot gadgets. The reason for this is because you either don’t want to wait in a long stupid line of other, ehem, people or you just don’t want to run the risk of the gadget selling out of stock. Both points on the surface are valid, we all hate long lines and we all hate it when things are out of stock. However, this still DOES make you a Fanboy. You’re telling me that someone who is going to blindly drop $200+ on something that no one other than the company has tested or used before is not a Fanboy? How about the fact that since you pre-ordered, you are one of the guinea pigs that will need to find the issues and fast! Most retailers only have a 14-day return policy. Sure the manufacturer usually has a 1 year warranty but manufacturers can be a pain in the ass to deal with and then you’re still out of a gadget 4-6 weeks during the swap and that is only of course if they acknowledge there is an issue.
The smart and logical thing to do, which is difficult and nearly impossible for a Fanboy, is to wait a couple weeks or months to buy the gadget. You will be able to do a proper comparison and review that was not done solely by the manufacturer trying to sell it. You can see if there are any wide spread defects such as reception or connection issues. But most importantly you can see the reason why you really want it. Do you want it because it is the next new toy or because you really will use it long term?
The great thing about this is everyone reading this right now knows and probably agrees with the rationality behind waiting. But we all also know that when the next gadget we can’t live without is released, we will put all logic and reason aside and rush out to be the first ones in line to buy it. Why? because we are that gadget’s biggest Fan(boy)!
Are you a Fanboy?
Jun 30th
A new Fanboy category was created because I felt my original post What Makes a Fanboy a Fanboyjust didn’t completely capture what truly makes up a Fanboy. So without any further explanation here is the first of many examples of being a Fanboy.
Are you a Fanboy?
You are possibly a Fanboy if you secretly deep down believe that the CEO of the company in question will contact you and personally thank you for your support and contributions because you checked the “Help make product x better by automatically sending usage reports and personal data to company A” box.
You are most likely a Fanboy if you say you are only enabling this “selfless” feature in order to help the developers find and fix issues. However in reality, you truly believe that once you check this box, the developers will take an unprecedented amount of interest in what you do in order to cater the next releases around your needs and amazing automated statistics.
You definitly reach Fanboy status if the first two points are met AND you believe that the company in question undoubtedly should hire you on as a consultant. The reason they should hire you is because you feel you are a true hardcore power user. You believe in fact that you have used their product in every possible way it was intended to be used and only you and those who agree with you know what needs to be tweaked for the next release.
Do not get this last point confused. There is a very thin but definitive line between knowing what needs to be tweaked and knowing what needs to be fixed in a product. We all of course know that if you acknowledge that there is a problem, your small group of fans will lose faith in you and your Fanboy status will be revoked.
Notion Ink Adam to cost roughly $300.00
Jun 27th
Rohan Shravan from Notion Ink has posted an update on their blog about the Adam coming to market. Though the release date has still not been set or where it will be released first, he did hint at a few interesting points. First he mentioned that there will probably be 2 versions. 1 with a standard LCD Screen and 1 with the Dual PQ Screen (Pixel QI). The PQ screen of course being the higher end model. The PQ screen is not only a full color High Definition 1080p screen but it also can switch to a black and white ePaper mode which views similar to your e-reader but with a much faster refresh rate. It can either do this automatically or with the flip of a switch. (Pixel Qi vs iPad)
The next thing he hinted at was the price. Now he didn’t give an exact number but he did give a projections. “if we are doing well, we are talking about at least a business of 100k devices a month. That will amount to at least $350 million dollar of revenues in the first year itself” so what he is saying is if they sell 1.2 million devices in the first year they will have 350 million dollars of revenue. Simple math equates to roughly $300.00 per device.
If this device does make it to market this will surely give the iPad a run for its money. Check out the video links below and tell me what you think. Will this make the iPad outdated? (I hate the term iXXXX killer because the idea is stupid… there will always be people buying iCrap)
Microsoft is alive and well (very well)
Jun 27th
Microsoft posts some very interesting numbers about how they stack up against google and apple.
HTC goes after Conflipper – http://shipped-roms.com/
Jun 19th
Android has been praised time and time again because of how open it is. It is “open” because it is open-sourced. Long have I not understood the business model of open-sourced software. How do you make money on something that is essentially free? That is until of course Android 2.0 was released. This was a defining moment in my eyes because for the first time Android moved from a geek pipe dream, much like linux is, to a true contender of the big boys like Apple, RIM, and in distant 3rd Microsoft.
HTC as we all know has risked a lot of time, money, and effort into Android. They were the first ones to take a chance with the brand new Mobile OS with their HTC G1 back in 2007. Since then they have released some of the best phones out on the market such as the incredible and EVO. One of the reasons they have such a great phone is because of their software they put on top of Android. Some may not like the idea of having a third party “overlay”. Most of these people I think fit into two categories.
1. They have an android phone made by someone else that is either underpowered or the manufacture screwed the skin up making their phone run like crap.
2. They are remembering the days of Winmob X.X and all the crappy Skins manufactures always insisted putting on them.
However, HTC’s Sense is a great overlay. From the phones that I have played with, it doesn’t slow Android down or impede any function of android. The Incredible and the EVO both are as quick and responsive as my Nexus One. For business users you don’t need to go out and buy any third party software in order to effectively connect to exchange. (Yes I know that plain-jane Android 2.1 can connect to exchange but anyone that has actually used it on a regular basis knows that it sucks the big one and you need to purchase touchdown.) Finally it looks great too. For example: They used the multi-touch “pinch” with perfect finesse in order to allow a user to “shrink” all the home screens and choose the home screen they are looking for quickly and easily.
Since HTC has put so much time and effort into their software that they wrote themselves. I agree with their view point. Their Cease and Desist letter in my eyes is completely legit and justified. They are only protecting their work. Everyone including nerds and geeks, need to realize these three points:
1. Companies are in business to make money.
2. Companies can only employ people when they are making money.
3. When someone disregards all copyright laws and ethical boundaries for personal gain, companies should and will bite.
By taking HTC’s software and offering it to the public for free, Conflipper has effectively disregarded all three of these points. I guess my point of this is that just because something is open source does not mean whatever is built on top of it is as well.
The Geek Tablet
Jun 13th
Here is a concept/dream tablet that someone rendered as a geek tablet… looks pretty good…
my question though is that if this is his “dream” tablet, why the eff does he have a cable going from the tablet to the remote?!? Wouldn’t you want a remote to be wireless? I remember back in the 80s when my parents had a wired remote control for their TV… the 80′s!!! IMO he needs to get a little more creative if he still dreams about cables!
What makes a fanboy a fanboy?
Jun 13th
I enjoy reading articles about the different gadgets and geek trinkets that are available these days. I don’t read them because I am so much interested in the articles but more so that I am interested in the amazingly funny and interesting comments people write about them. Such as this article from dailytech.com in which “MartyLK” felt he needed to explain how those who don’t like Apple will eventually one day end up committing suicide.
One thing that I have noticed more and more over the past few years is the use of the term “fanboy.” Such as, “I hate all you stupid effing “Google fanboys!” More often than not the term “fanboy” is used by people who use it as a cheap way to insult another commenter. Such as:
- Commenter 1: “The Apple iPhone is better than the Motorola Razr because the iPhone has a compass, accelerometers, and plays my mp3s very easily.”
- Commenter 2: “Commenter 1, you are such an Apple fanboy!”
I also find other posts that the term “fanboy” is used correctly. For example:
- Commenter 1: “The Blackberry Storm is so much better than EVERY other phone out on the market. RIM says that the touch screen is more sensitive and acurate than the iPhone!”
- Commenter 2: “Commenter 1, you are such a Blackberry fanboy!”
So what really makes a fanboy a fanboy I ask? Well I put together a working list of things that I believe make up a fanboy.
- You buy or wish to buy everything a specific manufacture puts out without actually doing real research comparing their product to other competitors. (Only reading the manufactures sales pitch does not constitute as research.)
- You adjust your “needs” or “wants” to fit a specific device.
- You defend a manufactures short coming with only the excuses the manufacture feeds you.
- You deep down know that you will never actually consider another manufactures product when you need to upgrade or replace your current devices.
With all of this said I do want to make it clear that just because you are partial towards a company’s product line such as Apple, Google, or Microsoft does not make you a fanboy. I believe you can be partial towards a company but still respect the competition if they are worthy of respect. I believe that there are companies that maintain “the best” at what they do and it would be stupid to go away from them. Just remember, fanboy goes both ways. The next time you are about to tell someone they are a fanboy, ask yourself, are they the fanboy for praising a device or are you just a fanboy of the competitor?