Life in Pixels

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  • The iPod that Rocked – and Still Does

    The first Apple product I ever owned was the fifth-generation “iPod with Video”. 60GB. Black. A classic beauty. It was then that I saw the magic of Apple’s iTunes ecosystem, the elegance of organizing your music, and being able to carry your entire collection with you, wherever you go.

    With the emergence of iOS and devices like the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad, this notion of the mobile music library has been somewhat distorted. The Classic has been reduced in prominence, evident by a lack of mention or update at the most recent iPod event last year.

    This is quite sad, really. But, alas, inevitable. I could wax lyrical about the multitude of benefits there are in owning this iconic design, but the truth is, technology moves on. And we need to move with it. It’s obvious that, for the guys at 1 Infinite Loop, iOS is the future. We see it with the transition of the mobile OS’s features to it’s big brother, OS X, in the two most recent releases (Lion and Mountain Lion). And we see it in the way the public recognizes Apple: not particularly with its Macintosh lineup, but with the iPad: an icon of the 2010s, in much the same way its ancestor, the iPod, was for the 2000s.

    That old 5G iPod with Video died on me about four years later. They said it was a harddrive failure. For three months I went without an iPod to play the soundtrack of my life; I had to even resort to using the BlackBerry (shock, horror, gasp) to listen to my then-newly acquired OneRepublic album. It was difficult times, my friend. But then I got a replacement: the new iPod classic. Brushed-aluminium charcoal. Significantly thinner. And a whopping 100GB of additional capacity (bringing it up to 160GB). Just as the iPad is to most people today, that iPod was (and still is) magical for me.

    Sounds weird, calling something as mundane as an iPod classic “magical”, when we have more interesting mobile gadgets like the iOS brethren. But the classic is just that: classic. It does what the iPod was originally intended to do: have your entire collection at hand, so that you can access whatever track you’re in the mood for, whenever. No distracting apps, phone calls, wallpapers or smooth-glass interface that detracts from the tactility that is so valued when on a crowded bus and wanting to skip to the next song without having to look at the screen.

    It still rocks, that’s for sure. But for how long more, I can’t be certain. My only hope is that Apple continues to carry the core value of the original iPod over to their new platform. The era of the iPod is over. But the magic of the original iPod – the entire music library concept, the simplicity, the elegance: I sure hope that remains with us for many more decades to come.

  • University, Architecture and New Beginnings

    Since I began high school, I’ve anticipated the big shift to university. It sounds strange, anticipating a move when I just began a whole new era – but that was how I was back then. Now, that time has finally come. I write this blog post from Cape Town, a city that will be my new home for the next three, perhaps six, years. I now embark on the next epoch – the transition I’ve been anticipating is upon me.

    So what will I be up to over the next few years? Seeing as I started this blog (over at WordPress.com) around the beginning of my high school career, I thought it’d be fitting to write about what I will be doing as a university student (wow, it feels strange to call myself that…).

    I’ll be entering the three-year Bachelor of Architectural Studies programme at the University of Cape Town’s School of Architecture. Over the past three years, I’ve become increasingly interested in architecture; my passion for this most ancient of disciplines was instigated in my technical drawing class. My TD teacher, Mr Armstrong, breathed life into the coursework – which included a large portion of “civil drawing”; essentially, the basics of architectural representation. During the major project work for the year (especially during my final-year assignment), I truly began to get interested in architecture. Working on those projects made me feel like an architect, and I relished the opportunity to immerse myself in them. Then, when I travelled to Europe in 2010 with a group of school friends for a “history and cultural tour of Europe”, I fell in love with the classic architectonics of such a vibrant continent. Now, I’m excited to apply that passion to the actual architectural programme as I begin my voyage in this direction.

    I’ll also be writing extensively – when time permits. I still have my novel to work on… and then there’s the blogging.

    I’m quite excited about this new era, and about living in a new city – an incredibly beautiful city such as Cape Town. One can’t help but feel creative in this city; it’s architecture, it’s atmosphere – they exude an urge to create and imagine. Until next time…

  • Anton Ego on Critics

    I always admire these words from one of Pixar Animation Studio’s finest films, the charming Ratatouille. It’s said by the critic Anton Ego:

    “In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgement. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defence of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more.” – Anton Ego, Ratatouille (2007).

  • What’s This RSS Thing Anyway?

    I’m sure you’ve seen the “radio wave” orange icon on numerous sites before; there’s one at the top of this blog as well, followed by the letters “RSS”. But what exactly is this thing, and why should you even care about it anyway?

    RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” (no, seriously) and it’s at the heart of blogging and blogs. In fact, I consider it the beauty of blogs over old, “Web 1.0” static sites.

    Using RSS, you can read your favourite blogs from wherever you are using a good RSS reader app. You can also have all your blogs within one repository, and access posts in a similar fashion to email. A popular RSS reader is the one by Google: Google Reader. Using this, you can read your blogs side-by-side, and keep up-to-date with the latest posts across blogs.

    You can add my blog to your RSS reader by accessing my “RSS feed”. Each blog has its own RSS feed, a URL that allows you to access the blog’s posts and display them within your reader. My blog’s feed it: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LifeInPixels. By adding it to your feed reader, you can get my latest posts in an “inbox” along with your other favourite blogs, and never miss a beat in keeping up with your world.

    If you’re a BlackBerry user (as I know many of my friends are), then check out BlackBerry’s native RSS app, called “BlackBerry News Feeds” [App World link]. This app isn’t linked to Google Reader, but rather to your BlackBerry ID. I use it extensively to read my various tech, architecture and writing blogs.

    Another popular RSS reader is NetNewsWire for Mac. Windows users can check out FeedDemon.

    Try RSS, and you’ll be amazed how much more information you can devour in a short space of time. Any questions about it? Feel free to drop a line in the comments and I’ll try my best to answer it.

  • Check Out This Blog

    My good friend and fellow blogger, Bryan Smith, just launched his new blog, amusingly titled The Blog at the End of the Universe (a play on the classic Douglas Adams sci-fi novels The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). He says he’ll be posting his thoughts, from world politics to technology, and most things in-between. Please visit his site, and give him your readerly support as he re-starts his blogging adventure. His URL: www.42mhz.wordpress.com. Enjoy!