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Protester: Planned Parenthood is in it for the money!

As I was driving back to my apartment today, I saw a few protesters outside of the local Planned Parenthood office that decided to get their holy on to celebrate the upcoming Zombie Jesus Day 2012.  Naturally, I couldn’t just let it slide - these people always have some humorous theories about why Planned Parenthood is bad.  These protesters certainly didn’t disappoint, and right from the start, their “Planned Parenthood kills children” signs indicated a clear disconnect with reality.

I approached the protester closest to me to get the scoop on what’s going on.  So as to not come off as completely antagonistic, I made a little smalltalk about the Cardinals and the gorgeous weather (it actually feels like spring for once).  After that was out of the way, I casually reminded the protester that this particular location didn’t actually perform any abortions, nor do any Planned Parenthood locations in Missouri.  He nodded and, a bit under his breath, said that they knew they referred abortions elsewhere.

This is the part where it got interesting for me.  Rather than going on a religious tirade about how they’re killing children, the protester suggested that Planned Parenthood was actually in it for the money.  When I asked how much money they’re making at this, he replied “oh, millions,” but obviously didn’t have any references for where that figure came from.  One can only assume that it was pulled out of his ass, but I didn’t feel it necessary to inquire about his private medical conditions.

As I walked back to my place, it suddenly clicked: this sounded like something straight out of a Stephen Colbert skit.  I could practically hear Colbert saying it.  “Nation, Planned Parenthood isn’t killing babies for sport, they’re doing it so they can PROFIT!”  Sadly, I don’t think these protesters were being satirical, nor do they understand the fundamental flaw in their argument. Believing that a non-profit organization providing services for men and women would be raking in huge paychecks from the meager funding provided by the government just seems absurd to anyone that spends more than five seconds considering it.

One more interesting tidbit that I noticed as I walked away.  When I looked back to take stock of the protesters (of which there were admittedly very few), I noticed a disturbing lack of women.  This wasn’t just a low percentage of women; there were literally no women in sight.  All of the men were at least middle-aged, and one was significantly older.  Perhaps it’s just an extension of their misogynistic upbringings that makes them feel entitled to make choices for all women.

What’s next for iOS?

iOS 5 took care of a lot of lingering problems that I’ve had with iOS - most importantly, notifications.  It’s basically at a point now where I have no reason to jailbreak my phone, partly out of laziness and partly because there just aren’t enough compelling features that I feel like I’m missing out on.  In the past, I’ve always had a number of things to complain about, like a lack of multitasking, no Google Voice apps, or pathetic notifications.  So, now what does iOS need?  I came up with a few things that have slowly become apparent over the last several months.

First and foremost, iOS should adopt some kind of way to set default applications for services.  Android does a fairly good job of this, and while I think the interface for changing default programs could be far better, I think it does a respectable job for most users.  Not everyone wants to use the default email application, and with Sparrow for iPhone just around the corner, I’m sure there will be a fair number of people wanting to use it exclusively.  That’s made difficult by Apple’s policy to assume that their own apps are the best and should always be the default.

Another area which is lacking is system-wide accounts.  Apple made a small step towards this with iOS 5 by integrating Twitter, but I still feel like there’s more work that could be done.  I can understand not integrating Google accounts just to spite the Google fanboys and Android afficionados, but it seems like Facebook should be integrated by now so other applications can use it more easily.  Even using an Apple ID seems more cumbersome than it should be.  I shouldn’t have to enter my Apple ID multiple times for Apple’s Remote app, iCloud, the App Store, iMessage, FaceTime, and so on.  Entering it once should be plenty, and that’s the approach Google took with their accounts on Android.

I’ll close with a question for my last idea.  Does anyone feel that it could be easier, or at least more efficient, to move things around on the home screen?  It’s certainly easier to do in iTunes, but more often than not, I don’t have a computer around to help me out.  Shouldn’t there be an easier way to manage icons and home screens on the go?

What is work?

 What is work?

Just a little while ago, my roommate came to me with an interesting problem.  He was done with work for the day, as his shift had ended around 4:30.  We sat on the couch for a few minutes, and he eventually says “I’m really not looking forward to raiding tonight.”

If you have no idea what he means, you can probably count yourself lucky.  My roommate is addicted to World of Warcraft, and he probably spends upwards of 50 hours per week playing it.  Note that he also works a full time job for an additional 40 hours, and he does usually manage to find some time for sleep and occasional meals.  It’s probably safe to say that he spends every waking minute working.

You’ll note that I said he spends every waking minute working, because that’s really the impression I get.  Jobs are obviously work, but can’t it be true that games can feel like work as well?  It struck me as very interesting that he could not be in the mood to play a game, and yet still feel so obligated and compelled to play it that he’d suffer through and take care of whatever obligations he had.  It’s almost as if he feared being…  fired?  From the game?

Listening to him play the game, it becomes increasingly obvious that it’s treated like a job.  He has to be on time or he’ll be reprimanded and fired.  He has to fulfill his role or he’ll be reprimanded and fired.  He even has to interview new people that are applying for jobs of their own - I’ve heard human resources speeches coming from his room on more than one occasion as new applicants try their hardest to land what must be the proverbial dream job.

The only catch is that you get to pay $15 a month for the privilege of having your dream job.  Complete with full time responsibilities, drama, and lots of meetings, apparently.  The only thing missing would probably be the paychecks.

My question is simple: what drives a person to “play” such a game?  Doesn’t it seem counterintuitive to continue paying for and playing something that you don’t really look forward to?  I was always under the impression that games were supposed to be entertaining, and that’s why I always stop playing them after I stop having fun or if I’m not in the mood.  Maybe I’m just afraid of committing to a game, because the moment I “have to” play something always seems like the moment I stop caring.

Can anyone explain this?

Worthless tablets.

Everyone knows about the iPad, but what about all of the other tablets saturating the market that Apple effectively invented last year? There are three major competitors coming through now: Google, HP, and RIM.

In my eyes, Google has the best chance at actually making something happen. Android already has a dominant market share for smartphones, and there are no signs of it slowing down any time soon. That momentum will likely carry on to tablets, especially as decent hardware like the Motorola Xoom is becoming available. The biggest hindrance to Android’s success in the tablet market is the sheer amount of fragmentation and variety of devices. It’s much more difficult for developers to deliver quality apps when there are so many choices everywhere, and as is the case with Android smartphones, I doubt they will ever reach the same production value that iOS apps have. In spite of this, Android will remain the biggest threat to iOS.

HP has probably the most polished product of the three major competitors to iOS, but it also has very little chance of success. For anyone that has used a webOS device, it’s obvious that the software is good. I was very impressed by the UI of the Palm Pre, and its multitasking support is far simpler and better than what you find on Android or iOS at the present time. Still, webOS hasn’t really been adopted on a large scale, so I’m predicting a flop. HP’s tablet represents an imitation of the iPad (albeit a good one), but I can’t see any reason to get it over an iPad due to the lack of apps and developer support.

RIM, as usual, is very late to the game. If the PlayBook actually manages to make a splash, I’ll be very surprised. BlackBerry software seems to be on its way out as it is, and I don’t think there’s enough room on the market for anything that isn’t iOS or Android. It’s almost irrelevant how good the software or hardware is, because it just won’t have the killer apps that iOS has, or that Android will have. Had RIM beaten Google to the punch on a true tablet operating system, we might have a different story now.

For the foreseeable future, I expect that we’ll see only iPads and high-end Android tablets taking the lead in the tablet market. iOS has a huge advantage because there are already so many dedicated tablet apps available, but I don’t think it will take Android developers too long to catch up. If I were HP or RIM, I would probably go ahead and throw in the towel now to save some cash and humiliation when devices go to market and don’t sell at all.

So far with the iPad

If you remember, less than a year ago, I was one of the guys sitting around bashing the iPad. Yes, I was one of the ones that said it would never work, it had no purpose, no market, and that it was really just a jumbo iPod touch. Maybe it is just a giant iPod, but I can definitely see how it would actually be useful now.

What really convinced me that I needed to get one of these? My couch. I love sitting on my comfortable couch while watching TV, and laptops are generally too bulky for that kind of thing. Plus, laptops get really hot, and the battery life isn’t all that great. I should note that my 2010 MacBook Pro has very good battery life, but it’s still not the most convenient thing to use on a couch.

One day, I asked myself what I’m actually doing when I’m sitting around, using a laptop on the couch. Checking Twitter? Google Reader? Commenting on stupid crap online? Checking email? All things I can easily do from an iPad. And what I have come to realize is that all of those things are actually faster to do with an iPad compared to a full blown computer. That shouldn’t be the case at all, given how relatively underpowered the iPad is compared to my Macs. That’s what makes it so fascinating though - it’s really all about the user experience, and trying to do less with more.

More to come as the week goes on…