• Big keyboard – Possibly my biggest concern was typing on a small keyboard, but with 92% of the full size of a regular keyboard, I’m content.
• 9.5 HOURS! – Yes, the battery (normal size) lasts 9.5 hours. This was a MAJOR upgrade from my MBP and I still try to charge it unnecessarily.
• Only 3.2 pounds – I don’t travel too often, but I carry my MBP everywhere I go. My shoulders are already thanking me for buying the Asus 1000HE and I don’t even have to carry my bag everywhere because of the insane battery life.
• Perfect 10 – Granted, it’s not huge, but the 10″ screen is better than I thought, especially compared to other netbooks.
• MacHackintosh friendly – I’m not saying I’d install it today, but it’s nice to know I could go down that road.
• Multi-touch keypad – The two finger scroll is a favorite of mine with the MBP, but the Asus 1000HE also allows me to two-finger zoom which is nice.
• Quick reboot - Close the laptop for a bit on pc laptop and be punished with a few minutes of waiting to start back up. The Asus 1000HE has a fast boot system and while it’s not as fast as a Mac, it’s very quick.

In a world where people want many things super sized, I decided to buck the trend with the purchase of the Asus 1000HE netbook. If you’re wondering… I’m not giving up my MBP. However, I do have to give it back to Apple for a couple weeks for repairs so check back then to see if I’ve moved on.

Steve Johnson of Pragamatic Marketing‘s presentation (see below) at Business of Software offers direct insight into a developer’s work struggles. His points border on the edge of pessimism, but I can attest many of them are very real. If you’re on the business (especially sales) side of a company you may want to initially resist his points and humorous digs directed at non-tech roles and actions. However, Steve hit on several points that are worth highlighting.

• There is a perceived and sometimes real divide between your technology group and the the rest of the company. Specifically, between those selling, supporting and building the product.
• Communication reigns supreme. Many of Steve’s issues could be resolved with better communication (i.e. – give the dev team access to all parties involved).
• Even if you don’t assign a project manager/leader… someone is still doing it.
• Software/product development cycles don’t have to be adversarial, but it does require time.
• Salespeople need to consult the dev team BEFORE making promises to clients.
• Developers understand quantitative data. Show them the numbers or dollars for feature requests not one solitary prospect’s wish list.

I realize an hour is a long time to watch a video online, but if you work or plan on working with developers it’s worth some review. Steve also has some helpful files on product frameworks and gap analysis.

I frequently get asked why I don’t get the iPhone and my typical answer is… I need a keyboard and the iPhone’s screen just doesn’t cut it. Although I said early on I wouldn’t buy an iPhone, I did decide to use the bPhone theme just to make my iPhone friends happy.

I’ll post more here about my transition to the Crackberry way of life, but for now enjoy the closest I’ll get to the iPhone.

Last Summer I wrote why I wouldn’t buy the iPhone when it first came out. My core reasons then were Apple’s lack of experience in mobile devices, but even after their 2nd generation phone I still don’t have one. My current reason (in addition to AT&T’s death grip on the device) is its lack of tactile keys. This deficiency directly correlates to my speed in typing, which is a critical feature for me.

So, when Verizon came out with Blackberry Storm’s claim of a clickable screen, I thought it might solve iPhone’s glaring problem. This weekend while shopping at Circuit City, I saw firsthand, while it’s clicking is unique.. it’s still not functional.

I know iPhone and probably Storm users will say the speed isn’t that much slower, but according to this FierceWireless article, that’s not the case. Here’s the gist…

User Centrics, an analyst group out of Chicago claims that the iPhone’s touch keyboard takes twice as long to type with than conventional QWERTY keyboards

For now, I’m a power user sticking with my Treo and as long as Sprint keeps the all-you-can-eat for $99/month plan, I’ll be hard pressed to leave… unless someone builds a better phone with actual keys.

Personally, I still enjoy going to the mailbox and retrieving mail that was personally written for me (i.e.- not a credit card mailer from Wilmington, DE). It’s become somewhat rare for our culture, but I find it enjoyable, thoughtful and hope others feel the same.

As I went through my card writing process (yes, I have a spreadsheet for it), I noticed I spent more time than usual. This year was particularly hard for me to find addresses and mainly for my ever growing group of tech friends/contacts. People readily share their business email, some their personal email, but few share their home address. And unlike sending out wedding invitations, I don’t wish to request an address to send a holiday card.

If you haven’t noticed those bloody mobile phones aren’t just for the kids. People aren’t using POTS (plain old telephone service… yes this acronym is real) lines. Only use your mobile… then others likely can’t get your address. Unfortunately, those folks were cut from my list. All this has left me to consider other greeting options…

• Email – A few friends sent me a holiday e-card or email (nothing wrong with that)
• Text Messaging – Other friends sent text messages for the holidays.
• Social Networking posts – I received internal messages through Facebook, MySpace, etc wishing me good cheer. Maybe that’s a good way to quickly reach the masses?

These sound good, but I am still clinging to my old ways and want to find a way to send physical cards. How did you spread holiday cheer? Any tips on sending good wishes offline or on?

Flickr photo credit: Churl

In the meantime, here are my top 3 reason to wait on buying the iPhone.

1. Building a mobile operating system is really hard. - Just ask Microsoft, which took a long time to catch up with Palm and all the other “no-name” companies that have tried to enter the space. Warning… issues for the early adopters right around the corner!
2. All Apple’s products DON’T just work. – With this complex hardware, Apple will look more like Microsoft with unexpected re-boots and errors. Every blackberry, treo and sidekick I’ve seen or supported for my IT clients has locked up or been forced to reboot. I’ve been a Mac convert for 8 months and I love my Mac and iPod, but I still run into issues. Many Mac fanatics deny this and act like it must be my machine, but in their weak moments they know Macs have issues too. The complex engineering required to build a phone with a browser, camera, maps and 20 other apps will be shown in the first two weeks of its sale.
3. Apple sells the sizzle first, then cooks the steak. – They love to look great first and work well second. Steve Jobs has made a mint with great interface and design and has recently grown his company from the profits of the iPod not the computer. The average consumer is content with their crappy PC and incessant error messages. Their impression of most Apple products (sans iPod) is pointing out how “cool” it looks, but they can’t see the difference how it actually works better or worse. The average consumers WILL see the faults in the iPhone very quickly.

Let me be clear, I love Apple products. I’m a user on MacMeter.com and I am officially a Mac convert, but I also know mobile devices. I could go on and on about how much Cingular’s (I mean AT&T) data network is still lagging behind Sprint and Verizon or how every 3rd generation pda phone still isn’t perfect, but waiting for the 2nd generation iPhone is smarter. In the mean time, I’ll patiently sharpen my steak knife while Steve’s engineers clean up the early bugs and build a reliable mobile platform. Then, I’ll be ready to eat at the Steve’s Steakhouse.