Note the power stance.

“Day and Night” – Kid Cudi

Directed By: So Me

 

“DANCE” – Justice

Directed by: So Me

“Welcome to Heartbreak” – Kanye West feat. Kid Cudi

Directed by:  NABIL

Kanye is retiring?

They (China) have joined a very exclusive club; only the U.S. and Russians are members

-Roger D. Launius (National Air and Space Museum, Washington)

Upon returning from China a little under a week ago I have kept a close eye on Chinese news.  With all the problems we hear about from the other side of the Earth, it is also well known that their economy is booming and the nation is growing in both confidence and power.  With the current powdered milk scandal that has left over 50,000 infants sick, and has caused a few deaths in the country since the beginning of 2008 which has recently become national headlines, the launch that occurred last night, Thursday September 25th, 2008, at 9:07p.m. could not have come at a better time.

On the wake of progress that was created by the Olympic games Chinese pride and morale are at an all time high.  The Shenzhou VII is expected to be a 3 day mission and has hopes of putting the first Chinese man on the moon.  As far as I know they have not released the name of which taikonaut (Chinese call astronaut) that will be doing the moon walk, but if I had to guess I would say it was the 42 year old ex-fighter pilot… mainly because all 3 astronauts and 42 year old ex-fighter pilots.

 

Taikonauts

Along with what Chinese media is calling “the most complicated advanced and expensive suit in the world” at $4.4 million – the Taikonauts have brought shredded pork, sauteed with garlic and grilled beef with spicy sauce.  It has not been publicized - but please, I have been to China and they eat so many damn moon cakes, breakfast, lunch, dinner, it doesn’t matter – you better believe that they brought some of those tasty little been paste filled cakes… if not someone is losing face for sure.

 

That is obviously in outer space right now.

 Even though the Chinese is about 40 years behind the U.S. and Russia on putting men on the moon, they are being very aggressive in their space program, this being the 3rd manned mission in 5 years.  Not only have they been sending taikonauts into orbit but they have been throwing up satellites left and right and actually blowing up old satellites.  However a piece of news which I doubt will ever reach the people of China’s ears is that this last Wednesday the F.B.I. arrested a Chinese-born physicist who was working in the states for illegally  exporting space launching technical data and services to China beginning in January 2003.

Here is video of the launch – there is not very many circulating the internet yet, but I am sure by the end of the weekend there should be a few better ones.

 

 

Now I am no technical analyst, or economist, I am merely a consumer who enjoys gadgets and having the latest technology – but I have to say that even before I get the chance to play with Google and T-Mobile’s  G1, I am afraid its not going to hold up in the smart phone market.

Right off the bat reports are saying it is not going to be a very business friendly phone, which considering the fact that blackberry is such a powerhouse in that department, gearing the phone in another direction was perhaps a smart move.  However now that the target demographic is narrowed down to lets say young adults in the middle to upper class lets look at some facts.

 

G1 vs G3

 

 

Apple has a huge cult following amongst techies and this generation of consumers.  And yet the iPhone only accounted for 2.8% of all smart-phones sold worldwide this quarter.

The iPhone is too expensive!  Well your in luck!  The G1 is a whole 20 dollars cheaper!  With the G1 priced at $179 the cheaper price alone will surely not sway a consumer who is on the fence.

 

The battery can be taken out and replaced easily, which as anyone who has owned any modern battery operated electronic knows – batteries tend fade around a year or less and are crying to be replaced in about 2.

The G1 also offers a camera – also with no video capture application.  However Google has created this phone to run on open source software and has the ‘Android Marketplace’ (similar to the app store).  Which is meant to encourage programmers to create software for the phone – most likely leading to video capturing programs.  

And unlike the iPhone, where apple filters the applications that can be sold on the app store – causing many people to ‘jailbreak’ their iPhones in order to meet the iPhones full potential – thus voiding the warranty – google will not filter any applications, or even charge for them!

“For Google, Android is a cash drain,” said James Faucette, and analyst with Pacific Crest Securities.  ”They are going to lose money on Android as an operating system.  They hope to make it up from the services they are delivering through their infrastructure and services.”

 

Personally I think it will be a cash drain and I also believe that not filtering the applications will lead to hacks and viruses.  However I am sure some type of filter would have to be put into effect one way or another.

 

Finally if Google founders Lary Page and Sergey Brin’s attempt to compete with Steve Job’s wardrobe gimmick of the jean/sweater is any sign of things to come – the future looks bleak for the G1.

 

iPhone: 1 - G1: 0