I have photographed professionally but our adventures in video are better described as “modest”.  But also not completely new, as we have owned the very first Canon miniDV digital camcorder model, and a non-digital tape version prior to that.  Do to the hassle of importing and exporting video, we had never bothered editing together compilations or stories and distributing to family and friends.  Until Now.

Around the first of the year, we purchased a Kodak Zi6 video camera that shoots 720p h.264 high def video on SD cards.  For the first time ever, the camcorder is often in a pocket and therefore handy for when those timeless moments happen.  The lack of zoom or other features  cannot offset the convenience factor for us.  The digital files are simple to move onto a computer for quick editing.  Fun * 2.

Apparently, we are not alone as 9 of the 10 best selling camcorders on Amazon are similar pocketable camcorders from Flip, Kodak, and Creative Labs.

The 720p resolution leads to a unique problem… how to distribute our best video to friends and family?  After a few hours researching with Google and chatting with friends,  the problem is still considerable.

The most obvious answer is Blu Ray.  None of our laptops have a Blu Ray burner and upgrading is cost prohibitive.  If we were able to burn the discs a quick pole revealed only one member of our family has a Blu Ray player (PS3).  While HD televisions are becoming commonplace in our family, none are even considering purchasing a Blu Ray player in the near future.  Perhaps in a year or two this will become a viable option, but it is not today.

I assumed that a stopgap format was developed to play 720p video on normal DVD discs using the up converting DVD hardware.   Several members of our family have purchased up converting DVD players to go with their new televisions.  With the hardware becoming common,  all that is needed is the correct software loaded into the firmware.

After hours of research, the closest I could find was Divx HD.  A visit to the website revealed the latest Divx version 7 utilized the same h.264 codec as our camcorder and most other high definition devices.  A quick glance near our television revealed that even our personal up converting DVD player has a Divx logo on the front.  Quickly my hopes were dashed upon discovering that not a single DVD player on Amazon will play the high definition version (Divx HD).  It appears Divx was slow developing a very obvious solution

I was really hoping for a  solution built by the open source community or Quicktime.  I fear the open source community was a non start (or was unable to find).  I really didn’t expect forward looking Apple to develop a near term solution using Quicktime.

Perhaps looking to “shiny discs” as a distribution method is simply too dated?  We re-purposed an old computer with an upgraded graphics card and new hard drive into an inexpensive media player.   With a $9 Nnetflix subscription, Boxee (Alpha), and Hulu, we canceled our cable subscription.  I have read countless blog posts on utilizing Apple TVs, Mac Mini’s, Xbox’s, PS3’s, and even $100 dedicated media players to fill a similar task.  However, a quick poll of our family revealed our household stood alone, ruling out simply distributing the 720p files on digital media.

To date we have “punted” and given our friends and acquaintances (i.e. teachers) old fashioned DVD’s with downscaled video.  It is disheartening knowing the video  is downgraded to approximately half its native resolution.  At this time, a better solution has yet to present itself.

I keep reading bloggers that can not believe Apple would not want to follow the latest hot trend and build a netbook (as we know it).  This is similar to wondering why Mercedes doesn’t build a Chevy Aveo, and the answer is simple, branding and profit.

One common argument is that not everyone can afford a *real* laptop, but can afford a netbook, especially in the current economic climate.  You could make the very same comparison with the Aveo starting at $12,685, roughly half the price of the average automobile.

Another argument is that a netbook is all that most people really need, with the ability to surf the net, write a blog, or open the occasional text document.  The Aveo fills that role in the automobile world as well, with most people really just needing to move a few people, and perhaps some light luggage  from one place to another.  Most people simply lack the need to haul heavy loads or lots of people, at least in their second or third vehicle.

While the Aveo is functional, it is simply not a great user experience.  The small size makes using the vehicle cumbersome.  Similar to the user experience of small cramped keyboards and screen real estate that makes having two documents open side by side challenging.  They are functional but the race to reduce costs requires many compromises that also reduce the user experience.

Mercedes and Apple have both built brands that users expect a great user experience and quality products when they see the logo.  Producing lower quality inferior products for the masses they jeopardize losing the brand and its selling power (value).  Branding it the first reason Apple should not build a netbook as we know it.

The second reason is Profit.  Both Mercedes and Apple are for profit companies.  They have built the brand images and quality products that allow them to sell at above average margins.  Without even looking I am positive GM makes sub par earnings on the Aveo.   Netbooks are sold at razor thin margins by companies hoping that volume will lead to a meager profit.

There is simply no good reason to follow the masses and enter a market that jeopardizes the brand and makes sub par profits.  This is why the smart pundits are betting on Apple reinventing the category if and when they do enter, creating something similar to what I wrote about here.

I believe most of these writers really want an Apple but can not afford one, and therefore digress to whining about it on their blog.  I would really like to buy a new Mercedes for $13,000, but it is simply not going to happen unless mercedes invents a totally new concept of  a simple but high quality vehicle to move people from place to place, sold at a profitable margin.

As my regular readers know, I use both Windows and Macintosh systems on a regular basis.  In the past our Macs ran Safari, and our windows boxes utilized Firefox for internet browsing.  However Firefox 3 has a serious issue, in that about every 20 minutes it locks up and writes to the hard drive for about 30 seconds.  This is really annoying if typing out a blog post, but potentially deadly if playing a game.  So our windows boxes now run Firefox for general browsing, and Safari for games.

Yesterday we loaded the new Safari 4 Beta on my primary windows machine, a 17″ windows laptop with a 1920×1200 dpi screen.  By our very unscientific testing, gameplay of online Java games does seem noticeably smoother, so believe Java is running faster.  Speed is always welcomed.

Apple is advertising Safari 4 as the first browser to pass the Acid 3 test 100%.  This is great news to anyone that cares about web standards.

Safari 4 also has a plug in architecture.  You can view the standard plug ins from the help menu, and download additional ones from here.  The list is short, and limited to select third parties.  Hopefully apple will allow any third party to develop plug ins, and provide a convenient place to search and download them similar to Firefox.

Safari also features a zoom option, that zooms only text or the entire page including images.  One of my most used Firefox plugins zooms images on a page, very handy when shopping using a 133dpi screen.  Browsers have had a zoom feature for years, but they never seem to work right.  First testing on Amazon seems very promising.

The new “Top Sites” feature, triggered by the matrix icon next to the bookmarks icon displays your 6, 12, or 24 most visited sites for easy selection.  This is likely useful for general browsing, giving a quick way to select common sites.  Eye candy indeed.

The overall look of the browser in general is cleaner and less cluttered compared to Firefox 3.  I believe this is primarily do to the menu bar being hidden by default.  The menus are moved to a gear icon on the right side, similar to Internet Explorer 7.  I have tried operating with them hidden, but it did not last long.

The most visual change is the tabs now occupy the very top bar of Safari.  It does save screen real estate, but on modern computer screens I have plenty to spare.

The downside to the new tab location is the longer mouse reach for every tab open and close.  I personally use tabs constantly, often having 10-20 open at a time while doing research.

Visually finding a tab initially seems more difficult, as you are forced to look up past the bookmarks and address bar to find your tabs.  A friend countered that they are easier to find in the blue bar, than lost mixed in with the page and menus.  This is a change that will need revisited after using for an extended time to form a solid opinion.

the dedicated plus symbol to add a tab is very welcome indeed.  Right clicking in Firefox has become second nature, and the new tab button in IE seems monstrously huge.

Another friend pointed out that you can no long right click on a bookmark in a bookmarks drop down menu and open in a new tab, although using the command-click keyboard shortcut to right click the item still works.  This feels like Apple slapping my hand for trying to do something useful.

A spell checker has finally been added, bringing it up to date with other browsers.  This feature is very handy when replying to this blog post for example.

Many windows users will like the fact that the window is resizeable from all sides like normal, and does not take on the mac feature of only resizing from the bottom right corner.  As a user of both platforms this has never bothered me personally, but seems to outrage many users.

Overall it appears Apple has researched the competition well, and taken all the best features, and rolled them into one very fast browser, that is 100% acid 3 web standards compliant.   This may be the browser that displaces Firefox for my general web browsing in both Windows and OS X.

Apple has a full list of features here.

feedback [at] boldsunflower [dot] com

Marvell has introduced an Arm based computer in a wall adapter sized housing for $99 called a Sheevaplug.  The possibilities are endless.  Linuxdevices.com explains it well here.