Grant Diggles

Why you should wait on buying the Apple iPad

// March 28th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Personal Views, Technology

The Apple iPad - Apple's first mystery product

I’d like to preface this blog post by saying that I love Apple products. Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. have been innovative and persistent in bringing a stable and dependable technology platform to millions. I own several Apple products myself and have enjoyed countless hours of trouble free, productive hours using their products. With that said… I’ve got some concerns with the upcoming iPad, here’s why:

Not a MacBook, not an iPhone

So what the hell is it? I could understand the validity of the iPad if it at least did some of the basic features of either the iPhone or the MacBook, but it doesn’t do either very well.  I remember watching Steve Job’s keynote on the iPad and I thought, “if he just made it smaller and more portable, it would be more useful because it would easier to take everywhere with me, oh wait, that’s an iPhone/iTouch” and “if it only came with a stand and maybe an external keyboard so it doesn’t have to be on my lap or laying face up on a table all the time, that would be more convenient, oh wait, that’s a Macbook”. It seems that the iPad is trapped in a “not-good-at-anything” vortex, where Apple decided to take all of their bad ideas and shove them into a glorified iTouch. You have to accessorize the crap out of it to get some conveniences of a laptop, and yet given its size, it will never be convenient to travel with or powerful enough to do much of anything, dooming it to be “that novelty thing” that doesn’t get out of the house much. Based on Apple’s website, here are some of the more notable (or not-so-notable) features of the iPad:

HARD DRIVE

The largest hard drive you can get with the iPad is a measley 64 GB’s of space. Apple specifically emphasizes iPad’s ability to offer a unique, touch based experience in sharing and viewing various types of media. At the largest 64 GB hard drive, you are quite limited in how many pictures you can even keep on the thing, let alone all of the hard drive space your music, applications, books, videos and other media will consume. Enter Apple’s wireless hard drive, Time Capsule. Tack on another $300 and stay within 100 feet of the hard drive and your problems are solved. Of course, now the iPad is more expensive than the MacBook… and significantly less powerful.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Offer a larger hard drive (which they will, but you’ll have to buy another iPad), throw in a complimentary first year .mac/.me account for the 10 GB of hosted hard drive space, offer a discount to purchase one of Apple’s Time Capsules.

WIFI and 3G

Obviously, your internet experience would be quite limited without connectivity to the World Wide Web. Apple gets it right here with the Wifi, and the 3G option is also useful for those of us on the go all the time. Unfortunately, we are forced to link arms (once again) with the infamous AT&T network. If paying AT&T the astronomical fees for the iPhone isn’t bad enough, you can also add another $30 a month for 3G on the iPad. There goes my kid’s college education…

POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Existing iPhone subscribers get a significant discount from AT&T for 3G service on the iPad. Kind of a “thank you” for overpaying them all these years. And no, I don’t consider $30/month a discount.

MULTITASKING

What multitasking? Yup, the iPad can only do one thing at a time. I love the AT&T/iPhone commercial where they bash the Google Droid for not being able to make an appointment in the calendar program while talking to someone on the phone at the same time. Very witty… you need 2 Droids to do what an iPhone can do by itself, get it?! But I can’t help but wonder how I am going to listen to music on my iPad while at the same, browse the internet, read a book or view my pictures. Guess I’ll just have to go buy 2 iPads (get it?!)!

What amazes me the most, is that my iPhone and my laptop can multitask just fine, Apple has the technology… but apparently Apple wants me to think that the iPad is a “magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price” (their words, not mine), but NOT allowing me some very basic functionalities. In Apple’s defense, it’s my understanding that you can now listen to music and use the iPad… so that’s good.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: Make the iPad multitask, obviously. Also, apologize to consumers for leaving this feature out in the first place as all it has accomplished is to strike fear in the hearts of Apple lovers everywhere that Apple’s innovative days are over. Seriously though, its like building a car and forgetting to put wheels on it, then expecting people to buy the car and then, later, be willing to buy another car (car 2.0) that finally comes with wheels.

CAMERA

Probably one of the biggest disappointments with the iPad is that it is not equipped with a camera. The ability to video chat on the iPad would’ve been one of the coolest features, allowing people to walk around video conferencing with others (instead of making phone call in some circumstances) like we’re all on Star Trek. So many uses… gone. But don’t worry, I’m sure Apple will be more than happy to put a camera on the next version of the iPad in order to sell up to consumers, forcing us to buy ANOTHER iPad from them even though we already own one (which Apple will expect all of us to do).

NO DATA PORTS

Okay, so let’s pretend that I just took this amazing video footage of my children and I really want to share this footage with a friend on my “magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price” (their words, not mine). Like many of us, we carry things around like FlipCams or some other sort of media capturing device that requires you to upload your media via USB or FireWire. Unfortunately, you’re outta luck with the iPad cause you can’t do any of that on the iPad itself. You have to accessorize the iPad with their “iPad Camera Connection Kit” and/or you have to have ANOTHER product that you can sync with the iPad (similar to the iPhone) to move media over to the iPad. For the cost of the iPad, is it too much to ask for even a single USB port? So far, this isn’t feeling very “magical and revolutionary”.

ACCESSORIES, ACCESSORIES, ACCESSORIES

Since the iPad does so few things so badly, Apple has been good enough to provide us, the consumers, with a disturbing amount of proprietary accessories for the iPad to bring it into the realm of a mildly viable piece of technology. It seems to me that Apple is doing with accessories, what Microsoft did with Operating System versions… confusing us. Here is a listing from their website, with prices:

iPad Keyboard Dock – $69
iPad Dock w/o keyboard – $29
iPad 10W USB Power Adapter – $29 (one is included in the box,. but this one has a longer cable)
iPad Dock Connecter to VGA Adapter – $29
iPad Case – $29
iPad Camera Connection Kit – $29

Now granted, this may not seem like a lot of accessories when you look at them listed out, but imagine carrying these things around with you. If you think your laptop case is bulky, what until you start lugging all of these things little gadgets around. “…I would love to pull those pictures off your camera Stan, but I forgot to bring my iPad Camera Connection Kit, did you happen to bring yours?”

For a company that has been leading the way in providing sleek, no hassle design to all of their products, the iPad is completely counter intuitive to Apple’s reputation with accessory offerings that you “have to have” to actually use the product. I thought accessories were discretionary income items…

THE NEXT GENERATION

I’m not talking about Star Trek here (even though I was earlier in my post), I’m talking about the “next” iPad release. I can’t help but compare Apple to other companies that use proprietary technology and sleazy marketing strategies to weasel every last penny out of the consumer, enter Sony Corporation. Apple WILL probably end up adding a camera to the iPad, they WILL offer bigger hard drives, they WILL probably include a data port, etc, etc. but Apple will offer SOME of these features in different versions of the iPad in the future. What does that mean to you and I? Open up your wallets folks, Steve Jobs just hasn’t made enough money.

If you can exercise any discipline here, I would wait on the iPad until several more versions come out. It seems that the iPad will have too many uses to really be considered a glorified iTouch, but is too limited to really be considered a trimmed down computer. That’s my 2 cents…

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Who You Intend To Be Is Not Who You Are

// March 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // Insights, Personal Views

An excerpt from Grant’s upcoming book “What I’ve Learned About Real Business, Confessions Of An Entrepreneur.”

People of good intention are the most frustrating kind of people. I say this because they are the type of people who live a life full of intention, resulting in little action. Seemingly, the real concern is that regardless of the fact that these individuals don’t actually do anything about what they intend to do, they still give themselves credit for doing it. “I intended on taking out the garbage” or “I was planning on telling you I loved you” or “I really wanted to have that business report to you by Friday” are types of comments that individuals with good intentions commonly make. Of course when you approach them on these types of issues, they tend to stare at you in disbelief for your ungratefulness at their good intentions. They really wanted to but situations “out of their control” prevented it. The victim card then comes into play and you become the bad guy.

I included this chapter in my book because I used to be one of these people and I’ve known many others since.  Don’t force people to base their opinions of you primarily on your intentions because that’s all you’ve got. Become a person that is personally and professionally dependable.

Quick Tips

• Create accountability for yourself.
• If you fail to follow through, be quick to apologize, make it right, and follow through the next time.  Most people are willing to give second chances if it’s accompanied by humility.
• Know your limits! You can’t do everything so don’t try.  When your focus is quality and not quantity, opportunities you really want will become more available over time.

Top 4 Restaurants in Portland, Oregon

// September 28th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Personal Views

My wife and I are fans of the culinary world. When we look for restaurants in the Portland Metro area we are not only looking for great tasting food, but also a great experience. The ambiance, waiter, food presentation, location and vibe are all part of what this article is about. Listed below are our current top 4 restaurants in the Portland area:

1. The Painted Lady – Newberg, OR

The Painted Lady, one of the finest restaurants you'll find anywhere.

Yup, you heard me… Newberg, Oregon. The Painted Lady is, without a doubt, going to be one of finest culinary experiences you’ll have in your life. It is a little ways outside of Portland, but is worth the extra driving. It is owned by a wonderful couple who have studied in the culinary arts for years and decided to open their own restaurant. The name, The Painted Lady, comes from the restaurant’s actual building, as it is a restored Victorian home.

If you plan on dining at The Painted Lady, plan on calling ahead and making reservations days in advance. Once you’ve reserved a table, the table is yours for the night as they serve you multiple courses throughout the evening.

The food is creative and exquisite in every way. I’ve never had anything at The Painted Lady that wasn’t absolutely life changing. Be prepared for an experience that will be memorable, but has the potential of ruining regular restaurant food forever.

NOTE – TPL is a very expensive restaurant, so plan on spending, spending, spending. With a bottle of wine, my wife and I have easily spent anywhere from $200 to $300 a night. If you’re concerned about cost, you may want to save up, as you will be cheating yourself out of the whole experience by trying to be cheap.

2. Five-O-Three – West Linn, OR

Five-O-Three Restaurant

Five-O-Three is a spectacular restaurant tucked away in West Linn. It may be easily missed as its built into the corner of a larger commercial development, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that this restaurant is anything less than spectacular.

Like other restaurants in our Top 4 list, Five-O-Three changes its menu regularly to give its returning dinner guests something new every time.

From their soups and entrees to their service and entertainment, Five-O-Three should not be missed. It has all of the upper-class amenities one would expect at a high-end restaurant in Portland such as classy ambience, extremely competent waiters and tasteful decor and dinnerware, but remains accessible to the “average Joe” in location, price and attitude.

If you’re looking for an enjoyable dining experience without driving all the way into Portland, Five-O-Three is certainly worth a visit. I’m confident you won’t be disappointed.

NOTE – FOT is still a little pricey than most. Last time my wife and I were there a week ago we spent $110 with tip. This included drinks, appetizer and entrees. If you have kids, I would recommend the Mac-and-Cheese. Have them bring it out with your entrees though, otherwise you’ll end up helping your kids eat it all.

3. Jake’s Grill – Portland, OR

Jake's Grill - A great Portland restaurant with a classy Portland vibe.

Jakes Grill is a personal favorite of mine for three reasons:

1. Its a hip, upper-class restaurant that gives off a great Portland “vibe”.

2. Its menu is large but still boasts a tasteful culinary art similar to smaller “niche” restaurants.

3. Solid bang-for-your-buck for the total experience.

I have to admit, the one thing I don’t like about Jake’s Grill is that its part of the McCormick and Schmick’s restaurant line. Many of their other restaurants tend to be bland and uneventful. With that said, I love this place.

Waiters have always been good here. Knowledgeable and opinionated as to what seems to be good and what doesn’t, Jake’s Grill seems to have low turnover which allows you to get to know the waiters over time.

Jake’s Grill is on the lower cost of our Top 5 restaurants coming in somewhere in $70-$90 range for 2 people. My wife and I regularly dine at Jake’s Grill to experience Portland in a comfortable, edgier fashion.

Although not required, I would recommend making a reservation ahead. Jake’s Grill always seems to be busy.

4. The Heathman Hotel – Portland, OR

Known for its beautiful accomodations, The Heathman Hotel is also a culinary delight.

The Heathman Hotel is more commonly known as one of Portland’s premier stays. Located in the heart of Portland, The Heathman is central to nearly every major attraction that someone spending time here, may want to see. What The Heathman is less commonly known for? Its restauarant.

Situated on the ground level, The Heathman Hotel’s restaurant is consistent in the style, class and service that you would expect from one of Portland’s best. The food is as unique in presentation is it is in taste.

You’ll find The Heathman’s menu offers creative couplings of different flavors to surprise your pallet and keep you looking forward to your next visit. And yes, you will come back.

Due to its stellar location in Portland, and only a couple blocks from the Arlene Schnitzer Hall, The Heathman Hotel offers a classy, yet convenient dining experience for those looking to take in some of the finer arts of Portland. Easy to find, The Heathman restaurant also makes a great location for business professional looking to impress a client or to simply find short respite in the middle of the day.

The cost of dinner at The Heathman is reasonable. We spend $70 to $120 for the 2 of us, which can be a bargain on nights we are staying in Portland for events or special occasions. I would highly recommend this restaurant coupled with a stay in their Hotel. Its relaxing, conveniently located and their service is unmatched.

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