Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

If you’ve been following the “thin metal strip” antenna debacle, you’ll be happy to see that Bloomberg recently revealed the topic to be internally controversial inside Apple itself, up to a year before the iPhone 4 was released. In Apple Engineer Told Jobs IPhone Antenna Might Cut Calls, Bloomberg News reports:

Apple Inc.’s senior antenna expert voiced concern to Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs in the early design phase of the iPhone 4 that the antenna design could lead to dropped calls, a person familiar with the matter said.

Last year, Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, informed Apple’s management the device’s design may hurt reception, said the person, who is not authorized to speak on Apple’s behalf and asked not to be identified. A carrier partner also raised concerns about the antenna before the device’s June 24 release, according to another person familiar with the situation.

So the plot thickens. The biggest outstanding question is, “What will Apple do next?” Well, just now I plugged in my iPhone and got the following software update notice:

iOS 4.0.1 Software Update for iPhone

This update contains bug fixes and improvements, including the following:

• Improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display

Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4

For feature descriptions and complete instructions, see the user guides for iPhone at http ://support.apple.com/manuals/iphone

I did the update and I don’t see any differences on my 3GS….

I quoted the following from Charles Stross‘ latest novel, The Fuller Memorandum, which resonates deeply with my experience as NYer, riding the metro everywhere:

“the asshole behind me is playing something very loud on a pair of tinny headphones”

See, the standard headphones that come with your iPhone / iTouch / iPod are terrible (16% GdGt approval rating). They fit so badly, the hard plastic mauling your ears, that someone designed a foam casing to make them easier to wear.

The earbuds themselves do nothing to block out background noise, causing anyone using them in a high noise environment (outside in the city, riding the subway, etc) to crank the volume up to the max. Because the earphones leak sound horribly, everyone around is forced to listen to your music. Second, the earphones themselves don’t handle high volume without clipping and distorting, so the quality of whatever you tried to listen to is shot to hell.

If you just bought an Apple product, throw away those cheap $1 headphones and pick up something better. Here are a few suggestions (in order of quality, decreasing in price); note, these are personal recommendations, as I own and have tried all of these:

Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 Noise Isolating Earphones – $250

Shure SE115-K Sound Isolating Earphones – $65

Sennheiser CX300-B Earbuds (Black) – $25

Did you know that the Hope Diamond, for the first time since it joined the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1958, is displayed unset? That’s right, the world-famous gigantic, 46 carat deep-blue grey diamond, is finally on display in its natural beauty. Sitting on a rotating pedestal inside a cylinder of 3-inch bulletproof glass, you can find it next to the main exhibit in the National Gem Collection.

Close up of the Hope Diamond

The rotating pedestal

Another angle of the gem, different facets

From the other side, again!

The platinum setting, composed of 16 white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds, and a chain of forty-five diamonds. The Hope will return to its traditional setting in late 2010.

For more information about the long history of the Hope Diamond, check out the wikipedia article. Its origins, shrouded in theft and mystery, are a fascinating read! If you liked this post, leave a comment, and perhaps I’ll post photos of the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, also on display in the Smithsonian.