In case you haven't noticed, I've been absent for a few weeks. My wife and I just returned from a 15-day cruise from Dover, England to Barcelona, Spain via Belgium, the Atlantic coasts of France, Spain, and Portugal, and then up the Mediterranean side of Spain to Barcelona. It was an amazing trip, and as always there were things I noticed during my travels that pertain to my work here at TUAW. Here are some thoughts from the trip:
Apple almost always announces new products while I'm on vacation. If you ever want to know when Apple is going to announce new products, ask me when I have a vacation planned. It never seems to fail; I've been out of town for a number of important keynotes. Due to the length of the trip, I was unable to order an iPhone 5. If I order one now, it will probably arrive while I'm on a business trip in a couple of weeks. Sigh. Maybe my local Apple Store will have one in stock...
iPads everywhere. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising, but the number of iPads I saw on this trip was just amazing. It wasn't just people on our ship; I saw iPads being used by locals in just about every port of call, both for work and for pleasure. One odd observation was just how many people were taking photos or video with their iPads. That caused me to shake my head in amazement one day when I saw a fellow passenger aboard the MS Marina holding her iPad over a railing on the ship in high winds, shooting video. I was sure that I was going to see an iPad going for a swim in the Atlantic...
iPhones everywhere. Apple's tablet isn't the only device that seems to be gaining universal ubiquity. On previous trips, it seemed like there were a lot more Samsung and Nokia phones being used. This year, iPhone 4 and 4S models were just about everywhere I looked. Sure, I still heard the default Nokia ring tone on occasion, but more often than not I'd hear a familiar iPhone tone and glance over to see someone at a sidewalk caf
Article by Steven Sande (c) TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog - Read full story here.
