Friday, September 25, 2009
I-Phone Revisited
Ramblings of a Techie: "When I posted my article listing some apps for the I-Phone I did not realise how popular the story would be. since then I have been reminded of a couple of applications that I missed. So I thought I would add a few more."
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14 comments:
I think it's really awesome that there are so many useful apps for the iPhone. A lot of the information that you can find in these apps is info that you need to know but is really hard to remember, and it's so useful to just have all of it on your phone that can always be with you.
I understand that these apps are useful tools, but I still think that people shouldn't rely on their phones too much. I can barely stand it that I rely on my phone for calls and texting. If my phone breaks I feel as if I can't function properly. I know other people have the internet and email, as well as these apps, on their phones. I can't imagine how they must feel when the technology fails them. While these apps are useful there are times when we can't access them.
I agree with Kelli. As useful as these apps are, I feel like too many people rely too heavily on them. The fact that they know they can easily pull up the information on their phone makes many people more reluctant to learn the information for themselves. But what when the given information is wrong? Or your phone breaks? Then you're screwed. Technology has a way of failing you at the most inconvenient times. I feel like the effect is similar to that of calculators.... There are so many people that can't do simple math because they have always relied on a calculator to do it for them. As helpful as these technological advances can be, I think people should learn not to rely on them too much...
I agree with Tifanny. I feel that while the applications of the iPhone have been extremely useful for fast and easy access to immense amounts of information, it also hinders many people in the long run. In recent years the internet has become the number one research tool for students, but many youngers students do not even fully conmprehend the library system. The same goes for such new applications. While these systems help balance circuts, it does not allow the user to fully comprehend what is occuring. So while they are useful tools, one should understand the principles before relying too heavily on these applications.
Theatrical applications of the iPhone are always interesting. There are those apps that help during the design process, apps that help during the tech planning process, and apps that help during the load in process. While all these things are helpful and useful to lighting designers and MEs, I would personally like to see more integration between the apps and the theatre space itself. ETC makes a remote app I think that works with the iPhone.
The only other problem I can see is the fact that people are using their phones for everything. It's not polite to have your cellphone out at a call let alone use it constantly to perform simple tasks that many seasoned technicians can do in their head faster than the phone.
But it is interesting to see how technology is becoming more integrated into theatrical productions. I look forward to seeing what can be done, but I'm not looking forward to more tech problem solving.
This is another great article about i phone apps i think that the apps that he forget just shows that there are many apps for the i pone that work for theater. there is some many things that the i pone can do i cant resembler be for i had my i phone. it is great that people are developing apps for theater that we can uses to make our life easer. so this article was very informative.
This is another great article about i phone apps i think that the apps that he forget just shows that there are many apps for the i pone that work for theater. there is some many things that the i pone can do i cant resembler be for i had my i phone. it is great that people are developing apps for theater that we can uses to make our life easer. so this article was very informative.
A lot of these apps are interesting, but when you step back and look at them while they're useful each one really doesn't do all that much. The DMX DIP switch display is useful, but a calculator that can do a conversion to binary will do that and a whole lot more. Make that calculator programmable and BeamCalc and PowerCalc become obsolete as well. The gobo apps are useful but they remain just another presentation of a manufacturer's catalog. At least those two are free, I'd like to see free versions of the other two as well.
Ahh iPhone apps -- love it. I've got most of the ones on the website as it is, sadly. I also like the Wybron color swatch and gobo apps. Something I'm stoked to purchase, when we get our wireless network up and running in the chosky, is the ETC iRFR app. Can't even imagine how wonderful that will be during a load-in or channel check to have multiple people on the network being able to remote in to the desk. Although I'm sure its a terrible idea because all our personal phones are probably corrupted in some way and shouldn't even come close to the Eos. Perhaps we'll purchase some iTouches.....
I agree with some here that people, in my experience, esp. lighting techies, rely far too much on the iphone to run their lives. The second one drops their phone from the grid, they are suddenly unable to function as a human being. The iphone with its many uses lends itself to simplifying all your information by storing it in a single source, never a good plan if something goes horribly wrong. More importantly, while convenient, eliminating the human interaction element reduces our understanding of humanity as whole thereby lessening our ability to create compelling theatrical experiences.
Originally, I thought that some of the apps described were pretty neat, and didn’t see the downside of having these kind of apps around to use in a theater space. However, after reading through Tiffany, and Michael, and others comments, I have to agree that it is starting to be a little excessive about how much people are using their phones for things. Yes, they’re useful, but at the same time, if you work in a theater long enough, you’re going to learn how to do all these things on your own, without relying on some app or some program. Technology is like that constantly, helping us often instantaneously, but as Tim noted, hindering us in the long run. I’d rather work for a long time, and figure out these sort of things on my own so that I know it like the back of my hand then be constantly referencing a phone which may all of a sudden not decide to work…
This is very nifty. Companies that don't keep up with the new technologies and forms of mas communication out there are going to be left in the dust. Things like this are definitely going to help with the whole "green" effort. As things become more and more electronic, we wont have to waste so much paper on things like catalogs.
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