I loved this. It has struck nerves on both sides of the Mac / PC war:

For one thing, “Lauren” in this video ended up choosing a machine very similar to one I finally gave to my kids. A good machine, one that I used and enjoyed, but ended up reloading the operating system like 7 times in two years. It went from XP Home, to XP Pro, to Ubuntu, to Vista, and finally back to XP Home.

Here’s a note about the machine. In only a year I found it was too slow for my needs. Even after upgrading the memory, etc., the darn thing bogged down. There were always problems with the various machine buttons working or not working. The WiFi was flaky, to the point where I bought an external USB adapter and used that instead. The machine, which cost me $999 at Costco, was not that high in quality. And I say this as a person who not only uses a lot of HP equipment, but also used to work for HP.

I currently don’t own a laptop — my employer provides one for me — but I can tell you right now the next laptop I buy for myself is going to be a Mac.

Why?

Because if it’s anywhere near as nice as my iPhone, it has to rock. It will be worth the extra money. That’s what my experience with my phone has taught me.

We’ll see if I’m singing the same tune come this summer after I actually get it.

If you’re into trance, ambient, Goa, or any number of trippy kinds of music, RjDj is a must have app for your iPhone.

It actually generates music from the sounds it samples — in real time — from your iPhone’s mic (note, though, that is has to be the one on your headphones).  The various styles of music generation are grouped in "scenes" which you can choose depending upon your mood.

What’s really cool is you can record and play back the music you generate.

I recently put this on and walked around downtown Helsinki, having left a restaurant, walked across a public square, and down into a train station.  The result was a very trippy 10 minute recording that only gives you a glimpse of what it’s like to use this software.  It really is like being on a hallucinogen, walking around listening to the world filtered through its music.  Strange, tranquil, and at the same time, exciting.

One thing that is different between this and, say, LSD, is if you start to have a bad trip, you can turn RjDj off.

Here’s my recording:  Evening in Helsinki.mp3

In the next release of the iPhone operating system, we’ve been promised native recording capabilities. If you want to record with it now, though, you have to install a third party app.

My favorite is called, simply, “The iPhone Recorder” by Retronyms.

It features a clean, simple interface, high quality recording, and the ability to pull your recordings off the iPhone either by emailing them or via a built-in WiFi webserver.

Here’s a sample of a recording I made using this software:  Music from Black Door Pub, Helsinki

This physical embodiment of a pun has indeed become a “buzz” all over the gadget blogosphere.

Yes, this razor phone (not RAZR, mind you) includes a real working electric shaver on the butt-end under a clip-off cap.

I suppose some segment of the population, somewhere on this world, will find this a Godsend.

Me?  I think it’s one of the silliest things I’ve ever featured here.  But I’m not passing judgment on it because I’m of the bearded, non-shaving variety of men, and have been since a teen.  Maybe for some hairy, constantly having to shave type of guy, this isn’t silly at all.

I honestly don’t know.  You tell me.

Click the image for a link to the source.