As I sat finishing breakfast at our kitchen table yesterday morning with the Colorado sun filling the back yard and the kids enjoying their last few days of “freedom” before they head back to school next week, I caught up on my news reading using my iPad. I use Feeddler, an RSS (Real Simple Syndication) reader for iOS together with the Wall Street Journal and Guardian Eyewitness apps to stay current with news and insights from my favorite content sites. I thought about how this was so different than it has been for me until just recently. I no longer need to go to my desktop computer or pull out my notebook computer to check my favorite web sites; I just pull out my iPad.

Not only that, but because Feeddler uses Google Reader to sync what I’ve read, I can use Feeddler on my iPhone and my iPad or Google Reader or one of the Google Reader compatible applications to stay up-to-date throughout the day.

Of course, I also use the iPad to stay current with email, some web browsing, and my eBooks, too (mostly using the Kindle app). I even use it for a bit of Bible reading and study using Logos.

As a result, what I have noticed is that my iPad, this small, lightweight device, has become the center of my reading world. It’s like I’m carrying my entire stack of books, magazines, newspapers and websites with me all the time. I am beginning to see very clearly just how much the iPad has simplified my life. And this from a guy who definitely wasn’t sold on the idea of an iPad for my own personal productivity.

Pretty interesting…

I wrote earlier about the PDF vulnerability in iOS that impacts every iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Yesterday, Apple made an update available to fix the vulnerability.

If you own an iOS device, be sure to update it as soon as you can. If you don’t see the update as soon as you plug your device into iTunes, select your device in the sidebar and click “Check for Update” to get the update.

The Check for Updates button on iTunes

Recently, Apple parted ways with Executive Vice President Papermaster. Antennagate was a convenient time to part ways with Papermaster. He didn’t really fit in to the Apple culture.

You’ll see the Verizon iPhone in January, I think, with CDMA/LTE. What isn’t clear is whether it will be able to be an international phone, which may also be an issue. With Qualcomm effectively custom-designing this chipset for Apple, though, it could actually potentially be CDMA/GSM/LTE, which would be VERY interesting from a marketplace impact perspective.

I view this all as great for competition. All devices are vastly improved from the state of the marketplace in 2007 (when most people had to compromise and carry a Treo, a Blackberry, or one of the abjectly awful Windows phones). I expect Apple to continue to push the envelope of capabilities for mobile devices, keeping everyone on their toes and finding ways to make devices better and better.

A Facebook conversation this week reminded me that many people do not know how damaging Adobe Flash can be on many systems, especially, it seems, those running Apple’s OS X. For many years, I have found Flash more annoying than anything, and so have run various plug-ins to keep Flash from loading in my browsers. There are also an additional mini-application that you may find useful.

First, there are a number of Flash blocking plug-ins for the various browsers available. For Firefox, there’s FlashBlock. Ffor Safari there’s ClickToFlash. For Google Chrome, there’s Kill-Flash. All of these plugins do the same thing: they replace the Flash elements on a page with a clickable image. If you don’t click, no Flash ever loads. If you do, Flash loads and plays.

One think I especially like about ClickToFlash is that you can adjust the settings to load H.264 videos on YouTube instead of Flash when it is available. Very nice.

In addition to these plug-ins, I also use BashFlash on my Macs. This little application sits quietly in the menubar until one of the Flash processes starts going crazy. Sometimes, a Flash process can cycle up and take over a computer. When one does this, BashFlash wakes up, turns red, and lets you kill the runaway Flash process.

Together, these plugins and app will make your browsing experience much more pleasant. I run ClickToFlash and Kill-Flash on my two most-used browsers, and keep BashFlash on hand, too. Let me know how it goes for you.

Mashable reports today that Security Exploit Can Give Hackers Control of Your iPhone or iPad [WARNING]. You will want to be careful not to load any PDFs that you don’t know for sure are safe.

This is a buffer overflow bug in the PDF rendering engine having to do with font management. While obscure, it’s actually the bug that was used to provide a web-based jailbreak of the iPhone running iOS 3.1.2 or higher.

The big buzz around tech today is Microsoft’s annual financial analyst meeting held yesterday. At the meeting, Microsoft trotted out a line of execs and talked about how rosy their company future is. My favorite version of the proceedings comes from BoomTown reporter Kara Swisher (summed up in her piece today: Slide Presentations From Microsoft’s Financial Analyst Meeting).

The most stunning revelation for me is that Microsoft seems not to get it at all.

CEO Steve Ballmer touts “slates” and “Windows Phone 7″ while saying that Apple has sold more iPads than he wanted them to. His comments about the marketplace make it obvious that he has no idea how to lead or how to innovate. What Microsoft is doing is struggling to figure out which latest craze to follow, and they are now in the middle of a series of utter failures to innovate or compete on a number of products in multiple markets.

For example, their Xbox game system, while beloved by customers, loses money. They have had a string of embarrassments, from Windows Vista to the Microsoft Kin phones that lasted less than 90 days on the market. If it wasn’t for their long-term cash cows of Windows and Office, Microsoft would be in serious financial trouble. As it is, they are right where many giant companies before them have been… before those companies either reinvented themselves or died. If it takes Microsoft longer than 24 months to introduce their next major version of Windows, they’ll be in even more financial trouble. After all, the cloud may make operating systems virtually unimportant, rendering their big cash cow moot.

Regardless, innovation doesn’t come from following others. It comes from imagining what could be, picturing how people would love to live, and then providing products that spark their creativity, imagination, and productivity.

Does that sound like any companies you know?

Competition is good for everyone, especially consumers. If Microsoft doesn’t find a way to become a leader again, someone else will. In the meantime, Microsoft management will fight to keep from becoming completely irrelevant, and hurt consumers on their way down. Limiting the innovations of others and creating irrelevant products is a waste of time and energy, but it’s the common path of the increasingly irrelevant.

Microsoft, it’s time to lead, follow, or get out of the way.

There is a war among geeks and the tech press over “open.” The Google Android system is “open” while the Apple iOS ecosystem is “closed.” Underlying the conversation is the assumption that “open” is good and “closed” is bad, but is that really the case?

This week during the Black Hat security conference, mobile security firm Lookout delivered their analysis of an Android wallpaper app that takes your data was downloaded by millions. Unfortunately, it sends personal information to a user in China and no one knows why.

Given that I have been a standards proponent since the early ’80s and a staunch support of open source systems (OSS) since before the term was coined, I understand the value of open standards and open source. However, most people primarily care first about getting stuff done or enjoying their entertainment, not how open the systems are. If this wasn’t the case, Microsoft Windows would not be the dominant desktop worldwide.

Furthermore, people prefer that their systems work, that they not introduce threats, and that they don’t get in the way.

I have come to realize that there are environments that are especially well-suited to the vast majority of people, and they are those that are fully-integrated systems that are open enough to interact with current and emerging standards in the marketplace. They are not those that allow the user too much freedom, require too much technical skill, or demand more attention be given to the tools than to getting stuff done.

Those are the strengths and weaknesses today, and those are also the reasons why Apple is still on the rise, Google is in second-place, and Microsoft is huffing, puffing, and sweating trying to keep up.

Follow-up: After review, Google has decided that the app is actually OK. There was quite a bit published about this in the technology press, but the points made in this article still hold: There are big differences between open and closed, and you’ll need to make your own choices about what the best value is given your experience and expertise and what you want to apply to the environment.

Yesterday, Steve Jobs directly addressed the YouTube videos, press reports, and bloggers who have been reporting on signal strength loss with the new iPhone 4 (I’ll address the iPhone 4 in a focused post early next week). He was 100% right in what he said, and I’m appalled by the response from both the mainstream media and the tech bloggers–both of whom I expect to know better and behave with better integrity.

So, what is he right about?

He’s right that:

1. The press and many others can’t stand it when a person or company performs well and consistently. They tear others down in an effort to look good. What do you call people who behave that way towards others?
2. Every wireless device is effected by being close to a bag of salt water like a human body.
3. Apple made it’s biggest mistake by having the spot that’s most effected by the touch of a hand be marked by the black line between the two antennas.

You know from reading this blog that I think success is to be celebrated, not destroyed, so you can imagine how I feel about the ridiculous attacks on Apple and Jobs by the press and bloggers. But, that’s how they sell ads, I guess. What it means for you is the same as it does for most so-called news outlets: take it with a gigantic grain of salt!

What you may not know about me is that my engineering background is in analog electrical engineering. When everyone else in my class in the MSU Engineering College was focused on digital systems, I was working on antennas, transmission lines, and cellular radio technologies. Recently I have returned to work in that area of engineering (primarily with 4G networks), and I can claim far more expertise than the riffraff who have been writing about “Antennagate.” As a result, starting with the announcement of the iPhone 4 (in fact, from the photos and dubious article published by Gizmodo of the iPhone 4 before the announcement) I expected that the less-knowledgable would grab onto the external antenna as a bad idea.

But, it was a good idea. And Jobs is right: every wireless device is impacted by proximity to a human. Unfortunately, the FCC creates tests that don’t do a reliable job of representing real-world use scenarios. And to add to that, the manufacturers have to comply with the FCC requirement often to the detriment of performance.

Lastly, completely unintentionally, Apple happened to mark the weak spot with the black band at the bottom of the iPhone 4. With the design of the antenna and that obvious black line, curious amateur engineers would bridge the two antennas with their hands to see what happened. What they found was that the device’s signal was negatively impacted.

Of course, it’s not for the reason that they think. It’s not the bridging of the two antennas. If it was, turning off the signals to the second antenna (which is Bluetooth, GPS reception, and WiFi) would eliminate the issue. But, that’s not what happens, because that’s not the real issue.

I’ll post my specific thoughts about the iPhone 4 for business use early in the week next week. In the meantime it is vitally important to understand that most of the people writing about this situation have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, are more concerned with controversy and page views than truth, and do not look at devices as tools but rather as collections of features.

None of which is helpful to you as a person looking for a tool for your business. More about the iPhone and business next week. In the meantime, post your thoughts in the comments…

Here are a few posts from other places on the iPhone 4, so-called “Antennagate,” and more rational commentary:

Inside Apple’s Actual Distortion Field: Giant Chambers, Fake Heads, And Black Cloaks

Radio engineer: Consumer Reports iPhone 4 testing flawed (u)

FaceTime and Why Apple’s Massive Integration Advantage is Just Beginning

Total Recall Or Total Bull? Some Perspective On The iPhone 4 Antenna Frenzy

The Anandtech iPhone 4 Antenna Review

You may have heard or read something about the new Apple iPhone 4.

Well, let’s be real… Yes, I’m sure that you have. Apple had a very large launch of their newest phone, with 1.4M sold in the first weekend (3 million in the first 3 weeks), and, as often happens in the work of the press that is supported by viewers and page views: They jump on the success of a quality company.

On Friday, Apple addressed the negative press that they have received in the first 22 days of the iPhone 4′s availability. Even though they have sold an average of a million units every week, the press has capitalized on reports of signal interference and loss that have been reported and posted to the Internet.

What do I think about the iPhone 4?

Simply put, if you are in the market for a smartphone and are OK with AT&T as your provider, there is no better alternative for a business person. Here’s why:

1. The iPhone 4 offers the most comprehensive set of business and productivity apps available
2. The iPhone 4 screen makes it much easier to read and process information… especially for aging eyes!
3. The iPhone 4 offers the full Internet, with all the important business sites making their video available on it without requiring Flash. Frankly, if a site won’t allow you to see their videos on your iPhone, they don’t deserve your business!
4. The iPhone 4 camera is an outstanding communication system for business, from whiteboards to product photos and video demos.
5. Email, calendar sharing, contact synchronization, and full support for multiple Exchange accounts work seamlessly.
6. The iPhone 4 remains a device you can use without training and without a manual.

In short, for a piece of technology that you can take out of the box and begin to use to experience productivity, you cannot beat the iPhone 4. It makes it even better that you can take it to a nearby Apple Store at any time with questions, issues, or training, should you want it.

Buy one and move on to your next challenge.

I wrote the following a couple of weeks ago, shortly after buying my iPhone 4. I decided to wait based on some of the initial reports of issues with the iPhone 4. Following the Apple Press Conference today, I’ve realized that I let the press’s typical bad-news advertising-driven reporting skew my thinking. The following remains the truth, and if you are a business person trying to read through the hype, here’s what you need to know:

Which Phone for You?

With everyone interested in the battle of the smartphones, Nielsen released their smartphone analysis. The analysis shows steady growth of smartphones when compared to the overall mobile phone market, with 23% of users carrying smartphones in 1Q10, a 2% increase from 4Q09.

Perhaps more interesting, both RIM’s Blackberry market share and Microsoft’s various Windows Mobile systems lost 2% market share, and Apple’s iPhone and the variety of Google’s Android phones picked up 2% each (to 28% and 9%, respectively).

As interesting as numbers geeks might find this, what is the real implication for those trying to make a decision about a smartphone?

Here’s the easy version:

1. An iPhone is the choice if you are looking for a full-featured handset.
2. If you do not like Apple, or since the iPhone is saddled with AT&T in the US and you will not (or can not) use their network, choose an Android phone.
3. If you only want to use your smartphone for phone calls and email, a Blackberry may be your best choice. I’d still choose an iPhone for you, though.

…and that’s really your answer in a nutshell.

It’s hard for most people to remember what phones were like in the first half of 2007 when most of the analysts were talking about how Apple was finally going to make a poor choice and fail as they entered the overcrowded smartphone market. Instead, the iPhone completely changed the face of mobile phones–and the mobile Internet–forever.

As Apple introduces the iPhone 4, they are once again creating a challenge for their competitors. The quality and precision of the device itself sets a new standard for how your phone should feel in your hand. Doing so will make every other phone feel cheap in comparison.

This is simply brilliantly competitive.

Steve Jobs and his illustration of Apple's perspective

In continuing to push for their “intersection of technology and liberal arts” as CEO Steve Jobs has mentioned in two separate keynotes, they are developing technology that is far more natural than its competitors. The fact that Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer said during this year’s D8 conference that the iPad is “just another PC” shows just how limited the vision of most technology companies is.

So, unless you hate AT&T–or Apple–the iPhone is your best smartphone choice today.