The iPhone has proven itself as more than a luxury item. All cellphones that can’t browse the Internet quickly became dinosaurs the second the iPhone was released. Sure, I pay more per month for service (just under $70 on my grandfathered plan), but it’s worth it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used the GPS with Google Maps to figure out where I am, or I learned something important with the ability to check my email/twitter/Facebook/etc.

A lot of people I know live without cable television. Considering you can save over $600/year by going unplugged, it’s not a bad idea. Cable TV is a lot of money, especially if you tack on the HD DVR and extra channels. You can watch a number of TV shows online now, but there isn’t one clean solution to put them on your big, shiny LCD.

In September, that will change.

Get ready to spend $99 on the iTV from Apple. Kevin Rose (founder of Digg) says the device “will change everything”. If you look at his reasoning, he’s absolutely right. Of course, the Boxee box will be released right alongside the rumored iTV. Unfortunately, not many people outside the tech community have heard of Boxee (and everyone has heard of Apple). Google TV will join the party a little later, providing iTV with the same competition that the iPhone faces from Android devices.

Forrester says 14% of Americans are considering buying a tablet next year. Companies are rushing to get their tablet out the door. Instead, they should be rushing to come up with their Internet set-top box.

Anyone want to buy a 40GB Apple TV?

There’s a larger version of the map at Flowtown.

Famed web form guru Luke Wroblewski posted on his blog about an alternative from They Make Apps. All you do is slide to submit a form. I can’t believe this would actually work. It’s pretty simple, but Luke notes that we still need an accessible alternative for those that can’t use a mouse. Anyway, this technique already has a theme song:

Do you wake up on your own/and wonder where you are? You live with all your faults/../So why don’t you slide? (Goo Goo Dolls – “Slide”)

This blog post by a game designer was intended to poke fun at contemporary trends in games. But, I think it also applies to a trend in usability. In usability, it’s cliché now to joke about putting something in the manual. Everyone in the field pretends that manuals don’t exist when they’re designing products (unless, of course, said product is the manual). But, I’ve never heard anyone discuss providing too much help or guidance. Sometimes when you don’t provide any guidance, the end user has the most fun and they learn more quickly how do things (like in Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros.).

My suggestion: Provide visual cues when appropriate. Allow for some exploration if it’s not a one-time-only or walk-up-and-use interface (like an ATM or grocery self-checkout). Users are smart and will figure some things out on their own. Don’t interrupt them frequently with tips–put all the help you want in a sub-menu.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chatroulette is a very simple site that sets you up in a webcam chat with a random stranger. The site was created by a high school student in Russia and was launched in November 2009. It only took off recently, and on March 11th the first piano improv video was posted by Merton. The video has since gotten over 3 million views on YouTube and Ben Folds took notice, probably because a lot of people thought Merton was Ben Folds. Here’s the original video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chatroulette brings me back to the early days of the Internet when a lot of simple sites existed. You could have your own web page on Geocities and live virtually in a community with neighbors. AOL and Yahoo Chat were both pretty big, and it was fun to talk to people around the world. It’s nice to have a website that makes the Internet personal again. I feel like so often I’m using the Internet, not signed on to chat, and not talking (or twittering) to anyone in particular.

For the past two years, I’ve enjoyed watching Bill Gates. His keynote talks for Microsoft were always pretty boring, but his TED talks are informative and inspiring. Last year, he famously released mosquitoes into the audience. This year, he released fireflies (they didn’t quite leave the jar though). His speech was on why it’s important for us to innovate in energy production, whether you believe in climate change or not.

“If you gave me only one wish for the next 50 years… I can pick who’s president, I can pick a vaccine–which is something I love, or I could pick that this thing that’s half the cost with no CO2 gets invented, this is the wish I would pick. This is the one with the greatest impact.” – Bill Gates

Click here to view the embedded video.

[via TED.com]

The Haiti Earthquake and this article on Make got me thinking again about emergency survival kits. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry much about earthquakes and hurricanes in Raleigh. But we do have the threat of tornadoes, and there was a touchdown in 1988 not far from where I live. It turns out that 72 hours is the magic number for being rescued after an impact.  Here’s a handy guide if you want to build your own kit (it’s very comprehensive).

There’s also a nice 72-hour kit you can buy from 4 Survival To Go for $99 (pictured). They’re donating 20% of online sales before February 5th for the entire months of January and February to Haiti. If you buy it, make sure to rotate out the Aqua Blox every five years and check the food.  4 Survival recommends you have one in the home, office, and car ($300 per person!). This does look like a very handy kit for the car though, since there’s no way I could carefully fit everything in a compact bag.

By the way. Slideshare doesn’t give you valid XHTML for embedding, but I found this tutorial that shows you how to embed valid slidecasts.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What are my memories from 2009? Well, off the top of my head:

• Getting snowed in and working from home while watching the inauguration of our first black president.
• Flying home abruptly in January because my grandmother passed away.
• Experiencing my first economic downturn as a full-time employee. It wasn’t much fun.
• Glen Wesley Night at the RBC Center on Feburary 17. The Bruins won.
• Being a part of the Triangle Red Sox Nation green softball team (there are three teams, and green was new in ’09). We didn’t win much, but we had a lot of fun in the spring/summer and fall.
• Hanging out with Triangle Red Sox Nation while we watched the PawSox defeat the Durham Bulls from under the famous snorting bull in left field (as seen in Bull Durham).
• Playing golf for the first time at Knight’s Play Golf Center in Apex. Someday I’ll get better.
• CHI 2009 in Boston, April 5th-9th. I ran into a lot of old friends.
• Our gesture research at HumanCentric. Will data analysis ever end? I hope so.
• Discovering Bonobos. Well-designed pants with an unlimited return policy. I used to hate wearing anything but jeans.
• Visiting Charlotesville, VA for Rebecca’s cousin’s wedding. The downtown pedestrian mall and Monticello are must-sees.
• Visiting the Outer Banks and staying at a great bed-and-breakfast, the Cypress House Inn. Enjoyed going up Currituck Beach Lighthouse, watching an Outer Banks Daredevils game, grabbing a quick dinner (with a beer) at the Outer Banks Brewing Station, and a more low-key dinner at The Colington Cafe.
• Summer vacation on Cape Cod.  Enjoyed watching the rain-shortened 2009 CCBL All-Star game at Fenway from the covered grandstand behind home, and showing Rebecca around Cape.
• Running. I used to think only bionic humans ran more than 1/2 mile. Now I’m running 5K with ease, but there are no marathons in my future.
• Labor Day weekend in Equality, Alabama. I consider this my first introduction to the deep south and lakeside living. Trivia fact: Patriots LB Adalius Thomas was born in Equality.
• Islamorada and Key West, Florida in late October. It was my first time in the southernmost state. I think about the great Cuban food at El Meson de Pepe every now and then.
• I worked over 100 hours in a week with a trip to Chicago. It was tiring, but oddly fun at times.
• Rebecca and I took a quick weekend trip to Oak Island, NC before Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to exploring the Wilmington area more.
• I spent another Thanksgiving in Georgia with Rebecca’s family, but this time we ate at a buffet restaurant near Helen, GA. The food wasn’t great, but the reunion part was interesting. Cirque de la Symphonie in Atlanta was amazing.
• Christmas festivities in Raleigh, including two parties in one night and watching The Nutracker by the Carolina Ballet.
• Another Christmas on Cape Cod, but this time there was snow on the ground! I used some fake gift boxes again, but only had a 25% success rate this year instead of last year’s miraculous 80% success rate. Oh well.
• And, finally, I’ll be headed back to Raleigh before the year-end to host a New Year’s Eve house party with Rebecca.

Click here to view the embedded video.

[via Neatorama]