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His performance is brilliant, informative, and entertaining.
David Pogue, NY Times technology columnist, and now TV celebrity with his own show, It's All Geek To Me had his debut on The Science Channel. His performance is brilliant, informative, and entertaining. He unravels and dispels the mysteries about our most popular high-tech gadgets with his own inimitable style and talent, laying it all out in an understandable, funny and non-intimidating manner.
Episode 1 -- Digital Cameras
The first episode, on digital cameras, opened with David Pogue speaking with a British accent and explaining how quickly the digital camera has overtaken film cameras. And you smile as he explains how digital cameras become obsolete in warp speed; the camera you buy today becomes obsolete by the time you leave the store. "Just buy one. Now." he recommends.
In this episode he shows you how to buy a camera, how to take good pictures, and how to share them with the world.
He dispels the megapixel myth: More megapixels do not a better picture make. Cameras higher than 5-megapixels are only important for giving the point-and-shoot cameras more opportunities for manipulating photos, like cropping part of a full picture and blowing it up to larger size. He disproves the myth with a test. Using three enlargements of the same subject, all the same size, same developing lab, same photographer, and three different size megapixel-rated cameras -- 5-, 8-, and 13-megapixels. He asks people to differentiate among the three. No one could, even though there was a $1500 cost difference among the cameras. Only one person was able to guess correctly, but that was just a lucky guess...David Pogue maintains there is no difference
So for the average person who wants to print an 8" x 10" picture with some cropping, enhancing, and painting, a 4- to 5-megapixel camera is enough. The moral of the story: Save your money and never buy according to just the megapixels as your only criterion.
The next sections deal with amateur photographers' mistakes. Pogue gives helpful hints for taking better pictures and avoiding pitfalls.
Lastly he takes you to the digital dark room -- or is it the digital light room? Mac users use iPhoto, which is free with every new Mac, to organize, edit, and share their photos. Windows users can use Picasa (free from Google).
Episode 2 -- Cell Phones
The second episode is on cell phones. Pogue interviews people and listens to all the gripes: dropped calls, poor reception, high bills, etc. They love their phones but hate their carrier. He shows you how to choose the right phone, understand its features, and avoid getting scammed.
He briefly examines Cingular, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile cell phone carriers. He explains the contracts with the hidden costs, especially the cell phone state and federal taxes; cancellation fees; one-time activation fee. Also, be aware that whenever you renegotiate your rate plan, the contract period usually restarts from that date.
What are the features in cell phones? Well, some have cameras, Bluetooth, video, music, Internet antennas, and cool designs. Apple's iPhone anyone?
Pogue shows how to cut short the welcoming message for each carrier of the person you're calling; after all, that's costing you money. He also tells you how to tell how many minutes you've used up so far each month; and how to save $1.50 when dialing 411. Dial 1-800-373-3411 or a text message to GOOGL (46645). In the body of the text message go the name and the city of the person you're looking for. You receive a text message back with the full address and phone number
His favorite phone for just making calls is the Jitterbug.
A fun website popularitydialer.com/ allows you to program your cell phone to call you at a certain time.
To read all of David's show notes go to www.discovery.com/geek. There's more... you can watch four short video clips there: "Megapixel Myth," "Editing Digital Photos," "Free Cell 411," and "Save Money on Voicemail," at this web site. And coming soon to a book store near you is David Pogue's new book, iPhone: The Missing Manual; published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.; (est.) August, 2007, .
I didn't want the episodes to end -- a testimony as to how good they are. I wanted more. I am looking forward to the future episodes: iPods, Laptops, Saving Past Data, and Camcorders. Tune in to enjoy and learn, every Friday at 8 PM EDT, on The Science Channel.
Maria Arguello
Maria Arguello is the vendor liaison of the Main Line Macintosh Users Group (MLMUG). Maria is also a member of NCMUG, PMUG, CCPMUG, MUGSNJ, PPUG, and SJAUG. She is the Apple User Group Regional Liaison for the Northeast United States (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT). ...
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