Hi, I'm Michael Mistretta, a teenager passionate about technology, photography, and God. Welcome to my online home where I write about technology, reviews, and my thoughts and opinions on technology-related matters. 
After a long writing hiatus, I’m finally back. I spent the last month in Zambia—the cradle of the AIDS orphan crisis in Africa. There are things that I saw, places that I went, and tears that I shed that I will never forget. Loving children that have been abused, alone, and destitute. Loving orphans that have never been loved.
I took over 4000 RAW photos on the trip, taking up a mammoth 33GB of space—all thanks to my little friend. I am working on a website that will attempt to give you a glimpse into the hearts and minds of the orphans in Zambia. Seeing the things I saw and that broke my heart. More on that later.
Coming home, I opened up NetNewsWire for the first time, and was greeted with 2600 RSS items. A lot of these stories may be “old news”, but there are a few that jumped out at me, and that I wanted to share a couple thoughts on:
- The highly anticipated 3G iPhone has been announced. Really, the big news wasn’t the actual hardware of the new phone, as much as it was the deals that were made. Having a $199 entry price point and launching it in 22 different countries will definitely drive sales through the roof.
- Along with the announcement of the 3G iPhone, came the news that the iPhone is finally coming to Canada—with Rogers. I freaked out a bit when I saw the expensive data prices Rogers wanted to charge, but after the introduction of limited-time offer of 6GB of data for $30/month—more than the 5GB soft-cap on AT&T’s “unlimited” data plan in the US—the iPhone is finally affordable in Canada. And now, I’ll be picking up a black 16-gigger of my own come Friday.
- As I wrote about previously, the biggest news out of WWDC this year was Apple’s new initiative into MobileMe. Apple has covered most of my concerns with Living in the Cloud, by allowing you to access your data via native applications on an iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac, or PC, as well as providing an elegant web interface to use when necessary. While it’s not free, it’s definitely worth the $99 a year.
- Kyle Baxter from TightWind published a very thought-provoking post on Apple’s shift in focus with the introduction of MobileMe. Definitely worth a read.
- The AppStore is set to launch on Friday with thousands of applications ranging from twitter clients to games to excel editors. Gruber nails it when he writes that the AppStore is what makes the iPhone into a platform, and that’s the bigger story than the 3G iPhone.
- Apple sold their 5 Billionth song on iTunes in June. Great. Now, when can we get iTunes Plus standardized across the whole store?
- Any camera-lovers out there have to be drooling over the Nikon D700. For $3000 you are getting the photo-quality of a D3, in the size of a D300. This is the first full-frame DSLR in it’s price range. Canon better react quick; they are falling behind fast.
- Data Robotics unveiled the second-generation FireWire 800 Drobo. Faster, quieter, and FireWire 800. Exactly what I’ve been waiting for. I’m getting one.
Actually, I think the biggest news was Scott Bourne converting from Canon to Nikon
Also, I think sproutcore or ObjectiveJ may end up being bigger than MobileMe.
And finally… Are you looking to sell your touch now that you’re getting the iPhone?
Comment by Daniel McCullum — July 9, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
I’d sell the Touch to you if I had one. I sold the one I won to buy some more camera equipment. I’ve been iPodless for a little under a year now.
Comment by Michael Mistretta — July 9, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
No way! How’d you twitter from Africa then? (And how’d you survive the plane trip?)
Comment by Daniel McCullum — July 9, 2008 @ 7:22 pm
I would add that Apple appears to have really thought this through. Now they have the trifecta; the best overall computing experience with OS X, the hands-down best mobile experience, and now it looks like a great web tool to tie it all together. They aren’t shooting to replace the OS with a web offering, they are using the web to tie a great family of products into a cohesive whole regardless of device or location.
Comment by chris — July 9, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
That’s exactly right. Apple is, more than anything, about the experience, whatever medium it is in — iPhone, Mac, or MobileMe.
It’s good to have you back, Michael. Can’t wait to read some new articles.
Comment by Kyle Baxter — July 9, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
Glad your back Michael!
I was looking through your Flickr photos, and all I have to say: “Incredible”
Comment by Adam Fuhrer — July 9, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
Technology can be a blessing or a curse!
Staying connected to your purpose and The Masters Plan
will make it a blessing.
I don’t believe how the average computer user can remain in
The Fullness of That Blessing with-ought a mac.
I find your thoughts to be inspiring, encouraging and life giving.
Michael, keep up the good work!
You are a blessing!
Comment by Anthony — July 10, 2008 @ 9:14 am
How do you afford all this stuff?!?! A FireWire 800 Drobo, 80GB photo storage unit, 16GB iPhone 3G, mobileMe, etc. I wish I got all that stuff! If I were your parents, I’d tell you to cool off a bit and live with what ya got for a little while…
Comment by Josh Crane — July 10, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
@Josh He works very hard for what he has. His parents don’t buy him any of it. Bet you don’t know that he lived without an ipod for a year, waiting for the iphone to come to Canada.
Comment by Bessie — July 10, 2008 @ 9:24 pm
@Bessie W/e. I don’t have an iPod either, so yea. Works very hard?? What does he do? Beg for money on his donation page? I do the same thing!! Do you see anyone even giving me a penny?!?! No! Sheesh…
Comment by Josh Crane — July 10, 2008 @ 10:29 pm
Josh: To be perfectly honest with you, however I manage my money is none of your business. I work for all my stuff, and buy it all my own. That’s all you need to know.
Comment by Michael Mistretta — July 10, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
Michael, I’m curious: how would using a $30 Apple Camera Connector for my 80gb iPod video compare to your little friend? How fast is a 2gb SD card import? Your field proofing of this device could be helpful to me when I take my vacation this Fall.
Comment by Fazimoto — July 12, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
Fazimoto: An Apple Camera Connector would probably do the trick. I have experience using them, and find them a little slow to transfer photos. But the benefit is, if they are not RAW photos, you can view them on the iPod’s screen.
I really like the 80GB Photo Safe, as it has slots for every memory card type you can think of, and is much faster to transfer photos. 5 minutes for 2GB—10 minutes for 4GB.
Comment by Michael Mistretta — July 14, 2008 @ 6:36 am