Are any compact digital cameras more reliable than Canon's models?

I was very impressed when I was able to buy a Canon SD1000 for $170. I'd been pretty fond of my prior Canon compacts, and the new model was still "made in Japan".

I've learned to be less impressed by "made in Japan". The focus motor abruptly stopped working at age 10 months. The camera didn't even last long enough to qualify for my excellent AMEX extended coverage -- I have to work with Canon (yeck).

It seems this camera is known for early death of the focus mechanism: Disruptive Conversations: My Canon SD1000 camera dies... "Lens error, restart camera". I also see from blog post comments that Canon isn't very good about honoring their 1 year warranty.

In retrospect, Canon quality took a dive with the release of the SD600. Of course even the relatively robust S410 died of mode switch failure, but any company can have that sort of design problem. The recurrence of the same problem with the SD600, however, was clearly a bad sign.

So Canon quality is pretty feeble now.

Is that necessarily a bad thing? When these compact Canons work they take great pictures, and until recently camera technology was moving so fast it was reasonable to upgrade a compact camera every 1-2 years. So there was an argument for building for a short life and low purchase costs.

An argument, but not a good argument. It's not like the cameras give us a one month warning of impending doom -- they fail in use.

I hate that.

Anyway, cameras aren't improving nearly as fast as they were in 2006. Now it's reasonable to replace a camera every 3 years instead of yearly.

So Canon's quality/price ratio is wrong for us.

But does the competition offer more reliable compact digital cameras? I doubt anyone offers a 2 year warranty, for example.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. I haven't had any luck so far, but I'll update this post with what I learn. If I find that Nikon, SONY or Olympus are offering a higher quality alternative, or even better warranty service, I'm ready to switch.

Update: The Olympus Stylus SW (770SW) series uses durability as a selling point, and they're more expensive than feature-comparable Canon cameras. That's encouraging, but the word "warranty" doesn't appear anywhere on the Olympus web site. That's not encouraging.

Update 9/11/08: I eventually called Canon service. It was a very short conversation, mostly them telling me to omit the strap, battery, memory card, etc. After we finally mailed the camera it turned around very quickly. They replaced the optical assembly and main "pcb" (circuit board). It works. Canon service did well, though I'd have preferred to avoid them. We're out the cost of the package but the camera is effectively new again.

Update 10/17/08: Just noticed when downloading images that Aperture sees this as the "Canon IXY Digital 10". This was the Japanese market name for the SD1000. Curious! I wondered if there weren't a few more menu options post-repair. No complaints, but worth noting.

iPhone application update error not resolved: don't buy your iPhone until it's fixed

Update 9/14/08: Fixed.

I'm really tired of this bug.

Gordon's Tech: Unknown Error during iPhone app install or update

I'm getting this error with the iPhone I was given when my original white 3G phone cracked.Unkown Error On The iPhone | DamienKomala.com

... Ok so every time I try and update or upgrade an application on my iPhone I get this “Unknown Error: 0xE800002E. After some adjustments I was able to find a method to resolve, or at least update my apps. Here’s the key ...

I can use the uncheck/check app method to get the updates on, but I need to restore all data and configuration.

The 2.0.2 update didn't help. It's scant comfort to know thousands of other people have the same problem.

Don't buy an iPhone until I write that the bug is fixed. This is a deal breaker bug, you don't want to run into it.

Bose QuietComfort 2 Mobile Communications kit vs. Monster iSoniTalk for iPhone

About a year ago I expected that my future iPhone would be joined by the Bose QC 2 mobile communications kit. The kit adds a microphone to Bose QC 2 headphones, so it's possible to use the phones during calls.

Gordon's Tech: Bose QuietComfort 2 Mobile Communications kit connects to an iPhone

... the $40 Bose QuietComfort 2 Mobile Communications Kit. Sure, it's much more expensive than whittling, but it includes a microphone so you can handle incoming calls. On the other hand it only works with post-2005 QC2s ...

I later read that the pre-2005 QC 2 incompatibility was due to an easy-to-remove plastic protrusion. On the other hand, the Apple Store reviews tell us there's no answer/pause button on the Bose microphone.

The Bose kit is fairly elegant looking however. It replaces the standard cord, so there's no cord clutter.

Later I saw a Griffin kit that worked with any set of headphones, had an answer button, and cost half the price. That sounded right -- but it's gone now.

In its place is the Monster iSoniTalk. It was designed for iPhone 1.0 (fits the recess), but works fine with iPhone 2.0.

I agree with the 1/08 review -- it's really pretty good. Costs $20, seems to work well, decent microphone and clip and it has an inline answer button on the mike (like Apple's set). It does create cord clutter; I'd prefer a serial connection with no double cord rather than the iSoniTalk's parallel cord (see pictures in linked review). The splitter by the phone connection is pretty big and ugly looking too.

So get the QC 2 kit if you have the Bose headphones, want minimal cord clutter and a svelte connection, and don't mind answering calls using the iPhone (not a big deal for me). Otherwise, the iSoniTalk is fine. I'm looking forward to trying it with my next conference call.

Update 8/21/08: Turns out these are weird to use. When I wear the QC2 heaphones, my own voice is distant and muffled. The headphones don't play back my own voice.

Scoble joins the Google Reader annotation club

Scoble follows in my footsteps. He's begun using the Google Reader Share function to create a feed made up of items he likes, along with his annotations.

... I’ve been trying to write a note on each blog I share. Today I looked at that and realized it’s a blog about other blogs...

Google Reader shares are an automated form of metablogging, but concerns about copyright are addressed -- the post is made up of the original article with an annotation.

These shares are a feed, so one can subscribe the shares. I subscribe to Scoble's share -- its good stuff.

How to charge an iPhone at multiple computers

iPhone 2.0 can't charge via Firewire. It's one of the most annoying "features" of the new phone.

That means I've lost some chargers. Since iPhone 2.0 is a power hog, I need to be able to charge at the office.

The best way to do this would be to use my corporate laptop's USB port, but I don't want to sync the iPhone at work. That would be a disaster. The iPhone can really only sync at one machine.

One trick is to change the "sync automatically" setting to OFF at your normal sync workstation. That setting travels with the iPhone, so it applies everywhere. You can now plug your iPhone in without fear of sync.

Another trick is to hold the home button when you connect the iPhone. That's supposed to disable Sync but I haven't tried it.

Best of all is to to into iTunes preferences and click on the "Syncing" preference. There you can turn off automatic syncing for all iPhones and iPods. That's what I do at work, so I can recharge my devices from my work machine's USB port.

The ultimate AirTunes, iPhone Remote, iTunes setup

This was hoisted from comments on an post I wrote a few weeks ago. My commenter is describing the ideal multi-user iTunes/AirTunes/iTouch Remote configuration.

First from my original post ...

Gordon's Tech: Remote control of iTunes and AppleTV: will AirTunes return?

... Son of a gun, it works. It really, really works. I've been controlling my upstairs Library from my iPhone, streaming music to my AirPort express, and listening to speakers in two rooms. Years after the AirTunes hype died off, Apple finally delivered.

There's even intriguing/worrisome support for multiple libraries, which brings me to a comment from someone who's gone another step beyond me (note this only works if you wisely avoid the plague of DRM)...

The key bit of good news is that I could control my Library even when iTunes was running in a 10.4 background session.

It gets beter though. From Jan ...

It looks like Remote with iPhones/iPod Touch and AirTunes is the solution for for the multi-room audio setup I was waiting for years to come.

I installed several AirPort Express boxes with AirTunes in the rooms and installed 3 users on a mac mini with fast user switching on. All users have their own iTunes setup and have access to a central NAS Server with all the MP3 files. This won´t work with Windows because Windows won´t allow fast user switching running iTunes !

With this setup every family member is able to hear their music independently on different AirTunes outlets. It really works !

Note Jan has one set of files, but 3 libraries. So each user can sync their iPod or iPhone with their own account and save their own Address Book and preferences, but share one set of music.

Excellent. I'm going to do this one day. Note it requires that the music file be on a NAS. I knew I'd want one of those soon.

Escape from Lunarpages - what next?

I've hosted a set of web pages and domains through Lunarpages. The support and quality hasn't been great, but not so bad that it was worth switching.

Recently, however, they went over a cliff. I've been through two significant domain related screw-ups with them in about six weeks.

This was the reply to the latest problem.

Hello, The issue appears to be related to a glitch in the Cpanel software. Sometimes this is caused by a client attempting to add a subdomain as an addon domain. We are awaiting the next cpanel update which should resolve this issue and will update our servers once it is released. We apologize for the inconvenience. -- Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact us. Best Regards

Right. Not only is the reply pretty annoying (no date?), but also the problem occurred with no changes made to cpanel.

So I'm not happy with Lunarpages -- but are there really better choices? Could I, for example, find a reasonable file hosting service combined with a registrar with user configurable CNAME settings?

Well, yes, there's Google Apps/eNom -- but that won't work for the domains I already use.

Here's the list I have of domain registrars (wikipedia list, icann list)

• Network Solutions: suspected domain name tasting, advertising on user subdomains
  
• Go Daddy: soft core porn reputation, against net neutrality
  
• eNom: Google partner, but not interested in small customers
• Tucows / OpenSRS good values statement
  
• Register.com

Problem is, none of them are too appealing. Seems the entire business is troubled - it looks like 90% of the customer base are name squatters. That's not a group terribly interested in customer service.

So can I find the next best thing to Google -- a quality hosting service that uses eNom? Well, Lunarpages doesn't use eNom, but there 7th on this list. Hmm. Tough bunch!

Ok, what if I look for an OS X friendly service? That might be a measure of a classy outfit. From my own archives I find Dreamhost. Dig a little further, and I see that in 2004 I was deciding between Lunarpages and Dreamhost! (Yes, this blog is a part of my memory.)

Dreamhost is an ICANN approved registrar. They include webdav support, optional VPN services, unlimited subdomains, Jabber instant messaging, custom MX configuration, custom DNS configuration including CNAME revisions ... Not to mention a very elegant and clutter free web site.

So things have changed since 2004. What happens today when I search on the string Lunarpages Dreamhost? I find posts like this one and this one.

I suspect Dreamhost has their own issues. This is a tough business, but it looks like I'm not the first Lunarpages customer to look to Dreamhost.

I think I'll try moving one of the problem domains and see how that goes.

Update: Dreamhost was started by three Harvey Mudd undergrads. As a Caltech alum I actually know of Harvey Mudd -- it's an honorable sort of place.

Update: Even better. Dreamhost offers free hosting for non-profits and they mention use of Google Apps as a deployment option. Perfect. I'll move the Google App based non-profit site I help with first and see how well Dreamhost does. That will eliminate one of domains Lunarpages messed up and I can transfer domain ownership to the non-profit at the same time. Once we see how that goes I'll post with further comments.

Update 8/2/08: Today Lunarpages misconfigured their server and associated an xml mime type with all my pages installed a security update that interacted with changes they'd made to my .htaccess file and took all my pages offline with an obnoxious XML error message. None of them render. I'm now relocating to Dreamhost; I'll have some future blog posts about the migration experience. I'll move all the files first, then the domains last. I have to think about domain migration sequence.

Update 8/29/08: If you sign up with DreamHost and use my promo code, you get the maximal $50 1st year discount. The code is KATEVA.