Jake Ehrlich maintains several blogs. Click on any one to go to it:

Rolex Watch blo

Whiteside Gallery Blog

Never Plead Guilty Blog

Jake's Design Blog

Jake's Old Design Blog is archived below:

 

Jake's Old Design Blog

Reviews, Rants, Raves, and Writing...On things I am passionate about!

As many people know, I am a designer who specializes in clothing and computer design. I am extremely passionate about great design. I eat, sleep and breathe design. I am really a design fanatic of the highest order!!!

For many years, my friends and family have regularly sought my opinion on what products to purchase. They seek my advice because they know I tend to invest a great deal of time and effort into reseaching the best quality products available. I thought it would be cool to be able to share my findings with you.

If you would like to contact me please click here.

The Best Mexican Food in San Francisco:

Nick's Crispy Tacos

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Nick’s Crispy Tacos is located at 1500 Broadway Street in San Francisco (at Polk Street).  (415) 409-8226.

There is nothing better than great Mexican food and nothing worse than bad Mexican food.  Living in San Francisco I grew up on Mexican food.

In my opinion Nick’s has the best guacamole and salsa with chips I have ever had.  What makes it the best?  Besides tasting great, the quality and ripeness of the avocado and tomatoes is extremely consistent.

I also highly recommend the crispy tacos done “Nick’s Way.”

One of the most interesting things about Nick’s is that the food quality is superb and the prices are very low.

If you have not had a chance try out Nick’s Crispy Tacos.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.



New Apple Store Opening in San Francisco Marina

Saturday, May 6, 2006

I was talking to a friend of mine who told me it is likely that Apple is preparing to open a new Apple store in San Francisco on Chestnut Street in the Marina.

This new store will replace the Walgreen's Drug Store located at 2125 Chestnut Street in the Marina. This location is between the former Cinema 21 Movie Theater and Fireside Camera.

This is interesting because I grew up in the Marina and I remember 25 years ago when there was a Good Guys electronics store a few doors down from where the new Apple store will be.

25 years from today there probably will be no more consumer electronic stores since they will be replaced by computer stores. Food for thought...

If you have not been to an Apple store, I highly recommend you check one out. The are really cool.



What If Sub-Zero Made an Office?

Sunday, April 30, 2006

If you have not seen it yet, the Sub-Zero PRO 48 is the mother of all refridgerators. It is super, super cool and retails for over $10,000.

The Sub-Zero PRO 48 does not just look super, super cool, but it exhibits amazing performance characteristics. It is by far and away the most state of the art ice-box on earth. For instance, it can keep a head of lettuce fresh for a month, while at the same time using less energy than a 100-watt light bulb.

Sub-Zero created the image above to make it look like the PRO 48 was chisled out of a solid piece of stainless steel. Guess what? This article is not about the Sub-Zero. Instead, it is about a really cool new kind of portable office workspace that resembles the Sub-Zero PRO 48 in my mind.

The modular portable office on wheels is named the St@ndby-Office and is made in Germany by a company named Koenig-Neurath. Koenig says that it is a Complete-Office and all you have to do is plug it in and add a chair and a computer.

It is made from steel, aliminum and wood and comes with an integrated WiFi access point. It also has great integrated lighting.

The Standby-Office stands just over six feet tall and can easily be moved. It also has a feature that allows you to move the desktop up and down so you can use it standing up (as seen in the image below) as well as sitting down. Wichya Flunela standing-up while working reading my blog looking ass...

So why am I writing about this product? Because I think it is exrtremely innovative. Particularly becuause it has everything you need and not stitch more. If you or I used one of these, it would not allow us to maintain any lever of cludder. Not to mention it adds a whole new dimension for how we deal with work space.

The Stand-by office stands testament to the notion that "less is more." And Damn, it looks cool!!!

The Standby-Office is supposed to retail for around $6000.



Lexus LS600h L Preview

The Best Car in History is about to get Better...Much, Much Better

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Different people have different ideas about who makes the best car, and that, of course, is what makes a horse race a horse race. My favorite car, since its introduction in 1989, has been the Lexus LS Series.

Today, Lexus premiered the upcoming 2008 Lexus LS 600h L at the New York Auto show. The "h" is for hybrid. The "L" is for long wheelbase. This amazing new car has a 5.0-liter V8 and high-output electric motors to produce over 430 hp, yet it emits just one-fifth of the smog-forming emission of a conventional 5.0-liter V8, according to Lexus.

The 8-cylinder hybrid engine amazingly matches the performance of a 12-cylinder engine with the fuel economy of a 6-cylinder engine.

Toyota calls the 2008 Lexus LS600h L the most technologically advanced vehicle in the world. The new LS will also be available with four-wheel drive and has many innovative features, like the ability to parallel park itself. That's right...the driver simply pushes a button and the park-assistant system parks the car.

Many Firsts

The LS600h L features the first LED headlight system and a voice-activated navigation system that incorporates an XM real-time traffic system. It also comes standard with XM satalite radio and a 40 GB built-in hard drive for music.

The LS600h L is also the first car to incorporate an 8-speed automatic transmission for seamless shifting.

This "living room on wheels" also sports a 19-speaker Mark Levinson Reference Surround Sound System, along with a 9" drop-down entertainment system for the back seat occupants. The air-conditioned / heated back seats can recline with an ottoman to prop up your legs. The back seats also have massagers in them.

The upcoming LS features a new safety system, which includes a camera on the steering column that sets off an alert if the driver is not looking at the road when an accident appears imminent.

In my opinion, this new car completely changes the nature of the Lexus brand for the better. Now Lexus has everything going for it. It has always had economy, innovation, and dependability as its hallmarks, but now it has great style.

As soon as I get a chance I will publish a detailed article that I have been working on for several years outlining why I believe the Lexus LS is the best car made.



Mac Mini Review: The Coolest Desktop Computer

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The Apple Mac Mini is the coolest desktop computer ever made. The Mac Mini is definitely the shape of things to come. Basically Apple took a laptop, removed the screen and then took the bottom part and made it half as wide and deep, and twice as tall.

Before I go into detail about features, let's take a look at its tremendous size benefits over a standard PC tower. Keep in mind, that even thought the Mac Mini comes standard with the Apple Macintosh OS X operating system, it can also run Microsoft Windows XP at full speed.

In the image above you see the Mac Mini in juxtaposition to a CD. Essentially the Mac Mini is only as tall as 5 CD Jewel cases stacked on top of each other!!! It measures 6.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches deep by 2 inches tall.

I have to ask why anybody in their right mind would want to have a tower computer as pictured above when they could have a Mac Mini. I don't understand why anybody makes tower computers anymore. The mini is so small—it is amazing. It is also very, very quiet.

Just to make it clear, despite its diminutive size, the Mac Mini is a full-fledged, full-powered computer. The Mini comes in two versions: a single processor version and a dual processor version. Most people would be fine with just the single processor version.

It has everything you could want built in, as you can see in the image above. It comes standard with Bluetooth and Wifi. It also comes standard with a remote control and a really cool Apple program named Front Row.

The Mac Mini as a Media Center

Front Row is a really cool user interface that is driven by remote control. Typically people sit in front of their computer with their eyes between 2 and 3 feet from the screen. The challenge is if you want to sit on the other side of the room, say 8 to 15 feet away from the screen, you can't see the screen. This is where Front Row comes in. Front Row has a user interface that is controlled with the remote and makes text super large, and thus really easy to read from across the room.

This opens up a whole new world of options for hooking up a Mac Mini to a TV, large LCD or plasma TV. With Front Row you can play slide shows from iPhoto, listen to music from iTunes, watch DVDs, and watch video that you took with your camcorder and stored on your computer or video that you download from the internet or iTunes music store.

The image above shows the Mac Mini hooked up to a Sony Bravia 40inch LCD TV. This ability really makes the Mac Mini a convergent product because the Mac Mini has a built in high quality progressive scan DVD player, which supports Dolby 5.1 output. Just hook up the Mac Mini to your home stereo system and you have a world class home theater—and don't forget the included remote controls the DVD player as well.

Also if you hook up the Mac Mini to a high definition LCD or Plasma you can watch slide shows in HD, which really looks stunning.

The Mac Mini also does Windows

But the fun does not stop there. The Newest Mac Mini with Intel processors can now run the Microsoft Windows XP operating system using Apple BootCamp. As a matter of fact, the Mac Mini seems to run XP better than most PCs.

If you want to run both Apple OS X and Windows XP at the same time you can do that as well with a $49 program named Parallels. I would recomend the dual processsor Mac Mini with as much RAM as you can afford if you want to run both OSs in tandem.

When you buy a Mac Mini it does not come with a monitor, keyboard or mouse, which in my mind is pretty cool. This way if you currently have an old Mac or PC, you simply swap out the old computer with a Mac Mini. No need to have to pay extra for a new keyboard, mouse and monitor.

You can have the Apple Mac Mini delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:

Note: The above link on the left is for the Intel Core Solo (single processor) Mac Mini which cost only $599. The link above on the right is for the Intel Core Duo (Dual Processor) which sells for only $799. Both come standard with 512MB of RAM and a remote control and Front Row.

As of the date of this review, they both come with a $25 Mail-In Rebate from Amazon. (Very Good Deal)



Nike Hammer Watch Review: A New Standard in Sports Watches

Monday, April 9, 2006

It's rare but it happens. A product comes along that completely redefines a category. It becomes an instant classic. The Nike Hammer is such a product.

The Nike Hammer is like morphing together a Stainless Steel Rolex Submariner (a $4500 watch)—a classic surfer watch with a black rubber band—and a Casio G-Shock. Think of the Nike Hammer as a modern, digital Submariner.

When the Rolex Submariner made its debut in 1955, it was considered to be a huge watch. Back then the style was to try to make watches as thin as possible, so the Submariner was considered unconventional. In the early James Bond movies, Sean Connery and Roger Moore wore a Stainless Submariner with a black strap.

Almost a quarter century ago—when I was 15 years old—I remember picking up a National Geographic magazine and flipping through the pages. I came across a Rolex advertisement with Jacques Cousteau wearing a Stainless Steel Submariner. I remember thinking it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. At the time the retail price was $1000. Today it is over $4500.

Over the years the Stainless Submariner has endured well. It is fascinating to consider—like everything considered classic today—it was once considered modern.

Recently, Nike introduced a stylish watch named "Hammer." I think they were playing on building a watch that was very large like the Hummer SUV. In the past I never really liked most digital watches becasue they looked unsubstantial and unstylish. In my mind, the Hammer breaks this mold.

Attention To Detail

The Hammer is a huge watch, with a very wide band, but it still looks proportional and ruggedly handsome. One of the main reasons it looks proportional is because the band perfectly follows the contours of your wrist, so it does not look like you are wearing a Big Mac on your wrist. Due to its advanced ergonomics, the Nike Hamer is suprisingly comfortable.

I think it is a great sports watch and I love its simplicity. It tells you everything you need to know: time in very large, easy to read numbers, the day and date, AM/PM indicator, and alarm. It also features a chronometer (count-up) and count-down timer.

All of this info is displayed on a reversed LCD screen. Most digital watches have black characters on a grey backbround. The Nike Hammer is the exact opposite, which gives it an unusually interesting and unconventional vibe.

Another detail the Nike Hammer has in common with the Rolex Submariner is the fact that they both have devices that secure the band to the watch so it won't come undone by mistake. The Rolex uses something called the Triple Lock Clasp—the Nike Hammer has a lock in the band loop that works well.

Nike also makes it with different colored bands, but I think black is the most classic and masculine. It also retails for under $120.

James Bond used to wear a Submariner with a tuxedo. The Hammer is definitely a very sporty waterproof watch, but I would never wear it with a tux or suit—unless I was Robin Williams.

I think that if Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland's character on "24," was real, he would wear this watch. The Nike Hammer is just so cool...so cool!!!

You can have the Nike Hammer delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:



Michael Buble. It's Time CD Review

Saturday, April 7, 2006

I am a music fanatic. I listen to every kind of music. My girlfriend turned me on to this album from up and coming artist Michael Buble, and I can't stop listening to it.

Michael Buble's velvety voice sounds like a cross between Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick, Jr.

My favorite songs on the album are (#4) Quando, Quando, Quando and (#7) Save The Last Dance For Me. I believe Buble has a suprisingly mature voice for someone who is just 25 years old.

Song For You (#11) features the ultra-talented Chris Botti playing his magnificent trumpet.

This album is mostly classic standards, with a refreshing modern twist. The band is incredible, and the overall smooth-jazz vibe is mellow and samba-like easy listening. A great album to play while enjoying a romantic evening with your partner.

You can have the Michael Buble CD delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:



It Finally Came: Macs do Windows.

Friday, April 7, 2006

As I predicted in June of 2005 in my blog, Apple and Wintel are indeed converging. Macwintel has arrived. This is one of the biggest news stories in the history of computing.

A few days ago Apple announced BootCamp (Public Beta) which officially supports Microsoft Windows XP operating system running on Apple Macintosh newest generation hardware equipped with Intel Microprocessors.

This means if you buy a new Apple Macbook Pro, Mac Mini or iMac, you can load a program, named Apple Bootcamp, which will allow you to also load Windows XP onto your machine. When you start up the Machine you will be able to boot into either Apple OS X operating system or Microsoft XP.

This news is amazing for many reasons. First, it will result in Apple selling much more hardware because their hardware is so much more innovative than any PC hardware.

Also, people who are apprehensive or scared of making the switch to Mac will no longer be inhibited.

The most amazing aspect of the news has nothing to do with Bootcamp, but it has to do with a new software product that was announced yesterday named Parallels.

It Gets Even Kinkier: Ménages à trois

Parallels allows you to run Windows XP in Virtualization Mode in the Apple Mac OS X environment. With Apple Bootcamp you can only run one operating system at a time. With Parallels, you can run Windows XP in tandem with OS X. You can even run additional operating systems at the same time. Pictured below is Parallels running an orgy of Windows XP and Red Hat Linux on top of Apple OS X.

Parallels works by sharing the processor(s) between the two operating systems. It is also really fast because everything is happening in real time. If you have a dual processor Mac then it will really fly.

When Apple comes out with Quad Processor Intel based machines in the not so distant future, running Windows XP or Windows' future operating system (named Windows Vista) will be like running a application.

The paths are many, but the way is one.



Bodum Pavina Double Wall Thermal Glass Review

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Want to see something really cool that is also really useful? Bodum makes these super-cool hand-blown 12 ounce double-walled thermal drinking glasses that keep warm drinks warm and cold drinks cold while the outside surface of the glass maintains comfortable room temperature.

This way if you have a cold drink your hand won't get cold when you pick up the glass—same with hot drinks—just like a Thermos. The Bodum Pavina glasses have an magical, otherworldly modern look.

Boudum Pavina glasses are hand-blown from super-pure borosilicate glass, so each glass has a very slight variation. Borosilicate glass is typically used in making optically clear scientific lab gear, which in this case makes the liquid look like it is floating inside the inner chamber.

Because each glass is hand-blown, and lighter in weight (about the same thickness as a wine glass), they are more fragile than regular glasses. Beauty, of course, is typically fragile, so you have to be more careful with these glasses than with regular glasses. For instance, you want to avoid using metal spoons and make sure if you put ice in the glass you don't drop it in like you would with a normal glass.

One thing is certain about the Bodum Pavina glasses: they certainly make a dramatic modern statement. They look really, really cool and they maintain your cold or warm drink temperature perfectly...form flawlessly following function. What more could you want!?!

You can have the Bodum Pavina Glasses delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:



MacBook Pro 15 inch Apple Laptop Review

Monday, April 3, 2006

This is it. This is what we have all been waiting for. The Macbook Pro laptop is a sea-change product. In my opinion this is the best laptop available today...by a long shot!!! The innovative new Apple Macbook Pro 15 inch has the perfect balance of form and function.

The Macbook comes standard with a very small remote control which allows you to control iPhoto slide shows, iTunes Music playlists, DVDs and movies on the screen.

The Macbook is very, very fast due to its dual Intel Processors. One of my favorite features is the built-in high quality iSight video camera which allows you to video conference with up to three other people who have iSights on their Mac's—any where on earth—for free. You can see the tiny little video camera in the picture below in the middle at the top center of the screen. Despite its very small size it is very high in quality.

As you can see in the image below, the Macbook Pro has every kind of conection you could want. It also comes standard with 802.11g Wi-fi and Bluetooth built in.

If you are a Microsoft Windows user and you are thinking about making the jump to Apple you will not regret it.

In my personal opinion, and I own a computer company that makes products for both Apple and Microsoft, the Apple platform is a hundred times better and more dependable than the Microsoft platform.

The Microsoft platform has over 70,000 viruses, mallware and spyware problems. If you buy a computer that runs Microsoft you MUST subscribe to an anti-virus software product, which wastes $40 a year, plus adds all kinds of ridiculous confusion.

There is not one documented virus for the Mac. That's right: ZERO viruses for the Mac and 70,000+++ for Microsoft. You do the math on that one.

Also, the Mac comes with a great deal of useful software on the Macbook including, iPhoto, iTunes, Mail, iChat, Calendar, Address Book, and a great dictionary program.

If you are looking to buy a new laptop that will be around for many years to come, this is the machine.

You can have the Macbook Pro delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:

Note: The above link on the left is for the Intel Core Duo (Dual processor) MacBook Pro. The link above on the right is for the Intel Core Duo (Dual Processor) MacBook Pro. Both come standard with 512MB of RAM and a remote control and Front Row.

As of the date of this review, they both come with a $150 Mail-In Rebate from Amazon. (Very Good Deal)



Tassimo Single Cup Hot Beverage Maker Review

Sunday, April 2, 2006

One morning when my girlfriend and I were visiting her parents, her father asked if we would like some coffee.

We both said yes, and he said, "Jake, check out this new single serve coffee pod maker." He put in a pod and a minute later he served me a great cup of crema coffee.

I thought the whole idea of being able to make a single cup of coffee without having to grind coffee or mess around with having to clean up afterwards was amazing. Also, if you are able to make just a single cup at a time you don't end up wasting any coffee.

So as usual, I did a ton of research to figure out who made the best single-serve machine and I came up with the Tassimo. When I first saw it I was a little skeptical, because the Tassimo not only makes coffee, it makes many different hot drinks including cappucino, latte, crema coffee, hot chocolate and different kinds of tea.

The big suprise for me was how good the cappucino and latte are that the Tassimo produces. The Tassimo system uses real liquid milk disks with the cappucino and latte drinks.

One of the reasons the cappucino and latte taste so good is because the espresso T-discs produce superb espresso. By superb, I mean they have no bitter taste at all. The cappucino has a nice froth on top, and the latte has an almost buttery taste. Even my girlfriend, a bona fide coffee snob, thinks the Tassimo is great.

I also figured out a trick that is not documented in the literature that comes with the Tassimo:

The espresso T-discs that come with the cappucino and latte are just a little weaker than normal espresso, so what you do is complete the process of making the first shot. When it switches over to manual mode, just pop open the top like you are going to remove the T-disc, but then close it again and press auto. This will create the perfect double shot of espresso.

Cappucino and latte come in 10 packs for $10 (that works out to about $1 per drink). Coffee and tea drinks come in 10 packs that run about $8 per box, or eighty cents per drink. I think for coffee drinks it makes sense, but for tea it is way overpriced. If you just buy tea bags and make your own tea with hot water it cost about ten cents (or less) per drink, so I would not recomend using the Tassimo for making tea.

The Tassimo also makes hot chocolate from chocolate syrup discs and it tastes pretty good.

Save Significant Time and Money

The Tassimo make most drinks in about a minute.

So there you have it ... no more wasting time having to go out of your way to Starbucks. Think about how much time you can really save with being able to make the drinks at home or in the office.

If you have to walk or drive to Starbucks it is going to take at least 15 minutes each way. If you drive you have to find parking. Once you are in Starbucks you have to wait in a long line.

Then when you pay for your drink at Starbucks it cost three times as much, plus you have to tip the Barista. If you do the simple math, at an average of one latte a day you would save at least $2 a day. That means you would save at least $730 a year. If you have two coffee drinks per day, as many people do, you would save at least $1500.

Now, add in the time savings. If I want to drive or walk up to any of the local coffee shops, it is going to take at least a half hour roundtrip. Once again, let do the math. Saving a half an hour a day ends up saving 182.5 hours per year on average. That ends up being 23 eight-hour days a year in time savings.

You can have the Tassimo delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:



Visiting Google's Magic Campus

Friday, March 31, 2006

As many of you know, I own a computer company named BulletTrain Computing. I was recently a guest at the Google campus down in Mountain View, California.

It was the first time I had ever been to the Google campus and I must say I was completely blown away with what I experienced. I have never seen such an intelligently organized workplace, with so many impressive people.

More than anything, the Google campus is just really, really cool. They have beach volleyball courts and pool tables all over the place. Each building has its own gourmet cafeteria with foods from all over the world, and best of all the food is free.

One thing really stood out in my mind, since I am a computer designer. I was surprised at how many large LCD screens each knowledge worker had on their desktop. I commented to my host how I was surprised to see between 2 and 3 twenty-four inch LCD screens on each desktop. My host responded by saying: "Oh yeah! Google gives us whatever computer tools we want because they believe that if we have the tools we want we will be more productive."

I thought that was a profoundly intelligent point. And seriously, if you watch the show "24" with Kiefer Sutherland and you think the CTU set looks high-tech, you ought to see Google.

I think the thing that stands out the most in my mind about my visit was how much energy and enthusiasm there was at Google. Every person looked like they were very excited to be there.

I now really understand why Bill Gates is shaking in his boots when it comes to Google.



Altec Lansing FX6021 3-Piece Speaker System Reveiw

Thursday, March 30, 2006

I am a music fanatic. I love music and I only listen to music using iTunes.

This is going to sound crazy, but it is true. The Altec Lansing FX6021 Three-Piece System is one of the best sets of speakers I have ever enjoyed listening to. I say this is crazy because you can buy them from Amazon (see link at bottom of this review) for only $177.

The reason I LOVE listening to them is because of the magical detail they produce. When I say they are one of the best speakers I have ever heard in my life, what I mean is that if I had to get stuck on a desert island for the rest of my life, and I could only listen to one set of desktop speakers, these speakers would be it.

I have turned many friends on to these speakers and they all tell me how great they sound.

The speakers are designed for use with a computer, but I could see them being perfect for using with an iPod or a CD player. The volume controller has an 3.5mm output jack so you can plug in an iPod, and a headphone output jack so you can plug in headphones if you need to.

Typically I recomend putting the subwoofer on the floor. Oh, and did I mention how cool the 15 inch towers look? The towers are even wall mountable.

You can have the speakers delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:



Monster iClean for Computer Displays Review

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

I have been using LCD screens for many years. In the past, no matter what I used to clean them with I was worried it might damage the screen. Also, it seemed that no matter what I used, it just did not work very well. I would always be able to get rid of the dust, but the screen always ended up looking like it still had smudges on it. It seemed that no matter what I used the screen would remain streaked.

Enter Monster brand iClean. Monster is best known for thier high-end audio and video cables. I was apprehensive when I first saw this stuff. A friend of mine who was a manager at an Apple Store very highly recomended iClean. She said that they used it to clean ALL the monitors in the Apple store.

I thought it was kind of expensive, but since she so highly recommended it, I decided to give it a try. Boy, was I suprised at how well it worked. The kit comes with the spray bottle and two special MicroFiber towels that will not scratch or damage your display's protective coating.

When you pump the sprayer the liquid gel that comes out does not drool down the screen. It somehow stays in place and does not drip into the bezel edge or into delicate electronics. It's alcohol-free, ammonia-free and safely removes dust, dirt and fingerprints from all computer screens. It contains some sort of anti-dust special poymer repellent which helps protect surfaces without streaking or staining, while reducing static electricity which attracts dust.

All I can say is this stuff is amazing!!! It will make your screens look brand new. It works on any kind of viewing screen, and much to my surprise it seems to last forever. I have had it for over a year and the bottle still seems full. This is because a little goes a long way.

You can have Monster Brand iClean delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:

Note: The above link on the left is for the single bottle for home or office use. The above link on the right is for two portable bottles.



The New Gillette Fusion Razor For Men Review

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

I have been using Gillette razors for many years. Every couple of years they come out with a new generation and their latest is named Fusion.

The Fusion comes in two different versions (both with 5 microblades and a single blade on the back for grooming.) The Gillette Fusion Power, comes with a battery that vibrates the razor, and the manual version (non-vibrating) is named Gillette Fusion. I tested both extensively.

The verdict? I will give you the good news first: the regular Gillette Fusion (non-battery version pictured above) is incredible. It gave me the best shave I ever had, and one thing that is really amazing to me is how long the disposable blades last. They last much, much longer than the older versions.

The only design element I would like to see improved on the manual Gillette Fusion is the ergonomics of the handle. It is not that the handle is ergonically bad, just that it could be much better.

Symbolism Over Substance

The bad news is that the battery-powered version (the Gillette Fusion Power) is a complete joke. Because it is battery powered it has to go much slower than the manual version. In my opinion as a designer/design fanatic, I think the Fusion Power is a perfect example of symbolism over substance.

If I were Gillette, I would discontinue the battery-powered version, which strikes me as being an overpriced, useless gimmick. The reason I strongly recommend they discontinue the power version is because if you buy the Fusion Power first and get terribly turned off by it you will probably not give the manual version a try, and thus Gillette is probably alienating potential customers without realizing it.

Please don't let my opinion about the power version discourage you. The manual version is stellar!!!

You can Gillette Fusion delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:



The Return of The King: King Kong is Coming Back!!!

Thursday, June 9, 2005

The original King Kong from the 1930s with Fay Wray is one of my favorite movies of all time.  King Kong was a seminal film in the history of moving pictures because it was one of the first pictures with what, at the time, were amazing special effects. This is the classic story of Beauty and the Beast.

I am so excited because director Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame), has recently completed primary filming of his new version of Kong staring Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll, Jack Black as Carl Denham, Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow, and Andy Derkis as King Kong.

Jackson’s version of Kong is set just like the original in the 1930s.  Peter Jackson is amazing and he has a website that I have been following where every couple of days he adds a new video to his weblog on the making of Kong.

Please visit his fascinating website and check out the movies from his production at:

http://www.kongisking.net/index.shtml

This should be a stunning movie for many reasons.  Much as the way that George Lucas went back and redid parts of Star Wars as the new technology became available to finally make the film the way he originally intended, Peter Jackson is kind of doing the same thing.

In other words, with the amazing special effects available today, Peter Jackson should be able to make Kong the way it was originally intended. The new King Kong is due to arrive in theaters in 28 weeks on December 14, 2005.

As the natives chanted in the original movie: Konga! Konga! Konga!

Long Live Kong!!!

Update: June 29, 2005

Yesterday the first movie trailer of King Kong was released. You can see it at:

http://www.kingkongmovie.com

All I can say is WOW!!! The trailer is amazing and the special effects are stunning. Check it out!

Update: April 2, 2006

The movie was a stunning masterpiece!!! You can have the DVD delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:



Apple and Wintel Converging?

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

With Steve Jobs' announcement a few days ago at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference that Apple would be switching over to Intel processors, I can’t help but wonder why they are doing this.  I think they are doing it for the reasons Jobs gave, but I also can’t help but wonder if Apple also plans to license their OS to other manufacturers like IBM, HP, and Dell.

Assuming Jobs wants to regain market share against Microsoft, it seems like this would be the best strategy.

What is the deal with Apple announcing they are moving to Intel chips?  I think there is more to the deal than meets the eye.  For those of you who did not see Jobs’ Apple WWDC Keynote Address a few days ago, he said that ALL the versions of Mac OS X have been designed to run on Intel chips.  In other words, they have had Intel-based versions of their OS X working internally at Apple for the last five years.  Jobs even showed a photo on a satellite map of the building on the Apple campus where they have been doing the testing.  It made me think of Area 51.

I found this to be fascinatingly bizarre.  It makes me wonder, what else is Apple up to?  And I think I figured it out.  The ultimate end-game for Apple is to allow applications that are designed to run on Microsoft Windows PCs to run perfectly on the Mac, thus avoiding the need for running Virtual PC.

This is purely conjecture on my behalf but it makes sense.  At the developers conference Jobs also showed off a new program called Rosetta that runs on an engine made by a Silicon Valley startup named Transitive.  I kept thinking about this and I thought that it should be even easier to get Microsoft programs to run on an Intel machine than it would be to get PowerPC architecture software to do the same.

Think about it.  If Rosetta can translate PowerPC instructions into corresponding x86 instructions, how easy would it be to get it to run the x86 instructions from PC software on an Intel-based Mac? If so, this would be the ultimate computer because it would run just about every program.

The far-reaching ramifications of Apple's move to Intel are potentially very profound.  This advancement may also allow Apple to sell their OS to any person with a PC, and since OS X is so well designed and efficient it could run very efficiently on otherwise slower PCs.

This could also have a significant multiplier effect on Apple quickly gaining marketshare. This would almost be akin to being able to turn an old Walkman into an iPod.

I realize my conjecture may be way off but it makes sense to me.

If you want to watch Steve Jobs’ fascinating keynote address click here:           

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/wwdc05/



My New Blog

Monday, May 30, 2005

I have recently changed this section from a review section to a design blog and this is my first blog entry. My primary focus with my design blog will be to explore and share my design-centric perspective.

I am working on some interesting new things that I look forward to sharing with you in the future.

Warmest Regards,

Jake



Thoughts on the Future of Handheld Computing

August 21, 2003

I had the opportunity to meet with Jeff Hawkins, the founder of Palm Computing and Handspring, and inventor of the original Palm Pilot. 

I wanted to share some ideas with Jeff about how to make the handheld computing experience significantly better. 

I completed this five part series that chronicles my thoughts and design ideas on the future of handheld computing. 


Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Click Here to Read Article 



Treo 600: Love at First Sight

July 11, 2003

I was the first civilian on Planet Earth to receive a detailed preview of Handspring's upcoming Treo 600.  I had a chance to review a preproduction prototype of the Treo 600 and it is amazing.  Handheld computers are going to completely change the way we perceive computing. 

The Treo 600 has a phone and a camera on board, and can send and receive email, surf the web, and run any Palm Computing applications.  Take a trip with me back to 1978 and see how different the future really is.

Click Here to Read Article 

You can have the new Treo 650 delivered to your home or office by just clicking the Amazon affiliate link below:


Why I Can't Stand Movie Theaters

March 16, 2003

Life is a beach!  I can't stand movie theaters.  I waited years for technology to reach a point were I could have the equivalent of a real movie theater in my home and that day has come.  March 16, 2003

Click Here to Read Article



Stephen Hawking's Universe Review

March 9, 2003

Stephen Hawking's DVD trilogy is perhaps one of the most profound documentaries ever created.  If I were stuck on a desert island and I could only have one DVD that I could watch over and over, this would be it.  Stephen Hawking's Universe consists of three DVDs that cover six episodes and everything from the Big Bang to black holes and beyond.  This is a must-own DVD set and I cannot recommend this masterpeice highly enough.

Rating: Two Thumbs Way, Way UP!!!