Websites utilize all manner of multimedia to advertise services, evolving from the classis banner ad to more advanced flash-based motion imagery. Most of these forms of online advertising are just plain awful, but the worst by far is those darned annoying Flash-based ads that spontaneously blast you with audio. I can't even begin to count the number of times I was startled out of my chair (and underpants) late at night when loading some random webpage, when suddenly a voice comes blasting through my speakers..."CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE BEEN SELECTED TO RECEIVE A FREE IPOD!". Scary.

It's bad enough when this happens while I'm using a Mac, forcing me to turn down the volume settings from the keyboard. But on a typical PC I scramble to find the volume knob on my external speakers before arousing disapproving looks from nearby co-workers.

What really irritates me, aside from the annoying nature of these boisterous ads, is how ineffective they serve their functions. Advertisers foolishly assume such ads will entice viewers to click on them and read more about the services they offer. WRONG! What happens with most users, such as my case, is they simply move on to another webpage. In fact, annoying web ads have the exact opposite intended effect upon casual viewers. Instead of luring customers, they detour them. And yet advertisers still pursue us with noisy animated Flash-based ads.

Will they never learn?

There are moments in life when the challenges of a busy schedule, encumberences, distraction, and stupidity all converge at one terrible moment resulting in tragedy. That is what happened to me last fall during my morning commute. As I hurried out the door with hands and arms full of gadgets and wares, embarking in my vehicle, I failed to notice that I had inadvertently dropped one important item on the ground.

Having sped off for work and returning later in the day, I noticed a small metallic object laying in the driveway near where my truck is normally parked. "What the heck is that?" I half wondered. No sooner had that inquisitive thought entered my simian brain when I came to a horrible realization..."Oh my God, it's my iPod!". Yes, that shiny piece of metal laying lifeless on the pavement was my dear departed music player, crushed by the full weight of my Ford Ranger. Obviously the poor little fellow had fallen out of my grasp as I was entering my truck and had landed directly in the path of my tires, which did a fantastic job of making the already slim iPod a lot thinner than designed.

So, that's the story. My fifth generation iPod has been gone for about three months now and I have fallen back to an ancient fourth generation iPod Photo. Waiting for the day when Apple will announce a new and improved model worthy of my Ben Franklins. Hopefully soon.

Technorati Tags: MP3, Music, Zune

In a startling turn of events, Walt Mossberg chooses the PalmOS-based Treo 700p over Windows Mobile-based Motorola Q phone. Stunning!

What I love about Mossberg is that he's always predictably last in line to catch on to whats already been happening around him. I have my stopwatch set to see how long it will take before realizes that PalmOS is already dead. And when he does finally figure this out, how much longer will it be before he begins writing articles implying that he knew all along that.

It's not just Mossy either. The entire mainstream media is equally inept at recognizing a trend in motion. I just love these epiphany news titles that read "Is Microsoft starting to catch up with Palm?". Windows Mobile has been outselling PalmOS for well over two years now. PalmOS is laying in a coffin, in almost mummified form, appearing on elderly devices making its rounds on hardware like Lincoln's body on display as it makes its cross country train ride to its final resting place. After Access introduces an entirely new platform, eliminating PalmOS Garnet for good, the media will still be chanting about how many fewer taps it takes to access your data on a dead OS. Enough already! It's over, get over it!

I've been watching the unfolding drama take shape Microsoft's announcement that Windows Vista, the company's next generation consumer and business desktop operating system, will be delayed further beyond its previous timeline. This is delay number 112 if you keep track of them as they go by. Naturally the news sparked off an uproar from angry Window enthusiasts and Microsoft bashers alike; with one side lamenting news while the other cheered. Engadget said it best..."Vista Delay Good For Pundits." Open source zealots in particular, and even Mac users, see Vista's delay as the death knell for Microsoft, or at least Windows. So what impact will the delay really have on the PC industry? None. Absolutely none whatsoever. What all the Linux trolls and Mac zealots fail to grasp is that the corporate customers never migrate to new operating systems at the time they roll out, and often delay upgrade cycles altogether until the first service packs are released, or until hardware upgrades require new system purchases. It is utter naivity and outright cluelessness to assume that business customers will make some kind of wholesale switch to a totally different platform because Vista is delayed by a mere few more months.

One the consumer side, mainstream users aren't waiting with baited breath for Vista's arrival. Operating systems just aren't something to get excited about anymore. The days of people camping outside Best Buy, hoping to grab a shrink wrapped copy of Microsoft's newest OS are over, and they ain't coming back, as the saying goes.

I am a huge fan of convergence devices like the Palm Treo 650, which I use as my daily driver PDA/phone. It is the blessing and bane of my existence. Sleek looking, robust, combining the best of what PalmOS has to offer...well the best Garnet can do at any rate…in a phone centric form factor that truly works well as a do-it-all device. But as much as I do like the Treo, it just doesn’t cut the mustard when it comes to functioning purely as a phone. When I want to use this device as a PDA it largely serves that role perfectly fine, when it’s not locking up or crashing on me that is. As a phone, it rather sucks. The problem with the Treo, like most convergence devices, is that it’s simply too bulky. Right now I’m testing out the Motorola RAZR phone for Cingular, and I am really amazed at how sleek this device is, and how it serves as an example of why Smartphones aren’t “there” just yet.

I’ve been using a Treo 650 for more than several months now. Overall I adore it. It represents a near perfect combination of mobile computing and communication. Not the best marriage of those two qaulities, but a good compromise. However, during this time I have seen the best and worst this little gadget has to offer, and its worst aspect has a name; Garnet.

PalmOS Garnet is so wickedly unstable it has become a liability. For the past two weeks my Treo spontaneously resets itself while sitting idle. I can be walking around and suddenly I hear the unmistakable phone activation chime emanating from my pocket. Yep, Garnet crashed again. Other times the device will inexplicably freeze up on me while I’m in the middle of something. It just freezes. You can’t even shut the damn thing off. Which means I have to pop the battery cover off, poke the reset button, and wait for my Treo to regain consciousness.

How do I compare thee to a summer's day, with the smell of week-old road kill laying on the side of a highway? This morning, as I attempted to get my necessary gadgets in sync for another busy day, I noticed something strange about my iPod Photo; it won't turn on! When I dock it with my Mac, it won't launch iTunes. Plugging it into a wall outlet for charging has no effect. The bloody thing simply will not turn on. I even tried the ultimate quick-fix solution; swearing at it. Still nothing.

And this from a device that is less than three months old! I haven't a clue as to the cause or solution to the problem. It was working fine last night, showing no signs of sudden infant death syndrome. Now comes the grim prospect of returning my pristine iPod to Apple, and being sent a scratched up refurbished unit. If that happens, the next iPod will go on eBay and will be the last such product from Apple I will ever own.

Needless to say, I am not a happy iPodder right now. Goodbye iPod, hello Zen Micro?