Bleading edge? Absolutely Apple!

3 years ago I went to visit an old friend of mine who now lives with his family in Southern California. My friend and I went to university together and our career's have followed very similar paths in that we have been lucky enough to work for some very innovative technology companies; Santa Cruz Operation, Ingres, Sequent, Hewlett-Packard, Qualcomm and Ericsson to name just a few.

I think it would be fair to say say that when it came to technology my friend has always been very 'bleading' edge i.e. he was an early adopter of gadgets and highly designed things that had barely made it off the drawing board. Some that spring to mind include: the Lego phone, the very expensive chess game and the state-of-the-art kitchen waste bin. To be fair to him the waste bin is still in use several years later, not so for some of the other stuff however!

His enthusiasm for technology and innovation is infectious. I have tried hard over the years not to be swayed but he always manages to wear me down eventually. At least by the time I have been seduced by another high tech purchase it has gone from 'Bleading-Edge', through 'Leading-Edge' to Mainstream. So here I am having finally bit the bullet and purchased Apple TV and so far I am not disappointed.

3 Years ago, down in Southern California, the Apple Device I was introduced to was quite clunky and had a tendency to over heat; if my memory serves me well the newly hand-crafted TV stand and cabinet had to be 'enhanced' to provide additional air flow. In comparison the Apple TV that I installed last night, in about 10 minutes, is about a 1/3 of the size of the original and so far they seem to have sorted the key heat issues.

So apart from a shiny new gadget, what exactly have I gained? For starters access to some amazing films that didn't make it onto the likes of Sky or into the local theaters. I also discovered some really thought provoking documentaries presented as Podcast 'videos', a format new to me. In the space of 2 hours I discovered a whole new world of exciting opportunities for learning and watched the first half of a fantastic film for just 99p! And to my friend down in sunny California I send my love, respect and admiration; its hard work being at the bleading edge of the technology revolution!