Disorderly Content

07:34	Good shoot last night. Too bad I left my camera at the studio. Careless idiocy or accumulated lack of sleep? Maybe both.
16:02	I had another trade shoot arranged for this afternoon. Wanna guess how that went?

10:14

Got home just before midnight to find a package at my door. Has my apt number, but not my name. Dropped at office; let them sort it out.

06:56	I don't care what the sign says, I'm going in. http://t.co/0Evp7CL2
09:04	Nice view. http://t.co/UDbkfhVn
09:50	@millhouseyiddo I fly home this evening. Should have stayed an extra night.
13:14	@joshtpm Next they'll have to blame the liberal voters.
13:20	@toywithme Got mine last Friday. Love it. Great upgrade from iPhone 4.
16:00	Back at O'Hare. Two hours until my flight, and not an outlet in sight.
19:03	Got my upgrade, WiFi is engaged, life is a little less unpleasant for the next few hours.
19:05	Funny thing: outbound flight was a beautiful new 737 with extra overhead space and standard AC power. Return is old & cramped. *sigh*

08:52	At Denny's this morning, crazy lady gave me a piece of her mind about the medical profession. Not sure she can spare it.
12:10	At my gate at SFO, only two hours early for my flight. But I have power, and free WiFi. So life's pretty good.
12:10	First time I went through security using my phone as a boarding pass. Living in the future's pretty cool sometimes.
12:18	@nprscottsimon Did you mention Harper Valley PTA?
15:05	In case you wondered, my iPhone boarding pass worked perfectly at Security and the gate. I'm now in flight, Chicago-bound.
20:03	In my hotel at last and ready for a late dinner. Early start tomorrow, alas. Trips would be so pleasant if we didn't have to work

10:03	Wow. Samsung smartphones have one feature no iPhone ever dreamed of! http://t.co/7vZsLfO9
15:41	It must be true! It was on Fox News! (iPhone 5 has lasers 'n stuff.) http://t.co/vwq0qCir

09:23	Surprise: AT&T HSPA+ (what they call 4G) is amazingly fast on the iPhone 5. Not LTE speed but close enough for me.
10:29	Mr. Small Govt Romney grabbed $1.5 billion in Federal money for Salt Lake Olympics. Hypocrite much, Mitt? http://t.co/lZSjPEN0
13:18	I'm normally opposed to violence, but can't see this as anything but poetic justice. http://t.co/aNR8W5Cw

07:23	RT @counternotions: That ought to hurt. http://t.co/k8CHrGZP [Another comma-related tragedy.]
07:30	I always suspected God was an asshole. http://t.co/AfKObyxh
14:09	Model for this morning's shoot was a no-show. I'm mostly okay; there was no expense involved and I got to shoot scenery instead.
14:12	@alwayscoffee This was a trade shoot, so I'm less surprised. Much more annoying when I'm paying the model and she flakes.
14:26	@alwayscoffee I was going to suggest that I'm okay with you not wearing pants, but I don't really want to be that guy, y'know?

18:24

Went to the dry cleaner's to pick up shirts. Moved. New inconvenient location about to close, but couldn't find my shirts. That's service.

10:46	All kinds of people standing by the roads on my way to work this morning. How'd they know I'd be bringing my iPhone 5 with me?
10:49	Everybody left the office to catch Endeavor's flyby. My new phone was only the second most exciting thing to happen this morning.
13:12	Restoring iPhone 5 from iPhone 4 backup. Bunches of stuff didn't transfer. Gonna take a while to get new phone configured like old one
13:44	Turns out my iPhone 5 restore problem was pilot error. It offered me a really old backup, and I didn't notice. Doing a proper restore now.

06:04	Finally got email from Apple that my iPhone 5 has shipped. Not exactly news, since I've been following its progress via UPS website.
07:42	@NikonUSA My GPS receiver. Makes reviewing after a road trip so much easier.
12:25	Anyone else notice the new pulldown animation in iOS 6 Mail? It's all wormy!

06:21	@Brian_Cowie I like the D800 a lot. Still getting used to full frame, and the resolution is crazy. But I'm getting some great images.
10:18	Upgrading my iPad to iOS 6. Wish me luck!
12:36	iPad is now running iOS 6. Would have been sooner, but I was trapped in a meeting. Looks good so far.
13:48	Debated whether to upgrade my iPhone to iOS 6 with the new one on the way. Decided to go for it. Upgrade has begun...

07:07	Suddenly this morning I'm getting tons of #FF tweets from Balinese bands. Weird, since it isn't Friday and I know nothing about Bali.
07:10	Bill Kristol demonstrates false equivalence. #RomneyGaffe2012 != #ObamaGaffe2008. Romney's is serious. http://t.co/mPIbmrQa
12:30	Huh. Last time I checked, my iPhone was in Alaska. Now it's in Louisville, Kentucky. Well traveled phone, I must say. (C'mon, Friday!)

11:09	Romney campaign promises to get more specific, won't provide specifics about that either. Now that's comedy! http://t.co/5rFRPhbg
19:14	Fact checkers? We don't need no stinkin' fact checkers! (Yeah, you really do.) http://t.co/w9vDhOVu
19:52	I love the Internets. My iPhone 5 has left Anchorage, Alaska and is on its way. Thank you, @iPhoneAlley! http://t.co/C5jQJVg2
20:34	My iPhone suddenly refused to sync. Think it knows it's getting replaced *very* soon? (Rebooting solved the problem.)
22:03	Ordered a new DSL modem that supports IPv6. Finally moving into the 21st century, a little at a time.

09:27	RT @TPMLiveWire: Christine O'Donnell: I'm Considering Running For Senate In 2014 http://t.co/dTgemJpg via @sahilkapur [Oh boy.]
09:34	Turns out @jimcramer is a self-centered douchebag. Is anyone surprised by this revelation? http://t.co/AeL058I6
10:40	No, David Gregory, Netanyahu is not the Leader of the Jews. Although you may just be King of the Dipshits. http://t.co/K3rB2UJW
12:08	Didn't see that one coming. http://t.co/pmiCNzCs via @paulandstorm
12:16	Want. http://t.co/82IPRadF http://t.co/rzANJX3x
12:22	Are Romney and Ryan liars? Maybe not. http://t.co/xOSl5F2j via @ebertchicago
13:58	@counternotions Put them between two slices of Christian Bread and make a Christian Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
15:15	Two blog posts in a week! This one's about calling someone a fanboy, and why that's often beside the point. http://t.co/S5AN9o5N

I was up until midnight Thursday night, waiting for Apple to reenable their website so I could get in my order for an iPhone 5. Prior to that moment, and ever since, I've been inundated by articles and blog and forum posts calling me and people like me idiots and fanboys for paying a lot of money for a phone that's no better than alternatives that are already available, often for less. It's not true, and it pisses me off. But even if it were true, it still wouldn't matter.

It's all about stickiness, you see. Nobody's loyalty to a product is forever, and I don't know how much this is about loyalty in the first place. It's about the cost of changing, and about how big a benefit there has to be for the change to be worthwhile. And that got me thinking about my various brand loyalties, and how much it's because I really prefer their products and how much is just enlightened self-interest.

So here are three examples. First is my car; I drive a Toyota Camry Hybrid. It's the first Toyota I've owned. I wasn't prejudiced against Toyota, mind; it just worked out that way. I like the car, I like my local dealer's service department, and I can see myself buying another Toyota when it comes time to replace this one. But I can also see myself buying something else. It wouldn't take much to get me to change. The car would have to be more appealing in some way than Toyota's offering, and their service department would have to be as good. In fact, the combination would have to be significantly better, since they're unlikely to be as convenient. It's nice to have a car dealer within walking distance of home. But the equation is simple: new vehicle + new service > old vehicle + old service.

Example #2 is my camera, now a Nikon D800. I'm much more resistant to changing camera brands than cars. In part that's because cars are way more like each other than cameras, and the differences are easier to learn. But it's also because the camera is only the start of the investment. I have thousands of dollars of lenses, and speedlights, and other accessories, all of which would be useless with another brand of camera. Yes, I could sell all that stuff, but that adds to the hassle factor. And I'd still need to buy replacements for most of it, adding to the cost of changing. In the end, even if I liked a new Canon or Sony or Olympus model better than what Nikon has to offer (and I don't), it would have to be a whole lot better to get me to even consider switching brands. Cameras are a whole lot stickier than cars.

Phone haven't been sticky at all, at least not for me, at least until the iPhone came along. Every phone was so different, and I had so little investment in stuff on or around the phone that each time I came to replace the phone was a clean slate. What I had before had little effect on my new decision, beyond confirming what features did and didn't matter to me.

The iPhone changed that, particularly when the App Store came into existence but even before that. Being a Mac guy at home, the ease of transferring stuff between my computers and my phone (and later my iPad) was and continues to be very appealing. And then there are all the apps I have on my phone. Granted, there are only a dozen or so I use every day, and another few dozen I use on occasion, but they do represent an investment I'd lose if I changed to another brand of phone. More to the point, that new phone would have to offer me most of what I like about the iPhone, and enough that the iPhone couldn't do that would matter to me, to make me go through the hassle of switching. And I haven't seen anything that makes me believe it could pass that test.

To me the iPhone is sticky, and gives me good reason to stay with it. Not as much as my camera gear does, but far more than my car or my audio or video gear. Put another way, from a cost/benefit standpoint the cost is way higher than any benefit I can see. It's not fanboyism. It's just looking at the tradeoffs and deciding what's reasonable and what's not.

16:26

I can't believe I don't have a single shot like these in my stock portfolio. What's wrong with me? http://t.co/iRYIn3fr

07:18	@macosken Glad I got my order in early. Mine scheduled to arrive on the 21st.
07:22	Glad I got my order in early. An hour later and they were quoting 2 weeks. http://t.co/6bYqHuyA
09:20	@macosken Surprised you couldn't get on Apple site. I got in at 12:03, had order confirmation at 12:07.
11:46	Mitt is asked about middle class income, is off by a factor of 5X. #clueless http://t.co/o185SgRr
12:02	@angrymacbastard This dipshit is right up your alley. http://t.co/Gipqk0eR
14:59	RT @BreakingNews: Wisconsin judge strikes down Gov. Walker's law ending most collective bargaining for public workers - @AP [Justice!]
15:48	This makes me feel old and sad. Two of my favorite films, and the audience can't see them for what they are. http://t.co/zpm62SIy

08:12	Now that the Nikon D600 has been announced, I'm feeling better about my D800. Enough differences to be worth the extra cost.
20:13	RT @joshtpm: Romney Adviser: If Romney were prez no one wld attack r embassies because of Romney strength http://t.co/PFiwFjZf [Oh FFS!]
20:44	@joshtpm "We'll never be sick, we won't get any older, and we won't ever die." #Romneystrength #romneycare #cocoon
23:07	I'm not just buying a new iPhone; I'm doing my part to end the recession. And so should we all. http://t.co/gi0ZosE6
23:23	A truly ludicrous item auctioned for a truly ludicrous amount of money. But the cause is just, so it's alright. http://t.co/Jex7eDqh @wilw
23:32	I won't stay up for the New Year. But for an iPhone I'll make it past midnight. Such a dumb plan...

09:29	While we wait for the iPhone announcement, here's a trashbag Gollum falling into Mount Doom: http://t.co/OY0JgkoW
10:43	Apple's website still shows the iPhone 4S. What's the matter with you people? I wanna upgrade. Now, dammit!
11:53	@GreyDeLisle "or when sounded like A, as in neighbor and weigh." I guess you're supposed to pronounce it DAY-ity.
14:54	Are Candy Corn Oreos a horrible idea? Watch & learn. (Spoiler: Yes. Yes, they are. Horrible beyond words.) http://t.co/ghtFIyLZ
16:27	@IsobelCarr @markmilian I think that's backwards. The adapter is $29. The cable is $39.
16:33	@markmilian @IsobelCarr Sorry, you're right. It's the Lightning to 30 pin adapter & cable that cost more than Lightning to USB. Parts cost?

09:10

At the car dealer. 125k maintenance. Not bad for 6 years.

09:51	A lifelong Republican finally gets a clue, discovers everything he knew is wrong. An interesting read. http://t.co/uUsztJZH
10:16	Glad to know that with its Azure cloud platform, MSFT continues its long tradition of UI excellence. And yes, that was indeed sarcasm.
10:23	Oh, HP. You're like an older, sadder Samsung. http://t.co/4F8ml7T5
10:25	Here's a shock: you can't believe criminal hackers to tell the truth. (via @gruber) http://t.co/Xef5MVQU
10:28	Paul Ryan: who you gonna believe, me or my lying voting record? http://t.co/GxSBk965
13:23	Birther event canceled due to a shortage of crackpots. In Arizona! http://t.co/nrvHU0gp
14:08	MSFT support is impressive: 3 calls & 2 emails. But the first email solved the problem. And I wouldn't need help if their UI didn't suck.

04:08	Out in the field even earlier thus morning, among the first to arrive. Using my long lens today. We'll see how that goes.
08:00	Sad. Too much wind, so balloons won't fly today in Reno. Lucky I was here yesterday.
14:32	Had an experience at the balloon race with an irate attendee. Believe he took it out on me because I look small and easily intimidated.
15:18	@alwayscoffee I'll blog about it later. Proposed title: This is How Wars Get Started
21:02	First blog post in a while: This is How Wars Get Started. http://t.co/GShFpMae

This weekend I was in Reno for the Great Reno Balloon Race, a hot air balloon event I have enjoyed a few times before. This morning I had a rather disconcerting incident, which is why I'm blogging for the first time in a long time. No way I can describe what happened in a tweet.

Each day at the Balloon Race begins at 5 AM. That means arriving at the park and getting onto the field well in advance. This morning I was in place at 4:05 AM, with my tripod set up and my camera ready to go. Trust me when I say that I was pretty much alone at that hour. There was hardly anyone in sight yet.

The first event is called the glow show, where a few tethered balloons perform a light show to musical accompaniment. That's followed by the Dawn Patrol, a handful of balloons whose pilots are certified for night takeoffs. By this point the field was moderately populated, but not all that crowded. While the Dawn Patrol was doing their light show before taking off, I turn from another photographer with whom I am chatting to see a rather tall gentleman standing directly in front of my camera. And by directly in front I mean that; there was maybe a foot and change between him and the front of my lens.

I wait for him to move, or realize he's blocking me. When that doesn't work, I speak to him. And when that doesn't work I touch his arm and point out that he's in the way. That's when he tells me that he knows he's in the way. He intends to be in the way. He starts haranging me because I'm in the way of his children, who are lying on a blanket twenty or so feet behind me. We photographers with our tripods are keeping his kids from seeing the show.

Now let's ignore for a moment the reality that lying on the ground, you aren't going to get a good view of tethered balloons. Besides photographers, quite a few other people are also standing to get a good view. My first comment is that if he'd told me of the problem, I'd have been willing to move. He tells me that he can't be expected to tell ten photographers to move. I very quickly realize that he has no interest in solving the problem. No, he's pissed, and all he wants is to piss somebody else off.

(I will point out that it wasn't until later that I got his reference to ten photographers. He wasn't complaining about me personally, but me as one of the group of photographers. So why did he single me out? My guess is that I'm quite a bit shorter than the other photographers and therefore easier to intimidate and less able to tell him to fuck off without personal risk. So he's a bully and a coward, rather than merely an obnoxious asshole.)

Talking to him got me nowhere, and neither did my pointing out that I was already in place before he and his sleepy family arrived. His response to that: "Whoopdido for you." Classy and rational.

And of course now I'm pissed off. And grateful I don't carry a weapon, because in that moment I would happily have gone nuclear on his ass. Not proud of that, but I'm not proud of having to take his abuse either.

04:29	4:30 ayem and I'm standing in a field in Reno. Waiting. Waiting.
05:07	It begins. http://t.co/2AuTLIOQ
05:41	Dawn Patrol http://t.co/pi4nG1DY
06:12	And they're off! http://t.co/jMkJt8N8
07:17	Ready to fly. http://t.co/NGqqMGQ1
07:23	Watch them go! http://t.co/OJBavRsd
07:35	http://t.co/Oqal5YUF
08:21	Ballooning done for today. After breakfast I'm off to Pyramid Lake. Balloons again tomorrow before I head home.
13:05	One image from my big camera. http://t.co/cqQTFAiA
13:10	5:51 this morning. The Dawn Patrol in flight. http://t.co/uhA1gJn2
13:28	@NYPinTA @cabri If you liked that iPhone picture, here's one from the big camera. http://t.co/tREXipgQ
13:53	Mitt Romney now claims his plan for the auto industry was just like Obama's. But it ain't necessarily so. http://t.co/emmqqrX8
13:55	Oh, Apple, you know me so well... http://t.co/vilUmUWJ
14:10	@paulandstorm Here comes Yogi Boo Boo #HoneyBooBooReplacements
15:58	@joshtpm Why is that a problem? It's not like voters have any long term memory.

06:52	A piece of birthday advice: silence both your iPhone & your iPad or face an early morning series of Facebook interruptions. (Thanks, all.)
07:28	I share a birthday with Mrs. @froonium? I never knew! (Can't say that any more.)
11:07	Best Google doodle ever! http://t.co/pLw7G14k
17:41	@cabri I do. I'm in Reno for their annual hot air balloon event. Which starts at 5 tomorrow. In the ayem! Did you know there's a 5 ayem?

10:19	Repug ad with disillusioned Obama supporter is a lie. Have they no shame at all? http://t.co/P3o2dU1t
14:49	Damn. Nokia faked the video from their new phone, and they faked the still images too. http://t.co/QusLrwu6
15:49	Oh brother! Mitt Romney thinks Cold Fusion was real! http://t.co/Sltdj9XM

14:46	Paul Ryan: run faster, climb higher than most anybody. Or just lies more and bigger. http://t.co/76MQlDxR
16:58	"He claimed an honor that he never earned." in re Paul Ryan http://t.co/nyCYNmrj
18:20	Downtown San Jose. Thai for dinner, then a play at @SJRep. Starring that Kartheiser guy. You know, Angel's kid.
20:45	Intermission. No idea where the play is going, but I'm enjoying the ride. "The Death of the Novel" world premiere. @SJRep
20:56	Catching up on DNC via Twitter while I wait for Act 2. Proud to be a Dem.
22:45	The set for tonight's play was on a turntable. First time it moved, I wanted to sing "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow!"

13:58	Fascinating article about user experience online and in apps. http://t.co/q89C0hSE
14:08	So Paul Ryan's numbers are a little off. What's a factor of 29 between friends?http://t.co/SavgWjCy
16:26	Oh, the shock of biting down on an M&M, thinking it's kind of stale and then realizing it's actually a Skittle.
18:29	RT @DCdebbie: GOP Candidate Wants Life Sentences For Rape Victims Who Obtain Abortions http://t.co/89zTL3p8 [Unbelievable.]

10:21	RT @GOPLeader Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success. [Uh, no. Wrong.]
17:52	The downside of shooting an amazing model yesterday is all the editing I'll do for days and days. http://t.co/1ZsiQde6

19:19	@AnneWheaton Doesn't that tickle?
21:12	@billamend I'm thinking The Ballad of the Green Berets. That oughta empty out the place real fast.

15:53

@paulandstorm @PFTompkins @letsgetshort @janiehaddad That explains it. I wondered what a pencil lol was.

18:04

One man performs Les Miz, and very well indeed. http://t.co/tHy5bTPZ (Thank you, @cscweitz for passing it along!)