I haven’t written about my iPhone for a while, but I still have it, still love it, use it more and more all the time. It’s officially replaced three devices for me - iPod, cell phone, and satellite radio, which I canceled shortly after getting the iPhone.

Apple has also done a great job improving the phone in recent months, and Google has done a great job supporting the platform. Even Microsoft finally got its act together and allowed basic POP mail syncing for Hotmail/Live mail, meaning you can get your Hotmail messages on the phone. Although, it’s not full integration - you only get your inbox, no folder management; however, the added side benefit is that because of the POP access, I can now forward my hotmail messages to Gmail and get them all in my handily synced Gmail inbox. Awesome.

Google has also introduced sync for its calenders and contacts. Now, you may remember me syncing my calendars with Nuevasync some months back; this is the same deal, its just an official Google recognized method. In a way I feel bad for Nuevasync because there isn’t really a reason to use their service anymore; but for a long time, they were the only ones who offered it, for free, and they supported it heavily. From what I’ve read they are introducing new features that hopefully will keep their users with them, but for me, with my single calendar (which isn’t even that busy, a sad reflection on my life to be sure), I don’t need much - just basic syncing - and I don’t think anyone can blame me for choosing the “official” service over another option when both are free. But I do owe Nuevasync thanks for being there for the past six months!

I do have my complaints about the phone, of course. There are the basic nagging things that most iPhone users bitch about - like no cut-and-paste - and frustration with the sheer amount of apps in the app store and the enigmatic approval process. Can we please get rid of the 91 “fart” applications now in the store? It’s become impossible to sort the good apps from the crapps. My method now is to browse my favourite apple-related blogs and see if they review anything that interests me. I rarely ever browse the app store anymore without a “recommendation” from a blog.

But, my biggest complaint, something that is frustrating me more and more on almost a daily basis… are the geographic restrictions placed on apps and content. Not that this is Apple’s or the iPhone’s fault, but it has become a huge issue (and I do feel that, as a (the?) worldwide leader in providing online content, Apple could take a leadership role here).

In the last couple weeks, take a look at the insanity that has cropped up:

• CBS released their tv.com app to offer previews and even some streaming episodes of various TV shows. Only in the United States, of course - if you’re in Canada or anywhere else, you can’t download the app, and even if you do manage to get the free app, it reads your location and tells you it can’t show the videos. I mean, these are FREE. So how is anyone losing any revenue here? I just don’t get it. Even the previews. Heaven forbid you see commercials for TV shows outside of the United States… which you can still watch for free on TV!
• Amazon released an app for their Kindle service, giving iPhone users access to the world’s biggest collection of e-books - books that you purchase from Amazon. But only if you’re in the United States, of course. I mean, clearly, we’d have world chaos if people outside of the USA started to buy books! I mean, what if they actually read them? I know for a fact no book publisher wants anyone to buy or read their books.
• Warner Bros. released the Watchmen Motion Comics on iTunes a couple months back… only in the States. Of course, unlike TV.com, they at least know how to play tease, by including previews and links in the official Watchmen App in the app store - in Canada. Sigh, whatever, at least the DVD and Blu-Ray, with a digital copy, came out last week. Oh but wait… the digital copy is windows-only. What!? Perhaps because the series is already available in iTunes? That makes sense. I can clearly see why WB wouldn’t want anyone in Canada with a Mac or an iPod or iPhone to watch this. I mean, it’s only the highest-selling graphic novel of all time and they only have a $100-million movie coming out. Wouldn’t want to generate any interest in it or anything.
• Speaking of Watchmen, you know that first trailer, with that cool Smashing Pumpkins song playing overtop? I decided I’d like to hear that whole song. Googled “Smashing Pumpkins Watchmen” to get the name of the song - The Beginning is the End is the Beginning - and found out that after the trailer launched, it almost instantly became the highest-selling Pumpkins song on iTunes. So naturally I went straight to iTunes to get it. But hey, guess what? It’s only on iTunes in the United States! Of course it is.

In a matter of days, I was locked out of four things because I happen to live in Canada. And of course, there are plenty of other cool apps like Pandora radio and Loopt that have long been US-only.

Doesn’t anyone else find this to be INSANE? I mean, it’s the 21st century, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we be knocking down these borders, instead of building them back up?

In the two Watchmen-related cases, naturally, I was forced to acquire less-than-legal copies. It’s not a lost sale for WB on the Motion Comics since I still bought the Blu-Ray, but somebody didn’t get my 99 cents for that Pumpkins song!! Unfortunately that punishes the artist as well, when they probably had no idea that the record company or Apple or whoever decided on its non-international-availability.

And that is the crux of the problem, really - who to blame? Everyone passes the buck. It’s the government regulations. It’s the publishers. It’s the creators, it’s the advertisers, it’s Santa Claus.

It’s so mind-bogglingly inconsistent, too. I mean, why can I buy the Watchmen DVD the same day as someone in the States, but cannot buy the motion comic on iTunes? I can buy the graphic novel, see the movie, etc., all on the same day as my southern neighbours. But watch it on my iPhone? Nope, no way, that would end the world. And I mean, I’m not even asking for free shit… I’m willing to pay for it!! (In fact, I DID pay for it! Fuckers.)

Same with these TV shows. I can watch Heroes the same time as anyone in the States. I can buy the DVD the same day it comes out. But I can’t buy the episodes from iTunes!? I can almost, sort of, understand why I can’t stream them for free, because of the advertising. But again… I’m willing to pay for it! Please, take my money! Why are they cutting off this potential market, a market, by the way - Canada - that has the highest percentage of broadband access in the world?

The problem here seems to be the CRTC, but what the CRTC does is protect business interests, as opposed to the interests of Canadian citizens. That’s not what they say, of course; their mandate, according their Web site, is this: “The CRTC’s mandate is to ensure that both the broadcasting and telecommunications systems serve the Canadian public.”

But in fact the opposite is true; it actually ensures that the Canadian public supports the broadcasting and telecommunications systems, by denying us access to other options.

This also sticks out:

“In broadcasting, the CRTC ensures that all Canadians have access to a wide variety of high-quality Canadian programming as well as access to employment opportunities in the broadcasting system. Programming in the Canadian broadcasting system should reflect Canadian creativity and talent, our bilingual nature, our multicultural diversity and the special place of aboriginal peoples in our society.”

Well, that sounds good to me. That sounds like it backs up the mandate - that not does it make sure the broadcasters serve us, but also that they serve us with quality stuff, that reflects our country.

But again, the opposite is true. Instead of “ensuring we have access to a wide variety of… programming,” it actually LIMITS our access - to anything else. Memo: it’s not variety if you give us one thing while denying another!

Hey, CRTC, and all you “Canadian content providers” that are restricting - or refusing to broker deals for - online media: Wake up. It’s a new fucking world out there (actually it isn’t, it’s been this way for a decade, but I’ll allow that you’re a little slow). So stop FORCING specific things on us. Give us ALL OF IT, and let us choose. I don’t want American content or Canadian content or Japanese content… I want GOOD content. I don’t CARE where it’s from, because in the 21st century, it does not fucking matter one fucking iota where it’s from or who created it. iTunes exists and succeeds for one simple reason - it puts the power of choice in the hands of the consumer. Same with TV on DVD, and TiVos and DVRs. We don’t want to buy an album of 12 songs when there’s only one we know we want. We don’t want to watch TV when the TV networks say we should.

We, the consumer, get to choose what we want to entertain us. Not you. We do. And if you try and tell us otherwise… guess what, we’ll find a way around. We will. Give us the content we want, in affordable, easy-to-manage ways, and we’ll pay for it. Restrict us, we’ll pirate it.

We want what we want on our own terms, and we will get it. It’s simply the way the consumer market is today. So get with it, already.

___

UPDATE: ARGH! Not 10 minutes after I post this, I’m looking for another song - Bounce, by Danko Jones - and like the Pumpkins song, it’s available in the US iTunes store, but not in Canada.

This is the most mind numbing example of all, of course, since DANKO JONES IS A CANADIAN BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will now light myself on fire.

Sorry for the lack of recent updates; a vacation (to Vegas, where I did not bet on the Raptors) combined with the usual lackluster results from the Raptors haven’t left me the time or motivation to write. (It’s especially hard to analyze when 2 out of every 3 is on TSNFU. I’d love to know how that’s working out for them; I’m guessing they’re really pleased they backloaded the schedule. I assume they did that because they were expecting a playoff run, not the most disappointing season in Raptors history. No one’s pressuring Rogers now ‘cause no one gives a shit! So the joke’s on you, fuckers!)

Anyway, at least the past two losses, both of which I did not see a second of, appear to have been entertaining, close affairs, and that’s good - it’s a shame I missed them. The fact that they played a couple good teams fairly closely, combined with having a little break from following the team, was good for me - I am looking forward to watching the game tonight, even though I can’t imagine the Raps winning, simply because I haven’t seen a game in over a week and am jonesing a bit. Oh wait, I forgot… it’s on TSNFU. Sigh.

Philly is having a disappointing season of their own, though certainly nothing like Toronto’s - they’re at least in playoff contention and have been stayed around .500 all year. Still, they were expected to do better after signing Elton Brand last summer. Instead, they started slowly, fired the coach, and only picked up a little momentum when Brand got hurt. But they couldn’t even sustain that, and are 3-7 in their last 10.

Of course, as bad as that all sounds, I’m a Raptors fan, and can only wish the Raptors were having a similar season. Instead what we’ve got is so much worse.

As for the Raps, well, it’s clear that it’s time to give the young guys some serious burn. I’m talking specifically about Roko Ukic and Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Heck, maybe even Patrick O’Bryant. Now, I’m not advocating “shutting anyone down” or giving guys days off like Don Nelson. And honestly, that doesn’t even make sense because, for example, Roko’s never going to be a starter, so why would you start him? But, you do want him to be your primary backup in the future, so why not give these him a consistent 15-20 minutes a night now, let him play through his mistakes and see how he responds? Same with PMB and O’Bryant. You need to determine if these guys have the tools to be contributors, and now is the time to do it. Are these guys good enough to be the 6-8th men on the bench, or are they forever destined to be 9-12 material? And you don’t want another Roger Mason situation, where you never give the guy a chance (even though you had nothing else to play for) and you end up losing a prospect who goes on to become a quality starter.

Not only that, but, let’s see, we’re 23-41 playing Bosh, Bargnani, Jose and AP big minutes… putting some new player combos out there can’t possibly produce any worse results, can it?

I like what PMB has brought. 8.5 boards in 13 minutes? I’ll take that any day. Roko has proven he’s the only Raptor other than Joey that will consistently get to the rim; he needs to learn to finish there, but at least he’s not settling. And O’Bryant, well, he’s big, and he’s got enough potential to have been a #10 overall pick; he hasn’t shown anything in the pros yet, but this is the perfect opportunity for him to do so.

And, if these guys can, in fact, play, maybe that gives fans some optimism for the remaining month of play? Maybe it gives us a reason to care, or even be hopeful about the future?