Monday, January 15, 2007

Phunky phones and tonnes of tickets By: Sashi

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The two major talking points throughout most of yesterday was the 1 million free tickets being offered up by Air Asia (this coming hot on the heels of the other big announcement of last week, the RM9.99 fare from KL to Manchester, courtesy of FAX) and of course, Apple’s buzz-a-licious unveiling of the iPhone.


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We here at the office were trying on and off from morning till late evening trying to get into the AirAsia site, despite the fact that most of us (including myself) had no clue where or when we wanted to book the tickets for…


Of course, as most people who have tried will know, we couldn’t get through. And during those times that we did manage to find a way past the “Sorry, the network is congested” crap, we couldn’t get the free tickets for the destinations.


Well, as one colleague pointed out, there’s no such thing as a free lunch - to get free tickets, you’re gonna have to WORK for it. And if that means getting online at 4am to avoid the crowd, then so be it.


If only I could get those tix to Macau…


Meanwhile, my Inbox was bursting with e-mail ‘goodness’ yesterday with many well-intentioned souls sending me info on the iPhone. Well, thanks, guys and gals - but being the kinda person who has his finger on the techno-pulse, trust me when I say I would have found about it sooner or later.


But thanks for the thought anyway - it’s always nice to get e-mail that doesn’t involve work or enlargement pills of any kind.


About the iPhone, it’s still more buzz than substance right now, isn’t it? I mean, the iPod is cool and all, but is it the best portable MP3 player out there? Likewise, is the iPhone another product built on hype rather than truth? For example, read this article on Gizmodo - Windows Mobile 5 Already Does What the iPhone Does. Having said that, the iPod DOES rule the MP3 market, and barring any disasters on Apple’s part, the iPhone could very well make the major cellphone makers out there very, very nervous.


Oh, and on a related note, you might want to read this really good article on TIME magazine: Apple’s New Calling: The iPhone.


UPDATE: Kottke has written a nice (and funny) iPhone round-up on his blog. Check it out!


And while I’m making some time to blog here, I might as well add a footnote on another recent major news item: the hanging of Saddam Hussein, and the leaking of the videos of his execution.


I didn’t see it. I don’t want to see it. That’s all.

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