It is abundantly clear that huge advantages accrue to having personal information—email, contacts, calendar, etc.—available anywhere. Apple’s MobileMe (buy the old version and save) syncing service handles most of this wirelessly. If I update a contact on my iPhone, for example, it’s automatically pushed up to Apple’s MobileMe service “in the cloud” and sent to all my other computers and devices. It’s incredibly handy, and if you have more than one device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac laptop or Mac desktop) to keep information on, I highly recommend it.

It doesn’t sync everything, though, and it’s those last bits of informational distribution between devices that I’m struggling with. Specifically, I’ve got issues with email storage and financial recording and record keeping.

I have virtually every email I’ve sent or received since about 1993. I’ve deleted spam, some mailing list stuff, etc., but otherwise I’ve pretty much got everything. That’s a huge and personally meaningful historical record. (And one of the reasons I don’t see myself ever abandoning email for instant messaging, Twitter, or Facebook messages. In fact, I have all Facebook messages emailed to me so that I can archive them.)

I can already pick up new messages from anywhere, but what about accessing these historical emails? The more tech-savvy among you already know what I’m going to say here: I’m putting them online. Not for just anyone, of course, but for me. I’m creating email folders at my IMAP-based email server and I’m moving my tens of thousands of messages into them. I will be able to access them from anywhere. I know I’m late to the party—IMAP has long been capable of doing this and GMail has offered it for years—but I finally now feel the need and see the advantages.

The second issue is recording and accessing financial data, notably Quicken and QuickBooks. I have no solution yet other than to log in remotely to my Mac Pro in the office and record and view things. It’s not intolerable, but it’s wildly inefficient. Here’s the ideal scenario: I get a bill at a restaurant, I enter it in the iPhone and the data is automatically synced back into my main Quicken file at home (or online). Since I don’t have a good solution—I suspect the answer will have to come from somebody like Intuit—I’m not fully mobile.

But I’m getting close, and that’s a very exciting prospect.

Virtually every trip I’ve taken since May 2000 has involved me hauling along a laptop computer. I’m a computer consultant by trade, and I’ve considered in a necessity. Sometimes I need to remotely access their Mac, sometimes it’s useful to have a visual. Either way, I’ve lugged 6 or 7 lbs. (once you count up the charger and other accessories) worth of gear everywhere.

This summer I did something novel. Twice, I left the laptop at home and went with an iPad wi-fi instead. My latest three day trip to Los Angeles, California was the clincher since I was able to do everything I needed to do on it. Future trips may involve a laptop, but it’s not automatic and certainly once I have an iPad 3G + Wi-Fi and the iOS is updated to 4.x, I think the laptop is almost done.

In fact, I’ve got to admit that I came away fairly staggered by the experience, because if I computer nerd like me can survive on an iPad, almost anybody can. Within 5 years, 80% to 90% of portables sold will be tablets like the iPad. I’m convinced of it, because the advantages are so incredibly stark. In no particular order:

1. Enormous battery life. 10 hours or so right now. Longer if you want to dim the screen, not watch videos, etc.
2. Minuscule weight. 1.5 to 1.6 lbs. is nothing to carry.
3. Instant on. No long boot up time or wake from sleep. I never shut my iPad off.
4. No abstraction layer. You touch what you want. There’s no keyboard or mouse or cursor between you and iPad, and it makes for a more intimate, easier-to-use experience. You don’t have to “speak geek” to be able to use this.
5. Best in class experiences. This is strongly related to the lack of an abstraction layer, but I can think of no better way to look at images, play with Google Maps, surf the web or watch video.
6. “Anywhere” Internet. My iPad is wi-fi only, but a 3G model (which my next one will be) gives you the Internet virtually anywhere you have cell coverage.
7. eBook heaven. I carry the equivalent of several hundred pounds of dead tree books on my iPad. I can search any book, annotate it, highlight text, set bookmarks, change the font size, look up words instantly in a built-in dictionary, and more.
8. Social Media nirvana. Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, etc. All the culprits responsible for killing your discretionary time are well-represented on the iPad.
9. App coverage: If there’s something I want to do, the odds are good that I can do it. I do genealogy. There’s an app for that. (Reunion.) I want to watch a movie. There’s an app for that. (Netflix.) The list goes on and on.

Right now the biggest limitation for me is relates to Quicken and QuickBooks. I use both programs extensively on the Mac, and the iPad doesn’t have a way for me to make entries or sync them back to the master files on the computer. The best I can do on the iPad right now is to remote into my Mac Pro at home, enter the financial data there, and log off again. It’s a decidedly inconvenient workaround, but it does work.

A few years ago, I said I didn’t think I’d buy another desktop machine. (Obviously wrong since I bought a Mac Pro.) Now I don’t think I’ll be another laptop. I think it’ll just be one iPad after another. I don’t expect to be alone on this either.

In 1995 I traveled across America via Amtrak, whose dismal on time track record and other failings led critics to call for their shutdown and to brand them (thanks to their logo) “the pointless arrow.” Not one of my trips on Amtrak was less than two hours late, so I knew exactly where those critics were coming from, though I quite liked train travel generally.

One particularly outrageous delay, though I might add not the longest, afforded me a valuable life lesson. Helpful, since it was otherwise just another example of Amtrak’s ineptitude. I was going to visit my friend Sue, a grad student at Purdue, and see how she’d spent her time since we hung out together as undergrads at the University of Portland.

The train was 20 minutes out of Chicago when it stopped dead. No warning. Just chug, chug, chug, stop. We stayed on the tracks there for something like six hours. This being the pre-cell phone era I had no way to call Sue to tell her what had happened and that I was unlikely to make the scheduled 10 PM arrival. Not that I knew anything anyway since Amtrak never gave an explanation. I heard from another passenger that a freight train had stopped on the tracks ahead and that because their union crew had worked their maximum hours, they had shut it down right then and there, and Union Pacific (or whoever) was having to round up another crew. I had no idea if any of that was true, but it was a guess that fit the facts—the main fact being we were just sitting there—and it was a fair bit more than Amtrak ever told us.

After we finally got rolling again, the engineer was playing like Casey Jones in looking to make up for lost time. We’d whip into a station, virtually throw people off the cars, hustle the appropriate people on board, and -boom- we’re outta there. Pity, sort of, for any smokers on board. They couldn’t smoke on the train and here they were being denied enough time to take a smoke break at stop after stop. And this after sitting still for six hours.

As it turns out, they weren’t the only ones who had to worry about the short station stops. Lafayette’s train station was being renovated or rebuilt or something, because it was closed. I did not know this. So the train that was due in at 10 PM, arrived in a West Lafayette gravel parking lot at 4 o’clock in the morning. The conductor pulled up the step stool I used to get off the train, said, “Have a nice stay!” or words to that effect, and -boom- the train was gone. I remember literally turning around to ask the conductor where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do and the doors closing while the train pulled out. It could not have been more than a 20 second stop.

I was already sleep deprived, but now I was stunned too. I was thinking, “Oh my God. Oh my God. This can’t be worse.” Sue’s obviously not here—where was here, anyway? Since Amtrak didn’t tell the passengers anything, I could hardly expect that they would have told anybody waiting in a gravel parking lot about a train delay. Sue wisely and rightfully went home to bed. I was hoping she didn’t think that I blew her off. In the spill of the single overhead street light, I saw a ’70s Cadillac that I was pretty sure was not Sue’s get-around vehicle. Other than that, gravel. Emptiness. Desolation. There was nothing else there.

Only two others got off at the stop with me, a portly fellow in my train car who headed toward a woman waiting for him at the Caddy, and some other guy to my left who exited a few cars down. I didn’t see a phone booth and as far as I knew, I was in the middle of nowhere. Actually, it didn’t matter where I was. What was open at 4 AM? “Oh my God. Oh my God. This can’t be worse.”

Then I glanced over again at the fellow to my left. What was he doing? It was a little difficult to see at first in the dark. “Oh my God. Oh my God. It can be worse. He’s tapping a cane. He’s blind!”

I still don’t know what I or, perhaps more interestingly, the blind fellow would have done if not for the kindness of the husband and wife team with the Cadillac. They gave us both a ride to the local Steak ‘n’ Shake, an all-hours joint particular to the Midwest and after a few hours I was able to call Sue and the blind guy was able to contact his party.

It’s not always possible for us to see life’s lessons as they are generated. Usually I think that if we’re open to growth, we tend to absorb things over time and they become a part of who we are. Occasionally, though, life smacks us full upside the head, and we learn important things about perspective, about how things really could be worse, and about the kindness of strangers. For me in 1995, the “pointless arrow” made it possible.

I’m expecting a Spanish victory, forcing me to eat crow over my longtime claims that Spain always disappoints at the World Cup. In fairness, I’ve always been right until this year, but I’d have to say that this Spanish squad has played very well. Since I think their possession game will stymie Netherlands, I’m picking them to win.

It’s not that Netherlands will be without chances given the firepower they’ve got on board, but I don’t think they’re as good defensively, and if David Villa gets hot, they’ll be in real trouble.

Netherlands is out there in orange looking like a crew of HazMat workers. Spain with the early possession. Spanish header nicely saved.

Bad defensive mistake—always control the ball on a turn, don’t let it just go—gives Netherlands a shot. Great, quick counter.

Villa has been called offside  a couple of times, but it’s close. Netherlands is really playing with fire there.

Yellow to Van Persie for another stupid challenge. He seems frustrated early about Netherlands lack of possession. Spain has really controlled the opening 15 minutes.

Yellow now to Puyol for a challenge that gets all kinds of player but no kinds of ball. Free kick to Netherlands. Saved. Not a bad shot with the Jabulani ball.

Yellow to Van Bommel. Why are they sliding through players like this? Honestly, stay on your feet.

Yellow to Sergio Ramos for the same thing. Good grief, we’re going to get people tossed for sure at this rate.

Yellow to De Jong for a karate kick into a Spaniard’s chest. That could have been a straight red. Man, there is all kinds of stupid going on out there.

A bit of fair play from the Netherlands. Spain’s keeper tosses the ball out near midfield after one of his players goes down. Netherlands inbounds and kicks it back to him. It hops high and with speed over the keeper’s head and, fortunately, doesn’t go into the net. He did manage a hand on it, though, so corner kick to Netherlands. They kick it to him in another display of sportsmanship.

0-0 at half.

Bronckhorst picks up a yellow on a Spanish flop. Lame.

Yellow to Heitinga for fouling Villa who flops around like a fish out of water. Foul, yes, but lame acting job to sell it.

Somebody is going to get tossed for sure.

Spanish keeper comes up huge in a 1 on 1 and saves the Spanish hopes. Robben had a great chance there.

Yellow to Capdevila for, uh, nothing, if the replay is to be believed.

Yellow to Robben for yelling at the ref after missing his second great breakaway chance of the day.

0-0 at the end of regulation. 30 minutes of overtime to follow.

Three Spanish flops in the box. No call. Good job, ref.

0-0 at the end of the 1st OT. Villa subbed out for Torres.

Heitinga gets tossed with a second yellow 4 minutes into the 2nd OT. Weak call. Looked very floppish. Dangerous spot for a kick though! For the next 10 minutes, Netherlands is down a guy. Will this be what Spain needs to make a breakthrough? Van Der Wiel gets a yellow on a trip. Didn’t touch him.

INIESTA! GOAL in the 11th minute of the 2nd OT period! Yellow to Mathijsen for yelling at the ref. Great half volley. Nothing the keeper is going to do about that.

Netherland tries gamely but no can do, and it’s Spain 1-0. Lots of arguing after by the Netherlands guys with the ref. Pretty classless, really.

[I'm blogging this after the match.]

Germany were hit by a flu bug prior to the match and won’t play Lahm or Podolski. Klose is out with a bad back. So this is hardly the Germany who got here, despite the return of Muller from card suspension.

Suarez returns from red card suspension for Uruguay and looks a rusty. Forlan, on the other hand, is magnificent. Loved his volley goal.

Anyway, an entertaining game won by Germany 3-2. Congratulations to both teams on a superb World Cup.

On the heels of the Germany’s 4-0 thrashing of Argentina, I think everyone expects a German victory against Spain. While I’m not one to write off David Villa, Spain’s star foward with whom everyone’s been impressed, I’ve got to agree that Germany certainly should win. I’m guessing 2-1.

Game has started tight and relatively boring, with Spain getting two decent chances, including one header that really should have been finished. Let’s hope somebody scores to make it interesting.

Nope. A few OK chances here or there—most of them offsides—but a relatively dull contest with the majority of the play in the middle third. We desperately need a goal here. 0-0 at half.

Spain with the run of play; Germany with a few good attacking chances but clearly back on their heels in the opening 20 minutes.

GOAL! Spain on a header from a corner! No chance for the keeper who looks rightly aggrieved. Really poor marking from Germany. 1-0 Spain.

35th minute. In with Gomez for Germany and on the Spanish side out with David Villa and in with Torres. Villa has played lights out and leads the Cup in scoring, Torres has been injured and has played awful by all accounts. I’m not sure this sub is a good idea.

Spain blows a major 2 v 1 counter. That should have been a goal, but it’s a clear sign the Germany has started to press forward out of necessity.

And it’s Spain! 1-0. I will have to revise my statement about Spain always disappointing. They played a great game today and deserved the win. Germany, honestly, looked flat. My favorite thing about Spain: No flopping. That’s a welcome change.

[Blogging this post-game.]

Exciting stuff from both sides. Loved Uruguay’s heart. Wish we could have seen them with Suarez up top with Forlan, but you can’t argue that his game-saving handball in the Quarter Final with Ghana didn’t deserve a straight red. Netherlands got their victory and it was deserved, but Uruguay gets my vote for most impressive overachievers. I see them as what I’d like the US team to be.

The good tends to outweigh the bad for me when it comes to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). To the extent that they advocate for the free speech and civil liberties on the Internet and in other electronic forms, I’m in their corner. It’s articles like Apple, Give Us a “Freedom of Choice” Button, however, where you’d think EFF isn’t serious in the work they do and which make me want to run away screaming.

The state one of their general philosophies thusly:

The principle is simple: just as you get to choose whatever after-market modification you want to make to your car, whatever disk drive you want to add to your mainframe, and whatever third party add-on you want for your software, you should be able to choose the apps and hardware you want for your iPhone. You should be able to choose your network provider. And you should be able to leave the walled garden and continue to use your device after you’ve moved on.

This utopian vision of rainbows and unicorns fades as soon you do even a basic critique. It starts with a bit of a Straw Man. Who says you’re not free to do whatever you like to your car, mainframe or iPhone? Take the car example. If you want to put an aftermarket accessory (I advise Rockwell Automation’s Retro Encabulator) in your Honda Civic so it can do 200 MPH, you’re free to do so. Similarly, if you want to jailbreak your iPhone, and add all kinds of snazzy, non-approved apps, you can. Isn’t America great? But let’s be clear, EFF: You are out of your nut if you think that Honda or Apple should be on the hook for supporting these modifications.

The “you should be able to choose your network provider” is similarly crazy. Apple’s iPhone is a GSM device, so it literally will not work on Verizon or Sprint. I believe even T-Mobile operates on different GSM frequencies for its 3G. EFF is implicitly calling for Apple to build a different iPhone. Now when the 4G networks arrive we will have a standard Apple can easily support in one phone and I’m willing to bet that we see multiple carriers in the US. (Apple already has multiple carriers in many overseas markets and Apple also tends to sell more phones when they have multiple carriers. I would be surprised if once it’s technologically feasible Apple doesn’t offer the iPhone on multiple carriers in the US.) But the idea that Apple should shoulder the burden and expense of a building a different phone just because EFF thinks they should is ludicrous.

This, says EFF, “is about end-user choice, and Apple doesn’t seem to believe you deserve any.” Are consumers not free to choose any other cell phone? I understand this isn’t the choice EFF is talking about, but it’s worth noting anyway. Consumers (and EFF) are always free to pick from another phone if they’re not happy with Apple’s. It’s not like Apple has a monopoly on cellphones or smartphones.

Here’s what EFF is talking about:

Through its control over the iPhone’s software and its mandatory approval process, Apple is pushing the idea that a manufacturer should be able to dictate how things can interoperate with a product at every layer – from the software, applications, and services that can be developed and sold, to the consumer’s use of the device, to the other devices that can physically plug into it.

Yes, this is exactly what Apple is pushing, only it’s not a problem, it’s part of what makes the iPhone great. When one company insures the interoperability of a product at every layer—no easy task, mind you—things work better. The iPhone is an excellent example of how a device is vastly improved precisely because of this attention to detail.

And in fact the iPhone does run apps that don’t come from the App Store. Apple has long supported on its iPhone web-based apps in a non-curated fashion. In other words, any developer can create a web app for the iPhone and any iPhone user can use that app on his iPhone. Apple has no oversight of this process at all. Nobody needs Apple’s approve to create a web app and nobody needs Apple’s approve to put it on their phone. You don’t even have to jailbreak the thing. The iPhone is built to run these things. Presently, Apple lists some 1700 web apps on its web apps page.

Now that stands in stark contrast to the more than 200,000 apps in Apple App Store, but that’s because there are huge advantages to developers and consumers in using Apple’s so-called “walled garden.” First, developers have an easy way to monetize their work. Second, developers have a set of programming tools and aids that allow them to take full advantage of the iPhone’s capabilities. Third, for consumers, the App Store creates an easy way to find new and interesting software for their phone. That the software has been vetted by Apple—meaning the source code has been checked for viruses and the like, among other things—is enormous advantage compared to other platforms, notably Android, where malware has already made an appearance and been downloaded by unsuspecting end-users.

The downside for developers (and, by extension, consumers) is that you have to play by Apple’s rules to be in App Store, and Apple has done a poor job codifying exactly what those rules are. Sure 95% of apps are approved and available for purchase within two weeks. And sure, most of the rejected apps have coding errors, don’t do what their description indicates or are in clear violation of Apple’s guidelines. There is no question, however, that some apps fall into a grey area and Apple has done a relatively poor job in clarifying things when this happens.

That said, developers and consumers all want a cellphone that works easily and well. EFF’s misguided arguments are an attack on the very things that Apple does to make that so on the iPhone. As I say, EFF does some fine work. This is not it.

Now I like Germany in this one since I don’t think the Argentine defense is up to the task, but there’s no question it’s anybody’s game.

GOAL! Only three minutes in! Wow! The Argentine defense picked apart easily. That was horrible defending on the set piece. 1-0 Germany.

Tons of space in the midfield for Germany to attack. Yikes. If it stays this way, Argentina is toast. I’ll call that now.

First yellow to Otamendi of Argentina. It was a dive by the German.

Mueller picks up a yellow for a handball; he’ll miss the semi if Germany advances.

1-0 Germany at half.

Klose! In the 67th minute from Podolski. Great teamwork. 2-0 Germany.

Great run by Schwansteiger! Goal! Argentina are done for. 3-0 Germany.

Klose! A clinical counterattack from Germany. 4-0 Germany. About a minute left in regulation. Done.

Argentina simply outclassed, both in talent and tactics. Germany the odds on favorite to win it all.

I didn’t think much of the admittedly athletic Ghana team against the US; I expect a Uruguayan victory. No African team has ever made the semifinals, but perhaps this is a day of upsets. Either way, I’ve got to say that the Netherlands is clearly a favorite to make it to the finals, making tomorrow’s Germany v. Argentina game all the more important in the other bracket.

Gyan throws a nutty after the ref calls him on it. Replay clearly shows a handball.

Corner header on frame saved nicely. Replay looks like it was off the Ghana defender. Yikes.

Yellow to Fucile which knocks him out of the next one if Uruguay advance.

Suarez with a great shot off a throw-in in the 25th. Good save!

Ghana with a major chance off a corner in the 29th. Just misses. Oh baby, that would have been totally against the run of play, too. Uruguay is dominant in terms of possession and corners.

Ghana misses just barely wide on a counter in the 30th.

34th minute now and Ghana has had the run of play for the last 5 minutes.

Uruguay has used a sub to take off their captain. Not sure why so early. Injury, maybe? (Yep, later shot shows the player on the bench with an icepack on his knee. That’s got to be a big blow.)

Ghana misses another good chance on a header in the 38th. Dangerous chances.

Uruguayan player goes up for a header, comes down weird, and -boop- out like a light. Hope he’s OK. Alright he’s up and off. Uruguay will play with 10 for the remaining 5 minutes or so until half.

Ghana misses a bicycle kick in the box. Too bad, would have been awesome.

GHANA! Unbelievable left foot from distance! With only seconds until half. Replay shows the keeper screened and leaning the wrong way. Great shot gives Ghana 1-0 at half, and deservedly too: They’ve had run of play since the 29th minute. Wow.

Big action in the opening two minutes with the ref missing a call right outside the Ghana penalty area.

Yellow to Arevalo of Uruguay.

Yellow to Pantsil of Ghana, who got nothing but player.

Forlan! Puts in the free kick for Uruguay. Beautiful curved shot! 1-1! Replay shows the ball moving all over the place. Jabulani goal!

Yellow to Perez after 5 minutes of great action. It’s been a very good second half in the opening 15 minutes.

Suarez misses on a great cross from Forlan in the 18th minute of the 2nd. Geez.

The linesman on the Uruguay offensive side is having a hellish half, missing one offside call after another.

Suarez’ shot saved in the 25th. Should have passed it in rather than cranking up the power. Good save, nonetheless.

Yellow to Sarpei of Ghana for trying to pull Suarez arm out of its socket.

Great action in the 2nd half. Very entertaining.

To overtime!

Some chances. Big opportunity at the end. Handball! Yes, that’s a straight red, but what do you do? If it goes in the game is over. You have to hand it off the line and hope for the best. Actually, I thought the ref carded the wrong guy. That’s amusing in the midst of Uruguayan heartbreak.

He missed it! Oh my word. That was the game. To penalties, and I’ll bet, despite all the evidence in the world, the keepers continue to hopelessly dive to the corners instead of on just a few shots, standing in the middle.

Uruguay wins it 4-2 in penalties. Amazing. Highly entertaining game and Uruguay goes on by the barest of margins.