New interfaces are tough to come by. I spent several days recently with Apple’s iPod Touch. It has an entirely new interface, which it shares with its more press-worthy sibling, the iPhone, which we are still waiting for in Canada.

For both the Touch and iPhone, Apple has developed an interface they are calling Multi-Touch. It is a touch screen that also understands gestures. For example sliding your finger will cause a different action than merely tapping. This opens up entirely new concepts of navigation and control.

One of the frustrations I have with the whole computing scene is the fact we are for the most part interfacing with our computers exactly the same way we did back in the late ‘80s.

Think about it, Apple (through Xerox) released the Macintosh (after the failed Lisa) and the graphical user interface was delivered to the mainstream. We were introduced to the mouse, to the desktop, to “point and click”, and ease of use became the buzzword.

Apple is on the verge of leaping ahead yet again with the release of their newest operating system, Leopard.

Just when Microsoft has finally played a bit of catch up with Vista, Apple puts on a burst of speed and shows their heels once again. It has to be frustrating for Microsoft, but Mac lovers are in their glory.

I have been getting calls from several PR agencies trying to get me to do a story on a new service for mobile phones. “Movies on you phone Steve, it will be huge!” So due to popular request, I will be happy to do a story on movies on your mobile phone.

Movies on mobile phones is without question one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard.

While this is probably not the publicity the PR firms were gunning for it is nevertheless my take on movies on phones. There is not a single thing wrong with the concept, there are dozens of things wrong with it.

Where to begin? Screen size, battery life, connection speed, cost, battery life, screen quality, battery life, did I mention battery life?

Do these people who constantly add features to our phones realize that occasionally we want to use the phone to make or receive a phone call? To do that we need the battery to be out of the red, and all these additional activities, listening to music, taking photos and watching Men in Black Part 2 suck up battery life leaving little for making an receiving phone calls.