[vimeo https://vimeo.com/5170920]
My daughter offers her first product review for this Weblog—a teen’s perspective on the Nokia E71, with some criticism of the iPhone. Timing is perhaps appropriate, or not. Today, Nokia formally announced the E72, which packs a 5-megapixel camera; the E71 has a 3.2MP digicam. The iPhone 3GS goes on sale June 19. Yeah, on Friday.
It’s coincidence that this E71 vlog review runs the day after my Nokia N97 preview. My daughter recorded the vlog more than a week ago—at about 1 a.m., and it shows. This vlog was the second take. The original video was livelier, but she misidentified the handset as the N71. I decided to use the second take as is, rather than splicing new intro onto the first version.
I ask everyone to pardon the arguably technically rough cut. My daughter recently switched from a MacBook to the lovely—and pink—Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JTJ (13.3-inch LED display, 1280 x 800 resolution; 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3MB cache; 1066MHz front-side bus; 3GB DDR2 memory; 256MB DDR3 dedicated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 graphics; 320GB 5400rpm hard drive; DVD burner; 1.3MP WebCAM; 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless; Windows 7 Ultimate RC). The WebCam apparently comes preset to “fine” rather than high quality. The difference is 15fps instead of 30fps. My daughter recorded at the lower setting, and it shows.
I used Corel VideoStudio X2 to convert the vlog from WMA to MPEG4. But I did no other editing, which the video needs at over 7 minutes long. But I’m struggling to find really remarkable video-editing software for Windows. Apple’s iLife `09, which my daughter used before switching to the Sony VAIO, packs in lots of fun features. Can somebody show me something as good for Windows? I haven’t found it. If you sell it, please contact me for review purposes. I’m motivated to show that people can produce quick, fun and professional videos on Windows, too.
My daughter goes by handle “Morripopp” on YouTube, where she has, as of this posting, more than 6,000 subscribers. There, she vlogs mostly about makeup. I invited her here in part because she’s my daughter, but more because she’s videogenic, articulate and offers a teen’s perspective. Many high-tech companies selling consumer goods need to listen more to the teen perspective. Even for their non-consumer goods.
Consider the E71 my daughter uses. Nokia markets the phone for business users, not consumers. Yet, Morripopp chose this phone over iPhone or several other more consumer-friendly smartphones. She likes the color, the design, reflective back for checking her makeup and, most importantly, the keyboard for texting and instant messaging. In the first take of the vlog, she also praised the running of background apps, such as AIM, which she couldn’t do on iPhone.
The E71 doesn’t pack a truly consumer-friendly user interface. It’s quite boring actually. Yet here we have a video of a teen choosing the smartphone over iPhone. Expect more of these vlog reviews, with my daughter and eventually other teens. To these younger users, technology is oxygen. You old farts (I refuse to call myself one, yet) can’t consume all the oxygen that these Millennials—NetGeners, if you prefer—so naturally breathe.
To my post, “Browsing for the Better?,” commenter Mike corrected me:
I don’t know, Joe, I thought the ads were pretty good. I’m in the twenty-somethings and these were clearly targeted at my demographic. For that purpose, they work. I probably wouldn’t put them on TV, but if the ads were designed to go viral, they hit the nail on the head.
So maybe I am an old fart, and perhaps so are you. We all can learn something from these oxygen breathers. Some advice to Microsoft: Reconsider Windows Oxygen for Seven’s successor. I heard that Windows Oxygen was one of the finalists before Windows XP. O2 is technology that Millennials breathe.