Earlier this year I published perhaps my favorite piece I’ve ever written about Apple, called Living in Steve’s House. I wrote it months before Steve’s death, yet it wasn’t until after his passing that I realized I hadn’t really written it about his retirement. I think those who follow the technology world sensed his end was near, yet, I think like many, I’m still left with what Marco Arment aptly characterized as an “unexpectedly significant sadness.” For someone who I’ve only met a handful of times, I’ve had a pretty hard time comprehending and processing Steve’s passing.

And every day since I’ve asked myself, why has this been so hard to parse? Death is enormous and overwhelming and nearly incomprehensible, but it’s something we all share in the end — so why is it that all these people feel this way about someone they never actually knew? I mean, look beyond the somewhat superficial sense of familiarity you get through the keynotes, or the public persona, or the many books written about him. Go past the fact that many of us, as Americans, feel a common sense of ownership in his life story, one that’s maybe even become the quintessential 21st century re-casting of the American dream; a legend of triumph over adversity, of comebacks, and persistence, and genius, and sheer will.

Look through all that, and you see the thing Steve wanted us to see the thing that was there all along: the products, the craftsmanship. We share the connection through the things he created; that which bore his fingerprints seemed at once custom-fit but eminently accessible. Something every person could connect with, something that was intuitive and that understood us.

And it’s not unfair to say products sometimes transformed the way we used technology or the way we communicate. Yes, they’ve carried a reputation for “just working,” which has helped them to become among the first pieces of technology with which people were actually able to forge some kind of emotional bonds. It’s also not unfair to say that without Steve Jobs, we might have just had technology, not personal technology. But we don’t adopt these things into our lives because someone says it’s revolutionary, or says that it just works, or says that it’s personal — it goes even deeper than that.

For the folks who give a damn, Steve gave a little hope that there’s still someone out who cares only about a work of craftsmanship. While so many are busy figuring out how to package and re-package utter shit and sell it as the consumer pseudo-identities we’ve come to call “lifestyles,” well, here’s a guy figuring out how to create objects of near impossible complexity and unimaginable potential while making it look basically effortless. Objects that somehow manage to make you feel like someone understood you.

That was Steve. He made things that made us feel like he knew each and every one of us personally, and created them specifically for each of us to use.

Steve was the guy who sits in the meeting and says no. No, no, NO. He’s the guy — in some ways, maybe one of the last people I know of — that stands in the way of a tidal wave of mediocrity. Not because he has to, but because he can. He’s the guy determined to see to it that not only will devices become relentlessly more useful, not only will society be transformed by this technology, but you — yes, you — are invited to participate, and don’t even worry because you should simply come as you are.

Thank you, Steve. Not for the products — although they’re certainly worth a damn — but for these and the many other things I don’t think we could have learned without you.

• Solis SL-90: Supposedly not a bad Swiss-made auto machine, and it’s got pressurized and non-pressurized filter baskets so newbs like us don’t suffer at the onset (but can theoretically ease into pulling a proper shot with a non-pressurized basket). Still, I hear it’s a generally mediocre machine — plus it doesn’t feature a 3-way solenoid valve.
• Breville 800ESXL: Cheap n’ pretty Aussie machine with high quality parts and a pressurized basket. Has to be modded to take non-pressurized baskets though, and even then generally seems to be thought of as a wolf in sheep’s clothing for budding coffee nerds. It’s a tempting buy, but it also doesn’t have a 3-way solenoid valve and I keep hearing “avoid!”
• Gaggia Classic: A very well respected machine, but supposedly prone to breaking down and no option for pressurized baskets. Bah.
• Rancilio Silvia: The most beloved consumer espresso machine and so, so pretty — but also difficult to master. I don’t necessarily trust us to get our tamps and grind just right, so my inclination is to go a little more user-friendly and sacrifice some of the sheer Rancilio awesomeness.

Your recommendations for a machine (hell, and grinder!) are much obliged. As you can tell, we’re looking at mid-range single-boiler consumer models.

If you’re approved for Clear, according to their site, you and your belongings still have to pass through the usual metal detectors and X-ray screenings; it seems like the only real bonus is that the Clear are shorter (usually non-existent), and there are attendants to assist Clear members with packing / unpacking their belongings for scanning. Of course, besides all the obvious privacy concerns, the vaguely creepy statement that Clear members are “continuously reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security” doesn’t leave me super excited. Clear maintains that its privacy policy is straightforward and progressive, though.

Maybe I naturally lean more to the tinfoil hat end of the spectrum, but is the trade-off of privacy really worth the claimed expediency? Any Clear members, what are your thoughts?

• Up my number of total vacation days taken. Been getting better about this, but really looking forward to this year.
• Travel less. Yes, less. Spend more time in the bay area.
• Get that gamerscore up past 5k. Totally doable.
• Get my data in order. Everything from contacts to media. Oh sure, it SOUNDS easy.
• Resurrect the Engadget Index. Sorry Tony, I swear, it’s gonna friggin’ happen!
• Buy our next place. Been after this one a while. I should probably consult my friend Alan, the real estate magnate.
• Watch more films. Originally “watch more foreign films”, and then I remembered an increasingly short attention span combined with little free time means the ratio is actually pretty decent.
• WQXGA. Totally.

-Ryan “Veronica’s Weighted Companion Cube” Block

We can put a man on the moon but we can’t take care of our nation’s ill? Absolutely sickening.

On a somewhat related note, December 6th was the anniversary of James Kim’s death.

I never really have a lot of words when it comes to these things, but those who wish to can donate to the Orchant family through Oliver Starr’s page (that link again), as well as to the James Kim Technology Foundation.

Happy holidays, everybody.

• Veronica’s show finally launched! I love it. The coming episodes are pure gold.
• I got to interview #3 on my “most wanted” list — look for that on Engadget soon.
• Google announces its long-awaited mobile platform. For the second time this year I’m genuinely stoked about the mobile space.
  • (Side note on Android, in 2004 before Google acquired the eponymous startup founded by Danger founder Andy Rubin, Peter and I brainstormed for weeks on a feature called “The Googlephone”, where we romanticized about what would happen if Google did a SideKick-like cellphone. Not even kidding. Bummer we never got it out the door.)
• Dick Parsons, the CEO of my parent company’s parent company’s parent company — Time Warner — is apparently out.
• Screenwriters go on strike, and I want in on that action. I write for a screen, don’t I?
• Oh yeah, V and I were on TWiT again. (Here’s us recording from our office.)

Let’s cut to the chase: yes, unfortunately most PR people don’t do their homework. They get their target’s email address (from that target’s site, Google, a media list like Bacon’s, or wherever else) and add X editor to whatever blast they’re cooking up because — as you probably know — many of these “flacks” are paid (extra) for results (read: stories in the media about their company / client). Yes, the resulting PR spam is ridiculously irritating and, when ignored, often leads to embarrassingly clueless and time-wasting followup calls.

But these people aren’t out to make our lives harder, and many of them are just doing what they can with what’s become a severely broken system between media relations and the media. For all our communications tools PR often reminds editors more of telemarketing than valued outreach. Can these firms and companies do a better job at targeting the most relevant publications (and editors therein)? No doubt, so in that sense Chris’s post is founded in the right reasons. PR people simply need to do a cursory amount of relationship-building to know who to get in touch with instead of just spamming the top of the food chain in the hopes of a trickled-down story. But I’m still not sure how lofty disinterest and spoon-feeding spam databases is the correct response to a broken system.

(For reference, this is the same problem faced by editors of publications large and small. Personally, I’ve dealt with it for years with some combination of ignoring / deleting, replying with a template, verbally rejecting calls, or in some cases telling the completely misguided ones only to call / email back when they actually grok Engadget and have something directly relevant to our coverage. Ask around, I’m not shy about doing this — it’s better for both parties, so far as I can tell. I even wrote a post about it.)

PR strategists interested in making real changes about this whole process should feel free to get in touch to discuss further. And don’t you dare add my personal email address to any lists! (Joking. But not really.)

Sept 19 – Land, take the NEX to Shinjuku, get lost trying to find the hotel, miss the PlayStation party, eat an extraordinarily expensive sashimi dinner.
Sept 20 – Meet up with Ittousai, hit Tokyo Game Show (including Kaz Hirai’s opening speech). Later: Akihabara run, but nothing is purchased.
Sept 21 – TGS day two, head to pick up rental cellphones, get seriously lost, head back for Microsoft’s press shindig, get back to hotel and collapse.
Sept 22 – Meiji-jingu temple, quick run through of Omotesando (shopping area), a bit of time spent marveling at the “colorful” Harajuku kids, plenty more time spent hanging around Roppongi, Daikonyama, and Ebisu.
Sept 23 – A little shopping in Shibuya, Yoyogi park area fun-fest (including Japanese greasers, street musicians, and the weekly yard sale en masse), lunch with Tyler and a really fun, helpful, and completely random Japanese girl (Miho-san), then Shinkansen to Kyoto.
Sept 24 – Late start, hop on a bus to the infamous Kiyomizu temple, get hopelessly lost, eventually find the shrine and have an unbelievable time (including, in order: zaru-soba and sake, cold spring water, lots of rain, and mochi).
Sept 25 – Nijo castle, get lost in the cab on the way to our semi-impromptu tour of the Kyoto Imperial Palace (thankfully we made it in time), long-ass bus ride out to the just-closed Kinkaku-ji temple. Bummer.
Sept 26 – Up early and head to Osaka. Hit Kaiyukan Aquarium and Osaka castle before eating massive amounts of food in Kuidaore and Shinsaibashi. Somehow manage not to get lost at all.
Sept 27 – Up early, finally hit up Kinkaku-ji before meeting up with Chris and Erin in Nagoya. The ironically emotional experience of going to the now-closed Robot Museum. “Late” night drinking (if you can define late as being in bed by 1am).
Sept 28 – Nara, Nara park, friggin’ aggressive sacred deer, mind-blowing Todai-ji shrine (one of the largest free-standing wooden structures housing one of the largest Buddha statues in the world)
Sept 29 – Back to Tokyo. Tons of shopping (for Veronica) in Shibuya. Accidental order of chicken hearts with our yakitori.
Sept 30 – Wandering around electronics stores in Shibuya with V in the morning, then in Akihabara with Ittousai in the evening. DS Lite + a few games acquired.

More to come!

*If you guessed: getting lost, shopping, and visiting castles, temples, or shrines, you win a gold star.

Update: we have a clear, hands down, undisputed champion. Whereas a good 1.5 hour session with the Roomba will produce a few ounces of the nasty stuff in its bin, in as much or less time the Dyson pulled up NINE massive canisters of stuff I’d really rather not think about. (Naturally, I took pictures.) The apartment is about 900 square feet, so figure one canister for each 10 x 10 patch.

You know, there are days I love technology and those rare days I don’t. Today I definitely love technology.

• I’m jealous: Brian met Stan Lee. And I didn’t.
• Paris Hilton loses her $60m inheritance. Perhaps there is a god after all. Update: TMZ reports it’s all a dirty fabrication. This will be the last time PH is ever mentioned on this blog.
• In related news, it sounds like the bay area had its tech parties this weekend crashed by a Paris Hilton type of its own: Julia Allison seems every bit as vacuous (“(in)famy”?), phony, and manipulative of the media. She also has one pose, which is hilariously awful. Welcome to California.
• Dear god, will someone please get me an electric drivetrain vehicle? I may even settle for this new Prius PHEV, despite its pitiful, castrated 8 mile electric range. And don’t feed me no bull about waiting for advancements in battery tech, we all know it’s there. The EV1 got at VERY LEAST 55 miles on ancient lead-acid batteries, and it was introduced in 1995!
• Peter and I interviewed on the Gadgeteer
• Will Ted Stevens soon have to start digging a series of tubes tunnels to escape from prison? Hope so!
• They got married!

• The earth-shattering revelation that Aquafina (and Dasani) are both tap water. And yet they both still taste like ass.
• Did someone say something about a Lost video game? Oh, there’s footage, too. Still, given the nature of the show, I can’t possibly see how this game won’t be a total suckfest.
• Salon praises editors, totally doesn’t understand blogging and what tomorrow’s writers and editors are doing today.
• My pals Om and Joyce launch a new show. The launch party was a veritable who’s who of tech movers and shakers. Still not sure how I got invited!
• Speaking of Lost, Rex is going apeshit over Monstrous / Cloverfield, or whatever the next JJ Abrams project is going to be called. My hope: they make it a 20 short that ends before they actually show the monster. It’s always better before the reveal.
• Pete and Jill’s wedding this weekend.