mobile blogging with the iPhone and Posterous
On a recent road trip to Chicago with my daughter Anna, we explored the iPhone 3GS as a mobile blogging tool. We traveled without a computer and used the iPhone exclusively. It is a powerful combination for the right application. The production tools on the phone are not state-of-the-art. But they make a powerful, versatile package. Here are some thoughts:
Before you go: It's a good idea to check in with Posterous, set up your blog and validate your email account(s) and mobile telephone number (for text message blogging). Add Posterous to your contact lists (post@posterous.com for email, and 41411 for texting).
But you don't even need an account - this is handy for one-off sharing. I accidentally sent a post from my Gmail account, which was unknown to Posterous. It obediently put the post up, and then sent me the URL in a confirmation email.
The camera is surprisingly good. Here is a shot of the Chicago skyline, looking north from Grant Park and shot through tinted car windows. The new camera has more pixels (3 megapixels) and you can focus by tapping a hot spot on the screen. The photos are also easily shareable, and are geo-tagged by the GPS.
Video on the iPhone is a game-changer. While the video is only VGA quality, it's good enough to compete with the likes of the various Flip cameras. The advantages of the iPhone video are compelling: you're carrying one device instead of two, and you have a constant connection to a network. You can also trim clips on the phone before posting, and upload directly to YouTube. What's missing is a good way to hold or secure the camera. I'm going to try the Joby GorillaPod with suction cup holder and see how that performs. There's also a high-end solution if you want to go nuts. The bottom line is that any serious video camera needs to be tripod-supportable. A minor nit: it's hard to shoot your own standup with the iPhone. Most small-format cameras allow you to flip the viewfinder around so you can frame a shot of yourself. The iPhone doesn't, so you'll need to guess or get a friend to set up your shot. A secondary wish: even though the audio is pretty good, an external mic would be nice. I believe this is possible but haven't investigated yet.
The built-in voice recorder works well. We played with this but didn't have any motivated reasons to post audio. I'll record some audio separately and put it online soon. The built-in voice recorder was straightforward and delivered good sound. There's also decent third-party support for quality iPhone recording.
Text is the most limiting component. You just don't want to do a lot of writing on that touch-screen keyboard. While you can now copy and paste, it's just too slow and tedious. So keep your posts short, and fill them with rich media. Save your novels and missives for when you're at home.
And in summary: with the iPhone 3GS and Posterous, mobile blogging is natural and easy. I have live-Tweeted events, and it was so much work that it pulled me out of the event. With the iPhone, you can grab audio, photos and video (and limited text) and get your ideas to an audience easily and immediately.
I can't wait to see where this goes.
