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What's going on in 2009?

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:22:00 +0000

So, as I mentioned a while ago, I am now focusing on writing and working on shorter mixing gigs and taking the occasional other project (scoring, sound design, etc.). A lot of my time has been going to the commercial A/V work I have been doing for about a year now. Its a great gig.

I am currently working on developing a recording "co-op" model that could be used for sharing resources, space, etc. with a number of people who don't have access to gear but can combine resources to makes albums, write, jam, and generally just collaborate. It's very early, but there may be some good opportunities there.

later

What's up at the end of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:34:00 +0000

Wrapping up 2008 and as usual, Colabs keeps evolving as growing. A few notable changes for me and Colabs this year:

Moved to the west coast and got plugged into the music scene here.
Moved the studio from one decent studio space to a much preferable one, my house!
Had a baby, a beautiful son!
Have started scaling back whole album mixes in favor of singles and EPs
Starting to take my own writing and music creation more seriously

2009 will be an exciting year for me personally as I dive into fatherhood and a new creative season with Colabs.

Thanks to everyone who has worked with me in the last year!

The heartless task of arranging your music

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:38:00 +0000

Often when mixing an album I will be faced with a dilemma: with all the tracks roughly balanced at a level where you can hear everything, there is no way for all the tracks to live together in the same song - there is too much going on.

So, I am forced to make a tough call, a musical "Sophie's Choice", if you will. Someone has got to go. I need to cut some tracks.

I will often consult the artist or producer before doing this. No one really likes this at the mixing stage because it involves a compromise. There are often a lot of good ideas in there and you know that by choosing one direction, you are shutting down another one.

In the end the music sounds better. The song and the melody will likely be more memorable or maybe the music just grooves better. But there is a better way: the heartless task of arranging you music.

Write your song.
Establish an arrangement that supports all the best elements of the song.
Record your song in the most fun and natural way you can.
During the overdub stage, feel free to get all your crazy ideas out there but keep the overall song and the melody in plain view all the while.
Before you mix the song, ruthlessly cut every part that doesn't add to the original vibe and magic of the song. Cool sounding or not, if it doesn't support the song and jives with all the other elements, cut it.

If you make smart creative choices early on and trust that the song will speak for itself, a mix engineer will be able to do her job and take the song to a whole new level.

Rhyme and Melody Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:27:00 +0000

A local (Vancouver area) producer has launched a new podcast that covers (loosely) hip-hop, beat boxing, freestyle, and general urban music creation in a collaborative studio context. They are doing some fun stuff with creating some musical ideas though improvisation in the studio and then polishing between shows. I may be doing some collaboration so check it out and support the local music scene.

You can find the podcast here.

Later.

Jeremy Melodic Makes Fox SEEDS top 20

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Jeremy Melodic recently had there three song demo mixed at Colabs in preparation for submitting their band to the Fox SEEDS '08 contest. Jeremy Melodic has made the initial top 20 pick, so congrats to them on that!

Sign up and vote for Jeremy Melodic.

Making records should be fun.

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:12:00 +0000

I had a fun jam and recording session with a good friend the other night. As we collaborated and threw different musical ideas around my friend made a comment that stuck out to me:

"...this is so different from when we made our album. It wasn't fun."

He was referring to a record that he had made with his band recently. It was a fairly big budget project and most of the time was spent in bigger studios working with a producer. The formula for a great album was all there and the finished product actually sounds pretty good.

So why would he say that he preferred the recording process of a couple of guys in a small studio throwing ideas around and not really being all that finicky about sounds, perfect playing, etc.?

1. You need to have a good working relationship with your producer. sound's like my friend had a producer who, despite getting the sounds he wanted in the end, was not really easy to work with. Sometimes this is ok and necessary to keep a project moving forward, but it can also stifle creativity. My friend and I get along great and can take creative risks with each other while still being able to say when something is stupid. A good producer can hold those two elements in balance to keep a session creative and on track.

2. Big budgets can create big pressure. A good product cost money, but the decision to work entirely in large studios and by expensive hourly rates can be a massive wet blanket on the creativity and enjoyment of making music, especially for a struggling artist or band.

Making music, no matter the style or your goals in recording, should be fun. Creativity is often about taking risks. Record in an environment where you feel the most creatively free and with people who can both welcome your crazy ideas and call out the bad ones.

New Gear

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:54:00 +0000

I've been looking at getting a couple new pieces of gear into the studio. Here is a short list of some of the really cool things I have been looking at and considering.

Rolls Music Folcrom - Analog audio summing has become pretty big over the past four or five years with the 'mixing in the box' crowd. Basically, the argument goes, that a big part of why analog consoles make mixes sound so good is in the summing amp (a device that takes all your channels and 'sums' them into a stereo signal). The rolls is cool because it is totally passive and you need a preamp to make up the gain of your stereo signal. This means that your sound is totally determined by what mic preamps you use for make up gain. Cool!

Waves Studio Classics Plug in Bundle - Really good sounding emulations of SSL, Neve, and API gear. Most people are stoked about the SSL stuff but It all sounds pretty cool.

Celemony Melodyne Studio - The new version of this program can tune notes within chords of recorded audio. I have absolutely no idea how they figured out how to do this, but I would guess someone at Celemony sold their soul to the devil or something similarly dubious. Tune your guitar after you get a good take!

BFD 2 - Actually I already ordered this. Really good sounding, really usable multi sampled acoustic drum machine that I can also trigger with Drumagog. More of a songwriting tool or a convincing back up when you can't get a real drummer with a good kit in a great sounding studio. I like that I can use drumagog to trigger new drum sounds with their corresponding room and overhead mics that I can mix in afterward. Sweet!

Ok enough nerd gear talk.

Later.

How Much is Too Much?

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:08:00 +0000

...or "How cheap is too cheap?"

Recording an album is almost always a significant financial undertaking for an indie band or artist. Typical indie budgets start in the $5k range and often run up to $30k or higher. That would be the low end. Budgets of $50,000 or more are not uncommon with serious working bands. They may or may not be getting a bit of support from a small indie label, but chances are that they are paying a lot of cash out of their own pockets.

The crazy thing is, I can't really tell the difference between the $20k or $30k album and the $50k album. I mean, in general, I hear projects in both price ranges that sound amazing and some that sound cheap and amateur. Neither price range is high enough to guarantee success, sales, critical acclaim, (not sure any price range does, actually) but the higher price range seems to especially miss the mark as it is basically throwing money away.

Now, I've heard so many arguments for the value of the recording process, the "minimum budget" for a professional product, you get what you pay for, blah blah blah. Typically it is studio owners who talk this way because it is clearly in their best interest to sell studio time on the grounds that a bigger budget will always mean a more professional album in the end. And there is some truth to this. Fair enough. However, many studios charge their rates based on the use of all there facilities and equipment. If a recording studio has all the gear and accoutrement's of a $1000/day room, you are going to pay $1000/day regardless of whether or not you use all of it.

So the question to ask is, "what do I need to make this album?"

Start by making a list of the things that cost you nothing...

-rehearse
-write songs
-arrange your music
-get critical feedback

If you get these elements down, you will automatically reduce your need to be in the studio for longer chunks of time. Next, consider what you can take on yourself and what you need outside professionals for.

-Can you do you own preproduction?
-Do you own recording equipment?
-Are you qualified to engineer the album or just put down "scratch parts" and ideas?
-Can you play all your musical parts or do you need session players?

Finally, make a list of things you probably can't make a good record without. These would include (and I would recommend them)...

-A producer who you get along with and who gets your sound
-A space to record
-Gear to record with
-A good engineer to capture the sounds
-A good mix engineer to make it sound like the record you want
-A mastering engineer
-Some way to duplicate and distribute your music (doesn't have to be a CD)

If you start be thinking with the mindset that the majority of the recording process rests on your own shoulders, your thinking about cost will be quite different (and cheaper). The trap you absolutely must avoid is thinking that because you don't have the big studio, big budget, celebrity producer, special vintage gear, _______________(insert other excuse here), that you can't make a record. If your music sucks without those elements, it's because your music sucks.

Think about that before you start writing checks, then get recording!

Later.

Collaborative Incentive

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:57:00 +0000

A good deal of my mixing clients over the past years have been friends of friends who have heard first hand about how they could get a better sounding mix and an overall better album by working with me. I've always appreciated the warm and positive feedback that people have given me and how it has lead to more people hearing about my mixing.

So this month Colabs is launching a collaborative incentive program that pays you for telling people about us. We appreciate the word of mouth endorsements that we have received all along and now we want to give something back to you and also give you incentive to keep doing it!

Contact me if you want to find out about this. Anyone can sign up, we'll send you promo materials and you stand to make some extra cash just for telling people about Colabs!

The Future of Making Music

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:43:00 +0000

I am fully convinced that the music industry of yesteryear, the one that many people still think exists, the one they talk about in passing on tv shows, the big glitzy powerful multi-national corporation owned and driven music industry where big labels are the gatekeepers to a lucrative career in music, will be almost totally gone in the next few years.

I believe this for a couple obvious and maybe a few less obvious reasons.

1. CD sales are toast - I'll jut download it.

2. Anyone can make a record - Turns out the kid in his basement can make a pretty decent record without paying $200/hr. at Studio XYZ.

3. Indie is Mainstream - Your mom really likes Feist.

4. Entrepreneurship is key - Sorry, but no one is going to stumble upon your demo and 'sign you to a big label'.

5. The interwebs - social networking, facebook, youtube, myspace, computervideonintedoipods, blah, blah, blah.

My view in a nutshell? Successful artists in 2008 will produce there own products (record on there own with a hand selected group of specialized people), find there own fan base through social networks, distribute music and merch on the web, and overall take an entrepreneurial approach to there own music careers.

That's it. Now get crackin'!

Later

2008 is really great!

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:43:00 +0000

Happy new year people!

Hope 2007 was as fun for you as it was for me. Lots of cool new stuf coming up for Colabs in 2008. Keep an eye out for the new site up this month.

Later.

Nearly....

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 01:14:00 +0000

Hey, the website is almost up!

Check back around mid December and you should be presently surprised. Actually, since I'm announcing it right now, you won't be that surprised. But check it out anyways, I think it is looking pretty cool.

Later,

A

Since we've moved...

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:26:00 +0000

There are a number of things that I have noticed initially since moving to Langley.

It's really beautiful here. Coming from Calgary (nice city, don't get me wrong) we are still getting used to all the vegetation and walks by the ocean. Very inspiring.

People talk about rain a lot. I don't mind the rain. Never have. It does bug me though how often people talk about how much it rains. Every time you turn on the radio it's "well it looks like mooooooore rain" or you tell someone you just moved here and they say, "well hope you like rain." Seriously, find something else to talk about!

Way more bands. I'm loving connecting with so many bands out here. Everyone is in a band, which is great. Its a big reason way we are out here now. A bigger, more active music scene. Love it.

Later.

Setting Up

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:17:00 +0000

Well, I've moved into my new place, got all my gear out of storage and am in the process of setting up a new studio space.

The new mix room is about the same square footage as my place in Calgary but has much higher ceilings and has an attached overdub booth that is all treated, wired and ready to go. I've got a bit of work to in this new space just to get it up to my standards for a mix room; mostly acoustic treatment on the walls and some bass trapping. Maybe a coat of paint and some nice decor? Some throw pillows and mural of an ice princess riding a polar bear?

I've thrown up an offer on craigslist, but I will post it hear to. Since I need to set up my room and get a feel for the new space, I'd like to mix a three song demo/EP for someone who has some solid material and has there material ready to go. It would be totally free and there would be no obligation to use the mixes in the end. I just need to get the room set up and tuned, and an actual mix gig would be great.

If you know of someone who could make use of this during the month of November, have them send me and email: info@colabs.ca

On an unrelated note, I've become a big fan of Last.fm. Great way to hear new music. Check it out.

Later.

Changes... Big Changes

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:07:00 +0000

Well, the blog has sat dormant over the later part of the summer and into the fall. Obviously something is up.

Well, for those who knew, I was living in Calgary, Alberta and running the mixing studio there. Well, know I am in Vancouver, Langley, BC, to be exact.

Over the past few years my wife and I have been trying to find a way to move out to the coast or near to it. The west coast lifestyle, the music scene, the beautiful scenery, all were important things to us. Then, this summer a number of opportunities opened up for us with jobs, etc. that made the transition look like a serious possibility. So we took a deep breath and jumped into this big life transition with both feet.

The move went well and I have managed to line up a studio space that will work well for my mixing work. It was a little difficult leaving the studio in Calgary since there was a lot of hard work and creativity that went into that space. But the important thing is that I have a solid space to mix in and am now closer to a really lively indie music scene, something I have always been passionate about supporting.

So, new studio pics will be up in the near future and an updated website is on its way.

Later,

A

Where's the new site?

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:49:00 +0000

I mentioned a while back that there was a new colabs.ca site in the works. Well, it's still on the way. It has been taking a little longer then expected, but it should be up soon.

The new site will look a lot cooler, be easier to navigate, and will have some helpful resources for independent artists who are in the recording process. Also, I'll have a Q&A page up to answer some of the common questions that I often get asked about Colabs and the mixing process.

On another note, if you would like to hear how I spend my free time in the studio, check out www.sunsetarrest.blogspot.com. I'll be posting my ongoing writing/production projects there.

later.

Special Effects

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Mon, 28 May 2007 16:00:00 +0000

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End the other night. Basically it is a lot of eye candy, a ridiculous cameo by Kieth Richards, and a half baked and confusing storyline that is hard to follow. In this way the feel of the movie is a good representation of the theme park ride that it is based on. I'm sure there are a lot of people who loved it, but I think that this type of movie is best enjoyed when testing out a home theater package at Best Buy.

The thing about amazing special effects is that they don't really stand on there own apart from a good story. I've bought so many albums that, on first listen, sound so fresh and creative, but when you actually listen to them, they sound over-hyped and bland. It's a funny thing. Some of my favorite albums definitely have a distinctive sound that seems to lock them into a certain time and place - but in a good way. On the other hand, an album that lacks real depth in the songs seems to quickly sound dated - like a fad that died out as soon as you bought into it. I hate that!

In music production, there is a big temptation to gloss over the imperfections in the writing with clever production tricks. When it come to the mix, it's easy to get carried away. You can get peoples attention with "special effects", but without substance, you'll likely be forgotten quickly.

X92.9 Xposure Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:09:00 +0000

If you live in Calgary and listen to X92 you may have heard mention of the Xposure contest that they are taking submissions for. Basically you send in a CD of your band's best three songs to the station and "...the top 5 bands will each win $15,000, inclusion on the Xposure CD, $1,000 gift certificate from Guitarworks and a track in full radio rotation on X92.9.� Partial proceeds from the Xposure CD will go to each of the band as well." (Xposure Blog)

So here's the deal. This is a great opportunity for bands that have a good CD project but not much exposure at this point. I'd love to help your music get recognized and see some deserving new bands win this thing. So, if you are thinking of submitting a CD for this, but aren't sure if your demo will cut it on competitive radio airplay, CoLabs can help you out.

I'll mix your project to be submitted up front for FREE. You will get a totally pro sounding mix of your product that will really stand out and get some attention. If you don't make the winning top five, you don't pay a thing.

This thing will be over soon so contact me at info@colabs.ca if this is something you are interested in.

Later

Creative Voice in Mixing

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:21:00 +0000

I've always felt that I've had difficultly expressing my musical voice through any one musical medium. Some people are naturally gifted in one area, whether it be songwriting, some instrument that they are really proficient on or something like that, and they are able to express there creative voice effortlessly. It's a little different for me.

By "creative voice" I mean that inner creative identity that you try to expose through your art. Your view of the world, your statement.

But this voice takes time to develop. A painter must learn the appropriate techniques and skills before she can freely create without any technical barrier stopping her from realizing her creative vision. Until she arrives at that certain level of proficiency (it's different for everyone) she will struggle to give voice to her creativity and will likely feel that her work is always half finished or under realized.

I have found that I can't give voice to my creativity in any one medium. Practically, while I play a number of instruments, I'm not amazing on any one of them. Artistically, I've often found that one instrument, one sound, one color isn't enough to say all that must be said. Kind of like painting with only one brush and one color. This is way I have always loved producing, but especially, mixing.

Mixing may seem an odd medium for giving free reign to an artistic voice, but I find it to be a very creatively freeing experience. You could say that a song could be mixed a hundred different ways, but upon hearing a piece that I'm going to work on, I usually hear the end product in the first few listens. I then work backwards to realize that sound in my head.

Instead of a restrictive thing, this is a very clarifying process in giving voice to my creativity. After all, your creative voice isn't about infinite possibility so much as it is about that one thing that you are trying to say in that moment.

An artist is tortured in not feeling that he can give voice to his creativity, that he will never be able to express in a pure way just how he see the world around him. And this is the simple beauty in mixing for me. In the four minutes of that one song, I get to paint a view of the world as I see it. If you listen behind the music, you will hear my creative voice.

The Story of CoLabs Pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:20:00 +0000

So, to pick up the story from last time..

I found myself in a strange place in January of 2005. I knew that my place was with artists, making music in the studio, but I had just left a studio where I did that on a daily basis. I was pretty angry about how the last six months had just played out but I didn't feel like fighting any more. I knew that I needed to find my way back into the studio but it was becoming clear that it was going to be a very different road then what I had planned for.

I decided to pick up a job in some related field and to start looking for new opportunities to make records again. I found a company that installed audiophile equipment and home theaters and wired "smart" houses.

Close enough. I figured I would be there for a few months, maybe find a new home base to work out of and get back to making great music. Well, three months went by, four months, five, six...

I tried to stay sharp and keep learning in the middle of all this, so I read a lot, networked with different studio owners and keep recording on my own from home. I picked up the odd gig to engineer or mix something for people, but there wasn't really a clear direction as to where things were going. I started to think more about opening a studio and what that would look like in Calgary, but really didn't know if Alberta needed another recording facility.

Many of the studio owners and producers that I spoke with seemed to be somewhat frustrated with the way the whole recording industry looked like in Alberta and talked about things needing to change. One frustration I noticed was that the nicer "pro" studio owners felt that the guys with project studios where destroying the industry by charging people $20/hr. to make whole recording projects in their bedrooms and basements. I saw the point but surely the project studio/home recording trend was not going to go away. One thing I was becoming more convinced of through conversation with different studio owners was that the "one-stop-shop" approach was not working. Sure, it kept clients in the building longer since you would offer everything from songwriting to graphic design and mastering. But, in the end, the music suffered and people felt that if you had any real money you would need to leave for Vancouver or Nashville to get a really good product. Isn't there a better approach?

I kept chewing on these ideas.

It was November and I was working out in the mountains wiring a beautiful new vacation home. It was pretty cold and the walls of the building where only partly up so I was wearing some work gloves. I needed to use the table saw on the job site to build a guide for the wires we were pulling that morning. I'm not sure what happened, but I think my glove touched the spinning blade as I pulled the piece I had just cut off the table. I felt my left hand get thrown back to my side almost instantly as the saw made a quick hiccup sound. I switched the saw off. I thought the wood must have caught the blade and kicked back into my hand. But when I looked at my hand, my glove was ripped apart and my fingers where covered in blood. The blade had caught a small piece of my glove and pulled my hand across the top of it, ripping apart my middle and ring fingers in an instant.

I had reconstructive surgery done that afternoon by, thankfully, one of the best hand specialists in Calgary. I kept all my fingers, but lost the first two joints in my ring and middle fingers.

I went from this...

To this...

I couldn't work for about five months. Because I had four metal pins between the two fingers, I couldn't move them from my knuckles down. So I sat at home, healing up, hoping that I could continue to play bass and guitar when the pins came out.

As I waited to heal up, I realized that if I was going to live out this whole studio thing, I would have to make some major changes starting right then. I couldn't afford to wait any longer.

But that's for next time...

The Blog Keeps Changing

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:44:00 +0000

I keep changing things on this blog 'cause I'm not very tech savvy when it comes to web stuff and this is a bit of a guinea pig for me. So I keep changing the look and feel of things to try and become a little more fluent in this stuff. If you stop by from time to time, thanks for that, and feel free to drop any suggestions or links in a comment to any helpful resources for a virgin blogger.

later.

Live music

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:24:00 +0000

I live in Calgary, a city of a million people. We have the beautiful skies of the prairies while in view of the rocky mountains, an exploding economy, some of the best cuisine in Canada, and a vibrant theater scene. Oh, also, It's a Friday and I can only find four venues for live music.

Seriously.

Now, obviously this is partly due to the fact that the papers and websites probably aren't reporting all of the live music that is going on. But they are reporting the notable stuff; the stuff worth reporting in their opinion, I guess.

I see this a big problem and one that the music community should be doing more to address. The Sidetrack Cafe, one of Edmonton's most significant live music venues, recently closed it's doors. Hopefully more venues will emerge to fill the void so that Edmonton's growing music scene can continue to find a home around the city.

As for Calgary, I really want to see more venues open up for the specific purpose of supporting the music community in Alberta and in the city. We need more entrepreneurial
leaders in this area. We need to take more personal ownership in the music scene in our city and take steps to improve it.

If you want to chat more about this, I'll be at one of the live music venues tonight... you've got a one in four chance of finding me.

New website on the way...

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:40:00 +0000

A whole new colabs.ca website is in the works right now and should be up in the next month or so. The initial site that I put up kind of sucks and is hard to read and navigate. Big thanks to my bro Jesse for taking on the new website. Should be a lot cooler then what is up now. Check the site in a month or so and feel free to give some feedback if you love/hate it.

Later.

The Artist's Vision

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:55:00 +0000

One of the reasons why I have felt so strongly about the need for accessible world class mixing for the independent artist has been the numerous stories I often hear when talking with them.

"My friend put a lot of money into his project but it sounds cheap!"

"We worked on the album for months but we weren't really happy with the end product."

"I didn't really get the album I was hoping for."

While I really feel that great mixing is crucial to making a great album, I think that vision is even more important. I feel that an artist must have a clear vision of the type of project they want to make. Beyond that, they must really take the right steps to communicate that vision to all people involved working on the project.

The producer is the first part of this because he is the one who must understand the vision the most; he must make it his own vision (often by blending it with his own vision for the project) and execute it well.

Second, the artist and producer must chose a team to execute the project that can get behind the vision. This is why I don't encourage artists to stay in one place with one guy doing everything just because it is convenient. If that studio and that producer/engineer is what will best support and execute the artistic vision, then by all means, stay put. But, do your homework. research the work of producers and studios to find the best team for your vision.

As a mixer, I always make sure that the vision for the project is front and center. It is the creative "road map" that I use to navigate the project. It lets me know not only what the artists expectations are, but also how best to present the music in a totally professional way.

Take time in preproduction to outline the vision and goals for the project. You will not only meet your own expectations, but it will help those who work with you to do there best work!

iPhone Predictions

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Diehl) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:15:00 +0000

Well, the iPhone is officially announced and I have to say that it looks absolutely insane! I have been a loyal Mac user for a number of years now since they are arguably the most stable and hassle free computers to host Pro Tools and many of my power hungry media apps. However, in spite of my bias, I have to say that the iPhone, as far as I can see, will be the most influential technological device of 2007 and the effects will likely change the landscape of the entire telecommunications industry!

RIM, the company that makes the Blackberry, saw a 6% drop in their stock value as result of Apple announcing the iPhone, which will offer a free "push" IMAP email account from Yahoo! as well as a fully functional web browser (not the "baby web" as Steve Jobs called it). Basically, they are giving away the main service that people have been paying for on a Blackberry but in a much cooler package and with way better functionality when you buy the iPhone.

It will be interesting to see what comes of the major cell phone manufacturers when this thing hits the market. I think the hardest hit will be RIM and the other high end "smart phone" companies. Clearly the iPhone is going to make there services and features seem obsolete and kind of primitive. However, the $499 US price tag will likely mean that the lower end phones won't likely be to threatened... not yet anyways. If the devepment of the iPod is any pattered of prediction, I wouldn't be surprised to see an iPhone Nano or something like that with a smaller footprint and a more budget friendly price tag by the end of the year or early 2008.

If you haven't seen the video of this thing in action yet, check it out. You will want to throw your cell phone in the garbage.

iPhone