Yesterday I was contacted by Nestor Arellano from ITBusiness.ca to give my thoughts about what it would take to get Canadian Consumers to really latch on to the iPhone for an upcoming article. The resulting article can be read here (make sure to read all three pages... their links are not so clear).

The chat we had, and the resulting discussion that the article creates got me thinking about mobile data, and how it is used in Canada.

Currently, of my non-technology industry acquaintances, I can honestly say that not a single one uses any sort of data related service on their current cellular phones, except for SMS and MMS services. Of those in the tech industry, most are not using a smartphone, but those who are have for the most part, company funded BlackBerry devices, and they do not access the mobile web.

Why do I think this is? Lack of a really functional web experience or other software that they would find useful, as well as the exorbitant costs of a data plan.

The iPhone, and the media coverage it has and will receive, will help to eliminate the problem of regular every day users not having a need for data access on their phones, as at the very least most people would find the weather application and Google Maps handy!

I really don't pay too much attention to gas prices. That is not to say that I enjoy throwing money away, it just means that when the needle is approaching the E, I fill up. Don't get me wrong, my family has done things to cut back. About two and a half years ago we became a one car family. It was only meant to be temporary, but we like the idea of saving nearly $1000 a month, so we have stuck with it.

My wife takes the bus home from work more often than not, and when I travel I try to take public transportation rather than renting a car. You can do this is big cities with proper infrastructure, Winnipeg however is a different story.

Anyway, this morning I read a blog post by Andy Ihnatko, who is a technology writer for the Chicago Sun Times. The last few lines are especially poignant.

It just goes to show that these artificially inflated oil prices are at the top of peoples mind, and not just another gripe that people have, like the weather this summer! Great change is coming in the world, I am just not certain at this point whether it will be good or bad.

The often criticized Apple TV has been a device which I have loved since day one. Recently Apple rolled out a feature to Canadian owners of the device, (something which has been available in the US for some time) the ability to rent movies (some are even available in High Definition) or buy movies right from your TV.

Now this is not just a service which is available on the Apple TV, you can also do use it from within iTunes if you want to watch a movie on your computer, iPod Touch or iPhone (which at this point has to be unlocked to function in Canada for another month!).

Tonight I rented my first movie on the Apple TV. My daughter Emily had an idea that we should watch a movie tonight. As she headed off to her room to grab a DVD that one or all of us had seen many times before I thought perhaps tonight would be a good night to test some technology. So I fired up the Shaw Digital Cable Box and the Apple TV and set out in search of a Video on Demand movie.

The thing that struck me at first was the speed and simplicity with which one could browse through a group of movie posters on the Apple TV, and see all of the movies that are available in a genre, in this case the Kids section. It was so much simpler and more enjoyable to view a big grid of movie posters, than the text based movie list on Shaw Video on Demand.

A recent blog post on the Digital Copyright Canada Website pointed to another blog post on the creatorscopyright.ca website which suggests that Canadian Lawyer, and educator, Michael Geist is to blame for Hockey Night in Canada, failing to come to an agreement with the creator of their theme song.

There are a few things that bug me about this blog post, which I wish to share with the world...