The iPhone 5 . . . . . meh it's OK

So Apple has released another rendition of the iconic iPhone, labeled of course the iPhone 5.  Shouldn't it be like 7 or 8 by now but anyway the phone finally gets a screen size change and a minor redesign on the exterior.  Inside are the necessary upgrades that should come along with a new generation device.  A quicker A6 processor, 4G LTE radio, and updated iOS.  Now you would think with all of these upgrades to the hardware some significant redesign would come to the UI as well but no, not this time.  Apple has been using the same icons since the iPhone showed its face back in 2007.  C'mon guys I think it is time for something to change.  I'm not trying to be Debbie downer here but these little changes here and there ain't cutting it anymore.  There is room for customization within the Apple ecosystem but you always have to jailbreak the device and I am not against that at all, it's just that the iOS 5 jailbreak didn't go public for almost 5 months after release (who knows how long it will take this time)?  As you can tell I am a bit underwhelmed by the software and UI but you really cannot beat Apple's engineering and hardware design.  Oh well I guess you can't have everything, cue iPhone 6 rumors now. 

Windows 8 Pricing

So Windows 8 is set to hit shelves on October 26 and I was hoping they had simplified things as far as how many versions they were going to offer.  If you remember in the past Windows has always had multiple versions of the OS home, pro, ultimate or what have you whenever Microsoft released the OS you needed to have a damn manual on which version would be best for you.  You can breath a sigh of relief, there are only 2 versions this time.  Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro, it seems like they finally listened and got rid of all those ridiculous versions they have had in the past.  So they got one right and screwed up another now the actual pricing is what will confuse you.  Although lower than it has been in the past you know need an explanation for the pricing of Windows 8.  Mr. Gates goes against the grain this time and offers the OS for a mere $40 bucks if you are a previous Windows user, this however is only available through January 2013.  A retail version will be sold in stores at the same time but for $69.99 which is what the online price will move to after January 2013.  So will this radical price drop promote early adopters of Windows 8 or will it put people off as an interim upgrade?  What do you think?