You can watch the interview below or on Chuck’s MacVoices website.

Lightening is one thing, but going for almost a week without tech of any kind is quite another. Yet that’s the situation I faced on a recent scouting trip with my older son last month.

We traveled to Summerland Key, one of the western most of the Florida Keys. Warned by our island guides that there was no electricity or cell coverage anyway, we were informed that cellphones, iPods, etc were prohibited on the island. My digital SLR camera was the only thing with a battery I would be able to take. Other than that, the most advanced piece of technology I carried was my Leatherman multi-tool.

So how did I fare? Much better than I expected, actually. We were busy enough that I was never really all that tempted to post to Twitter or check email. It turns out that fishing, snorkeling, kayaking and preparing food are pretty good distractions from web surfing and iApps. And once I came to terms with the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to check in with my Lotus Notes account at the office, I was fine. The only time I was really conscious about not having my iPhone was when I wanted to use my Star Walk application to identify some of the constellations that were so brilliant in the night sky, and to use my iPhone as a camera — especially a video camera.

Albert Einstein once said “never memorize what you can look up in books.” With my iPhone and its near-ubiquitous connection to the web and all its vast resources, along with nine screens of applications, I can look up almost anything and so by extension, have to memorize almost nothing. That meant I had to rely on my memory and not my knot-tying app or my first aid app or even — Lord help me — Google. In the end, my two half hitches and taught line hitch held the hammock (my bed for the week) securely to our favorite gumbo limbo tree; we estimated the time from the sun’s position in the sky well enough to know when to start dinner; and we identified several constellations (and the Milky Way!) as we snorkeled in the dark night. All in all, I’m glad I traded the convenience of being able to look up a few things for the absence of distractions and temptations having the iPhone would have meant.

You can read more about my island adventure on my personal blog, and you can check out some of the pictures from the trip on the Troop 200 photo gallery.

Here are a few of the things I’ll be looking for:

1. Copy and paste. (Duh.) Seriously, though, if this one doesn’t finally happen — or if it doesn’t happen without a good explanation of why it can’t — I’ll be dumbfounded. It’s a feature so integral to using a computing device it’s just astounding that it hasn’t happened yet. Don’t get me started.
2. Flash. Please? There are just too many Flash sites out there for this issue to continue to be left unaddressed. Other phones are starting to get it (do any already have it?), and it’s ubiquitous enough that you can’t really make the claim that you get the “whole Internet” without it. I do, however, wonder about the implications and whether or not it’s those implications, rather than technical limitations that are holding this up. Would Hulu work, for example? It seems that with Flash enabled, Apple would have much less control about what the iPhone could and could not do.
3. Video recording/streaming. In addition to the recording aspect, I’d still love to see video conferencing work, at least in iChat if not Skype. The Flash question again, though: with Flash enabled, could these video recording/conferencing solution work even without Apple’s sanction or support?
4. More robust iApps. Mail and Address Book come quickly to mind, but most of Apple’s built-in apps are in much need of updates. Even the Apple Remote app seems unnecessarily hobbled compared to the physical version.
5. Better application management. One of the best arguments for the case that Apple never really intended to allow third-party app development can be seen in the iPhone’s launcher. The number of apps is limited (to nine screens, I believe); it’s ridiculously hard to move apps and completely impossible to group, sort or otherwise organize them.
6. Performance. I know, I know, it’s a phone and I should be (and am) grateful for all the wonderful things it can do, but the iPhone is still dog-slow at lots of processing tasks, with interminable user interface delays and hangups with no feedback as to what if anything is happening.
7. Background process management. Apple had good arguments for not including this capability, but its seemingly terrific compromise (the “push server”) never materialized. Lots of apps need to do things in the background to be useful, and hopefully Apple has now figured out how to accomplish this without tradeoffs in battery life, performance or security.

I have one more hope, and it’s admittedly a big (and selfish) one. I want all these new features to work on my first generation iPhone. That happened with the 2.0 update and I’m hoping that Apple feels it has enough of those devices still in the field to make that a non-negotiable. The fact that, other than GPS and 3G networking, the second-generation iPhone still has the same specs makes me optimistic: it seems unlikely to me that Apple will announce new software that instantly renders every iPhone in the field obsolete.

I don’t expect to get away without having to pay for this update, though. The software will be announced tomorrow, but don’t expect it to ship then. My guess is late July or early August, just after the original iPhones slip past the two-year subscription period Apple uses for accounting purposes. I think the iPhone 3G users will get this one as a freebie, but I’m expecting to have to pay for it. I’d love to get off with a $20 hit, but my guess is it will be closer to $40 for those who bought early.

How far off am I with all these predictions? We only have to wait a day to find out.

We’ve been doing this for eight or nine years now, and I’m always impressed by how the documentation of the event evolves as technology progresses. From postage-sized, choppy video of our first gig at New York’s “Cooler,” to the High Definition clips of 2009, it’s been a pretty amazing progression. And, it’s always cool for those of us in the band to have a look and listen from the audience’s perspective.

So thanks to Chuck for taking, editing and posting these clips, and of course, a big thanks to the guys in the band who consistently make this night my favorite experience at Macworld: Paul Kent, Dave Hamilton, Chris Breen, Bob LeVitus, Duane Straub and Bryan Chaffin.

The episode — along with links to other videos taken that night — is available on the MacVoices TV website.

On Wednesday night, I’ll be performing in the Macworld All-Star Band at “Cirque du Mac” at an undisclosed location. The party is free, but invitation only. Like the Mac The Knife parties it replaced, “if you have to ask about it, you can’t go.” Unless you see me, that is. I’ll have a limited number of tickets to hand out to people who are especially nice.

On Thursday night, I’ll be stopping by the “Mac Mingle 2009” party, at Jillian’s on 4th St. Host/Mac speaker and author Deb Shadovitz was nice enough to invite me and silly enough to think I was worth including on the list of “Mac Celebs” who are attending. If you see me there, please say hi.

Finally, it’s likely I’ll be participating in some MacJury panel discussions that are slated to take place during the show.

If you’re interested, you can check here for updates and additions.

Thanks to Chuck and the band — Chris Breen, Paul Kent, Dave Hamilton, Bob LeVitus, Duane Straub and Bryan Chaffin — for a great time. It’s a genuine joy to be part of this group.

I love camping and I do it whenever I can — usually between 15-20 nights per year. And while most of the hiking/camping community has been moving to internal frame backpacks, I remain an external guy. They’re easier to pack (and more forgiving when you do it “wrong”), better for hiking on well-established trails and much cheaper. But for all their benefits, they’ve become harder and harder to find. So I was very happy to find one of the best external packs around — the Jansport Carson — available once again after a long absence on Amazon.com.

To celebrate and get the word out, I’m posting the link below. Note that the RandomMaccess affiliate ID is embedded in the link. If you buy it through this link, I’ll get a small kickback, and your price remains unchanged.

Now get out there and do some camping!

Jansport Carson Backpack

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Nice try.

Stan had been ill several times over the past year or so, with MacMinute going on unexpected hiatus due to his medical problems. On June 18th of last year, he told his readers “Monday evening I was rushed to emergency and immediately placed in intensive care due to a serious medical issue.”

In November, Flack faced another unexpected surgery: “At least this time I had a brief warning and the opportunity to alert you as to my circumstances.” he wrote to his readers. “I will be back in the saddle as soon as humanly possible and things will be be back to normal.”

I’ll always remember Stan’s policy of not posting news on Veteran’s Day, instead posting “In Flanders Field,” a poem dedicated to the fallen soldiers of World War I. He was also the first person I know of to “decorate” his site’s logo, changing the stopwatch to an Easter egg or decorating it with a Santa hat. That playfulness and accessibility permeated Stan’s work.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Stan personally, but I was frequently inspired by his entrepreneurial spirit and the example he gave of how much one dedicated person could accomplish when he was doing something he loved. Stan and I shared some friends, and from their reaction to his passing, it’s obvious that he was a very special person.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Stan’s family.