Friday
Jan292010
Thoughts On The iPad
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I have been doing a lot of thinking and pondering about the iPad.
My first thought is that before crapping on the iPad, one should really watch the keynote Steve Jobs presented on Wednesday. What I saw there was way more than just a "big iPhone". I saw a device that will do many of the things that an iPhone will do, but better, faster, and, most importantly (although many skeptics and pundits ignore this...) more fun.
It is certainly more fun than my MacBook. As wicked-fast and capable as my MacBook is, it still kind of sucks to have to deal with that (essentially) full-size keyboard and mouse (though I could use the multitouch trackpad...). It takes up a hell of a lot of real estate on the coffee table, not to mention it almost always needs to be plugged in. If I'm running Aperture, and iTunes, and Safari (Me) and Firefox (Erin) and Mail, etc., I can only get about 2 hours of battery life on the outside. [Perhaps an argument against multitasking?] It just goes to show that "portable" and "convenient" don't always go hand in hand.
The iPad, it seems, will fit quite neatly into the void between the small and easy to handle but sometimes slow and sometimes a little too small iPhone and the fast, emminently capable but ironically large and cumbersome MacBook. To be fair, I didn't buy the MacBook to be a little computer for the living room. I bought it because I wanted a machine that would run my heavy-duty programs (iMovie, Aperture, etc.) but still be portable when I need it to be. I can very easily see the MacBook staying in the office unless I need to take it somewhere. I'll jump on there when I need to do any heavy-lifting on the ol' blogs, or serious writing, or (most especially) my photo editing.
I'll have the iPhone in the pocket. When I'm out, or at work, I've got a little mini-iPad there to check email, and twitter, and facebook (and make phone calls, I guess.). When I'm home, though, I need a little more. I'll pick up the light, convenient, not-encumbered-by-a-power-cable iPad and do just about everything I could do with either the iPhone or the MacBook. The iPad will probably be the first device I reach for when I'm at home. I used to have to decide which to use based on what I thought I was going to do. With the iPad I can just grab it and use it.
Now a word (or several) on the cynics and haters...
From Ars Technica comes this: "There's always a bit of widespread deflation after a launch with so much hype behind it..."
What?! Are they kidding?! Apple said not one single word about this device until they sent out the invitations to the media-only event. Even then there was not a single word from them about the nature of the device. One hundred percent of the "hype" has been generated by pundits and bloggers and consumers. Likewise one hundred percent of the expectations of what the device would be and what it could do.
But it's awkward to type on! Well, you can get a keyboard dock. Or you can just choose not to buy a tablet of any kind at all. The reviews that I've read from people who were actually at the keynote, who actually got to use the iPad and type on it, have said that it's remarkably easy to use and even enjoyable to type on. The multitouch is apparently even more intuitive and precise than the iPhone's.
But it doesn't have Flash! Yeah, and it isn't going to. Nor will the iPhone ever get Flash. Apple is decidedly against Flash because they want to be able to control every aspect of their OS. Like it or not that is the way it is. And guess what... They're right. In the past week both Vimeo and YouTube started Beta trials of using H.264/HTML5 video. I've tried them. They work really well. The (admittedly early) writing is on the wall for the non-standards-compliant Flash. Apple knows this and is acting accordingly. [For a more detailed (and well-written) opinion on Apple and Flash see Gruber's post Apple, Adobe, and Flash.] I am being completely honest when I say I have not missed Flash on the iPhone at all. And I'm probably not going too far out on the limb suspecting that there is no coincidence that both Vimeo and YouTube began rolling out the non-Flash players the week before the iPad announcement...
And the argument about Flash games not working on iPhone/iPad? Gruber (again) points out that Flash games usually have to have a physical keyboard and/or mouse. You couldn't play them even if you could load and run them. And really, many of the games on the App Store just put Flash games to shame. iPad-optimized games will go even farther. This is a non-argument.
But it doesn't have a camera! Ok, maybe a legitimate gripe. However, the only thing you really need a camera for on the iPad would be taking profile pictures, right? I can't really see anyone using this to take proper photos. It would be too big, too awkward. Especially considering how ubiquitous real digital cameras are now. And the video conferencing thing... I just don't see it. You don't video chat on the iPhone. I just can't see the extra weight, the extra size, the extra cost for a camera that probably won't be used that often. Let's not forget that the iPod touch, which has sold in the go-jillions since it was introduced, doesn't have one either.
But it doesn't have multitasking! The biggest argument I've seen for multitasking is that you can't listen to Pandora while checking email or using twitter. Think about this from Apple's perspective. They have a revenue generating music store that they would really like you to buy music from. That music plays on the iPod. Pandora is a competitor. Why would they want to implement multitasking (a big deal) just so you can listen to a competing music source while updating facebook. I really haven't seen a need for multitasking other than that on my iPhone.
From @ryanchris: "The most disturbing thing about the iPad reaction? That geeks can't recognize a consumer-oriented device when they see one."
The fact of the matter is that Apple has designed and built an amazing device. It isn't perfect for everyone. It never will be. But it is amazing. For $500 you can get a mobile computer with a next-generation touch interface, that's ridiculously fast and has tons of software available (With 140,000 apps, even if only 1% are really good, that's 1400 good programs).
In the end the iPad is something that Microsoft and HP and the haters and geeks just cannot wrap their heads around...
The iPad is fun.
My first thought is that before crapping on the iPad, one should really watch the keynote Steve Jobs presented on Wednesday. What I saw there was way more than just a "big iPhone". I saw a device that will do many of the things that an iPhone will do, but better, faster, and, most importantly (although many skeptics and pundits ignore this...) more fun.
It is certainly more fun than my MacBook. As wicked-fast and capable as my MacBook is, it still kind of sucks to have to deal with that (essentially) full-size keyboard and mouse (though I could use the multitouch trackpad...). It takes up a hell of a lot of real estate on the coffee table, not to mention it almost always needs to be plugged in. If I'm running Aperture, and iTunes, and Safari (Me) and Firefox (Erin) and Mail, etc., I can only get about 2 hours of battery life on the outside. [Perhaps an argument against multitasking?] It just goes to show that "portable" and "convenient" don't always go hand in hand.
The iPad, it seems, will fit quite neatly into the void between the small and easy to handle but sometimes slow and sometimes a little too small iPhone and the fast, emminently capable but ironically large and cumbersome MacBook. To be fair, I didn't buy the MacBook to be a little computer for the living room. I bought it because I wanted a machine that would run my heavy-duty programs (iMovie, Aperture, etc.) but still be portable when I need it to be. I can very easily see the MacBook staying in the office unless I need to take it somewhere. I'll jump on there when I need to do any heavy-lifting on the ol' blogs, or serious writing, or (most especially) my photo editing.
I'll have the iPhone in the pocket. When I'm out, or at work, I've got a little mini-iPad there to check email, and twitter, and facebook (and make phone calls, I guess.). When I'm home, though, I need a little more. I'll pick up the light, convenient, not-encumbered-by-a-power-cable iPad and do just about everything I could do with either the iPhone or the MacBook. The iPad will probably be the first device I reach for when I'm at home. I used to have to decide which to use based on what I thought I was going to do. With the iPad I can just grab it and use it.
Now a word (or several) on the cynics and haters...
From Ars Technica comes this: "There's always a bit of widespread deflation after a launch with so much hype behind it..."
What?! Are they kidding?! Apple said not one single word about this device until they sent out the invitations to the media-only event. Even then there was not a single word from them about the nature of the device. One hundred percent of the "hype" has been generated by pundits and bloggers and consumers. Likewise one hundred percent of the expectations of what the device would be and what it could do.
But it's awkward to type on! Well, you can get a keyboard dock. Or you can just choose not to buy a tablet of any kind at all. The reviews that I've read from people who were actually at the keynote, who actually got to use the iPad and type on it, have said that it's remarkably easy to use and even enjoyable to type on. The multitouch is apparently even more intuitive and precise than the iPhone's.
But it doesn't have Flash! Yeah, and it isn't going to. Nor will the iPhone ever get Flash. Apple is decidedly against Flash because they want to be able to control every aspect of their OS. Like it or not that is the way it is. And guess what... They're right. In the past week both Vimeo and YouTube started Beta trials of using H.264/HTML5 video. I've tried them. They work really well. The (admittedly early) writing is on the wall for the non-standards-compliant Flash. Apple knows this and is acting accordingly. [For a more detailed (and well-written) opinion on Apple and Flash see Gruber's post Apple, Adobe, and Flash.] I am being completely honest when I say I have not missed Flash on the iPhone at all. And I'm probably not going too far out on the limb suspecting that there is no coincidence that both Vimeo and YouTube began rolling out the non-Flash players the week before the iPad announcement...
And the argument about Flash games not working on iPhone/iPad? Gruber (again) points out that Flash games usually have to have a physical keyboard and/or mouse. You couldn't play them even if you could load and run them. And really, many of the games on the App Store just put Flash games to shame. iPad-optimized games will go even farther. This is a non-argument.
But it doesn't have a camera! Ok, maybe a legitimate gripe. However, the only thing you really need a camera for on the iPad would be taking profile pictures, right? I can't really see anyone using this to take proper photos. It would be too big, too awkward. Especially considering how ubiquitous real digital cameras are now. And the video conferencing thing... I just don't see it. You don't video chat on the iPhone. I just can't see the extra weight, the extra size, the extra cost for a camera that probably won't be used that often. Let's not forget that the iPod touch, which has sold in the go-jillions since it was introduced, doesn't have one either.
But it doesn't have multitasking! The biggest argument I've seen for multitasking is that you can't listen to Pandora while checking email or using twitter. Think about this from Apple's perspective. They have a revenue generating music store that they would really like you to buy music from. That music plays on the iPod. Pandora is a competitor. Why would they want to implement multitasking (a big deal) just so you can listen to a competing music source while updating facebook. I really haven't seen a need for multitasking other than that on my iPhone.
From @ryanchris: "The most disturbing thing about the iPad reaction? That geeks can't recognize a consumer-oriented device when they see one."
The fact of the matter is that Apple has designed and built an amazing device. It isn't perfect for everyone. It never will be. But it is amazing. For $500 you can get a mobile computer with a next-generation touch interface, that's ridiculously fast and has tons of software available (With 140,000 apps, even if only 1% are really good, that's 1400 good programs).
In the end the iPad is something that Microsoft and HP and the haters and geeks just cannot wrap their heads around...
The iPad is fun.
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