Initial Opinion
I was initially very disappointed in Apple for announcing what I was myself calling a “large iPhone that can’t even phone”. I saw no market for the iPad, I just could not see anyone buying it. You really can’t use an iPad unless you already have a computer (you need to be able to sync it) and so I thought why in the hell are people calling it a tablet computer, when it most clearly is not one.
The Good
However since then I have come round to the iPad a bit more. It has a great UI and from what I have seen and heard it works wonderfully in your hand. When I started to think about the kind of people at would use an iPad. I really could only see one possible answer, and that was the kind of people that use Netbooks. When Netbooks first came out I did a review of the Asus EEE PC and one of the major problems it had was the input devices i.e. a keyboards and trackpad, they were just not practical on such a small device. When Netbooks first came out most ran their own version of Linux, but nowadays we see most of them running Windows. The main reason for this is the lack of functionality and applications for the linux based versions. This is not a problem with the iPad as it already has thousands of apps ready to run sitting in the App store. The more I Think about it, it really is what Netbooks should have been. Finally the biggest surprise of all was the pricing; the top of the line only costing $829 (£530 roughly), putting it in perfect contention with other Netbooks.
The Bad
Sorry if this bit sounds like a rant but Apple left out some major stuff. First off why is there no camera? Considering most Netbooks are used for Skyping (and other AIM clients that support video), you would have thought a camera was an obvious one. Next on my list is the lack of Flash, Apple claim this is the best web surfing experience out there, but I ask how can it be if you can’t see anything done in flash? John Gruber of Daring fireball wrote a very interesting piece about this subject, which I suggest you check out. What really gets my goat is that people are calling it a tablet computer when it is clearly not a computer at all; even Steve Jobs calls it an iPod (29:40).
And that is a little bit of an overview of the
iPods hardware
It has no multi tasking and no standard interfaces such as USB ports, so if your friends shows up with a keynote on a memory stick and you want to put it on to your iPad you’ll need a computer; in fact if you want to put anything on your iPad you will need a computer. Apple also seem to be keenly advertising the iBooks function, but what they forget to mention is that at the moment it is US only.
The Ugly
In this case I think the beautiful might be more appropriate. There is no doubt that Jonathan Ive and his team have done a great job designing the iPad. Physically the iPad is slim and familiar. The UI is out standing and brings some of the nicest physical aspect of having a address book and a book in ones hand in to the digital realm. The contextual menus are well integrated and work seamlessly with the larger screen.
Final Opinion
My final thoughts after a bit of contemplation are that of contentment. I think it is a great start but as with any first generation device things are missing. Also I feel the hype didn’t help, people were expecting a fully fledged tablet computer and what they really got was a tablet iPod. I feel the iPad is for people who have a main computer, but might occasionally need a Netbook.
Rumours are flying around that Apple will release a tablet at their event on the 27th. They may just be rumours or complete truth, but what I want to talk about is where this tablet is going to fit in their line and who the hell is going to use it?
The idea of a tablet sounds great and I am sure if Apple make one it will work wonderfully. What I worry about is that there is just no market for one. If you want to surf the web while your out and about then you will use your iPhone; if you want to type a blog post you would use a laptop, it’s just that simple.
Where does a tablet fit in our lives? One possibility is as an ebook reader, but then you arrive at the question of the screen. What will they use? there are two choices and energy hungry LCD or a colour limited e-ink screen. If this was its primary purpose I just can’t see that many selling. Another use is for the more artistic mac owners who really want a touch screen to better create their art work, however this market share is probably so small it will not be profitable. It has also been rumoured that you maybe able to get it with a wireless carrier, if this is true it is competing with the iPhone as a wireless surfing device.
Then we come to the mine field that is price, this is a nightmare; if they price it at $1000 it is competing with fully fledged laptops and if they put it at $500 it is competing with the iPhone. A tablet sounds like a great idea, but it is a tried and failed model. I am not saying Apple should stay away from it I just hope they have something innovative and unique so it can easily be differentiated from an iPhone or a laptop.
Every Tuesday I try to publish one of my photo that you could uses a desktop background. The images are large enough to be used on a 30″ display. Enjoy the images and I would be grateful for any feedback.
Just click here to Download it
See the Archives Here
Choosing gifts for a “Geek” can be hard work, so we tend to actually tell our family what to buy and where from. But that doesn’t mean we still don’t have problems choosing what we really want for christmas ourselves. I am going to try and help by scouring the internet for gifts to delight all geeks around the world. My list contains some obscure but cool gifts and some more obvious ones.
- The Book Arc – this is a laptop stand similar to the mStand and Griffin Elevator, but this holds your laptop sideways leaving you more desk space.
- Films – Either blu-ray or DVD’s are great ideas, my personal favourite for this year would be Transformers.
- A Seagate 1TB USB hard drive – In general any hard drive is great for christmas as the size of our personal data is forever growing.
- Opteka .35x Fisheye – although not a great fisheye it is said to be great for the price point and ideal for new photographers wanting try a fisheye out with splashing all the cash.
- Airzooka – this marvellous childish toy shoots air at who ever you aim it at, totally ideal for family gatherings.
- Incase Laptop sleeve – sleeves are much smaller than laptop bags, and these incases ones look great with a plain design.
- XMI X-mini II Mini Speaker – These mini speakers put out some serious sound for their size and after getting one for my birthday would recommend them to anyone.
- TV Box sets – any TV series you love tends to be a great present.
Hope this helps.
Copyright: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deep-resonance
Just before the release of Windows 7 Apple announced a couple updates to some of their products. They released what are basically widescreen versions of the iMac, which have to be said look extremely nice, they also gave them a bit of a speed bump. They released a slender new aluminium Apple remote, a server version of the Mac Mini and a new MacBook with better longer battery life and a plastic unibody shell.
But most importantly they released the Magic Mouse, that is unbelievably cool. One of most talked about announcements is a flipping mouse. It is so hard to find a good bluetooth mouse these days. Logitech are the only company that sell a good basic bluetooth mouse ever other mouse wants you to plugin some form of dongle. Is it so unreasonable to use a technology that could be built into every Laptop and is in nearly every phone. Anyway back to the Magic mouse, it has the most sleek and stream line design of any mouse I have ever seen. I don’t know if I would really uses all those fancy finger gestures, but as long as I don’t have to lift my right finger to click with my left I might actually have to buy it.
What I did buy was a copy of Windows 7, there are so many version it can get really confusing but after looking around people were suggesting to get the 64-bit version on a Mac as Apple have drivers for 64-bit Windows 7 unlike Vista where there are only drivers for the 32-bit versions. In the end I bought the 64-bit Home premium version. I decided to get Windows 7 after playing with the beta which has to be said was rock solid and great to use. I need it for some of my A level subjects such as Physics where we are given a CD which, surprise surprise is Windows only and for DT where we use a lot of Windows design software packages such as “Pro Desktop”. I think I might wait till I have the official word from Apple that it is supported under Bootcamp, which is said to be coming by the end of this year.
