How the iPad gobbles up netbook sales
I almost see a trend here… yeah, netbooks are terrible. That is the trend.
Human-computer interaction has found a sweet spot on the iPad. It’s all the power of desktop computing, plus the valuable constraints of mobile devices, minus the limitations of both. It just makes sense. Use one for a couple hours and your desktop or laptop will seem clumsy, arbitrary, and bewildering. It is, simply, how (most) computing should be.
HP Slate vs. iPad Specs
Apparently HP still thinks that more and bigger is always better. I think they’ve completely missed the point. They are trying to compete with the iPad like they do with Dell and other PC vendors - by feature list. For example, they think that because they have a 1.6 Ghz Atom vs 1 Ghz A4 that’s an advantage. However even with a smaller screen they still manage to have half the battery life. Not much of an advantage if you ask me.
The biggest difference between the Slate and the iPad is what isn’t shown on the slide - the software platform. The Slate will run Windows 7 with some sort of skin to hide as much of it as possible. THAT is why I believe the slate is doomed to fail. It doesn’t matter how many ports or features a product has, the entire experience is poorly thought out and fragmented, and it hasn’t even shipped! Customers have gotten used to simple and consistent experiences with the iPhone and iPad. I don’t think they’ll give up that experience for a longer “feature list”.
Apple Sells Over 300,000 iPads First Day
300,000 iPads in 24 hours. Sounds like it is off to a good start. This also doesn’t include pre-orders for the 3G version coming in a few weeks.
The fight against Flash™ on the iPhone/iPad isn't personal. Apple isn't supporting any browser plugins.
Plugins are not supported in Safari on iPad, nor are they supported in Safari on iPhone. Flash just happens to be the major (only?) plugin missed by people.
Fodder: Anyone who believes [the iPad] is a game changer is a tool.
Why Cory Doctorow won’t buy an iPad (and why the other 99% don’t care)
Cory Doctorow, isn’t buying an iPad. Here is a summary of his points.
- Incumbents make bad revolutionaries
- Infantized hardware
- Single software channel
- Journalism looking for a savior
- Gadgets come and go
These headings don’t really make much sense to 99% of the population and that is really the problem with his point - only the remaining 1% agree.
Like most critics, Cory focuses on his ideal world without providing solutions to the problems in the current world. The same people complaining about the lack of Flash® on the iPad want it so they can watch TV shows on Hulu.
Then he disregards the hardware as being infantile. Guess what? Most people don’t care about the Maker Manifesto. Seriously, they just want to create, listen, watch, or read something.
I don’t expect to change the battery in my future iPad just as I don’t change my own oil. And guess what? I don’t think I’ve lost anything because of it.
As for a single software channel to the iPad, that is false. You have the App Store and the Internet for Web Apps. The great thing about the App store (and why it has been so successful) is that it provides exactly what he doesn’t want - a single marketplace for consumers and developers. Its greatest advantage is it makes it easy for consumers to find great applications. Oh, this is also one reason why the iPhone web apps never really took off.
He then goes on to talk about how the old media looks to the iPad as its daddy figure. I agree that the iPad isn’t going to save the print industry or restore it to its current form. I’m confused why this point is even in the article.
If you want to live in the creative universe where anyone with a cool idea can make it and give it to you to run on your hardware, the iPad isn’t for you.
The only platform where you can make your cool idea and have it run on any hardware is the internet and even that has a lot of incompatibilities and is still riddled with proprietary plugins. Oh, and the iPad works fine with those applications - actually better than any other alternative.
If you want to live in the fair world where you get to keep (or give away) the stuff you buy, the iPad isn’t for you.
Yep. Keep reading your paperbacks because that’s the alternative. Seriously though, if sharing is that big of a deal then it can be worked out in the software. You can’t have everything on day 1.
If you want to write code for a platform where the only thing that determines whether you’re going to succeed with it is whether your audience loves it, the iPad isn’t for you.
Yes it is. It is the best device for internet web apps on the planet. Name one better alternative.
They dismiss the computing model change that the iPad brings—and the new mobile computer itself—anchored in their preconception of what computing should be. They are forgetting that history shows that the change is not only possible, it’s inevitable. It has happened before. Many times. And it’s happening again.
I consider the larger color screen superior to the Kindle’s, and encountered no eye strain. But the iPad is much heavier than the Kindle and most people will need two hands to use it.
Jason Perlow @ ZDNet whines about buying an iPad
This is a response to the Jason’s article titled, Apple, help me… help YOU. on ZDNet.
Jason begins by stating that he doesn’t like Apple. In fact he is very critical of them on many fronts. That is fine. I’m glad he is critical of them. Someone has to play on the other side. However, now that he has purchased an iPad he thinks he “owns” the platform and complains about what it is “lacking”. I’ve summarized his arguments below.
1. Content censorship. Apple from the beginning (January Keynote in 2007) stated they wouldn’t allow porn or adult-themed apps. It is also in the developer agreement. To my knowledge they aren’t censoring political or religious views - just porn. Of course he jumps to that conclusion as if it is going to happen eventually.
Should porn be allowed on your iPad? Well, you bought it knowing that 5,000 soft porn apps were removed from the app store earlier this year and you have Safari for open access to all the porn you “need”. Perhaps Apple will extend the parental controls to the app store so you can have your adult content apps but Apple doesn’t have to. It is their store and their platform, not yours. Just because you purchased an iPad does not require Apple to listen to your opinion about what should or shouldn’t be in Apple’s store.
2. Flash. Seriously? Are you still complaining about this? A production version of Flash 10.1 still hasn’t been released on any mobile handset in full scale and yet you are complaining that it isn’t on the iPad. That is besides the point though since Flash won’t make it on the iPad, ever. Why? It (currently) doesn’t perform well, it ruins the experience (battery) of the computer, it violates Apple’s developer agreement, and most of its uses (read video), including your examples about TV.com and Hulu.com, can use open (HTML5) standards to provide the same experience.
I applaud Apple for having the guts to exclude Flash. It is a bold move but it is already changing the web in just two short months. Ironic that most people who love “open” platforms still continue supporting proprietary platforms - Adobe® Flash® included.
3. Fixed hardware. No USB, no SD card slot. No removable battery. The primary reason for this only 5% (if that) will ever use those slots. You think they are necessary because that is what you are used to. They aren’t. Apple ditched the floppy years before PC makers and it was a brilliant move. It allowed them to have form factors PC makers couldn’t create because of the “required” floppy drive. As the iPhone OS becomes more connected we’ll use USB and SD cards less and less. Apple won’t include a hardware feature for just 5%. They’ll make you use an adapter. I think that 4 months this will be a moot point.
Oh, and about the non-removeable battery. Not only does it facilitate the awesome design of the iPad but if the battery does need to be replaced, Apple just gives you a NEW iPad. Do you still want that removable battery with a shoddy battery cover (*cough*, Droid, *cough*)?
4. Developer tools. You are mad because you can’t develop for the iPad on Windows using .Net? I can’t develop Android apps using Ruby - my favorite language, I guess I should blame Google. This really isn’t an argument. See Marco for a more lengthy answer.
5. More Porn. You said you were going to leave this but yet you come back to it. I think that is all I’m going to say on this.
6. Apps being removed. You obviously haven’t looked at the developer agreement or talked to anyone who understands the dev agreement because porn apps were borderline at best, Wifi apps were using undocumented API’s (clearly prohibited, just not caught until the automated code reviews went into place in December), and minimal functionality apps are just trash that anyone can build in 10 minutes.
For all the flack Apple gets for the number of fart apps in the app store at least they’ve drawn the line somewhere. I’d rather have documented restrictions than none at all. Otherwise you’d have the mess that is the Android store. Sure there is room for improvement but I actually think this is a better long term solution than a completely open and frustrating, fragmented, market. Apple apparently does too.
