Posts Tagged: ipad

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4
Jan 11

AirPlay

Adam Lisagor on Why AirPlay Is Important:

“AirPlay is important in the evolution of media because the tech infrastructure Apple has been building for more than a decade is finally maturing enough to reach that holy grail of weightlessness.”

The idea that you can easily present a slide show, play a video or movie, play a song, play a video game or whatever … from the device you are holding to the TV on the wall is very intriguing. No need to switch remotes, configure the “source” for the video, or anything else. Just choose “play” and choose “that screen over there”. Weightless indeed.

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20
Dec 10

The Balmer Tablet

Smart talk about a Microsoft tablet:

“What’s remarkable—and what should be, for any Microsoft shareholders, a deeply troubling sign—is that Ballmer, apparently, wants to do none of this. For him, the PC model is the only option. It doesn’t matter that it has never worked for this market in the past. It doesn’t matter that the tablet needs a new approach to user interface design, one that is fundamentally different from that of traditional PCs. Ballmer wants the PC business model—a Microsoft operating system on commodity hardware—running PC software, and the unsuitability of that software is seen as an irrelevance.”

Apparently though, they have a new tablet to show at CES this year. Given how well their announced-at-last-year’s-CES tablets did this year, it’ll be awesome … oh wait, they never shipped. Never mind.

Anyone else noticing a pattern with Microsoft announcements?

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22
Oct 10

Apple’s Next OS, Lion

This week Apple gave a demo of their next operating system, Lion. You can see their sneak peak for details, but here’s what I think it means:

The desktop metaphor is on the way out.

Sure you still have files, and may sort things into folders. But this is becoming a per-app thing, not an operating system wide thing. If you look at all of their major apps: iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie … they all use files, but you never see them. This is all the more clear to me with the focus on full-screen applications. There is no longer the ability to drag something from another app (say the desktop) into an application.

The Launchpad and Apple Mac App Store further this. Applications simply exist now, and there is no need to ferry them into being with physical CD’s, installers, uninstallers, and the like. Today there is an Application folder where you keep most of your apps. Tomorrow, they will all exist in the folder-less entity, the Launchpad.

So then, what is the “desktop” good for, if you don’t use it to install apps, and files are stored within the applications themselves?

As for the Mission Control feature, all I can say is that it looks like a bridge technology. It isn’t the destination, but it will help us get there. It’s far to dependent on gestures, which didn’t demo terribly well in the keynote presentation. People understand (some) 2-finger swipes. 3 or 4 is too over the top. Sorta like keyboard shortcuts. Good for power users, and that’s about it.

The future is Touch.

Between the design of the new full-screen apps, the Launchpad, and focus on switching between applications in Mission Control, what I’m noticing is an entire lack of on-screen controls that wouldn’t work well with a touch interface. That is to say, Apple is not taking advantage of the high precision and capability of a mouse and cursor.

Apple has mentioned multiple times that you can’t slap a touch screen onto a laptop and call it a day. And in the sense that your arm would get tired, I’d say they are right on the money. But when they say the future of laptops and desktops is to be used with a disconnected Magic Trackpad of some kind … that’s a whole lot of misdirection.

Apple has to have something they are working on that will let you touch the screen of a desktop or laptop in an ergonomic sort of way. What it is, and how it works is anyone’s guess. But it won’t be your traditional laptop form, desktop form, or even tablet form. It will be something new, something unexpected, and I can’t wait to see it.

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19
Aug 10

iPad + iPhone 4

A friend asked my opinions on the iPad and iPhone 4. Somehow, I thought I had posted something about this, and while I posted plenty of other opinions about the iPad, I had only officially put out my initial reaction, and haven’t said boo about the iPhone 4.

Let me rectify this.

iPad:

  • The iPad will not replace a laptop. But it will replace more of your laptop than you think. Pick up the keyboard that goes with it, and it’ll be closer still.
  • Not having a traditional desktop with files and folders is an asset to the iPad. It makes it easier to use, and easier to understand. If you don’t believe me, walk around your office and see how many people “file” things into their desktop.
  • Reading books with iBooks works fine, and is a pleasure. The highlighting and notes abilities are very nice. I’ve read a few books on it now.
  • The screen is not useable outside. I tried it on a cloudy day, and the reflection was too much.
  • It is far better for consumption than creation. However there are some creative bits that work well on it (drawing, short emails, etc). As such, I haven’t quite found a good fit for using it at work.
  • The iWork apps (I have Pages and Keynote) are great, but are not compatible with last-years desktop version of iWork. This is really disappointing, and worse: the iPad Keynote app reads my ancient PowerPoint files just fine.
  • There are some really fun, addictive, and innovative games available for only a dollar or 2 each.
  • I didn’t get the 3G version, but will next time The ability to pay for 3G access a month here or there would be perfect for vacations.
  • Overall: if you have room in your budget for another device, you’ll love the iPad for surfing, social networking, sharing photos, and playing games.

iPhone 4:

I still have a 3GS, and will likely get the new phone (iPhone 5?) next summer.

First, lets talk about the antenna: From what I understand, the antenna thing might be an issue in certain situations, for some people, but for other people, they get reception where they never previously were able to. If you are concerned, get one of the bumpers – it fixes the death-grip problem. If you are really concerned, wait till January. The rumors are stronger than usual, and suggest that January is when there will be an iPhone on the Verizon network.

Other than that, I hear the screen is amazing and the camera is as good as many dedicated cameras. FaceTime is great, and I’m waiting to hear if this latest incarnation of video conferencing will be one that the public actually adopts.

If you’re concerned about an “open” platform and are thinking of picking up an Android phone, I’d highly suggest reading this, this, this, this, or this.

Overall: Apple is still making the best smart phone, at a competitive price. Other phones are at least a year behind in technical capabilities, and if you look at their usability, I have yet to see a report of a new phone that is better than (or as good as) the original iPhone that was released 3 years ago.

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16
Aug 10

Innovation Forum RSS: Surf smarter and faster

The Innovation Forum is a monthly discussion I lead talking about “new stuff that is made useful”.  This forum was on RSS and how to managing the deluge of information that we get today, and how to surf smarter and faster.

Links:

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