The iPad, the future of the PC and the demise of open platforms part 2 (Nikos)
Right after Dimitris, i would also like to publish my thoughts on the iPad:
One week has passed since Steve Jobs presented the iPad to the World and during these 7 days a war takes place across discussion forums throughout the Web. The majority of users criticize Apple saying that iPad is not what they expected/dreamed. Some go even further stating that it's just an oversized ipod touch that offers no extra functionality (other than being the most expensive serving tray for coffee 
). What do i believe?
Vision of a different Personal Computer
I believe that iPad it's one step closer to what Steve (and apple in general) had envisioned 25 years ago regarding the future of computing. And that in one year time, most of the guys who now mock it will own one and wonder how the hell did they perform 90% of their daily tasks before iPad's time.
Of course, in one year iPad 2 will be introduced and i will be writing a similar article defending the new device . But that's life (or Apple).
I might be exaggerating a bit. But to explain myself i have to lay some baseline thoughts. What is the problem with today's computing? Most people (and i mean the 85-90% of them) spend more time troubleshooting with software and hardware rather than using their PC to be productive. It's one thing to log in your pc and create a new document or spreadsheet while listening to your favorite tunes (that is being productive) and another to install spyware/antivirus software, let it update, restart, download new drivers, security patches, modify the registry, format every 6 months because the system is way to slow etc etc etc.
You should all agree that most users don't need this. What they need is terminals that make their daily tasks easier to do and why not, fun to use. Terminals that due to their closed architecture require minimal maintenance. This is where the iPad comes in.
It provides the best Internet Experience, the best Media Playback functionality, the fastest and most enjoyable User Interface, astonishing Battery Life, decent e-book reader capabilities and last but not least, the App Store and thousands developers throughout the world ready to start building the next killer app.
is something really mising? Should we care?
I don't agree that the missing flash player or the inability to produce 1080p video affect the target group that the ipad aims. My mother doesn't really know what a flash player is. She just wants to have easy access to her email, write a document and maybe (after hard training) book tickets for a movie. With her current notebook all of the above are just painful, boring procedures. In two months time she will just have to touch the screen. And not only that. I strongly believe that the ipad will inspire her to learn more. To explore internet, start using google to search the web and slowly become a computer literate.
I consider myself a power pc user. I have been a user for over 20 years, i have studied computer Engineering and am now in the IT Consulting business. Even I don't need more functionality from ipad simply because it will be just an extra device in my home. Programming, image/video processing and other serious tasks (like gaming ) will be still carried out on my macbook pro or my desktop PC (which is a dual boot windows 7/osx 10.6.2 hackintosh by the way). But when i want to relax and do basic things i will surely grab my ipad.
Users that will truly love iPad do not need the complexity current computers offer. Those who desire more can buy an aluminium MacbookPro. With 1000$ you get a really good looking, powerful, 13.3 inch, mac osx powered laptop. Spend 400$ more and get a blazingly fast 15.4 macbook pro. Or a 27inch iMac.
Are you kidding us? Is this Steve Jobs himself writting this article??
With the fear of being called a fanboy , i have to admit that in my eyes the ipad has 2 major drawbacks. No built in camera and no multitasking. The second i believe will be solved when phone os 4.0 is introduced. At least in some basic blend. Ipad's target audience does not need heavy multitasking. Just running Safari with Pandora and IM+ in parallel would do just fine.
But no camera?? Came on guys...why not? I could imagine my grandparents buying one just to learn how to make video calls with their grandchildren. To take it further on, with an iSight camera onboard, the ipad would substitute my macbook when i would be at home.
Instead of conclusion
This text came out to be more ipad supportive than i thought it would. Maybe this is just a reaction to all those who accuse Apple of not building a tablet that outperforms a Mac Pro.
iPad is the first Personal Computer for the masses and it will undoubtedly open a new market. And the fact that a similar tablet from Google running Android OS is expected in the coming months just makes things way more interesting.
Maybe after all there will be a salvation for the frustrated masses that have been using Microsoft PC's the last 15 years. Apple has shown the way, many will definitely follow.
The iPad, the future of the PC and the demise of open platforms
It's been almost a week since the iPad has been announced and the internet has flooded with posts about it. Who are we to stay silent on such an event. So here's what I think of the revolutionary tablet.
Not the best internet browsing device
for a number of reasons. Well the main one has to be it's lack of support for Flash. Packing a 1GHz processor, it now gives Apple no excuse. The iPad could run the Flash player easily but it doesn't for many reasons which have been mentioned by many others. And if the reasons should not concern the end users, the result must! How can they promote it as the best web experience when it can't render millions of websites (including some very interesting ones), many great online games and of course most of the video on the web. According to Adobe's CTO, Kevin Lynch, "75 percent of video on the Web currently is shown in a Flash player" [link]. And that is actually the first Flash Player penetration statistic I've heard that I believe. I actually believe it is an understatement. I would say more than 90% of useful video (think what kind of video you watch every day) on the web is shown in Flash Player. Even if we exclude YouTube from this, since it's supported on Apple devices, that's still almost all the video on the web that you can't watch in the "best internet browsing device".
Second is the lack of camera - for now. Well that certainly adds to the whole "web experience". Video conferencing in Skype, is part of my every day computer life and I would need it on the iPad, especially since the device does not encourage a lot of typing.
Last but not least, is its inability to multitask. It made me sad and maybe angry during the presentation when I realized that the device everyone had been talking about is not a computer. Its just a 10'' iPod Touch with all of its limitations except for processing power. How can I convince myself to buy something that has the power to be a computer but for some dark reasons chooses not to? For me personally, this is the second most serious drawback for the iPad, along with the fact that, like the iPhone, it's a closed and controlled platform. More on that last part later.
"Apple - iPad - The best way to experience the web, email, and photos" - At least I agree with the "photos" part.
It is amazing
overall. Tablets are not a new concept, but they where never something different. With the iPad, the whole tablet category finally makes sense. A tablet that is useful and different than any other computer. You can have it in portrait mode to read the news online, then you can flip it to landscape to watch a movie and do that for 10 hours according to Steve Jobs. You can interact with it in ways that we can't imagine yet. The multi-touch interface on such a large screen will possibly bring a completely new way of human-computer interaction (even more than what the iPhone did). Not to mention the possibilities for new types of games or entertainment apps in general.
Moreover, I really believe this is the best device to show photos to others. The display looks amazing and the interface is so natural. Enjoying my photo collection and sharing it with others is probably one of the main reasons for me to buy an iPad.
Even though this first incarnation of the iPad might not seem too appealing to most people, I believe that its next generations (possibly with a larger screen) will redefine how most people use their computers.
But it is quite scary
to be honest. I really left the iPad's greatest disadvantage for last - the fact that it is a closed platform. You buy a device that has the capabilities of a regular computer, but you are not allowed to use it as a computer. You are not given access to the file system, you can't install apps without Apple's approval, you can't even plug a USB stick in it and transfer a file! You can only do things that are in Apple's best interest.
Looking at this as an experienced user, I find it annoying and of course scary. At some level, I can't understand how Apple can actually get away with doing something like this. On the iPhone it made sense. It's a mobile device with limited capabilities and had to make best use of its limited resources. But how can Apple justify rejecting, say a Firefox app for the iPad? I just don't think they will be allowed to do it. This is a computer with a 1GHz CPU we are talking about here and Apple should not be allowed to impose such limitations to the platform, as much as Microsoft is not allowed to prohibit its users from installing Firefox or Safari in their Windows computers.
Now, from a developer's point of view, I just can't see how people will want to develop for a platform where Apple alone gets to decide what is approved and what not. Where you have to conform to their rules and change your business strategy and your software itself just because it conflicts with their interests. The truth is, the iPhone and iPad platform is very interesting to develop for - they are amazing, evolving, location-aware devices with cool features like multi-touch and accelerometer. In many cases, it is also very rewarding too. But as a developer, how much do I want to invest in something the future of which depends completely on the policies of a single company?
The verdict
is that in my eyes, this version of the iPad is just and oversized iPod Touch. The limitations are unjustifiable and I only hope they will be lifted in the future generations of the device. I see great potential in such a device, so I hope that some other company will invest what it takes to create a product based on an open platform (Chrome for a multi-touch tablet?) that can provide me with an experience that, so far, only Apple products provide. With the help of some healthy competition, I hope the iPad will evolve to what it's really made for - change the way we use PCs.
In your face, stupid!
TUAW had a post today about the new iTunes update. The biggest new feature of the update is that you can now save your password and purchase stuff with only one click. And the people over at TUAW rush to advise us fools to enable that feature asap and grace Apple with more downloads. I have highlighted these 2 sentences of amazing journalism below.
"You are stupid. Thank you for reading."
It's amazing when a big site like this shows its readers what it really thinks of them and what purposes it actually serves.