Recently I was given just 24 hours to explore a first production build of the Apple iTablet — and here are my first impressions and discoveries. First, it’s more like an iPhone than a MacBook. The operating system depends on gestures, and expands the vocabulary. Your hand is going to be dancing.
Second big news: it’s not just an application platform and full-color reader and media player. It’s also a dual camera and, yes, read this twice, a phone. And therein lies a tale. For those whose habits have been formed around their iPhones, be very, very careful when your iTablet rings for the first time. That urge to whip the thing with its ginormous 10 inch screen up to your ear is going to play havoc with your eye. In the small group of folks I ran into who were returning their demo versions, most of us had nasty shiners.
Apple assures us that final production versions will come with training corners — foam wedgies that will soften the blow until the user gets used to answering the giant device. And the second mod will be a catcher’s mitt-like webbing on the back of the iTablet so you can one hand it.
Killer apps? Try this — for those who will want to mount the iTablet high on their dashboard, this thing is going to block your view. So Apple has come up with the brilliant iDrive. The camera on the back side stays live and you basically can see right through your iTablet, like a virtual window. A second camera, imbedded invisibly in the screen, can provide help in backing up.
When you’re not in your car, the embedded cameras creates iMirror, and one of the coolest apps we’ve seen so far is iTrim. Male or female, select your hairstyle from dozens of possibilities, and then iTrim gives you cut by cut directions so you can do it yourself. You might need a little help for the back and top, or you can sync up two iTablets and put them on the Infinite Barbershop Mirror setting.
Now with all that extra screen area to dance your hand on, Apple has greatly expanded the gestures it understands. First, there’s the Full Palm Down. Just spread out your hand and plant it on the screen. Whatever program that’s currently running will screech to a halt. Flip your hand over and give it the Brush Off, and the program will go away. Do it several times and the screen will clear. Then there’s the Fist Bump. Closed fist means ‘Yes.’ Or Agree, or Continue, Install, or ‘Can I have some more, please?’
Finally, all of publishing has been praying that the iTablet will be a Kindle killer and free the publishing world from the threat of world domination by Amazon. Success may depend on whether people will want the reading part of their life to be as easily interrupted as everything else in their world. When your book can hurl e-mails at you, ring your phone, cut your hair and even show you who’s sneaking up behind you, some may not find that to be the ideal reading environment.
Then there’s the concern about the infantilism that permeates Steve Job’s attitude toward culture. “People don’t read anymore,” is one of his brilliant observations. On iTunes, all music has become a “song.” Verdi’s Requiem Mass is downloadable as a bunch of songs. For an entire generation, a Beethoven symphony is now four songs. This is surely a crime against humanity of some sort.
So take the same attitude and apply it to books. And guess what? You aren’t going to be buying a ‘book’ on the iTunes store. You’re going to be buying a ’story’ one chapter at a time, whether it’s Wind in the Willows or Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, everything is going to be just a chapter in a story.
The good news is the color is great. You can zoom in for spectacular detail. And when you check in to that “mirror” function you’ll be able to track the progress of your shiner.
Copyright © 2012 Endleofon All rights reserved
Thank you for your great article. I also must say that your layout is a pleasure to view. Keep up the good work.
Ipad or ibad? man no camera, wtf!
agreed.
Apple has just come out with Ipad with competitive pricing and better features for their entry level model. Do you think launch of Ipad will affect the Amazon Kindle market? Regards :)
With Kindle busy in a pricing battle with Macmillan and Apple’s iPad being a much richer experience, I think Amazon will lose on the hardware side. Amazon will need to find a way to sell to the iPad user, and if they fail at that (and structurally I can’t imagine what they can do to compete with the iTunes bookstore) then Amazon is simply going to lose a big part of their book revenue.
Glad to see that this site works well on my Droid , everything I want to do is functional. Thanks for keeping it up to date with the latest.
You will have not intended to do so, however I suppose you have got managed to express the way of thinking that a ton of folks are in. The sense of wanting to assist, however not knowing how or where, is something a ton people are going through.
Very informative text. I’ve found your site on Yahoo and I’m very glad about the information you provide in your posts. I’ve skimmed through some of your posts and subscribed to your blog by adding your
Thank for the unusual article. The Apple iPad looks fantastic. I will definitely be buying one. I am just not decided whether to get the wifi or the 3g and which size to get.
Hi, recently discovered this blog but I have to say that it looks sweet. I fully agree with your post. Have a great day, keep up the nice work and I’ll definitely follow it.
Who would have thought that cell phones would be so popular these days. I remember when there werent any cell phones and you had to stop at a pay phone to make a call. lol… Thanks for the interesting post. I thought it was Great!!!
Fine work, I need to hear more from you.Are you working in a Group that you can make such a fine Blog?
Sorry to say, this is all me. If you want to see a collaborative blog, take a look at what my son and I are doing at http://www.agencyforsocialmedia.com.
On a vaguely related note, Apple have done the right thing for themselves by not announcing international iPad prices yet, for the pound is tumbling against the dollar in recent weeks (not the Apples UK prices are set on exchange rate alone).
Stealing “ideas” is far different than stealing someone’s developed & Patented technology. The UI of the Mac was an “idea” of HP PARC that was SOLD to Jobs in a primitive form just like Gates bought the system that became MS-DOS from Intergalactic Trading (no fooling look it up). Both were purchased in their raw state for $50,000 each. Gates built the Evil Empire on his purchase & Jobs built the Mac on his. Both had to do lots of their own engineering, time & capital into the finished product & deservedly had/have Patents on that TECHNOLOGY. Contrast this with Windoze, Andriod,etc which are COPIES of Apple Technology.
I couldn’t resist commenting. :)
I will use your advice from now on. Jaap
Just landed on this post via Google lookup. I love it. This situation switch my percept and I am fixing the RSS feeds. Cheers.
Great writing & Good a site….
hrmm, I hope I percieve this the way it was meant :*(
If you really want to be inspired, read the Wikipedia piece on Doug Engelbart, who not only invented the mouse but was one of the driving forces and first users of the arapnet, which became the internet. Doug, after WWII, envisioned the whole world sharing linked text. He was such a visionary that Stanford, where he worked, told him to pipe down or people would think he was nuts. He came up for lunch in Tiburon with us a few months ago. I’m delighted to report he’s in good shape and wearing the Presidential medal Clinton pinned on him.
I just had to take a minute and let you know that I’ve been enjoying checking out your posts over the last few months. I have a blog of my own, and would love to swap links with you if you’re interested. You can check out my blog at Singorama Scam.
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me so thank you.
I think that is an interesting point, it made me think a bit. Thanks for sparking my thinking cap. Sometimes I get so much in a rut that I just feel like a record.
Hey pretty great webpage!! I will bookmark your website and take on the feeds also…
Glad to see that this site works well on my iPhone , everything I want to do is functional. Thanks for keeping it up to date with the latest.
@chels I know what you mean, its hard to find good help these days. People now days just don’t have the work ethic they used to have. I mean consider whoever wrote this post, they must have been working hard to write that good and it took a good bit of their time I am sure. I work with people who couldn’t write like this if they tried, and getting them to try is hard enough as it is.
I really liked your blog! nice
Nice site and I will be coming back so keep up the good work! When it comes down to it I think Alec Baldwin said it best in the Glenn-Garry movie. A.I.D.A attention, interest, decision and action. I’ll spare you guys the full speech where he cusses everyone out.
My husband and i absolutely love the ipad. Put a sock in it all you whingers, the gadget is way cool.
I enjoy coming back daily to see your thoughts. I have your page bookmarked on my must read list!
Is it me or did this article make you want to buy an iPad?