The iPad 3 Arrived! Initial Reaction
It wasn’t supposed to show up at my doorstep for another few days, however my new iPad 3 arrived this morning. A few minutes after I got off a conference call there was a knock on the door, and poof… There went my day of productivity. Now I have to stay up late and work because of my lack of discipline.
Initial Reaction
- The screen is magnificent. No joke. No exaggeration. This screen is insane. Especially for its size.
- The heat isn’t a big deal. I spent some time playing Infinity Blade 2… for research… And the device warmed-up, but it never approached untouchable. It runs a lot cooler than my Gen 1 MacBook Air, but that thing could boil water.
- The last time I had an iPad I only used it for reading, and giving sales pitches. I’m curious to see if I can find more use-cases for myself (other than playing Infinity Blade 2). Any suggestions?
Microsoft Views “Tablets as PCs” – Are They Right?
Microsoft’s Windows Phone President Andy Lees has declared, “We view a tablet as a PC” (electronista).
It took about 30 seconds for the Internet to start speculating about what this means for Windows 8. I can’t say I care much about Windows 8 predictions. We will see it when we see it.
More Marketing BS
What’s been driving me nuts is the abuse of the phrase “personal computer,” or PC.
As I demonstrated a few months back, iPads, iPhones, Macs, Androids, and Windows machines all fit the definition of a PC (Post-PC = Marketing BS)
Technically speaking, tablets absolutely are PCs.
Apple has spent years pummeling the “PC” as crap, then Steve Jobs declared it passe when he called the current tech world, “post-PC.”
Microsoft has a vested interest in breathing life back into the PC, because like it or not, they are stuck with the branding.
The bottom-line is that this is all marketing bullshit.
Will Microsoft treat tablets as tablets?
Microsoft figured out how to make a solid mobile phone operating system in WP7. It may not be catching on, but that doesn’t make it bad. They still named it Windows, and probably view it as an extension of the PC.
I’m inclined to believe that Microsoft will make Windows 8 a fairly interesting touch oriented operating system that gets some stuff right, and some stuff wrong.
We will see what happens when it comes out. In the meantime, I wish people would stop jumping at Apple & Microsoft’s marketing bullshit.
Electronics During Takeoff
The FAA approved the use of iPads in the cockpit for flight plans.
Alaska Airlines adopted the use of iPads in the cockpit for flight plans.
That means iPads aren’t messing with airplane instrumentation.
Can’t we finally drop this stupid no electronics during takeoff bullshit?
If an iPod is going to bring down the plane, you really don’t want to be on that plane.
(Image)
Post-PC = Marketing BS
During Apple’s iPad 2 event Steve Jobs declared that we are living in a “post-PC” world, and as with every word that the man utters, tech geeks pretty much ate it up.
It’s a cute sound-byte. It makes you feel like you’re part of some grand and imminent future. The PC completely changed the course of human history, and now it is obsolete. Rejoice!
The trouble is, the statement is flat-out false. We’re living in a world of integrated computing. Your PC, mobile, and tablet (if you have one) all work together to give you access to your data. Each one makes computing better in certain circumstances.
That’s the world we live in. “Post-PC” is marketing bullshit.
What’s a PC?
personal computer
–noun
a microcomputer designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games. Abbreviation: PC (dictionary.com)
By this definition:
- A Mac is a PC
- An iPhone is a PC
- An iPad is a PC
They’re all PCs, you just interact with them in a slightly different manner.
Marketing
Apple devoted many years and truck loads of money to differentiate their Apple PC hardware from Windows PC hardware.
Apple hardware = Mac
Windows hardware = PC
Mac = Cool, attractive, creative dude
PC = Pasty, nerdy, stodgy man
The combination of excellent hardware, beautiful design, the iPhone, the failure of Windows Vista, and an overabundance of Windows viruses mixed with aggressive marketing to crown Apple the king of PC technology.
The Bottom-line
We aren’t living in a post-PC world. PC’s have taken over everything.
Calling it a post-PC world is just Apple’s marketing department’s way of trying to declare that there are no other relevant tech companies out there, and that is bullshit as well.
(Image via Engadget)
Canon & Apple Partnership
Rumors are popping up all over the Internet about an Apple/ Canon collaboration.
Software
It’s a natural partnership as Apple has a long tradition of high quality photo & video software in the form of Apature, Final Cut, and iMovie. With a new version of Final Cut due this Spring, there’s a good chance that Canon could provide some interesting integrated hardware.
iPhone & iPad
The single greatest deficiency of mobile devices are their camera lenses.
Up until now, mobile device makers could just bump up the quality of the image sensor in the camera to show incremental improvement in photo quality.
Last generation was 4 megapixels? Well this phone has a 5 megapixels camera in it. We have pretty much hit the point where that doesn’t help much anymore. The device makers already added flashes. There is better camera software available in Android and iPhone app markets, so the only thing left to improve are the lenses.
Lenses
If you aren’t a photographer you might not realize how important and expensive good lenses are. In short, great lenses are essential for high quality photos.
The problem that device makers have with adding high quality lenses to phones is that those lenses range in size from large to gigantic.
My speculation is that the Canon/ Apple partnership will extend past Apple’s software, and that we will see some sort of Canon lens configuration built-in, or as an accessory to the iPhone & iPad.
Mobile cameras are fast approaching a barrier that can only be overcome with better lenses. Canon will be Apple’s answer to the problem.
Check out some fine lens and shutter work at JerseyStyle Photography & My Digital Mind.
(Via AppleInsider)
iSin – The Confession App
Call me a heathen but I think this is hilarious.
There is an app on the iTunes Store called “Confession: A Roman Catholic App.” It costs $1.99, and it is the self-described “perfect aid for every penitent,” and comes with “7 different acts of contrition.”
It provides sins to choose from, or if you’re the creative type you can add custom sins.
From iTunes
Suggested Improvements
I’m all about helping people, so I’ve come up with a few ideas for future iteration of “Confession.”
Badges
foursquare gives users virtual badges based on location activity. Confession can give badges based on sins.
“You’ve taken the Lords name in vain 10 times. You’ve unlocked the ‘Say My Name!’ badge.”
Mayorships
Everyone’s got their favorite sin, now you can prove it with a foursquare-esque mayorship.
“Mayor of coveting your neighbor’s wife. You’ve confessed to this sin 837 times.”
Data Aggregation, Research & Publication
Pull in anonymized sin data to conduct research on the prevalence of reported sins based on region, demographic, and behavioral information.
Then they can start a blog called NotOkSins where they publish findings on sinful behavior (OkTrends).
Achievements
Similar to badges, achievements can be used for more complex groupings of sins.
“ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED Seven Deadly Sins”
Seriously
Regardless of your religion, it’s unwise to create a log of your bad behavior. Like my mom always said, “Don’t write it down if you don’t want people to read it.”
iCade – CES 2011
Tech companies are at CES 2011 and revealing many nifty gadgets that will hit store shelves this year. I’ve been reading about them all evening.
One product that stood out to me is the ThinkGeek iCade. It was one of their April Fools products last year, and they are making it for real. It could be fun and an interesting way to resolve the iPad’s poor game controls for traditional games.
