Thursday, January 28, 2010

Apple iPad

Damn, I'm excited about the iPad.
A while ago, my son said to me that he wanted to live in the future, and I told him I always thought that as well, and then I told him that for me, 2010 was always the future when I was growing up. He was kind of awe-struck by that, because he figured I was living my dream. Well, ok, we know it doesn't work like that, but then, this morning seeing the iPad, I kind of feel a bit like that. This is an amazing device.
I really enjoy my Nokia E61i. It can do a lot of the things an iPhone can, but just not as well, and without a touch interface. It's a pre-iPhone device, and hence is practically irrelevant. The iPhone really started the touch computing revolution, and showed us how much better interfaces can be.
The iPad goes further. It's not just that it's bigger, because really, that's all it is; it's big enough to enable a much wider, richer experience through a more capable interface. Suddenly it's possible to type reasonably, see entire web pages, get decent video, comfortably read a book, as well as all the amazing accelerometer features, like games and interface enhancements.
See some photos here, and here.
Here's a really interesting article about how it will change things.
I'd hate to be selling an eBook reader that cost more than $200, when you can buy this for $500. I think the iPad will really bring out eBooks and cement the ePub format for a long time. eBooks are going to be the big change this year outside of this awesome piece of mobile computing.
I'll be lining up for the Wi-Fi only version because I really wouldn't use a 3G connection much, and I don't want to wait the extra time for it. Start the 60 day counter now.




5 comments:

Tenkar said...

Im on the fence on it mysef. I have a Kinde DX and it dispays a of my PDFs just fine, as well as books in the Kindle/mobi format.

I'm not sure how much of an e-book reader the iPad really is.

Most e-book readers are smaller then the DX - The Astak reader fits nicely in my inside coat pocket... the DX and the iPad need to ride in a backpack or shoulderbag.

Now, as a web / email / movie / music / gamemachine / e-reader / organzier - jack of all trades is the strength of the iPad.

As for me, I'd only go for the 3g version if I jumped in the pool - nice way to surf the web during downtime at work.

Owen Roberts said...

I see your point about the e-readers. I'd be tempted at the right price if for no other reason than the paper ink screen. I'm really hoping that their price will drop massively in the next two years, so I can pick one up for $39.95. I also think Kindle will bend, and support ePub soon now Sony and Apple are pushing it.

Owen Roberts said...

Crap.
iBooks available in the U.S. only.

http://www.apple.com/au/ipad/features/

Tenkar said...

do you really need it in their format? I'm sure there will be a converter available almost instantly

Owen Roberts said...

You mean ePub Tenkar? Establishing a defacto standard means everyone can focus on the one tech. If publishers and readers all start supporting ePub, I can't think why Kindle won't. Who wants to play with converters all day?