In what everybody already saw coming for weeks (months) now, Apple has just unveiled its latest product, a tablet called the iPad. Basically a bigger version of the iPhone, Steve Jobs presented the iPad during a press event in San Francisco. The most interesting news? It's powered by... An Apple processor, called the A4. The most shocking news? The price.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Speaking as someone who doesn't already own an iPhone, a netbook or an eBook reader, I actually find this class of product pretty appealing.
It's got enough screen real estate to make me actually want to browse the web with it for long periods of time (unlike an iPhone, which seems good for quick spurts of browsing but annoying for anything longer). Also, there are plenty of times when I would have liked to use my laptop to read while reclining on my couch, but the range of positions I can assume is severely limited compared to what I could do with a tablet device. The same applies for netbooks as well. Not to mention that the battery life is actually conducive for long reading sessions, which again can't be said about netbooks or notebooks.
And finally, the multitouch is just cool, and the possibilities for what developers can do with so much real estate go way beyong what is possible on the iPhone. Admittedly I'm an interaction design freak and get much more excited about this kind of thing than the average person, but I predict that the real magic of this technology will become clearer and clearer as more and more developers find new ways of using it.
In the end though it's basically all about lifestyle. Sure, I don't *need* to lie down while reading stuff or surfing the web, and sure I don't *need* to read that stuff on a big screen nor do I *need* to be unplugged from the wall for 10 hours at a time. Nor does being able to "touch the web" provide any obvious advantage. But the overall user experience and combined convenience of all these things is what gives this form factor that extra edge over a smartphone/netbook.
IMHO, YMMV. 
Member since:2005-08-26
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
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"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run."There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
Member since:
2005-11-16
Can someone explain what the mass appeal of this is?
It's no replacement for an iPhone or iPod for obvious reasons, and for many tasks it isn't much of a replacement for a NetBook either.
I guess it's a neat portable entertainment centre, great for watching videos, web browsing, and playing touch screen games, but is that enough?
Personally I think that the iPhone will be pretty stiff competition for this device. The iPhone's size is a pretty good compromise between portability and access to internet, entertainment and ebooks. Anything much larger, like the iPad, and it isn't so convenient to carry with you. The iPhone's a cheaper option, and occasionally it's even useful as a phone too. How many iPhone owners will drop another $500+ on one of these?
The iPad seems like a niche product to me.