2010
01.28

I Can Haz iPad?

Category: Technology / Tag: ,  / Add Comment

{I need a lolcat for this!}

So, Steve Jobs announces (finally) the mythical Apple tablet device. I’m not going to go over the features (has or missing). Every tech blog on the planet has details or you can even go to the official Apple iPad website

Other than the name… iPad? Really? … I actually want one. I’ve been waiting for a tablet for ME (and not all the jealous tech-nerds that hang out in the tech blog comment sections (they already HATE the iPad with a seething passion – and it’s only been half a day.)) and this is the first thing since a Newton MessagePad (I’ve got one of those in a box somewhere) to come close.

Let’s get the low-hanging fruit negatives out of the way first:

  1. 1. I wanted something a little smaller. The iPad 1.0 is slightly smaller than a pad of paper. I was hoping for a more portable trade paperback size.
  2. To get GPS you have to get the more expensive model ($130 more) (actually AGPS (Assisted GPS) — I hope it works without a data plan! Some AGPS devices apparently require a network connection to work. I’m pretty sure I have a couple apps on my iPhone that use GPS even without a 3G connection.)
  3. Not enough details available on how some things work (I went browsing through the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK docs but couldn’t find what I wanted to know. (Is it violating the 3.2 SDK NDA to even admit I have a (legal) copy of it? Hmm..))

Things that have sold me on it — in no special order.

  • 3G potential – with no AT&T contract required (Already have that because of the iPhone) – even if I don’t use it.
  • iWork
  • Support for iPhone apps
  • Bluetooth keyboard support
  • iBook app supports ePub (Here’s hoping it can read non-Apple/iTunes Store procured eBooks. If Not there’s always Stanza and eReader)
  • Grown Up (!!) versions of the standard iPhone apps (email, notepad, calendar, etc.)

I do wonder about the “Camera Kit” – it includes a USB-iPod Dock adapter so you can plug your camera directly into the iPad. Does that mean you can plug in other devices that have USB based storage in the same format? (Wild guess — the only app that can access that “mode” is the one that lets you import photos from the camera.)

{Pause while I watch the recording of the event — MUCH better info than I got from the live-blog I read earlier.}

Magical/Intimate – key words from Steve Jobs about the iPad.

But let me mention THE app demoed today that really sold  me on the potential of the iPad: Brushes (It’s an app for artists). This kind of app pushes the iPad beyond being a media consumer/device into being a device to create with.

It’s not just a mobile web browser.

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