Bad Apple?

January 28 2010
by

I was excited about the new iPad, even if I’m not a fanboy, when they released it today. Initially I thought it was amazing and revolutionary, but now that seen it all and read all the comments (which are very negative) I realize that it’s technically a POS. It has absolutely nothing new, the OS is the same failure as in iPhone, so you can’t listen to music and browse at the same time, you will need to buy a million connectors to get anything connected to it (oh apple, will you ever learn), and there are better machines already that have stylus support in case you ever want to draw on it, like this Asus eee, which is pretty much the same machine as this, but a million times better. But, it has something that the Windows machines don’t have, a viable business model – the App Store. Now newspapers and magazines and book publishers will hopefully, unfortunately, maybe, probably, eventually some day move towards digital content with their own downloadable app subscription, making Berg Boyz’s Mag+ concept happen. It will happen eventually, whether or not this device is the catalyst or not. We have all seen it in Minority Report.

from: Interaction Design

13 Comments leave a new comment!
January 28 2010
Simon permalink

“same failure as in iPhone, so you can’t listen to music and browse” — Actually, I listen to music and browse on my iPhone every day. The iPod app runs in the background, just not third party apps. Though it’s not explicitly stated yet I assume the iPad will have similar privileged functionality for built-in Apple apps.

January 28 2010
David permalink

You’re so wrong in so many ways in your post.

The tools offered to developpers to create a gorgeous interaction with their user are so wide with this tablet. It’s just a big iPhone but it’s exactly what was missing to create a real stunning interaction with users.

I’m gonna stop reading this blog, I think you don’t understand anything about interaction design.

January 28 2010
rahulsen79 permalink

Jesus Pad. Moses Tablet. Hallelujah!

I (respectfully) disagree with Mikko. I will however continue to support this blog.

I am a blatant Apple fanboy. 2 Macbooks, 3 iPods and an iPhone later, maybe I was just expecting something that would shift my collection out of the paradigm of round corners, bevels and aluminium. However, the more I think of what’s coming around the corner, I get excited and know that Apple will never get it 100% right in their first release.

But the dice has been thrown!
Creativity will be enabled by their SDK and App Store.
The paradigm shfit has already been done – in systems architecture! Years ago!

The hype and hysteria made me think that it would be something extraordinary. Like the iPhone was some years ago. What we got now is something between an iPhone and a Macbook pro – a third device. With more stuff to buy thrown in. Would I buy it – absolutely yes! Will I need it. Perhaps not. I needed the iPhone. I needed the Macbook. The iPad of course has its own failures – but will the World really care? Remains to be seen……

When I think rationally, the feeling is – ‘Of course! It has to be the iPad!’. The extraordinary stuff was done years ago (setting up iTunes, the OS compatibilities, App-Store, SDK etc) and they are now reaping the benefits of their forward thinking. Its so brutally obviously simple and yet, nobody else (the Amazons, the Sonys the Microsofts) gets it! Given their amazing foundation, its not hard to believe they will phase out iMac and Macbook-Air production gradually and who knows make an iWall someday, ushering in an era of more ubiquitous computing (via their Store of course!). Its brutally obvious, it will happen and nothing Ovi, Amazon or anything else that comes along will be able to challenge it.

My 2 bits.

January 28 2010
Artur permalink

I wonder why people think iStore software distribution at low low prices is “viable” (lessening their perceived value), while a similar approach to product distribution, a.k.a. Wallmart is not.??

January 28 2010
Mikko permalink

Hah, at least this post woke up this blog from it’s zombie state. My humorous (in my own little world, I think of myself being funny) comments about the iPad, were misunderstood, I think. What I meant to say is that while the tablet itself technically quite bad (you can’t argue that), it delivers the users a more personal relationship with the computer by literally having it in your face. And the app store is far from perfect. It makes the facist regimes of the past years look like toy soldiers in comparison. (not really) I mean, I want to make stuff for the iPad/iPhone, I just don’t want to buy a Mac to do it. Neither, do I want to make it go through the censorship bureau, which kills all the apps that are in english or wear glasses. But, Joe and Jane Sixpack won’t care. They just want this thing. And those are the people this is made for. They don’t know what multitasking is, nor do they care. They just want a computer that is simple to interact with, does the really few things they need to do, (browse the web, watch videos, listen to music, read a few pdfs, write some memos, make an occasional presentation), and otherwise just stays in the background. And this is what this thing delivers, in a nice, cheap package. It’s a great product, but I won’t buy it, because I don’t have much use for it.

January 28 2010
Camille Moussette permalink

Apple is more and more becoming the Microsoft we used to hate for its bad attitude/behavior. It imposes you to do things their way, and only their way. If not, they don’t care and will terminate you.

The iPad will rejoice a few, maybe it will be a huge success or not. I don’t really care. I will continue to live happily without one. There are too many things that are in opposition to what I believe in this world (and that we need more I feel):

-openness: this is one of the nastiest, most closed platform out there.
-respect for standards and interoperability: USB connector: no, need crappy adapter, 3G: locked, iBookStore (only if you are a US citizen), etc. At least they kept the wi-fi free :-)
-do we really need that 3rd class of devices for our digital existence and well-being? It’s another crap-load of environmental impacts. Electronics devices, with their funky/rare materials and their short lifespan are some of the worst for sustainability. Is it not enough with a laptop and a phone?

Before shelling out that 500$ for another device like the iPad you don’t really need, consider donating that amount to the Red Cross, the UN or any local charity. Or work less and enjoy life more. And be happy that you have a roof over your head. Or take that 500$, and have a blast with friends or family. People and experience are more important than devices. Just don’t give it to Apple.

My 2 krona.

January 28 2010
Pierre-Alexandre Poirier permalink

Not that I have anything to add to the debate—I don’t think I do really—but here are two “twits” I read yesterday. One is (as) thoughtful (as can be in less than 140 chars.) and the other (as) funny (as can be in less than 140 chars.).

“The iPad is for consuming media, not producing media — I don’t like that direction.” — @REAS (Casey Reas)
“If I am British, wouldn’t ‘iPod’ and ‘iPad’ sound the same?” — @flight404 (Robert Hodgin)

Personally, the new Four Tet LP that was released Tuesday is a way more exciting event. But that’s me.

Carry on.

January 28 2010
pepe permalink

Wohh! The apple guys did it! Now we are talking/discussing/promoting their new product…

The other day I wanted to read an e-book in a bus. In this city I spend at least 30 min to 1 hour in public transport everyday so I would like to use that time reading. Lets assume that I don’t want to read in a laptop nor in a small display and I don’t want to wait for the amazon’s shipping of a normal book.

The natural option that came to my mind was the Kindle ($259.00-6″display or $489-9.7″display) and now the other option is iPad ($499-9.7″display). Im taking out other options like the Asus eee ($334.95-10.1″display) because that for me its a small laptop which I already have.

I will definitely use my $500 in an iPad. It has a color display, its platform is more open than Kindle and I can do many more things with it like browsing the web.

Do I need for living an e/i-book reader?? No.
Would a portable reader make the time at the bus better?? Yes, just as much as my iPod does.
Is it Apple the only option?? No, but I prefer my MacBook rather than my PC Laptop, the MacBook its faster and nicer to use.

Conclusion, there are probably better prototyping tools out there, more ethical companies than Apple, the future is for openness and massive networks rather than closed business, but as the world its today the apple guys are on the top.

My 2 pesos.

January 28 2010
pepe permalink

By the way Mikko, thanks for liven up the thing…

January 28 2010
Camille Moussette permalink

PA sent me this link: http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/01/27/how-a-great-product-can-be-bad-news-apple-ipad-and-the-closed-mac/

It’s worth reading.

January 28 2010
brown permalink

Looks like the one thing that can bring us all together is the one thing that can tear us all apart. I’m excited that a lot of people are excited about it, and those people will make some great apps that really use this new ipad- but me as a consumer, I guess I can’t add anything to the debate because I don’t even have a real phone. I’m confused about one thing- can you listen to music and do other things at the same time on this?

my two cents

January 30 2010
rc permalink

Yes, I bet you’ll be able to listen to music and do other things at the same time, sometimes. But the question you should ask yourself is: WOULD… YOU… WANT… TO?

The truth of the matter is that the iPad is Apple’s proposal for a new type of product that is not a mobile phone and is not a laptop. I think we can agree on that. It’s irrelevant whether ASUS, HP, Palm or anyone else makes a tablet product with this or that feature. Who cares about them? They still run operating systems that aren’t beautiful or have uninspired hardware shells (that will become carcasses sooner that Apple products). Very likely both of those things. Of course people will still buy their monsters. Why shouldn’t they? They are cheaper and they work if you know how to make them.

But why compare? Those others are not Apple, and they seldom do risky things like imagining a new type of product that predicts a new type of behaviour. I think the iPad is less a mobile device; less a productivity device for carrying around to meetings and other such nuisances; and more a device for the home that will somehow find a space between mobile, pc and display. For things that you want to do without a keyboard and without a mouse/trackpad. For things you want to touch because you have hands that want to point at things with their fingers to see what happens. I think making iWork the first set of example apps is a throw-away teaser; it’s something familiar so people can see how boring office work can be less soul-deflating when done without a keyboard (which of course you realistically need for office work). I think it’s also an exciting device for education and other specific desk-detached professional uses.

No USB. That’s part of the proposal. Not a big deal, unless you want to turn this newly envisioned product into a tangle of wires and dust that will EXACTLY DEFEAT THE POINT it’s trying to make. No camera for now? That will change. Bet on it and win big.

But maybe nothing I am saying makes any sense. That’s fair enough. Whatever the case, I look forward to see what people build for it and to experience apple-standards multi-touch with the added scale that the (now looking beastly) iphone doesn’t have. For not compromising and for having a point of view, my respect for Apple stands.

The troubling bit which Apple will need to correct (I agree with others in that this is not an if, but a must) is how they open up. Closed environments are dinosaurs. People who use Apple products are living closer to the future, so I imagine that is a challenge with a lot of brains behind it in Cupertino.

Like Camille said, at the end of the day it’s yet another product that ultimately people don’t need to own, and it’s a pity that people are so eager to destroy the earth with their habits and hate each other with such fervor. To be fair, that isn’t Apple’s fault.

February 1 2010
pepe permalink

Check the ModBook.

These guys converts your computer in a kind of Tablet (iTablet?) for $699, it looks like a better approach to what some people would have expected from the iPad.

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=home

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