The PADD. Er. iPad. Whatever.
Okay Apple, you have finally managed to impress me.
*stares pointedly at Google to please match this, and immediately*
I'd be more impressed, of course, if the damned thing weren't running up to $829 fucking dollars USD just for the magical privilege of WiFi and/or 3G, particularly since they're not selling in Canada and probably won't for a year, if history is anything to go by.
After all, Google still hasn't gotten off its ass to offer proper support for Android in Canada yet, like access to the Apps Store, even though Canadian retailers have been (incompetently) selling and (negligently) marketing Android devices for the better part of a year (~8 months). Hell, Canada still doesn't even have Google Voice! The Nexus One has still only been released, as of this week, to the USA, the UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore. No offense to Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK, or anything, but we're right fucking here. My phone still doesn't have Android 1.6. (I'll be fixing that as soon as I get my free Magic, and as soon as I get together the courage to root my beautiful, beautiful Dream, because I am officially fed up with this bullshit.)
The moral of this basically being that it sucks to be Canadian, when it comes to cool toys.
I mean, I admit it. Looking at the specs and watching the videos made my fingers itch. That's nothing special, though. My fingers always itch in the presence of shiny media technology. But the iPad has the same problem all Apple products have: they just get more expensive the longer you have them. Not to mention the "closed app ecosystem" that means you can't install anything on it but what Apple approves. Like a browser that isn't Safari. Or Google Voice (if you happen to be fortunate enough to live in a country graced by the blessings of Mighty Google, which I don't). Um, no.
(Speaking of open-source, did anybody else notice that the e-mail client and calendar UI look JUST LIKE the Android e-mail client and calendar UIs? Hm.)
Now if the thing gets down below $600 CAD by next Christmas (and holy crap, gains flash support or a camera or a USB port or the ability to multi-task, WTF?), it might be a cool toy. And we've yet to see how Google does with its version of this, not to mention the dozen other companies trying. But otherwise, I'll give it another five years. And hey, by then I'll probably have a real job again!
*stares pointedly at Google to please match this, and immediately*
I'd be more impressed, of course, if the damned thing weren't running up to $829 fucking dollars USD just for the magical privilege of WiFi and/or 3G, particularly since they're not selling in Canada and probably won't for a year, if history is anything to go by.
After all, Google still hasn't gotten off its ass to offer proper support for Android in Canada yet, like access to the Apps Store, even though Canadian retailers have been (incompetently) selling and (negligently) marketing Android devices for the better part of a year (~8 months). Hell, Canada still doesn't even have Google Voice! The Nexus One has still only been released, as of this week, to the USA, the UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore. No offense to Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK, or anything, but we're right fucking here. My phone still doesn't have Android 1.6. (I'll be fixing that as soon as I get my free Magic, and as soon as I get together the courage to root my beautiful, beautiful Dream, because I am officially fed up with this bullshit.)
The moral of this basically being that it sucks to be Canadian, when it comes to cool toys.
I mean, I admit it. Looking at the specs and watching the videos made my fingers itch. That's nothing special, though. My fingers always itch in the presence of shiny media technology. But the iPad has the same problem all Apple products have: they just get more expensive the longer you have them. Not to mention the "closed app ecosystem" that means you can't install anything on it but what Apple approves. Like a browser that isn't Safari. Or Google Voice (if you happen to be fortunate enough to live in a country graced by the blessings of Mighty Google, which I don't). Um, no.
(Speaking of open-source, did anybody else notice that the e-mail client and calendar UI look JUST LIKE the Android e-mail client and calendar UIs? Hm.)
Now if the thing gets down below $600 CAD by next Christmas (and holy crap, gains flash support or a camera or a USB port or the ability to multi-task, WTF?), it might be a cool toy. And we've yet to see how Google does with its version of this, not to mention the dozen other companies trying. But otherwise, I'll give it another five years. And hey, by then I'll probably have a real job again!