The Next Thing That Comes First

[chipotle]

Against my better judgement, I’m going to write about the iPad. It’s been long enough that everyone’s already formed an opinion, I suspect; I’m going to start off by throwing a bit of cold water on some of the opinions I’ve been seeing.

Comments

[wingywoof]

I also recently thought back to when the iMac first came out and Apple omitted the floppy drive.

[wingywoof]

Then again I also remember The Newton. XD

[chipotle]

I do as well -- and in some ways the Newton's problem was that it was simply ahead of its time. There was a way in which it was another attempt to try to shift paradigms, but it managed the unenviable trick of being simultaneously too bold and not bold enough. (Sometime if you're bored look up info on the original Apple Newton project, which had very little to do with what they actually released under that name.)

Even so, it had a tremendous cult following -- a MessagePad 2100, the last of the line, can still easily go for $150+ on eBay, which is pretty remarkable when you think about it. The same sure as heck can't be said for the Handspring Visor, the first PDA that I owned....

I still drag my Newton 2K out now and again.

[traveller_blues]

It still works. It's lighter than the OMGBrick laptop. It runs on AA batteries. It fit into one end of my suit bag carryon and got me through a hellish 13 hour flight, and I wrote two chapters of a story on it.

-Traveller

[kyomotion]

Interestingly the Newton was the only Apple-device I ever liked.
Because of that one I bought a G4Mac once... and HATED it =)

However, nowadays I think, in general, Apple (especially their policy) is even worse then Mikeysoft (and that does mean something, doesn't it?). I do not allow any Macintosh products in my household in the same way as I do not allow Sony-BS here. They are bad Karma IMHO.

regards
kyo

[chipotle]

If someone wrote a long article talking about what they thought were interesting technologies in new Ford cars and the effecct those technologies might have on the entire auto industry long-term, and someone responded with how they had a bad experience with a Ford 10 years ago and how they think the American auto industry bailout was a terrible idea, would you think that person was actually contributing to the discussion? I wouldn't.

[shaterri]

I think your point about infrastructure is an interesting one, because I see that as one of the current major issues with the iPad - $130 plus a monthly fee is a lot to pay for ubiquity; not unheard-of, and in line with what you have to pay in other avenues, but those avenues aren't this one. I suspect Apple is gambling that you'll either have Wi-Fi anywhere you want to use the device or that you'll not miss it if you don't, but that seems like a pretty big roll of the dice given that the major issues with ubiquitous Wi-Fi are less technical than social, and they appear to be making negative progress if anything.

[chipotle]

While I think the base iPad price is pretty cmpetitive, it's my feeling they should have worked at making the extra fee for the 3G/A-GPS hardware something more like $70. Unfortunately, I doubt they could do much about the charge for the 3G data plan: while people point to the Kindle and nook and their free cellular service, it's probably reasonable to assume that iPad users are going to use, well, a lot more free cellular service than ebook readers do. Eventually, I suspect phone companies will start offering "consolidated" plans that work for multiple devices, sort of the equivalent of family calling plans but for the nerd who has both the smart phone, the iPad, and possibly a laptop with a 3G card. I know for my part, the idea of slapping on another $30 a month is unappealing enough that I probably won't do it. Probably

[krinndnz]

I loved the idea that access to wi-fi shouldn't something on the menu, it should be a condiment. It was an amusing metaphor that still had a good chunk of explanatory/narrative power.

[barberio]

All I have to say about why they're putting out a WiFi only iPad is because of MiFi.

[krinndnz]

Fascinating. One thing I have to admire about Apple is their narrative power, their ability to get everyone talking. It makes me smirk when I think of it as the revenge of the English/Art History majors, us from those other "soft" disciplines. People who understand narrative are kicking the ass of the MBAs in the marketplace. I can deal with this.

I have a similar take on the iPad: Apple is playing a different game than other computer manufacturers. If you assume that, it starts to make a lot more sense that Apple keeps winning when, by the metrics their "competitors" use, they should be losing. Apple doesn't have any serious competitors in the market they actually want to compete in. Dell and HP and Toshiba and Asus and Acer aren't really competing with Apple.