The old new iPad..

We've seen the release of the iPad.  Then, we saw the iPad 2.  As of the date of this post, we have the new iPad.  What do we call the new iPad when the next iPad comes out? I imagine walking into an Apple store one day, hearing something like this:

Customer: "I'd like the new iPad."
Apple Genius: "The brand-new iPad? Sure, we're taking pre-orders today!"
C: "No. Not the brand-new iPad. The old new iPad."
AG: "An old new iPad? Am I being punk'd?"
C: "No. I want the old new iPad."
AG: "Oh, the iPad 2..."
C: "No. Not the iPad 2. The one they should have called iPad 3, but didn't."
AG: "Ah, you want the 3rd generation iPad, then."
C: "I didn't think you were allowed to call it that."
AG: "Well, not officially. No."
C: "Well, I'll take one of those."
AG: "We don't sell them here."
C: "What?"
AG: "You have to buy them at big box retailers or online."
C: "Fine. Put me online and I'll order it, then."
AG: "You can't get online here unless you are trying out our products."
C: "So, I can't order the old new iPad from within the STORE!?"
AG: "No, but there is a Wal-Mart down the road."
C: "What if I 'test' a MacBook Air 2 by ordering my old new iPad?"
AG: "Sorry, you can't buy the 3rd Generation iPad from within the store."
C: "Actually, I'll just go buy a Fire."

*Yes, I realize no one who actually visits an Apple Store would receive such pleasant conversation without obligatory eyerolls, sighs of despair, and condescending attitude. But, those are hard to convey in text only to any degree of accuracy. On second thought, here's another take on this:


Customer (Donning sunglasses to keep from going blind in the bright, white lights of the store's interior): "I'd like the new iPad."

Apple Genius (Wearing a smile so obviously manufactured, Apple itself probably created it and made its employees wear it as part of the store uniform. He looks up from his chocolate caramel shake, er I mean Starbucks cup): "The brand-new iPad? Sure, we're taking pre-orders today!" (He jumps up and down three times while clapping his hands madly. He looks like a seal waiting for a fish treat. Or maybe a penguin.)

Customer (Looking at the Genius as though he just landed from Venus. Probably, he did. She smiles politely, shakes her head a few times): "No. Not the brand-new iPad. The old new iPad."

AG (Stops jumping up and down, places hand on hips): "An old new iPad? Am I being punk'd?" (He looks around for hidden cameras and a crew.)

Customer (Gritting her teeth): "No. I want the old iPad."

AG (Rolls his eyes, looks toward the ceiling, shakes his head in disbelief): "Oh, the iPad 2..."

Customer (Stares through the Genius, ready to slap the crap out of him): "No. Not the two. The one they should have called iPad 3, but didn't."

AG (Looks at her, smirking as if he just unraveled the great mystery of life): "Ah, you want the 3rd generation iPad, then."

Customer (running one index finger over the other in the universal 'shame-shame' gesture): "I didn't think you were allowed to call it that."

AG (looking around to see if anyone else heard him): "Well, not officially. No."

C (sighs heavily): "Well, I'll take one of those."

AG (rolls his eyes, straightens his back to stand taller, and suddenly speaks with something of an almost-British accent -that is, one of putting on airs): "We don't sell those here."

C: "What?"

AG (still 'on airs' and waving his hand in a non-specific direction, as if to indicate somewhere out in the world beyond the glass palace in which he stands): "You have to buy them at big box retailers or online."

C (gritting teeth once again): "Fine. Put me online and I'll order it, then."

AG (folds hands in front of himself): "You can't get online here unless you are trying out our products."

C: "So, I can't order the old new iPad from within the STORE!?"

AG (pointing in the direction of the large glass panes at the front of the store): "No, but there is a Wal-Mart down the road."

C (again grits her teeth): "What if I 'test' a MacBook Air 2 by ordering my old new iPad?"

AG (raises eyebrows in a manufactured sympathetic manner): "Sorry, you can't buy the 3rd Generation iPad from within the store."

Customer (Looking at oversized black and white image of Steve Jobs hanging from the ceiling, rolls her eyes, and heads for the door): "Actually, I'll just go buy a Fire."

*In case you missed it, this is a FICTIONAL scenario. Any likeness to any actual Apple Genius is purely coincidental. Except for that one guy I met in the Apple store during our trip to NYC. Or the one in Chicago. Or the one in Little Rock. Wait, is there even an Apple Store in Chi? Or the ones I've read about online. Or heard about from other friends. Or... Besides, I'm sure you'll be able to order the old new iPad from within the store.... Surely... I would think.

*I have nothing against Apple (well, okay, some things, but that has nothing to do with why we're here today) per se. I just don't think they should call their "associates" by the "Genius" name when some of them can't even keep their shoes tied. Just sayin.  I mean, I'm no genius, but I don't go around calling myself one, either.

*As a side note: how many postscripts can one add to a post before removing them and just making new paragraphs integrated as part of the actual post itself?  And, how many posts have you read where the afterthoughts are actually longer and provide deeper thought than the actual post itself?  Why is Little Boy Blue wearing blue, anyway?  Why didn't Little Miss Muffett just kill the stupid spider?  And, just what is "E-I-E-I-O" supposed to mean, anyway?

*They say Eve tempted Adam with an Apple. I think it was an iPad. Or, rather, the Pre-iPad iPad. Or maybe the new old iPad. Or the old old iPad.

I took only the iPad

Last week, I had a state technology coordinator's meeting.  That's nothing new, as we have them every month.  What was new, however, was the iPad that I took.  In fact, what was new, really, was the fact that I *only* took the device to use during the meeting.  How did it go?

First of all, I had recently updated to the iOS 4.2.whatever and let me say that the switching of the "anti-rotate" button into a "mute" button has got to be one of the WORST decisions I have ever seen made to a device that freely flips the screen around at the tip of a hat.  Hold the device flat on a table, and it might rotate the screen 90 degrees in one moment, then do a literal 180-degree turn in the next with no rhyme or reason.  The ability to freeze the screen in any given position was one of my favorite features.  Now, that's gone (unless there is some trick to getting it back, which I would love to hear about!).

I do not have ANY type of case for the device yet, so that played into several of the problems (like the freely-rotating screen) I had.  It's a pain in the rear to type on the thing while it is laying perfectly flat on a table, at least for me.  I've heard a lot of folks complain that the keyboard doesn't "work" because you can't "feel" the keys.  Let me tell you, it takes a LOT of getting used to.  Even though there is a 'click' when you hit the keys (unless, of course, you flipped the anti-rotate switch and instead it muted it), there is no real tactile response.  You get no physical feedback.  I like physical feedback.  I eventually got the hang of it, except for the times I "rested" my hand, only to find a bunch of random characters in my notes from accidentally hitting keys.

My next problem stemmed from the 'autocorrect/auto spellcheck' that is enabled by default.  That stupid thing kept trying to "fix" my typing.  That's great for actual misspelled words, but not so great when one is typing acronyms, names, etc.  In the settings, one can turn off auto-correct, but then that immediately and automatically turns off spell check.  Seriously!?  Can we not have it check spelling WITHOUT fixing it!?  Let's see, Microsoft Word has been doing that since...what, 1984 or something?  Stupid.  I'd like the little red wavy "hey, I think this is not spelled correctly" line, in case I *do* type something incorrectly.  Once I disabled auto-correct, though, that went with it.  Again, stupid.

One last editing-related problem: I cannot touch a word and set the edit cursor where I want.  For example, if I typed: thenIwent home, I cannot simply touch between each of the three words run together in order to add spaces.  Seriously!?  Again, if someone know a fix or technique, please let me know.  How ridiculous that I have to type an entire word again just to fix a spelling mistake or a transposition of two letters.  Come on, man!

The rest of the meeting went fine (checking email, looking up resources on web, etc).

And then, I needed to post my notes.  Granted, I used the built-in notepad.  There was no way (that I could find) to copy all the text and paste it into a blog post (or even to just select ALL the text, for that matter). Useless.  I have to email the notes to myself, then copy the text on my computer in order to post it into another document.  Talk about frustrating!  Not only that, but also VERY counterproductive and a complete waste of time.  If I have to do all that, why bother carrying the thing?  I'll just take my computer and save 9, 10, 50 steps. Thanks.

I am still learning what the iPad does (and doesn't do).  So far, the best three apps for me are:

iNet Network Scanner - Scan your network, see what's out there.
Jump - Remote desktop into any machine with full integration.
FlipBoard - The coolest reader for Twitter and Facebook (hoping they add RSS soon!).

I'll keep you posted.

Drinking the Apple-flavored Kool Aid

I am sitting in the living room as I write this.  While that is not exactly novel, this is: I am using a MacBook to type while experimenting with an iPad *and* a 4th Gen iPod Touch.  Three years ago, I would have fallen on the floor laughing my head off if someone said I would be here now in this set-up.  Heck, even two years ago, I would have been scoffing at least a little.  A year ago, we didn't even know what an "iPad" was.

For the record, let it be known that these devices are not "mine," but rather they belong to my place of employment.  I simply get the benefit of using them until one of several things happen: a) something new comes along and I "trade up," b) I decide one or more of the devices cause more headache than they solve and pass them on to someone else, or c) my employment with the education service center where I work is no longer a factor and I have to turn them in.  Okay, I threw that last one in for fun.  I like to create controversy every so often just to keep people's juices flowing.  At least, I *hope* it's a joke!

Let me start with the iPod Touch 4th Gen.  Why?  Because, for me, it has the least amount of impact.  Why is that? Because I have a 3rd Gen (technically 2.5 Gen) iPod Touch that I personally own.  While the addition of two cameras is nice, it's still a Touch.  Frankly, it's not a very user-friendly one either.  You see, the edges are even more rounded than in previous versions.  Not a bad thing in and of itself, right?  Well, pair that with the top and side buttons that are essentially flush with the unit, and everything I do on it feels as though the thing is going to squirt out of my hands and crash to the floor. 

The metal is ULTRA slick, and this is one slippery fella.  In fact, the power button on top is basically on the back of the unit.  Not easy to manipulate, in my opinion.  The camera takes pretty good pictures and can fire off several pretty quickly.  In my unscientific testing, I was able to shoot about 3 pictures (like 2.5, really) every second.  I did a rapid-fire shutter test.  that is, I pressed the shutter button as fast as I could ten times.  The camera took 6 of the 10 shots!  That is impressive for something mounted inside a media player.

Is the device worth the extra $30 over its predecessor? Even with my grumblings about the unit, I have to say yes.  Having the dual cameras is a nice touch, and I'm sure I'll figure out other things once I get to using it more and more.


(note: the reflection of the bookcase in the picture was intentional. I've been letting Kevin Honeycutt's creativity rub off on me!)

Now, let's talk about the iPad.

You may recall, I posted several times about my dislike for the device.  Granted, I had only played with one for a little bit and at the time it was nothing more than an iPod Touch XL.  In a lot of ways, it still is that.  But, in other ways, it is more.  There are iPad-specific apps that take advantage of the resolution and screen real estate.  Other apps have been ported to the iPad.  And, if you do run iPod/iPhone apps, you can use the "2x" control to zoom in for a larger (not better) view.

One of the first apps I installed was iNet.  It is an iPhone/iPod app that I could run from the smaller device.  But, having a bigger screen means that I can READ what it is telling me much better.  Another app I installed is Jump.  Jump is a remote desktop tool that offers all kinds of great options, settings, etc.  I also installed Flipboard for reading Tweets in a magazine-like layout. Oh, man, that is worth the price of admission alone.  It also reads your Facebook feed, provided you set it up to do that.  I wish it would let me add RSS feeds as well, but there is Pulse for that, I guess.  Not a big fan of the Pulse app.  Too much vertical scrolling.  I'm not a good vert scroller, as I've mentioned on here in relation to my DSL at home.

I also snagged several educational apps, and will keep adding those.  Since part of my job is to show teachers what they can do with the device(s), I want to get my hands on as many different apps as I can - weed out the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I installed VTrace, but it doesn't seem to work. It locates me via wi-fi, but when I enter an address or hostname then press "Trace," all I get is the empty map (not even showing my location).  Maybe someone knows what I'm missing here.

I'm still learning what I can and can't do on the iPad, but so far, I have done a full 180-degree turn around from my initial thoughts on it.  With the tools I have, plus others that will come along, I'm sure, I can fully understand why so many TECH people are snagging these up.  And, of course with the other apps, it's no wonder non-techs are diving into the thing.

Yes, I have drunk the Apple-flavored Kool Aid.  And, ya know, it ain't half bad.

Daily Photo (Ice, Ice, Maybe) and then some

 

I took this picture this morning outside our front door.

Much of the northern 2/3 of Arkansas got hit hard with rain, sleet and snow.  Those of us in the southern part of the state mainly got rain.  Due to the cold temps, though, overnight, the rain managed to freeze itself to trees.  On the way home from work, I noticed most of the tree were free of ice until I got closer to home.  The closer I got to the house, the more ice I saw on treetops and branches.  

I don't think we will much of anything overnight.  Initially, there were calls for more rain, some sleet and even snow flurries hitting around 3am or so tomorrow.  Everything looks like it will pass out around us (as most storms seem to do for our neck of the woods), and we will see a light freezing of the water that fell during the day.

Now, I know that people who are snowed in may be wishing they had what we have, but I was really hoping we'd see some snow.  I grew up in Western PA, lived in Colorado and Northern Virginia and I miss the white stuff in the winter. Yeah, it's a pain in the butt to deal with, but there is nothing like opening the front door and seeing everything covered in a soft, white blanket.

---

Unless you've been living in Amish Country or just don't pay much attention to anything tech-related, you know that Apple's new iPad is generating a LOT of talk. Some people see it as the death of netbooks while others see it as nothing more than an over-sized toy.

My take on this is simple: I wrote the bulk of my novel-in-progress on a MacBook and netbook.  There is no way I would attempt 50,000+ words on an iPad-type device.  In fact, I sort of have already.  

 

Back in 2007, I received a Samsung Q1.  I looked back through old posts on here, and a quick looksie indicates I made ONE post regarding this "great, new" technology.  Why only one?  Because that's how long I enjoyed using the thing.  The number one issue?  Typing.  It was just too much of a pain to use as an everyday piece of equipment.  I see the iPad suffering the same fate.  It's too big to be taken seriously as a toy and too cumbersome to be taken seriously as a legitimate business tool.

The netbook fits the bill perfectly for most people: I can write a novel or I can play goofy games.  

Instead of questions like, "Will the iPad replace netbooks," people should be asking, "Is the iPad Apple's biggest flop since Newton?"  Now, THAT'S a question worth answering.  Oh, and for the record, I am not a "Windows-flunkie" nor am I a "Mac Fanboy."  I love using both technologies.  In fact, this entry is being composed on an Apple MacBook.  So save your childish name-calling for the playground.  Thanks.

Apple's iPad - Cool and not-so-much in one fell swoop

This is my take on the Apple reveal today.  I was not there live, instead I watched it via live bloggers and video from various sources.

Steve Jobs, et al, showed off their new "not-quite-a-tablet" computing device:  The iPad. Yes.  Let that soak in a moment (no pun intended).  Does it look kinda familiar?  It should.  It's basically a big iPod Touch with some "bonus features" thrown in.

See the "home key" on the right?  Just like it's little brother.  One new feature is pop-down/pop-out menus, which make getting to settings inside apps easier.  The screen size (9.7 inches)  provides for a nice viewing area, considering there are no frills with which to be distracted.  The unit comes with a microphone, speakers, WiFi, Bluetooth, and standard 30-pin apple connector.  For $150 more than the asking price, one can also add 3G cellular surfing from AT&T ($14.99/250 MB per month or $29.99 for unlimited - no contracts).

Much of the beginning demo featured Mr. Jobs hanging out in his chair, showing different apps on the big screen: browsing the web, watching a video in HD, reading email, etc.  At one point, some software people came out to talk about the "new" platform.  To me, the NY Times had the best showing.  They rewrote their iPhone app for the iPad and it looks like a newspaper:

One of the cool things about it was the embedded video within an article.  Talk about marrying technologies.  EA did a demo of "Need for Speed: Shift," but frankly, it was like watching any other demo.  Nothing jaw-dropping there so far as I could tell.

 

The interface sports a qwerty keyboard that fills about half the screen, but as you can see, the keys are HUGE for such a little screen.  The presenters talked about iTunes, YouTube, Facebook, etc.  They also showed off their version of eReader: iBooks.  Now, THAT looked cool.  It actually looks like you are holding a book, with "pages" and even the illusion of a cover.  The iBookstore works like iTunes, so it will be easy for folks to pick up on that.

So, how much is this over-sized iPod Touch? 

As I said, add $150 in each category for the 3G access.

The real question is whether or not people are going to buy this thing.  I already have an iPod Touch, and while the prospect of having a much bigger screen is nice, I can't see running out to buy one.  It has NO usb ports and NO memory card reader.  Some people are complaining that it has no camera.  Maybe not, but I don't really see that as a huge drawback, considering what it is being used for.  Though, a user-facing camera would be nice for conferencing, I suppose.  It turns out there may be a device (here) that will add an SD slot and USB to the iPad, so who knows.  I am hoping to convince my boss we need one to demo/try out.  I think it is worth looking at, especially for education use.  Of course, schools could buy twice as many 8GB iTouches for the money as they could iPads, so I'm not sure it's worth it even then.

On, Plurk, there was a pros/cons discussion.  Here is food for thought:

PROS:

• runs all iPhone apps
• iphoto, itunes, iWorks
• HD video, runs iPhone apps, easy to hold, smooth operation
• keyboard looks cool
• 10 hour battery life
• sleeps for a month
• it is not a netbook!
• 3G models (assume with AT&T, of course) "Two awesome plans for iPad owners. The first one gives you 250MB of data a month for $14.99. We have an unlimited plan for just $29.99 a month."  No contract, prepaid.
• $499 - $699 pricing. :-o Much less than I would have expected from Apple
• NY Times Newspaper layout actually looks like newspaper and has embedded video.

CONS:

• the name
• probably price..
• It's a big iPod Touch. If I have one, is there really compelling reason to buy this?
• It's a tablet.
• data plan w/AT&T leaves out rural areas. It's just for the big city folks 
• So far, no mention of multitasking...
• should have been called iSlate. Apple likes one-syllable names after the i.
• How fragile are these?
• No USB, No SD card slot
  

*images edited from Engadget's live posting of the event.  Visit their whole take on it here:
http://i.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/?sort=newest&refresh=0