I'm depressed, confused and made anxious by the iTablet thingy launch, which apparently is today. News reports claim this thing is going to 'reshape the way that we read books, newspapers and watch television'. Users will be able to 'do things such as read newspapers and play games'. 'Books and newspapers could be presented differently'.
I don't understand how surfing the web on a bigger iPhone will be different than surfing it on a laptop.
I don't understand how watching tv on a flat screen will be any different from what I do now.
I don't understand how reading words on a screen can be made so different as to 'revolutionise' the experience.
I think that's about the limit of my non-understanding in this area. Anyone planning to buy one and if so please will they explain it to me?
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Benway gets quite angry about this kind of thing. He gets really upset if you suggest anything other than the idea that the likes of Sony and Apple are smiling benefactors, leading us by the hand into an improved world.
[ 27.01.2010, 07:28: Message edited by: Thorn Davis ]
Posted by Octavia (Member # 398) on :
So does the world's collective of technology journalists, so at least he's not alone.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Octavia: 'Books and newspapers could be presented differently'.
I read a horrible article a while back, about how the next generation of writers will be more like movie directors - doing things like picking out a soundtrack for different parts of their novel and things like that. Can you imagine anything more grating than reading an already-awful book by some new novelist, and then all of a sudden some scotum-tighteningly hip new band comes pounding onto the soundtrack because the writer really felt, yeah, that that was the best thing to accompany the sex scene with the FHM model in the back of the club.
Or - worse - imagine an ultra-violent crime-comedy set in Swansea, written by a 24 year-old who then proceeds to supply a fucking director's commentary on the whole debacle.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
That's always been Apple's game though hasn't it - taking a product which already exists, repackaging it slightly, then releasing it with a lot of fanfare proclaiming it to be the next big thing. Not to mention giving it a frankly ludicrous price tag. And Mac users absolutely gobble it up, because they've totally bought into the marketing lies, and genuinely believe that an iPod, for instance, isn't just an mp3 player.
It's depressing.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
i don't buy apple stuff, but i'm sure whatever they've got planned will be a paradigm shift. My guess based on the punditry is that they're gunning for a netbook / ereader cross over, with excellent social connectivity due to reliance on the iphone software library. It'll have a sim so it can work anywhere, not just wifi zones, and will be geared towards more casual and media / social focused use than a laptop, which makes sense because the way computers are being integrated into people's lives are changing. Thorn has complained that you can't really experience photos, movies on an immersive level with the iphone, and this is probably filling that gap, and is looking to do for books what itunes / ipods did for music... integrated, intuitive market with a UI and delivery experience that makes people cream their pants.
[ 27.01.2010, 08:05: Message edited by: Kanye West ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
What was that? Reduce choice and quality?
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
It's a tablet PC with a touch screen, an interface based on the iPhone operating system, and a built in 3G connection.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
It's definitely come to something when the BBC are running news stories about things which haven't actually happened yet.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: What was that? Reduce choice and quality?
take the mainstream business over, really.
Posted by dang65 (Member # 102) on :
I think there is still room to improve Web devices. The iPhone has given people a taste for just grabbing a little device and looking up a Wiki entry, or checking Facebook or whatever, but it also has loads of limitations - screen size, no Flash, not very good wi-fi, screen breaks easily (and probably loads of other things).
Having a more comfortable size tablet, maybe one in each room, that you can pick up at any time and access all the lovely things on the Web in a convenient and comfortable way could be really attractive to a lot of people.
As for the reading experience. We all know there's nothing better than a paperback for usability, but there are possible enhancements in other ways, like allowing people to instantly format the text to their taste, allowing people to jump to specific positions in the text so they can discuss passages with friends or book club members, and for the same book to appear on lots of different platforms and remember where you were in the text and load it at that point - so, say you'd been reading a bit over breakfast on your laptop, and then you got on the train with your mobile, you could continue from the same point automatically. And then read some more at work on your work computer - which is the advantage over a paperback with a bookmark stuck in it.
I've got all that sort of thing working on my Google Wave gadget, but I need to do it on a normal web page really, to make it more as described above. Google Wave also allows you to read the text and discuss it with other people in the same place.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
yes, all the things that i was talking about when we were busy trashing ereaders.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
Flash is a good call. Also, gaming.
Posted by dang65 (Member # 102) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kanye West: yes, all the things that i was talking about when we were busy trashing ereaders.
Where was that? I'd like to read it, seeing as I'm getting a bit more into the subject now - in a technical way I mean.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
it's irrelevant. It was unanimously decided that none of my points were valid, and that technology is robbing us of art.
Posted by dang65 (Member # 102) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kanye West: it's irrelevant. It was unanimously decided that none of my points were valid, and that technology is robbing us of art.
Oh, that thread. I was on your side on that one. I think. I'll have a look later. I'm posting from my mobile, and it's too fiddly to be worth doing anything as complicated as a search for a thread.
Posted by Darryn.R (Member # 1) on :
It's a giant iPhone - it's pretty, double pixeled oddness, too big for a pocket too small to warrant a bag.
cute though.
Posted by Darryn.R (Member # 1) on :
cheap as chips though at 499 USD start price...
for sitting on the couch browsing/blogging that's OK
[ 27.01.2010, 14:25: Message edited by: Darryn.R ]
Posted by Darryn.R (Member # 1) on :
well, closer to 900 if you want wi-fi and 3g and 64GB storage...
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
lol
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
So, it costs more than a laptop and has
No free software
No installing apps from the Web
No sharing music or books
Apple can remotely disable your apps & media
I have no idea why people would buy this.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by dang65: Oh, that thread. I was on your side on that one. I think. I'll have a look later. I'm posting from my mobile, and it's too fiddly to be worth doing anything as complicated as a search for a thread.
You're thinking of a different thread - where Benway got excited about being able to see the running times of films somewhere other than on the back of a DVD box.
Here's the ereader discussion - looking over it you made the comment that the ereader was to reading what the Segway was to walking.
Looking back over that thread, I don't necessarily agree with everything I posted anymore. For example, I did concede that eReaders might be good for the publishing industry, and I no longer believe that will be the case.
Posted by Octavia (Member # 398) on :
quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: too big for a pocket too small to warrant a bag
I'm willing to bet that in less than a week you will be able to buy a custom iPad holder thing.
E4apostrophisation
[ 28.01.2010, 05:27: Message edited by: Octavia ]
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Octavia: I'm willing to bet that in less than a week you will be able to buy a custom iPad holder thing.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
When Apple talking about 'filling the gap' between a smartphone and a laptop are they talking a gap that exists for current users of these technologies, or are they talking about a new market, that currently has no use for an iPhone or a Laptop?
In other words, is the idea that you buy the one that best suits your needs, or is the idea that you have all three of these things and use a different one depending on whether you're sitting on the sofa, or at your desk?
[ 28.01.2010, 05:55: Message edited by: Thorn Davis ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Also... does this iPad work as a Phone? That might be a dealbreaker for me. I'd be seriously tempted to buy one if I could walk around the street with that propped on my shoulder, yelling into a speaker six inches away from my mouth, like Dom Joly.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
Quote from someone on reddit
quote:Just yesterday I was looking at my iPhone thinking "Hmmm, I wish this thing didn't fit in my pocket and couldn't make phone calls." Then I looked over to my netbook and couldn't help but feel it would benefit from losing the keyboard and being made of 50% glass.
Finally apple gives me what I wish.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Apparently it has a 4:3 screen. Not ideal for most video content then. Or books, magazines, etc.
An odd choice.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Also... does this iPad work as a Phone? That might be a dealbreaker for me. I'd be seriously tempted to buy one if I could walk around the street with that propped on my shoulder, yelling into a speaker six inches away from my mouth, like Dom Joly.
No, it has a socket for a SIM card but that's only for the 3G connection. If it had Windows on it I suppose you could use Skype but... it doesn't.
So it's basically a big iPod Touch with a 3G connection.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by MiscellaneousFiles: Apparently it has a 4:3 screen. Not ideal for most video content then. Or books, magazines, etc.
An odd choice.
4:3 is a crazy decision. I can't quite believe they've gone with that. It makes the 'turning it from landscape to portrait' thing a bit pointless, too, as well as making it rubbish for watching video and reading books.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
You can use your old iPhone apps with it though. So you can play Doodlejump, play the Fart Piano, and make it sound like a light sabre when you wave it through the air like a twat.
It's probably only a matter of time before they show up here.
Posted by dang65 (Member # 102) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis:
quote:Originally posted by dang65: Oh, that thread. I was on your side on that one. I think.
You're thinking of a different thread - where Benway got excited about being able to see the running times of films somewhere other than on the back of a DVD box.
Here's the ereader discussion - looking over it you made the comment that the ereader was to reading what the Segway was to walking.
Ah, yeah, I'd forgotten about that one. I think that was a reasonably sensible comment I put on there, that e-readers could find a niche area where they would be very useful.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
I like to think it's all a big practical joke to expose just how cretinous most of Apple's customers are. If you buy one, Steve Jobs will personally visit your house and laugh in your face, waving your $800 at you, while you stand there clutching your giant iPod with both hands like a child holding a teddy bear. Lips quivering, eyes welling up with tears.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
You know, if I was dying of cancer that's exactly how I'd want to spend the last six months of my life. I never had an answer to that question before, and now I do.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
My girlfriend, the out-of-work actress, wants one, so I'll probably have to buy her one for our anniversary or something.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
If you want to find acting work... there's an app for that!
Probably.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
Hmmm, I have the rigid functionality of an iphone and can't make calls. You could use sykpe but only if Apple license it for the OS because it's a closed platform for development without apples tools. I don't have the most standard network adapters unless you plug me into my dock (available separately) I have a form of HDMI proven to be faulty with my current OS. My screen is not the right shape for media, my main selling point. I can't be used as a HDD, because itunes is my software port for file handling. I cost a mere $500 unless of course you want to be able to transfer files to me, which you will need otherwise you'll be using a wireless device bound to a dock at home, so really I cost a grand actually. I'm not good at the only things I can do.
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Also... does this iPad work as a Phone? That might be a dealbreaker for me. I'd be seriously tempted to buy one if I could walk around the street with that propped on my shoulder, yelling into a speaker six inches away from my mouth, like Dom Joly.
Guys at B3ta already are on it.
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
I did watch the BBC's introduction and after reviewing the Apple rep's comments have come up with the following:
It is gorgeous
The Screen - is gorgeous
It is gorgeous
Gorgeous doesn't sell it to me I am afraid. iPhone - great, but this just seems like a clumsy oversized version for Nathan Barley-esque tossers to sit on street corners, shouting loudly into the 3G app and generally asking for people to despise them.
I'm sure it will sell very well
[ 28.01.2010, 08:33: Message edited by: Waynster ]
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
I went to see The Prodigy in concert at the Bournemouth International Centre last night. Before they came on, we were treated to a support act called Foreign Beggars one of whom did some pretend drum noises with his mouth - Boom-bada-chika-boom, boom-bada-chik-brrrrrrr and that sort of thing - while the other gentleman said "yeah" over and over again.
Eventually, The Prodigy appeared on stage and played some songs that you might have heard of, like Firestarter and Out of Space, which were in the charts during the '90s. The music was rather loud and I think quite a lot of people got headaches. Luckily there was a man walking through the audience selling pills. I asked him if he had any cocodamol, but he gave me a funny look and then pushed past me in a rather rude manner. It was a good night though. After asking the audience why he couldn't hear us, everybody clapped and cheered lots. Maxim said that Bournemouth was the "motherfucking place to be", which was rather sweet of him, as it actually seemed like a bit of a hole. iHad a very enjoyable evening.
8/10
[ 28.01.2010, 10:22: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
I'm sure you're sad to hear that they're ripping down the Imax cinema in Bournemouth. Seems like a good idea just as 3D cinema could be becoming popular.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
the ipad doesn't seem so good. Perhaps they decided they had to release it now to catch the wave, before it was fully developed.
Posted by Tilde (Member # 1215) on :
I think everyone's missing the most important part of this.
It's got built in magic
*awed silence*
Posted by Tilde (Member # 1215) on :
I had an ipod touch for about a month and a half. It was good while it lasted. I enjoyed being able to hook up to the wifi network in my house. Casually check emails and look at websites from my sofa, during episodes of shows I did not like or adbreaks of shows i did like.
I liked the games too, they were all cheap and the ones I downloaded were all very playable. It was convenient to turn the touch on, choose a game, play for a minute or maybe 10 minutes, then put it back in my pocket until the next time I had a few minutes to kill.
I suppose the ipad would sit on a coffee or occasional table within arms reach from the sofa, and I could do the same sort of thing, except with no need to strain eyes or zoom in and out. That would be alright I guess.
Since i broke the ipod touch though, I've missed it a bit, but it's not so bad really. I couldn't really imagine the need to use an ipad would be so great that I would spend £500 on it.
I wouldn't take it out on a train, but then people take laptops so maybe I'm just paranoid. It could be good for parents who need to shut their kids up for a while - on a car journey, on a holiday rainy day or waiting for a flight at an airport.
The touch was very easy to use so people with limited computer knowledge might like the ipad as a device in their home for emails and web surfing.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tilde: I had an ipod touch for about a month and a half. It was good while it lasted. I enjoyed being able to hook up to the wifi network in my house. Casually check emails and look at websites from my sofa, during episodes of shows I did not like or adbreaks of shows i did like.
I think I'd go mad checking emails every fifteen minutes. Most of what goes into my personal account is spam - the only email account I have that's worth checking often is my work email address, and checking that every time there's an ad break... euurgh.
Does anyone find that having easy access to their personal email is actually quite destructive to their spare time? I tend to find that when the laptop's on (yes! Tilde and Rooster will be glad to know we currently have two computers!), I wander over to it, check email, check facebook, here, imdb. Usually find there's nothing new. Wander off. Repeat. It stops me from making a conscious decision to do something else with my free time. Even if that thing is playing a computer game or listening to some songs it's preferable to just idling away an hour checking websites that haven't really updated.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Rumour has it that Apple are planning to launch a larger version called the BodyForm, or something...
Posted by ralph (Member # 773) on :
quote:Originally posted by MiscellaneousFiles: iHad
9/10 Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Shut up ralph.
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Does anyone find that having easy access to their personal email is actually quite destructive to their spare time? I tend to find that when the laptop's on (yes! Tilde and Rooster will be glad to know we currently have two computers!), I wander over to it, check email, check facebook, here, imdb. Usually find there's nothing new. Wander off. Repeat. It stops me from making a conscious decision to do something else with my free time. Even if that thing is playing a computer game or listening to some songs it's preferable to just idling away an hour checking websites that haven't really updated.
I know exactly what you mean by this - my laptop takes permanent residence on the couch and I am constantly checking mail, FB and the like often to the point of distraction from the conversation I am having with my flatmate or the film I am watching. Often whilst enjoying a movie, something completely irreverent will appear on the screen and I spend the next 30 minutes on Wikipedia looking up all and sundry about some benign topic which will serve nothing more than my idle curiosity.
Internet - scourge of my life at times...
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
I have to make sure computers are as far away from me as possible if I'm supposed to be watching a film. Given any opportunity, I'll start playing *Gimme Friction Baby, and won't stop until the computer is physically taken away from me.
[ 29.01.2010, 08:05: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]
Posted by dance margarita (Member # 848) on :
if they dont take the internet off my mobile phone soon i may never be able to concentrate on just doing one thing for any period of time longer than five minutes ever again. this is a form of hell for me. i was very fond of my attention span, i miss it horribly.
[ 29.01.2010, 08:39: Message edited by: dance margarita ]
Posted by Doctor Agamemnon When (Member # 189) on :
Wow, it's like a vision of the future.
I've got my portable wireless telephone, and my slender television almost like a picture frame. It's like living in space, as predicted in the 1970s, or on an exciting episode of Tomorrow's World.
All that's missing is the jetpack so I can fly to work on the moon like they promised me.
Where's my iJump, you Futuristic Technology people? I don't want a Segway, they don't fly!
Posted by Hades (Member # 57) on :
I don't see how having what is effectivly the iphone softwear on this is a good idea. surly it would have been much better having OSX on it and it effectivly being a touch screen laptop.
Please tell me it at least has a USB socket for pen drives/ add ons etc...
