Apple iPad.

[domesticmouse]

Yes, the lines of maxiPad jokes now have wings. Now that we have that out of the way...

First off, to all of my tech focused friends who are sitting here scratching their heads about the Apple iPad, and it's total lack of any new technology, i'd just like to remind everyone of the initial iPod review by /. chief CmdrTaco: No wireless. Less space

Comments

[domesticmouse]

Yes, the general populace is stupid, if you define stupid as not caring how things work, as long as they do work. And yes, they like things that are easy and shiny. Easy means that said item doesn't make them feel stupid, and shiny means said object plays to their need to appear successful.

It's like you've read my design books =)

[strangedave]

Wasn't it just a few weeks ago you were telling me that web apps were the future, and you couldn't be bothered learning the iPhone SDK because it had no future, or something like that?

If you do get seriously into iPad native development, I thoroughly recommend the book Cocoa Design Patterns. It goes through Cocoa basic design ideas, including the thinking behind why that pattern was chosen etc, and then gives you a few examples from the API. It is very much 'here is the thinking behind the APIs' instead of just a big list of API calls like many dev books.

I'm pretty much planning to focus on iPhone and iPad development as much as I can in the near future.

[domesticmouse]

Heh, I said nothing of doing native development =)

I will be getting this bloody thing so I can learn the ins and outs of doing webapp development for it. There are a bunch of extensions in it's WebKit for handling things like multi-touch gestures, geolocation, et al, as well as webkit and ipod/iphone/ipad specific css.

I did spend some time learning cocoa back when i got my first mac, but try as I might I keep winding up thinking in terms of server based communication environments.

[jujulilianan]

I know I'm not a computer geek.. my only computer is going on 6 years old, and does everything I care for it to do... but I'm also not the target market. This whole thing seems a bit pissweak. it's not even a proper computer. you have to install your software from the itunes app store.

I'd have a netbook over this any day. at least a netbook has a keyboard you can type on if you want to. without that, it's just a dedicated mobile browser & media player. way too specialised for my lifestyle and my internet usage needs.

[domesticmouse]

Yup, it's a dedicated web browser, no two ways about it.

[jujulilianan]

see.. for me, the small size of the iphone and the fact that it's a phone makes it portable and multiple-ly useful enough, that the poopy interface is a trade off that's maybe worth making

[domesticmouse]

Yes, the iPad is a web browser without the underlying computer being visible.

It amuses me that it took Steve Jobs to finally make Linux on the desktop happen. Oh, and fulfill Netscape's operating systems as nothing but a bunch of device drivers.

If you think a web browser is only for old people, and content consumers, I have but one question for you. What is FaceBook?

[alasharia_la]

You know, I look at it from the poi9nt of view that as far as hardware and software development go, Apple has combined the two flawlessly. Then, they always do. Apple designs its software and hardware concuurently, and any changes to one need to be reflected by changes made in the other.
Most of the hard core Mac users I know (music and visual artists, mostly) will buy it as opposed to any other similar doodad, simply because it will fit more cleanly with their already existing technology.
It is, simply, a way to make sure that Apple continues to get its users to keep buying Apple products - something M$ should look at.

[domesticmouse]

Microsoft and Google can't replicate the Apple magic for a simple reason. Google and MS are both anti-design. For all his personality issues, BillG was actually a designer at heart, not your traditional graphic designer, but a system designer, like Steve is.

Short Apple the day Steve retires.