Apple iPad released
Apple quote $US499 ($AUD 553.20) entry price. Let’s see what the local market does with it.
iPhone to iPad – natural technical progression.
I want one.
If you are reading this, thank a Teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a Soldier
Facebook
Twitter
I prefer my Kindle – if I want to do some mobile ‘computing’ or browse the interwebby, I use a powerful laptop with a next G card for when ‘hotspots’ are not available. It’s got a 16 inch, sharp as a tack, screen and Firewire, Bluetooth, infrared, Ethernet, USB and several other ports to communicate with peripherals as well as a 350 GB HDD, 4 Gig of RAM, a DVD reader/burner and a camera so I can ‘Skype’ my daughter who is interstate at Uni.
It runs under Windows 7 and is loaded with Office 2007 and Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium – all the tools of my trade.
The Kindle is light, thin and its battery lasts nearly two weeks when reading with the wireless function turned off. I’m able to purchase, download ‘books’ from Amazon and read them anywhere I like, be it on a bus, at the beach, sitting in a café, on a thunderbox or in bed.
Probably the best thing is the black resizable text on a white background – it makes reading far less tiring than from a backlit screen. The Kindle cost AU$259.00 and I bought a leather cover for a further AU$27.00. The wireless is free.
Since I ripped open its packaging I’ve bought, downloaded in 20 seconds and read 25 books. They were a mix of fiction and non-fiction. The prices ranged from AU$2.00 for a complete set of Sherlock Holmes’ adventures to AU$16.95 for a fascinating treatise on the long term climate changes which drove the spread of the species ‘Homo’ from Africa to the Americas and all points west.
I’d need the big iPhone to do what?
I’ve been using my iPhone as a reader and although I initially thought the screen would be to small, it wasn’t. So if I can minimize tools and use my phone for reading eBooks that’s a plus. I know the iPhone screen is way smaller than your Kindle but I found it surprisingly easy to read. Obviously it doesn’t display page at a time but that is only a thumb flick away.
Providing the iPad turns out to be a better version of my current tablet, ie, a small computer with all Apples bells and whistles added then it is better than Kindle because that is only a reader…correct?
If I can load MS Office and my specialist nav software for bush bashing then it will be considered.
I wait with baited breath.
Kev
The iPad is also significant for its potential to improve the quality of life of speech-limited individuals.
Thirty years ago when working with bright kids with Cerebral Palsy who had plenty to say but couldn’t get the words out, I used to concoct communication boards using perspex over wood. You could scribe a QWERTY keyboard on to the wooden top and keep it clean with the perspex. The kid could maintain a conversation using finger spelling or a pointer attached to his/her head if the control was there.
Many could manage a complex conversation using these low-tech items. I remember one eighteen year old who used to flip his board over to the R-rated underside if people were giving him a hard time.
He had a small number of message buttons which he employed to good effect. The most often used message on this section of his board was f*** off!
But back to the iPad. I’ve seen an iPhone programmed with software called Proloquo 2 See – http://www.proloquo2go.com/
which allows a series of verbal combinations to be set up. The person simply presses the screen on the appropriate cursor and the pre-programmed words come out through the speaker.
It’s can be organized on the basis of situations, viz – greetings, sport, self-care etc. What speech is programmed is up to the user.
You can set it up to say “Gimme a pot of Fourex, mate…” Goes down a treat in most pubs.
The limitation is screen size, and for someone with poor motor control, this can make life difficult. I’m assuming the screen on the iPad is large enough to remove this obstacle, and also that the Proloquo software can run on the iPad platform.
If so – it’s a major breakthrough.
Lots of of bloggers are not really happy with the new iPad.There was just too much hoopla about it and alot blogers got disapointed.Quite frankly, I actually see some of the awesome potential of the gizmo. Third-party apps for doing tunes, games, newsprints and magazine and FFS books, all sorts of good stuff, but they failed to sell it properly (aside from the books). It looks kind of undercooked
“…then it is better than Kindle because that is only a reader…”
A Kindle doesn’t pretend to be anything else but a reader – I think that is why it works so well.
As I said, its screen is brilliant and with the long battery life it’s enough for a two week holiday at a remote beach or bush location.
I read somewhere that it has become a very popular gift for US troops deploying to Afghanistan.
Parents and friends get together and load one up with a hundred novels or so and send them OS.
Much easier to carry in your pack than even one paperback and with the optional neoprene cover quite robust – no moving parts or HDD to damage.
Hi Kev!
The lauch of the iPad reminded me of this parody that has a few lines that make me laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2nkoGLhrE
Cheers,
Phil
I used to read MAD magazine as a kid at high school – yes it’s been around that long.
Funny piece.
The iPad has enormous potential for a blogger – and I will not miss the lack of a camera on it at all. I do hope that it is capable of some GPS lickage, even if one is not built in it would be theoretically possible for a plug in.
I too want one!