Comments on: iPad Dismissal

By: mangochutney

mangochutney — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:56:05 +0000

[I thought I'd repost my comment on this.
If you are able to restore the original comments, please delete this one.]

I just don't see the point of pointing out limitations of a product, which, just like the iPhone before, will be defined by software.
The software will define how useful and powerful the device will be for certain groups of customers.
[exaggeration]The iPads capabilities are limitless, because imagination is limitless and the hardware is secondary[/exaggeration]

Last week Mr. Cohen said on Twitter that he'd love to have an actual text editor on the iPad.
It took me a moment get why: wow, I'd love to have something similar to Espresso on the iPad, where I can code/learn html5.

The iPad will not be for everybody — obviously — and I can think of many situations where it might not be perfect for my day to day work. On the other hand, maybe if I rethought the way I do certain things it might simplify and improve my workflow.

Example: Do I really need MS Word when I'm on the go, or will basic basic formatting be sufficient? I could concentrate on what I need to write and do the finishing touches and layout later, on a big screen.

By: mangochutney

mangochutney — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:27:00 +0000

Maybe you're right (about Word and the design matters in the linked comment). I'm a student, and I need to do a lot of writing and I like Word, even if it's slow and sometimes bitchy.

When I only need to write a short letter, I have Mariner Write (I hate the interface, though). It's more than enough. I'm thinking about trying Bean, too.

By: ianf

ianf — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:10:00 +0000

Alexander, get this once for all: there are NO CASES, NONE, NADA, where anyone would ever need MS Word, no matter how “full fledged” it is. The vast majority of users never touch even the barest minimum of Word’s native formatting functions… in effect use it in WYSIWYG mode simply because it is there as part of the ubiquitous MS Office. And, while there are some true power users/Word wizards that [know how to] make it jump through the hoops, this requires far steeper learning curve than most dedicated page-layout apps. In fact, for somewhat sophisticated use, it is faster to write the content in plaintext editor, import it into inDesign or similar, and format it there, than to do all that inside the MS Word, and live to tell the tale.

Back to reality. Regarding subject matter, common iPod Fallacies, here’s what I just posted beneath Fraser Spiers’ latest:

http://speirs.org/blog/2010/2/4/ipad-fallacy-1-its-not-for-content-creation.html?lastPage=true#comment7224554

[ ALT URL: http://speirs.org/blog/2010/2/4/ipad-fallacy-1-its-not-for-content-creation.html#comment7224554 ]

By: mangochutney

mangochutney — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:50:00 +0000

I just don't see the point of pointing out limitations of a product, which, just like the iPhone before, will be defined by software. The software will define how useful and powerful the device will be for certain groups of customers. [exaggeration]The iPads capabilities are limitless, because imagination is limitless and the hardware is secondary[/exaggeration]

Last week Mr. Cohen said on Twitter that he'd love to have an actual text editor on the iPad. It took me a moment get why: wow, I'd love to have something similar to Espresso on the iPad, where I can code/learn html5.

The iPad will not be for everybody — obviously — and I can think of many situations where it might not be perfect for my day to day work. On the other hand, maybe if I rethought the way I do certain things it might simplify and improve my workflow.

Example: Do I need a full fledged MS Word when I'm on the go, or will basic basic formatting be sufficient? I could concentrate on what I need to write and do the finishing touches and layout later, on a big screen.

By: ChurchHatesTucker

ChurchHatesTucker — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:38:00 +0000

Even creators are consumers some times. The first thing reporters do in the morning is read the papers. Filmmakers see all the latest movies. Etc.

Sure, this is great for my Dad, et. al, but this is also a superior device for lounging in bed with on a Sunday, a quick trip to the coffee shop, The GF on her train commute, etc.

My only concern: syncing b/t my MacBook, iPhone, and this bad boy. That's where it'll get ugly.

By: The Angry Drunk

The Angry Drunk — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Thanks for the heads up on the typo. Writing when you're as hung-over as I am is always an adventure.

By: unclerand

unclerand — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:03:00 +0000

I enjoyed this article Angry B. Rather than reiterate what many others have written before, I found a link (dated in that it lacks anything directly dealing with smart phones [iPhones] or “smart mp3 players” [iPod Touch]) which you and others may enjoy.

Wax nostalgic and think how this might relate to the iPad and what it does:

http://www.willyhoops.com/microsoft_vs_apple_history.htm

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:55:00 +0000

/nitpick In the last paragraph above, it should be "I still hear". /nitpick off

I truly believe the iPad represents an inflection point, much as the original Mac did, and that the future of computing/communicating "for the rest of us" (and I include most geeks/nerds in that 'us') lies much more along the path of the iPad than personal computers (as they have been defined to date).