Apple Tablet

[Smeggy]

I do find it somewhat funny/ironic that this ipad thread is filled with videos that can't even be seen on the ipad/pod....

[Dusty Chalk]

You guys really believe multi-tasking is on deck?

For those of us who developed for the iPhone, there were constant rumors about multi-tasking being on deck, but in reality it never came, and I suspect the reason it was always backburnered was because if you wanted multi-tasking, you jailbroke your iPhone.

So consider me permanently entrenched in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp. That, and the bluetooth keyboard. (Did that ever come to pass? I've stopped following.)

[Hopstretch]

Dusty, I think multitasking is going to be like cut-and-paste was; despite all the moaning and mocking, it won't be included until it can be done right. My own guess is they're waiting for the next gen iPhone to have the processor power and battery life needed to allow it without degrading the rest of the user experience. It will be interesting to see how they implement task management given the open scorn Jobs has heaped on the standard WM/Android approach.

[agile_one]

This is more like it!

Indeed. I missed the "content delivery device" bit in Steve's presentation, so glad Ricky elaborated on it.

[episiarch]

You guys really believe multi-tasking is on deck?

The OS can support it, it's just that at present the system forces apps to terminate fully when they are not in the foreground. But there's clearly a call for some types of apps (music streaming being a particularly clear example) to run in a non-foreground mode. So I fully expect that at some point there will be an official way for developers to make their apps backgroundable. But background will come with very strict limits - you get only so much use of the radio, the CPU, the RAM, etc. - while the app is backgrounded, and they will test for this in the app store approval process. And I'll bet there will be a tight limit on the number of backgrounded apps running at once.

In other words my personal opinion (not as any sort of insider but as a Silicon Valley ex Apple ish kinda guy) is that multitasking is coming, but it will not be laptop/netbook-style run-any-apps-you-want-simultaneously multitasking.

[jvlgato]

You guys really believe multi-tasking is on deck?

For those of us who developed for the iPhone, there were constant rumors about multi-tasking being on deck, but in reality it never came, and I suspect the reason it was always backburnered was because if you wanted multi-tasking, you jailbroke your iPhone.

So consider me permanently entrenched in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp. That, and the bluetooth keyboard. (Did that ever come to pass? I've stopped following.)

I've been hoping for a BT keyboard forever, and looked as recently as yesterday. Still no go - apparently possible w/ jailbreak, but I can't risk that for my use. I'd read months ago that they didn't want to take away from their tablet sales if they put out a BT keyboard for iPhone/iTouch. My hope is after (if?) the iPad gets established, they'll allow it. But like you said, I'll believe it when I see it ...

[Hopstretch]

I think that applications like LogMeIn Ignition will also be killer on the iPad. I fixed some stuff on my Mom's PC in South Africa today from my iPhone and, while that's just kinda cool to contemplate, it's a bit painful to actually perform given the display size limitations. With the iPad and a fast Internet connection, though, you basically have an eminently usable portable extension of your main PC (or Mac) anywhere you go.

[blessingx]

And the competition heats up... Amazon buys touchscreen startup Touchco, merging with Kindle division -- Engadget

[Hopstretch]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the Kindle Touch will be racing the JooJoo down the drain.

[tyrion]

If I end up with an ipad, I'm pretty sure I will still use my kindle for reading. I'm will have to hold an ipad in my hands to confirm this but I don't think I will enjoy reading on a regular basis with the ipad. Any heavier and larger and it's no longer a substitue for a book. Having said that, I am pretty certain that the Kindle will never be the computing device the ipad seems to be.

[Hopstretch]

I agree, Mike. I think that if Amazon focus the Kindle on being the best e-reader possible there'll always be a niche for it given their economies of scale in distribution of content. But if, as this acquisition suggests, they're considering a cock length contest with Apple in the general-computing tablet space, they're going to eat shit and die.

[aardvark baguette]

I buy chips and cds from amazon, so clearly they will have the bestest computer. Not a computer company.

[grawk]

I'm surprised amazon even wants to fight apple at all. They're gonna make more money on the books if they sell them for the ipad than they ever would fighting apple with the kindle.

[n_maher]

I'm surprised amazon even wants to fight apple at all. They're gonna make more money on the books if they sell them for the ipad than they ever would fighting apple with the kindle.

A week ago I heard, and largely agreed with, that Amazon would be a huge fan of the iPad since up to that point it really hadn't seemed like Amazon wanted to be in the Kindle business. Given the events and actions of the week following the iPad announcement it would seem I was very much in the wrong.

[grawk]

Ego is trumping business sense. Not surprising, given their CEO...

[shellylh]

I agree with Mike. I just don't understand how reading on the ipad could be any better than reading on a computer.

[n_maher]

I agree with Mike. I just don't understand how reading on the ipad could be any better than reading on a computer.

I don't think the idea is about "better" when it comes to ebooks it's about being good enough at that one task and vastly superior at many others.

[grawk]

Yup, I think it'll be good enough for my needs for ebooks, and way useful otherwise. I'm not big on single taskers.

[tyrion]

At 2 1/2 times the weight of the Kindle, it would not serve my ebook needs. In a pinch, it would be fine, just like my iphone is but for an everyday reader, I would probably go back to books. Besides, you guys know I'm not getter one, or more than one.

[shellylh]

I have a separate computer for each of my tasks: email, LaTex, web browsing, Adobe Illustrator, itunes... I thought one should always get separate components.

[grawk]

I compromise on stuff for the benefit of efficiency. But I can't find that many ebooks I'm interested in yet anyway I like real books. So ebooks are for planes etc.

[shellylh]

Foolish me

[blessingx]

Seems relevant to this conversation...

Op-Ed Contributor - Microsoft’s Creative Destruction - NYTimes.com

Edited February 4, 2010 by blessingx

[Hopstretch]

Mule Design Studio's Blog: The Failure of Empathy

Nice illustration.

[Knuckledragger]

The message you have entered is too short. Even Steve Jobs thinks so.