iPad technology propagating

Apple says that some of the technology in the new generation MacBook Air comes from the iPad. This is my article about quality based on it, and here is the keynote speech with Steve Jobs.

Steve said it is what would happen if an iPad and a MacBook "hooked up". 

I'm impressed with the smaller version, the 11-inch MacBook Air. It's not a heck of a lot bigger/heavier than the iPad (1 kilo vs 680 grams), but it has a full sized physical keyboard built in, and has rather more power and flexibility (it runs a full OS X Snow Leopard after all). Very impressive. The downsides are less battery life, and loss of the attractive simplicity which has helped the iPad being such a huge hit.

Despite that, I would say that at just around one kilo (2.3 pounds) [Thanks to Anon for correcting me there], it can be used as an ereader device in many situations (it runs a Kindle app for example), and it will probably fit well in airplane seats, which has been another situation where iPads have sprung in.

I'm not replacing anything, I fully intend on keeping both, and get double the joy.

Another iPad/Kindle comparison

A busy site (many updates at least) is GoodeReader. They get a lot of info out about new devices. I'm glad we have sites servicing the desire for information about ereading devices.

I have respect for these guys, it's clear that they are very sincere about what they do. But about their iPad/Kindle comparison, I do have a couple of protests:

1: They say correctly that the iPad is too heavy for one-handed use for long. Yep, weight (680 grams) is an issue with the iPad. But then they also say that the Kindle weighs "next to nothing". This would be true if he was holding a Kindle 3, which is amazingly light (290 grams), but he is actually reviewing a Kindle Dx, and it is a lot heavier (530 grams).

2: They say that the Kindle has better screen contrast than the iPad. While it's true the Kindle is the right choice if you have lots of light, like direct sun, I am puzzled by this statement, since the low contrast (grey background) of the Kindle is one of the main reasons I'm not using any of my four Kindles all that much despite the delightful low weight of the Kindle 3. (Update Jan 2013: the Kindle Paperwhite has solved the problem of the dark screen. It's a great device for long form reading.)

3: They say that the Kindle's physical keyboard is easier to use than the iPad's virtual one. But you will notice that on the iPad he is actually typing, while on the Kindle he is just waving his fingers in the air above the keyboard to symbolize how easy and fast it is to use. In fact it's not. Unlike some people I'm not a huge fan of the iPad glass keyboard, but the Kindle's is not great either. You simply can't type fast and use several fingers. The keys are very small and a bit hard to push, and you have to use one finger and push one key at a time, very deliberately.

4: They say that the iPad can be distracting from reading because of all the things it can do. Very true! But he claims that the iPad will distract you in the middle of reading with a popup saying "you have mail". I don't know what kind of email client he is using on his iPad, but I have never, ever had a "popup" like that when using the iPad.  Also, if you don't want to be distracted, don't use the email app on the iPad, it's simple, and don't buy any apps which may distract you.

5: They say that the book selection is much bigger for the Kindle store than in the iBooks store. True, but if you get the (free) Kindle app for the iPad, then on your iPad you will have the Kindle selection plus the iBooks selection, plus various kinds of reading which you there are no apps for on the Kindle. (Other ebook apps, RSS feed readers, and so on.)

6: They say that the Kindle store book selection is not different depending on which country you are in. This is  not true. While I have not had problems myself, I have heard about people who can't buy the books they want on the Kindle store because the particular book they wanted can only be sold to people on US ground.

7: I agree with his positive review of the new William Gibson book Zero History, but I notice that the only book they have on the Kindle Dx is the dictionary... I wonder how much they have really used this device?       :-)

8: They say correctly that both devices can surf the web. But I wonder if they have really tried it much on the Kindle? It is a very, very, slow and patience-testing experience. I would only use it if I really had to, and had no other device near. Seriously, page-loading, and particularly navigation, is painfully slow on the Kindle.

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My own sum-up comparison is that the iPad is far more flexible, much faster, and has a much better screen (and color). And it's a multi-purpose device.  The Kindle is lighter, cheaper, and can be used in sunlight. It's only meant for reading, which will be an advantage for some, not for others.

Wall mounts

Two solutions for wall-mounting iPads: Wallee and PadTab. The latter is smaller, cheaper, and does not require tools to mount or any holes in the walls. I've ordered it for my book-holder by my bed.

Cheap tablets

I find it interesting and very promising that some can already sell a seven-inch (Android) tablet for only $150!

Of course it's not as good as an iPad! But if they can sell a poor one for $150 now, they can sell a better one next year, and a really good one in two years. Just look at cameras. You can buy a really good digicam now for $200. Or if you have an iPod 4, you already have a really good one.

Tip for podcasts, and the confusing iTunes

Except for those pod- or videocasts which you plan to enjoy on the go, meaning outside of hotspots, it is often just as easy to listen or watch "live" in iTunes on your iPad or iPhone, rather than first download, and then remembering to sync when there are new ones. You save both time and disk space.

I don't think a regular iPod can do this, though, they have to go through iTunes, the app, not the store.

And talking about that, man, Apple has really painted themselves into a corner. What is iTunes? Well, it's a web site. No, it's not, it is a music playing app for Mac and PC. No, it's not, it's an online store, unconnected to the web. It sells music. It also sells video/TV/Movies. No no, it's a distribution system for free university lectures. No, wait, it's a book store. But only for audio books, for ebooks you have to use the iBooks store. But wait, the iBooks store is clearly also the iTunes store, you use the same login and the same system!

And the "iTunes" app on iPad has a completely different function from the "iTunes" app on Mac/PC. The function which iTunes has on the desktop (playing music) is called the "iPod" app on an iPad! On the iPad, iTunes is an online store.

And if that's not confusing enough, iPad also has a "Videos" app which, well, plays videos. But why did they not just combine this with the iTunes (or iPod?) app like on the other devices? There are also videos on the iPod app. So which videos turn up in the iPod app and which in the Video app? I don't know. Some even turn up on both!

And by the way, why can't we delete the Apple apps which we never use, like the useless "Notes"? (Only one font, and it's illegible.) They just sit there and fill up space and make it harder to find the apps you do use.

Geeeeeez.  Apple is like a beatiful, beloved girlfriend, whom you wouldn't be without, but who you sometimes just want to bend over a chair and give the quarter-inch rattan switch.

I made a wallpaper

I made a fun wallpaper.

Ihnatko's iPad-only trip

Unfrozen Caveman Restauranteur, article.

"This is a bit of a historic trip: it’s the first one in which I’m using the iPad as my sole computer. It’s working out swimmingly, just as I thought it would. I even had a new iPad doubleplus love moment."

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GoodReader

If you have trouble on the iPad reading PDFs because of too long or too short text lines, I recommend GoodReader, which now can reflow the text to fill the screen, and lets you set exactly the font, size, and color you prefer. Excellent.

(I've recommended to the developers, though, that while no margins might be a good idea on the iPhone because of the small screen, on the iPad it's not, there should be margins to aid readability. I hope they take my advice.)

Bags/sleeves (updated)

Highly promising line of bags/sleeves for Kindle and iPad (and other things).
15 October, I have just updated that post. 

Tips & Tricks iPad Secrets by Jon Bonnick et al

Tips & Tricks iPad Secrets by Jon Bonnick et al, e-book or app.

I recommend it. The chapter on the iPad keyboard alone has taught me a host of things I had no idea the iPad keyboard could do. And it's simple to read for us with modern short attention spans: one simple tip per page.

(By the way, why can't we buy Apple-published ebooks in iTunes? All the other content for iPad can be bought there, but iBooks ebooks only on the iPad itself. Worse yet, iBooks is clearly already part of iTunes Store, since you buy with that account, so there seems to be no reason you couldn't buy via your desktop computer too. And like this, there is no way you can link to a book, which is silly.)

Interestingly, the ebook version of this collection of tips costs only two dollars, unusually cheap for an ebook, while the iPad app version of it with the same content is even cheaper at only one dollar! Like I said before, perhaps Apple or somebody has gone too far in suppressing the prices of iOS apps. Normally I complain that ebooks are too expensive at $15, but this may be going too far in the other direction.  I think that if a book (by definition more than a pamphlet) has any value, then surely it must be more than a dollar. I'd say five bucks for a smaller book, ten for a normal book might be reasonable. For books of extraordinary size or value, maybe fifteen for a volume.

By the way, for the authors of this book I would comment that the title is too generic. There are so many, many books with names including the words tips, tricks, and secrets, that it makes it harder to spot this book in the forrest either when searching or browsing. Also, while the ebook version is really nicely layouted ("laid out"?), in the iPad app version it looks like it has been blown up from an iPhone app, so the text is unattractively large.

Jane Goodall and iPad

Jane Goodall, chimpanzee scientist, enjoying her iPad on the train. Photo by Michael Aisner.

BTW, I have just read that the speed of acceptance of the iPad into society is the highest ever for any electronic device! Don't want to brag, but I saw it coming. It's why I ordered mine minutes after it was released, I was certain they would have trouble keeping up with demand for a few months.

More wallpapers

iPad forums has some good wallpapers too.

(Notice how these two are good examples of art with a low tone-range, which will not clash with the icons on the iPad.)

E-paper's future?

I wonder if there will ever be, within, say ten years, a non-backlit display technology in broad use which will have contrast and colors comparable to print on paper, or even close? It seems hard to imagine when you look at a Kindle now, but then an iPhone was hard to imagine in 1995.

I don't know why e-paper is so damn grey. You would think that the hard part was making millions of miniscule plastic balls spin to position exactly like you want them, not to make them white!       :-)

Paper magazines on screen

As the post developed on my other blog, I started realizing it might better have fitted on this blog. Well, no big deal, you can just take a single skip to go there and enjoy my experience with digital subscriptions to paper magazines.

Cheat sheet: I think we have a very good start in many areas already, and not even a year has passed since the first popular tablet hit shelves. Hot diggity.

Hard to find iPad wallpapers

It's not so easy as you might think to find good iPad wallpapers. Because most of them are just too colorful or complicated. They don't consider that they will have to support the icons too.
Here are a few good ones.
Tell me if you know others.

I like abstract things and simple things. Even some photos can be abstract. The picture above is actually a photo! Of a graffiti.