I'm a closet Trekkie.
Or at least I was, until I wrote that first line. Now I'm just a normal Star Trek fan. And I do mean normal. I don't wear "Spock ears" to school, don't speak Klingon, and can't quote Vulcan philosophy (... not counting the proverb I included in my college essay).
I am still a fan though. With the exception of The Original Series (the show with Spock and Captain Kirk), I've seen just about every episode ever made. My favorite is DS9 (Avery Brooks is the man!), but Voyager, Enterprise, and TNG will all always have a special place in my Tivo. And, until about ten minutes ago, I was psyched for the convention coming to Boston this summer. Then I realized that, for the first time in my life, I wouldn't be home because, for the entire month of July, I'm going to be in Israel. Not that going to Israel is "bad," exactly, but more that the timing sucks.
I have never left the continental United States (the most "exotic local" I have ever visited is Ontario, Canada), and there has also never been a Star Trek convention in Boston in my lifetime. Of course, they would coincide. Not that I have any real right to complain (I am going to Israel...), but it is disappointing.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
iPad: Cool... But Now What?
My father just ordered a brand new iPad 2 for my stepmother "for work." I thought I'd spend a little time (and my first blog post) recording some thoughts on the subject. To warn away anyone who might be reading: this blog isn't meant to be a comprehensive study of the Apple iPad, an unbiased opinion of the tablet market as a whole, or even a semi-thoughtful commentary on mobile computing. It's just my thoughts on the iPad. Here goes:
Apparently, Apple has sold more than 15 million iPads (I included a link there, for anyone who's been living under a rock for the past year) since the device debuted in March of 2010. Some quick math tells me that in barely over a year, during a time in which the United States was supposed to be suffering through an economic recession, 15 million people found the extra $500-$900 to purchase a computer 'thingy.'
I say computer 'thingy' because I don't really know what to call it. (Is it a Tablet? An Enlarged-iPod? A front-facing camera and a really expensive way to avoid using a mirror? I don't know). Ask anyone who actually owns an iPad—there should be about 15 million people available to answer you—and they'll tell you that, in order for the iPad to work properly, you have to hook it up to another computer. Then, they usually brag about how great things are when you don't have to carry around that other computer—the one you use to use your iPad—when you carry around your iPad.
Right. So, aside from being smaller than your computer, what does it actually do. Like, besides the stuff you can already do with the slightly bigger, heavier laptop you'er using as a dust mop.
From what I can see, the answer is "not all that much"—but people seem to really love it.
The iPad lets you read e-books—but not as well as the Kindle, or, heaven forbid, a physical book. It lets you write papers and reports—but not as easily as something that has a real keyboard. It lets you surf the web—assuming the webpages you want to see don't do anything that involves Flash (that's about 75% of all videos on the web, according to this source). It can play games for several times the cost of a gameboy or PSP (that's Sony's version of a gameboy). It can play movies—probably in better quality than your laptop, portable DVD player, or other mobile movie-watching device. And it also does maps (is my iPad tracking me too...), multitouch, pictures, and a number of other interesting but non-essential things.
But if it's non-essential—maybe even redundant!—why do I want one...? According to Apple, it's "Thinner, lighter, and full of great ideas." Hmmm... It's also shiny. And it performs a number of very useful, diverse functions in a not-horrible way. It kinda makes me wonder if Steve Jobs is friends with that guy in the second Back to the Future movie—the one who gets an almanac of superbowl scores then bets on them to become disgustingly wealthy.
That is to say: the market for an iPad didn't exist before the iPad. People bought e-readers to read e-books; used tablets to do tablety things (whatever that might be...); carried laptops for word processing. With an iPad, you can do all of those things and more—albeit in a somewhat limited way—and look sexy doing it. And who doesn't want to look sexy?
Apparently, Apple has sold more than 15 million iPads (I included a link there, for anyone who's been living under a rock for the past year) since the device debuted in March of 2010. Some quick math tells me that in barely over a year, during a time in which the United States was supposed to be suffering through an economic recession, 15 million people found the extra $500-$900 to purchase a computer 'thingy.'
I say computer 'thingy' because I don't really know what to call it. (Is it a Tablet? An Enlarged-iPod? A front-facing camera and a really expensive way to avoid using a mirror? I don't know). Ask anyone who actually owns an iPad—there should be about 15 million people available to answer you—and they'll tell you that, in order for the iPad to work properly, you have to hook it up to another computer. Then, they usually brag about how great things are when you don't have to carry around that other computer—the one you use to use your iPad—when you carry around your iPad.
Right. So, aside from being smaller than your computer, what does it actually do. Like, besides the stuff you can already do with the slightly bigger, heavier laptop you'er using as a dust mop.
From what I can see, the answer is "not all that much"—but people seem to really love it.
The iPad lets you read e-books—but not as well as the Kindle, or, heaven forbid, a physical book. It lets you write papers and reports—but not as easily as something that has a real keyboard. It lets you surf the web—assuming the webpages you want to see don't do anything that involves Flash (that's about 75% of all videos on the web, according to this source). It can play games for several times the cost of a gameboy or PSP (that's Sony's version of a gameboy). It can play movies—probably in better quality than your laptop, portable DVD player, or other mobile movie-watching device. And it also does maps (is my iPad tracking me too...), multitouch, pictures, and a number of other interesting but non-essential things.
But if it's non-essential—maybe even redundant!—why do I want one...? According to Apple, it's "Thinner, lighter, and full of great ideas." Hmmm... It's also shiny. And it performs a number of very useful, diverse functions in a not-horrible way. It kinda makes me wonder if Steve Jobs is friends with that guy in the second Back to the Future movie—the one who gets an almanac of superbowl scores then bets on them to become disgustingly wealthy.
That is to say: the market for an iPad didn't exist before the iPad. People bought e-readers to read e-books; used tablets to do tablety things (whatever that might be...); carried laptops for word processing. With an iPad, you can do all of those things and more—albeit in a somewhat limited way—and look sexy doing it. And who doesn't want to look sexy?
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