(A note from Harry: Here’s a guest poem–actually, the first poetry we’ve ever published, and quite possibly the last–by my clever friend Kip Williams,)
That Apple Steve! That Apple Steve!
I do not like that Apple Steve!
He’s sneaky like you won’t believe
With dirty tricks up in his sleeve!
Apple says the iPad is selling so well in the U.S. that it’s had to delay the international release by a month, until late May.
When you compare the iPad to gizmos past, the most obvious frame of reference is a multitude of unsuccessful tablets. But as I’ve been using my iPad over the past week, it’s reminded me even more of another much-hyped platform which landed with a thud: Microsoft’s Handheld PC Pro–code-named “Jupiter”–which, like the iPad, put a mobile OS (Windows CE 2.11 in this case) inside a device that looked like a small personal touchscreen computer.
Let’s compare the iPad against an especially iPaddish Handheld PC, Sharp’s Mobilon Pro, a convertible model that could be used in notebook- or tablet-like configurations.
Those iPads in different sizes I was wondering about? Taiwanese news site Digitimes, which isn’t always right but has sometimes breaks big stories, says a smaller model is on the way…
What’s next for the softwarethat powers the iPhone and iPad? On Thursday morning at 10am PT, we can stop wishing and speculating. I’ll be in Cupertino for Apple’s event on the future of the iPhone OS, and I hope that you’ll join me for our live coverage.
The one place where the JooJoo has an obvious advantage over the iPad–for some people–is in screen real estate. It’s got a 12-inch display, versus the 9.7-incher on the iPad. So much else is so wrong with the JooJoo that a roomy screen can’t begin to compensate. But it got me thinking: Do we need iPads in different sizes and form factors? And could Apple already be thinking about the iPad as the beginning of a line of devices rather than a one-size-fits-all gadget?
It’s not surprising that the iPhone only comes in one form factor. Rumors about an iPhone Mini have been floating out there for eons, but with the iPhone 3G priced at $99, there may not be a slot for it Apple’s lineup. And a larger iPhone might well be too…large.
But the basic ideas behind the iPad are different, and more fungible. Some people might want an iPad that’s a bit smaller. Some might prefer one that’s a lot bigger. You’re going to be able to buy a keyboard dock that turns the iPad into a pseudodesktop, but maybe some folks would buy a real iPad desktop with a big screen. Or one (dare I say it?) in a clamshell case with a physical keyboard. (Okay, I don’t see Apple ever making a clamshell iPad–but if it did, there are people who’d buy one.)
Yes, yes–you don’t want a computer based on the iPad’s version of iPhone OS as your only desktop…or maybe at all just yet. But if the iPhone OS keeps improving at the same rate it has since Apple unveiled it a little over three years ago, there’s no reason why it might not be a plausible general-purpose operating system, capable of powering general-purpose computers. I don’t think it’s completely nuts to wonder if it’ll become Apple’s primary OS, available on devices of all sorts and sizes, while the Mac sticks around as a legacy item.
And even if most of this doesn’t happen, I wonder if Apple will make iPads in another size or two. Me, I might be interested in a JooJoo-sized version.
Here’s a crude, ugly mockup of an iPad Desk:
Does any of this make any sense at all, or am I suffering from a temporary bout of Irrational iPad Exuberance?
Engadget has reviewed the Fusion Garage JooJoo tablet, and for a device that once had some good buzz, it sounds…devastatingly disappointing. The user interface is gnarly; it doesn’t run Flash (supposedly a big selling point) well; the battery conks out after 2.5 hours. Couple that with the fundamental limitations imposed by by the fact that it’s browser-only device that only works when Wi-Fi is available–it can’t run apps–and it’s unclear why any tablet fancier would spend $499 on this rather than on an iPad.
Given the shipping delays the JooJoo already suffered, it’s also unclear why Fusion Garage decided to ship it more or less simultaneously with the iPad rather than postpone the launch a bit longer so it could whip the software into more respectable shape.
We’ll never know for sure what this gizmo would have been like if the strange soap opera that led to it shipping as the JooJoo rather than the CrunchPad hadn’t transpired. But you gotta wonder: Maybe Michael Arrington is lucky that he was unwillingly disassociated from it months before it shipped…
I keep saying that the single most interesting thing about the iPad is the touch-centric interface that Apple gave its iWork word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool. But judging from the experiences folks are having using iPad iWork with OS X iWork, there’s clearly a big opportunity for companies like DataViz and Quickoffice to come up with iPad suites that focus on desktop file compatibility above all else.
When Apple started inviting journalists to a press event this Thursday to discuss the future of the iPhone OS, I made a mental note to publish a list of features I’d like to see. Then I remembered: I already composed a wish list back in June of last year, on the day iPhone OS 3.0 was released. It’s not precisely the inventory of desires I’d come up with today, after spending many months with an iPhone 3GS and trying out competitors such as the Droid. And if I were asking for new iPhone OS features today, I’d be just as likely to request ones that were iPad-related.
Overall, though, my iPhone OS requests from last June are a lot like the ones I still have. So (after the jump) here’s my original story, with “2010 thoughts” embedded where appropriate. After Thursday’s news, I’ll take a look at how closely Apple’s list of Necessary iPhone OS Improvements mirrored mine.
What would you like to see in iPhone OS 4.0 and beyond?
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Before I came into possession of an iPad, I fretted that so much had been written about the thing that there might not be all that much left to say. So I asked you guys–here and on Twitter–about your remaining questions.
Turns out I had nothing to fear: There were plenty of matters you were still wondering about, many of which went unaddressed in the initial spate of reviews. Here’s my first stab at satisfying your curiosity. If this post prompts additional questions, cool–ask away, and I’ll do my best to answer.
Without any further ado…
