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Category Archives: Gadgets

Excited About Judging pre-CES i-Stage Event!

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It’s been official since a tweet last week, but the i-stage website was updated today to reveal this year’s judges/mentors, and I’m extremely excited to have my name in the list.  Other judges this year are Richard MacManus (founder of ReadWriteWeb) and Frank Gruber (founder of TECH Cocktail), and previous judges have included Blake Krikorian (my boss and mentor at Sling Media, currently living mostly off the grid), Ryan Block (founder of GDGT, former editor-in-chief at Engadget), Natali Del Conte (CNET), Ross Levinsohn (Fuse Capital), Jeff Pulver (involved in pretty much everything), and more!  Needless to say, I’m honored to have my name in this list of esteemed technologists!

This is neither my first foray with i-stage nor first judging with CES.  Last year I was a judge for the prestigious Innovations awards.  Two years ago I was working with team Boxee when they went to, and subsequently won, the inaugural i-stage event!  This plus the three “best of CES” awards I’ve been involved in, and I’d say I’m quite excited about being on the other side of things this year!

We haven’t seen this year’s list of contestants (still two days to enter), but I’m excited to see what’s up-and-coming in gadget land (especially since I like to think I’m already involved with most of the new stuff – so this makes it even more intriguing).  I’ll put together some thoughts and recommendations on what contestants should (and should not) do to increase their odds at winning (and while cash is nice (kidding!!!!), I’m more interested in impressive technology and great product experiences).

My guest on Fox News' Gadgets and Games is online!

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Big thanks to Clayton Morris for having me on his show last week.  We talked a lot about Google TV, as well as some iPad cases and some Android chat.  I had a few Skype/headset technical difficulties, but overall it seemed to work quite well!  Was on with esteemed guests Ross Rubin, Dan Costa, and Jeff Pulver.

Two Weeks Later: Why I'm Keeping my iPad

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I purchased an iPad on day one (roughly minute 3), without much assurance as to how or why I’d use it, or even if it would be a “keeper” in my digital lifestyle.  Here’s a recap of my feelings over the past two weeks:

Day one.
Let’s be honest, the first day of any new toy is either “wow this is awesome” or “gosh I’m disappointed”.  Most products don’t get well-tested in their first few hours of use, and it’s generally hard to evaluate the real-world practicality of any device.  For example, a digital camera will take good pictures, but you might not try it in a fast-action setting; similarly a GPS device will get you to your first destination, but you won’t evaluate how rapidly it finds the signal when you are lost up in Tahoe.  My day one was a lot of fun.  I didn’t really “do anything” with the iPad, other than try downloading stuff, typing on the keyboard, doodling in one of the (way too many) doodle apps.  Good times.

Week one.
Within three days I had sync’ed my email, contacts, and calendar to the device, and all worked quite smoothly.  I copied some photos, videos of the kids, some Arrested Development episodes, and some music from my library.  I also experienced my first real “use” of iTunes as a sync platform – it’s okay, but has some bizarre shortcomings that I was quite surprised about.  I downloaded a few apps (all free ones, didn’t want to buy anything yet and still haven’t bought one yet to this day actually),  played with them, kept some, deleted others.

Most of my time in week one was spent using the device in three settings (well, kinda four – read below)

  1. On the bus
    Media device: Watched videos, wrote a blog post, listened to podcasts
  2. At the office
    “Accessory” computer to my iMac:  Mostly light email, calendaring, some Harbor Master.
  3. At home
    Laptop replacement: light-to-moderate email, Web surfing, lots more Harbor Master.
  4. Demo to others
    My fourth scenario was simply showing the iPad to anyone around – lots of inquisitive folks wanting to see it in use. I wish I was getting a commission.

Week two.
The second week of use was my true “now how do I feel” week with the iPad.  Was it actually better/easier/more convenient than my MacBook?  Did I really want to carry this on the bus or other places? Would a murse fit into my lifestyle okay (separate post of iPad cases & sleeves coming)?

The above answers were all “yes”es, and more.  The only three uses of my MacBook last week were: watch NHL GameCenter (Go Habs!), sync and backup digital pictures, and charge/sync content to my iPad.  For literally everything else I used my iPad in lieu of the MacBook.  And not only did I use it, I found myself preferring it for most casual use.  But then this weekend got even more interesting.

On two different occasions this weekend (at a movie theater and while touring farms North of San Francisco) we had the iPad handy to look up long lists of content.  To be perfectly clear, we opted to carry an iPad rather than print out Web pages.  This was a conscious choice, and not in any way for “show off” factor (don’t worry – that was accomplished through plenty of other methods).  It was just an easy way to bring content along with us AND have our calendars AND have email history AND have contacts/address book information.  Things we obviously could do with smartphones (but generally choose not to), paper (ugh), or laptops.  But I’d *never* throw my laptop in the trunk on a day trip – something that just felt natural with the iPad.

It ain’t all kool-aid!
There are certainly flaws with the iPad.  In fact, my evernote-based list of likes/dislikes actually has more entries on the dislike list (future blog post).  It is, unquestionably, about the least ergonomic device I’ve used (the lap-pad pics from their ads are great, but radically unrealistic).   The lack of even simple multi-tasking (mail + calendar anyone?) can be annoying.  They could even take a cue out of Android and include a “back” button that spans multiple apps.  More on this in a future post.  But most importantly…

It’s not a replacement for any computer.  Just some.
As much as I believe the iPad has major impact in regards to light/casual/home computing, I don’t think most households could get by with “only” an iPad.  The lack of ability to effectively handle one’s digital camera needs is a “killer feature” for having a computer.  Further, no businessman could possibly exist on the iPad alone, though it’s an amazing complement to one.  I will say that I believe mail on the iPad vastly outshines any other non-computer device, specifically including BlackBerries, and that’s an important piece of ground for Apple to break.

But it is game-changing, and almost definitely not a bread machine.
I like having the iPad around.  I like turning it on, using it, then knowing it’s still there. It feels like everything the original PalmPilot put into my hands (though unfortunately not my pockets), only in context of computing and the Internet in 2010. I believe my use will only increase, and intend to start purchasing apps now.  It’s probably the most interesting digital accessory one can purchase, and unquestionably dabbles in “computer turf”.  I thoroughly enjoy using it, and find that it is helpful (not harmful) to overall productivity.  Except, of course, when I play Harbor Master.

Tales of Gadget Design: the FlowerPot Gizmo!

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I’ve been asked to write more frequently about building gadgets, so I’ll be putting together posts that reflect the variety of experiences and advice I’ve gleaned over the years. To get this party started (yo), I thought I’d share what I consider to be a fairly amusing, yet quite real, topic: the FlowerPot Gadget Design. The story goes something like this…

You’ve conceptualized some new gadget. It’s going to revolutionize the long-sought-after convergence between microwaves, WiFi routers, and doorbells. The technology is mostly figured out, the first rev of the board design is mostly working, it’s time to start thinking about the actual product now. You hire a top-notch industrial design firm (probably the one who used the coolest method of binding their sketches and/or presentation), share your vision, and await your first concepts.

A few days go by, and their team shows up with a cleverly bound sketchbook, all parties very excited about the upcoming ‘reveal’. Anywhere from 6-12 concepts are shown, some very simple ‘boxes with a mild twist’, some ubercool concepts that are obviously impossible to actually manufacture, and then, there on one of the pages, it is. The flowerpot. You look at it a couple of times to make sure the synapses are firing properly and that you are in fact seeing a flowerpot. And it’s true, you are.

Now I don’t know if the flowerpot originates in design school, or if some legendary designer once waxed poetic on the flowerpot as ultimate incarnation of designing gadgets. I can say I’ve seen the concept presented many times in my career, a surprising amount i’d say. Even last week when meeting a new (and very cool) gadget company when discussing their product strategy I explicitly asked the question if their ID firm mocked up a flowerpot. They showed me the molded sample.

I’m not a designer, but I believe I have a good eye for products combined with a healthy respect for the design process. I know there is often a healthy ‘battle’ between design concept and real world implementation. But I am pretty sure we aren’t going to see very many flowerpot gadgets actually come to market anytime soon, well maybe with an exception here and there.

And then again, maybe the FlowerPot Gadget *is* the future….

the iPad will kill home computing, period

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I’m writing this on my ipad, from the bus, really just to see if I can and how well it works (and how much the motion sickness will hit me by the time I’m done). Note: the preceding sentence was unfortunately all that i recovered after I accidentally quit without saving. But i can tell you i wrote a lot, and am mild to moderately queasy now, but am at a computer to finish it up.  Not for any reasons other than there’s just nothing better than a 27″ screen!

Why am I so bullish on the iPad?  In a nutshell, it does 80% (or more) of the things most people need to do with their computers in their home life.  Here’s a quick rundown on the 5 major components of “common use computing” and the iPad’s “fit” to task…

  1. Email.
    Email is either top or the 2nd-most important personal computing task.  Email on the iPad works great, especially for typical “staying in touch” emails, forwarding along urban myths, sharing funny videos, and all the things most people use email for on a day-to-day basis.  As my last time stating it – this is not about office computing, nor those who are taking office computing tasks and doing them at home!
  2. Web surfing.
     Again, either 2nd or top on personal activities is simple Web surfing.  Facebook, YouTube, viewing photos, reading stuff, playing games, etc.  While there is a major drawback in the lack of Flash, the reality is this will change one way or the other (in other words: either less Flash on the Web, or Flash comes to the iPad) sooner or later.  In my weekend’s worth of use I encountered flash twice, though on the other end my cousin’s kids were rendered practically useless to visit the sites they frequent.  Safari on the iPad is a very nice browsing experience, though I believe it could be improved a lot – tabs, for example, probably do make sense (where they didn’t on the iPhone).  In the “80%” view, it’s definitely above satisfactory.
  3. Media consumption & playback.
    “Stellar” is probably the right word I have to describe the iPad as a media device.   Video looks amazing, music playback is the same as any iPod, it just works great.  My wife’s already streamed a Netflix movie, and I’ve synced kid videos from our Flip (they actually look better than they do on the higher resolution screen of the MacBook).  Moving to mixed media types, well there’s again, the lack of Flash, but the YouTube app works well enough, Marvel has a very interesting comic book reader, and I expect we’ll see other new forms of content coming soon.  Again, there are quirks, but it’s overall one of the best media players I’ve seen.
  4. Simple productivity.
    Most people don’t need PivotTables, Custom Animation, and WordArt.  They need basic spreadsheets, simple presentations, and light document editing and creation.  For a fee, those features are available for those who’d like them, and my hunch is you’ll see a lot more show up in the coming months.  Those apps plus EverNote, WordPress, and others enable some very light touch (or is that multi-touch) ways to continue to manage non Web-content on the iPad.
  5. Gaming.
    Gaming on the iPad is great, though it does not replace PC gaming at all (hence the magic 80% number).  Further, initial reviews of some “power games” for the iPad, such as Command and Conquer, imply it can do a lot more than just labyrinth.  I do feel the power-gaming community will not ebb from their platforms, but I do think the iPad will represent a lot of new gaming potential for both casual and heavy gamers.

I will maintain my statement that the iPad is ushering in a new era of gadgetry, in fact it’s probably going to change the way we think about computers in the future. There are, and always will be, complaints and criticisms of new products.  It doesn’t quite do everything as perfectly as possible.  Yup, check, that is true to all things.  But perfection is not, and never will be, delivered by any kind of gadget or technology.  There’s always going to be something it misses out on.  But then again, when was the last time you bought a $500 device to help you fold a t-shirt?  So there!

And for those of you who still feel “it could be more” or complain about the lack of a camera, here’s a video reminder for you to enjoy…

Everything’s Amazing, Nobody’s Happy from frijole on Vimeo.

Very Curious: My First Real iTunes Sync Experience (on the iPad)

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I’m willing to place a small wager that I represent less than 1% of iPad pre-order customers when I say: “I have never owned an iPod/iPhone, nor used iTunes to sync a media file/collection.”  Yup, I’ve never dealt with the library, App Store, syncing, or anything else before.  Sure, I’ve used my friends’ iPods to browse and play music, but that’s about it.  In candor, my one experience with buying and playing content from iTunes was quite unpleasant, but I recognize it was a bit of an anomaly.

My expectations are fairly straightforward, or so I think they are.  And while I suppose there’s probably videos or web pages that already explain it all, I am looking forward to a fresh, unbiased out of the box experience (OOBE).  Here’s some of what I expect:

  • I can go to iTunes, pick stuff I like/bookmark/purchase, and it will automatically download to my iPad over WiFi.  Now I have a hunch the auto-sync part may not work like I hope, and I may need to sync over USB, which wouldn’t be terrible, but disappointing.
  • I can browse and search the app store from the iPad, find stuff, purchase & download directly
  • I can (fairly easily) sync media files (music, photos, videos) from my iMac/MacBook to my iPad
  • I can sync from one iPad to more than one Mac computer (home MacBook, office iMac)
  • On the iPad, Web links to apps enable direct download & installs (with no intervening steps)
  • On the iPad, I can browse music on my local iTunes server, and sync them (with no intervening steps)

My biggest concern is the ability to use the iPad, find content on the local network, and browse it there.  I mean this specifically with iPhoto, but general file browsing & playback is also a desire.  I’ve got close to 10K photos on my NAS and my MacBook, and would like to view them whenever I’m on the home network.  Further, I’m hoping to be able to do so while away from home, though I’m not sure if that’s possible (even with MobileMe – a service I do not currently subscribe to).  The mere idea of “use my iPad as a remote photo viewer” reaches “killer feature” category for me.

I’ll check back in on this topic once I’ve played more with the iPad + iTunes and taken enough time to sit down and write something.  Which may or may not occur via my iPad.  I’m sure there’s an app for that.

Why I'm excited about the iPad

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(I didn't have time to photoshop another clever image)

Just saw the iPad has started shipping.  Feeling a little tingly.  Truth be told, I’ve been looking forward to getting mine (in-store pickup; kids would go nuts sitting around all morning while I wait for the UPS guy) for the past week or so.  Which is fairly unusual for me.  While I know most of my friends and colleagues (and family especially) think I always have all the latest everything, the truth is I’m an atypical “gadget guy” and not commonly an early adopter of technology.  I’ve done a little “self-review” of me + new tech, here’s the results:

Last gadget I’ve pre-ordered?

  • N/A

Number of products (any kind) I’ve pre-ordered, past 5 years?

  • One. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Gadgets of which I’ve owned the first-generation versions AND been an early adopter of (specifically: owned prior to virtually anybody I knew)?

  • TiVo (Philips 14-hour unit)
  • Rio PMP300 (16MB version)
  • OLPC (charitable donation, didn’t really care about the computer)
  • Slingbox (doesn’t really count since I didn’t buy it)

Apple iPod/touch/phone products I’ve owned:

  • N/A

Gadgets of which I’ve owned the second-generation versions OR late adopted:

  • PalmPilot 500 (and Palm V and others)
  • TiVo (again)
  • Harmony remote
  • Android phone
  • Rio Karma (was awesome)
  • Sonos
  • Jawbone
  • iMac / MacBook

I definitely love new technology (more specifically: gadgets) and while I am usually ahead of the “mass adoption” phase, it’s rare for me to have something hot off the presses.  Also, I almost always buy things that have clear, tangible, lifestyle benefits for me – I am not a “buy it just to have it” kind of person (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  So why on Earth am I pre-ordering a brand-new gadget in a category I’ve previously disdained?

I’m not sure.

Yup, that’s the truth.  I have no specific use-case for it.  I don’t see exactly where it fits into my world.  I don’t even know how well the darn thing works!

But I have a feeling.

I’m pretty sure it’s going to work well.  I’m pretty sure it’ll fit into my world, whether it’s for fun at home, informative on the bus, or productive at the office.

Not just the kool-aid.

I also believe there’ll be some quirks I won’t like.  I doubt it’ll solve all my worldly needs. I am sure I’ll find some frustrations and it won’t do some things I want it to do.  I’m pretty sure I’ll end up paying the “early adopter tax.” I’m good with all that.

So what’s so exciting?

I think the iPad is likely a first glimpse into the real post-computer-as-computing era.  The phone (smart or not) simply doesn’t cut it, as a potential computer replacement, in fact it probably exacerbates the need for a laptop/device.  I believe the netbook as category has specifically emerged due to this issue, and think a device like the iPad does have huge opportunity in both the business and personal realms.  Oh, and I can’t stand netbooks. Small keys. Smell like cabbage.

Still not exciting there, Toeman.

Yeah, I know.  At the end of the day it’s a gut check.  And mine’s excited.

If tablets suck, why did I order an iPad?

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Last summer I wrote a blog post in which I claimed that tablets, for lack of a better word, suck.  Yet I actually woke up early today to confirm that I’d be able to get an iPad the day it came out. I wanted to take a moment to explain why I am actually excited about the iPad (image source = Scobleizer + my wannabe Photoshop skills).

First, my anti-tablet arguments, and how they do/don’t apply:

  • Tablets suck at handwriting recognition.
    Still true, hence Apple implementing an on-screen keyboard and building a physical keyboard to go along with it. I don’t consider this a particularly great solution, I’d actually prefer a “Palm Graffiti-like” option (yeah, not elegant, but once you knew it, you were fast).
  • Tablets suck to carry around.
    Still true, actually one of my biggest concerns about my personal use of the iPad.
  • Tablets make you tired.
    From using my Droid Eris I’ve already noticed slightly different types of strains on the muscles in my forearms, not sure if its from the typing or the swiping (or the general frustrations with Android).  Curious to see how this plays out with the iPad.
  • Tablets can’t share nicely with others.
    In typical Apple fashion, rather than try to make all Office apps work they’ve created a new ecosystem for productivity apps.  I feel this is an okay approach, but still not what I want.  I am concerned that I’m going to want to sketch notes and markup docs and have no way to effectively do it – but I can’t really tell if this’ll work or not yet.
  • Tablets suck at hiding smudges.
    Any carrying case worth buying will have a little pouch to keep glass cleaner.  It’s going to be smudgeriffic for sure.
  • Tablets are bad Web browsers.
    I think this is one area I’ll have to eat my words a bit – mobile browsing is better than it used to be, and it really seems that Apple has focused specifically on the Web experience.
  • Tablets are priced poorly.
    Well, it’s not cheap, but it’s not crazy either.  For an early adopter product, I’d say its priced appropriately, though will need to eventually come down.  Unless it’s actually a viable personal laptop replacement (more below), in which case the price point is awesome.
  • Tablets suck at everything else.
    Still true – unless the entire ecosystem is built off a custom app platform and instead of trying to run traditional computing applications (ahem, Windows), it’s running all new stuff… But it still might suck.

So what happened here? Am I just a rampant hypocrite? Have I been drinking too much Apple Kool-Aid?  Do I just want to be the first kid on the block with some shiny new object (unlikely)? Or is it something different?

For the “haters” (basically all the crazy tablet fanatics who got offended that I don’t love their products as much as they do and am apparently not supposed to state said opinion), this will sound bizarre, but in a nutshell I don’t really consider the iPad a tablet.  Yes, it’s a slate form factor. Yes, it has a touch screen. Yes, there are a ton of similarities to the tablet category. But it’s not a tablet.

I consider the iPad much closer to a “big iPod Touch” than any other category of product.  While it has some aspects of productivity tools, the reality is the product is optimized for other types of usage.  Let’s face it, that virtual keyboard is probably going to get annoying pretty fast.  Further, with no USB there’s very few options for extensibility.  Which means you can’t think of it like a “computer”, since it’s actually much less versatile than one.  But as a product, it’s just as versatile as it needs to be.

From one perspective I guess I do drink a bit of the Kool-Aid, as I do believe the company has effectively built the “not a phone, not a laptop” product.  I also think they’ve built something with tons of versatility and practical use.  As we continue to march down the post-computing era of gadgets, I think the iPad will start transforming a lot of peoples’ mindsets on what exactly can be done with innovative technology.

And as I said in the original tablets suck post, “But if you do figure it out, I’m buying!”

What Did Jobs Do?

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In proper form,I shall now review my own predictions of the iPad from my first two posts on the subject (parts 1 and 2).  Let’s start with…

What I got wrong:

Productivity Apps
I said: “Unlike the Microsoft approach to “ecosystem” – where everything other than the Xbox is able to view and edit Excel spreadsheets – my hunch is the iPad is all about lifestyle, the Internet, and entertainment.  I’d guess there’s a native version of Safari, some kind of simple email and calendaring, and that’s about it.”

In reality: native new version of iWork!

Reaction: I’m pretty surprised by this move. I certainly see the case for casual work-like content creation (make a simple budget, add some numbers, etc), but figured this would be much more of an afterthought. Further, without an input mechanism (camera – more below) beyond the touchscreen, I don’t quite feel the product “fits” as a content creator.

Augmented Reality/Content Creation
I said: “I’d predict there are several native applications and services that provide very cool augmented reality features.  I’m firmly in the camp of one or more cameras on the iPad, and I think Apple will include one or more fun exploits of the concept from the get-go.”

In reality: zero cameras.

Reaction: This is unquestionably the most questionable aspect of the iPad (like how I did that?). There’s one in the Nano, but not here? Just doesn’t make sense to me, nor most of the people I spoke with during and post the event.  My colleague Jim Schaff thinks this is effectively a beancounter’s decision – the numbers were run that showed adding a camera could/would cannibalize from either MacBook or iPhone sales, and thus the camera was dropped.  Other folks I’ve spoken with theorize it’ll show up in a rapid revision of the product (something I don’t agree with, as they had no specific reason to rush the iPad to market, and could easily have waited until it was working).  My other theory here is that it’s not a hardware issue, but a product/software complexity issue, and the overall impact of adding a camera would have created too significant a product development challenge in the short term.  Gotta crawl before ya run.

Hardware ins/outs
I said: “It’ll have the iPod connector, USB, DisplayPort and an SD card slot.  A webcam is highly probably, and I wouldn’t be surprised with an IR interface as well.”

In reality: custom dock connector, USB, no other ports.

Reaction: I’m disappointed at the lack of SD card reader, especially in context of the photo frame use-case.

What I got right:

The name
I said: “iPad”.  😉

Heavy software emphasis
I said: “Everything that ships on the iPad will be designed completely to work in a touch fashion, or it won’t be included period.  I’m still torn between whether it’ll be a version of OS X or a version of the iPhone OS, but either way, the device will ship with oodles of applicable software, custom-built to be great in gesture, touch, multi-touch, or even by looking at it the right way.”

Closed app infrastructure
I said: “I expect the iPad will sit somewhere between the iPhone, with individually manually approved apps, and the OS X platform.  Based on the reports today that some apps are supposedly already being run on the iPad (of course these reports prove absolutely nothing, as it could either be an updated iPhone with a new OS, or simply another “labs” product running around campus.  but where would modern tech blogging be without unsubstantiated rumor circulation and amplification?) , my leaning is a differentiated version of the iPhone OS, with more leniency in app approval, but still not open. Many will complain, many will profit, and many will love it.”

Single carrier support
I said: “And since the former isn’t very Apple-y, it’s much more likely there’s only one carrier involved” and “It’ll have 3G services built-in.  I’d hope for Verizon, but that limits Apple to its international possibilities.  And there’s no way they’d waste the money on two different 3G chips.”

Note that I’m surprised, but not shocked, that it’s still just AT&T.

Media Slate as product definition
I said: “So picture a device that’s sleek and sexy, can play back movies, TV shows (including live TV), Internet radio (lala), show pictures/slideshows, play simple games (app store), and be otherwise completely entertaining.  It connects from anywhere, has enough internal storage to last a nationwide flight, and is all about fun.  Further, it comes with numerous context access options, including free services, a la carte purchasing/rentals, and subscription options.  It probably also has a Webcam and native iChat support. I’m fairly bullish on this concept, as it seems to fit in with the Apple iLifestyle very well, and makes for a useful product.”

Parting thoughts:

I’m actually going to write another blog post with my specific thoughts on the iPad (and I’m the only guy doing that!).  My quickest reactions are that I’m impressed with the price point, but shocked about the lack of camera.  I think they *will* sell millions of units, and it’ll be more compelling to a more mainstream audience than many others think, though I still find flaws in the overall offering.  In reality, this device is actually a very good alternate “home computer” for the average person who only needs web surfing, email, media playback, and entertainment. It’s certainly more compelling than a Netbook.

For some final fun, here’s the blog post I wrote predicting roughly this device. Of course that was back in July 2007.

Twitter in action: Live coverage of the Apple event

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Per yesterday’s post on Twitter needing better demos, here’s a very (IMHO) useful way to follow live coverage, from multiple perspectives, using Twitter. I’ve created a “list” of people who are either live at the event, or following it closely. These people are more likely to tweet only about the Apple event during it. I’ve now taken the list, and embedded it here in the blog as a widget, to show the content. This means you, if the you in question is not a Twitterer, are now actually using the service. Enjoy.


As an aside, one of the “gotchas” about lists will be watching what happens to this same group of people’s content tomorrow. While there was a moment in time where they are united in function and content, within minutes it will become disparate conversations having virtually nothing to do with each other. Which is, unfortunately, another problem with trying to find common ground in Twitter. If you’d like to experiment more with lists, you can visit Listorious, a web site devoted to nothing but Twitter lists…

Exclusive Photo: Steve Jobs and his Tablet

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Steve Jobs was quoted as saying “This will be the most important thing I’ve ever done”.  Now we know why!

ps – yeah, I am not good at Photoshop.  I don’t care, was just trying to have some fun.

pps – in case someone somehow interprets this as me bashing Steve, I am not in any way doing so.

ppps – in case someone thinks I’m “linkbaiting” – get real.

pppps – in case someone thinks some other negative thing here, COME ON! lighten up people!!!

What Wouldn't Jobs Do?

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The other day I surmised on what the iPad (still calling it that – it’s the shortest option) might be, as a device.  With only three days left to go prior to launch, I still find myself pondering the “how do they build something at the right price point that’s useful beyond the context of novelty and/or on the commode?” question. While many are going gaga over pretty much anything that could come out, I in my stubborn fashion still just can’t conceptualize what we are about to see.  Of course I’m effectively ready to pre-order it, but I still can’t piece it all together in my head.  So as the follow-up to what might the product be, I thought I’d amble on about what I don’t think we’ll see…

Hardware without software
One of my general rants about Tablet PCs is the lack of compelling software.  Sure Microsoft splashed some “touch features” across the OS, but for the most part it’s a trainwreck.  Apple won’t do this. Everything that ships on the iPad will be designed completely to work in a touch fashion, or it won’t be included period.  I’m still torn between whether it’ll be a version of OS X or a version of the iPhone OS, but either way, the device will ship with oodles of applicable software, custom-built to be great in gesture, touch, multi-touch, or even by looking at it the right way.

Niche or otherwise narrow market scoped
I stated in my last post that a possible product category is just a heads-on Kindle killer.  I’d characterize this as a small opportunity – yes, it’s been great for Amazon, but the market for “better than Kindle e-readers” is small. The only small product Apple still ships is the Apple TV, which they’ve characterized as a hobby product (and rightfully so) from day one.  Granted they haven’t actually said anything about the iPad yet, but their PR machine is too smart to let this much buzz build up and fall that short.  Then again, if this thing doesn’t come with an espresso maker and difribulator, some people are going to be disappointed.

An open platform

Even though the modern day Mac world is based on Unix and has a wide developer base with tons of open source projects, it’s pretty safe to call Apple a company that chooses the proprietary path more often than not.  And while this might frustrate many, the benefits of typically stable products are certainly appealing to the masses.  I expect the iPad will sit somewhere between the iPhone, with individually manually approved apps, and the OS X platform.  Based on the reports today that some apps are supposedly already being run on the iPad (of course these reports prove absolutely nothing, as it could either be an updated iPhone with a new OS, or simply another “labs” product running around campus.  but where would modern tech blogging be without unsubstantiated rumor circulation and amplification?) , my leaning is a differentiated version of the iPhone OS, with more leniency in app approval, but still not open. Many will complain, many will profit, and many will love it.

Focused on productivity
Unlike the Microsoft approach to “ecosystem” – where everything other than the Xbox is able to view and edit Excel spreadsheets – my hunch is the iPad is all about lifestyle, the Internet, and entertainment.  I’d guess there’s a native version of Safari, some kind of simple email and calendaring, and that’s about it.  I think Apple doesn’t have any interest in trying to build buzz or sales into the corporate world, and will instead stay close to their home turf with consumer appeal.  I’d go so far as to say it’ll be fun to use, and the new user experience will center entirely around delivering entertaining content.

Support every mobile carrier
Okay, this is one of those “I think I’m right, but what if they really figured it out???” things (Google didn’t really, and they’ve got some smarty folks too).  Supporting all the US carriers is cost prohibitively “impossible” – you’d need a minimum of 2 different antennas/chips and the relationships in place.  Doing this adds to cost, which is transferred somewhere (consumers), and for the most part neither manufacturers nor consumers like to have “wasteful” componentry.  Which means it’s much more likely there’s either multiple SKUs, or only one carrier.  And since the former isn’t very Apple-y, it’s much more likely there’s only one carrier involved – or none at all (which makes some sense, if this were 1997).  Further, this gets messy when we consider Verizon, the best network in the US, as their CDMA platform is unused in Europe, a place where Apple sells a lot of stuff.

I could probably add a few more pages of the what I don’t think will happen variety, but they start getting less interesting in my own opinion (5 colors of iPads! – not).  I did have one more “I’ll bet they do” item, which is…

Embrace Augmented Reality Even More
Lots of hot trends in the technosphere, from Twitter to FourSquare, from App Stores to Cloud Computing.  But Augmented Reality is actually an interesting one, has more usefulness than others, and is right up Apple’s alley.  I’d predict there are several native applications and services that provide very cool augmented reality features.  I’m firmly in the camp of one or more cameras on the iPad, and I think Apple will include one or more fun exploits of the concept from the get-go.  I don’t know if it’ll be as awe-inspiring as PlayGunman, our amazing lasertag on iPhone game, but hopefully it’ll be close (disclosure – I’m extremely involved in it. also, I’m joking around – if Apple can’t make our game look like Adventure on the 2600, I’d be stunned. and it’s not like our guys are slackers, but it’s freaking Apple).  Apple will definitely do some kind of boundary-pushing move with this device, and I’d hunch that augmented reality is one of the areas they could truly make us think a little differently.