It’s the morning after and time for an unjaundiced look at Apple’s just-announced iPad tablet computer thingee. My last post was a series of pre-announcement Tweets from a guy at or near EnGadget and I took some grief from readers for even posting it, but in retrospect I am glad I did because it gives me a lot more to say about the new gizmo.
Were the tweets from a real beta tester? While many readers thought they weren’t, I’m pretty sure they were, primarily based on what many perceived as mistakes. Yes, the price points were off but those things can change hour-by-hour right up to the last minute and I wouldn’t put it past Apple to deliberately give bad pricing to testers to mislead and catch leaks. More importantly, the Twitterer said there would be three price points and there were. Based on the iPhone/iTouch intro model one would only have expected two price points.
Let’s look inside this price differential for a moment and try to channel our inner Steve Jobs. The Twitterer said $599, $699, and $799 while Apple announced $499, $599, and $699 without 3G and $629, $729, and $829 for the same models with 3G. But remember the Twitterer was strictly referring to 3G models, since he said they had 3G. He also mentioned both AT&T and Verizon Wireless, while Apple mentioned only AT&T.
Just because Apple didn’t mention Verizon doesn’t mean they won’t also offer 3G service from Verizon. The word “exclusive” was never used referring to AT&T. They trotted-out that pre-paid plan, but it would be crazy for carriers to not also offer a one-year or two-year subscription plan, too, which would drop the unit price somewhat. Maybe the subscription rates weren’t yet set. More likely the Verizon details were still in some limbo or Apple gave AT&T an exclusive presence at the intro in exchange for some concession we may never know about.
With Steve Jobs the deal isn’t done until it is done so I am sure he’s still trying to take one or both carriers to the cleaners.
Which brings us back to that price, which was $30 higher than predicted by the Twitterer. Remember Apple dropped iPhone prices almost immediately after the units started shipping. I don’t think this pricing is set in stone, either. Maybe the $30 is padding they’ll drop at the intro to make us feel good. Parts experts say 3G chips now cost around $7, so including one hardly adds $130 to the price or even $100.
Another point brought up against the Twitterer was the battery life (he said three hours, Apple said 10 hours). Reality in the PC and mobile industries is that a 10 hour battery life really means six hours. You may get 100 percent of the advertised battery life, but I don’t. My little Dell Vostro A90 (more on that in a day or so) is supposed to be good for six hours but the little battery meter always tells me on a full charge that I have 3:25 to go. There’s simply no way that iPad, no matter what the processor, is good for a real 10 hours of continuous use. And remember this is the non-3G version they are touting, while the Twitterer was clearly using 3G.
An iPod Touch with Wifi turned on lasts a lot longer than a comparable iPhone with WiFi turned off. In real life I’m pretty sure a 3G iPad IS a 2-3 hour device. And what’s wrong with that?
Finally, where were the split-view camera and the gimmicky solar charger? According to EnGadget the split-view cam is mentioned in the iPad SDK as “iPad-only” and some iPad apps ask you to take pictures without giving you the capability to do so…. yet. I’m sure the camera is coming. As for the solar charger, who’s to say that won’t come shortly, too?
In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if both features are present when the iPad finally ships in 60 days along with iPhone 4.0 software, which many expected to be part of yesterday’s announcement.
I was disappointed by the lack of iPhone 4.0 because this kind of device really needs true multi-tasking. I’m sure we will see it soon. What I am not at all sure about but wish we’d see soon is support for Adobe’s Flash. What does Steve Jobs have against Adobe, anyway? He used to love Adobe chairman John Warnock. There’s some weird daddy thing going on there with Apple’s rejection of Flash and I am tired of it. This new processor is plenty fast enough to support Flash and HTML 5 is still not ready for prime time.
Correction — Here’s a more informed view of the Flash situation from a friend. it’s hard to argue with his numbers:
“I did a quickie test with the new YouTube HTML5 beta. On a site that embedded a video (so Flash was used), my browser CPU utilization was 22%, and the Adobe Flash plug-in CPU utilization was 55%. (dual core macbook pro, so total CPU% = 200%).
After the video played, I watched the same video again directly on the YouTube site in HTML5. Adobe Flash plug-in CPU utilization was 4% (what it consumes just sitting on its hiney), and the browser CPU utilization was 17%.
77% vs 21%. that’s why Apple hates Adobe. There certainly may be personalities involved (with Jobs, there is always something personal), but Adobe Flash is just technically awful (this actually may be the crux of any Jobs’ hatred – he hates inelegance, and Adobe Flash is inelegant).
I don’t hate Adobe, and it does bother met that I can’t see Flash on the iPhone or iPad, but Adobe has acted very awfully in this area and doesn’t appear to be doing anything to address it. Google and Apple have the muscle to squeeze them out.”
Now we return you to Bob, already in progress:
The apps were underwhelming to me with the exception of iPhoto, but maybe that requires waiting for iPhone 4, too. Overall the product felt rushed. But knowing Steve a little bit I think he’s seeing this as a two-part intro and there will be another event around the shipping date, supposedly 60 days from now, which he’ll correctly view as yet another marketing opportunity. At that event we’ll see 3G from more than just AT&T, we’ll hear about more data plans including subsidized plans that will drop the price by $200. We’ll see the split-view camera, iPhone 4.0, and maybe even that little solar charger.
As presented yesterday the iPad was cool and I’ll probably buy one, but not right away. Fortunately many people will buy them right away then buy them again when the update equivalent to 3G (4G? HD?) comes along, just as they did with the original 2G iPone and the original 128K Mac. So I am sure the iPad will be at least a modest success, even in its initial incarnation. But you know what it feels like to me with it’s hype followed by an underwhelming reality? It feels like another Segway, which sure hasn’t changed the way people move on the Earth.
I’ll buy one just for traveling (reading and video), but without a camera and a few specific apps (such as remote desktop admin) I unfortunately will still have to lug a laptop along.
I’m not wild about it, but it is good enough to buy, especially at $500.
I also would like to see a camera in this device BUT I see it being useful for video iChat, Skype, or other such video conferencing uses. I think some people think they want a camera in this because the iPhone has a camera… is anyone going to lift an iPad up to take a photo? I don’t think so, the ergonomics would be horrible for this.
As I mentioned in my comment to the “twitter” post – it will be really interesting to see how this device will be used in the educational sector.
… bad for straight, taking pictures, but with that large screen and handy form factor it’d be nice for augmented reality; the CPU is powerful enough for image processing, and (somehow, maybe) knows what you’re looking at and can superimpose something meaningful / entertaining over it on the display.
I’m seriously thinking about buying one and I never buy a 1st gen product.
Really interested in what iBooks (or whatever they are called) read on them. Also interested in what the NYTimes app looks like as I really like reading content from the current web site.
My final question is this a real UI device for the everyman into cloud computing?
I was a little underwhelmed by the iPad launch. It still seems like a neat device, but it didn’t trigger the “I need that, NOW” response I expected.
The “beta tester” author of the tweets (Jason Cala-something) is now taking great pleasure in gloating about how he duped the tech press about the machine specs…
Efficiency is the name of the game in a mobile device, and Flash isn’t. I’m glad that Apple are being strict about this to keep everything lean and mean. Death to bloat.
[…] The Apple iPad= a big iPod Touch or Newton for that matter. (Minyanville, peHUB, Gizmodo, All Things D, Silicon Alley Insider, Cringley) […]
Maybe Jobs is sick of the hype and is reducing expectations with an (arguably) underwhelming first introduction, and 60 days from now we’ll see something more exciting.
I was never interested in developing apps for the iPhone or iTouch, but this I can see. I may end up spending the $99 now for the developer’s kit, even though I will probably wait a year or more before buying my first physical sample of the device. (The developer’s kit has a software simulator of the iPad. I wonder how you fake the multi-touch inputs on the simulator?)
“What does Steve Jobs have against Adobe, anyway?”
Flash is buggy, bloated, and an insecure.Every time you turn around you’re hearing about another Flash Exploit.
https://www.krebsonsecurity.com/2010/01/adobe-ships-critical-shockwave-update/
The reason the device isn’t on Verizon (yet) is that Verizon is CDMA (no SIM cards), and the device uses SIM cards (GSM). The 4g network that Verizon is (supposedly) rolling out uses sim cards. So maybe in a year or two we get iPad+iPhone on Verizon. But not until then.
Which is a pity, since I’m on Verizon.
I second your opinion about Flash. I did a quickie test with the new YouTube HTML5 beta. On a site that embedded a video (so Flash was used), my browser CPU utilization was 22%, and the Adobe Flash plug-in CPU utilization was 55%. (dual core macbook pro, so total CPU% = 200%).
After the video played, I watched the same video again directly on the YouTube site in HTML5. Adobe Flash plug-in CPU utilization was 4% (what it consumes just sitting on its hiney), and the browser CPU utilization was 17%.
77% vs 21%. that’s why Apple hates Adobe. There certainly may be personalities involved (with Jobs, there is always something personal), but Adobe Flash is just technically awful (this actually may be the crux of any Jobs’ hatred – he hates inelegance, and Adobe Flash is inelegant).
I don’t hate Adobe, and it does bother met that I can’t see Flash on the iPhone or iPad, but Adobe has acted very awfully in this area and doesn’t appear to be doing anything to address it. Google and Apple have the muscle to squeeze them out.
77%?! Jesus H Christ! Was that for a 360p video or larger? I’m only seeing 14% CPU utilization for such on YouTube (using Windows 2000 and IE6).
Oops! (correcting myself) 14% is for 720p, and 2 or 3% for normal/embedded videos.
This was admittedly a non-scientific test, done on a couple of videos that I tested right after starting the HTML5 beta on YouTube. So, they could be bad videos that just happened to do this pegging, or it could be a variety of other factors – Adlobe’s Safari plug-in could be badly written, Safari itself could be terrible, OSX could have a bug.
As Bob mentions a little below, it is probably more complicated than just performance, and others have pointed out that Flash is more than just video – it is a platform, and if you own a platform the last thing you want is to let somebody else control that platform. Hence Microsoft is pushing Silverlight, Sun is driving Java hard, and Apple (and others) are pushing HTML5 to get rid of these “alternative” platforms completely.
What I do know is that, occasionally, for no apparent reason, it will seem as though my machine is sluggish, and the fan on the MBP is blowing pretty hard. Inevitably, it is because I have a web page open that is doing some flash. I usually just “Force Quit” on the Adobe plug-in, because I don’t feel like cycling through all my browser tabs to find the offending Flash.
I stand by my statement that Flash, at least on the Mac platform, is very poorly implemented, and Adobe doesn’t seem to want to address it. They’ve addressed other items on the Mac, like making Creative Suite of apps native, so it isn’t Apple’s market share that is preventing them from fixing this.
I also think it is interesting that all the complaining about lack of Flash support hasn’t stopped / slowed the success of the iPhone/iPod Touch, and for all the hype surrounding Android, I haven’t heard that Flash is working well on Android based phones and what a relief it finally is to have a smart phone that “really” supports the Internet.
Flash is just, well, pretty bad, and Adobe is pretty bad at being a platform company in this respect (i haven’t even talked about its security exploits). While Jobs is most assuredly not banning Flash for the benefit for mankind, I don’t really disagree with him in deciding not to support it. It’s been bad since it was “Shockwave Flash”
@Bobo, the debate is a little beyond this… Adobe has pressed Apple for more direct access to low-level graphics capability & Apple has said they get the same graphics access as everybody else. Apparently Adobe doesn’t feel the match is particularly good for them, and blames Apple for the issue. They don’t deny measures such as yours, though. How much does it matter? Most web browsers don’t care one whit about CPU cycles; they have plenty. But (UK news site) FT.Com used to almost completely lock up my machine from what I presume was simply badly-written Flash in their ads. I couldn’t visit it. (I’ve since installed a flash blocker; they’ve since cleaned up their act & I’m subscribing. There is a pretty simple message there for sites.)
There must be many other important aspects to this issue. I’ll suggest Apple’s wanting to assert more control over its own devices’ software; the fact that QuickTime seems pretty much pushed aside by Flash; etc.
there are A LOT of newspaper online sites chock-full of nasty flash ads that choke up the browser. some even crash it, just poof! without warning, there goes the clunky portal to Hell, IE, at work.
print has its advantages.
Use a Mifi (available from Verizon) and you’ll get 3G on all your devices. It’s a credit-card sized device that translates 3G into Wifi for up to 5 devices at once.
I have one and it’s well worth the $60/month. Super fast, too.
-Erica
Wiredog, your link doesn’t support your Flash rant–read tfa, and you’ll see it’s for the *Shockwave* player, ie. Director, not Flash.
John Nack just put up an excellent post that answers the Flash bashers with substance and facts, while acknowledging Flash’s true flaws. HIs best point is that, for all its flaws, Flash delivered video on the web in a way that nobody could before, and while HTML5 has great potential, it’s going to be a while before it’s ready for prime time, and while that will be great for bare bones video playback, Flash video has advanced hooks for interactivity right now, and this advantage will remain for a long, long time. In other words, his message is that, despite the lynch mob mentality, it’s a false dichotomy, and both have their place in the web ecosystem. Read it here:
http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/01/sympathy_for_the_devil.html
The correct answer for the lack of Flash is its cpu hoggage, which as others here have pointed out, is a major power drain and therefore, not a great choice for a mobile device.
While there is definitely a power struggle between Apple and Adobe, they have negotiated a deal so that Flash/Flex devs can compile iPhone/iPad apps using CS5, which is a pretty big deal in many regards.
I know which store my apps will be going to first, and it’s the one with 99% of the market, and the platform with the best user experience. Let the bare metal guys have the Android store and whatever else.
Looks very nice; shame it doesn’t run Windows 7.
So, 10hr = 3hr, double camera = no camera, pricing is flexible, mobile providers are not fixed and solar charger(!) = no solar charger. With that kind of reasoning you can actually accept any rumor of the last 10 years as being true.
ok, the twitterer was jason calacanis and it was a joke : http://twitter.com/Jason/status/8308014528 . So no camera and things like that.
As for Version. It is just not that simple to do both CDMA and GSM and with GSM being a global standard that is used almost everywhere, it is totally nuts to do a CDMA device. They will just stick with GSM.
And due to that there will not be a Verizon version.
Sorry 🙂
THANK YOU OLIVER!!!
So glad someone said it. I had earlier assumed that Cringely was calling Calacanis a twit. But this article shows us who the real twit is.
I’m outta here.
Hard to say, but the “GSM is *the* global standard” theme is a tired one. (Tell that to Asia). How many US users need GSM connectivity overseas? Certainly there are some, but not that many. Unfortunately in the US – both GSM and CDMA coexist and will continue to for some time. Even if Verizon’s LTE network was available tomorrow – it’s pretty unlikely that they would do IP voice over LTE. So, they are going to need CDMA for backwards compatibility for a time even after LTE is fully deployed. (Translation? 2012+)
For Apple, it would be a lot more about market share than wireless protocols. I think there will definitely be a Verizon version of the iPhone – and perhaps this device as well. There are tons of people who would be iPhone/iPad users but cannot stomach AT&T.
http://calacanis.com/2010/01/28/epic-comment-back-to-apple-fan-boy-haters/
I think the sole purpose of this intro for the iPad was to present some kind of hardware device for what is more important at the moment – the iBookStore. A book store doesn’t make any sense for an iPhone/iPod Touch (it stuns me that people would actually try to read books on these things), and your standard laptop, while it would be “ok” for reading books, is not what you want to read a book with.
Intro-ing the book store by itself would, IMO, been a big flat dud. but, there are enough early adopters, people who may have a Kindle-like device or want one, who will now get an iPad, because it isn’t a dedicated device just for books.
Over time, this device will get better, have more storage, have a longer battery, etc. etc., but in the meantime will make healthy coin for Apple selling books. The book store itself may only break even, (just like the music store doesn’t rake in tons of profits), but the seamlessness with a hardware device will draw users.
Now that Apple has an in with publishers, I don’t see how Amazon can succeed long-term with the Kindle, and given that Apple already has a well respected audio service with the iTunes store, the addition of books should make audible.com very, very nervous. Throw in a few full screen games, a productivity app or two, and you got yourself a real netbook.
So while others are playing checker, complaining about a camera or lack of multi-tasking or how much more expensive it is than an HP netbook, Apple is playing chess, creating new revenue streams that the others won’t see until it is too late and Apple has already “won”.
(no, I’m not an Apple fanboi… i probably won’t get an iPad ever… at least until gen 2 or 3 of the hardware)
“how Amazon can succeed long-term with the Kindle,”
I have a Nook. Readable in bright light, battery lasts 3 or 4 days if I don’t turn on the radio, easy to read one handed. So I can take it to the beach, or other vacations, read it in the open, etc. As a reader it’s pretty good.
That said, the Nook has some rather serious problems relating to the software and touchscreen. It’s usable, bu annoying. I think the Kindle may be a better device.
Yeah, I should be careful. I dislike it when people post things like “such-and-such is junk or will fail”, and there I am saying the same thing about the Kindle.
Amazon.com, and perhaps B&N, are viable competitors because (a) everybody knows they sell books and (b) they have a very decent check-out process that makes it easy to buy things. You just “point and click” to buy – not adding in your credit card number again, etc.
However, Apple is very formidable in this area as well with iTunes and I submit their purchase process is even easier since they don’t have to deal with brick and mortar problems like “how do you want this shipped”. This can make even the simple Amazon system more than just one click.
So, I think Apple will be in better shape since may eBook buyers probably also have iTunes store account. I also think that while many will find the GUI candy on the iPad unnecessary (the animations for page flips, the “bookshelf” look when choosing a book, etc.) many others will appreciate it and many really don’t like that “flashing” effect you get changing a page on an eBook screen.
So, regardless of what you think about the merits of the particular iPad implementation, this is good for all of us as consumers I believe. I think eBook prices are too high, and having some heavy competition here should drive the prices down. I additionally think audio book prices are utterly insane (sometimes more than the book!!!!) so I’m excited to see Apple having a working relationship with publishers as this could create competition there for audible.com.
This device, if successful, should further hammer on display technology such that eInk gets better or disappears, the technology from that company (forget the name, but a spin-off of OLPC folks) who make an eInk “like” display make theirs better, etc.
This device could just end up being some kind of hobby, like the AppleTV, but if it is more successful than that, I’m excited.
I doubt the solar charger. This is a living room device. You’re not going to use it in your lap, then flip it over and put it on the step for hours of charging. You’re also not going to carry it around in a clear bag when outdoors hoping that it will soak up a few more minutes of battery life.
It’s a cool idea, and people might like it, but if it’s not actually useful, Apple won’t add it.
Bob, your points are carriers seem to be spot on: The will be more carrier options and new price points as a results of that. But the camera; why no camera? This missing option made the entire presentation, for me, a snore. Going by the presentation alone, Apple simply increased the overall size of the iPod and its horsepower. That’s it. Apple clearly is presenting the iPad as their answer to that “in between” space now held by netbooks. But even netbooks come bundled with a camera.
Like the current iPod line-up is hobbled by the lack of a camera, taking consumers over to the iPhone for that “killer” feature, the iPad’s lack of one will give over sales to other slate/tablet/pad/netbook makers.
I don’t understand the camera hangup. Everyone who can afford an iPad already has a phone with a camera if they want one. The iPad was never meant to replace a phone. (3G is data only.)
Any still pictures off and iPad would be garbage as its impossible to hold it steady given the form factor.
Those who are looking for cameras are wanting decent low-light video for streaming like they do under OS X’s vid conferencing utilities.
Still would nice for any vendor of mobile apps to have a decent macro capability so as to snap and process DataMatrix 2d Barcodes.
This would revolutionize Print and Magazines. Just snap the front cover of the Daily Mail at the supermarket (with AI recognition of the matrix 2d barcode akin to face detection/puppy detection of a point an shoot) then iBookstore DL’s that issue into your account. Would even give you a 3 minute preview to browse it before an auto destruct of that content.
No more need to send a whole magazine anywhere yet support impulse buys at the Point of Sale.
I think the tweets were garbage. However, I do agree that Apple sees this as a two part introduction. They needed to announce the product with what they had developed just so they can now tout it to publishers, media companies, and get FCC approval. I expect a new SDK for the iPhone/iPad right before the first iPads ship. They’ll show off how iPhone 3GS/iPad will have multi-tasking in the new update and a host of other “features”. Why do I think this? Because the presentation yesterday was void of anything about the OS it was running… they are saving that for late March like they have the past two years.
I won’t be buying version 1 of the iPad but I may invest in a desktop computer and get an iPad v2 to replace my laptop next year.
This post is bizarre. First it’s weird that you’re still referring to Jason Calacanis without stating his name. He’s a well-known guy, much better known than you at this point. Since you can’t be bothered to Wikipedia him, he was founder and CEO of Weblogs Inc., the company that created Engadget. He later sold it to AOL and now runs a Sequoia-backed startup called Mahalo.
Second he said it had an HDTV tuner, lower battery life in “book mode”, and a bunch of other things that are now known to be false. Third, he’s admitted it was an “obvious joke”:
http://twitter.com/Jason/status/8314659661
Man, you really appear to have difficulty admitting when you screw up.
What Jobs has against Flash is obvious to me: it presents a very real threat to the App Store. If developers can write full featured applications in Flash, delivered via Safari then Apple loses control of the device.
The gimmicky flash banners, adds, etc. on web pages aren’t the real concern. At the introduction of the iPhone OS SDK, there were probably a lot more Flash developers than Cocoa developers, and there probably still are. Flash is a threat to Apple’s control of the user experience, and Jobs doesn’t want that.
Gruber had a great piece earlier in the week on how Apple wants to control all the code to their devices, and including Flash prohibits them from doing that.
http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/apple_adobe_flash
This argument makes a lot of sense to me.
I join Steve Sabol in urging the folks who are still beating the “Why no Flash?” dead horse (that includes you, Robert X.) to read John Gruber’s thoughtful analysis:
http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/apple_adobe_flash
This isn’t some blind, vindictive prejudice of Steve Jobs; Apple has sound business reasons for avoiding Flash… just as we users have good reasons to shun its bugginess, endless security holes, and the incredibly annoying animated ads that make up 90% of Flash content on the web.
Apple’s not alone. You may have noticed that both YouTube and Vimeo, among others, have begun to offer their content in H.264 format, signaling a move away from Flash exclusivity. Meanwhile, more and more web developers are showing what can be done with HTML5 and CSS3 to make Flash unnecessary.
As for me, speaking both as a computer user and a former Flash developer, I’d be very happy to see Flash lose its grip on the marketplace. Right now, thanks to the free ClickToFlash utility, my iMac doesn’t even download embedded Flash content unless I tell it to.
I was most impressed with the $10 word processsing, presentation, and spreadsheet apps – makes this the perfect student or business machine – take that Microsoft! $30 blows Office away – where have you guys been?
Exactly. MSFT is dropping a load right now, Ballmer is throwing chairs somewhere and the WIndows minions are trying to put a smile on their face. Every CEO who just got an iPhone is going to be asking for one of these.
Word processing on a device that’s got a faux keyboard that has to be balanced on your what?, lap, legs, third hand??? It’s a Newton. It will go the way of Newton.
Yes, it looked very awkward, both in Jobs’ demo and the intro video. Third hand, indeed. Other tablets/ebook devices offer better gripping surfaces than this. Definitely a lap/table top-only device–imagine trying to use it while standing or moving. And woe to the small-handed. Many of these will hit the floor. And it’s really less portable than a traditional laptop, because the screen must be protected by something else.
you probably said the same thing about the iphone keyboard when it came out and now you type your comments on that device without thinking twice.
But I don’t have to balance an iPhone on my sculpted quadriceps in order to type on it. And I can do it one-handed, too.
Well, isn’t that what the keyboard dock thingie is for????
May be so. But its usefulness will have to wait for the fold-up inflatable keyboard. Has an auto-deflate/fold button, too.
Article in today’s Washington Post about the iPad … The biggest question asked, “Does it come with wings?” And, no, Bob X, we’re not talking about the aviation kind …
No one has mentioned the in-house processor Apple (P.A. Semi) built. I think it is a serious wake-up call to Intel. If Apple can build a very fast processor (see John Gruber’s take on the flat out speed of the iPad) with low power consumption then it would not be unthinkable for Apple to start building MBPs with it. Think about the position that puts Apple in. They save costs by building chips in-house, they can custom tailor their processors to their hardware and software, they can keep them to themselves or sell them to others at a hefty profit, and it truly puts Apple as a top-to-bottom technology juggernaut. It then makes it difficult for others to compete with Apple in light of their technology, profits, margins, cash horde or brand. And I also think that’s partially why the iPad came in at $499.
Building your own foundry with any kind of reasonable capacity would seem, to me, to be an incredibly stupid waste of Apple’s investment capital. Apple’s first generation chip might be a ground-breaking design, (though you still can’t fool Mother Nature and defy physics — i.e. faster processor = more power = more heat) but after reverse-engineering it, Intel, AMD, and anyone else with an electron microscope would have figured out Apple’s secret sauce, and have the R&D budget to improve it. Apple’s coup would quickly become a boat anchor.
Legend has it that the design is of ARM. “Reverse Engineering” is done by black-boxing, not taking apart the device. That’s just a tad illegal.
ton of chip foundries foundering and/or closing. you don’t need a silicon plant. you bring over the logic file, and squish it through the same software you developed it on to output the masks and steps, and if the trial wafers worked, you pay the man to can your silicon and ship it to you.
you can do it anyplace, from China to Vermont to Scotland to Germany.
Really strange. Perhaps you’re serious about this post, in which case it’s grasping at straws based on an admitted hoax by a well-known blogger who you refuse to cite directly. Or else you’re continuing what could have been a tongue-in-cheek posting yesterday, in which case it’s not particularly funny, so you’re venturing into John Dvorak’s territory. In either case it affects the way I’ll read your other predictions based on interpretations of inside information… Even the engadget article you cited didn’t say what you said it said.
I’m seriously starting to wonder if the ‘Bob Cringely’ moniker might have changed hands again. I don’t think the PBS columnist would have made this type of mistake (or this type of too-long lame joke, if that’s what it is).
Ironically, I don’t think any of the techies, pundits, or tech press are in the target market for this device. The iPad will appeal to a whole new market – non technical people, nubes, and teens. It’s simple, relatively cheap, and very cool. The choice between a net book and an iPad is a slam dunk.
I also think of technophobic people like my Mother, still using a vintage Windows ME desktop machine – never wanting to “rock the boat” by upgrading what still “does the job.” Wow!, she could easily move her surfing and communicating duties to this very mobile device with very little pain and re-join the mainstream computing population.
People who have never owned a computer will consider an iPad. You can understand it, it’s simple, intuitive, and does about 98% of what most people ultimately use a computer for.
…Add my wife to that list of folks who’d want one. She took one look at it, and said, “Cool! When can I get it?” I’d characterize her computer knowledge with that of your mother, so if they like it, lots of other people will, too.
I like the look and size of it, and the pricing looks more reasonable than I was expecting. (Look for Amazon to drop Kindle prices?)
Notice that iPad 3G is unlocked, and you can put it on any network that is technically compatible. Apple have just worked out pricing plans with AT&T, but you can get compatible data plans elsewhere.
The reality of this is, though, that once the glitz of an Apple media event wears off you realize that it is “simply” a large-print version of an iPod Touch with optional 3G. With this much horsepower, why couldn’t we entertain the notion of a Mac? I’d be more interested in actually purchasing something that I could run my Mac software on. Who is really going to buy one of these things so they can shake it around and play some car-driving game? The target demographic most likely already own cars, and may be mature enough to have outgrown street racing.
And one more thing, it is NOT a shame that it doesn’t run Windows 7, the latest commercial computer virus from some hackers in Redmond.
Did you really just write a thousand-word post about how Jason Calacanis’s predictions (now admitted by him to be fabricated) would ALL really still come true anyhow, and how you’ll totally be vindicated for buying into his prank? A full half-day after he admitted that it was a joke? Really?
That seems like a fairly tremendous waste of effort. But whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
In terms of Flash, my take on it has always been that it has nothing to do with speed nor has it ever had anything to do with speed.
Rather, it has everything to do with malware.
Having a big news kerfuffle about iPxd users being infected with something is something he wants to avoid at all costs, and being able to point the finger at some other company is simply not mitigant enough.
I was also underwhelmed by the iPad introduction. Could we have another Cube on our hands? I wonder if Apple thinks the hype got out of control on this one…
I was expecting that the iPad was to be the savior of newspapers and magazines. Did I miss something? Are there newspapers and other publications you can subscribe to?
I don’t see this as being a Kindle-killer in its present form.
With the FCC cracking down on those early termination fees, Apple leapfrogged them by disguising the contractual obligation in that $130 premium for a $7 part.
I suspect some of that money will be transferred from Apple to AT&T as soon as people start using their iPad 3G radios (or in huge bundles disguised as “licensing fees” of some sort in order to compensate AT&T for not getting long term contracts).
If that is true, it’s outrageous, because Apple then managed to turn the “early termination fee” into a “very very early termination fee” that you pay even before you connect your iPad for the first time!
I suppose that the difference in price between an iPodTouch and iPhone should only be $7 as well?
Jobs quote will ring true in hindsight. He knows exactly what this will eventually turn into. The patents they get prove it. The iPad is a shell of it’s true self but it can not be computer for the rest of them without a store and apps and willing developers. The ipad can be the only computer people of the future will need to buy. I am not talking about hardware junkies. I mean people who don’t spend hours on them. If it one day can control your tv media, reading, comunication, and your work PC remotely why would you need another computer? This can turn into the pc for folks who don’t want to learn how a pc works. There is no need to train to use this. If profit margins are high enough this can replace low end MacBooks and iMacs. All you need is a dock that will turn it into a laptop and A dock to turn it into an iMac sized desktop. Then the geeks will buy it for that and everyone else because you don’t need all that. Apple needs apps for the mac os touch like the ipad needed iPhone apps when it launched. Once the mac os is touch enabled and has apps for it and a way to buy apps yhe smaller devices will be powerfull enough to run the mac os instead of the iPhone os. And then the sky is the limit.
C’mon, Bob. Even *you* know that the cost of materials nothing to do with the price you charge for the feature. The difference in 3G-vs-none is more than $7 because people are willing to PAY more than $7 for 3G.
Alan
Dead on, Alan. a buddy of mine thinks he will get this device for his dad. It does everything he wants it to do for somebody like his parents. When I asked him about the 3G he said “if i’m going to spend this much money, do i really want to be sitting somewhere with it and realize I can’t download something because I’m not in a hot spot?”
pure supply and demand.
The important beta-tester comment that got my attention was the OLED display. That’s likely the only way battery life will get longer (see Google’s Nexus One).
It’ll be interesting to see what developments a larger multitouch interface leads to.
First — go back and take notice of Bob’s comments about the Big Media a few days ago.
When I went to college — the cost of books was a big surprise. I now have kids in college and their books are still a giant expense.
Part of the problem is the number of college books sold is pretty low. They do not enjoy the economies of scales a best seller does. So the publisher charges a lot to recoup their high product costs. The high production costs are also an artifact of decades of business practices.
While in college I knew someone who’s father was a professor. He created his own publishing company to produce and distribute his book. In doing so his book could be sold to students for a small fraction of a normal book. This students loved it. There was one unanticipated benefit of his book. Because it was so cheap, his students chose to keep the book after the course and not resell it. So he sold a lot more books. He was happy. They were happy.
Also when I was in college some of the Frats had libraries and would often have several copies of commonly needed college books. If you were a member of the Frat you could often borrow a book for free for the semester. That was 30 years ago. I know today my kids college does not allow that stuff to be done.
With kids in college I’ve been waiting for an eBook for years. Sorry Amazon, yours isn’t quite good enough.
But more is needed than a better eBook. Publishers, especially those of low run text books need to rethink their pricing models. Still better — authors of books need to now rethink things — do they need a high overhead publisher. Wouldn’t it be nice if more college professors self-published books?
As a parent, I’d be glad to pay $20 to $50 for an electronic copy of my kids books. If most of that money made it to the authors, that would probably be a pay increase for them.
Now that we have a better eBook, there are a number of things that need to be done to make it a great education tool. Steve Jobs — if you read this blog, you need to do more with the product!
I worked for a college textbook publisher for 5 years.
>The high production costs are also an artifact of decades of business practices.
PP&B (Price to print & bind) for my college chemistry book (2-color, retail price: $65) was $3.65. On a book with a big run (even a 4-color) it would be in sub-$2 range. We sold it for $47 to the bookstores. That paid my salary, our sales peoples’ salaries,the mortgage on the warehouse, the rent on our space…and most importantly, all the free crud that professors get. _I_ could teach any course, given the materials all publishers make. CTBs (computerized test banks). Teachers’ guides. Transparencies (which, yes, are still required by some profs, at $150 a set). All of these are subsidized by the students.
>He created his own publishing company to produce and distribute his book.
Cool. I understand completely why it was so cheap. No sales reps to bang on profs’ doors. No layout designers. No IT staff. No paid reviewers. No bookstore (and that one, right there, dropped the price by about 30%).
All that being said, that’s why I don’t see college textbooks being cheap. One thought (for ebooks – I sat in on a sales demo a decade ago) when I worked there was to get the college to pay us per student enrolled in classes with our products. That would be guaranteed income; we wouldn’t have to work with bookstores, no used book losses, no PP&B. That being said, the bookstores had already blacklisted one publisher for trying something similar, so none of the major publishers was willing to go first.
I think you’re missing a bigger point about the $130/$7/monthly ATT 3G capabilities.
Subscription based services.
If you can buy your AT&T services monthy, why not Verizon next month. Why Monthly? why not 6 month paid upfront (or autorenewed)?
And why not, say… NYTimes service? ESPN online? Californication/ShowTime? NewEnglandJournalof Medicine? Oprah’s Book of the Month Club? All paid through your ITunes/AppStore/AppleStore Credit card. Apple’s getting xx-30% of the cut of each of these subscriptions (Shipping and handling?) And lockin on the devices (Ipad/touch/phone… eventually Macbooks), and/or services built into Safari for Win7/8/9.
Apple is providing the micropayment and servicing controls for subscription based cloud computing.
I get the SDK, right a kewl first person battle app…sell it for free, and then get a subscription service built into it for all sorts of value adds (newsletters, features, functions). If I build it there… why not build it into all my Internet supplied services.
Just like the thread on Flash causing a method of bypassing the code control, AppStore (and the mini-(pain)-payment system it has built in), puts Apple into the Visa Model of computing…
As one of the other commenters here says, Calacanis has admitted he was making a joke. Just admit you made a mistake, Bob – don’t double down on it!
Nobody with your degree of experience in Silicon Valley should have believed any rumor with ‘TV receiver’ or ‘solar charger’ on the list.
I bet Google pays Apple (directly or indirectly) to keep Flash out of their devices.
Is that $7 the price of a 3g chip which includes GPS support, and also including the cost of the micro-sim slot? (I have no idea. I’m just asking the question)
– – –
They are not disguising an early-termination fee. You’re paying the $130 even if you never buy a cell plan — and you are under no obligation to buy any cell plan. Think of what you’re claiming. The whole reason for lock-in on some cell phone plan is that the cell-phone provider gives Apple some of the money for the device you buy (thus allowing Apple to lower the up-front cost to you), and then the cell-phone provider gets that money back from you buy charging you every month for the next two years.
So you’re saying that Apple is charging $123 extra to the customer so that they can give the money to themselves (since there is no cellphone carrier in the middle), all in the name of LOWERING the price to the customer?
And Apple is going to give that money to AT&T? You really believe that? You think Apple is groveling at AT&T’s feet, saying “Please please oh PLEASE let us stay on your crappy cellphone network!! EVERY DAMN DAY our customers write us hate mail about your network, so PLEASE let us stay on it! We’ll even PAY you!!”?
Ha! AT&T should be thankful that Apple didn’t announce the end of AT&T exclusivity. Customers will be buying service from month-to-month. If a customer drops AT&T when a Verizon option is available to them, then why would Apple give any money to AT&T? “Hey AT&T, your network sucks so bad in some cities that customers leave the moment that they get a chance — so here’s some extra money that our customers gave to us even though they clearly HATE you!”
Apple and ATT sucked up to each other because it made sense.
Apple brings customers to your door. they also wanted to make one machine design, once, for everybody worldwide. biggest chunk of users is GSM. thus, the network is locked in. different regions, different frequencies, so there will be a different RF bank on the board, perhaps on a sub-board, for each region.
ATT is one of two GSM carriers in the US. the other is formerly VoiceStream, now T-Mobile. ATT has a zillion times more carraige than T-Mobile and the wherewithal and attitude to battle with anybody who decides to play map games.
they could cut a deal.
that’s why Apple and ATT are joined at the hip. period.
Oh, btw, I’m quite happy to have Flash remain off the iPad/iPhone platform. It gives me plenty of headaches on an 8-core Mac Pro, so why would I want it on a mobile device? If my browsers start screwing up (I regularly use multiple web browsers…), it’s almost always because of some runaway flash page.
Er, and lest I seem too much of a fan boy, I do think this should have a front-facing webcam-quality camera. It doesn’t have to be super quality, just something good enough for teleconferencing. And I also wish the iPad had more pixels (enough for full HD viewing). But given the price-point, I do think this is a fairly nice device. IMO.
Lileks remarked that if it had a user-facing webcam, you’d have a $1000 mirror.
if you have a front-facing webcam, you have a $1000 window to see where you’re walking while mobile.
so absolutely, the camera is a must 😀
Ugh, $500? $700? It’s not running OSX so it’s nothing but an overpriced clown iPhone. I want to see the photo of Jobs holding this up to his head, “Hello? Steve speaking.” (I know, you’d really use the bluetooth module).
It’s funny that the twitter guy said it’s great for reading newspapers on. Nope. Nothing’s better than buying the actual newspaper to read the newspaper on, and you don’t have to pay hundreds of $$ for that. Heck I go to the McDonalds in the morning to read the paper for free with my McMuffin. They also have free wi-fi at the McDonalds by my house, but I don’t bother. Lugging around my 12″, 3.5 lb dual core ultraportable laptop is too much hassle, when they have perfectly good free real newspapers in the rack to read.
Here’s my “jaundiced” impression. The thing is basically like carrying around a small computer monitor with you. It’s fragile and has no natural protection, whereas a laptop, when you fold it up and its sensitive keyboard/display guts are hidden inside, its toughened outer shell is exposed outside. That’s why I only ever bought flip phones (when I used to buy cell phones, now I don’t even bother any more). The iPhone is small and tough and you keep it in your inside coat pocket, but where are you going to stash the iPad? You would have to keep it inside a thickly padded purse. Well I’m not going to walk around with a purse, thanks.
3G on this device isn’t necessary. 90% of its use will be at home or at a cafe with WiFi. The iPhone is a device is portable enough to fit in your pocket. It’s easy to take it out, twitter on it, and throw it back in your pocket. You don’t do that with something 4x the size of an iPhone. The iPhone is used when you’re standing up, this is used when you’re sitting down.
The processor is the biggie. This is Apple’s first processor, and I’m sure we’ll see more coming down the line.
Apple doesn’t want Flash because it means that Apple will depend upon Adobe to make Apple’s hardware useful. Every time Apple comes out with a new hardware platform, they’ll have to wait for Adobe to build a flash client.
Imagine Flash version 45 coming out, but Adobe first builds a Flash client for the Android, then Windows Mobile, before finally getting to Apple’s platform. Imagine if the Flash client for Apple isn’t as full featured or has some incompatibilities. How would that affect Apple’s hardware sales?
Apple would love to kill Flash. I predict sometime this year that Apple will buy Adobe, bulldoze its headquarters, burn everything, and salt the earth to make sure that company will never rise again.
I’ve seen some moaning that the iPad is missing enterprise features. First of all, it’s an interesting whine considering that these machines aren’t even out yet. Besides, all it’ll take is a minor firmware upgrade. One day, iPads don’t have the needed features, the next day, they all do.
I was surprise about the idea these could be enterprise systems. But, I truly believe that Windows hold on corporate networks is not as strong as we believe. Windows networks encompassing every employee is extremely expensive, but only about 20% of the employees really need a big chunk of high speed computing metal on their desks.
Imagine if the 80% of the employees get iPads with the keyboard accessory. Instead of an internal network, employees use a unsecured WiFi network and access the corporate data via SSL enabled iPad apps. Companies already run their own private iPhone apps stores. The iPads could do the same. That would greatly reduce IT costs.
Even better, companies can even stop buying company computers. Let the employees get their own w/ a corporate subsidy. When the employee leaves, they take their system with them. Employees are then responsible for repairs. And, getting rid of obsolete computers is a thing of the past. (You can’t believe how much companies spend on obsolete and unused systems. Most companies have offices full of old PC boxes which cost too much to dispose of, but must still be tracked and take up expensive real estate space).
Why Steve Jobs hates Flash:
Flash is closed source. Now that would be fine if it was Apple closed source, but it isn’t. Apple can’t improve Flash, it’s 32 Bit on the Mac – and Apple had to jump through all kinds of hoops to make that jive with 64 Bit Safari. Flash is the leading source of crashes on Safari, Apple know this and can’t do a damn thing about it. Flash is mostly used for video on the Web, but Apple like H.264, especially as a video creation platform; having Flash in that ointment is pretty galling.
So Steve hates Flash, and you know what? I agree with him. With the iPhone/iPod Touch and now iPad, Apple has serious clout to be the ultimate Flash refusnik, if I’m creating a web site in 2010, I have to recognise that a significant proportion of visitors to my site don’t have Flash, so probably I need to do something for them so it doesn’t matter. If the proportion gets too out of control then why bother with Flash at all? Steve is on the brink of achieving this. I think you’ll wait for Flash support right up to the point where you stop wanting it.
On the subject of the camera or lack of, I see a different reason. Education, Steve has a soft spot for education, and if you’re going to put a computer in the hands of students (especially if you’re then connecting it to Facebook et al) and it has a camera, well you’re running a risk. Maybe Apple will put a camera in it, and maybe we’ll see an “ePad” that continues to lack one. There are plenty of places you can’t take a device with a camera, removing it might not have been such a dumb move.
I doubt you’ll see a Verizon one anytime soon, from what I understand the problem is technical (I live in the UK – and don’t have first hand knowledge of this). The “unlocked” nature was for international customers like me. I think in the USA you could use T-Mobile, but from what I understand that might not be better than AT&T. I also think Apple want you to tether it to your phone (well iPhone anyway).
Bob the last thing a device like this needs is multitasking. Multitasking makes memory an issue, at present it isn’t. Multitasking can make the device seem slow, you run enough you’ll make it slow. Multitasking will hurt the battery life, at present I imagine the little box naps a lot (“Boom! Here’s your webpage Mr Cringely” – right time for my nap). This is how you get 10 hours of battery life, you make the little thing seriously sleepy. I don’t know if you noticed Steve talked about watching video in connection with battery life, this might have been as this is a common usage scenario, or maybe the unit can be semi-comotose when playing video. Multitasking would also break some of the ideas behind the UI, know webOS does it, but how useful is multitasking if only one application can be on screen at a time? OK, I know there are uses – but many? This isn’t a beefy box that can crunch large datasets (it doesn’t even have the storage) if it’s not playing audio (or perhaps VoIP) what is it doing? I think Steve has this right, multitasking doesn’t add much, other factors limit its utility.
So do I think the iPad is an unqualified success? I don’t know, it’s not what I’d anticipated. It does less than I thought, although the programmer in me says that’s what software is for. The hermetically sealed computing environment is weird, but I do see the benefits. Is there really space between a laptop and a smartphone? I don’t know.
In some ways this reminds me of the original Palm Pilot, the success of that product was to do less, but to do it well. The iPad seems born of the same mentality (as does the iPhone actually). Undeniably it looks cool, and it looks like it would be fun to use. It does do less, perhaps that’ll be mitigated by applications from the App Store, perhaps not. But as soon as I draw the parallel with the Palm Pilot I can’t help but think about Jeff Hawkins and the ill-fated Folio. Given the explosion of Netbooks that followed the Palm’s decision not to shop the Folio, I still can’t decide if that’s a good or bad omen for the iPad.
I will buy one for the iBooks function alone. We are less excited about the iPad only because we now know the iPhone. I can only imagine the experience of a touchpad the size of the iPad’s. As for Adobe, the question isn’t “where’s Flash on the iPad?’ but, “where’s Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign?” These would adapt beautifully to the device and cinch the iPad as an alternative professional laptop.
Hopefully some vender will make a mount so I can use it on my Segway.
The lack of a camera is a huge stumble.
As for the AT&T vs. Verizon argument, Apple brought out the GSM version of the ipad for the same reason as the iPhone: it IS a world standard, and ease of entry to GSM markets is ensured. Significantly fewer countries use CDMA, and then you have the Chinese version of CDMA which is different enough to require yet another version. In the laptop world, you have these nifty little mini-PCIe cards which you can pop in, usually under the keyboard somewhere, which you can buy in GSM or CDMA flavors (check out eBay). They have different versions of these cards, for cellular, POTS modem and various 802.11 flavors. Given the form factor of the iPad, Apple may have opted not to use the mini-PCIe cards, but if they did leave an open slot, not only would it be trivial to go from AT&T to Verizon, but it would also build in flexibility to go to LTE (the nextgen GSM that Verizon and most GSM carriers are committing to) or WiMAX.
I have NEVER bought an Apple product for myself. I have bought iPods for my daughter, and I have her hand-me-down iPod Photo 30GB. But if AT&T gives a decent subsidy, I might just do it for the iPad.
I run an app called clicktoflash because it runs flash on my Mac only when I click on the flash icon. Before using this program (in Snow Leopard) I had the spinning beach ball syndrome in spades.
With clicktoflash, no more beachballs.
camera:
There was no camera on the original iPhone. even the 2nd Gen IPhone.
There is Camera support hinted in the SDK.
Like almost all Version 1 products… I think this one where Version 2 is where you will see a more perfect release.
Key consumer uses
iChat vid chatting
VOIP (now that the SDK license lifts the development of those Apps).
Pretty soon, you’ll probably see a stylus for capacitive/conductive touch screens for handwriting recognition (or at least graphics capture).
As usual, as with the iPod and the iPhone, the iPad isn’t trying to be all things to all people… it’s trying to be a integrated device that does what it does well, and has a ‘dumbed down’ (for a price) administrative path (AppStore).
I too watched the launch after reading the Tweeter’s stream. I was surprised to see no camera, USB, SD, etc. I think you’re right about 60-90 days giving us more options. I like the $499 price, but the $829 seems a bit steep for more memory and 3G. The future will tell us more. Below is my article on the “History of the iPad: When is a Tablet not a Tablet?” http://bit.ly/awqqHV
I consider it an expensive, but very elegant, netbook.
Netbooks are all about small & portable, and iPad looks like it’s got the small & portable with lots better everything than a netbook.
Of course, netbooks are also all about cheap, and iPad is cheap–for an Apple device.
I’ll probably buy one, too.
Come on! No USB ou SD card ports!
Pre-historic 4:3 screen form factor (and the marketing says it’s perfect for videos – 1960 videos, that is). And that screen size isn’t good for all the hyped media content it should have come coupled with (were was the content anyway?). It should have come in something similar to a standard media size, at least in scale. No camera, no multitask, Apple lock-in practices.
And there’s the name thing… not very popular with the ladies.
It’s a total keeper. Keep waiting till something better comes. There’s no rush anyway.
Flash, even Flash Lite, is supposed to be a real battery hog on mobile devices and bandwidth for it is supposedly far from effecient.
Google, Apple, HP, and even Sprint (If I remember correctly, it was some time ago and I might have the wrong carrier) offered to partner with Adobe and share resorces into fixing this problem supposedly even giving them full licence to free bits of code to fix annoying problems with recent versions and Adobe will have none of it.
Adobe is taking it personally that the backers of a standards based free internet have been long planning to integrate features into HTML’s official structure that would circumvent a large section of Flash’s market. Instead they have hastened those features, such as video support, into being accepted into HTML 5 and some browsers are already starting to introduce it. The few test I have run it has been faster and lighter on bandwidth than the same video in flash.
It’s quite obvious that ur blog only costs 50$ a month 😉
Come on get real, here is a Vid with the actual facts! So u could make a educated post the next time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs
I got burned with iTouch 2st Gen, Apple used college students via rebates to lure in and then charge for $9+ USD for firmware updates which ought to have been free and then released 3rd gen quickly there after (6 months?) without any major updates to the hardware.
Any early adopter of iPad is directly funding the 2nd Gen + production lines. I think Apple’s bean counters have mastered the great scam of getting the production line and financial surges from products like iPad or iTouch to fund launch cycle for the next gen device. A sudden price drop to me would indicate they are no longer using that money to fund the next round in some way and need to draw in more users.
Really early adopters are not just paying for a device they are being fleeced for a bit of the next one as well. Its kinda like the rebates on single run technology. That money is floating somewhere for 30-90 days in some Corp account and when pooled is likely getting some decent interest.
The biggest part of the iPad 1st Gen FAIL that leads me to question Apple’s motivation is the deliberate and willful non implementation of the MicroUSB standard as the mobile smart devices. Apple agreed in June 09 for this standard. Where is it? Consumers are not even calling for it as it would standardize all their accessories and be more green.
Secondly the micro-SIM is a way to lock into certain wireless vendors. Again taking away choice and embracing a standard no one else is pushing.
In reality Apple is making the “Perfect Vertical Ecosystem” only apple in only apple out.
For all the missing things and software for the iPad launch I think the biggest is Apples non willingness to play nicely with others and the environment. But that is part of the Apple name brand.
New Apple products will work as originally advertised and generally get improved software and drop in price a few months after introduction. Just about every year they will introduced the improved model with more features and memory at the same or a lower price. So yes early adopters do get burned, but they still have the functionality that they originally purchased. But that is true for any product that gets updated. New and Improved, means that the previous versions are old and unimproved. If you want more then you will wait for the 2nd generation version, next year, or 3rd gen in two years… Just hop in when you see what you like, but it will be improved in a year or so…
No microUSB? The iPad is not meant to connect that way, you want that get a laptop. It is meant to use wireless connections and not to replace a dedicated lap- or table-top computer. Your USB peripherals are for your main computer, and iPads are not designed nor being marketed to be your main computer.
MicroSIM, is an up and coming standard, so Apple is doing as they often have, using and/or helping to create the next standard. It is about the future of computing, not it’s past.
“…works as advertised.”
NO! They do not! Steve promised “all the internet” with the original iPhone. Quite simply, you can not access “all the internet” without Flash. Flash is used for more things than grotesquely overproduced, bloated video. It is used for buttons and all manner of things without which you are unable to use many web sites. Flash is a de facto standard whether Steve likes it or not.
Everyone knows Steve has “personal issues” with Adobe. Apple should simply buy Adobe and get arid of the knuckleheads and run things they way they want.
NO FLASH EQUALS NO SALE!
I would love for Apple to buy Adobe. Years ago I thought differently because I, like Steve, admired Adobe and it is always good to have distributed power and creativity. However we see that this is not always the best thing. MS created an ecology for a constellation of businesses and products, but had to do so by buying up all challengers, burning the rainforest to plant its crops, and inartfully cobbling its software on to whatever hardware ideas came down the pike … like a kind of mold that grows on everything but doesn’t really do anything really well.
We need some elegance in the system. We need artists, not programmers and Adobe has lost its artists. Apple, whether you like it or not, hires artists.
Sorry you didn’t get the internet you promised! No company gives you everything, but Apple does the best. Take a nap now and try to dream of a world where the internet is more than just Flash … like these annoying pop ups.
The OP was talking about the MicroUSB interface as a charging standard, not as a peripheral interface standard.
This rebuke of Apple is far too mild Robert.
Come on. Where are the details explaining exactly how bad is this product?
The IPad is garbage, and I’m frankly getting tired of going from favorite commenter to favorite commenter and getting next to no details about the specs and limitations.
Robert X. Cringely, your a sell-out! Boo! I just lost all respect for you Mark Stephens.
Your post with “leaked iPad information” last minute was an attempt to get some recognition, and increased site traffic. And to top it off, your source was bogus, and now your are back-peddling in this post.
Ever since you left PBS your content has gone down hill, not to mention your ads are really annoying! Your starting to get desperate Mark, and it shows.
(no wonder you are having to write for multiple sites now)
Let’s face it Mark, your best days are behind you.
Hey Tom, why don’t you tell us (with all of your experience using the device and your intimate knowledge of the technology) how bad the iPad is! Jobs’ goal of this presentation was not to impress you, it was actually quite low energy and conveyed one simple thing … The iPad is so easy to use that even Steve Jobs just needs to sit down and fiddle with it. No explosions or speed bake offs with other manufacturers, and no marketing guys showing off their new mottos. Just a couple of developers showing some real life products/games and Steve sitting in a chair.
Why? Because the frame-rate wars are over, the os wars are at a stand still, no one really needs a faster Mac OS or Windows (just ones that don’t suck too much) and MS finally got there this year. So now the battle field is over comfort and flexibility.
The iPad if it becomes a hit, will dominate and “change the way we experience technology” because it will achieve the next level of getting out of our way!! There is barely an OS to the thing. You don’t want an os to read a book, to read your mail, to watch a movie – you just want the book, the mail and the movie.
Windows 7 or Mobile 7 or whatever hp and friends come up with will NEVER be like a book!! They will always be a book application sitting on an OS and needing a frigging start button.
The iPad is not meant to be Apple’s attack on netbooks, this is Apple’s second shot at a post-os-centric world. Millions of Windows users world wide will sync this to their pc’s and play with iWorks and in 5 years wonder why they need to boot their pc to email or read or even write term papers. The role of the iPad is to migrate more of our lives beyond Windows or even OSX.
Now do you kind of get it, Tom?
I’ve already stated how bad this product is, based on the actual specs I’ve been able to garner (unfortunately not from any of my favorite commenters such as Cringely), and of course Apple’s outrageous hyperbole about this AOL era fenced garden product.
Once again I’ll state that I’ll stay away from the ad homs. They’re essentially useless emotional refuge.
Please feel free to do the same. Or not. Whatever.
Sorry Tom, I thought your own comments about commentators were rather harsh ad hominem attacks themselves. My attacks were snarky, not ad hominem.
And “the iPad is garbage,” is not a reasoned argument.
Wow. The best techblog with the worst comments. Someone already announced a non-shipping product to be garbage. Genius. Still whining about Flash. It has no floppy drive either. You’ll live. It’ll be a Kindle-killer if it runs Kindle for iPad. Amazon doesn’t want to build hardware. Apple doesn’t want to sell books. Someone thinks Calacanis is more famous than Cringely–worse, he thinks its important. But, yeah, we all loved the documentary made from Calacanis’s best-selling book.
Why not do the blog without comments. Comments are to the internet what interviews with space-aliens in World Weekly News is to journalism.
Given the limitations that I’ve had to gather from numerous sites it frankly appears to be garbage to me. The the cost the DRM, and numerous other limitations placed on it, by Apple, are, at best, onerous.
No Flash Support. (where are you hulu and youtube? I can’t see you on my ipad)
No Onboard USB slot.
No SD card slot
No HD Screen
No HDMI
No Multitasking.
Limited codec support.
Subscription 3G. Truly the gift that keeps on giving —> you monthly bills.
Apparently Subscription 3G only on higher priced models.
3G Internet access for an estimated $15 to $29 monthly and undoubtedly bandwidth limited. Apparently not available on base model.
Limited Carriers, aka you’re almost assured the highest carrier rates (monthly rates)with next to no competition.
Stingy Storage Capacity at all levels.
Dongles galore for operability that should have been built onboard.
Locked into istores.
No web downloads of aps not sanctioned from an istore.
Pricey accessories.
Drowning in DRM.
Typical of all Apple products — Overpriced for the little it does.
And more. Much, much more.
This product is garbage, plain and simple.
When the first line of your critique decries the lack of YouTube, you kind of invalidates your knowledge of anything.
YouTube was demoed in the frickin’ presentation. It looks better on the iPad then on the desktop (thanks in part to HTML 5)
Everything else you want are features that would push it past the $1,000 price point.
The line decried the lack of FLASH. Hulu and Youtube are incidental, though valid for the masses that use it. I do, and I don’t apologize for that fact. Everything I’ve read to this point about the pad indicates it’s not capable of it.
The entire point of my two posts has been that my favorite commenters are lacking in their commentary about what the pad is capable of.
And indeed, the Flash lacks… What is shown in the presentation is the youtube app. Flash on the browsers is not available, as you can see by carefully watching the pages Steve handpicked, with some clear boxes asking for a plugin.
You are wrong (or just misinformed) on many points in your posts but just a few things here:
Youtube, Apple supplies an app for it, been watching it on my iPod Touch for years, it is on the iPad.
3G access for about 1/2 the price of current data plans, and you’re saying that it costs more?? Don’t like the “pay as you go” plan, it isn’t a subscription. And it will be available on all three models…
Dongles galore… where did this come from? There are a few connectors, for recharging and syncing, one for cameras and one for micro-sd cards. A few connectors, no real dongles here.
Drowning in DRM?? DRM is only if you rent movies/TV shows from iTunes. iTunes dropped DRM from its’ music a year or two ago. Anything that you rip of course has no DRM.
OMG it is garbage because it doesn’t do what a laptop can do and also doesn’t have that associated laptop like pricing! That is not what it is designed to be.
You don’t get it, this is not a replacement for your laptop or tabletop computer. In a few years, it probably will be able to replace them, but this is the first generation. And you apparently know noting about the iPhone, iPod Touch eco-system. OMG there are only 140,000 apps (and growing) in the App store, and the iPad is locked into it!?!
Apparently your favorite commentators are smarter than you and don’t expect the first generation of the iPad to do everything that you want it to do. They know that Apple had to balance features with relatively low pricing. Commentators comment, if you want to find out what the iPad can do, go to one of the many tech sites that are explaining what it can (and can’t) do. Go to apple.com and read about its’ specs there. Bob doesn’t really do technical reviews… he comments on technology.
If you really need Flash and Hulu, get a remote control app (there are several) for the iPad and use it to control your main computer, making the iPad a remote monitor with touch screen control of that computer and then view them with the iPad from comfort of your recliner.
When you open your eyes and stop complaining about what it can’t currently do, you will find out that it really can do a lot more than you can imagine.
Well that’s the point isn’t it. For me it’s garbage because it’s so limited it’s next to useless for what I want a tablet.
DRM is DRM it’s in pretty much all media but mp3 on the device, as I understand it. Any DRM is bad period.
What you’re not getting is that that is exactly what so many of us want from a tablet like this, and why frankly Apple dropped the ball on this device. Well that and the rest of the shortfalls of this device. We want a laptop replacement that is a working tablet that doesn’t cost a fortune and is roughly the same size, maybe a little bigger than the Apple device. If this device were that, without the rest of it’s failures I would be, and many like me, who aren’t Apple fans, would buy one. It’s pretty much worthless in it’s current incarnation and for apple to tout it as “a magical and revolutionary device” is well, hyperbole at it’s worst. It’s pretty much neither. For them to claim it’s “the best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video” is balderdash given it’s limitations.
I’ll stay away from the ad homs. Don’t see any need for it.
I wonder what the Tegra 2 based systems will have to offer?
Did anyone else notice how large the border around the viewable screen is? They could easily have used the rumored 10.1″ screen and had room left over.
Tom has a good list of failures.
As usual, Steve under delivers.
Um, that border is for your thumbs and fingers so that you can hold the thing without screwing up multi-touch.
You need to grow in self awareness, my friend.
Tell me how iTunes, the App Store, the iPod, the iPhone, the MacBook specifically demonstrate under delivering. You know about as much about the iPad that will ship as my 10 year old nephew. I think Jobs showed the websites with the empty spaces for Flash on purpose. He is showing how lame it is for Flash to not be on par with other web tech and I would bet half my pay check that Flash is on board by May, and if not it is one version update away.
Sure. No problem. The istores are a walled garden. They fail to deliver by that fact alone.
The “walled garden” is a significant issue … except for the fact that all stores are a walled garden of sorts. Do you want the iPad to run Fortran77 and old Intellivision cassettes? I generally don’t like being told what to do or what to buy, but this is the beginning of a whole new computing model and business model and as much as Palm did very well for a while, there were some real problems with being too open. Security and quality control are first order issues that for now trump wild west freedom. It has been painful just keeping things in line with one carrier in the states and on operating system and store front. You really think getting you next fart app from fartapps.com will make your life better?
The point is that no smart phone is totally open and everyone should have a mac or pc to deal with running companies and mission critical stuff. the iPod Touch and iPad are information and entertainment devices that supplement your computer life … until we all live in the clouds. By that point Google, Apple, telecoms and probably governments will have to work out “openness” in ways we haven’t imagined yet.
Until then, this is a major time of transition and sometimes in such circumstances a walled garden is not an inappropriate place to be.
Hey – I resemble that remark 🙂
For the record, I think Calacanis is a worthless blowhard but I’m quite sure he’s better known than Cringely by people who follow tech news these days. You can argue with that if you’d like, but you can’t claim he’s an anonymous nobody as Cringely’s lack of attribution implied. Either Cringely doesn’t know who he is which makes him seem out of touch, or he deliberately withheld attribution to make it seem as if he had some sort of inside track.
And really he should have smelled a hoax before posting those tweets (HDTV tuner?!?) and to claim that the discrepancies with the actual specs were due to last-minute changes is strained at best. And now that Calacanis has admitted it was an “obvious hoax” Cringely still hasn’t updated the post with a correction? As I said before, he pretty clearly has a problem admitting when he’s been had.
One more thing – if I’m an example of one of the “worst commenters” I’d like to know what Internet you’re hanging out on 🙂
The model I was allowed to see from a Verizon tester was different than the Jobs presentation. The field tech was using it on the 4G Network, didn’t have iLife but did work remotely with AppleTV – that feature made me whistle – after signing in, one could access content from Apple TV unit anywhere in the home, or even outside on patio – music, photos, HD movies – I was shocked that was not part of presentation. Very impressed with iBook feature. No phone feature at all. Next to nobody will use this for business at all – this is an appliance, a fun accessory, but I think I’d be happy taking this on the bus, to the park, the beach, I prefer this to iTouch. If enough sell, I’m sure the iTouch will be phased out.
Ah, the Apple TV streaming link is what I want this for. A couple of Apple TV wireless players could allow us to replace a couple MacBooks around the house. Sweet.
And when you add in the iPhone games/apps, eBooks, and web surfing, this is a cool beast!
/course, will be waiting to see how iPad matures and evolves before getting one.
You crazy, Cringe. That dude said he was making it up… OR WAS HE MAYBE JUST LYING ABOUT LYING?!! (To hide from Steve Paul Jobs, or course!) An answer for everything! Perfectly wrapped up. Dork.
Of course, when the government wants to control leaks, they slightly alter each version of a document. Or at least according to a Clancy book I read back in Jr. High. It’s possible the pricing given to this media outlet was different from the one given to other media outlets, so that they could better identify a leak later on.
The reason that iP*d products will never get Flash is that all apps could be written in Flash, eliminating the need for native apps purchased from the app store.
Thanks that’s the most probable explanation I’ve heard yet.
That would only be true if Adobe actually put more effort into developing it further. I loved Adobe, but it turned into MS by buying a cool technology and then letting it sit on a shelf.
Those who know about the underpinnings of Flash, know that it was THE thing 5-7 years ago, but even with so many Flash developers and a good start, it has remained bloated and is hitting a wall that Apple sees in front of it.
I hope Adobe actually puts more than 100 engineers on this and makes it leaner and meaner so that Jobs will put it on the iStuff. Flash like Java will be ubiquitous, but it won’t replace other programming languages.
Try the new beta flash. It has a lot to offer, aside from the fact it sort of proves Adobe hasn’t let it stagnate. Well relatively recently anyway.
It doesn’t seem plausible that a hardware beta tester would be given any pricing information.On the other hand, it’s certainly possible that Apple has been beta testing various versions of the iPad hardware (although solar seems a little far out). And maybe those test are still in progress.
I agree. Although I’ve been watching the recent developments on a product for which I’ve been waiting quite a long time. They announced the price for the product a few weeks ago, and it was identical to the price speculated by the beta testers.
What that means I’m not quite sure, but speculation leads me in the direction that beta testers tend to have a finger on the pulse of what the market is willing to bear. Probably because they typically roam from forum to forum discussing the product.
“Fortunately many people will buy them right away then buy them again when the update equivalent to 3G (4G? HD?) comes along”.
Fortunately? You must mean sadly, wastefully and irresponsibly surely?
I wanted to add some experience to the Flash question. This last week I’ve been bringing together and tuning a script to make it easy for AppleTv owners to get Boxee Beta on their devices while we wait for an official release. On my trip down this road I found out how really bad adobe’s flash performance really was on a the mac platform and what they are doing about it.
On a 1GHz Apple TV Youtube can not play smoothly using the official flash in boxee. Apparently it’s doing awful things like spending 30% of it’s time, all the time, continually making the same text rendering calls. Essentially Adobe failed to run flash through any meaningful profile tracing during it’s development, and there are dirty mistakes everywhere that one assumes they just didn’t know about. The cavet of giving your developer a very strong machine and not really testing on anything else.
There is hope however, the Adobe beta flash is much better. CPU usage is way down for the same content vs the current public version. Obviously this pressure is being felt at Adobe and someone is at least grabbing the low hanging fruit. I think we’ll see a public release before year end and old mac everywhere will suddenly feel like their computer is just faster.
Typed from a 1.6 Ghz Power Book G4.
Keith
Became curious when I read about the performance impact of Flash and that HTML5 would be so much better.
Here are my measurements:
MacBook 2GHz Core 2 Duo, OSX 10.5.8,
Safari 4.0.4, Google Chrome 4.0.249.49,
20 Mbps internet connection.
Test: watching Steve presenting iPad on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pJpDYLOR1I
Result:
using HTML5 Safari uses 47% CPU (both cores)
using Flash (10.0) Safari uses 23.5% CPU (both cores)
using HTML5 Chrome uses 30% CPU (both cores)
using Flash (10.0) Chrome uses 68% CPU (both cores)
So who is bad? What about your measurements?
PS: to me Flash 10.0 on Safari 4 looks like the best combo in town…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1H5vRffCzo&feature=popular
HTML5:
Safari 20% CPU
Flash 10:
Flash Player (Safari Internet Plugin) 61% CPU
Safari 18% CPU
20% vs, 79% 😉
MacBook 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB Memory, Intel GMA X3100, Mac OS X 10.6.2
I forgot to add that I was running Safari in 64 bit.
I would suggest you try both the official flash release, then install the flash beta and do your test again. Your numbers should be quite different. http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/
Not to mention the following comments by jobs in an employee only town hall meeting after the ipad launch.
Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy, he says. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML5.
https://www.kaourantin.net/2010/02/core-animation.html
From the an adobe engineers mouth. The test results at the bottom are impressive, going from 40% combined to 17% of cpu usage.
[…] where he will announce IPad upgrades to fix the booboo’s from his rushed initial release. Here is the link. Hmmm … Bezos gets some credit here if indeed the release was […]
Apple-Flash and Adobe, a little revenge and some history.
In the late 90’s Macromedia’s Flash 4 would export to and play nicely in the Quicktime player, perhaps with working buttons (can’t remember the memory has faded over the years). Adobe’s Photoshop was also one of the tools that helped Apple achieve legitimacy and helped Apple establish it’s platform as the leader in the ‘desktop publishing’ revolution.
Subsequently, Jobs left and Apple struggled, losing significant market share – remember Mike Dell suggesting there was no future for Apple?
Before Macromedia was purchased by Adobe, the rumor mills and developer’s community hoped Apple would be the final owner of Flash.
Apple’s platform and processor struggles during this period were aggravated by Adobe’s decision To release Photoshop and other updates for the Windows platform before updates for the Apple platform – contrary to the historical norm where Apple was Adobe’s preferred first release platform and the top graphics outfits all used Apple equipment.
Additionally, Adobe ‘borked’ the Flash player when they did a ground up rewrite of the player. Historically, the flash player would reliably remove from memory any asset the developer deleted from the code and though sloppy flash could clog any machine, it was relatively simple to optimize Flash. Even today the latest iteration of the Flash player, though more efficient and capable of hardware acceleration, is still plagued by structural memory release problems that may never be resolved… bottom line – Flash is more difficult to learn and manage by at least an order of magnitude and slower and buggier on a 2.4ghz windows machine today than it was on an 800ghz machine a few years back.
In the ‘old days’ the Apple / Adobe alliance benefited both companies and established Adobe’s tools as market leaders. Subsequently, Adobe appears to have abandoned their preferred provider relationship with Apple and we are merely witnessing Steve Job’s response to the snub…
The iPad has not changed my life…
Well, it’s here. It would have been good to have a couple more billable hours today, but I used my time to follow two live blogs (Gizmodo, Engadget) of the Event That Will Change Everything, while edging ever closer to the slippery slope of the f…
You forgot to mention the real game changing announcement. You briefly touched on it but I think the AT&T data plans is the important piece. $15/$30 for a real data plan with no contract compared to a pretty standard $60 contract price is a huge game changer. That includes AT&Ts hot spot access which I’m not too excited about (there’s plenty of free WiFi around these days). I think this will force the cellular providers to release some of the strangle hold they currently have on consumers just to stay competitive.
I guess what I’m curious about is how much bandwidth that allows you. What’s the download cap is my question.
Bob, would you please from now check your podcast before uploading it? I really enjoy your work, but the podcasts (which I prefer from a time and efficiency point of view) frequently have bad audio. For example, this iPad podcast is missing one of the two channels (only the left side comes through). It is not as though re-recording these would be difficult — you’re not ad-libbing, after all. Otherwise, I love your insights and hope they keep coming. I also think you’ve improved upon yourself since leaving PBS. Keep it up!
Hi Bob,
Too many points in your article to debate in detail via comments, but here’s a quick bullet summary:
* Calcanis as “real” beta tester?
No, he doesn’t work for Apple and Apple doesn’t do beta testing with outsiders. Even Walt-freakin’-Mossberg didn’t see one prior to the event Wednesday. It is not possible that Apple would let Jason see one early, and outside of the Apple campus no less. All other points are red herrings, and could easily have been put together simply from published rumors.
* Availability on Verizon one day.
Again no, the iPad still uses GSM, not CDMA. Apple would have to file with the FCC at least 90 days before shipping a CDMA version, so it would be difficult to hide. That’s the reason that the 3G version ships in 90 days instead of 60 like the WiFi version.
* Pre-pay vs. 1 and 2 year plans. As Apple’s partner, only AT&T is required to offer the $15 and $30 pre-paid plans, but no other carrier has so far been allowed to even offer these devices (iPhone and iPad) for sale. Other carriers would have to get their plans approved by Apple without interfering with the AT&T contract in order to even sell the device.
* Battery life.
Jobs claimed 10 hours continuous use watching video (“… I can fly from SFO to Tokyo…”). This will be the bar for battery life. In testing by Ars, Pogue, etc. previous Apple products have met and in some cases exceeded Apple claims. No reason to expect that this one would only live up to 60% or so of that claim as you suggest.
* Battery life on iPod Touch with WiFi on, vs. iPhone with WiFi off. The iPhone has a 3G chip, which is a real battery hog. This was Jobs’ stated reason for not including 3G in the original iPhone. I would expect the iPad 10+ hour claim to be in “airline mode,” given the example (flying to Tokyo) and the fact that there’s little reason to use the radios when you’re watching movies.
* New hardware features appearing between now and ship date: (No chance)
– This would make Steve Jobs look stupid for not announcing on 1/27 (didn’t he KNOW about these features?)
– Apple marketing message and pictures — maybe even Ives’ movie — would have to be re-shot.
– Changes would have to be made at least 30 days prior to launch or Apple would legally have to cancel all pre-orders and (hopefully) rebook them. That costs money AND customer goodwill.
* iPhone OS 4.0 appearing before launch.
Also no chance. Why waste developers’ time with OS 3.2 for iPad if it’s never going to be used in production? This would be a serious blow to developers with no possible upside for Apple.
* Flash support. (Probably never)
See @Gruber’s article on Daring Fireball for best explanation. Summary is that Apple doesn’t want to be beholden to an outside developer for things that go wrong on this device (or the iPhone) and so Flash will never be implemented, even if someday it doesn’t suck.
Hubris requires me to offer to discuss this in email if you like, or over coffee some time if you’re in the SF Bay area.
Cheers!
Ah, that Hubris, he’s a bit of a jerk.
Good points, but Jobs didn’t show websites with inactive Flash boxes by accident. This isn’t over yet.
Perhaps. Either that or Apple pulled a MS ineptitude screening. Please feel free to discuss your reasoning.
Hmmm. A lot of “Apple could or might still” do something, and a lot of rationalizing why your source had so much incorrect, insofar as the announced iPad is concerned. Sure, Apple might make changes before it is released. Then again, they might not. All we *really* know is what was actually announced and the specs Apple has provided on their website. Everything else is vaporware. So Bob, just admit that a lot of it was wrong. Cameras? HDTV tuner? PVR? Multitasking? OLED screen? Fingerprint reader? And you spent today’s blog entry mostly on defending the price point and battery life?
Personally, the iPad will still be cool without those things, but that is beside the point. The beta tester’s info was way off the mark as it related to what Apple actually announced. And that’s what counts.
Just because Bob expanded on the joke from day one doesn’t make it less of a joke. It’s funny and was meant to be funny, by both Calicanis and Cringely. If he defends it tomorrow, it will be hilarious, especially the comments pointing out the inaccuracies. This all reminds me of John Stewart’s surprised reaction to criticisims of his political coverage. “This is Comedy Central”. Get it?
RonC, you need to shutup! I’ve read some of your previous posts, all you ever do is kiss up to Mark Stephens (AKA: Robert X. Cringely). In this case Mark was obviously WAY off, and was a jerk for posting it, and even more of a jerk for trying to back-peddle and lie his way out of it.
Let’s face it, Mark Stephens was wrong and was just seeking after more Ad traffic on his website. I mean with all the buzz surrounding the Apple launch, just mentioning it I bet quadrupled his regular traffic. Judging from Mark starting to write columns for Mortgage sites, and AOL would give you a clue that he is starting to get strapped for cash.
I bet Mark Stephens wishes right now that he would have just stayed with PBS.
Sounds like you have a personal issue with Cringely. I never thought of myself as supporting him. I’m usually critical of his liberal slant on politics and always blaming big buniness (e.g. IBM managers) and conservatives for all the world’s problems. But I have enjoyed his column since 1997. He is a real journalist and commentator (not a new blogger) and I suspect he was also making fun of the credibility the internet has given to bloggers. I admit that I did not get the joke at first since all the predictions about the iPad have been pie-in-the-sky for the past couple of years. I got the joke after the fact when I found out (here) it was Calicanis especially since he was on TWIT the Sunday before iPad-Wednesday and stated he had no inside knowledge about the product.
I also didn’t realize until now that it was possible for two people to use the same name on this blogging platform. Although I have been known to admit when I’m wrong, I usually don’t tell myself to shut up.
The iPhone/iTouch system is as much about ultra-mobile computing as it is about music, video and telephone. Now Apple is expanding the product matrix with a new device that is less portable but more capable as a computer. Think about what this line is doing with students already. The perfect demographic for the iPad is the middle school girl. She has a cell phone and spends much of her life texting her friends. She either got, or wishes she’d gotten a Touch for Christmas. Now here’s a new toy she can use for her photos, music and Facebook. It will run all the games she’s already downloaded for the Touch PLUS she can use it for her homework (Pages and Keynote).
Apple is defining the personal computing platform for the next generation.
You are spot on, but there’s even more. As someone who looks after company and personal computers for quite a few people, the thing that jumps out about the iPad is that it’s just simple. Any fool can use it and understand it (and there’s already a base of 10s of millions who will know exactly how to use it when they get their hands on it).
The thing that’s annoyed me for years about PCs (and Macs) is that they are just too difficult for most people to use and manage. Far too difficult. And that’s a necessary price of being such general purpose machines. Well, the iPad pretty much solves that problem as far as I can see. Users won’t feel helpless and belittled, they’ll just get on with doing what they want. That’s a good thing.
Yes, this is Steve’s next step in a post-os future.
You, Cringely, have finally gone insane.
If this is a joke, you really need to stop. It’s the least funny one you’ve ever published (that I’ve read, anyhow).
If anyone other than Apple created the iPad the company would be labeled “Geniuses!” “Apple Killers!” “the new Google” and “Revolutionaries!” etc.
People’s evangelical hate of the iPad is more about poo-pooing Apple than the iPad technological and functional limitations.
Imagine if MS or Google created a product that: ran all existing iPhone/iPod Touch apps, had the form factor and function of the iPad, had a built in and easy to use store, had traditional media up on stage at the launch, used their own chip, had a suite of apps for just ~$30, etc.
The iPad will will make more of an impact than the iPhone because old people will actually be able to see the bigger screen and youth know cool and function better than anyone.
I’m tired of all this Flash-bashing. Is CPU utilization some kind of precious resource that we need to conserve? Of course not! If I’m watching Hulu full-screen, I’m not simultaneously running iTunes–which is a far bigger resource hog than Flash could ever hope to be! Steve Jobs, let my people go!
Hi Bob,
I noticed this week that your audio podcast is only present in the left speaker, it sounds rather odd and I would be most grateful if you can return your future podcasts to a stereo format for easier listening.
Thank you in advance and best wishes
Thanks for your insights Bob.
How technologically difficult would be to mass-produce an ipod touch-like device that has the capability to unfurl panels that create, say an 8 1/2 x 11 screen ?.
I could carry it in my pocket and have access to all sorts of things from books, to newspapers, to magazines to the Internet.
Anyone who wants to use Apple or Adobe products pays a super-premium price to do so. I admit my amazement that so many people are willing and have the dollars. It is especially sad to see novices get sucked in by the false impression that Apple products are extra easy to use — they soon discover otherwise.
Uh, dude. My 74 year old mother, who let the really nice Windows laptop my brother bought for her collect dust, now emails up a storm with her iPhone. She has hated every computer she has ever had up until that one. Its her favorite possession. I think that is what makes me think that we will look back at the iPad announcement and realized that is when the old PC died and the new regime began. The whole paradigm is so accessible, so intuitive, that you know immediately how all its major functions work. Its all us old computer users that have to adjust.
Ralphie having trouble figuring out how to use that overpriced Shuffle?
I, personally, will be buying an iPad, because it syncs my e-mail, calendar, and contacts, seamlessly and in real-time with google mail/apps via activesync. That’s frickin awesome.
Your friend with the Flash numbers wouldn’t happen to be Michael Copeland over at CNN Money, would it?
Love it or hate it Flash is everywhere (and not just for video) on the web.
Without Flash the iPad browser cannot be used with many major websites.
That means the iPad is even more of a niche device, essentially restricted to email, iTunes, and iStore applications (plus Pages and Keynote)
Since the iPad represents such a small percentage of browsers, why should web developers bother to switch from Flash to HTML 5?
Because Google is pushing HTML5 as well.
At this rate we are all going to be working for peanuts.
I found this link via Daring Fireball. I have to say I agree wholeheartedly. The iPad is Apple saying that the future has arrived and the desktop model of computing is near end-phase. Apple sold a lot of Apple II’s after the Mac was released, but the iPad, with iWork that uses multitouch and gestures to do things that took menus before, points to a time in which you will buy standalone multitouch portable devices as your primary computing device and forgo standard Macs and PCs.
Here’s that link. http://stevenf.tumblr.com/post/359224392/i-need-to-talk-to-you-about-computers-ive-been
Then why is a Mac or PC a requirement to use the iPad? Seems like it’s a big iPod Touch that doesn’t replace anything.
Oh, as for Flash, after hearing all arguments, I think I am in the HTML 5-quit-using-proprietary-software-for-common-uses camp. Flash is the only major standard on the web that is proprietary. With HTML 5, there is no real need for it anymore. And my experience with HTML 5 and Safari has been pretty positive.
Not having the ability to swap out the battery when it fails is a big pain with the touch and the phone. I really don’t understand why Apple doesn’t build these devices (including the iPad) to allow removal of the battery via easy pull out like on laptops etc. Having bought 4 iPod touches over the past few years, and now having to deal with battery replacement is a major pain. There is plenty of capability/room to accomodate a swapable battery. I won’t buy another one of these land-locked battery devices until something more elegant is put in the design.
battery: Apple (alias Stevie the Wonder) feels replaceable batteries have a serious “clunky” factor. the doors fall off, the batteries fall out, it adds weight and thickness and busts up the smooth lines, etc. besides, the swap-out plan is a goldmine.
game-changer: I just had a stunning insight into that, which I will steal from my blog. or at least, I was less-stunned enough to type… .
>the game changer is the Apple store servicing the content.
the pad itself is a color version of whatever, if you’re thinking eReader only. but Apple is the only one with “over three billion served” and almost universal acceptance in the market.
which fixes the whine about micropayments that has killed every other print media or music eStorefront. the billing charges from V/A/M/D are ten times, nay a hundred times, the couple pennies you would charge Jimmy Neutron to read his comic book online.
now everybody can put a balance on their Apple Store account, Apple can invest the money before sending $50,000 this week to the NYT, and $45,000 to the WSJ, and $80,000 to the M-O-U-S-E, the customer sees the correct decrement in their positive balance for their media views, and all are happy.
for several years, when I’ve felt obliged to throw in my smirking observation on a thread ‘o’ rants over media charges online, I’ve said if everybody got together for a central payment system, charge the user a pittance for each read, and decrement from a balance, it might work to charge for online content.
Apple’s store is the only practical system in place.
so starting fall or next year, you will see a big push by big media towards the Apple slate. as in “desperation for survival” push.
oh, yes, the flip side. Apple has always said they don’t make a profit on the Apple store’s media charges (no, they aren’t sales, they are period licenses for personal use of the content.) well, hey, Momma, they will now. so why did the ID10Ts sell down the stock? buy opportunity once you have done your proper due diligence, realizing that all non-bonded investments may lose some or all of their value. offer is made only by the Prospectus. your mileage may vary. oh what a feeling. yo’momma.
Forgive the delay but I listen to the podcast and only got around to listening to this one today.
Regardless, referring to “unjaundiced” looks, here’s my review of the content from two of your recent columns:
from your iPad beta tester’s pronouncements;
• OLED screen – not
• solar recharging pad on back – not
• 3G provided by AT&T and Verizon – not
• thumbpads on left and right side of screen – not
• two cameras – not & not
• how about just one camera? – …sorry
• which brings into question the mention of “super stable” video conferencing. Very stable!! – not
• fingerprint recognition security (!?!?!) – not
• multi-tasking – uh-uh
• up to 5 individual user profiles, determined by that non-existent fingerprint recognition – not
• 2-3 hours battery life while playing games (let’s include that caveat) – not (a user would certainly get better performance on a brand new unit, given Apple’s current device-specific battery design process; to suggest actual results would be, at best, 30% of advertised would be saying Apple would certainly be inviting a class action law suit within the first year of this device’s release)
• HDTV tuner – not (Christ!! Where does this end!?!)
• PVR – you guessed it! not
then, there are your subsequent day’s effort to give the Twitterer’s predictions plausibility;
• “Just because Apple didn’t mention Verizon doesn’t mean they won’t also offer 3G service from Verizon. The word ‘exclusive’ was never used referring to AT&T. They trotted-out that pre-paid plan, but it would be crazy for carriers to not also offer a one-year or two-year subscription plan, too, which would drop the unit price somewhat. Maybe the subscription rates weren’t yet set.” Well, if fifteen years down the road Apple announces an agreement with Verizon – or any other data-service provider, whether 3G or whatever technology is in effect at that time – I guess we’ll have to agree that, yes, you were right, Robert. But let’s be honest. Your “source” said both AT&T and Verizon would be involved. They didn’t say “someday”.
• The Twitterer was “strictly referring” to the 3G cost when (s)he stated pricing would start at $599? Well, that’s certainly convenient! For them and you!! Your source knows the introductory price to within $30 but doesn’t know that the device they hold in their hands does not, in fact, include a camera? The most significant single piece of news provided in Job’s iPad announcement was the low, low price of $499. If your source – “in a position to know” – wasn’t aware of that and hadn’t ever actually held one of these devices in their hands (see front- and rear-facing cameras prophesy) they were not aware of anything!
• A “two-part intro” – i.e. a second announcement to accompany the device’s release? I may well be wrong here but I can’t recall Apple doing anything along those lines previously – a follow-up press event just a couple-three months after the initial announcement.
If you’re reading the tech press at all, you are also seeing the tremendous negative response to the iPad’s announced feature list. Between now and its ultimate availability, the lack of camera(s), multi-tasking, iPhone 4.0 OS and everything else this thing lacks, the bad mouthing is going to be a huge hurdle for the Apple Marketing Dept. to overcome. If any of those features were planned, I would think Steve might have mentioned them last week!
WTF, Robert!?! At what point do you admit that the person whose information you based your column on either knew absolutely nothing about the iPad or simply scammed all their followers, including you and, now, everyone who read or listened to your piece!
Your readers/listeners deserve an apology. Seriously.
yours,
Alex Machi
Good disinformation from the twitteratti. Felix Dzershinsky would be proud.
My Summary:
The iPad is not DOA or even COA (Cold on Arrival), but it’s just barely WOA (Warm on Arrival). It’ll just tag along and be profitable, but unlike most Apple products, it won’t even get better in the next release and it won’t gain a cult following, which is necessary for it to survive.
Lisa, here comes your pad to stop the bleeding!
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[…] I, Cringely » Blog Archive » iPad, Therefore I Am […]
Bob,
Segway?
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Did catch Digital Nation on Frontline?
-Bubba
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[…] of comments of all kinds across the internet, where some has been calling the device over-hyped and under-performing, and others have hailed it as the device that will change mobile computing, and still other […]
So long Cringely, thanks for all the great memories!
[…] The Apple iPad= a big iPod Touch or Newton for that matter. (Minyanville, peHUB, Gizmodo, All Things D, Silicon Alley Insider, Cringley) […]
[…] even more of them have been negative. Personally I understand that. Robert Cringley doesn't seem to like the iPad all that much, and neither does John Dvorak, while John Gruber over at DaringFireball.net seems to like it quite […]
Are you that naive, to be taken it by Calacanis like that?
You want someone who called it, look at my post:
iPad Post-Event Scorecard
http://ebooktest.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/ipad-post-event-scorecard/
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> There’s simply no way that iPad, no matter what the
> processor, is good for a real 10 hours of continuous use.
According to reviews, battery life is 9-10 hours for browsing and 11-12 hour for video.
> In real life I’m pretty sure a 3G iPad IS a 2-3 hour device.
Hard to say given that the 3G isn’t out yet, but I won’t be surprised if it’s 2X-3X that, depending on usage.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the iPad 3G is out, and its battery life has been tested over at iLounge at 8.5 hours for browsing using 3G (50% brightness downloading large webpages every minute… For reference, the same test yields 10+ hours for wifi). So much for it being a 2-3 hour device.
In somewhat related (or at least tangential) news, HP cancelled the Windows 7 based Slate (that was to have been released next month). It’s not surprising given that netbooks generally suck down 6-8 watts vs the iPad’s 2-3 (you might hit 4 watts playing games on the iPad, but doing CPU intensive stuff with a current netbook can get you up to 10-15 watts).
Obviously it’s also a (perhaps even bigger) problem for HP that using Windows 7 with a touchscreen is a clunky, tedious experience. In theory, that could be addressed with software tweaks… it doesn’t seem likely given that Tablet PC has been around for almost 10 years, but at least it’s possible. What isn’t possibly is a 1.5 pound tablet providing both a good battery life and responsive experience with a desktop OS. At least not with current hardware.
Maybe HP will resurrect the product as a WebOS device next year (now that would be interesting!)
The battery is really good. Their new processor is something that we will have to look. In an iphone, it’s going to be monstruous !
Daniel.
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I would agree with you, yeah I’ve just been using iPad for 2 weeks. It can stands longer as described and I kinda loving it.
Mike (iPad Apps)
Yep, and as battery technology improves it will just get even better!
I have to disagree with you about the battery problems. I have been using my ipad for the past month and have no issues with the battery. Yes.. its true that next generation ipads will come with more capable batteries but that does not mean the current ipad is flawed!
It is nice but it is essentially just an oversized iphone. I agree with waiting a few months as many users already are experiencing quite a few problems with the ipad.
I do not agree that it’s just an oversized phone. There’s a lot to it than a phone. I agree though that you might want to wait for a second generation iPad to polish all the issues.
far from it. its a tool that small biz owners can utilize easily and mobily. the best is yet to come with these devices.
Agreed. The iPad can (and will) revolutionize the way businesses work. This is not just another laptop it really is a change in the way we interact with computing devices.
The iPad is one of the best things of apple. After the iPhone I like it to surf with the iPad. The idea of this product is good, but it can be a little bit bigger.
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i am planning to buy an iPad since it looks lighter than a regular desknote and i don not use much of the features of a laptop.”-
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Steve J include this guy of the size of his business presentation attached to apple ipad.
just jailbreak, looks like drudgery i needed a brand new ready. lay. may i do just that, jailbreak after that build all my apps and as well phone holding it away not including physically redownloading vacation cruise?
Climate, the actual iphone 3gs fitness club marketing services really does cushioning triggering the iphone. Females and males apple company iphone SIM account unlock applications are down below developping and will be publicized just a little future. Gratify frequently soon to test this kind of weather.
And yet Items continue doing this for one more time, Submit an article basically no plans to tried but true some sort of untethered jailbreak. I would not learn pressure, good, if, perhaps a person, could very well be, potentially if/when it will likely be freed.
Apple never just create widgets; they design solutions that people can see fitting into their lives eventually. As a university teacher with a fantastic life, I can see this being a very useful thing to have.
I absolutely agree with this article on several levels. First of all, there are apps for photo editing, but no capability to take photos??? Also, I’m not sure what the beef is between Adobe and Apple, but many of the websites that people use now incorporate Flash – which the iPhone and iPad does not support. I hope that they come to some sort of an agreement because its irritating and frustrating at best.
Hi,
Hi,
I signed up to ipad media all seems ok but I’m having problems getting the ebooks on. My friend in new york has theirs working but I’m stuck on what I need to do. Anyone else used this service? Link is below,
iPad is way too cool to own, i wanna buy one next month.”..
We’ve had some pretty good luck using the iPad to demo websites for clients. But, I definitely will probably be more interested in using another tablet with Flash ability.
I have to tell you though, the functionality of “handing someone their new site” is just amazing. It’s really good stuff. If only…. Flash…..
Almost Apple, almost.
Marcos
I love ipad and i think that its battery time is very good as compare to iphone
I am planning to buy this device tomorrow and after using it i will tell you how it was.
Californication is great too and involves lots of sexy stuff in this tv series.~“
Hey i bought this device yesterday and i think that its a same copy of iphone but in big size and it was a wonderfull experience.
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To set the record straight on the battery life. I have tested my iPad out on 6 different occasions. The actual time is around 7 hours with heavy usage. Don’t know how the Twitterer came up with 3 hours. I watched movies for four hours and it still had some juice.
Joe
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i love to watch Californication, all those pretty girls wowwww’.’
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my girlfriend is going to give me an ipad on my birthday this month.`.~
Great breakthrough from Apple with the iPad. Enough with our fingers so we can do anything. Unfortunately not support flash.
Well, who would have guessed that the iPad would be as popular as it is? It’s no segway for sure… it looks like major businesses are starting to incorporate it into their workflow and everything. Even with all the outcry over no flash support, it’s amazing that nobody really cares about that anymore!
I’m looking forward to seeing whatever the future generations of the iPad end up looking like!
Wimax would be the solution to the ever congested bandwidth of 3G:”
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There is a lot of space for growing, but i think iPad is the greatest device in its category…
It is definitely diversified and multilateral, being able to reform and take the place of ereaders or the gaming and GPS tools.
Here are the top 50+ best ipad apps, that should take into consideration
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was disappointed by the lack of iPhone 4.0 because this kind of device really needs true multi-tasking. I’m sure we will see it soon. What I am not at all sure about but wish we’d see soon is support for Adobe’s Flash. What does Steve Jobs have against Adobe, anyway? He used to love Adobe chairman John Warnock. There’s some weird daddy thing going on there with Apple’s rejection of Flash and I am tired of it. This new processor is plenty fast enough to support Flash and HTML 5 is still not ready for prime time.
Correction — Here’s a more informed view of the Flash situation from a friend. it’s hard to argue with his numbers:
“I did a quickie test with the new YouTube HTML5 beta. On a site that embedded a video (so Flash was used), my browser CPU utilization was 22%, and the Adobe Flash plug-in CPU utilization was 55%. (dual core macbook pro, so total CPU% = 200%).
After the video played, I watched the same video again directly on the YouTube site in HTML5. Adobe Flash plug-in CPU utilization was 4% (what it consumes just sitting on its hiney), and the browser CPU utilization was 17%.
77% vs 21%. that’s why Apple hates Adobe. There certainly may be personalities involved (with Jobs, there is always something personal), but Adobe Flash is just technically awful (this actually may be the crux of any Jobs’ hatred – he hates inelegance, and Adobe Flash is inelegant).
I don’t hate Adobe, and it does bother met that I can’t see Flash on the iPhone or iPad, but Adobe has acted very awfully in this area and doesn’t appear to be doing anything to address it. Google and Apple have the muscle to squeeze them out.”
Now we return you to Bob, already in progress:
The apps were underwhelming to me with the exception of iPhoto, but maybe that requires waiting for iPhone 4, too. Overall the product felt rushed. But knowing Steve a little bit I think he’s seeing this as a two-part intro and there will be another event around the shipping date, supposedly 60 days from now, which he’ll correctly view as yet another marketing opportunity. At that event we’ll see 3G from more than just AT&T, we’ll hear about more data plans including subsidized plans that will drop the price by $200. We’ll see the split-view camera, iPhone 4.0, and maybe even that little solar charger.cheap VPS
As presented yesterday the iPad was cool and I’ll probably buy one, but not right away. Fortunately many people will buy them right away then buy them again when the update equivalent to 3G (4G? HD?) comes along, just as they did with the original 2G iPone and the original 128K Mac. So I am sure the iPad will be at least a modest success, even in its initial incarnation. But you know what it feels like to me with it’s hype followed by an underwhelming reality? It feels like another Segway, which sure hasn’t changed the way people move on the Earth.
iPad is a great device but it needs to improve heavily in the next gen, as in coming months so many big companies are coming up with their own tablets. And Apple just can’t win with their software they will be required to update the hardware expects as well.
Just like the evolution of the iPhone the iPad will evolve and get better with each iteration.
I very much like the battery technology in particular.
I just love my iPad! I’ve had it about a month now and can’t put the darn thing down!
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Ipad equivalent to 3G is absolute fun to have it.
Californication could be have been better but the story is just average;;.
iPad is a bit expensive, i just hope that they could reduce the cost of that gadget.-;
Apple’s iPad rivals *PRECEEDED* the release of the iPad.
Apple had to come up with a product to compete with netbooks, that were already on the scene and selling quite nicely. But instead of releasing yet another netbook with an Apple on it, they chose a different form factor … a pad (or slate).
Microsoft, with both Windows XP Home and Windows 7 Starter, dominates the netbook market. And the last time I looked, netbooks with Windows were outselling iPads.
It would be interesting to know how many Linux-based netbooks have been sold to date as well as converted from Windows. Maybe Linux is not as far behind the iPad as the Apple fans and Linux detractors would like to believe.
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Fathers involved with this case ought to get a toddler custody lawyer to ensure that all his rights are coated by the family law. Even though there’s an inherent prejudice with fathers in the court, the court system have change intomore balanced in their custody appointments with child attorneys
The household laws have ensured that there’s balance of their custody appointments between males and women. You may need to get a toddlercustody lawyer to get the total pros and cons of ruling in court. Child custody can order by a court if you’reinvolved in having a custody dispute. This is why you need a good child custody law firm behind you.
Fathers involved with this case ought to get a toddler custody lawyer to make sure that all his rights are lined by the family law. Even though there’s an inherent prejudice with fathers within the court, the court system have becomemore balanced in their custody appointments with child attorneys
The household laws have ensured that there is balance of their custody appointments between men and women. You may have to get a toddlercustody lawyer to get the total pros and cons of ruling in court. Child custody can order by a court in case you areinvolved in having a custody dispute. This is why you need a good child custody lawyer behind you.
As most people know, mother are inclined to have an attraction more to the court due to the societal influence that has been with our culture. So the household law often favors the mother in this case. It is like they’re depended on every other. In most cases they will get at least temporary child custody
Child custody generally is a very anxiousfight for folks and for all thefamily. Custody of the child means that the party granted for it should get the duty of rearing the child. This can be a tough course of for the kid since they are caught in between.
The guidelines of child custody fluctuate from completely different states. You could need to acquire the service of the kid custody lawyer to know what are the custodial rights and tasks toward the child. This may be evaluated by the courtroom if you’ll file a case. Which will let you in the end win child custody
As most of the people know, mother are likely to have an attraction more to the court due to the societal affect that has been with our culture. So the household law normally favors the mother in this case. It is like they’re depended on each other. In most cases they will get at least temporary child custody
The family laws have ensured that there’s balance of their custody appointments between men and women. You may have to get a babycustody lawyer to get the full pros and cons of ruling in court. Child custody can order by a court if you’reinvolved in having a custody dispute. This is why you need a good child custody attorney behind you.
Fathers involved with this case should get a baby custody lawyer to make sure that all his rights are lined by the household law. Even though there may be an inherent prejudice with fathers within the court, the courtroom system have develop intomore balanced in their custody appointments with child attorneys
As the general public know, mother tend to have an enchantment more to the court due to the societal affect that has been with our culture. So the familylaw usually favors the mother in this case. It is like they are depended on every other. In most cases they will get at least temporary child custody
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That’s Too nice, when it comes in india hope it can make a Rocking place for youngster…hope thar come true.
my ipad have some display problems and i cannot fix the damn thing *;;
my ipad have some display problems and i cannot fix the damn thing
There is a full sub-market inside the area of the cellular cell phone marketplace put linked to the jailbreak or unlocking of the cellular phones so that they can be employed on any cellular network, and current Supreme Court choices in the USA handed down have confirmed that the jailbreak sector is legal and authentic. That is, end-consumer prospects are very inside their legal rights to do what they want to their cellular cell phone handset to permit the telephone to operate on other network carriers which is normally regarded as jailbreak or unlocking the network block.
Learn how to Jailbreak your iPhone
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interesting writeup, i’ve got to mention this to a friend of mine
iPad is a amazing product, I love it.
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I for one cant wait for the new ipad to come out. Steve Jobs has just stood down as CEO of apple 🙁
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