Apple iPad

I figure that everyone and brother will be writing about Apple's newest product, the iPad, today. I figure, I haven't written a blog entry in a long time so since I am an iPhone and Mac user as well as an Apple fan, I'll try my hand at it. Let me first state that I am not, in any way, a journalist or an expert on Apple products, I'm just a guy, like everyone else, with an opinion.

I've watched the Keynote from yesterday once already so I already have some opinions about the product but let's do this with the Keynote, that way I'm not jumping around everywhere.

First Impressions
The iPad. First off, and I know I'm not alone on this, what a name. I know there are plenty of jokes going around the web about this -- "iTampon", "iMacsyPad", "Does it come with wings?" Now, I'm not in marketing, but I can't believe that Apple couldn't land on a better name. At least they could've come up with a name that wasn't close to iPod.

The device looks brilliant. Thin, sleek, and sexy, just like all other Apple products. At first glance it's looks like a giant iPhone or iPod touch. The home screen is exactly like those devices with the exception that you can add a background image to the home screen. I've also noticed that the application icons rotate when the device is rotated, something that I wish happened on the iPhone.

Web Browsing
The web browsing experience appears to be exactly what it is on an iPhone or iPod touch except a bit more responsive. Scrolling is smooth, zoom in and out by double-tapping or with multi-touch gestures. However, when Steve Jobs was navigating nytimes.com I noticed that Flash is not supported. Booooo! If this is supposed to be the best way to experience the web I think that all parts of the web should probably be supported.

Mail
Checking email looks like it couldn't be simpler. Depending on how the iPad is rotated depends on if you can see your Inbox with your messages. Typing looks like it's a breeze and auto-correct is standard just like on an iPhone.

Photos
Photos? Really? Who cares? I use iPhoto as a photo library so I if I want to actually use them later, like to print, I can. I rarely ever use my Mac just to view my photos. I guess for moms or dads this feature could be really nice for viewing photos, but other than that I just don't see a use for it.

iTunes
Only if iTunes will work while you surf the web or do something else on the iPad will it be beneficial. How many people use their Macs and iPhones to just SIT and listen to music. 9 times out of 10 if I'm listening to music I'm doing something else at the same time.

Address Book, iCal, & Maps
The address book is of course good to have when composing an email. I haven't thought of a good use for iCal on the device. Sure you can add/edit events then have them sync to your iPhone and Mac, so I guess that's good. The best thing about Maps is StreetView. Period. If I want to know where something is and how to get there I'll use Maps on my iPhone so I can put in my pocket and be on my way.

YouTube & Videos
This seems to be a great reason to have an iPad. Currently I watch a lot of movies on my MacBook Pro while I'm in bed and after a while that Mac tends to get hot and heavy (though not sexually hot and heavy) while sitting on my lap. Having a device small and light enough, but not as small as an iPhone, to do this comfortably would be great. However, this brings me back to Flash support. If I'm not watching a movie that's stored on my MacBook Pro then I'm watching from Hulu or Netflix. I don't see those two websites working on the iPad.

Tech Specs
½" thick
1 ½ lb.
9.7" touch screen display
1GHz Apple A4 processor chip
16GB-64GB Flash Memory
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
Accelerometer
Compass (who needs that on the iPad??)
Speaker
Microphone
30-pin connector so it fits all other Apple connectors
10 hours of batter life (I'll believe that when I see it)
A month of standby battery (who cares)

Gaming
It's looks like the iPad, like the iPhone, will be yet another revolutionary gaming device. With the introduction of the the iPhone came a brand new way to play hand held games. I think with more screen real estate developers will take advantage of this again.

iBooks
Other than surfing the web, watching videos, and playing games I believe the number one use of the iPad will be for reading. If I could carry the iPad or a 300 page novel in my bag for reading when I travel, I'm choosing the iPad. It does so much more than just let you read. If I finish reading, I can then do anything that has previously been mentioned or I can purchase another book to read and get started immediately. Steve Jobs mentioned that this will be a great device for text books as well. I can't agree more. My wife has purchased thousands of dollars worth of books while in veterinary school over the last 4 years. I've seen her take over 50 lbs of books with her when leaving the house. If this device had been around years ago, and those books were offered as eBooks I think she would have traded all those pounds of paper for something that weighs less than two pounds. Plus, as an eBook, video and sound can be embedded making the learning experience much more intuitive and fun.

iWork
iWork has been built from the ground up for the iPad. Everything you can do with iWork on a Mac you can now do with your fingers on an iPad. Each application will be $9.99 each from the AppStore. That makes presenting pretty easy, but it seems like in order to print anything you'll have to export the file then print using a Mac. Sounds like a pain in the ass to me.

Data Plans
There will be two different 3G data plans provided through AT&T (blah). The first is a 250MB allowance for $14.99/mo, the second is an Unlimited allowance for $29.99/mo. The best part about this is you can turn it off and on with the iPad itself and there's NO CONTRACT. The worst thing about it is it's AT&T coverage. However, the 3G models are unlocked and can be used on any network which tells me that Verizon coverage for Apple products may be on the horizon.

Pricing
Of course because of the different iPad options there are different pricing options. Pricing begins at $499 for the 16GB WiFi only and goes to $829 for 64GB models that have WiFi & 3G. Because there's no contract, there's also no subsidiary pricing. IT would be nice if that were an option though. Purchasing an iPad for $200 or $300 with a 2 year contract sounds more appetizing to me.

Overall Impressions
My thoughts about the iPad are mixed. I think it's a great device and I believe that it's going to pave the road for future computing, however Apple has a lot of work to do. The first thing is listen to consumers. Why is the iPad missing a camera? IT would make a great home video conferencing tool. Why is it only offered on AT&T network? Where's the Flash support? Where in the Hell is multi-tasking? Why can't a user make this device their own without jail-breaking the device? Has Apple learned nothing from working on the iPhone? The answer to that question is "yes". Unfortunately, because consumers love Apple products despite their short comings, people are still going to continue to purchase their products. Since Apple will continue to make money despite complaints and other feedback they're going to continue to lock their products up. I'm glad that it hasn't happened with their Macs yet.

The iPad has potential but for now I'll save my money. I think that the iPad is nothing more than a glorified iPhone without voice capabilities. I have an iPhone, it fits in my pocket and does everything I need for it to do. I have a MacBook Pro, it does more than I need it to do and I take it with me almost everywhere. If I owned an iMac or MacPro then I'd consider the iPad as an in between, something I could take with me when traveling or laying in bed. The real potential that I see the iPad having is in the eBook market as an eReader. Also what about as a remote control? Yes, I said it. Remote. Control. Not you're everyday remote control, but one of those fancy ones that controls every aspect of a house. You know what I'm talking about. Developers could really use the iPad to their advantage on that. The most potential I see the iPad having is in the creative industry. The iPad is just a few steps away from being a Wacom Cintiq. Myself along with designers everywhere would probably jump for joy if it came to that. But until the iPad is transformed into an honest to goodness touch screen laptop, don't hold your breath.

Foriegn places

This week I hit the road for two days to visit some branch locations for work. No majorly important work, just maintenance and small computer upgrades. Yesterday I was in Mobile, AL and once I finished I drove to Destin, FL. I arrived in Destin at 3:30, an hour before the store is supposed to close yet the door was locked. Thinking I was in the eastern time zone and my phone hadn't updated yet I didn't think anything of it b/c I thought it was 4:30. So I left, checked into my hotel and went to get some dinner. After finishing I asked my server if the time was 4:30 or 5:30. It was then that I was informed I was still in the central time zone and it was only 4:30. With nothing to do I visited the local wal-mart to pick up a few snacks then retreated back to the hotel.
Being in Destin and a huge lover the beach and the ocean you'd think that I'd make my way to the serene calm beach and relax for a while... Instead I stayed in the hotel room and watched college basketball for the remainder of the night. When I'm in a foreign place by myself I tend to turn into a hermit. I'm married and I love my wife very much so my male instincts of going out to meet a girl are surpressed and I entertain myself in others ways.... By this I mean watch basketball. There's no season I love more than basketball season. No matter the day or the time chances are I can find something basketball related on television and I love it. After watching Lousville struggle with Arkansas for most of the game I realized that when Kentucky plays these two teams both games are going to be hard fought, good games. The cats are also going to have their hands full with UCONN and if they ever meet Kansas or Michigan St they better be on the top of their game.

Now here it is 9:45 in the morning and I find myself again sitting outside of the branch location b/c no one is here. It's partially my fault since I never called the employees down here to inform them of my visit but could have sworn the their were at least two people that worked here. I don't know how long I've been sitting here but I'm not leaving until I get my work done. I have to go to Dothan, AL before going home and there no way I'll be coming back to Destin anytime in the near future. I just hope that they get back from their delivery run soon.

Mac Laptop Woes

Yesterday I left for work and left my MacBook Pro on the table for my wife to use. She called me in the morning and said that the screen was black. The computer was on, but it was black. I went through various trouble shooting fixes, such as pressing the F-Keys to adjust the brightness (b/c on the MBP's you can turn the brightness all the way down to nothing if you'd like), restarting the computer, closing the lid, and opening it. Very basic stuff, but I figured one of those things would have to the screen to come back on. It didn't. My wife exclaimed that it was only two years old and it was a Mac and was just supposed to "work" like I always say they do. I agreed, however much of an Apple fan-boy I am I do realize that things break. Now Ally is boasting about her Toshiba laptop running Windows Vista. It's hard to explain the difference in hardware failure and software failure. This is more than likely hardware failure.

I spent the time immediately after doing a few online searches about this issue and found some bad news, some good news and then more bad news. The bad news is, in MacBook Pros manufactured between a certain time period a couple years ago the screen going out was a common defect because of the NVidia video cards installed in them and apparently it happened a lot. The good news is that Apple is aware of the issue and will fix the problem for free even if the computer is out of warranty, which mine is. The more bad news is the computer has to be less than two years old from the date of purchase to get the free fix and I'm just a couple months over that time period.

So, I did a little more searching and found that I can hook my laptop up to another Mac and access its hard drive by using a FireWire cable between the computers. Luckily I work on an iMac at work. So I'll be able to back up my files to an external hard drive, then see if I trouble shoot the sleep settings of the computer. That brings me to another possible cause of the black screen; a corrupt sleep setting on the MacBook Pro. I'm hoping, praying, that I don't have to send it away to be fixed, b/c I don't have the money to do that right now, and also, this laptop, is. my. life. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have it. I'd of course get a new one eventually, with the AppleCare Extended Warranty this time, but I don't have the money for that either.

After I get a FireWire cable I'll be trying like hell to fix my beloved 15" MacBook Pro.

Wish me luck,
-B

**UPDATE**
So none of the above options worked for me... I couldn't even get the iMac to read the laptop drive as an external hard drive. I called my local authorized Mac service store and they'll charge me $100 for a diagnostic. Then if I want them to fix it they drop the diagnostic fee and just charge me parts and labor. Since I can't get Apple Care and the laptop is WAY out of warranty I think that's my only option. Unfortunately I'll have to wait to do this since I'm broke... or put it all on a credit card. I just hope that it's not mother board issues. If it is, there's no use in fixing the computer. I'd be better off buying a new one. SUCK!