John Lambert

Today, Apple released their new breakthrough in mobile technology, the iPad.  It has a wonderful screen size and runs all the iPhone apps you already own and even some especially for the iPad.  It has built in Wifi, bluetooth, and the option of built in 3G.

Costs:

16GB - $499 / + 3G - $629

32GB - $599 / + 3G - $729

64GB - $699 / + 3G - $829

3G unlimited data plan - $30 monthly (no contract required)

It is an eBook reader, a mobile publication reader, and a great productivity tool, but I still won’t be owning one this time around.  When the iPhone first came out I bought it, and loved it, but it was missing key features I wanted. The iPhone 3GS and later firmware updates have added just about everything I need to the iPhone sans multitasking.

The iPad has no cameras, not a front facing or a back facing so pictures and video are out.  They built the perfect device for video conferencing and then left the feature out. There is still no multitasking on a device that they have given incredible battery life. I understand the limitations but when you start moving more towards computing and away from just a cellphone (I know its not meant to be another iPhone), certain productivity needs must be attended to.  If it is to be the true hybrid between a MacBook and an iPhone then you need to include the features of both… not just bulk up one and say its closer to the other now.  Screen size isn’t the only feature everyone was looking for.

The software issues like Flash, multitasking, and OS X support can be fixed later via firmware, but the camera issues are still really a bust for me personally.  If I could get all my school books on it cheaper than buying hard copies then it would most likely pay for itself, but I don’t see book stores being as cheap as AT&T’s new data plan. When I buy a device I don’t look for just one function, probably why I haven’t purchased a Kindle. I like to carry as few things as possible and still achieve the greatest functionality. The iPad is a great start in a new direction in mobile computing, but I’ll be around next year when, like the iPhone, they release the product everyone was holding their breath for.

Full technical specifications available at Apple.

January 27, 2010, 4:21pm   Comments

This also applies to shared apartment sinks when your roommates are messy :)

marco:

1. Stack as many dishes, glasses, and mugs in the sink as you can get to fit in it. Be sure to include as much leftover food as possible, especially if it came from the ocean. There should be no more than 1 inch of clearance between the top of the stack and the faucet’s opening.
2. Saturate the sponge, then hide it somewhere in the middle of the stack.
3. Pour coffee over the stack.

January 04, 2010, 8:28pm   Comments

I would say the legislature is doing just fine… I get fair rights but that shouldn’t cause the sacrifice of morality…

marco:

I’m proud to say that I live in New York. I love it here, and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

But that’s despite the state government, not because of it. The New York state government has always been dysfunctional and ineffective. This is tragic, but unsurprising. I don’t think anyone familiar with the New York legislature expected it to pass.

December 03, 2009, 6:20am   Comments

This post makes a very good point and apparently the internet agrees…. I originally read this post on my iPhone Tumblr app when he first typed it up and now I have seen it reblogged and linked on several sites on the web.  It keeps showing up in my life so it must be pretty interesting to the rest of the world if it showed up on http://www.oursignal.com !

marco:

The more I think and learn about the curious pricing of the 27” iMac, the more bizarre and incredible it seems.

It has a resolution of 2560x1440, which no other monitor in the industry seems to have (that I can find). 30” LCDs are the same width but 1600 tall. Shrinking 2560-wide into a screen that’s 3” smaller diagonally yields an impressive pixel density, especially given the panel’s still-immense size.

It has an IPS panel. IPS is the best and most expensive LCD type, giving the best viewing angle and the least color- and brightness-shifting as the angle increases in any direction. Nearly every panel on the market, including every laptop panel, is the cheap TN type. (TN panels wash out as soon as you move your head slightly, especially vertically, which is why it’s so hard to find a good viewing angle for your laptop lid while watching a dark movie.) Other 27” TN panels exist (only at the lower 1920x1080 resolution), but I can’t find any other 27” IPS panels.

It’s also LED-backlit.

So it’s a very high-specced, brand new panel that’s apparently not being mass-produced yet (since no other monitors for sale are using it). That must be expensive. How much of the base 27” iMac’s $1700 retail cost does this represent?

The closest existing panel for comparison, spec-wise, is the 30” IPS panel that Apple uses in their Cinema Display. It has the ultra-high resolution and size, but doesn’t compete with the 27” iMac’s panel for brightness, contrast, power efficiency, or color range. It’s overpriced by today’s standards at $1800, but not by much — Dell’s original 30” monitor with the same panel is $1200, and a newer version with better specs (although still not as good as the new iMac’s) is $1700.

A standalone monitor with the new iMac’s panel would be perfectly reasonably priced at about $1500. From Dell. Apple’s only charging $200 more than that for theirs, and there’s an entire high-end computer stuck to the back of it.

When they mentioned on last week’s quarterly earnings call that they expected lower profit margins for a new product, I don’t think anyone expected a change of this magnitude. How are they making anything — or even not losing money — with the base-model 27” iMac?

My guess: a massively successful negotiation with the panel’s manufacturer (most likely LG) to get not only an incredible price on these panels, but also apparent exclusivity for a while. It’s a hell of an accomplishment, and presumably a hell of an effort, for a computer that isn’t Apple’s most-selling model (or even product line). That raises a more interesting question: Why?

Until we know why the panel is so cheap, I bet we’re going to see a lot of Mac Pro owners buying 27” monitors for $1700 and trying to figure out what to do with the free computer stuck to the back. For new-computer shopping, a lot of people are going to abandon whichever laptop or Mac Pro they were considering and get this instead.

That helps answer the “why” question: Maybe Apple wants to push more buyers away from today’s default system-type choice — laptops — and show them why they should consider getting a fast, spacious desktop instead. And, for the time being, it’s a desktop with absolutely no equivalent in the PC world.

October 26, 2009, 8:07pm   Comments

iPhone News and Forums at ModMyi.com

September 09, 2009, 1:30am   Comments

» 500k MemberMadness Contest - Win a MacBook Pro/iPhone 3G[S]! Sponsored by FreshBooks.com/MiniBooks.app & NegriElectronics.com.

September 09, 2009, 1:24am  Comments

Now we wait for it to actually happen… Google Wave is an interesting new development in communications.  Rather than listen to all my hot air why not just watch the video on the site because only a true demonstration would do it justice!

September 05, 2009, 2:45am  Comments

» Google Wave - coming soon... as in when?!

September 05, 2009, 2:44am  Comments