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Charlie Brooker | iPad therefore iWant? Probably. Why? iDunno | Comment is free | The Guardian

A star appears over San Francisco and a new gizmo is born. The iPad! At first glance it resembles an iPhone in unhandy, non-pocket-sized form. But look a little longer, and . . Nope. You were right first time.
Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Apple excels at taking existing concepts - computers, MP3 players, conceit - and carefully streamlining them into glistening ergonomic chunks of concentrated aspiration. It took the laptop and the coffee table book and created the MacBook. Now it's taken the MacBook and the iPhone and distilled them into a single device that answers a rhetorical question you weren't really asking.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:05:10 PM EST

I know TBG says there's more to it than merely a big iPhone. But, even if it were simply that, I thought about it a bit along with reading what Jon Gruber and a few others had to say, and I guess I get it: The iPad is supposed to be the true everyman/non-techie computer. The idea being most customers shouldn't have to screw around with the file system and all of the little administrative tasks that a full-blown PC requires of you. Instead, it's just you and the apps.

That makes sense. Looked at that way, it could have some real success. How the developers respond and take advantage of the new UI elements will have a major impact, though. I think the concern is that it will feel like a giant iPhone rather than a real PC that's been simplified without sacrificing the experience of good software.

Dunno. We'll see, I guess.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:10:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Five iPhones worth of touchscreen is a lot. The best apps will not feel like a giant iPhone.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 03:15:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some advantages of netbooks over the ipad (none / 0)

"While the iPad might win out on some particular functions--video playback quality, in particular--the truth is there are a great many things Netbooks can do that an iPad just can't. Right now, at least. And while that may not make a Netbook better than a laptop, in some instances a Netbook certainly seems better than an iPad. Check out the rundown (of 10) (and, yes, multitasking would certainly be an excellent No. 11).

Video chat. Most Netbooks, even low-end ones, now have Webcams enabling basic video chat over Skype or any other program. The iPad, however, does not. We wish the iPad had a camera and iChat, especially since it would make the tablet a unique communications device to rival the iPhone. Perhaps cost was a factor, even though most Netbooks manage the feat in a package under $500.
Run Flash. While Steve Jobs called the iPad "the best Web experience you've ever had," there is a big missing piece right now, and that's the whole Web. Browser-based apps and Flash-driven content are huge elements of cloud computing and of many Web sites, and right now it's not even clear whether the iPad can even run Hulu or Netflix. Atom Netbooks can be slow and stuttery when playing Web video, but at least they can.

...

On the other hand, the iPad does do a lot of things nicely, including being more portable. We just felt like Netbooks needed to be stood up for a little."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10443246-1.html

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice. Blog - Nice Experience

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 02:47:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some advantages of netbooks over the ipad (4.00 / 3)

On the other hand:

" if you have managed to convince yourself that the iPad is a useless, locked-up DRM-laden failure of a `computer' before even touching one, I have two words for you:

My mom.

My mother is a lovely lady in her sixties who is... well, "not computer savvy" is probably a good way to put it. I regularly have to figure out why her computer is running incredibly slowly, or why it won't print, or any of the million other random things that happen when people who don't live and breathe computers sit down at one daily.

The iPad is perfect for her. It does exactly what she needs. It will let her watch movies and listen to music and read books on long flights. It will make using a computer fun instead of an annoying chore.

...
I dream of the day when I can finally throw off the oppressive chains of being the one guy in the family who knows how to actually keep a computer working.

And you know what? There are millions upon millions of people just like her out there. They outnumber us. And they finally have a chance to become productive, self-sufficient computer users instead of constantly asking family members to fix their computers or, even worse, keeping the Geek Squad in business.

No, the iPad isn't for everyone. But I'm going to go on record as saying that, for non-computer-geeks everywhere, the iPad is going to redefine computing."

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/31/ipad-moms-next-computer/

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice. Blog - Nice Experience

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 03:33:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

At Apple.com, the iPad is described as a magical and revolutionary device. Echoes of TBG's diary about Hi-Fi

Instead, it seems to be less of a pathology and more about esoteric perceptions of manna and mojo. With both high end and low end hifi, the hardware becomes a fetishised extension of the owner's self image - a personal totem for the living room.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 03:34:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, yes. This distingushes the iPad and apple gear from all the other tech. For instance, the choice to use Linux has no such associations. Oh, wait: bring on the rebellious freedom fighters shoving it to the man. They're making entirely a rational choice.

News flash: people identify with their choices and base choices fashion. You can't tease the whole thing apart (except for 16,000 a metre cables - clearly mad) because your own biases skew your analysis. I can say I use Apple stuff because I'm bored of fiddling. Other people would say I'm just a fanboi because they hate Apple stuff for other reasons.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:01:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

But magical device!?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:03:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sufficiently advanced technology?

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:05:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Marketing Fail.

If you have to - or try to - spell out the fact that something has manna and mojo, it brings the association into consciousness. Which is the best way to destroy the effect.

The association only works as long as it's unconscious. If people start thinking 'Hey - is that really true? What does that mean?' - pfft.

It's ironic because Apple are usually so good at marketing, and usually know how to create those associations without being so clumsy and obvious.

Perhaps uncoincidentally, the iPad reception has been lukewarm so far.

I think it's going to need some stand-out apps to regain teh sexey, and because it's a bigger, more time-consuming and more difficult platform to develop for, that's going to take a while.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:17:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I think it's going to need some stand-out apps to regain teh sexey, and because it's a bigger, more time-consuming and more difficult platform to develop for, that's going to take a while.

I would have thought that precisely because it doesn't impose the constraints on a programmer that the iPhone does it's probably easier to develop for and much harder to write a really good app for. The iPhone forces designers to pare down to the essentials. The iPad has space for clutter.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:29:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'd still much, much rather have an ultrathin laptop with a swivel screen so that the thing has a keyboard but also can be closed as a tablet.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Feb 2nd, 2010 at 04:14:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

ThatBritGuy:

If you have to - or try to - spell out the fact that something has manna and mojo, it brings the association into consciousness. Which is the best way to destroy the effect.

um, yes, but you underestimate just how dumbed down folks are these days, they need everything explained.

laboriously literal, matterbound, moribund.

reminds me of that classic bumpersticker i used to see everywhere in hawaii

'are we having fun yet?' back before 'cringe' became mainstream as it is now with 'the office', a harbinger, likw woody's neuro-whine.

first 4/4 was too complicated, then 2/4, now it's fascist machine stomp, 1/1...

people are really stuck, toys like this give a sensation of movement, but ultimately it's just a tool, like all apple products.

it's what you do with it that will be magical or not.

meanwhile, the sizzle sells the steak. the word 'magic' tickles some atavistic nerve, even if you've long forgotten what it meant!

these look fab'n'glam right now, in 20 years they'll be w-a-y kewler.

if the singularity folks are right and we do blend our consciousness with computer parts, i sure hope we can choose apple software, rather than ol' bill's.

(staggers into wall)... if you're gonna DRM me, at least make it work, lol!

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 05:26:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

magical:

Of, relating to, or produced by magic.
Enchanting; bewitching: a magical performance of the ballet.

You seem to be taking it in the first sense, while Apple clearly mean it in the second sense and they don't really think most buyers will assume it is powered by some kind of Harry Potter spells - but that, as a number of people who've handled one think, it is "enchanting" :-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice. Blog - Nice Experience

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:48:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

superior technology, artfully designed, is indistinguishable from magic.

of course the real magic is the vision and the ability to attract a level of skilled realisers of it.

i think steve has waited until he was really ready to do this.

now to see if his timing is on the money.

i guess yes.

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 05:09:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

No, it is NOT :-) - despite the popularity of the claim. "Undistinguishable" to whom ? Maybe it would seem so to Ethan Nicholas' mom - but not to him, and not at all to Jonathon Ive, who could describe the principal ways in which it works, perhaps in ways that Nicholas' mom could begin to understand.

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice. Blog - Nice Experience

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Tue Feb 2nd, 2010 at 04:37:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

so define magic then!

one definition might be: so far ahead of your present understanding that it might as well have just landed from space

:)

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Feb 2nd, 2010 at 07:23:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I have already cited two main definitions of "magical" above. As I just pointed out, it depends on who "your understanding" refers to. It's not either complete understanding or totally mystified; there are many stages in between. Of course most of us understand the need to recharge it, avoid dropping it, etc. I don't think even Christian fundamentalists believe iphones work through angel power :-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice. Blog - Nice Experience

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Tue Feb 2nd, 2010 at 09:09:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Inverse snobbery is still snobbery.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:01:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Scuderia Toro Rosso unveil 2010 car | Formula 1 Blog

That might be true if the point of that diary was snobbery, or it's inverse.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 04:18:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

For Mr Horse (none / 0)

The Valencia track is certainly all the rage today as testing has officially started for the 2010 season. Alongside that testing, Red Bull Racing's sister team Scuderia Toro Ross has unveiled their 2010 challenger amidst all the frantic action of the test session.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:12:52 PM EST

Re: For Mr Horse (none / 0)

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:12.574 102
2. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari (B) 1:12.784 74
3. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:12.947 40
4. Rosberg Mercedes GP (B) 1:13.543 39
5. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:13.846 86
6. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:14.449 75
7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:14.762 18
8. Kubica Renault (B) 1:15.000 69

well, this should certainly jump-start the ladies streaming to ET.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:55:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: For Mr Horse (none / 0)

the new Ferrari diffuser

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:18:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: For Mr Horse (none / 0)

Darth Vader comes to the racetrack?

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:36:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: For Mr Horse (none / 1)

who needs KERS when you have The Force ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 02:41:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Eschaton

Chuck Toddler twitters:

Obama admin lays down unemployment rate markers: by end '10, will be below 10%, by end of '11, below 9% and by end of '12, just below 8%

If that's what they believe, Jeebus. When they passed the stimulus a year ago they projected that without the stimulus unemployment would drop below 6% by the end of 2012.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:13:56 PM EST

That would be without any, uhmm, "exogenous" shocks.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:37:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Such as, aaah, erm, the sky fell on our heads.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 02:07:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It is a broad category.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 03:56:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Immanuel Wallerstein (4.00 / 2)

In January 2010, Susan Purcell, a conservative U.S. analyst, published in the Miami Herald a critique of U.S. policy on Brazil, calling it "wishful thinking." She may well be right. In her view, "Washington may need to rethink its assumptions regarding the extent to which Brazil can be relied on to deal with political and security problems in Latin America in ways that are also compatible with U.S. interests."
In January also, Valter Pomar, Secretary for International Relations of Lula's party, the PT, said that the U.S. intention in creating the G-20 was "to try to absorb and control alternative poles of power, ...to maintain a multipolarity under control." He insisted that, in the strain between supporting world capitalist interests as a sub-imperial power and supporting "democratic-popular interests," Brazil would end up on the latter side.

I just hope that post-Lula Brasil follows in his footsteps.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:22:17 PM EST

Things aren't over by a long shot... (4.00 / 2)

Since the political conflicts leading to the coup [in Honduras] were not about inter-party disputes, Lobo Sosa cannot possibly be choosing his cabinet for their roles in any "reconciliation".
Which means it should be interesting to take a closer look at what Lobo Sosa is accomplishing, in terms of Honduran politics, via the assembly of a cabinet that has already been judged by the US to fulfill the requirements of "reconciliation".
If these people do not represent different stakeholders in the coup and its aftermath, exactly who are they, and why are they part of this government?

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:38:53 PM EST

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

The Israeli military said Monday it has reprimanded two high-ranking officers for approving the firing of artillery shells toward a U.N. compound during the Gaza Strip war last year -- the first admission of any high-level wrongdoing during the offensive.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:51:23 PM EST

A Palestinian human rights group slammed Israeli treatment of female prisoners in a new UN-sponsored report, saying pregnant women are often shackled on their way to hospitals to give birth.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 12:53:13 PM EST

I don't know how it happened but I'm back at work for some reason.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:13:18 PM EST

Congratulations?

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:40:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Just continuing with the theme of mental confusion since I returned from the traveling.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:45:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I thought you'd already started. semiconductor testing yea ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:44:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yeah I've been back since early December. Monday sarcasm, I guess.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:46:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

sorry, having my own form of monday-itis. spent the morning persuading computers that (wisely) refuse to run Vista that it is, in fact, in their interest to do so. It's kinda fun and it's what I like doing, but it's not actually what I'm paid to do. So I was frustrated cos it had to be done, but my actual work was falling behind.

Then I was shouted at for not having doneg something else that isn't my job and which doesn't have to be done till Friday and I spent the afternoon feeling frumpy and hard done by.

Not helped by discovering that Johann Hari, otherwise good and wise egg, thinks that all would be well between the transgender community and Julie bindel if only we weren't so rude and uppity. Or, as a much wiser than me friend, wrote

In the end, what you are arguing is that we are making a good argument in the wrong tone of voice. As I am sure you are aware, this is a standard trope of arguments about prejudice and is a classic derailment technique

So I probably wasn't ever going to spot the minor sarcasm in your post.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:56:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"...frumpy and hard done by ?"

Well, yes, but I meant grumpy.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 01:58:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

something else that isn't my job

Of all the shit that happens at jobs that one is the most maddening. Happened a lot at my job back in Boston and it had a really bad effect on me.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 at 03:34:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]