iPad

[Steve]

I've been at NAB this week, and one thing I saw was an iPad/iPhone set up for teleprompter. Very cool. Not cool enough to get an iPad personally, but for a field prompter, it's a pretty cool solution. You operate the iPad prompter with the iPhone.

http://www.bodelin.com/proprompter/

 

[Haakon]

Something I've been wondering about, not just with the iPad but all of the touch screen computers - fingerprints. How do you deal with fingerprints and smears on the screen? It drives me crazy when people touch my computer monitor, don't these touch screen computers have to be cleaned constantly? Or do people just read them through the smudges and smears?

 

[MBuzzy]

I don't think that Apple was concerned with functionality. They did this to compete and to get themselves a foothold in the tablet market. I can see tablets being pretty important in the future of computing, they just need to make sure that they are out there.

Plus, look at ANY apple product, until Generation 3 or 4, it sucks. Plus, every time they release a new generation, the functions are so improved that it makes everyone with an older generation want to buy the new one. That's Apple's marketing scheme - don't do it right the first time, so that the early adopters have to buy the same product 8 times.

 

[Steve]

I don't think that Apple was concerned with functionality. They did this to compete and to get themselves a foothold in the tablet market. I can see tablets being pretty important in the future of computing, they just need to make sure that they are out there.

Plus, look at ANY apple product, until Generation 3 or 4, it sucks. Plus, every time they release a new generation, the functions are so improved that it makes everyone with an older generation want to buy the new one. That's Apple's marketing scheme - don't do it right the first time, so that the early adopters have to buy the same product 8 times.

I don't disagree completely. I've got friends who are avid apple guys and we've talked about how apple does things. Their interpretation of your observations are a little different. To an applehead, Apple is progressive and allows the market to dictate the course of the product. In other words, they put it out, then react to market demands.

 

[Cryozombie]

People are treating this as if it's the next coming, there have been tablet PCs for years but the general population only notices when Apple does it.

You know the truth of this? When the Ipod came out and everyone was like "OOOOH, Shiny!" I was like, "I don't get it? My Lyra does all that, plus it has a video screen, runs apps, AND I can plug it into a video source and use it as a pocket DVR and record shows... for less money." And everyone was like "So, thats stupid... I just need to listen to music"... fast forward, what 2 years? And everyone was like "Sweet! My Ipod can do video now!" and I was like "Yawwwn, been there done that, um... 2 years ago, remember, when you said it was stupid?"

Guess what... I had a touchscreen tablet PC... 2 maybe 3 years back too.

IMO You know what apple does? They steal stale technology and market the hell out of it to make people think its something special and new and the sheeps eat it up, nom nom nom. Then that old tech comes back around better than ever, and people go, "Oh such an apple ripoff."

*rolls eyes*

 

[Cryozombie]

THIS however, is the coolest thing the Ipad can do, IMHO.

 

[MBuzzy]

I don't disagree completely. I've got friends who are avid apple guys and we've talked about how apple does things. Their interpretation of your observations are a little different. To an applehead, Apple is progressive and allows the market to dictate the course of the product. In other words, they put it out, then react to market demands.

I can certainly see that interpretation, but wouldn't more market research up front help? Not that other companies don't do the same thing, Apple has it down to a science. My biggest complaint is their refusal to make anything open source or allow independent development.