I find the iPad's screen distinctly non-sucky, and got through "Anathem" over a course of subway commutes. Of course, YMMV. I suppose glare might be an issue if you're out in the sun.
I read "Anathem" on iPad, in iBooks, and am now getting through "How the Mind Works" on the kindle app -- mostly on my subway-based commute.
The iPad reading experience is, for my money, a world better than the Kindle, with its screen change flicker and Palm-circa-1996, Gameboy-circa 1998 screen. Intellectually I guess understand people saying the like e-ink better; in practice, to me it just looks like a gray smudgey, low-contrast mess.
The charge is a week, at least. It's not really difficult to recharge a device once a week.
So with being a superior (IMO) e-reader, a drawing pad, a swift and responsive browser, and a decent little game machine, I think iPad is gonna start eating Kindle's lunch. They aren't worlds apart, not by a darn site. (There are interesting rumors about smaller scale iOS devices coming out, like roughly Kindle size, which would address your "enormous" weight issue. But for now I find the iPad a convenient size for many tasks, and easily stowable.)
I find it great for two tasks: 1. with a stylus and the app ArtStudio (why do so few of the art apps have "flood fill"? They all want to pretend they're "real paint"...ArtStudio is highly recommended by me, btw) it is a better doodle pad than the touchscreen Fujitsu netbooks I had been using.
2. It's so great in a backpack... every laptop I had, I either had to suspend, so it was instant on but the battery was dead 3 days later, or hibernate, and then wait 2 or 3 minutes to boot. This thing stows so well, and when you want to use it is ready to go.
The browser is an annoying throwback to pre-tabbed browsing days and doesn't support the "upload" tag, though I found the "Uploader" app is pretty good.
So that's why I'm happy with the purchase. Netflix streaming is very good on it two... it's weirdly more pleasant to watch "The Office" in bed, snuggled up w/ this and my gf, then it is to bring in my big 18.4 laptop and rest it on us...
Re:The iPhone and finally walk and chew gum!
on
iOS 4 Releases Today
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· Score: 1
people also buy it for the infrastructure, and continuity w/ upgraded devices.
Infrastructure probably isn't a big sales pitch for you either-- I mean, I don't buy any music via iTunes, just good old MP3s from Amazon. But I appreciate the AppStore for making a very viable way of letting small developers sell cheap cool stuff, despite Apples irritating rejection policies.
Re:The iPhone and finally walk and chew gum!
on
iOS 4 Releases Today
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· Score: 3, Interesting
Bang on-- the only reliable example of people really missing it are Pandora. Or, possibly, GPS turn directions? Basically, audio-only stuff, which brings us to an interesting point, with both iPhone and iPad, YOU'RE not really a multitasking device either -- it's nice how these devices don't try to divide your attention, and running a new app is a bit like running a new, more specialized device.
That said -- 90s era Palm had better culture of "resuming right where you left off" apps, but now maybe iOS gets that back... and I think I might start liking that bottom of screen app bouncing the same way I like alt-tab in Windows...
I used Wicket a few years ago. It wasn't god-awful, but between the irritation of keeping the HTML in synch and of trying to make a custom component or even fix Ajax behaviors gone awry, I don't think it pulled its weight in the power/complexity added ratio.
I'm 35... been professionally coding since the mid 90s... I'm not sure if the next 15 years are gonna make me any more asirational than the last 15! What should I do?
I take it back. It was a little crippled; MMS shoulda been there. But overall, nothing else in the market is the combination of form factor, functionality, and slickness.
What contenders are out there? I've seen my friend's Android phone and I'd say it isn't equal to iPhone's first release in a lot of ways... and forget crap like the Storm.
I think the "gouging" accusation is dumb (not to mention taking pages of slashdot arguments). It seems exactly parallel to what happens with Desktop OS, except on a faster cycle i.e. you pay for Tiger->Leopard or XP->Vista, but get small patches for free... same as iPod touch. And frankly, Tiger->Leopard doesn't seem that much bigger than some of these iPhone updates. iPhone users get it for free, maybe as a nod to the way they're paying every damn month.
It wasn't a crippled phone to begin with. And it happens to be the only product to seem worthy to followup on Palm '97.
Maybe if my 2006-era Windows Mobile device hadn't had absolutely retarded (lack of) screen lock features (any alarm would make the screen fully active) I would have used it for longer. But if you think the difference in UI is between Windows Mobile and iPhone is "just cute", you don't get it.
"Still no good calendar or to-do list. (And yes, I'm ignoring anything which stores data on 3rd party servers and requires internet access to look at.)" I'm an old Palm fan from 1997, and I don't see where the calendar is worse than Palms... and the Avigo's Todo app is totally adequate. No desktop app, but you don't need any net access for it.
And as for the original poster... may if Palm had, you know, kept adding features to its core phones, they wouldn't have needed the reboot. (And it's obvious iPhone borrowed stuff like the home screen from Palm and not say WinCE.)
A single browsable market is a HUGE benefit. I had some WinCE device, I put maybe 1 3rd party app on it. I've done a lot more w/ the iPhone because of the single stop w/ great desktop integration.
I switched from palm to iPhone too. The appstore makes up for most of what you post here! Appigo Todo is great and moderately priced, I think there are some good web synching note programs too.
Custom conduits have, in part, been replaced with the high level of connectivity.
But for the first year of iPhone, yeah, it was inferior as a PDA to the good old Palm. The appstore more than makes up for it, though, IMO.
I used a PalmOS device from '97 'til '07. It was a great run. That single tasking thing was just not a problem, save for specific apps, like MP3s (which I think someone had a workaround for).
And iPhone is only multitasking about certain things, and it's the market leader.
This is not a coincidence. Apple took a lot of great cues from the Palm, esp wrt the home screen.
"More or less the only reason to get 3G at all is to be able to do video calls."
Way to generalize there, chief! Is the only reason to get broadband to do webcams?
Anyway, I think what *IS* worth being cynical about here is what kind of plan pricing model would go w/ videoconferencing. One thing that makes the iPhone work is that it had a mandatory "all you can eat" data plan. The iPhone was nifty enough that I was willing to take the plunge to a more expensive plan, and the fact that it was a fixed price made me relax about using the nice new connectivity. Could videoconferencing challenge that? I'm not sure if 3G is "symmetrical" in terms of bandwidth... I wouldn't be shocked if two way video got its own per minute charge.
I know everyone has their own grips about what iPhone does and doesn't do (cut and paste is pretty popular, not enough landscape support in typing apps is my favorite) but they are thinking this without doing straight MMS? Weird priorities.
I agree that maybe MP3s would have gained traction on their own, but i think for both original iPods and the iPhone, you're greatly underestimating the power of interface; the loveliness of the clickwheel, all the major paradigm shifts and tiny little gracenotes of the iPhone... it's not just about "looking great". Not just style, not just prestige, not just hype.
Some of these still exist and are as readable as when they were written
Actually one of the saddest things about sitting down to a nice modern translation of Gilgamesh is how many chapters are just plain missing, or otherwise distorted, with the translators having to make up bits as best they can.
Atari 7800 homebrew was well-nigh non-existent, and still is pretty weak, in part because of the checksum encryption Atari used... and that is old, cheap hardware from the mid-80s.
Quick hint: it's perfectly possible to believe both in God and in the Big-Bang - they're not at all mutually exclusive as long as you look at the bible as a book full of allegories instead of trying to believe that the English translation is literally the word of Jesus.
That really is it in a nutshell. A lot of American atheists are fighting against that literal minded Fundamentalist thinking... and to be fair, the cultural environment has an awful lot of that. It was a a REAL eye-opener for me (years and years into my mush agnosticism) when I read an interview with some Anglican Bishop where he says something like "well, of course the stories about Jesus aren't literally true..."- that a high ranking member of the clergy of a very established Christian group could even say that took me aback.
So then you get into, why believe at all? Is it a pragmatic, useful stance for moral guidance? Or is there an inescapable supernatural element? And - and this is crucial - are the *other* books full of allegories about equally as true, or do you think that one specific one or group is special in its connection to the truth?
Re:-1 karma for picking on "incredibly unique"
on
Ender in Exile
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· Score: 1
Hmm. Well, I think there's a well-established precedent for verbing that particular noun, it rings true to my ears.
It's also less awkward than "making a transition", especially in the context used (though "transitioning and growing from a youth into a man" might be a bit on the redundant side).
Slashdot Mirror
I find the iPad's screen distinctly non-sucky, and got through "Anathem" over a course of subway commutes.
Of course, YMMV. I suppose glare might be an issue if you're out in the sun.
I read "Anathem" on iPad, in iBooks, and am now getting through "How the Mind Works" on the kindle app -- mostly on my subway-based commute.
The iPad reading experience is, for my money, a world better than the Kindle, with its screen change flicker and Palm-circa-1996, Gameboy-circa 1998 screen. Intellectually I guess understand people saying the like e-ink better; in practice, to me it just looks like a gray smudgey, low-contrast mess.
The charge is a week, at least. It's not really difficult to recharge a device once a week.
So with being a superior (IMO) e-reader, a drawing pad, a swift and responsive browser, and a decent little game machine, I think iPad is gonna start eating Kindle's lunch. They aren't worlds apart, not by a darn site. (There are interesting rumors about smaller scale iOS devices coming out, like roughly Kindle size, which would address your "enormous" weight issue. But for now I find the iPad a convenient size for many tasks, and easily stowable.)
Just want to get my two cents in.
I find it great for two tasks:
1. with a stylus and the app ArtStudio (why do so few of the art apps have "flood fill"? They all want to pretend they're "real paint"...ArtStudio is highly recommended by me, btw) it is a better doodle pad than the touchscreen Fujitsu netbooks I had been using.
2. It's so great in a backpack... every laptop I had, I either had to suspend, so it was instant on but the battery was dead 3 days later, or hibernate, and then wait 2 or 3 minutes to boot. This thing stows so well, and when you want to use it is ready to go.
The browser is an annoying throwback to pre-tabbed browsing days and doesn't support the "upload" tag, though I found the "Uploader" app is pretty good.
So that's why I'm happy with the purchase. Netflix streaming is very good on it two... it's weirdly more pleasant to watch "The Office" in bed, snuggled up w/ this and my gf, then it is to bring in my big 18.4 laptop and rest it on us...
people also buy it for the infrastructure, and continuity w/ upgraded devices.
Infrastructure probably isn't a big sales pitch for you either-- I mean, I don't buy any music via iTunes, just good old MP3s from Amazon. But I appreciate the AppStore for making a very viable way of letting small developers sell cheap cool stuff, despite Apples irritating rejection policies.
Bang on-- the only reliable example of people really missing it are Pandora. Or, possibly, GPS turn directions? Basically, audio-only stuff, which brings us to an interesting point, with both iPhone and iPad, YOU'RE not really a multitasking device either -- it's nice how these devices don't try to divide your attention, and running a new app is a bit like running a new, more specialized device.
That said -- 90s era Palm had better culture of "resuming right where you left off" apps, but now maybe iOS gets that back... and I think I might start liking that bottom of screen app bouncing the same way I like alt-tab in Windows...
I used Wicket a few years ago. It wasn't god-awful, but between the irritation of keeping the HTML in synch and of trying to make a custom component or even fix Ajax behaviors gone awry, I don't think it pulled its weight in the power/complexity added ratio.
I'm 35... been professionally coding since the mid 90s ... I'm not sure if the next 15 years are gonna make me any more asirational than the last 15! What should I do?
Man my kingdom, or maybe former marriage, for some mod points...
I take it back. It was a little crippled; MMS shoulda been there. But overall, nothing else in the market is the combination of form factor, functionality, and slickness.
What contenders are out there? I've seen my friend's Android phone and I'd say it isn't equal to iPhone's first release in a lot of ways... and forget crap like the Storm.
I think the "gouging" accusation is dumb (not to mention taking pages of slashdot arguments).
It seems exactly parallel to what happens with Desktop OS, except on a faster cycle
i.e. you pay for Tiger->Leopard or XP->Vista, but get small patches for free... same as iPod touch. And frankly, Tiger->Leopard doesn't seem that much bigger than some of these iPhone updates.
iPhone users get it for free, maybe as a nod to the way they're paying every damn month.
It wasn't a crippled phone to begin with. And it happens to be the only product to seem worthy to followup on Palm '97.
Maybe if my 2006-era Windows Mobile device hadn't had absolutely retarded (lack of) screen lock features (any alarm would make the screen fully active) I would have used it for longer. But if you think the difference in UI is between Windows Mobile and iPhone is "just cute", you don't get it.
"Still no good calendar or to-do list. (And yes, I'm ignoring anything which stores data on 3rd party servers and requires internet access to look at.)"
I'm an old Palm fan from 1997, and I don't see where the calendar is worse than Palms... and the Avigo's Todo app is totally adequate. No desktop app, but you don't need any net access for it.
And as for the original poster... may if Palm had, you know, kept adding features to its core phones, they wouldn't have needed the reboot. (And it's obvious iPhone borrowed stuff like the home screen from Palm and not say WinCE.)
* tell me how many characters my damn SMS is at
You're kind of right but mostly wrong.
A single browsable market is a HUGE benefit. I had some WinCE device, I put maybe 1 3rd party app on it. I've done a lot more w/ the iPhone because of the single stop w/ great desktop integration.
I switched from palm to iPhone too.
The appstore makes up for most of what you post here!
Appigo Todo is great and moderately priced, I think there are some good web synching note programs too.
Custom conduits have, in part, been replaced with the high level of connectivity.
But for the first year of iPhone, yeah, it was inferior as a PDA to the good old Palm. The appstore more than makes up for it, though, IMO.
I used a PalmOS device from '97 'til '07. It was a great run.
That single tasking thing was just not a problem, save for specific apps, like MP3s (which I think someone had a workaround for).
And iPhone is only multitasking about certain things, and it's the market leader.
This is not a coincidence. Apple took a lot of great cues from the Palm, esp wrt the home screen.
Dunno if they would roll that into the cost or not.
Given that they charge an upgrade for simple text messges, or 20 cents a pop...
"More or less the only reason to get 3G at all is to be able to do video calls."
Way to generalize there, chief!
Is the only reason to get broadband to do webcams?
Anyway, I think what *IS* worth being cynical about here is what kind of plan pricing model would go w/ videoconferencing. One thing that makes the iPhone work is that it had a mandatory "all you can eat" data plan. The iPhone was nifty enough that I was willing to take the plunge to a more expensive plan, and the fact that it was a fixed price made me relax about using the nice new connectivity. Could videoconferencing challenge that? I'm not sure if 3G is "symmetrical" in terms of bandwidth... I wouldn't be shocked if two way video got its own per minute charge.
I know everyone has their own grips about what iPhone does and doesn't do (cut and paste is pretty popular, not enough landscape support in typing apps is my favorite) but they are thinking this without doing straight MMS? Weird priorities.
I agree that maybe MP3s would have gained traction on their own, but i think for both original iPods and the iPhone, you're greatly underestimating the power of interface; the loveliness of the clickwheel, all the major paradigm shifts and tiny little gracenotes of the iPhone... it's not just about "looking great". Not just style, not just prestige, not just hype.
I really liked the little "flavortexts", as Emo as they were... they were really well done.
Some of these still exist and are as readable as when they were written
Actually one of the saddest things about sitting down to a nice modern translation of Gilgamesh is how many chapters are just plain missing, or otherwise distorted, with the translators having to make up bits as best they can.
Atari 7800 homebrew was well-nigh non-existent, and still is pretty weak, in part because of the checksum encryption Atari used... and that is old, cheap hardware from the mid-80s.
That really is it in a nutshell.
A lot of American atheists are fighting against that literal minded Fundamentalist thinking... and to be fair, the cultural environment has an awful lot of that. It was a a REAL eye-opener for me (years and years into my mush agnosticism) when I read an interview with some Anglican Bishop where he says something like "well, of course the stories about Jesus aren't literally true..."- that a high ranking member of the clergy of a very established Christian group could even say that took me aback.
So then you get into, why believe at all? Is it a pragmatic, useful stance for moral guidance? Or is there an inescapable supernatural element? And - and this is crucial - are the *other* books full of allegories about equally as true, or do you think that one specific one or group is special in its connection to the truth?
Hmm. Well, I think there's a well-established precedent for verbing that particular noun, it rings true to my ears.
It's also less awkward than "making a transition", especially in the context used (though "transitioning and growing from a youth into a man" might be a bit on the redundant side).
Then again I'm more of a descriptivist than not.