Going iPad-only: How to do it with the right apps and accessories

We all like to travel light, well I know I do. I never check luggage and recently spent a whole month in Europe with less than 7 kgs of luggage. The iPad is quite a powerful computer with a reasonable sized screen so it's not unreasonable to consider using one as your main computer particularly if you're travelling. You're going to need a bluetooth keyboard and carefully choose which productivity apps you'll need. A recent article in Asian Efficiency gives some sensible advice on the options available to you. If you have been thinking about of going iPad-only or making your iPad your main computer you should read this.

The PC boom is over

Back in April 2010 ,when Steve Jobs launched the iPad, he declared that we were now living in a "post-PC era." Many pundits disagreed and didn't see the point of the tablet - too big to be truly mobile, like a smartphone, and too hard to write on, like a netbook or laptop. Well, The Guardian reports research company IDC as finding that the PC market will never regain its 2011 peak and "it says that total shipments will fall by 9.7% compared to 2012, and will continue to drift down at least until 2017." A separate report shows that large screen smartphones, or "phablets," are particularly popular in the Asia/Pacific region exceeding the sales of tablets and laptops combined. It seems that, at least for personal use, Jobs was sort of right.

Would you buy an ebook reader for $15?

The ebook reader market is about to get a whole lot more competitive. A German company is about to release an ebook reader called the 'txtr beagle that will sell for around $15.00. The Guardian has recently done a review of the beagle and you can visit the company's website and register your interest. It's a little smaller and lighter than a Kindle (but much cheaper), runs for a year on 2 AAA batteries, but can only store 5 books at a time - how many books do you read at once?
   There is one catch though. You'll not actually be able to buy a beagle in a store. It will only be available as an add-on or sweetener to your mobile phone contract. However, it does show that there may be a market for virtually free ebook readers in the future. After all Amazon makes a profit from the books they sell, not the Kindles you read them on.

eBook version of the Universal Machine

Several people have asked me, "is there an eBook version of your book?" And the simple answer is "yes, sort of." You can purchase a DRM free pdf version of The Universal Machine from my publisher's webpage for the book. You'll see under "Available Formats" a section you can expand that says "eBook" - there's a shopping cart icon beside it and clicking that will let you purchase the pdf version, which is slightly cheaper than the softcover.
   However, if you want the book in native format for the iPad or for your Kindle you'll have to wait. These versions are coming but I don't know when. However, if you go to Amazon's webpage for the book there's a link you can click requesting the publisher to provide a Kindle version - please do this if you want a Kindle version (or just do it anyway).
    BTW: from my publisher's webpage for the book you can also access a site where you can see and download excerpts from the The Universal Machine.

The joy of discovery with an encyclopedia and an #iPad

Discover for the iPad

Since Encyclopedia Britannica announced yesterday that it was stopping its print version after 244 years the news media I read online have been full of comments like this one:
   “Not surprising but still very sad. I always loved going through the copies we own and see what page I will find something I would have never thought existed. It was always a bit of an adventure to say the least."
   Everyone seems to assume that the pleasure of randomly coming across an article in Britannica cannot be replicated with Wikipedia, but it can. There's a lovely iPad app called Discover by Cooliris that is designed to encourage just this sort of random discovery. When Discover is launched, it displays a front page featuring a random Wikipedia topic in a friendly magazine style. If that topic doesn't interest, shake the iPad and a new topic is displayed. Clicking a topic brings up more details and related content. If you're want to search for something specific all of Wikipedia is available to you. It's a great app that encourages exactly the sort of chance encounters with fascinating stuff so many of us remember enjoying as kids on a rainy day.

Did Roger Fidler invent the #iPad in 1994?

Roger Fidler with the iPad and his tablet 

An interesting video has surfaced on YouTube that shows Roger Fidler, University of Missouri program director for digital publishing, talking about a device for digital newspapers that looks very similar to the iPad. Moreover, you'll see in the video that many of the features of Fidler's tablet are very similar to the iPad and features of the Safari browser and magazine apps.
   Samsung, who is in patent infringement litigation with Apple, is claiming that since Filbert's tablet was in the public domain in 1994 Apple can't have patented the idea. However, before we all rush off and call Steve Jobs a conman and a plagiarist, we should appreciate that Fidler's tablet was only an idea, he never built them.

Alan Kay with the Dynabook

   If we want to find the real inventor of the iPad then Alan Kay of Xerox PARC can probably lay claim to having first invented the idea with his Dynabook in 1972, a small portable tablet with an intuitive GUI. However, like Fidler's tablet, the Dynabook remained just an idea until Apple built it and called it the iPad.
   
(skip in about 4 mins to see the tablet)

#iPad 3 what you didn't get (right)

Last month I made some predictions about the new iPad 3, and I promised to revisit them after its launch so you could judge if I was correct, or way off mark. Here's what I predicted back in February (in italics) with what the iPad 3 actually has delivered today.

• the iPad 3 it will have basically the same form factor, but may be slightly slimmer and have a smaller bevel around the screen - the iPad 3 case is slightly more tapered but basically it's the same form factor. The 7" iPad that some were predicting is no where to be seen. So I was correct (notice I said "may be slightly slimmer").
• Front and rear facing cameras will be beefed up and there may be a flash - the  rear camera is now at 5MP, so I got that right and it shoots HD video. No flash and I don't have any information on the front facing camera. So I was correct (mostly).
• Faster processor and longer battery life, but no more RAM we're supposed to be using iCloud now - well I'm certainly right here, the iPad 3 now packs the A5X chip! 64GB is still the max RAM, however the battery life remains the same. I'm sure the batteries have been improved, but they've now got to power that new chip, the new connectivity and the new screen. So I was correct here.
• the display will be higher resolution but not the retina display of the iPhone - now, despite what Apple are saying the new iPad 3 does not have a retina display. Apple and Wikipedia define a retina display as: "a display of approximately 300 ppi at a distance of 12 inches (305 mm) from one's eye, or 57 arcseconds per pixel is the maximum amount of detail that the human retina can perceive." The iPad 3  has 264 ppi, which is certainly very HD but not as good as the retina display of the iPhone 4. So I was correct there.
• Siri will be available on the iPad 3 and it will support 4G - the iPad 3 supports dictation but it's not clear if Siri will be built in (which is a puzzle) and of course it has 4G connectivity. So mostly correct here as we're still not sure about Siri.

So, to conclude I'm not at all embarrassed, in fact I wonder what these tech pundits get paid for since all their wilder speculation about 7" iPads, haptic feedback, 3D displays, were all way off mark. As I said back in February the iPad and the iPhone are now like the Porsche 911, the design remains basically the same whilst the internals improve. In contrast here is a typical article today exclaiming "The iPad 3 what we didn't get."

Why is the iPhone like a Porsche 911?

No, it's not because they are both design classics. Well, in a way it is. To the right you can see a vintage Porsche 911 and below a more modern one. As any car enthusiast knows the basic shape of the 911 hasn't changed much since it was launched in 1963. The same will be true over the next few years for the iPhone and the iPad. The basic form will not change.
   People who expect a radically new iPhone 5 this year or a smaller screened iPad just don't understand Apple - it would be like Porsche producing a totally new look 911 or Coke producing a new recipe - we all know how that innovation worked out.
   With the tech media and Apple watchers starting to report rumours of both the new iPhone and iPad here are my predictions, which I will come back to after the respective unveilings so you'll know if I was correct or way off mark.
    For the iPad 3 it will have basically the same form factor, but may be slightly slimmer and have a smaller bevel around the screen. Front and rear facing cameras will be beefed up and there may be a flash. Faster processor and longer battery life, but no more RAM we're supposed to be use iCloud now. The display will be higher resolution but not the retinal display of the iPhone. The iPad won't have enough processing grunt to drive a large display of that quality. Siri will be available on the iPad 3 and it will support 4G.
   For the iPhone 5 no real change. Same form factor, same screen, perhaps a 10 mega pixel camera, faster processor, longer battery life and it will support 4G. But that's it. If you're expecting a whole new amazing iPhone you'll be disappointed. So like the 911 the design remains the same but what's under the hood gets improved.

In Praise of Long Reads

There's been a lot in the media recently about how the Internet has reduced our attention spans and altered our memory. In fact these views have become so commonplace that you'd be forgiven for thinking we were all becoming mindless idiots, with the attention spans of goldfish, unable to concentrate on anything longer than a tweet.
    Well, whilst all this has been going on, in parallel, and totally contrary to this meme, has been the spread of the curation of long form articles on the Web. Long form basically means an article usually at least 2,000 words long or about 8 pages. Think of them like in depth magazine pieces you might read in the New Yorker, The Atlantic or a newspaper's weekend supplement. I've found over the last year I've been reading an increasing number of these, usually on my iPad. So I thought I'd take a moment to share some links I use, which you may find useful.

• Longreads - the best long form stories on the web, is an excellent curated list. updated daily
• The Long Good Read - handpicked articles updated twice daily and indexed by. category
• Give Me Something to Read - just like the above, you're getting the idea now.

Indeed, long reads seem to be becoming so popular that magazines, like The Atlantic and Mojo, are now using it as an index tag for their own content. In conjunction with any long read I usually use the excellent Instapaper app on my iPad (there's a web version as well), which is great for stripping away the original tricksy web formatting and presenting your long read as simple text, on a plain background, in a clear readable font. Instapaper is great on the iPad; you can load it up with pre-downloaded content for when you're travelling or you can settle down at home in your comfy chair with a drink and some background music for a good long read. Bliss!

Personalised iPad magazine

I've been away, fishing, and literally off the grid for a while in the far north of New Zealand. No cell phone coverage so definitely no internet. Sadly the fishing wasn't that great but as they say "a bad days fishing is better than a good day at work."
   I Came across an interesting app for my iPad called Zite. It's a personalisable magazine app a bit like Flipboard. But whereas Flipboard provides you with articles derived from the people you follow on Twitter, your Facebook friends and a range of web publications you select Zite provides content via subjects like: World News, Culture, Technology. You can also ask for articles on specific topics like "Apple" or "trout fishing". The big point of difference though is that Zite lets you say if you like an article or not and will learn your preferences with time.
  The interface is quite as slick as Flipboards but the ability to learn preferences is very interesting. As I've said before, why would I buy a magazine for my iPad when these apps provide a magazine experience for free.

Not completely right

Ok so my predictions for the iPad 2 were not spot on, but I still expect iOS 5 to function as I predicted. Honestly I'm surprised that Apple has changed the design of the iPad 2 so much. The front facing camera and faster processor were easy to see coming, but I really didn't expect a camera on the back and really I don't expect many people to use it as a camera. Lighter doesn't surprise but thinner does. Apple must really want to dominate this market and now before most competitors have even brought their first tablets to market Apple have leaped ahead again.

Finally someone gets it!

Woohoo. Finally tech pundits are seeing the light. This article by Federico Viticci commenting on a New York Times piece has it right about Apple's plans for 2011 and beyond. Don't expect nano-iPhones or 7" iPad's. In fact expect new hardware to have less, not more, on board memory, because iTunes-in-the-cloud and wireless synching of iOS devices is coming soon.
  Take a look at my blog from last year to see my predictions and the reasons for them.

iPad 2 - they're "still" missing the point

Remember back last year I blogged that everyone was missing the point with regard to the iPad 2's functionality. It's all about the software not the hardware. Well pundits are still missing the point. Here's a typical piece on the soon to be announced iPad 2 that bemoans how lack lustre the hardware improvements seem to be.  [BTW: it seems my predictions last year on the hardware of the iPad 2 are spot on]

eBook Sales Overtake Paperbacks

Amazon have reported that their sales of eBooks for the Kindle have exceeded sales of paperbacks for the first time.  I'm not surprised, once you try an eBook reader like the Kindle or iPad there really is just no going back. Not only are the eBooks cheaper than the paperbacks (though perhaps not as cheap as they should be), but the convenience of being able to carry dozens of books around with you is just so handy.
   So if you're one of those people who say "oh I love curling up with a real book, nothing can beat that" I'd say don't judge before you try. Borrow a Kindle or iPad if you can for a few days from a friend and see what it's like.....I wonder if this book will ever be published in a physical format?

Why iPad Magazines Are Failing

Mike Elgan writes an interesting article on Why iPad magazines are failing that concentrates on the price of the iPad editions wrt the newsstand and subscription pricing that I agree with. However, I think Mike is overlooking the big game changer in apps like Flipboard. I increasingly go straight to that if I want the magazine experience – Flipboard is free, it has a funky layout, photos, embedded video and constantly changing content drawn from all over the web. If I could only have one magazine app on the iPad it would be Flipboard, not Wired or Esquire or GQ regardless of their price point.

iPad 2.0 - they're missing the point

There are lots of articles around at the moment about what the next version of the iPad may look like. There's no doubt that Apple stole such a lead on its competitors that almost a year later few strong competitors to the iPad exist, so a next-gen version may increase Apple's dominance of this sector. This is also I suppose of interest to people thinking of an iPad as a Christmas purchase -  should they hold-off and wait for the new version.


However, I think most of the commentators are totally missing the point (here's a typical iPad 2.0 article). We all know what the new version of the iPad will be (broadly speaking), but the hardware is much less than half the story. So let's get the iPad 2.0 out of the way:

• it will have a front facing camera to support FaceTime (if you look carefully at the top centre of your iPad you'll see a small hole already exists for a camera),
• it wont have a back facing camera (everyone who has an iPad probably has a digital camera already),
• it will be the same size, but perhaps lighter and with even better battery life,
• there will not be a 7" screen version
• it may have a faster processor and more RAM
• it will not have a retina display (there's not enough processing power in the iPad for that many pixels on a 10" screen)
• it will not have more than 64GB storage
• it will run iOS 5.0

Really all the hardware points are just obvious. But the last two items need explanation.  The iPad will not need more that 64GB of storage because iOS 5.0 will be seamlessly integrated with Apple's cloud services (iTunes-in-the-cloud and other cloud storage systems).


My prediction is that with iOS 5.0 users of iOS devices will store and access all their music, photos, movies, TV shows, podcasts, ebooks, and data files in the cloud. The local storage on your devices will just be used as a local cache for frequently and recently used data. Your entire music library and everything else will permanently live on Apple's cloud. Hence you'll never need more than 64GB or local storage.


Apple are about to open their massive data center in North Carolina and all the smart money is that this will be used for iTunes-in-the-cloud. So basically stop worrying about the iPad 2.0, the really interesting innovations will be iOS 5.0 and iTunes.


A previous blog post of mine talks more on this and how it will reduce online piracy

How Apple Will Stop Piracy

You heard it here first so please spread the word.
Apple is going to virtually eliminate the piracy (e.g., illegal file sharing) of music, movies, TV shows and e-books in the next few years. There are several inter-related developments at Apple that have made me reach this conclusion:

1. A few weeks ago Steve Jobs unveiled the new Apple TV device. Now previous incarnations of Apple TV have not been very popular and even Jobs called it a "hobby". What is different about the new Apple TV from other DVR devices is that it has no file storage (i.e., no hard drive or solid state drive and no ability to connect a hard drive (via USB or Firewire). Movies or TV shows that you watch via the Apple TV must be streamed as rentals. 
2. Apple is about to commission a huge new data centre in North Carolina. Now industry watchers don't know what Apple plans to do with this massive data centre. But all agree that it's much too big to be just for MobileMe, Apple's cloud storage and synchronisation service. Such a big investment means Apple has big plans for us.
3. The iPad is often touted as the ideal computer for technophobes - the elderly in particular, and sales figures do show that elderly buy it. But to use the iPad you have to have another computer (Mac or PC) to sync it with using iTunes. If you buy an iPad and don't own (or have access to) another computer it's useless, you can't even get it registered to turn it on without connecting to iTunes. So the iPad can't be used as someone's only computer at the moment.
4. The iPad's (and for that matter the iPhone's and iPod's) file system is locked down. That means you can't directly browse the file system to locate a locally stored music or movie file. Now lots of geeks criticise Apple for this and they jailbreak their devices so they can access the file system directly. However, for the majority of users this makes the devices easier to use. You don't need to know or even care where files are located. The apps that use them know where they are. 

So how do these things fit together? Well I think Apple's data centre is for "iTunes-in-the-cloud". If you can sync to iTunes-in-the-cloud then you won't need any other computer, so the iPad then truly become a great device for technophobes or people with no other computer. But you'll also be able to access your entire iTunes library from the cloud - all your music, movies, TV shows and e-books. Then Apple TV becomes the only device you'll need in your living room (apart from a TV). Moreover, your iPad and iPhone and iPods will also have access to all your media and data from anywhere on the planet, and with no need for local file storage these devices can become smaller, lighter and cheaper with longer battery life.
So how does this stop piracy? Well piracy happens because it is so easy to copy computer files. Anyone can easily rip a CD or DVD and give the resulting files to a friend or they can share them on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. But consider the situation in five years time when everyone is using iTunes-in-the-cloud. Everyone will be streaming their media and there will be no local copies of the files to be copied or file-shared. Piracy suddenly becomes very difficult for most people. Now obviously if something can be heard or seen it can be copied, but copying in this future becomes much more difficult and time consuming - as does playing back the copy if you only own an iPad or an Apple TV. Remember these devices have file systems that are closed to users so even if you know there is a movie file on your iPad you can't copy it and give it to somebody else.
Moreover, if this move to cloud storage and streaming is coupled with reasonably priced "all you can eat" deals for movie rentals, music and even e-books, then the incentive for piracy is further reduced. For example NetFlix offers unlimited streaming movies now for $8.99 a month and NetFlix is (not coincidentally) available via the Apple TV.
Further, there's no reason to assume that iTunes-in-the-cloud will just be limited to Apple devices, after all iTunes already runs on Windows, but it will appear first on Apple devices and my bet is it will be released with iOS 5.0 next year, when the big data centre is up and running.
Thus, Apple (almost) stops piracy and becomes the darling of the movie/music & publishing businesses.

iPad: Consumption vs. Creation

So I've had the iPad over a week now and have observed how I (& others) use it. It is definitely a content consumption device rather than a content creation device. I can answer emails on it and I'm writing this blog post on it with no problem - I quite like its virtual keyboard. But, 99% of what I use it for is consumption. I've finished two books on the iBook reader and enjoyed them. I've used the iBook reader for PDFs of academic papers just fine as well. The zinio magazine app is great and magazines are really readable. Movies & TV shows & TED talks are great on it along with social media apps like TweetDeck.


It doesn't replace my laptop for what it is good for (content creation) but it has for consumption on the sofa or at a café table.

First thoughts on iPad

So I've had the iPad for a few days now and my first thoughts are: I love it, but it will not replace my laptop except, when I travel. The last point requires some explanation because isn't a laptop a portable computer? Well, yes but the iPad is just so light and well portable and since I can do almost everything on it, why would I want a heavy, bulky laptop weighing me down when I'm travelling. You should know though that I'm a fanatically light traveller. I never check luggage and can do a month overseas with less than 7kg of carry-on luggage. The iPad will be fantastic for traveling.
I'm enjoying the iBook reader, it's a very nice experience for reading ePub books and is also very good for pdfs. This latter ability will be very useful for reading academic papers on the move and other technical works.

An outstanding app for me that shows the true power and brilliance of the iPad's interface is, perhaps surprisingly, a backgammon app. Why, because for the first time I see a backgammon game on a computer that looks, feels and plays just like a real board. There is absolutely nothing on screen other than the board. You move the pieces with your fingers, not a mouse or cursor. It's so believable I forget that I'm using a computer. This is a wonderful experience. I'll probably never own a real backgammon set again, the iPad is better, you can play against a computer and stop and return to a game later on.
I think it's this "forgetting you're using a computer" feeling that is what is so special about the iPad.
I'm still waiting for my case to arrive which has limited the use of the iPad at breakfast for example; hard to eat and hold and navigate the iPad all at the same time, but once the case arrives it will lets me stand the iPad up in a variety of angles and I'll remove my laptop from the breakfast table. and read the newspaper with it. Finally, a very honourable mention to the New Zealand Herald. An excellent newspaper app, well done, I think it's one of the best media apps out there.

Back from my trip

Well it's been awhile. I promised to blog from overseas, but of course I was too busy. I had a very good trip taking in two conferences, AAAI in Atlanta and ICCBR in Alessandria Italy. You can see photos from the Italian part of the trip some of which are really beautiful. We went on a conference day-trip to Stresa on one of the northern lakes and took a ferry ride to visit several islands - really lovely.

Once I returned I obviously had to clear a backlog of tasks from my desk and then yesterday my iPad arrived. They are finally on sale in NZ. Of course that wiped out any chance of working yesterday. I have to say I'm loving the iPad. More comments and thoughts on it will follow I'm sure.