J . M A I L

iPad - Please Don’t Hate

I was excited to watch the apple release of their new tablet yesterday. This has apparently been a pet project of Steve Job’s for years now and you could tell he was really excited to show it off. The reaction from most other people has been poor and I want to address this a bitty.

1. This is first gen product and those that do buy it will suffer an early adopters tax much like the first ipod/iphone/zune/eeepc ect. but unlike a lot of other first gen releases this one is built upon a much stronger foundation of the existing iPod line and iPhone OS. I expect this to be the most polished launch product apple has had in years.

2. People complain about the lack of media card reader, camera, stylus (I really wanted this one), but that is missing the point. This product is being let down because the expectations placed upon it are far too great by far too many.

Apple is not know for making new revolutionary things (despite what they say) but are know for making existing things better than the competition.

IE. Mp3 players had been around for a long time but the iPod line was just better in a lot of ways than anything else in the market.

Smart phones have been around for years but Apple was the first to really hit the sweet spot and combine technologies for the North American market.

So then what is apple making better this time around? the ebook reader!

If you want this product to replace your laptop you will be disappointed, if you want it to replace your phone you will be disappointed, but if you want to compare it to a Kindle ebook reader you will be amazed.

For $10 dollars more than the top of line Kindle you get a WHOLE lot more, colour screen, better build quality, internet access, iBook store, overall prettier product ect.

3. Yes, the next gen of iPad will have the features people wanted this one to have but for the price of $500 us (way below expectations) can you really complain? If it had everything included in this version and had cost $1000 people would have complained about the price?

4. For novice computer users this will be a great product. For some people file management and folders are confusing, multitasking is confusing, the internet and email are a mystery. For the novice users, the iPad and a wireless router will let them do almost anything they can imagine. They won’t know any better about the quality of the virtual keyboard compared to a physical keyboard. This device will just work for them.

5. This device, I hope, will do for books what the first ipods did for digital music, make a bigger and better industry with easier access for consumers.

Will I be buying the first gen iPod? I will probably pass for now as I am very happy with an iPod touch and my 11.6” windows netbook.

Objectified

I just watched the documentary “Objectified”. My brain is buzzing with hundreds of thoughts and comments. I want to get them all out but first I am going to re-watch this movie and write down my thoughts as I go. Expect to read a number of blog posts in the near future centered around design and interaction design. I highly recommend you watch (*download) this film. (btw the above video is just a short clip from the movie, the first guy who speaks is Dieter Rams, and you can see in just a few pictures how he influenced apple by following this link)

Crazy Ideas

Two crazy ideas have taken a hold of me tonight. 1) A suspended laptop holder & 2) A keyless dead-bolt lock system

1)

http://lifehacker.com/5264303/the-suspended-laptop

I have been day dreaming for hours about how this would work in front of my couch. I even came up with a way of having only one anchored point in the ceiling by using a coat hanger cubed frame surrounding the laptop and wire mesh paper holder stand by attaching wire to the four corners of the top of the cube. I could likely do the whole thing for less than $10 dollars.

After much thought I decided against it mostly because I would still need to look down at my keyboard and the keyboard would have to sit on my coffee table which is too low to make make moving my head up and down comfortable and even worse the reach past my knees to the keyboard would be very awkward.

I have decided this really only works with a desk but I might follow up with this if I ever do find myself with another actually desk at home.

2)

http://www.keylesspro.com/remote.htm

I saw some videos of a homemade lock openers that worked with (rhythmic knocks/rfid fobs/ect) but all the home made options looked less than professional, had a flaw of some kind, and/or looked hard to make. Looking at the price of easily programmable circuit board, wireless fobs, and motors I decided they would cost a lot too. Turns out its cheaper just to buy a pre-made one. The one shown above is less than $100 shipped.

Other options include models like this finger print door lock pictured below:

I am still considering both of these. I could move with them and they are all easy to install. The only issue would be lock colour which might look bad in a new location and I don’t know what the hardward colour should be for the next place I live.

What do you think of these locks? Worth it or not worth it?