...

iPad First Impressions

OK, I think I have had enough time with the iPad now to share some first impressions. Keep in mind that these are based upon a few hours of sporadic usage and hence they are a lot more jerk then knee. Also, this was written entirely on the iPad in landscape orientation on my lap.

  • Holy Moses is this thing fast! I mean, the first thing I imagine any iPhone user will think after using this for a few minutes is how BadAss™ the next iPhone will be if they use a similar A4 chip as they do here.
  • That speed comes with a side advantage that I did not put much thought into before today — making the device disappear. The experience is so natural and reflexive, the only thought that comes to mind is “Yes. This is the way computing should have always been”. After only a few seconds you are suddenly flying around the interface with such speed and grace that you forget the interface completely. It is simply an extension of you.
  • The keyboard is entirely useable and comfortable to me. Especially in landscape orientation. The whole “lean back a bit and cradle it in your lap” experience works quite well. So does the “hunched over looking down at the thing” experience. In other words, if one is not careful this will produce a whole new range of ergonomically induced syndromes. Keep in mind that I am a “two finger” typist and generally don’t have issues on keyboards of different sizes and types your milage may y.
  • Many, many of the apps are far better, more useable and more natural than either their desktop or iPhone counterparts. While that is certainly true of many of the built in ones, it is not exclusive to them. Twitterific for iPad is far better than any other version. The Kindle app is even better than the Kindle itself, let alone on the iPhone or Desktop. Instapaper is an absolute dream. The list could go on. I really believe this is also related to the speed and fluidity of the iPad and how these apps simply behave in ways that are natural and intuitive.
  • Some short term investment advice – The future is in microfiber! Short of that, if you have been thinking about starting a business that sells cleaner for the iPad screen, now is the time.

In all, I am beyond happy with the iPad. It not only lives up to the hype, it exceeds it.

Random Apple Thoughts, Loosely Joined

I have been struggling for a while how to write a post to tie these things together but just can’t seem to get there. These things are all related to my pure conjecture, speculation and general feelings about some of Apple’s short and long term strategy moves so they are pieces loosely connected in that respect. Then, I had the dilemma of whether or not to post this today, a day when the internet is rife with fake news and clever pranks. I was afraid that no one would take me seriously. But then, I had an epiphany – This is exactly the reason to post this today.

Therefore, without further ado, here are just some random thoughts, observations, and, in the words of Arseno Hall, things that make you go “hmmmmm”:

  • If I were Apple, and I was considering creating an App Store for the Mac, I might start by making the Mac Developer program the exact same price as the iPhone program (and by “iPhone” I mean any iPhone OS based device). It would certainly be the step I would take before I merged the two programs. In fact, perhaps the best reason for doing so would be that, eventually, the tools would be in place for developers to write one application and have it behave in device specific ways. In other words, install it on an iPhone and it looks and runs like an iPhone app. Install that same application on a Mac and it magically works and feels like a Mac application.
  • I don’t think enough emphasis has been placed on the real and advantageous reasons (in their mind at least) Apple might have for creating a Mac App Store and making that the only way to install Apps on a Mac as it is with the iPhone/iPad. This is not only about control for the sake of control – which they clearly prefer. It is also about control for the sake of quality and security. The Mac OS only remains fairly secure and virus/malware free mostly through obscurity. The folks who would want to exploit the many known security holes just don’t see enough money in it for it to be worth the time. That said, as Apple’s marketshare increases, so does that metric. Certainly, if the only way to get any executable on the Mac required going through the App store, or installation of a specific Ad Hoc Profile that requires the user supply their UUID, and then that had a forced expiration date and creating such required Developer Program membership… I think you see where I am going. The system in place for the iPhone is an incredibly secure one in comparison to the Mac OS. There is a lot of value in that – especially from a marketing perspective.
  • The fact that Tim Cook has been increasingly more visible as a public face of Apple has not escaped my notice. Also, I have noted that so many of the times he has spoken at some event, he goes well out of his way to talk about the “culture” of Apple is what allows it to perform at the level it does. Not any one person and, in a sense, not specifically people at all. It is, in his mind, the culture that powers the success machine. Good ideas develop at one end and magic comes pouring out the other and it is the culture that drives that. Once thing that a lot of people don’t think about is how incredibly flat of an organization Apple is compared to most others like it. By flat I mean that the number of people between, say, a retail store employee and Steve Jobs himself is quite a bit less than say, at Microsoft. Such flatness works very well for maintaining and instilling a unique culture. Simply hire the right people that fit well into that culture and the machine will keep churning out successful products.

    • The subtext of the above: Everything will be fine when Steve leaves and Tim Cook takes over, it is the culture that drives Apple’s success, not any one individual. So every time you hear an Apple executive mention “culture”, this is what they are saying.
    • Pixar is a good example of a post Steve Apple. Put the good stories at one end, let the culture develop them, watch the magic happen.

Decoding Jackson Pollock

Decoding Jackson Pollock

I’m now convinced that Pollock wrote his name in large letters on the canvas—indeed, arranged the whole painting around his name. As far as I can tell, no one has previously made this assertion. Nor is there evidence that Pollock himself, who was loath to talk about his art and left behind few written records, ever mentioned this coded gesture.

Beyond fascinating.

The Ian Hines Interviews

One thing that is increasingly fascinating to me is how much writers of all stripes and mediums enjoy writing and reading about the process of writing and the importance that reading plays in this process — especially when the medium being examined is their own. I certainly am no exception. It is for this reason that I have found reading about the origin and processes of several of my online publishing compatriots so compelling.

Ian Hines recently interviewed a number of these folks but, due to circumstances I can’t yet surmise, was never able to actually post them. I am so very thankful that did not result in a treasure lost but, instead, it allowed these fine writers of some of my favorite blogs to post the interviews on their own sites, thus making the peek behind the curtain even more compelling than any “about” page ever could ever do.

I urge you to read each one of these posts, in their full original context, one after another, as they almost form a single narrative around the question of “Why bloggers blog”. Here they are with a favorite takeaway line each:

  • Pat Dryburgh – “I also want to quickly touch on this: I am hesitant to use terms like “real” or “real world” friends when speaking about friends I know offline. I have had real, heart to heart conversations with some great people that I count as good friends even though I’ve never met them in person. To me, that is just as real as someone I’ve shaken hands with”

  • Shawn Blanc – “Publishing a weblog has been the best thing I could have done for my writing. It is a format that really works for me: I enjoy it, I’m challenged by it, inspired by it, and frustrated by it. I love it and I hate it. Some days I cannot wait to sit down at my keyboard, while other days I consider quitting altogether and spending all that new free time building furniture. And but so the blend of emotion is sort of my proof that I ought to keep growing and writing.”

  • Jorge Quinteros – “Maintaining a log of opinions and imagery seemed like the ideal way to hoard memories. There’s nothing like reading back on your own words or viewing your photographs and being able to recall exactly what you felt when creating any of them.”

  • Kyle Baxter – “Whatever it is you find yourself reading about constantly, and thinking about when you should be thinking about something else; that thing that just grabs your attention like nothing else does, and leaves you terribly excited… That’s what you need to write about.”

Seriously, go read each one. Nothing but gold past this rainbow. It’s a shame there are not more of these. I’d like to buy the book.

Review: Rework

The only way I can fairly review Rework, the new book by 37 Signals founders Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson is to break it into two separate reviews – one for each audience. Therefore, decide which one you fit into and read on from there.

Fans, True Believers, and Apostates

You fit into this group if you are an avid fan of 37 Signals, read their Signal vs. Noise blog, and are already intimately aware of their core philosophies. If this is you then, this book will hold no surprises and it will be nothing you have not seen before in one form or another. You may want to buy an electronic edition of the book for the occasional pep talk as needed. Or, since no “subchapter” is longer than a few pages, it might be the perfect addition to the well curated bathroom (you do, in fact, curate your bathroom reading, right?). It also will make a great gift for your friends in Group #2.

37 Who?

You fit into this group if you are not all that familiar with 37 Signals, their philosophies, or their blog. For you, this book is a must read. It is disruptive and will shake up every foundation about business you have learned. You need this because within lies the truth, in short digestible bites, about how to really start a business that builds on your passion and make that business successful by the only standards that matter (yours). Its a fantastic and smart read by people with opinions – people with opinions are rare these days. That said, I’m sure you know a few and they are likely in Group #1. Ask them to loan you their copy of Rework.

Faith in The Future

Both my wife and I are freelance consultants. I’m a technical consultant and she’s a non-profit and arts management consultant. Because of this, our “office” is usually wherever we are. We spend many days shuffling between ious locations. Our computing needs have to be highly portable and durable. We always buy the most machine for our long term needs and always purchase the piece of mind that Applecare provides. We even keep a spare machine on deck should one of our machines need to go in for service. Generally, we replace our laptops when the Applecare runs out (i.e. every three years), which just happens to be this month.

For my beautiful wife, we decided to get the new Macbook (2.26 GHz, 250GB, 2GB RAM) to replace her previous three year old model (1.83 Ghz, 120GB, 2GB RAM). Her needs are basic – web, email, office apps. For that, this is more than enough machine and should last her very well for the next three years. It’s an amazing machine for the price and we recommend it highly.

For me, I decided to “replace” my self upgraded black Macbook (2.0 Ghz, 320GB 7200 RPM, 4GB RAM) with an… iPad (WiFi only, 64GB). I know. Crazy right? Well, here’s the thing – the Macbook I have is more than enough machine for me capability wise. The upgrades I have given it mean that it will be enough machine for several more years to come in this respect. I did not need “more machine”. What I needed was “greater flexibility and portability”. The iPad will serve me well in almost every situation I can think of. It will allow me to do everything I need to 99% of the time. My Macbook will become a desktop machine, an adjunct to the iPad, with the added bonus of being able to be portable for those rare times I need more machine when out and about at a client. But, for all intents and purposes, the iPad will be my main daily machine.

Still think I’m insane? Well, wait until I tell you that I used a Newton MessagePad as my main “daily worker” for years. Every model from the introduction of the MessagePad 120 all the way until the 2100. I used it for web browsing (as it was at the time), reading, email, notes, calendar, address book, word processor, and much more. In other words, exactly as one would use any portable computer. During that time, I saw the sort of computing I was able to do with a handheld device, and the way I was doing it, as the future of computing. With the introduction of the iPad, my faith in that future is regained.

I am sure the time will come when I have to replace my current Macbook. But that is at least a couple of more years off as I see it. The iPad really is a return to the future for me. Call me crazy.