I admit it I’m a bit of an Apple fan and like a lot of people following the real-time blogs and twitter feeds of yesterdays iPad launch I was left a little disappointed by the launch presentation.
I think it was mainly due to the fact that after all the rumours and debate I was expecting Apple to deliver something that wasn’t so, how to put this – expected.
With other launches Steve Jobs has managed to pull together a presentation that builds up to a point where you are left wondering how they have achieved such amazing sales figures and advances in technology and then towards the end of his presentation he hits you with the infamous “just one more thing” and reveals the amazing iMac, iPod or iPhone…
Alas this wasn’t to be and quite a few of the bloggers where caught by surprise “0:21AM This is the ultimate tease. We’ve got a sneaking suspicion there’s a lot more to come.” Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/).
That said, having now watched the full Keynote (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/specialevent0110/) my mind has been swayed to thinking that, for what this product has been created for, the iPad is actually, as Steve kept saying, magical.
The iPad is designed to be easily usable, comfortable to hold and carry out the tasks that say a household would expect from a device created to be interacted with as and when you need it.
How many of you sit in front of the TV with the laptop on, or more recently browsing on your iPod touch or iPhone? This exactly where the iPad comes into its own.
I’ve seen a few comments about the size of the frame, from what I can see this needs to be wide as when you hold the device your thumb comes over the front. Without the frame this would mean your thumb encroaches onto the screen which simply wouldn’t work.
The other question raised is why there is still no flash on this device.
Anyone who knows me will know that I can be quite the conspiracy theorist and this comes true when thinking about the missing Flash issue.
Is it because Apple knows that the touch interface will simply not work with Flash? or is it more a case of if the devices ran Flash, Apple couldn’t rely on the control they have through their software when building Apps because everyone would use Flash instead? Thoughts please!
Whilst I want an iPad for the house, I think, as always, I’ll wait for the next version to see if it comes with a webcam. That said if Adobe pull their finger out and port some lite versions of their software to work with the iPad this may just sway me. How amazing to sit and doodle ideas and ping them over to Darren for input.
Finally we live in a time when we play with devices that until recently where only available on the Star Trek Enterprise… (Star Trek pad). I still can’t wait until we hand out iPads to the agency team, are constantly connected and sharing our ideas with clients and each other, transferring files, music, photos and collaborating together in real-time from wherever we are in the world. That day is one step closer today and it is pretty cool.
Keep up the good work Apple.
