iPad Detractors Need To iChillout and Take a Longer View

Posted on 29 January 2010 by


Larry and I had a chance to listen to Engadget’s radio stream yesterday. It will come as no surprise that it was all iPad, all the time. It was an interesting discussion because it captured the debate that’s going on in the blogosphere right now with regard to Apple’s newest creation. What was most amusing was that it nearly mirrored the debates that Larry and I have been having over it, when very often one of us would say something and seconds later one of the people on the stream would then say as well. There’s no question that there’s a lot to be critical of with the iPad. Currently it doesn’t run flash, it doesn’t multitask, and more. At the same time, the hardware is gorgeous. It’s all but impossible to deny that fact unless you’re in the camp of bashing the larger black bezel — but that does was there for a reason. If it weren’t there when you pick up the device you would be triggering the touchscreen. There’s no question to my mind that it was a trade-off decision which allows the device to be more functional even while it is a little bit less attractive. In addition, the device’s screen just looks great. According to all reports the screen is more like looking at a TV and a computer monitor — and that is a positive.

Yes, there are things to criticize about the device but I have a message to all of the iPad detractors — iChillOut and get a little bit of iPatience.

Seriously, one of the biggest issues with our economy, with our country and with the tech world in general is that we tend to look at things short-term. The stock market responds to today’s news far too often. And we as a nation tend to react to the news of the day and then move on to the next news of the day. Steve Jobs doesn’t have this problem. He clearly is a long-term thinker. Why else would he rejected numerous prototypes for this device and wait until he felt it was “just right” before releasing it. We can’t just look at the device as it stands at this moment. (Or, more accurately, as we think it stands at this moment since numerous questions remain open). Rather, we need to look a little bit more long term. We’ve been here before, and we need to be here again.

First point – iPhone “Classic” VS iPhone 3GS

Think back — when the iPhone was first announced it was an amazing device. It was truly revolutionary. But it was totally limited. It didn’t run applications. It didn’t have 3G or a GPS chip. You weren’t able to type in landscape or cut and paste text. The Bluetooth was crippled. And yes, it lacked flash. And there was much more. Just a few short years later, and many of the initial issues have been resolved — and resolved well in fact. Sure, but I still doesn’t run applications in the background, but the push notification system actually works rather well for me. And sure, it still doesn’t run flash, but I’ve learned to live with it. Based on iPhone adoption rates many of us have. And in light of the fact that my computer slows down significantly when I’m doing something that’s built in flash, I can’t argue too much with the decision not to have it (at least as it stands now) on the device. The point is this — the iPhone was released with some significant limitations, but within a few short years the device has been transformed into something far more powerful and useful than many of us ever imagined. I have no doubt the same will happen with the iPad. We need to think about the device as it currently stands, AND as it will likely be in six months to a year.

Second point — NYTimes Yes, but where was everyone else?

There was a lot missing the other day and I don’t think that was by design. We heard a tremendous number of rumors about special magazines and television show deals. None of those were shown off. I have very little doubt that Steve Jobs wanted to be able to announce tremendous content deals as part of the reveal, but could not bring them to fruition in time. That’s the problem when you announce an event and are locked into it weeks before it actually takes place. My guess is that until the 11th hour they were working to try to seal those deals, but they didn’t come through in time to be presented on Wednesday. My other guess — before the device actually ships they will be in place.

Third point — 4.0 Where Art Though?

Many of us thought that the event would include both the new device and news about the iPhone update. What we got was an event that focused only on the iPad. That’s okay, but it leaves open the window for Jobs to hold another media event, during which he reveals iPhone OS 4.0 and, hopefully, new hardware. At the event this past Wednesday the iPad was running version 3.2 of the operating system. Were it to be running version 4.0 of the operating system (which I have no doubt is getting ready to be released), it would’ve stolen the thunder from the next media event. Steve Jobs doesn’t do that. Yes, he announced that the device would ship with version 3.2 of the operating system. It may have it, but I have no doubt that within a few short weeks after that early adopters will be able to update to 4.0.

And here’s the important part — we don’t know what operating system 4.0 is going to offer. It may stick with the push notification system, but it may just as well allow you to begin running a few applications in the background. If it does, one of the major issues that the detractors have with the device will be removed. We won’t know until it is announced, and Steve Jobs wasn’t stealing his own thunder. [That's what McGraw Hill's publisher is for.] Again, it’s an issue of those of us looking at the device now trying to take a longer view, rather than simply looking at the device as it stands at this moment.

Fourth and final point — You don’t make your case by knocking someone else

Steve Jobs made a huge mistake on Wednesday. His ego got in the way. The result? He felt he needed to take a few shots at netbooks. He positioned the new device has a better version of netbooks, and then went on to demo the device without applications running in the background or flash. Those are two things netbooks do and people want. As a result everyone talking about the new device immediately began the discussion with “you can’t replace a netbook or a notebook with this device, since the new device doesn’t run applications in the background or provide access to flash applications.”

Had Jobs simply revealed the device as its own device, people could have made their own connections between this device and existing devices. The discussion might then have been focusing on this device versus the Kindle or the nook rather than netbooks.  In those cases the device wins almost hands-down. Steve Jobs should not have set it up as a competitive device against any other. Rather, he should simply out the iPad as its own innovative piece of gear. Had he done that I think we would be having a far different discussion.

So those are my thoughts on the current debate regarding this new creation. I don’t think it’s going to be a flop, but I also don’t think it will be adopted at the same rate as the iPhone. I think a device that actually ships will be significantly different than the device we’re using a year from now. And I think the second version of the hardware will be more powerful and less expensive than this one. Sadly I suspect there will also be a little bit less durable. We’ve seen that one before.


This post was written by:

- who has written 2795 posts on Gear Diary.

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. +Dan Cohen

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  • Joel McLaughlin

    OK I agree on the Netbook front. Job sslammed them and in turn is getting slammed back. Netbooks ARE functional devices. The biggest issue with netbooks now is Microsoft has come to play. They missed the boat with the category establishing first Eee PC. However, it will not replace my Kindle. I simply do not want to read from a glowing device all of the time. Plus I need to point back to your vacation on the beach with your Kindle DX, Dan. You won’t be able to sit back on the beach and read in full sunlight with a iPad. Unless they make some advances in iPad 2G.

    With that said, I think the most exciting things are to come from both Apple and everyone else. Now that Apple has come to play in this new category (Smartbooks?? Smartpad’s??) others will have to improve. I can’t wait to see the MSI Tablet running Android.

  • Dan Cohen

    Actually Joel I would have LOVE to have this on vacation and will after April. Moreover, there were times I used an iPod touch and its “glowing device” screen to read at times and had no real complaints.

  • Joel McLaughlin

    DOH….forgot to say why Microsoft coming to play in the netbook space was important….Vista. Vista would not run well on a netbook. Asus knew that. That is why they went for Linux. Linux works well on netbooks. Microsoft did bounce pack and Windows 7 is much better and works well on netbooks. However, the XP and Vista netbooks have built up the netbooks rep as being slow. I have done almost everything I have done with my full sized laptop with my netbook. The only things it can’t do well is gaming and video playing and creation and even then I watch video on it all of the time. So Jobs is getting deservedly slammed. The iPad won’t replace netbooks. Period.

  • Joel McLaughlin

    Good for you Dan! I can’t. I wonder if this is because my eyes just got strained form years of reading off of CRT’s?? I know that if I had continued to use CRT’s, I would be hurting now. LCD’s saved my eyes in a big way.

    I can read for hours off of a Kindle. Sometimes I just can’t do it with a LCD based device. It’s just me and a lot of other people too. My Mom would probably love reading on a Kindle. Not so much off of an iPad.

    Don’t get me wrong….the geek in me wants one. However the practical side has me locked down with a chain. It’s on my wish list though.

  • Mark Vlastelica

    I’m excited for it! At first I thought this thing was ridiculous!! Then I started to think about the kindle and how i was interested in buying one, but the kindle was sort of pricey to me for just an e reader. I’m still going to wait and see how many text books will be for sale in the ibook store because that’s what I’m really going to use it for. Text books are ridiculously expensive and I’d much rather spend just 20 bucks on an ebook that looks beautiful on the iPad. All the media capabilities are just icing on the cake! I wonder if Apple was working with the developers of the classics app for the iPhone because the iBooks app looks exactly the same, from what I’ve seen, to the classics app.

  • D Rod

    Seriously, Gear Diary? This whole iPad-apologist thing has turned into stinky bathwater, and it may be time to throw out the offending babies as well.

    I haven’t been one to detract from the iPad at all but to treat your reader like we’re irrational morons that need to “iChillout” and take a long view is pretty offensive, especially when you might benefit from taking an even longer view then the ones that you advocate. Do research. When you stick up for the iPad, you stick for all of this too:

    http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/01/a-look-at-apples-love-for-drm-and-consumer-lock-ins.ars
    http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/ftc-reminds-us-that-storing-data-in-the-cloud-has-drawbacks.ars
    http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/01/27/how-a-great-product-can-be-bad-news-apple-ipad-and-the-closed-mac/
    http://apcmag.com/switch_to_ubuntu_linux_say_two_high_profile_mac_advocates.htm
    http://diveintomark.org/archives/2006/06/02/when-the-bough-breaks
    http://www.boingboing.net/2006/06/29/mark_pilgrims_list_o.html
    http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/protestors-ipad-is-nothing-more-than-a-golden-calf-of-drm.ars

    Apple “ecosystem” is a closed, monolithic platform. WORSE than Microsoft. What Microsoft is to software, Apple is to hardware AND software. There are countless people who’ve been screwed so hard by Apple and its desire for our money that we’ve abandoned the platform altogether. I am one and others are referenced in the links above. When I retired the very first thing that I did was purge all of my Apple tie-ins and switch over to higher-end, more open and interoperable devices. Years out, I can join in with the circle laughs at Apple people much the same way we snicker behind the backs of our friends that our friends who buy anything from the Bang & Olufsen collection. It’s fine that you like it, but please don’t pretend like we don’t “get it”. A lot of us built companies in the industry that you cover and retired to do something other than write a blog about consumer electronics (which isn’t technology, a nickel-based lithium-ion battery is a technology, a phone is a consumer product).

    Trust me. You’ve some of us pegged wrong. You just threw US out with the bath water. It’s not that WE don’t know or don’t care about the reasons you think something is or might become good. It’s that YOU don’t know or care about the reasons that we think something is BAD. For a lot of us, getting punched in the face and handed a five dollar bill isn’t a defense experience just because of the five dollar bill. Some of us just don’t like being punched in the face. Do we just need to “iChillout” about being punched in the face and take a longer view on the benefits of face punching? No thanks. This world is full of people trying to tell you to “shut up” and enjoy the good stuff and nevermind all that’s wrong with it. I certainly hope none of you are the domestic abuse counseling professions.

    Enjoy your DRM. Enjoy devices which take your rights and your money and under-deliver on the experience. You need to stick up for Apple because they are the only one who has you back.
    If you’re not going to be critical, and informed, and aware, then you are a marketing department and not a consumer resource.

    Unsubscrribed,

    Dennis

    P.S. Judie, I’ve loved this site for years and wish you the best of luck.

    • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Lipsett

      @D Rod – I apologize that your comment didn’t go online until yesterday; Akismet, our spam filter, had it flagged because of the links you included.

      There are good points and bad points to every product available as well as the companies making them; we are consumers ourselves, and we too get caught up in the excitement when something interesting hits the pipeline.

      With that said, I think that the writers on this site have made it more than clear that we enjoy tech of all flavors, and I think that we have all been critical of any issues or hypocrisies when we have observed them along the way – regardless of the company responsible.

      Which brings me to my point — It almost seems like you didn’t even read Dan’s article, that you focused on the “iChillout” in the title, somehow felt that it was directed specifically to you, reacted, and never saw it in the tongue-in-cheek way that Dan meant it — much less why the statement was made in the first place.

      Okay, misunderstandings happen. But then you go off and insult the site, insult the writers, and admit (or is it revel in the fact?) that you snicker behind the backs of friends who buy B&O and you are looking forward to making fun of “Apple people” … and I’m not sure what to think. Other than I’m glad you enjoyed the site while you did, and happy trails.

  • doogald

    Steve Jobs knocked existing smartphones, calling them not so smart and not so easy to use, with their plastic keyboards, which cover the bottom 40% of the device, etc. That didn’t hurt the iPhone all that much.

    I think that people who want a netbook just won’t be all that interested in this, at least to start. And then there will be all kinds of cool things that this can do – instant on, no monthly security updates requiring a reboot, no reboots, for that matter.

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  • http://www.geardiary.com Douglas Moran

    Random thoughts (that’s what I’m good for!):

    On Flash: Flash is 15 year-old technology that has been enhanced multiple times to keep up with hardware improvements, but is still–how can I put this delicately?–not as slick as it should be. I can envision two Jobs thoughts: “That software is crap; let’s wait around for something better, or develop something better ourselves”; or “That software is crap, but we can toss support in later if you really want.” If no flash support turns out to be a big fail, you can bet your antique buffalo-head nickle Apple will turn on a dime to fix it if they think it’s costing them revenue.

    Magazines and Newspapers: I’m with Dan. We *know*, for example, that Jobs is working with McGraw-Hill. Jobs doesn’t do little things; he does big, whopping ones. (How many record companies did he get to sign on the dotted line before the iPod and iTunes were released?) Everything won’t be there at launch, but there will be more for sure.

    Maybe version 4.0 will support flash. Heaven knows plenty of people have been asking for it for a while. (Personally, I’d rather they fixed their buggy friggin’ bluetooth implementation, but I digress.)

  • Joel McLaughlin

    @D rod: You have to understand that Dan is a fan of Apple. While I too find a lot of fault with Apple, I do appreciate that Dan and I are different.

    I hope you stay as I regularly talk about Linux. Every device I review also gets a Linux test.

    What you have said to Dan in this post is unnecessarily harsh. Dan likes Apple, but is also not a fan of DRM. Just look at Dan’s post on Amazon’s DRM:

    http://www.geardiary.com/2009/06/19/kindles-drm-rears-its-ugly-head-and-it-is-ugly/

    With that said, I agree with you on a lot of what you posted. However to get ticked off at Dan and Gear Diary is misplaced. If you want to get angry, get angry at Apple. Don’t be angry just because Dan likes the iPad.

  • Dan Cohen

    I debated whether or not I would even write a response to your comment D Rod since you clearly shot your salvo and then subsequently unsubscribed from the site. However, since you did make your attack and register your upset and our other readers are able to now see it I thought I would take a few moments and respond nonetheless.

    The title was intended to be tongue in cheek. Nothing more. Nothing less. If it came off as something that is offensive to you or to any other reason readers I certainly apologize for that as was certainly not the intent. (Unlike some of your attacks in the comment I might point out.)

    That noted, if you actually took the time to read the post I think you would find that it is not in any way an apologist for Apple or the iPad. It actually highlights many of the same issues that others are focusing on. Moreover, toward the end of the post I took Steve Jobs to task for his arrogance and dissing netbooks in order to try to prop up his new device. That was uncalled for and also not accurate. (It also set himself and the device up for further unnecessary criticism.)

    The point of the post was this — people have reacted and responded to the device already. They have, to a large extent, worked themselves up into a negative frenzy with regard to it before it is even out. They are declaring it to be a “failure” when the device isn’t even released and the absolute final specs of the device aren’t even known. Yes, Steve Jobs said it will be shipping with operating system 3.2. But we also know that 4.0 is on the way. We don’t know when that operating system will be released and what issues, if any, will be solved by it. But we do know that it’s on the way and that it will add some enhancements to what currently exists for both the iPhone and this new device.

    Hence my point — the detractors of the device (and those already declaring it amazing too) might benefit if they/we were to step back a little bit and wait and see. The device, when it ships, may be unbelievable and have resolved many of the current issues. Or it may be exactly what we saw the other day. If that is the case then the criticisms and the declaration of the device as a “fail” may be warranted. They aren’t now. At this point we don’t know what will be exactly.

    Whether you choose to use Apple’s closed system or not is a matter of personal choice. If you choose to use it and it works for you. It’s a good choice. If you choose not to use it and that works for you that’s a good choice too. It’s a matter of personal taste, need and boundaries. After much internal debate — including a period when I tried to leave Apple’s platforms and even began using a Blackberry bold in addition to my iPhone because of my disgust with Apple — I choose to live with in the ecosystem they have created. That doesn’t make me stupid. And if I embrace it and actually share my exuberance for it over all that doesn’t make me an apologist. Moreover, I was one of the louder voices when Apple first removed Google Voice from its store. I find it problematic and I’m not happy about it at all but I choose to make the trade-offs that are required to live within their echo system because, overall, the products in this system works well for me. So be it.

    If someone chooses to live within a different system and it works for them GREAT. That doesn’t make them smart… or dumb. It makes them someone making a choice that works for them.

    Finally, if someone is having computer issues, regardless of the platform, I would hope that those of us on the site, and those who read the site, would jump in and try to help them resolve their issues. I would never think about laughing at them because they made a choice different than mine and, as a result, they are having issues. Nor would any of the other writers on the site. I personally find it sad that you look forward to the day when
    “Years out, I can join in with the circle laughs at Apple people much the same way we snicker behind the backs of our friends that our friends who buy anything from the Bang & Olufsen collection.”
    but so be it.

    Again, if the use of the term in the title was offensive to you or any other reader I certainly apologize. That certainly was not my intention. It was meant to be tongue-in-cheek lead in to a longer, more serious, and I believe a relatively balanced, post about the new device that has evoked a tremendous amount of response.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Douglas Moran

    Um, wow; hostility! It’s interesting that Dan could have come across as an “Apple apologist” when, after reading his post, my first thought was, “Perhaps I should wait until version 2.0, at least.”

    I don’t know if this is the correct place to discuss the Apple vs. other “ecosystem” issues. But I’ll just toss in a couple of thoughts. (And I’ve worked in UNIX, Linux, SunOS, IRIX, Windows, and Apple, so I have a wee bit of experience.)

    Thought 1: both types of ecosystems–open and closed–have advantages and disadvantages. Linus is open: that’s an advantage. It’s also more prone to bugginess, because there’s no “central department of Linus quality control” that will *lose sales* because it’s buggy. So it moves to a matter of preference, it seems to me, rather than which one is demonstrably “better.”

    Thought 2: All software engineers make decisions as to what they think a user will want and need to do. All software makes base assumptions based on those decisions, and ends up “doing things for you.” So all software, as far as I’m concerned, suffers from an irritating level of “How about you do what I *tell you* and not *what you think is best*, you stupid piece of software?!!” In my experience, the major difference between Apple and Microsoft is that Microsoft guesses *wrong* most of the time, forcing me to spend hours and hours modifying pre-sets and options to get it working the way I *want*, rather than the way some Microsoft engineer *thinks I should*. Apple, by contrast, tends to guess *right* the majority of the time, leaving me free to work with the software, rather than modify it to work the way I want *first*. (To me, Apple seems to actually do usability testing, while Microsoft is like Aunt Grundy who makes you do things because she “knows what’s best for you, little darling!”)

    So. There it is.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

    I think this is the first time I have read about an unreleased tech product being equated to domestic abuse …

    … though I HAVE seen dissatisfaction with a video game sequel equated to rape …

    I was surprised as well that anyone took offense to Dan’s title … to me it was immediately playful – heck the iChillout itself is rather obviously humorous.

    But as I have said elsewhere, I really don’t like virtual keyboards much, and don’t see this working well for myself as a gamer. My money is being directed towards the upcoming Alienware m11x … ;)

  • http://www.geardiary.com Douglas Moran

    Michael: Alienware used to be awesome, but I am not familiar with their products since they were purchased by, what, Dell, wasn’t it? I’m fairly down on Dell with regard to quality control; always seems like they were a poor mix with a high-end market niche like Alienware is in. How are their products since the Dell purchase?

  • http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

    Doug: I have actually been happy with Dell, but not surprisingly I’ve always stuck with their high-end Inspiron or XPS lines … which are where the Alienware stuff has been integrated.

    That said, I have heard about some heat-related issues with Alienware stuff, no clue how it will impact the m11x. I mean, a company that excels at high end desktops and massive laptops getting into a netbook-sized system? My lap is nervous … ;)

  • http://www.geardiary.com Douglas Moran

    Michael: that’s good to hear, honestly. I have a friend who swears by Alienware for his work, but hasn’t bought one since the Dell acquisition. I’ll let him know your experience.

    I hope the new Alienware “netbook” doesn’t turn out to be a “netbook” in the same way that the Compaq “portables” (they had 2″ monochrome screens and weighed, like, 15 pounds) were “portable.”