Arranged Delirium

OK. My thoughts on the Apple Tablet device. There are both things to love and hate about this new technology, and I want to address both issues. But before I do, I want to clarify one thing: I don’t care if you like this tool or not. Much of the discourse I’ve seen online seems to be driven by the need to convince others that the tablet is either 1) the best thing since Jesus that God has placed on this Earth, or 2) Satan incarnate in an electronic device. The fact is, it a technological device that is going to be useful to some, and useless to others. But we don’t need to convince others of our our religious views on the technology.

Since I’ve been trolling Gizmodo for a bit, I’ll link to their post 8 Things That Suck About the iPad as a reference since I think it does a good job of articulating most of the negatives that have been identified, and I’ll address each in turn. You can find numerous resources online though that address any subset of these issues:

1) The bezel - it’s big and ugly. Yep. But its serves a function by saving the user from inadvertent inputs. Plus, I’d imagine v.2 will have a larger screen and this saves Apple from having to re-design once that tech becomes affordable. Not an Issue.

2) No multitasking - you can’t run multiple apps at once. I’m not sure this is a problem. Undoubtedly, some would like this capability and it makes sense - but that’s what a computer is for, and this is really more of a glorified iPod Touch, not a MacBook. It really does fall in-between, so the functionality is going to also. So, I suppose its an issue for some (not for me) but I think it enters the realm of how you want to use the device rather than a criticism of the design itself. Issue: this is not a laptop.

3) No cameras. Sigh. No, there aren’t any cameras. If you want to take pictures, you’re probably going to use your cell phone or a camera. I can see the utility in a cheap user-facing web cam, but I really don’t’ think this device needs a camera for the functionality it claims to provide. Not an Issue.

4) Touch keyboard - you have to type using the software interface of the device. Sure. But I’ve found that interface to be quite effective on my iPod Touch and I’m sure it’ll only be more useable in the tablet. But while I might edit a document or do some minor input on my Touch, I never compose entire documents on it. My computers work as much better tools for that. If I really wanted to use the Apple Tablet device for that though, I would get the keyboard you can buy for it. Meh. Issue: this is not a laptop.

5) No real outputs - it’s hard to connect other things to this device. The Gizmodo article mentions HDMI, but I’ve seen more valid commentary regarding the lack of USB connectors or SD adaptors. I do think that would make life a bit easier for connecting and transferring data to/from the device. But, we do have wireless connectivity for that. Overall though, I think it would make the device more usable - especially when the wireless network goes down. Issue: I/O ports would be nice.

6) The name - iPad. What a terrible, terrible, idea. So much ridicule has already been heaped upon this, that you only need conduct a quick search to find many funny and distasteful approaches to making fun on this. Really? No-one saw this coming? Epic Fail

7) No Flash - Flash is used to distribute a great deal of web content. True. But Flash will be dead in 2 years as it continues to be subsumed by HTML5. There’s a real issue for folks that want to access Hulu for video - and I can see that - but if you have to use Flash to access web content, I’m not sure you can’t get much of that content somewhere else. Since so much flash content that I come across is undesirable, I’ve actually disabled Flash in my browsers. One could argue that this is merely Apple’s choice on embracing HTML5, an open web standard; but it’s more likely an approach that makes app developers stay within the confines of the App Store, so it seems a valid compliant. Fail

8) Apple control - Apple’s app store and proprietary control of software and devices. Truthfully, this is a fair criticism. Pragmatically, it explains why things work so well and crash so infrequently. Nonetheless, I’d like to see an open source solution that didn’t require App Store approval - but I’m willing to give that up for a device that works well.I can appreciate that others aren’t. Fail

So in the end, what do we have? Well for a first generation device, there are some legitimate complaints: the name sucks, no web-cam, no I/O ports, and no Flash. But much of the rest of the criticism surrounds a rather large misconceptions that this is a laptop replacement. It isn’t. This is not a full-fledged computer, we have devices for that kind of work - and they are called ‘computers.’ It’s not a cell phone either, and no-one would suggest this would fit in your pocket or purse. This is something in between, and it is essentially a light-weight and convenient tool for working with pre-existing media. For me, this constitutes 80% of my work; so it will be useful. For others, it likely won’t be. I also think there are valid concerns for developers regarding the proprietary work that Apple is undertaking - we don’t like it when Microsoft and Adobe do it, so why should Apple be immune from that criticism. It’s fair - but as long as the devices work reliably, but guess is that most users won’t care. 

Will it redefine computing? That’s really just part of the over-hype we’ve been hearing about it for months now. Truthfully, it’s much more likely that we’ll be using devices like this in 10 years, than the computers we use today. Is this the embodiment of all that is good in the world? Nope.

...I’ve been waiting for, for about two years now. Today, we’ll see the introduction of the new Apple tablet device. Based upon the iPhone OS, I think this device holds a lot of promise. I’m a huge fan of my iPod Touch and I’m looking forward to a similar device with a larger footprint.

Here’s a link to a liveblog event from AllThingsD - It starts at 1:00 EST, which is when I have class, so I’ll have to wait to learn the details - uugh. At the AllThingsD site though, there is a list of recent articles you may want to look at. Undoubtedly there has been no shortage of hype regarding the new device, and I wonder if It can live up to the expectations.

More specifically, I wonder if it will - as I expect - be the solution to digital text readers. This recent article at CNBC (from the New York Times) identifies what the device could mean for print media: an industry that has largely misplayed the advent of the digital technologies of the past 20 years. And, while I remain skeptical of some of Steve Jobs’ ideas, I did appreciate one quote attributed to him:

“He believes democracy is hinged on a free press and that depends on there being a professional press.”

I would like to see the development of a competent, professional, press. I think that much of the political polarization and gross ignorance that we see reflected in modern American society is the result of pandering and sensationalistic reporting. I don’t think technology is the solution to that problem, but I do think it has been one of the biggest contributors to it. Perhaps this device will make content a valuable commodity again.

For those of you who don’t know about it, World of Warcraft is an online MMORPG (massively multi-player online role-playing game). The game just celebrated its 5-year anniversary and boasts in excess of 11 million players. But in terms of recognizing it as a source of entertainment or a cultural influence - well, that requires understanding it a bit better.

This short Business Management article lays out some interesting statistics that could help us place it into context.

The Guardian article linked here provides a little more detail and description of the game and generates some interesting questions (which we’ll discuss in class). But specifically his argument regarding what exactly the game is, proves interesting.

Finally, there’s a piece in Prospect that discusses the game, and why World of Warcraft matters...

My colleague AMH and I are team-teaching a computer games course this term which is great fun. For implementation, we’re using a tool called GameMaker and students are generating a number of interesting games so far. (BTW, the online tutorials are very good.) I’ve also come across GameSalad which is a great tool for making games for the iPhone platform.

We’ve also had a number of good discussions regarding game design, trends in the field, and the social impact of computer gaming. Next week, we’ll be talking about ethical issues and MMORPGs and some of the cultural issues.I’d been slow to recognize the value of academic inquiry into the area of computer gaming, and now I see what a mis-step that’s been. In many ways, I think it would be dangerous for us NOT to think carefully about this, given how prevalent it is in our society. It would be analogous to not thinking carefully about the cultural implications of television!

Yes, I play World of Warcraft. No, I’m not as bad as this guy. (Make sure to read the steps below the image.)  I’m younger for one thing, and I have more hair. It is funny though - and I thank my colleague CH for sending along the link. I really think the Panera Bread iMac Man needs a laptop though, and I think a fund for such a purpose would be a worthwhile social endeavor.