YAIB

Yet Another iPad Blog

In March of 2010 I compiled this blog post related to the release of the iPad but I never got around to publishing it.  I recently got an iPad myself and found it interesting to reread what I had written then without ever having laid eyes or hands upon the device. Now that I have had that opportunity to use my iPad for a few weeks I certainly haven’t changed my mind-set about the device and if anything I have become more intrigued and overwhelmed about the possibilities that it presents and what any future equivalent or greater devices may hold. Read what  I wrote below and leave me a comment or two about how you might feel what these devices mean to us as a society or an individual. Remember that I am a gadget freak and I would always take to this device perhaps more naturally than others. However since the iPad’s release it does seem to have created an affinity amongst it’s users even those who were disparaging of the device in the first instance. In this case it does seem as though the proof is in the pudding.

In January 2010 Apple announced the iPad and subsequently many others (and I mean literally hundreds of other manufacturers) have announced similar and different variations on the theme.

I do realise that Apple iPad is not the be-all-and-end-all to tablet type computing (for instance where’s the forward facing web-cam, Flash support, an end to draconian Apple app approval measures etc).  I do however personally believe it’s one of the most exciting, fascinating and genre-busting advances in the computing world. A step that is undoubtedly going to improve and become more intriguing as time goes by. The iPad has changed the computing landscape of the industry forever notwithstanding the fact there are many naysayers and detractors out there and the ramifications it may have on us as a society.

Looking back a very short while and you see how incredibly rapidly computers have evolved over the last 10 years and whilst the iPad isn’t necessarily the culmination of all of this, it’s an interesting non-pejorative of the ways things could be.

For instance, I do enjoy using my iPhone and if hard pressed to rationalise why this is so, it’s probably first and foremost because it is just so simple and easy to use.  An always on device with a wireless connection to the Internet means I have information at my finger tips whenever I feel like wherever I am.  This is extremely empowering and satisfying. It doesn’t get in the way of what I’m trying to do – mostly. It just works. It just is.

The iPhone is not a phone. No Sir! Yes it has the ability to actually make one of those corded monolithic things on your desk that rings like a quaint Alexander Graham-Bell’esque throwback to an era we are rapidly leaving behind. But an iPhone is a ‘communications’ device which encapsulates all that this means in the modern age, including amongst others the traditional: voice, email, texting and the more recent: blogging, skype, video, twitter, etc.

The iPad however, promises to deliver an new era of computing; one that we cannot in fact even begin to imagine the ramifications of- yet.  Almost science-fiction like; distributed cloud computing on a connected scale with a device that becomes an extension of our consciousness is granted not all iPad related but will certainly be channelled by it.  Tablets and slates will become as ubiquitous as the laptop, desktop or cell-phone is now.  Humanity of the 21^st century will be defined by our direct interaction with machines and our indirect interaction with each other via these new messaging mediums – for better or for worse you might argue.  Moreover the versatility of these devices, always on; simple to use, non-technical that anyone can pick up and be effective after a few seconds will guide the development of computing in the future.  Monolithic computing will remain (for now) but will undoubtedly gradually fade into the background – the annals of history that we can relate to our grandchildren about how we used to wait 5 minutes for a computer to ‘boot’ up before we could use it. What a quaint notion!   How we fiddled with drivers and fixed telephone lines and hard drive heads that crashed into platters. How obscure! How ridiculous!

What a revolution we sit on the threshold of – a multimedia revolution to be more precise. Text, graphics, imagery, and video – all of these being shaped in a new dynamic way which is the tablet.  I don’t believe we will yet see the end of traditional media such as the newspaper or magazine type editorial and in fact moreover I do not want that personally – we will just see a greater shift towards the electronic.  As a society I believe we are better read now than one could ever have predicted. In the 70’s the doomsayers were announcing the end of print publication and the reading masses, yet we are more well read today than ever before thanks to online publications, news web sites, Wikipedia, social networking and the like – it must be said however that print publications are looking pretty endangered right now though.  The tablet will undoubtedly  introduce more compelling and interactive media.  I don’t believe the truly flashy glossy publications seen in the current ‘previews’ will be the norm though; the cost of publication will still be too high however rich media content will become more freely available .  The simplicity of full colour e-books, embedded video and sound will just enhance the current experience and enrich it further for our current generation of readers.  E-Readers, E-books, Kindles and the like are the wave of the future and yes while there are still photographers out there who relish in the smells of chemicals in the developing lab, there are readers who revel in the smell of newly opened paperback and I include myself amongst that group.  Yet; I just can’t help but believe that e-books are in – paperbacks are out. It’s inevitable, it’s inexorable.

The current tablets can definitely do with improvements and the next ten years are going to reflect the amazing pace at which this technology can evolve.  Look for incredible new and exciting ways in which these devices are put to work for you, ubiquitously. Look for enhanced technology which improves them even further in terms of usability and functionality; and look for a plethora of applications that utilise these devices in ways we have only begun to dream of.  Who would of thought 5 short years ago that I could mimic the output of an ancient 1960’s camera for laughs ala Hipstamatic, communicate instantly with my friends around the world simultaneously with voice, text and video while wandering on the beach; navigate the globe with an incredibly accurate GPS; get online real-time weather reports at a whim; share information or pay another person by simply bumping hands together or following the Formula 1 Grand Prix real-time in 3D all on a device that is so small it boggles the mind.  The list is never-ending and I cannot even begin to imagine all the other cool and amazing things you are going to be able to do in years to come.

For our children though it will be passé.  They will adapt to these devices as easily as tadpoles do to their pond, dipping in and experiencing the wonders of that ‘pond’ that is an extension of who they are and how they interact with the world and with each other. Pinching fingers to zoom in and out, swiping to turn a page, shaking to undo the last message they typed will all seem as obvious to them as well making that shlurping sound with the straw when drinking their strawberry milkshakes or kicking a soccer-ball around the park.  The internet revolution has been with us for some time now and of course our children and their education will never be the same again as a result. However with the onset of these easily available devices that requires little or no management is truly a revolution. It will make the computer as natural as a wristwatch, as obvious as turning on a light-switch and well – child’s-play really?

What would you like to see in the ideal tablet or iPad type device and do you see yourself using one?  Leave your comments here and let’s talk about this exciting new wave of technology.

Now that you’ve read what I wrote previously, the following website was pointed out to me today and it has to do with information overload and our ability as people to deal with it effectively leaving one to question the efficacy of such devices. Nonetheless I still like my gadgets!

Hooked on Gadgets and Paying a Mental Price

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