Thoughts on the iPad 2

First of all I would like to clarify that this is not a review, I don't think I'm qualified to pass judgement upon a product of such advanced engineering. I originally had an iPod touch for about 18 months and almost immediately I fell in love with iOS. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon at all, I'll explain. During sometime in late 2009 I was watching that famous interview of Steve jobs where he said Microsoft had no taste, but the statement which struck me the most was when he said that Microsoft never brought any culture into their products. I was quite confused and skeptical when I heard El Stevo say that. Because like so many others who had never experienced Apple's products, I had always thought of technology as nothing more but a means to an end, something which you use everyday but have no spiritual common ground. However after falling in love with iOS I realized that in a way, after you get used to having such a capable device in your life, you can't really regress back Into a lesser form factor of media consumption. Hence after having a lengthy love affair with iOS on the iPod touch, I decided to pop the question (metaphorically!) and buy an iPad 2. I love it. The user experience I have had with this thing has been phenomenal. Blazing quick hardware. The flash conundrum solved by buying a very capable and affordable flash enabled browser. A fantastic integrated AppStore (something which can't be said for Android since they have to have a different app store for each new iteration of Android). I could go on for hours. It's a very intimate relationship you share with this thing as there is a lot of physical manipulation involved with your computing on the iPad, whether if it's cropping a photo or playing a game you are more guided by your natural intuition of touch rather than the usual software protocols of a keyboard, this may not sound like a big deal but when you have a beautiful 9" touch sensitive screen, even doing homework becomes fun, and I totally mean this. A major reason I wanted to buy iPad was for content creation on the go, I was apprehensive that it wouldn't work out, boy was I worried for nothing. The iWork suite is fantastic. Pages especially is excellent, it offers full functionality, anything you could ever want to do on a document you can do on pages. Guaranteed. I was especially impressed with it because it's rather like a cousin of the iPod music player, because you can get to any feature you want within 3 or four presses of the button, for a mobile word processor, that certainly deserves credit. So kudos Apple, kudos. Pricing is usually something I've never seen eye to eye with Apple, but for a device of its capabilities, it is the best NZ$770 I ever spent. If you think it's just an oversized iPod touch, it's absolutely untrue, because quite honestly, it's common criticisms fall away in the face of it.
iLove my iPad.

Thoughts on the free software foundation and it's philosophy.

I recently discovered Richard Stallman and his free software foundation. To sum him up succinctly, his stance is that All software must be of a nature that does not decentralize the power between users and developers. That the users should have the right to change the source code as they see fit and to distribute the modified recipe as they please. So in this context, free doesn't mean price, but as in freedom or autonomy in ones own computing. Obviously he is the father of Linux if you haven't guessed already.

Dr Stallman also claims that Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X directly violate these basic "rights" by discreetly coding a lot disgusting back door programs intended for malicious purposes such as to spy on the user and restrict the users freedom in computing.

Ethically, I have a lot of respect for this philosophy, yes, it would certainly be ideal for one to be able to access the source code to change the program as one see's fit, but technology has mutated beyond recognition since Dr Stallman's 1980's heyday. Back then, computing was as robotics is today; a hobby, an underground technology if you will, something which wasn't mainstream and in the public consciousness yet. So back then, it wouldn't have been of great consequence if everyone would have had the right to do as they please.

However in the 21st century, software isn't really a technology, but more of a society. Peoples lives are ever increasingly dependent upon the Internet and computers, so to have the free software foundation's vision of a lawless, frontier of an environment would be inherently chaotic. Because not everyone is as ethical as Dr Stallman ( or at least as he claims to be).
If cyber crime is already such a massive problem even with the regulations in place, imagine how much of a problem it would be had the world followed the vision of the FSF? I shudder to contemplate how much of an insecure place the web and computing in general would be.

So proprietary software, even though it is annoying at an everyday scale, is a necessary evil. We need boundaries, we humans can't be trusted to play nicely without any supervision. Computing will increasingly become more of a sophisticated society for humans, and we need regulations.

I can't help but think that you don't need to worry about your privacy being invaded if you are leading an ethical life anyway, so all in all, I must say I disagree with the views of Dr Stallman and his foundation, he obviously is one of computing's most important pioneers, but his idea of an open development society is too optimistic and impractical in my humble and honest opinion.

The Stallman conundrum

The blogosphere these days is more excitable than a woman going through menopause. Richard Stallman's "eulogy" of Steve Jobs caused quite a stir, but for what? Are dead people really beyond being subjected to the opinions of other people? All Dr Stallman did was to was to reiterate that he was glad that Job's overwhelming power and influence (so much so it was almost sinister)in the industry and in software was finally gone. What's the big deal? It's not as if he had insulted or attempted to besmirch Steve's unquestionable legacy. So grow up guys, enough with the iLove for Steve already, he's in a better place now.

iPhone 4s - The new Vista?

So i woke up today and immediately switched onto the blogosphere to read about the new iPhone and not even in my most pessimistic guess could I have imagined this.

Apple of all companies should realise that the typical consumer of today is much more well informed and confident of their own judgement.

Therefore the common expectation with any new design of an iPhone is that it must absolutely be of a new design. There is no escaping this due to the fact that a cute looking product is one of the main ways Apple differentiates itself from it's competitors and maintains it's rockstar image and most importantly; ensures it's position as the stock market's darling. So it's a baffling move that Apple hasn't catered to this rather primal taste. I mean seriously, how hard would it be for a certain Mr Ive to whip up a cute looking design twist? Duh!

Another huge point of concern is the price, I'm sorry but NZ $800 for an 8Gb iPhone 4 suggests an almost cavalier disregard for such a loyal consumer base. Quite simply put, Apple doesn't deserve this loyalty.

I would say that right now the only Apple products which are fairly priced are the iPod and the iPad's. I was also bewildered when the iPod touch wasn't given an A5 chip as well, to me this is a wrong turn as I think this could have posed as a real alternative for potential smartphone buyers who don't want to rob themselves by buying an iPhone with it's ridiculous pricing.

As sorry as Iam at Steve Job's death I can't help but think that this is a rather tame and uninspired product refresh. It would be heartbreaking to see this iconic company's spirit die with it's founder, I hope fervently that this is not the case.

Rest in peace Steve Jobs.


I'm just surprised at what Apple been doing for the last 16 months, in the Android universe that's a couple of generations!