The Most Important Event of our Lifetime; Or, the Apple iPad Tablet
The Jan. 27 event, titled “Come see our latest creation,” will likely be marked down in history as the sequel to Steve Jobs’ legendary keynote at Macworld Expo 2007, where the CEO introduced the iPhone. The iPhone, then touted by the CEO as “three revolutionary products,” has grown to encompass more than 100,000 apps, giving birth to a new digital frontier and, in many ways, reshaping the cellphone industry.
Now Apple must meet, and perhaps exceed, the wow factor of the mobile marvel with its bigger sibling — a touchscreen tablet that the company has been developing for several years.
Rumor has it that Jobs has even said the tablet “will be the most important thing I’ve ever done.”
He has his work cut out for him. For decades, sci-fi movies have dreamed of a slate-like computing device replacing traditional PCs. Many companies have tried, and failed, to live up to these visions. Thanks to clunky user interfaces, durability issues and limited utility, the tablet has been filed away as a niche device again and again. But Apple, the leader in industry and interface design and master of innovating content distribution, could be the company to finally nail the design.
Could it save the publishing industry, reboot education and maybe even change the way we treat medicine? After years of speculation, we’ll finally get some answers.
Thank you, typos. That should read "Event," if a mod would be so kind. Also, is that pic I'm stealing from Wired too big?
Meh, I bought an iphone. I doubt I'll ever get another apple product again.
Ha! I'm hoping that this thread title is sarcastic...? :D
Thanks for the edit, Michelle! As for sarcasm, I don't go in for that sort of thing. BTW, could you change "OMG" to "ZOMG"? I think it better articulates the point I'm trying to convey. K thx.
Seriously, though, I waxed a bit about the Kindle thread, and Apple has turned a popular curiosity into the geedee mainstream. I think what I wrote a year ago seems almost naive in light of the hullaballoo surrounding the iPad:
It will start in less than 10 years when university students start buying their textbooks digitally for their Kindle. And, once a generation of scholars have been bred to use it and weaned off dead trees (surely to start with the heartless science students and soulless engineers) they will begin to get their Cosmo zinecasts and Oprah gutentext subscriptions every month. Chapters will close all its brick and mortar megastores and retreat to high street storefronts. Used book stores will profit from an increasingly socially insulated population that wears too-thick eyeglasses and too-corduroy skirts. Ikea manuals will be delivered in cheap USB keys that make no sense and don't fit in the regular USB slots. Like their vinyl cousins in the recording industry, high-priced, cloth-bound books will appear in trendy, gentrified hipsterhoods for consumption by a pseudo-elite demographic: 'It's how Conrad was meant to be read, man!' Libraries will burn and no one will care. Soon, monochrome graphics of 'books' will become popular vintage badges sported on handbags, trucker hats and the logos of major media corporations. The novel, such as it was in the heyday of Balzac and Tolstoy, will be read during the time slot in church basements usually reserved for madrigal choirs and bridge night. And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Thanks for the edit, Michelle! As for sarcasm, I don't go in for that sort of thing. BTW, could you change "OMG" to "ZOMG"? I think it better articulates the point I'm trying to convey. K thx.
The people down the hall are probably wondering why they're hearing howls of laughter down the hallway. :D
Just another device that is "Defective by Design" i.e. designed to impose Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) on computer users.
DRM-laden e-books destroy our ability to do something that we've done for centuries with "dead tree" books...namely share them!
Over the next few weeks we'll see mainstream tech journalists (and even some who should know better) fawning over Apple's latest DRM-laden proprietary software gadget.
IMHO, it's just another iTurd.
You insufferable cynic, radiorahim! Can't you give poor Steve Jobs a break?
And libraries everywhere have been profiting from that "lending" loophole in copyright law for centuries. It's high time it was closed for the good of the artist. Or, failing them, the copyright holders...
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry
"I'll buy almost anything that's shiny and made by Apple."
You insufferable cynic, radiorahim! Can't you give poor Steve Jobs a break?
And libraries everywhere have been profiting from that "lending" loophole in copyright law for centuries. It's high time it was closed for the good of the artist. Or, failing them, the copyright holders...
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry
I'm not looking forward to turning on CBC Radio's Toronto morning programme. I'm probably going to lose my oatmeal listening to Andy iBarrie crowing about Apple's latest piece of DRM crud.
Hmm. I'm not looking forward to that either... :D
If the tablet could lower prices of text books for education, that would be something.
It most certainly will. Under the new and improved education model everyone shall attend the iCollege which will only require one text book. Ever. And it shall be updated instantaneously to reflect changing realities and officially approved, media sanitized truths. War is peace.
Most of the $100 dollar textbooks used in the classes I took here in Canada were printed in either New York or Texas anyway. They monopolized the truth some time ago. I'd love for the Yanks to tell us to shove our lumber and pulpwood even more than they have under the bogus "free trade" deal. Our stooges would look even sillier than they do now.
Why would the iPad, or Kindle for that matter, lower prices in any significant way? When has the price of a commodity ever related to anything but demand?
Anyway, it's a sick world where a $500-$1000 gadget is needed to make books more accessible and affordable.
Oh well. I guess I'm a naive idiot. I use my ipod touch for pretty well everything (including book buying and reading, keeping track of my schedule, work hours and mileage, taking notes, listening to audio books and podcasts, reading and listening to the news, watching al jazeera, reading babble, etc.). It works extremely well for me. And I will undoubtedly buy an ipad (the basic model) at some point within the next 12 months. In fact, I'm kind of excited about it. But then we established long ago that I'm not nearly as enlightened as the rest of you
and I'm an irredeemable geek, too.
I think there will come a day when these electronic books will be cheaper than cheap to buy. Maybe even free and offered with a subscription to an e-book publishing company or something like that. If they actually believed in and practiced free trade and traded freely with other countries, the cost of higher education could be lowered by tens of billions of dollars a year. We need to swing our doors wide open to doctors, college and university professors from other countries and other trained professionals, and we need to break the US publishing monopoly on text books used in Canadian schools and universities. That's a lot more than Jobs is proposing, but it's possible if we democratized the setup in our Northern Panama.
I watched the demo of this tablet on CBC tonight, and it's incredibly cool. I hope there's a stand for it, though, because I would not want to have to hold it for very long, and I don't think I'd want it flat on my deask, either. And, how are men to supposed to carry it from place to place? It fits into a purse, but I'm not buying a purse just to carry this thing. I think it's great thhat it could save a lot of trees by reading a huge variety of books and magazines online - but you'd have to have satellite ISP and I don't.
I watched the demo of this tablet on CBC tonight, and it's incredibly cool. I hope there's a stand for it, though, because I would not want to have to hold it for very long, and I don't think I'd want it flat on my deask, either. And, how are men to supposed to carry it from place to place? It fits into a purse, but I'm not buying a purse just to carry this thing. I think it's great thhat it could save a lot of trees by reading a huge variety of books and magazines online - but you'd have to have satellite ISP and I don't.
There is a stand and I believe it doubles as a case. My high speed isn't very high speed but I can download books pretty fast. But it's faster than dial up. I've never tried downloading a book over dial-up. I'll try if you want me to experiment.
What if a local bookstore at the mall or college campus of the near future has a really speedy inet connection, and people could go there as usual. But instead of buying hundred dollar text books , they download the thing to their e-book lickity split? Five thick textbooks for five classes is a lot of paper to lug around. Kids could fill their ruck sacks with granola bars and granny Smith apples instead.
Well, in the CBC review, there was no case or stand (no one said anything about the tablet doubling as a case, in fact they were complaining about the lack of a case).
I'm on a slow dialup here, can't download books, too slow.
ETA: CBC said it's not available in Canada yet. I wonder if our prices likely will be higher than in the US?
Absolutely. I'd bet a dollar. And we could make them or a knock off version in Canada at some point. We could have been making our own PC's by now. We've had the talent in Canada to make home computers and all kind of wonderful things. Instead we've had CUSFTA and NAFTA, which are more about protecting corporate rights and exclusive private property rights than it's had to do with free trade and trading freely.
Heh. By the time the Tablet is available here, it'll be obsolete and a new product will be in its place.
(cranky oldtimer rant mode on)
We've become a truly wasteful and materialistic society. I'm still playing my old vinyl records and cassette tapes - I don't have a DVD player and I have never used a cell phone in my life. My main desktop computer is seven years old, this laptop is a basic Dell with the bare essentials only. I've never downloaded music. I've never used a Walkman. The only other modern appliance I have aside from the basic laptop is a new television, but it's a small $500 flat screen, not one of those monster things that are so popular. My stereo dates to 1992, with a turntable, receiver/amp, cassette player, and CD player.
I still have my Technique turntable, EPI speakers, and Pioneer amp that needed fixing in 1997. I remember thinking then that it was all I'd ever need in the way of a sound system. Now I'm worried about losing more hearing than I have already.
There's an app for that.
more hype as promotional advertising... i think this is just another overrated event...
"And, once a generation of scholars have been bred to use it and weaned off dead trees" .... they can then get used to plastics made from oil? how is the landfill for computers looking these days anyway?
then i heard the other day how kindle only allows for new release prices based off the hardcover, not a softcover.... someone is making money off some folks...
i suppose they serve for something other then tracking devices...
That's probably not Amazon. I expect it's the publishers not wanting to cannibalize their own hardcover sales by offering a cheaper electronic version at the same time.
I have an app for my iPod called "Stanza". It's free, and it gives me access to about 30,000 free titles in the public domain. I'm currently reading "The Prince".
What if a local bookstore at the mall or college campus of the near future has a really speedy inet connection, and people could go there as usual. But instead of buying hundred dollar text books , they download the thing to their e-book lickity split? Five thick textbooks for five classes is a lot of paper to lug around. Kids could fill their ruck sacks with granola bars and granny Smith apples instead.
To some degree this exists. Check out http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/ or http://www.coursesmart.com/search if you're curious. The thing is, people are wedded to paper like you wouldn't believe. To some degree the obstacle is the publishers (though they're much more forward thinking than, say, the big record labels) but the students themselves aren't as quick to adopt the new ways as you might think. Give them the choice of a book, at $200, and an electronic 'subscription' to the same exact materials for $120 and you'd probably get a 50/50 split.
Re: the iPad, it looks kind of funky. Like Rosa, I love my iPod to death, and while I may not be able to reverse-engineer my free apps, I guess I can make my peace with that. I couldn't give a rat's ass if it's free as in speech or free as in beer, so long as it's free as in I don't have to pay for it.
iPad goes with the flow: Customers see red over the name
And then Steve Jobs opened his mouth and said the word iPad, to the giggles of ladies everywhere. As one of our letter writers here said, "I cannot believe one woman sat through a marketing meeting that approved this."
A pad, as Apple either failed to grasp or simply didn't care to, is not something we historically associate with a cool-looking media browser. It's something that fails us during gym class. Within microseconds of Jobs uttering the word, the parody-minded of the Web were rolling out their own versions of the device, in all its super absorbent, occasionally winged awesomeness. But the best spoof of the thing came in the eerily prescient - and already going viral -- MadTV sketch from a few years back. Sure, the real iPad comes doesn't come preinstalled with "vaginal firewall protection" (yet!), and it's a little big to fit in our knickers. But thanks to a spate of calendar based iTunes apps, it does however offer the potential to be the world's most expensive period tracker.
Oh well. I guess I'm a naive idiot. I use my ipod touch for pretty well everything (including book buying and reading, keeping track of my schedule, work hours and mileage, taking notes, listening to audio books and podcasts, reading and listening to the news, watching al jazeera, reading babble, etc.). It works extremely well for me. And I will undoubtedly buy an ipad (the basic model) at some point within the next 12 months. In fact, I'm kind of excited about it. But then we established long ago that I'm not nearly as enlightened as the rest of you
and I'm an irredeemable geek, too.
Why the snark? I see why apple products have their appeal, but for me and a lot of others they don't. True the i-pad is pushing boundries by having e-reader capabilites with colour in relatively high definition, I imagine it will suck an incredible amount of power compared to the average dedicated e-reader. The simple fact remains I'd rather spend more money on buying a number of specialised products that carry out their functions well as opposed to a product that while being much more stylish than most other products performs in a rather blah manner in most dimensions.
Not to answer for Rosa, but admitting you use one of the "establishment" operating systems or gadgets can be tantamount to admitting that you subscribe to the Western Standard and drive a Hummer. Don't believe me? Start a thread asking for a little help with Microsoft Word, and see how many posts before someone actually answers your question, rather than telling you to stop supporting the KKKorporate oligarchy and use Open Office.
Unbeknownst to the millions of adults who just want to send some e-mail and play a game, computer software is highly, HIGHLY politicized. If the iPad is "the Most Important Event of our Lifetime", then certainly whether you choose to use Linux or hate freedom is the Most Important Choice of our Lifetime.
I watched the demo of this tablet on CBC tonight, and it's incredibly cool.
I hope Apple paid for that advertising. I'm pretty sure they're not paying for all the free hawking they're getting on CBC Metro Morning in Toronto. Barf.
That thing looks huge. As if people are not walking around with their nose stuck in a cell phone enough as it is.
Oh, CBC has tech reviews of almost every new cool and life-altering (hee!) product. I doubt CBC is paid to do this, but they do get early access.
So, I like the IDEA behind this. I see the appeal of keeping your library in one lightweight tablet. I totally get that.
The issue with this is the DRM that comes with it. And I'm sorry, Snert, but the politics IS important.
Right now, with books, once you're done with your book, you can give it or lend it to someone else. You won't be able to do this with ebooks. It's a problem. And do you really think textbooks and magazines are suddenly going to be cheap because they're being offered on an iTampon instead of on paper? I highly doubt it. They're probably going to be just as expensive (who knows, maybe MORE expensive, plus you have to buy the reader), along with the added bonus of not even being able to sell them in a used bookstore when you're done with them.
And what happens when your iTampon crashes or breaks? Let me guess - you just lose your entire library and have to buy it all over again? Too bad, so sad!
I've had two iPod shuffles (both gifts). The first one became unusable - why? Because my computer died and I got a new one, and the only way you can install an iPod shuffle into a second computer is if you let it format the shuffle. Otherwise you can't use it. Because they don't want you using it to move music from one computer to another.
My current shuffle? Same thing. I got a new laptop last summer after my old one died. Now I can't add or remove any songs from it. So, the solution is obviously to buy generic music players that act as memory sticks with a menu interface and earphone plug, right? Which is what I normally do.
And what if you have two or three computers that you use? I have a home laptop and a work computer. I liked downloading podcasts, for instance. Perfectly legitimate, not "stolen" music, whatever. With a generic player, you can plug it into any machine and download stuff. Not an iPod, though. You can only use it with one machine at a time if you don't want to wipe it clean every time you plug it in somewhere else. It's bullshit.
I have books that I've had since I was a little girl. (That's thirty years ago, for those who are counting.)
How many of the e-books that you buy today will be around thirty years from now?
Would it not also be easy to corrupt Data?
Don't like some things in an ebook no problem just modify it and resell. Kinda like China does about the square.
I still have books from my childhood sitting on shelves doing nothing but gathering dust. I have an entire theology and psychology library doing nothing but gathering dust. I'd love to get rid of them all, but I'm too far away to sell them for a quick profit. As if anyone would want them!!!
Full disclosure: I have held off buying a laptop for the past year because I knew this iTampon (love the sobriquet, Michelle!) would change the game (although, since it doesn't have a camera, the capability to multitask and, possibly, flash, the game might be changing a bit slower than expected). I'm not sure if I will get the Apple product or wait for a PC/Linux knock-off, but the fact is, this tablet-style comp contains everything I'd need in a laptop with the convenience of a hand-held device (I have big hands).
And, in case my above irony is lost, I love books. I love everything about them. I love the tactile and aural sensations of them, I love the visible reminder of my formative education on my bookshelves, I love writing in them, dog-earring them, cracking the spines and smelling the must. They'll be around for another 100 years at least, but things are changing. I think we won't see a full movement from dead tree media until a combo of the iPhone touch screen and the Kindle ink-module display is developped, but we're on the way. Part of the reason I put the OP in culture is that the iPod/iPhone/iPad aren't really technologies anymore--they're social phenomena. I think the critical reason the iPad will succeed (other than the fact that it's "shiny and made by Apple") is that they've already brought publishers on board. At first, it will be easy to get material for the iPad (something even the Kindle has struggled with, despite being owned by Amazon) and eventually, we won't have any choice...
The issue with this is the DRM that comes with it. And I'm sorry, Snert, but the politics IS important.
At a certain point it becomes more like religion*. And I'm definitely a sinner.
Anyway, if you want to add music to your iPod from another computer (a different one, or your home/work computer) then configure iTunes to not automatically sync music. Then it's not going to try to sync to an empty instance of iTunes (which is why it's suggesting wiping your music; if you hook up your iPod to an instance of iTunes that has no songs, and iTunes is set to sync automatically, you're effectively saying "synchronize my iPod with this empty songlist")
And if you like video (and if your iPod supports it) then feel free to download anything you'd like (in mp4 format) or rip a favourite DVD and drop it on your iPod. It's pretty straighforward.
And if you really want to, jailbreak your 'pod, at which point you can go right ahead and use it to transfer music or movies or basically, whatever.
* edited to add: I just realized WHY it's like a religion. Religious nutters aren't satisfied with changing their own behaviour to satisfy their God. They feel the need to change YOUR behaviour, too. If the iPod or iPad or any other Apple product doesn't let you do what you want to do, why not just buy a product that does? Why so much emphasis on the fact that the iPod "doesn't" and so very little on some other product that "does"?? This strikes me a little like complaining that a Dodge Viper doesn't have room for my family of four. Aren't there cars that have plenty of room for four or more? Why would I moan and groan that the Viper doesn't (presumably expecting them to hear me, and change) rather than going and looking into a Taurus, or whatever?
WRT an earlier post of mine, I think this device will fit into a briefcase. That'd be great. BTW, for those of us without satellite ISPs, is this thing useful at all?
I have and I will.
Made me think of this.
Warning contains swearing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ
BTW, I've noticed that CBC is usually quick to jump on the Apple bandwagon in their tech reviews, maybe it's because there's so little else out there to review. And, someone at CBC believes Steve Jobs is the Messiah.
Ok. So? People seem to like iPods and iPhones (and Dodge Vipers). Are you mad that some crummy "Coby" mp3 player from Crappy Tire isn't getting equal time in the public imagination? If you don't want an iPod, why do you care?
I love books. I love everything about them. I love the tactile and aural sensations of them, I love the visible reminder of my formative education on my bookshelves, I love writing in them, dog-earring them, cracking the spines and smelling the must. They'll be around for another 100 years at least, but things are changing. I think we won't see a full movement from dead tree media until a combo of the iPhone touch screen and the Kindle ink-module display is developped, but we're on the way.
Those words mirror my sentiments well. I particularly love older books, as they give me a physical connection to the time in which they were written...and that makes the words in those books seem more "alive" and authentic.
At first, it will be easy to get material for the iPad (something even the Kindle has struggled with, despite being owned by Amazon) and eventually, we won't have any choice...
That is almost certain to be true. Printing words on dead trees will soon seem quaint and archaic, akin to relying on a horse for transportation or making all of ones own clothes from raw fibers.
The Free Software Foundation's "Defective by Design" campaign was on hand to picket the event.
this dead tree analogy is interesting... is it really preferable to have something on a plastic petroleum based product?
The Free Software Foundation's "Defective by Design" campaign was on hand to picket the event.
Wouldn't their time be better spent promoting something they do approve of, rather than picketing something they don't?? I'm really not getting why they're not content to choose something else, that's a better fit for them.
It reminds me of the people who DESPISE Margaret Wente. So they read her column while the ink is still wet, whip themselves into a lather, and then go online to point everyone else to that column and complain about how much they hated it.
Some days I think people just like to feel aggrieved.
Well Snert you're spending your time in an online forum. Couldn't your time be better spent doing something else? Like...the dishes, the laundry or cleaning the kitchen sink?
Yes, because I like it.
I couldn't imagine coming to an online forum to spend all my time griping about how terrible online forums are and how they're not what I want.
I'm not suggesting that anyone should be doing something else because other things, like laundry, need doing. I'm wondering why people seem so obsessed with something they don't like, and it does seem to me they might be happier if they spend that same time with something they DO like.
There are mp3 players that aren't like the iPod. Why not buy one, load it up with Ogg Vorbis tracks licenced under Creative Commons and go enjoy some music? Or, instead, shake your fist at Apple for not being what you want them to be.
Well maybe folks also like doing campaigns to make folks aware of issues that they otherwise would not be aware of. Maybe folks also like bashing Margaret Wente. Thing is ... we do what we do.
I do have a portable music player that plays ogg vorbis...and not only that...it also plays FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files as well...so...perfect CD quality audio...from a compressed audio file...mind you with FLAC, the files get rather large.
What drives folks crazy is the ga ga "hype" that the mainstream media engages in whenever one of the major tech conglomerates put out something new. In particular, one expects at least a teensy weensy bit of critical questioning from the public broadcaster...instead the main morning dude on CBC Radio ... Andy "iBarrie"...looks for every opportunity to promote Apple.
BTW, thanks for the iTurd, the iTampon, ... the iRaq, the iRan, and all the rest. Great stuff.
Mad Magazine beat these *uckers to the punch by a longshot. (That was a YouTube link.) This thing is going to be dead in the water, maybe.
Sorry Steve Jobs, MAD TV beat you to it. (CBC) WARNING: may cause an iStroke for some iZombies.
So all in all, we got an iPad -- even if it damn near caused an iPocalypse. iDon't know about you, but iAm glad the day's almost over.``
Wouldn't their time be better spent promoting something they do approve of, rather than picketing something they don't?? I'm really not getting why they're not content to choose something else, that's a better fit for them.
But, what kind of fun would that be???
No kidding. Why go to a sushi bar for sushi if you can moan and groan that Pizza Hut doesn't serve sushi?
Maybe Defective By Design could go picket Pizza Hut, and make sure that all the pizza lovers there are fully aware that the restaurant they chose won't serve them raw fish on rice!
Why come to a left-wing website and contradict all the left-wing positions and principles?
Heh :)
Are you suggesting that grousing about things is some kind of left-wing principle?
Like I said, I LIKE online discussion boards. I enjoy the debates, and I appreciate a different viewpoint from what the rest of the web offers. If I didn't LIKE it I wouldn't stand outside babble offices wearing a big sign that lists all the ways babble has failed to please me. See the difference?
That didn't take long!
It seems to me Snert, that you come to this site to grouse about what others are grousing about. And that's perfectly okay...in fact the board gives you a forum to grouse to your heart's content.
A corporate shindig like this isn't a debating forum...so if you disagree with what's going on, you wear a picket sign.
BTW, I don't hate all of the tech moguls in the world...in fact here's one (Mark Shuttleworth) that I rather like. He's actually done some progressive things in the tech world...the main one being that he runs the company that has bankrolled the Ubuntu distribution of GNU/Linux...which has become the world's most popular version. He was also Africa's first astronaut...and the world's second "space tourist".
That didn't take long!
Yeah...but you can only get it from the Apple apps store
What does this have to do with what we "like"? We're talking about principles, ethics and politics here. Actions like those of Defective By Design are a means of engaging in public debate, a.k.a. Democracy. Much like you, Snert, who takes leftist positions of anti-imperialism, anti-corporatism, anti-capitalism, anti-racism and anti-feminism and repeatedly holds them up for ridicule, mockery. contrarianism and "gotcha"ism. This, too, is your democratic right.
nd what happens when your iTampon crashes or breaks? Let me guess - you just lose your entire library and have to buy it all over again? Too bad, so sad!
No, i reload my new iPad. Just like I did when I got my new iPod.
My current shuffle? Same thing. I got a new laptop last summer after my old one died. Now I can't add or remove any songs from it. So, the solution is obviously to buy generic music players that act as memory sticks with a menu interface and earphone plug, right? Which is what I normally do.
I got a new laptop last year. I add and remove new songs, books, podcasts from my shuffle all the time. If you need some help, I'll be glad to help you. It's extremely easy.
And what if you have two or three computers that you use? I have a home laptop and a work computer. I liked downloading podcasts, for instance. Perfectly legitimate, not "stolen" music, whatever. With a generic player, you can plug it into any machine and download stuff. Not an iPod, though. You can only use it with one machine at a time if you don't want to wipe it clean every time you plug it in somewhere else. It's bullshit.
Again, not true. I use several computers with my ipod. Again, i'll help you if you need help. Again, it's not hard.
I have books that I've had since I was a little girl. (That's thirty years ago, for those who are counting.)
How many of the e-books that you buy today will be around thirty years from now?
Why would I not have my digital books 30 years from now? I'm sure I'll have to move them to new media but you'll probably have to move your books around, too. The difference is that you will have killed a lot more trees and your back will hurt!
It won't take all that long for the iFad to go the way of all tech toys and be sent to your neighbourhood landfill. It seems to be a hardware solution to fill a non-existant need.
I don't normally purchase Apple hardware but we did get an ipod a couple of xmas's ago. What a treat getting that thing to work with our linux based systems...
RosaL...I don't own an iPod...and I never will.
Hell, I'd rather have the cheap $30 Coby player from the bargain bin at Canadian Tire. Why? Because moving my files around is a simple matter of copying and pasting them from one device to another. Also, can connect to my computer with a very standard off the shelf USB connection. There are no special proprietary cables and I don't have to jump through proprietary software hoops in order to perform such a simple task.
RosaL...I don't own an iPod...and I never will.
Hell, I'd rather have the cheap $30 Coby player from the bargain bin at Canadian Tire. Why? Because moving my files around is a simple matter of copying and pasting them from one device to another. Also, can connect to my computer with a very standard off the shelf USB connection. There are no special proprietary cables and I don't have to jump through proprietary software hoops in order to perform such a simple task.
It's simplicity itself to move the files around. (Most people would have even more trouble with the Coby, I promise you. ) If you want a Coby player, buy one. But it's politically irrelevant.
p.s. You just plug your shuffle into your usb port. I use mine to transfer files all the time. Drag and drop.
It's simplicity itself to move the files around. (Most people would have even more trouble with the Coby, I promise you. ) If you want a Coby player, buy one. But it's politically irrelevant.
p.s. You just plug your shuffle into your usb port. I use mine to transfer files all the time. Drag and drop.
Apple's hardware is proprietary, it doesn't work with everything. I was being sarcastic when I said it was a treat transferring files on our systems. It was a nightmare, and still is not simple. I won't replace my computers for the sake of an mp3 player. Further, the dollar/quality equation doesn't stand the value test.
Apple's hardware is proprietary, it doesn't work with everything. I was being sarcastic when I said it was a treat transferring files on our systems. It was a nightmare, and still is not simple. I won't replace my computers for the sake of an mp3 player. Further, the dollar/quality equation doesn't stand the value test.
I understood you quite well. I can imagine it might be difficult to use your ipod with linux. I haven't tried it but I think I will now. (I have a program on my linux machine that's supposed to work. i'll let you know if it does. In the meantime, you could try banshee) Of course you shouldn't replace your computers for the sake of an mp3 player. That would be really stupid. For me, the dollar/value equation is as good as it is for anything else. (I've had my shuffle for about 8 years.) As I said earlier, I use my ipod for pretty well everything; the only limitation was the small screen and the iPad will remove that.
It's simplicity itself to move the files around. (Most people would have even more trouble with the Coby, I promise you. ) If you want a Coby player, buy one. But it's politically irrelevant.
p.s. You just plug your shuffle into your usb port. I use mine to transfer files all the time. Drag and drop.
Yes but for the most part, you have to use Apple's proprietary "iTunes" software to move files around with an iPod. I'd rather just use my file management software to move files around...something I can do with the music players I have...my Cowon player (which plays ogg vorbis and FLAC files...something the iPod can't do )...or the cheapie "no name" players.
I'm in control of my players...not Apple and iTunes.
In the meantime, you could try banshee) Of course you shouldn't replace your computers for the sake of an mp3 player. That would be really stupid. For me, the dollar/value equation is as good as it is for anything else. (I've had my shuffle for about 8 years.) As I said earlier, I use my ipod for pretty well everything; the only limitation was the small screen and the iPad will remove that.
Don't waste your time. Apple firmware in their mp3 is not consistent across the various units. What works on one player doesn't work on another. Further, their are variables in the different Linux distributions. Apple doesn't function well with anything other than iTunes and a mac. Windows itunes software works but is crippled. Linux only works when you either get lucky or hack the unit with something like Rockbox, but then its no longer an ipod....
this dead tree analogy is interesting... is it really preferable to have something on a plastic petroleum based product?
I dunno. Would you prefer communicating with babblers with paper and pen via the postal service?
I don't have an iPad or a Kindle but if I spent a lot more time on the road, I'd be very tempted to get one (you can carry a decent-sized library with you wherever you go). My brother travels a lot and loves his Kindle.
sven, i think it is the either or proposition that needs questioning... it seems the dead tree analogy is used to do away with a book held within ones hand... i think there is a place for more then one view or approach to life and that statements that attempt to do away with one side are faulty...
also, my observation is that most folks who are up on the net, e mail, crackbook, myspace and etc are so scattered they are incapable of focusing long enough to actually read a book, but i reserve the right to be wrong!!!
... it seems the dead tree analogy is used to do away with a book held within ones hand...
It's not really an analogy (books are, in fact, made from dead trees)..and it's not being "used to do away with" paper books (I'm simply saying that it's likely that paper books will likely be supplanted by electronic media--I'm not advocating that).
my Cowon player (which plays ogg vorbis and FLAC files...something the iPod can't do )
Alright Radiorahim, I must know all you can tell me of this. I have over 75 gigabytes of music in FLAC/ogg vorbis. This information will mean I can finally stop using a combination of a cassette based walkman with my dwindling supply of increasingly crappier condition mix tapes and my absolutely awful 10 dollar MP3 player with 512 MB of memory.
sven, perhaps it is the nature of internet communication, but i feel you have missed my analogy....i don't dispute 'dead' trees make books... the analogy( with plastics here is that some view plastics making ipads and etc more favourably... plastics don't seem recylcable in the same way that dead trees are....
you might be right about computer handhelds and etc doing away with much of the tradional book idea, but i see just the opposite likely to take place.... this is more of a perspective based on the idea that tactile experience counts for more then not with many people... and of course, like a glimpse into ones eyes, it is not to be had on the internet.........
Both paper books and plastic/metal/glass e-readers both have their environmental benefits and drawbacks. I'm not sure that rehtoric is going to do much to solve which one is superior.
On to the question of sensory preference for a specific medium. Analog mediums offer a vastly superior quality of sound and overall better music experience when compared when compared to digital mediums. I find it highly unlikely that the more portable digital technology will become more popular than the higher quality analog experience. Wait, what were we talking about? What year is this...
also, my observation is that most folks who are up on the net, e mail, crackbook, myspace and etc are so scattered they are incapable of focusing long enough to actually read a book, but i reserve the right to be wrong!!!
You would definitely be wrong. Not only am I on Facebook, but also MySpace and LinkedIn. I also have e-mail and am fairly tech savvy when it comes to maintaining my computer and knowing computer security (a long with legal applications). That being said, I read a lot of books. The Internet does not interfere with my ability to read, nor to be focused. I would say the same is true for 90 percent of my geeky friends.
also, my observation is that most folks who are up on the net, e mail, crackbook, myspace and etc are so scattered they are incapable of focusing long enough to actually read a book, but i reserve the right to be wrong!!!
You would definitely be wrong. Not only am I on Facebook, but also MySpace and LinkedIn. I also have e-mail and am fairly tech savvy when it comes to maintaining my computer and knowing computer security (a long with legal applications). That being said, I read a lot of books. The Internet does not interfere with my ability to read, nor to be focused. I would say the same is true for 90 percent of my geeky friends.
Do you think the same is true of younger people (teens)? I find myself wondering about the attention spans of a lot of young people. It just strikes me that the frenetic pace of modern communication (sending, literally, thousands of micro-text messages a month), video games, instantaneous information access on the Internet, and the like reinforce short attention spans. I think a lot of people look at a book (which may take...gawd forbid!!...a couple of days to read) and their eyes roll back into their heads.
I even find myself less patient with delay. I've become very accustomed to finding information quickly on the Internet and I quite like being able to order something over the Internet in a matter of minutes (and when it's convenient for me -- which might be at 2am).
With respect to paper books (which are not hand-written), they have only been around for a relatively short period of time (~ 600 years) and really only widely available for the last couple of hundred years and only ubiquitously available for, say, the last 80 years. At one time, paper media represented the best available technology for storing and transmitting information. It's hard to make that same argument today. In all likelihood, some future generation will very soon grow up on non-paper media and the romantic allure that paper books have for people like me will likely no longer exist to any significant degree. Paper-based media technology will have come and gone.
Honestly I think it depends on the person and what he/she enjoys. I know a lot of young people who love to read. I also know a lot of young people who spent a ton of time on video games (these are almost all males). I think your upbringing helps as well. If you are around parents that read a lot, and have access to a lot of books, then I think the tendency is to read books.
I have noticed something quite odd about kids today and I'm not sure it is their fault. The tendency is for kids to stay inside more, because they are being told over and over ad over again that being outside isn't safe. Gone are the days of wandering through forests, hiking to strange places just for the fun of it, and playing outside games like Rover Red Rover etc. Parents are afraid to send their kids out without supervision. I think this is a bad trend and I am hoping parents will realize there is no difference in risk for them compared to 20 or 30 years ago.
But that last part if off topic.
I was looking at the Canadian author Kelley Armstrong's website today when I noticed this little ditty from her twitter feed-
"R there NO women working for Apple? The iPad? Srsly? Who wants to say, "Just a sec, lemme check my iPad"?"
stargazer -as i mentioned it's my observation... clearly you have a different one.. whether someone is right or wrong is a more complicated way to categorize it...
So you have an opinion...
...based on observations that are quite possibly of very little depth...
...and you provide no evidence and you've openly stated that you don't care about any evidence to the contrary...
...so why is your opinion in any way relevant to this discussion?
observations and opinions are different... - p-sto, i sense some hostility...
You call it an observation but it doesn't come off as one. You're quite acute in this case, the former part of the description you gave is reflective of a number of people I hold in high regard, I find the later part of it to be quite unreflective of them. I'm not sure why you felt the need to offer your observation in the manner that you did.
p-sto, i think this is an extremely interesting topic, but a different one, although the same one that sven seems to be raising upstream in the 226pm post... i am not sure why someone would take issue with a particular comment, but not another, but that is what people often do...
If you see post #82 I am taking issue with what Sven wrote in support of your statement. The difference is Sven has yet to return to support his suppositions while you have.
sven seems to be framing some ideas in the form of a question... he does go on to make some interesting comments in the last paragraph that i tend to share....
I think it is because of the way you have effectively stereotyped almost everyone who uses social media sites as essentially too unfocused to read books. Clearly it was your opinion but is it based in any reality? How many people do you know who don't read books because they use e-mail and facebook?
I haven't said anything to you except to say, hey, you are wrong about your assumption. I say this because I know a lot of people who are very tech savvy and manage to read books. Then you tell me it is my opinion when in fact, it is observation that lead to my opinion.
Sven's comment was about kids, not adults, and the possibility that these kids may spend a hella time playing video games etc. and that this may lead them to read less, which I think is valid, but not necessarily true. I don't know. I haven't read any studies on this.
Observations generally lead to opinions no?
telling someone they are wrong would seem to really narrow the conversation, but this is just an OPINION... my observation is based off my own experience as much as it is off others, but perhaps it is one that some folks are uncomfortable with... have at it folks, as i am off to do some other things and will be back much later...
sven seems to be framing some ideas in the form of a question... he does go on to make some interesting comments in the last paragraph that i tend to share....
Which has nothing to do with your accusation that I'm choosing to roast you over him.
Well you would have to be wrong wouldn't you? If you are right that means I must be a liar, and all the people I know don't read. Dude, you really need to find better tactics to get your point across. Running away isn't going to help you.
BTW, I'm reading White Oleander for the 2nd time and I often post on FB.
Over what time horizon are you talking about. Is this possible over the very long run? Sure, but there are also a number of environmental, economic and political factors that could possibly interfere with the transition. I wouldn't count paper down and out too quickly. How long ago did they predict the advent of the paperless office.
Oh, I don't know...maybe 20 or 30 years ago people started seriously talking about paperless offices? But, I'm not really thinking about that short of a time frame (I said, "...some future generation will very soon grow up on non-paper media..."). I would guess that in 100 years (200, tops), paper books will have gone the way of the buggy whip. In the mean time, I think society will be inexorably moving in that direction.
Television was accused of doing the same thing to my generation and possibly previous generations as well. Let's not get into the arrogant position of accusing certain demographics less fit to function based on the evolution of media.
It's "arrogant" to merely postulate that engaging in repeated micro tasks (like a kid sending a thousand or two text messages a month) might lead to shorter attention spans?
Sven's comment was about kids, not adults, and the possibility that these kids may spend a hella time playing video games etc. and that this may lead them to read less, which I think is valid, but not necessarily true. I don't know. I haven't read any studies on this.
Me neither!
It would be an interesting subject of study, though.
The other thing that might be worth studying is the impact that texting (in particular) and emailing (to a lesser degree) may have on writing skills. Texting and, but to a lesser degree, emailing generally involves communication that is relatively abbreviated. And, when a person primarily, if not exclusively, engages in that style of abbreviated writing, I wonder if it creates habits that hinder a person's ability to write about something which is complex or nuanced and which requires a significant amount of effort to convey an idea clearly and concisely? I don't think that the act of texting would cause a person to not be able to write about something that is complex but it may create writing habits that may make it difficult for a person to write about something that requires more than a few sentences. In other words, the technology is fine...but if it is used to the near exclusion of other ways of expressing thoughts, I would think a person might have difficulty with a writing task that requires significant effort, thought, and planning.
As far as the name "iPad" goes, how is that name any more "offensive" than "ThinkPad", or "notepad", or "ink pad", or "kneepad", or "helipad", or "launch pad", anything else with the suffix "-pad"?
As far as I've read there has been anecdotal evidence suggesting that popular methods of communication have to some degree impaired student's abilities to write in proper spelling and grammar. No where have I read anything suggesting that the attention spans or ability to express complex thoughts has in any way been adversely effected. So as far as I know that ability to communicate complex thought is not impaired but the ability to produce those thoughts in conventional syntax is.
I wonder how much of this is a failure of parenting and a failure of the school system as opposed to a failure in technology. There have always been things to distract children from school, reasons for illiteracy to be present in society. All in all I still don't see the benefit in speculation with no evidence being brought into the discussion that an increasing amount of our youth are inept as a result of technology. Perhaps we can imagine ourselves a reason.
There are many things that teachers observe in the schools, that have changed over the years, and such things have multiple causes. For example, teachers can typically no longer teach ALL of the students in their classrooms and have need for EA's, assistants, etc. The days of a teacher being able to teach all their students is ... over. The cause, or rather causes, of this is/are many.
I concur with p-sto's last sentence and he is completely right. Television was said to have made a few generations less intelligent, which is not true.
Sven, I've often wondered that myself re: the way texting may be influencing the ability to write. I'm sure there must be studies on this.
Long.