11 February 2011

iPad THREE already? Comparisons on tablets, and future development.

OK.  I have blogged enough about Apple products of late.  But I can see the value of tablets in education.  At least, I can see why they really can add to textbooks, although I am not sure if they can replace textbooks.

Already there is a lot of talk about "iPhone 5" and  "iPad 2"  - however there is already SOME speculation about iPad THREE!  More to the point, the tablet market didn't exist 12 months ago and is likely to become full if Apple doesn't move quickly.  Therefore it makes sense that  a "low hanging fruit" iPad 2 would come out, closely followed by something that fixed a lot of the stupidities of the earlier model.  Think of the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS.  The 3GS had double the RAM, faster processor, better camera, etc etc etc... the fact that Apple put it in the same shell meant that consumers (especially Apples' consumers) really didn't understand or care about the difference.  Sales of both would remain strong.

Yes, Apple Is Lining Up For A “Surprise” This Fall. And Yes, It’s Likely An “iPad 3″: "
the new iPad we may see in the fall will be more of a “iPad 2.5″, whereas my guess was the other way around. He thinks the launch date could have more to do with Apple attempting to move the yearly release schedule of the iPad to be closer to the holiday season. Again, that’s just his guess, but it also makes quite a bit of sense.




However if you are still interested in the tablet revolution but hold onto a old-man style of hatred for a company like Apple (like I do), then perhaps you want to see what are the alternatives. Engaget have a face off between 4 of the biggest competitors out there and lay them end to end in an easy to compare table.

The only problem is that this table misses the point.  The ONLY reason I, and many others will put up with Apple is because of the app market.  I hate the idea of being mind controlled by one company.  Why can't I have a Playboy app if I want to?  It's not the point that I (probably) wouldn't download it anyway, the point is that I don't think that is your call to make, Mr Apple Jobes.

But I do actually want lots of apps. I do actually "want an app for that".  It's frustrating because with ubiquity we get interoperability of sorts. "Interoperability" in this company's view means the program can run on different versions of the iOS.  Frustrating as hell, but for now the trend isn't reversing.

In fact, rather than computers coming to phones, think rather that the touch basis of phone interface  is more likely to be coming to computers.  Although Windows 7 has drivers for multi touch screens, I haven't seen LG, Benq or other LCD manufactures jump on the bandwagon.  Why not?  It's not hard.  Get a bloody big LCD and lay a touch sensor over it.  It's as old technology and as about as difficult as Apple's facetime revolution.  Yet it will take Apple to play the "revolutionizer" and bring the iPad interface design to the MacBook Air to get this "revolution" happening.

At the moment the whole concept of "window focus" is tied up in the hardware of a mouse.  I'm sure that the Microsoft Windows 7 team actually know this. But in the same way that Windows 95 beat the market with IPTV bloatware, so too has Windows 7 built-it-and-no-one-came-to-the-party.

That's actually very sad.  I DO actually want a touch based glass desktop.  For the sake of going to cinemas, it should look like something out of Minority Report. Or Tron's computer desk.  Or the thing the old Adam Sandler was working on in the movie Click.  These are fairly reasonable suggestions as to what can be done. And the iPad is the kick starter for long over due tablet craze, then surely these lessons will be brought to Apple's computer interface.  You may find the next version of the MacBook Air has NO track pad at all, but looks more like a iPad with built-in (or even detachable) tactile keyboard.

Enough guessing.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Something to keep in mind when referencing Minority Report as a touch interface is that people aren't actually designed to do that. It affects not just people using a vertically mounted touch screen at shoulder height, but fine painters and anyone trying to use fine motor control when reaching fully forward or higher.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen#Gorilla_arm

It also affects students who're being ignored by the teacher, and end up with their arm in the air for a few minutes trying to ask a question.

So I've heard.