Apparently I am REQUIRED to weigh in on the latest and greatest piece of hardware that comes from our retail overlords, Apple. So says the almighty Steve Jobs. All praise Steve Jobs!

I have been consciously waffling on posting about the iPad for over a month. For those of you who know me, I am neither a champion of Apple nor Microsoft. I am not really a full on Linux geek, either. I am comfortable on all platforms. I have obtained (not bought, but not stolen) an iPod touch and enjoy using it, for the most part. I say all this to assure you that the following is not fueled by any specific love or hate for the overall Apple products.

I am a computer and technology Geek. I give all platforms equal chance.

This being said, I do not want an iPad.

Wait. What? But you must ant an iPad. You have an iPod and you like gadgets. Get an iPad. You’ll like it!

That’s right. No iPad for me, please. And now I’ll tell you why:

It’s an iPod touch made bigger.

With so much hype surrounding the iPad, one may first think that this must be a wonderful, revolutionary device, but it isn’t. There have been pads before and there will be better pads to come. Some may be coming sooner than you think. Apple themselves have already made one “pad” called the Newton. So what makes the iPad so newsworthy? It accomplishes everything that the iPod touch does in a bigger package!

Huh?

That’s right, it is just a big iPod touch. It does have more screen real-estate and applications can be made that are only available on the iPad, but when it comes down to it, the only thing that would be better in any way on an iPad than an iPod would be watching movies or consuming other visual content. Even this has it’s trade-off, namely having to hold the device at the proper angle to comfortably consume this content. Okay, so people that want to drop $500 (well actually up to $1200) to watch a movie or surf the web on the toilet, reclining on the couch, or reclining in the easy chair would be happy. After all, why watch a movie on a TV when you can enjoy it having to hold a 1.5 pound screen in your lap?

I DO see where the iPad COULD be useful. It is an intuitive device, so someone who is technology inept could work well on it.

[Yes, I am saying that the iPad could be a "Laptop for Dummies" device. If you don't agree, tell me why!]

So far, this is stuff that has been spewed endlessly by others and I’ve just been reiterating already tired material.

Well here is where I go into why I personally am becoming frustrated with where Apple has gone with their technology. I have a number of media items (songs, pictures and movies) housed on my media PC  that just won’t fit on my 16 GB iPod. In fact, unless my iPod (or an iPad) had approximately 300 GB of storage, I wouldn’t be able to hold the media that I would want to be available to a device like the iPad. I happily live with a storage limitation on my iPod due to it’s size and the fact that movies are just not all that great to watch on it. The iPad however, opens up the more comfortable large media consumption that the iPod just couldn’t deliver. And here lies the real problem in the iPad: the only way to get the full capacity of the iPad is to use remote files. This wouldn’t even BE a problem if it weren’t for the fact that the only way to use remote files on the iPad was through streaming services. Why can’t the iPod or iPad sync wirelessly with a FULL library? I have a LOT of media files. It would be very difficult to have to pull up iTunes (or even another media manager), select the file I want moved over, and then hook up the device and sync it. That’s not even considering the fact that it HAS to be in a certain format. If I could remotely browse my library (while I was on the same Wi-Fi network) and pull a desired file on demand, I would want it. I would want an iPad so bad that I would be doing some very degrading things right now to get one. Sure, I want expandability. Sure, I would LIKE a camera. But for what this device is, it lacks a very core functionality that it could easily have that would truely make it the revolutionary device that it is being touted to be.

There are a lot of Android tablets coming out VERY soon and I am pretty sure that networking and file browsing will be a basic function in these devices, allowing for exactly what I’m looking for. Not only will these devices offer more functionality in a basic way, they will be expandable. Will they overtake the iPad, unfortunately they will probably be looked on as too “complex” by the technophobic masses to be as widely accepted as the heavily mass-marketed iPad. Woe is the world.

Someone please make a device that truly embodies portable media consumption. I beg you!

-Mike

I wished upon a star until it landed on runway 9.

I have been hearing about the Powermat quite a bit here lately. It is basically a charging station for three devices that charges the devices through inductance. That in itself is cool. The problem that I have is that everyone is propagating thier marketing slogan of “wireless” charging. Firstly, there is the power adapter for the mat itself that must plug in between the mat and the outlet. Okay, so you have POTENTIALLY gone down from three wires to one. That’s GREAT! Seriously, I’m not even being sarcastic here. A device management system that reduces the spaghetti piles around my house might be worth it. But it doesn’t eliminate cables. Hell, the AC adapter for it has to go all the way to where the device must be set down.

That brings me to point two: they make it sound as if it makes charging it so much more convenient. Look, if I could use my iPod while it charged and not be bothered by a tethered cord, this thing would be worth its weight in gold. But I can’t. If anything, this device would inconvenience me MORE. Right now I am typing this rant on my iPod while in bed next to my sleeping wife. It’s damned convenient, I would say. If my battery were to get low, I plug in my bedside AC adapter and continue on my merry way. I couldn’t do that with the Powermat. Well, I could if I wanted to hunch over the bedside table. I could also listen to music. But the point is that it would be an inconvenience when I do most of my charging. And another inconvenience is that additional case or adapter I would need to use it.

And now we come to the final point: the adapter necessary for the Powermat to work. Devices are not yet built with inductance coils already in place to charge them (with the notable exception of a pricey Dell laptop). You are getting rid of three long cables for a kit of inductance coil dongles. I understand that these come in a nifty case, though. That’s good, because I didn’t want to have anything bulky in the way or small enough to lose. Now I have both and that nulls each other out, right? Alternatively, you could pay them MORE money for special cases for COMMON devices so you don’t have to keep up with the dongles (at least not the ones they offer a case for).

Oddly enough, these are only issues I have with how it is being sold. I actually DO want one as it WOULD reduce some cable issues for cell phones and cameras. I wouldn’t want it as an iPhone or iPod accessory, but that is because I use my iPod heavily. Those who put theirs down for the night to charge could consider it, though.

Well, I feel so much better to have shared this little frustration with you.

Have fun!
-Mike

Forget the fact that I spell like a third grader and talk like a first grader. If you haven’t heard, I started writing for examiner.com on a freelance basis (you can see my articles here). This doesn’t really pay anything to speak of, but the last article I wrote put me in the top five contributors for that site yesterday. If I can repeat such a phenomenon, I might think about expanding to other writing projects.

We do have another Just_A_Site project that could be worked on called JustAReviewSite, but right now it is on wordpress (like this blog) and I don’t think I want a cookie cutter site for that type of content.

John and I also have another project in the works that I am not ready to talk about that much. It is not really going under the Just_A_Site family of sites. It is going to be a semi-performance-art type of endeavor. I don’t know how long it will take to design and build, but it will be comedic in intention.

Just decided to pen a few of my thoughts today. No news or funny or anything.

YouTube – Good-bye Twitter – from Miley.

So I have kids of a sufficient age that I cannot avoid being aware of Hannah Montana. As sad as that is, it came as an even greater surprise that Miley’s bad attempt at rapping came across just about every geek or tech blog/podcast that I regularly consume. Of course me mentioning it further just propagates the news-worthiness of this particular item. Therefore, in Gumpian fashion, that’s all I have to say about that.

Onto actual news.

The Peek Pronto offer on Engadget

If you didn’t know, the T-Mobile Sidekick has been experiencing a heinous outage that’s going on a week from what I’ve overheard in a T-Mobile store (and doubly confirmed by Cali Lewis in GeekBrief #643). Engadget reports that Peek will give disgruntled T-Mobile Sidekick users a free Pronto in a move they fittingly described as a “sucker punch”. But does the Pronto look familiar? Black PDA-sized device dedicated solely to email? I remember selling these back in 2000 at a CompUSA. It was called a BlackBerry. As I recall, those things are still in use, only as cell phones. Who thought that it would be a good idea to take a BlackBerry and remove the cellular calling features and application expandability so that it only handles emails, just like it did ALMOST A DECADE AGO?

Oh, wait.

It has a color screen. And the service is ONLY $20.

If someone is seriously using the $20 service fees being lower that a $55 basic BlackBerry cell plan that includes cell minutes and data access, they need to be reminded that the difference is really just the cell plan and the BlackBerry still does SO much more. If they aren’t planning to have a cell phone, though, I could see where the device might have enticement. But what type of lifestyle do you live in which instant email access is essential, but cellular access is not? I may want to change my lifestyle. I would personally love to have my primary contact over email. Less talk, more type would be glorious. To bad most people insist on verbal communication to ensure the subtleties contained within are available to reinforce their message.  Sarcasm is treasured beyond all in some circles I associate with.

Sidekick users (and any others who might come under a similar offer), DO NOT be swayed by the lure of a free device offering a sub-standard service. Microsoft will get the outage fixed soon. If they don’t, you can keep you text, email, and PHONE service intact with another smart-phone, not a glorified circa 2000 Blackberry and a prepaid cell.

Study: Blu-ray Hits Mainstream In 2010.

Has Blu-ray not already hit the mainstream? You can already get a Blu-ray burner for your PC. The Sony Playstation 3 already has a built-in player. How many households already have a PS3? In addition to the PS3, aren’t we already on the third generation of Blu-ray players? I say tvpredictions.com is a bit behind the times on this study. HD-DVD has already succumbed, leaving Blu-ray as the premium option for the home theater. While I may not have a player myself, it is not due to the availability, it is due to the total upgrade cost of my system (or what I like to call Nintendo Entertainment System. Old school, baby!) versus the lack of gainful employment. You can’t exactly call me mainstream in the home entertainment area. I’m more like swirling in an eddy downstream.

I just saw this and had to add my views.

-Mike