Historically I am not much of a reader, but there have been times when I’ve found a book that I liked and I really enjoyed reading. I have a pretty vivid imagination so reading to me is almost like watching a movie except better because it’s almost as if I am experiencing it. I would say most if not all of the people I look up to as being smart and intelligent are prolific readers.
So one of the goals I set for myself in 2010 is to read more. My plan is to read a book every two weeks and hopefully read 20+ books this year. With my goal in mind I spent some time scouring Amazon and created a list of prospective reads. Today Nicole and I went to Half Price books and after a pit stop at Barnes & Noble I can home with five new ( to me ) books. However, I am just now realizing that all but one of these books are the basis for movies. While unintentional I do love movies and I’ve found that the book is usually better than the movie.
I am working on creating a reading list for the year and when I am done I will share it here.
The big news, this week, for Apple fans and gadget geeks a like was the announcement of Apple’s latest creation the iPad….
The official Apple video:
and a hands on by SlashGear:
To be honest when I was watching coverage of Apple’s announcement I wasn’t too impressed with the idea of the iPad. However after having a few days to think about it I’ve come to believe that this maybe the future of computing. That being said I don’t believe that we will all be ditching our laptops and desktops for iPad like devices any time in the near future.
Think about the “applications” you use on a daily basis that only exist on the internet. For me it’s Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and dozens of blogs that I read. None of these things require the horsepower of a full blow desk/laptop. All they need is a device powerful enough to run a decent browser. With the advent of the iPhone/iPod Touch we’ve gotten used to using light weight mobile apps that typically interact with some sort of web service.
I do think there are a few things holding the iPad back. First is price. I think Apple should be commended for turning out a device starting at $499, but I still think the price is a huge barrier to entry. If Apple or another manufacturer could fine a way to subsidize the price down to the $199 range they’d sell 10’s of millions. I really don’t see the iPad being an “in every house” type of device until the price comes down.
Second, and this is a big one for me, why do we do we have to keep paying separate data for every device we have. I pay for DSL in my apartment, I pay mobile data on my phone and now they want me to pay for mobile data for another specific device? No way. I’d rather pick up a MiFi or similar device. That way I can use it for my iPad and my laptop while on the go. Else I’m forced to purchase an EVDO modem for my laptop as well. That would make 4 separate data plans I’d be paying for and to me that’s insane.
The iPad looks like a very slick device and like I mentioned I think it’s were the majority of future computing is headed. Now for the big question: Will I be buying one? I doubt it unless I decide to start developing applications for it. I’m not a huge fan of first Gen devices. I prefer to let early adopters deal with glitches and bugs besides with Apple the 2nd Gen is always slicker.
