Despite being a skeptic about how useful such a device is (and just buying one anyhow!) it's still a daily use object to me 3 months on. The hype has cooled, Apple still call it magical, business is still trying to decide if it's a device they can make use of. The earth is still spinning.
Initially I thought I would read more magazines and with some truly visually stunning apps like Time Magazine and thank Zinio for their great news-stand app (and subscription model). However while I do buy the occasional mag, when it comes to the weekly $5 worth of magazine I'm finding it hard to justify the next mag. On Zinio however with AU$14 annual subscriptions a new mag drops on the device and I find myself turning the pages every so often.
Also Flipboard and a feeddler RSS reader are what keep me current most of the time. Flipboard making the dent that everyone is afraid of in my view, it's presented so well but they're pushing the boundaries in terms of presenting other people's content and separately monetising it without credit to the author. But it's soooo damn pretty.
Ok well that's mags, what about the other stuff? Well for me in Australia, the ABC app is now my morning ritual, their 90-second news in brief every day is how I consume the daily headlines. Who needs newspapers?
Naturally the browser is the most used app, great for looking up inspiration for tonight's dinner and have in the Kitchen while preparing it.
Games make up more of the difference in terms of my use of it. All time burners, all back to the old mini-game goodness. I will say this much for the IPad and it's way of weaving a spell, these were games that would have been in flash (for the most part) and attracted me to a website to play every now and again for free however now I am playing these things on the pad and in some cases paying for the privilege where I wouldn't have with free flash games.
Business wise, there's no file system, you have to buy accessories to make it practical to type with and frankly there isn't a PC out there that wouldn't do a better job, even an EEEPC. However I can see why business are attracted to it (other than the CEO telling their IT departments "I want it"). It's a curated garden of micro-payments for even the most basic items you get included with every other operating system (including MAC OS) but that's also what holds people back from installing a lot of junk, you have to pay for it and it's all locked down. Unfortunately so many of these business see it as making security easier. No, it isn't! give it enough time, the popularity is already here, I guarantee a nice bucket-load of security patches along with every firmware release from here on in.
Conclusion
Would I recommend it?
Defiantly, something there for everyone, easy to use, great overall user experience. I haven't touched my own EEEPC since I purchased it.
Ease of use:
Frankly hard to beat, vastly better interface than a win7 pc tablet and far more approachable for the less initiated when it comes to general web use.
Is it a perfect, Magical device?
No, it's great, don't get me wrong, I'm no closer to putting it on Ebay at this point than when I first purchased it. It just feels like it's missing something
The competition:
Having, recently, thrown myself into the world of Android, all I have to suggest is that the IPad will continue to stand out for general use in the short term. However my brief taste of freedom back in a world where I can do what I want and how I want. Lets just say, walled gardens are a nice place to visit even on a daily basis, but you can't live there. Android/Chrome OS will certainly challenge the pad in a while to come be sure of that. So Christmas is coming, what do you wish for? The techie part of the audience, if you don't have a pad, get the droid. For the non-tech part of the audience, get the IPad, you'll love it.
My must have apps for the IPad:
(Aussies only) ABC IPad App FREE!
City Story (game) FREE! (with micro-payments if eager)
Flipboard Beautiful RSS/twitter/facebook reader FREE
Kindle reader Amazon book reader, FREE
Zinio Magazine news-stand FREE / paid content inside, free previews.
Time Magazine APP (how magazines should all now be!) Free / $5 an issue
Friday, September 17, 2010
Natures awesome power
Wow, just wow. Have a look at Hurricane Igor in all it's glory. NASA's Aqua satellite got an snap off that clearly shows its eye and spiraling arms that are incredibly clear.
Thank you NASA for all the great science you produce and also share the sheer wonder of the world around us.
3D Blu-ray 3D Disc Playback Support For PS3 Announced – PlayStation.Blog.Europe
Maybe it's me? maybe it's the end of a very long week and I'm just venting? maybe i just hate those silly little 3d glasses.
PS3's next firmware to include 3d Blu-ray support. Is anyone seriously going to use it????
Adobe Reader & Acrobat, why?
You know the best way to tell if it's a new week?
Look for the next Adobe security bulletin.
If you haven't been patching this weekly then you're probably in danger of having lost all your passwords and your friends are wondering when you started selling Viagra. Active exploits everywhere on the last few of these, make sure you keep your system clean.
For those that haven't done so already make sure you download Secuinia PSI it will at least tell you when you have a bunch of out of date add-ins in your system that those nasty Black hats love to use to get into your system.
Otherwise for the technically minded see the latest alert:
AusCERT - ESB-2010.0822 - ALERT [Win][UNIX/Linux][Mobile] Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat: Execute arbitrary code/commands - Remote with user interaction
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