Well, with great anticipation and months of lead up and speculation, last week Apple introduced the IPad. While I believe that this toy will be the new standard of “hip” at Starbucks, I think that I may have missed something…perhaps something fundamental. Is the IPad not just an oversized IPod Touch? It looks the same, has basically the same functionality and interface, only it’s bigger. So much bigger in fact that it has lost any sense of compact convenience.
Yes it has a larger screen that makes it easier to watch movies or read the newspaper but it's about as convenient as my laptop. The typing function looks good but even Steven Jobs appeared uncomfortable typing during the demo. As for reading a novel - I am not sure how comfortable I would be firing up the IPad on my blanket at the beach.
Again, maybe I have missed something but this looks merely evolutionary and clearly not revolutionary. I still think that being able to have my Blackberry cradle to a large screen with a keyboard at home and office would solve 90% of my computing needs.
Changing gears, it is 9 days before the winter Olympics. I have always loved the Olympics – the idea of athletes from all over the world converging on one city to compete in all manner of sport. Of course, the media hype has been building. I was following the torch relay for a long time wondering how they would ever make it to Vancouver in time for the opening ceremonies. Now, it feels like they have been close for a couple of weeks and are now just circling the city waiting for someone to let them in (they must have skipped the Prairies).
I think my interest is not just about sports but also about the host city and the preparations. Last night I watched a news report on Vancouver and how the city had been waging a campaign to have everyone use public transit in January and February to prepare for the congestion of the games. It was a failure – not unexpectedly I suppose. Today, I was reading the newspaper (the printed version) and there was a small story about a Van – city blog that had a post about “The Wacky and Weird of Living in an Olympic Host City”. I thought it was kind of interesting and fun.
Hopefully the games themselves will be a success and here’s hoping the Superbowl this weekend lives up to it’s hype – of which there is never a shortage!
Cheers and have a great day!
George
P.S. Go Saints!
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