All can say is wow.
As I write this I am sitting on a couch at Dukes Ave with a wireless keyboard that is enabling me to touch type 2 metres away from where the iPad is sitting.
I bought the iPad yesterday. What a revolution.
When Steve Jobs first launched it I watched the event live and I realised I was witnessing a key moment in history. One that doesn't come along very often.
A time when you can see the changing of the guard. I was astounded that so called "analysts" didn't get it. They were oogling over the things that were missing without realising the paradigm shift that Jobs had created.
The tablet has arrived.
Apple created the mouse in 1984 (?) and they killed it 16 years later in 2010.
On the day that the iPad launched in London, news broke that Apple are about to overtake Microsoft in Market Cap. Wishing I bought Apple shares back in April 2009 when I witnessed another small but significant event at the Luxembourg airport: three people in the security line ahead of me: They all emptied their pockets and they all had an iphone. I thought then - we've hit a tipping point. Soon after Apple announced ridiculously huge sales of the iPhone, way surpassing analyst predictions.
So here we have the iPad.
The reason that prompted me to start to write this blog is to track my reaction to the world unfolding and put down my vision of the world we are heading into and the changing world around us.
There are two approaches to blogging: 1) make each blog a refinement of craft. 2) make it more a stream of consciousness. I'm opting for the latter. My "uncle" Paul (he's actually Debra's uncle) learnt how to build a dry stonewall in Ireland. The trick to building the wall (which you lay by hand, one rock at a time) is to NEVER PUT A ROCK DOWN THAT YOU HAVE PICKED UP. ONCE YOU PICK IT UP, IT MUST GO IN THE WALL. My approach with blogging is similar. Let it flow, keep it running and keep going (ironically I had to fix up spelling and grammar writing this paragraph).... So the blog has got to make sense - and be entertaining.
ENTERTAINMENT - I have been playing with the iPad for a few hours yesterday after I bought it. And this morning with Henry (9.5 months old and growing into a whole new world). So I have been using the iPad to go onto the Application Store and find out about all the applications that I could load up on the iPad.
It was a great experience. But I felt like jumping on my laptop that is sitting next to me and googling the best iPad apps. So I started using my laptop and searching on the screen for an ipad application - when I found the laptop wasn't working properly.
Then I realised what I had done. I was trying to touch the screen of the laptop to open up the link on the website I was on. In that moment, I thought "silly me", "holy cow", "that was fast!"
You see what I thought when I saw Steve Jobs using the iPad all that time ago was that he has revolutionised the way that we are going to interact with the internet. A mouse is a limited 1 click, 1 hand mechanism. Life is so much more sophisticated when you can use both hands and 8 fingers and 2 thumbs to find your way around.
Here within 24 hours of getting my iPad I had adapted so quickly (and seen Henry engage for the first time with a computer) and now I can't go backwards. The laptop sitting next to me now looks so clunky. So heavy, so much wastage. A massive hard keyboard (instead of the ipads's softkeyboard) and a flat un-interactive non-touch screen.
It is like looking at a relic already. Outmoded and redundant. Not completely redundant because of Apple's closed system.
But it won't be long.
Tablets are going to be the number one christmas present this year.
Now Apple have led the charge and sold a million usits in a month or so in the US alone - everyone is playing catch-up. Android is Google's mobile operating system and it is storming ahead. It is overtaking Microsoft in the number of smart phones that run on it after just 18 months. It is going to be inside Sony TVs - allowing you to use internet on your TV as you have never been able to before. And Android is going to power the tablets of the future.
The key difference for developers is that Android who partners with all device manufacturers - is completely open. Meaning, the technology allows for a developer to write an application, integrate it to Android and run it. Android takes care of the form of the device - phone/tablet/tv. But it does it in a very smart way so developers can maximize their work.
And if you compare that to Apple's ecosystem... Apple is more like a promoter of goods. So imagine you're an entertainer, if you want to entertain all the people that Apple can get you in front of, here's what you have to do: sign up to Apple as your agent. Now Apple is repreesenting you, but taking a 30% fee for any ticket sales. They will put you in the venue, but first you have to show them your act. Lets say you're a magician. And the world's top magicians are with Apple. In fact Apple itself has a magic act. In order for Apple to represent you, you must do your act for them. But not just once. You have to do it over and over. In fact, you have to let them video your magic act. Then, (and here's the kicker) you have to tell them how you did every trick. You have to write down in precise detail andn show themm how to do your routine.
Is it any wonder that developers are hanging out for Android? In the Android world - they are not interested inlooking at your act to see how you did your tricks, but they might represent you for a fee. It's a much more open platform, leaving you to do what it is that you do best: work your magic.
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