Craig Grannell on the RIM CEO video making the rounds:
>Unfortunately, your correspondent fell asleep at this point, due to Heins’s relentless monotone, and so we have to guess as to the remainder of the video’s content.
I didn’t make it past the first 30 seconds.
Dana Bash reporting on an incident with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, statement by his father congressman Ron Paul:
>”One of the ultimate embodiments of this (police state) is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities,” the congressman said in a written statement. “The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe.”
He set off the body scanner and the TSA wanted to pat him down, he asked to go back through the scanner again — TSA refused. The story’s not interesting, but his statements are certainaly true.
Amazon is giving away $1.1 million this year for test movies and movies scripts. They essentially are creating Kindle Singles for movies — except now they are willing to help you out with the cash outlay neede to produce a movie.
I think this is a fantastic idea, something that Netflix and Hulu should have been already doing.
From the [FAQ](http://studios.amazon.com/getting-started):
>Amazon Studios makes money by getting movies made, so while we can’t guarantee it, our goal is to make that happen. To that end, we have established a first-look development deal with Warner Bros., the biggest movie studio in Hollywood.
MindNode is an elegant, easy-to-use mind mapping tool for Mac and iOS. Whether you’re brainstorming for your next project, organizing your life, or planning your vacation, MindNode lets you collect, structure, and expand your ideas. And thanks to built-in Dropbox and WiFi sharing, even your biggest ideas can go anywhere your iPhone does.
[MindNode](http://click.syndicateads.net/2012/01/Mindnode/brooksreview.html) is easy mind mapping for your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Try out [Mindnode Pro](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mindnode-pro/id402398561?mt=12) and [MindNode touch](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mindnode/id312220102?mt=8) today!
Rocky Agrawal:
>But what concerns me most is that Google is touting these meaningless statistics in the hopes that journalists will misunderstand them and report that Google+ is seeing rapid growth. The bottom line is, those 60 percents, 80 percents and 90 million registered users are just there to mask the fact that Google doesn’t want to tell us how many people are actually using Google+.
>It’s intellectually dishonest. And as a public company, it raises questions of Google’s intent — the market is watching Google’s moves in social and needs to see traction. I expect better from Google.
You should read this entire post, because it is a scathing look at how Google and other companies report numbers. The one thing I think Google really screws up are the vague “X devices *activated* this quarter” numbers they release for Android device usage.
It’s getting harder and harder to keep your head in the sand and trust Google.
If I were CEO of RIM, here’s what I would do:
1. Call a meeting of all top executives.
2. Pull my iPhone 4S out and rest it gently on the table in front of me.
3. Wait for dramatic effect.
4. Fire anyone not patient enough to wait for me to speak first.
5. Tell everyone left in the room that they have 3 months to bring me a working prototype that makes me want to use it over my iPhone. (While gesturing towards my iPhone already placed on the table.)
6. Fire anyone that asks “How?”
7. With everyone gone, hire a new executive team.
That’s where RIM should start and this isn’t a joke. Why bother with anything else if you can’t make people want to use your product? Beats me.
From two CEOs, Chairmen of the Board, and COOs to just one CEO and COO — no word on the chairmen situation. ((I’m on pins and needles over here.)) All this in an effort to follow chapter one of thier new iBooks *Business 101* textbook.
Fraser Speirs:
>Apple already revolutionized education when it invented the iPad. While iBooks textbooks are a bridge from the past to the future—and we do need a way to get to the future—they are not that future.
Interesting take on the announcements by Speirs — who might be the most knowledgeable person out there when it comes to using iPads in education.
>This week Shawn and Ben talk about Ben’s meeting avoidance tactics, the snow in Seattle, Jelly Belly jellybean flavors, and what Apple’s iBooks announcements mean for independent writers.
Big thanks to our sponsor: [Verses](http://kepner.me/versesapp).
Joshua Topolsky on the plethora of gadget choices presented by companies:
>For a journalist, it’s daunting — for shoppers, it’s starting to seem impossible.
And a bit later:
>As differentiation between like-minded products becomes smaller and smaller, and the market stratifies around specific platforms or standards (iOS and Android in the case of smartphones), buyers seem to be finding the myriad selection distracting or upsetting instead of exciting or enticing. Anyone who’s been in a cellphone shop lately can probably tell you this.
I agree there are far too many choices out there — particularly in the Android device market. However isn’t another solution — a solution more geared towards what *The Verge* does — to provide solid, [opinionated](https://brooksreview.net/2011/12/failure/), reviews to better help consumer choose?
There is a real need for companies to slim down their product lines and gain focus on a few great devices, but I also think that white-washing every review of a product, well, tends to not help the situation either.
Wayne Lam for iSuppli:
>Largely based on Nokia’s strong support, Windows Phone is set to regain the No. 2 rank in the smartphone operating system in 2015. Finnish-based Nokia in 2009 lost its second-place worldwide ranking because of rising competition from Google Inc.’s Android and Apple Inc.’s iOS.
>In 2015, however, Windows Phone will account for 16.7 percent of the smartphones shipped, up from less than 2 percent in 2011, according to the IHS iSuppli Mobile & Wireless Communications Service at information and analysis provider IHS (NYSE: IHS). This will allow Windows Phone to slightly surpass Apple’s iOS to retake the market’s second rank behind Android, as presented in the table below.
This is a surprisingly confident statement given that it is a prediction of the mobile market *three years from now*.
When I wrote the [iPhone edition](https://brooksreview.net/2012/01/apps-stuck-iphone/) of this post I had planned on writing an iPad version as well. Except when I started to dive into what the iPad version would list and talk about, I quickly realized that it’s not nearly as interesting to me — so I canned the post.
Since then I’ve gotten a bunch of requests for the iPad version, so I decided it was worth the time to look at the post once again. What I realized upon second consideration is that I have fundamentally changed the way that I use my iPad over the course of last year.
I believe I change my usage for the better.
Initially I used my iPad in a similar way as I used my iPhone: a tool to fill small bursts of time and to supplement my Mac. In other words my iPad was a part of my arsenal, but a part that could be eliminated with minimal pain.
At some point around September (the best that I can tell) my iPad shifted from being equivalent to my iPhone to becoming more equivalent to my Mac.
The practical difference between the two is that when I used to sit at my iPad it was for any length of time — now when I sit down at my iPad it is almost always going to be for an extended period of time. In that regard it is a lot like my MacBook Air.
That means that time filler apps (e.g. small games, Twitter) they have been back-burnered, whereas more time intensive apps ( e.g. [Instapaper](http://www.instapaper.com/), [iA Writer](http://www.iawriter.com/), [Reeder](http://reederapp.com/)) are now the most used.
Here’s my iPad home screen at the start of my writing this post:
[
](http://c276381.r81.cf1.rackcdn.com/iPad-hs-original-lg.jpg)
I took some time and went through all the apps to determine the ones that I actually use and rearranged the layout based on that. Here’s what my home screen looks like now:
[
](http://c276381.r81.cf1.rackcdn.com/iPad-hs-new.jpg)
Most of these apps I am not in everyday, but they are still my most used. The change here is that I look at my iPad as an essential part of my workflow, instead of just an aid to that workflow.
There’s only three apps that were actually “challenged” in 2011 on my iPad: [Calvetica](http://mysterioustrousers.com/calvetica), [Notesy](http://notesy-app.com/), and iA Writer.
### Calvetica
For the iPhone I strongly recommend Agenda, but on the iPad I much prefer Calvetica. I find that there are only two instances that I ever use the calendar on my iPad for: scheduling a meeting while in a meeting, and looking up “am I busy on day X” inquiries if I am already using my iPad.
For those two things Calvetica’s split view works a lot better for me. Seeing the monthly calendar and weekly agenda is just nice. Contrasting that to [Agenda](http://getappsavvy.com/agenda/) on the iPad: I get a more chaotic feeling about my schedule with Agenda on the iPad.
This is a highly personal preference and honestly I use the calendar so infrequent on the iPad, that it probably doesn’t even need to be on my home screen.
### Notesy
[Elements](http://www.secondgearsoftware.com/elements/) kept bumping heads with Notesy all year long and Notesy has mainly stuck because it is the app I prefer on my iPhone. That makes my life a bit easier and is all there really is to that decision.
### iA Writer
A dozen, maybe more? That’s how many apps I “tested” that sought to replace Writer, or create a better writing environment than it. There’s a lot of good options, from Elements to [Daedalus](http://www.the-soulmen.com/daedalus/) touch and [Writing Kit](http://getwritingkit.com/). There’s a lot to like about all of them, but in the end the seamless integration with Writer on my Mac is unfathomably good.
iA Writer is as simple as it gets and at the end of the day that is exactly the tool that I prefer. The fact that Writer exactly mimics its desktop counterpart only enhances my ability to transition from my Mac to iPad in a seamless manner. Perfect.
### The Rest
Here’s a quick rundown of the other apps you see, for those interested:
– Messages: I actually like using iMessage on the iPad — it feels more conversational.
– Maps: I use the crap out of this on my iPad. Best Google Map experience you can get.
– Settings: WiFi, Airplane mode, 3G, VPN.
– App Store: This is the only “time killer” on my home screen.
– Photography folder: Just apps for cropping and editing photos for TBR posts (not used often, but I like to play around in them).
– [Bamboo Paper](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bamboo-paper-notebook/id443131313?mt=8): I try to use this app anytime I feel the need to reach for paper.
– [Soulver](http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/): Best calculator, hands down.
– [1Password](https://agilebits.com/onepassword): Because I don’t remember any passwords, but more importantly I often forget usernames.
– [Prompt](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prompt/id421507115?mt=8): Quick way to restart Apache.
– [OmniOutliner](http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnioutliner-ipad/): I was big on outlining when this came out for the iPad, but it gets used less now. I do use it for meeting notes and ideas. Specifically if I have a post idea and want to write down a bunch of points about the idea, but don’t have time to write out complete thoughts, this is the app I use.
– WordPress: This is how I post most articles to TBR when blogging on the iPad. More often though: this is how I fix typos.
– iBooks & Kindle: I try to read the occasional book — still hope to finish that Steve Jobs biography someday.
– Instacast HD: I like listening to podcasts at lunch and around the house. For the most part I do that listening on the iPad, always in Instacast.
– [OmniFocus](http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus-ipad/): My brain.
– [Yojimbo](http://www.barebones.com/products/mobile/yojimbo/): Every post on TBR, every show note for B&B, and a ton of other quotes and links live here. It’s my memory.
– Rackspace: Uploading photos to be used in a TBR post. Works fantastically well.
– Dropbox: I drop leases in here for reference when I meet with tenants (day job).
– Reeder: My preferred app and device to read RSS feeds with.
– Mail: Necessary evil.
– Safari: Ditto.
– Instapaper: If I could only have one iPad app, this would be my choice.
### The Change
I have changed the way I not only use my iPad, but the way that I view my iPad. Right now my iPad is only slightly less capable than my MacBook Air. Most of this *is* actually limited by a lack of good apps in certainly niche categories that I need — not by speed and power of the device.
I am honestly not trying to be sensational when I say that. Nor am I saying I want to only work on my iPad, or that anybody else should, I am simply saying that with each passing month the iPad becomes exponentially more capable because of the app ecosystem that has developed for it.
Dan Wineman:
>Apple, in this EULA, is claiming a right not just to its software, but to its software’s output. It’s akin to Microsoft trying to restrict what people can do with Word documents, or Adobe declaring that if you use Photoshop to export a JPEG, you can’t freely sell it to Getty. As far as I know, in the consumer software industry, this practice is unprecedented.
I saw rumblings of this on Twitter and didn’t have time to dig into it, but it is as bad as some have feared.
[John Gruber says](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/01/19/ibooks-author-eula):
>This is Apple at its worst.
Indeed.
Justin Williams in looking at different iPhone Twitter app clients and has a perfect comment about Tweetbot:
>I consider Tweetbot to be the best designed Android app available for iOS.
and:
>I don’t dislike using Tweetbot, but I certainly don’t enjoy using it either.
A lot of people ask why I don’t like Tweetbot and the above two statements from Williams are two great starting points for explaining why I don’t care for the app.
I am with Williams here, there is no perfect Twitter app for me right now. I have tried most of them and still stick with Twitter’s official client — it’s not perfect — but it’s far better than everything else out there.
Here’s a [quick FAQ](http://www.apple.com/itunes/content-providers/book-faq.html) (has been around a while) from Apple detailing how you get a book on Apple’s iBookstore. You can compare and contrast it with Amazon’s for the Kindle Singles [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_354802082_5?ie=UTF8&docId=1000700491&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r=1CRR091ZCKXT26JN88GT&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1326127342&pf_rd_i=2486013011).
Even more information about publishing from Apple’s iBooks Author tool can be found in the help for the software. There’s a very interesting, distinctly different, feel between these two FAQs.
I am talking about Kindle Singles because I think Apple is really bringing the fight to Amazon, the fight for independent publishers. [We already know that Amazon wants these writers](http://pandodaily.com/2012/01/17/confessions-of-a-publisher-were-in-amazons-sights-and-theyre-going-to-kill-us/), but Apple seems to be making it a bit more competitive for this niche.
This is a line from Amazon’s Kindle Singles FAQ:
>We are currently not accepting how-to manuals, public domain works, reference books, travel guides, or children’s books.
Do you notice a common thread amongst those types of books?
Imagery.
How-to manuals, travel guides, and children’s books — these three types of books *need* to have great images in them to make the books infinitely more useable and entertaining. Beyond the imagery the design and layout of these books can often make or break them — something that you would be hard pressed to control when the book is read on a keyboard-less Amazon Kindle.
Black and white e-ink screens, well, don’t do so well with this type of media — the iPad though? Yeah, now you see why this is a shot across Amazon’s bow.
Amazon also limits the word count and price of Kindle Singles — I have yet to see mention of Apple doing that. Both services review books before publishing them, though it’s fair to say Apple will be just — if not more — stringent that Amazon.
This should be interesting.
Peter Kafka on the iBookstore textbooks:
>All of that assumes that the book pricing stays at $15. After Apple’s event, McGraw-Hill executives repeatedly used the phrase “pilot pricing” to describe their near-term plans. And they told me that they have the ability to change the price when and if they want.
>But when I posed the same question to Apple media boss Eddy Cue just now, I got a much different response. “This isn’t pilot pricing,” he said. “All of our books will be $14.99.”
Sounds to me like Apple isn’t budging from the $14.99 pricing, but the McGraw-Hill, for one, is willing to walk away if that pricing doesn’t work out. ((Of course they may try to negotiate a new price with Apple, but we know how stubborn Apple can be.))
Write, design, and publish your own ebooks to the iBookstore — for free. I’m excited.
It’s badass:
>Easily view the contents of any Mac desktop window on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
xScope is a fantastic tool and it just got better, much better.
Iain Broome talking about *Test Match Special*:
>And today, during three hours of radio wave blackout in Dubai, it was broadcast around the globe via nothing but an iPad and Skype. By a bunch of old blokes. Now that’s incredible.
That is incredible.
**Update:** [*The Guardian* has the story too](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/19/bbc-test-match-special-ipad), with comments from the commentators…