No surprise, the iPad is grabbing up to 50% of laptop sales at Best Buy. I have heard from a couple of people that Best Bu is hard selling the iPad over laptops, which one would think would hurt their profitability with regards to the Geek Squad guys. Interesting none the less.
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At Best Buy iPad sales are up, PCs down.
No surprise, the iPad is grabbing up to 50% of laptop sales at Best Buy. I have heard from a couple of people that Best Bu is hard selling the iPad over laptops, which one would think would hurt their profitability with regards to the Geek Squad guys. Interesting none the less.
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Smoking Apples Thoughts on iOS 4.2 Beta for iPad
This beta was enough for me to decide to renew my Dev account and put on my iPad. Two things I wanted were the folders for apps and the unified inbox in mail. As I said the other day this update keeps everything that was great about the iPad and adds to it. It is…
This beta was enough for me to decide to renew my Dev account and put on my iPad. Two things I wanted were the folders for apps and the unified inbox in mail. As I said the other day this update keeps everything that was great about the iPad and adds to it.
It is like spending most of your life sitting in really great seats at a baseball game, but those seats are still cramped and plastic. Then one day your seats get uograded (for free) to slightly wider and fully padded seats. That is the difference between 3.2 and 4.2 on the iPad – life just gets a little better with it and you begin to think ‘this is the life’.
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Google Is Now Officially Evil
Dan Frommer: All's fair in business, we suppose. But Google is now basically acting like heyday-era Microsoft here, throwing its weight around and screwing over small companies for its own gain. Google Android boss Andy Rubin went as far as to call Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha “multiple times” to impose a “stop ship” order on…
Dan Frommer:
All's fair in business, we suppose. But Google is now basically acting like heyday-era Microsoft here, throwing its weight around and screwing over small companies for its own gain. Google Android boss Andy Rubin went as far as to call Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha “multiple times” to impose a “stop ship” order on the company's phones, according to Skyhook's complaint.
If Google is the new evil then how do we feel about Microsoft? I feel pity for them. Also this evil Google is only going to get worse I suspect – for the greed has taken over.
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Plaintext
Look for this app to hit the app store soon. Looks awesome, perhaps a real Simplenote challenger?
Look for this app to hit the app store soon. Looks awesome, perhaps a real Simplenote challenger?
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DEVONthink To Go – Wish it was Yojimbo
I have no real reason for posting this other than to say I wish Yojimbo and Ulysses has mobile versions of their apps. That would be really nice.
I have no real reason for posting this other than to say I wish Yojimbo and Ulysses has mobile versions of their apps. That would be really nice.
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Dreaming Up a Single Input Login Form
This looks like a great idea, but what if your password has a space in it? That seems like it may cause a problem, not to mention it would eliminate usernames with spaces (though most sites don’t allow that, and why not?).
This looks like a great idea, but what if your password has a space in it? That seems like it may cause a problem, not to mention it would eliminate usernames with spaces (though most sites don’t allow that, and why not?).
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Is the iPad Still a Single Taskers Dream With iOS 4.2 & Multitasking? Yep.
That seems to be the question on many pundits minds over the past few days, now that I have the update (iOS developer program) I can tell you that 4.2 still keeps the iPad user just as focused. Even more it keeps the user more productive. I saw quite a few posts where people were…
That seems to be the question on many pundits minds over the past few days, now that I have the update (iOS developer program) I can tell you that 4.2 still keeps the iPad user just as focused. Even more it keeps the user more productive.
I saw quite a few posts where people were concerned that the focused environment the iPad forces upon you will all be lost once it gains multitasking support. Well that is all just a load of crap, yes you can switch apps quickly with multitasking, but that is all that really changes – you still only see one app (fullscreen) at a time.
I think that is perhaps the key to the single-tasking, focused work environment that the iPad offers – one app on your screen at a time. You are so easily distracted on your computer because you can see all the incoming email notifications, the growl popups, the Twitter replies – you can even have all these things on the same screen at once if you want to pretend you are in hell.
The iPad though is different, it is zen. You launch Simplenote, pop it into full screen mode and you can’t see anything else. That is focus, that is single tasking, that is then what everyone loves about the iPad. Multitasking (at least in iOS 4.2 beta 1) changes none of this. Sure I have only had the beta running for one night, but I can tell you that without a doubt it does not change the focus you can achieve from using an iPad. Multitasking does not make a device into a computer (at least not the way that Apple has implemented it), all multitasking does is makes the device a little easier to use.
The real change with iOS 4.2? Being able to use folders to organize apps – now that is useful.
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Shawn Blanc’s Inbox Zero
Shawn Blanc: Inbox Zero means I care more about this moment than I do about my narcissistic tendencies of knowing who’s talking to me on Twitter. It means I care more about doing my best creative work than about keeping up with the real-time web and being instantly accessible via email. I stopped caring about…
Shawn Blanc:
Inbox Zero means I care more about this moment than I do about my narcissistic tendencies of knowing who’s talking to me on Twitter. It means I care more about doing my best creative work than about keeping up with the real-time web and being instantly accessible via email.
I stopped caring about staying on top of my email inbox a few months ago, but Twitter I am finding harder to let go of – perfect timing on this post.
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Macworld’s First Look: iOS 4.2 beta 1
I will try the printing tomorrow in the office (no printer at home except an expensive photo printer). For now if you want to know what is new read through this.
I will try the printing tomorrow in the office (no printer at home except an expensive photo printer). For now if you want to know what is new read through this.
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The iPad & Competitors
Peter Svensson for the AP (via the Seattle Times): It took competitors a couple of years to start catching up to the iPhone in a serious way. The gap will probably be shorter for tablet computers, but by getting the iPad right on its first try, Apple has real head start. Maybe I’m trying to…
Peter Svensson for the AP (via the Seattle Times):
It took competitors a couple of years to start catching up to the iPhone in a serious way. The gap will probably be shorter for tablet computers, but by getting the iPad right on its first try, Apple has real head start. Maybe I’m trying to justify my purchase here, but I have a strong feeling there isn’t a lot to be gained by waiting for the others to catch up.
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Status Of CrunchPad Litigation
This is a pretty wild account of what is going on, of course only one side is shown here. What is shown is pretty damning evidence against Fusion Garage. The thing is though (and Gruber said something to this affect a while back) what are they fighting over? This product is not making money, what…
This is a pretty wild account of what is going on, of course only one side is shown here. What is shown is pretty damning evidence against Fusion Garage. The thing is though (and Gruber said something to this affect a while back) what are they fighting over? This product is not making money, what can they hope to gain?
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Bill Hill On The Future of Reading: iPad Blows Kindle Out Of The Water
Fantastic read, Bill Hill: When the history of reading on screens is written, it might well be seen as a series of footnotes to the iPad. Yes, we’ve had other eBook devices before now. And yes, the Kindle broke new ground with long battery life using the eInk technology. But as I said in an…
Fantastic read, Bill Hill:
When the history of reading on screens is written, it might well be seen as a series of footnotes to the iPad. Yes, we’ve had other eBook devices before now. And yes, the Kindle broke new ground with long battery life using the eInk technology. But as I said in an earlier post, eInk is essentially a backward-looking technology, too slavishly bound to emulating paper, and it’s an evolutionary dead-end.
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QoTD: The cult of busy
It’s the ability to pause, to reflect, and relax, to let the mind wander, that’s perhaps the true sign of time mastery, for when the mind returns it’s often sharper and more efficient, but most important perhaps, happier than it was before.–Scott Berkun [via Shawn Blanc]
It’s the ability to pause, to reflect, and relax, to let the mind wander, that’s perhaps the true sign of time mastery, for when the mind returns it’s often sharper and more efficient, but most important perhaps, happier than it was before. –Scott Berkun [via Shawn Blanc] -
Ars Technica Reviews Internet Explorer 9
Peter Bright does a great job covering all of IE 9. One thing that I think is pretty nice is the way tabs are handled, they take up no extra vertical space. They are not on the top or bottom of the URL bar (Chrome is top, Safari is bottom right now) rather they are…
Peter Bright does a great job covering all of IE 9. One thing that I think is pretty nice is the way tabs are handled, they take up no extra vertical space. They are not on the top or bottom of the URL bar (Chrome is top, Safari is bottom right now) rather they are inline with the URL bar. This looks nice and like I said takes up no extra vertical space (which on our widescreen computers is precious), though the major downfall is how many tabs you can realistically deal with before they become too small.
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The New Boxed Wine
Just take a look at that picture – the new boxed wine is a comin. I bet this makes true wine lovers die a little on the inside, and college students everywhere get really excited about the possibilities.
Just take a look at that picture – the new boxed wine is a comin. I bet this makes true wine lovers die a little on the inside, and college students everywhere get really excited about the possibilities.
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Apple releases iOS 4.2 beta for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
Live in the Dev center right now, I just renewed my iOS developers account so that I can get it (I have been waiting for a iOS 4 beta for iPad to hit to renew). Sweet!
Live in the Dev center right now, I just renewed my iOS developers account so that I can get it (I have been waiting for a iOS 4 beta for iPad to hit to renew). Sweet!
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For Most People the iPad Is Better Than the Kindle
Earlier today Brett Kelly posted his thoughts on why (for him) the Kindle is a better book reader than the iPad: I know that a great many folks think that the iPad is a “Kindle killer” (ugh, always with the killing), but I can say pretty confidently that the Kindle is going to fill a…
Earlier today Brett Kelly posted his thoughts on why (for him) the Kindle is a better book reader than the iPad:
I know that a great many folks think that the iPad is a “Kindle killer” (ugh, always with the killing), but I can say pretty confidently that the Kindle is going to fill a void that the iPad couldn’t effectively fill: a light, small device whose single, express purpose is reading, not everything.
I agree it will fill a niche market void that the iPad won’t (hipsters will be hipsters), for the mass market and most geeks the iPad will dominate the market. There are two very simple reasons why the iPad will be the choice for many: weight and price.
The Kindle weighs 8 ounces more than just my iPad. You read that right, the iPad weighs more than the Kindle. The reason is simple, the iPad sucks at everything except reading books (and other magazine/newspaper subscriptions you may have on it) so if you want a full featured device like the iPad for non-reading times, well then you need to carry an iPad and a Kindle (thus making the kit weigh 8 ounces more).
By the same logic then the Kindle
costs you $139-189 more than an iPad. Again you would have to buy the Kindle and the iPad to get the same amount of functionality.
I have no doubt that a great many of you will disagree with this logic, and some may say you could buy a netbook and a Kindle for the price of an iPad (you could but you would be an idiot – netbooks suck a lot) but the point here is reading right? There have only been two instances when I missed my Kindle, hiking and being in the sunny outdoors (luckily I live in Seattle so sun is a rare occasion). Hiking is obvious, all I want are some books to read, perfect fit for the light weight, longer lived battery in the Kindle. Outdoors is a screen issue, which again is not something I run into more than a few times a year.
I like the concept of minimalism, and single serving applications and gadgets, but I cannot justify carrying two devices when just one would do. On my recent trip to Vegas I took only my iPad, I used to for everything including reading books. Had I brought a Kindle to read on instead I would have had to add the iPad in a bigger bag (this bag is not fitting an iPad and Kindle), or my Macbook Pro in an even larger bag. As someone who takes stuff to and from work everyday with him the Kindle simply does not make sense.
Hell the Kindle doesn’t even make sense for my Mom or Dad, they can do 99% of their home computing on an iPad, and read books with it (my Dad actually does, perhaps my Mom will around Christmas time). Why would I buy either of my parents a Kindle and a computer/iPad device? It is just to complicated, it is the difference between having 18 remotes to work your home entertainment system instead of just getting one really good universal remote (I am not talking about those crap ones that never work, I am talking about those $300+ remotes
that kick ass).
I guess what I am trying to say is that there are a few times a year when a Kindle would be more convenient and then there is the other 99% of the time when an iPad would be killer. Your choice.
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Revisiting Solid State Hard Drives
Jeff Atwood: […]because if you care at all about how your computer performs, solid state hard drives remain a life changing experience. Agreed.
Jeff Atwood:
[…]because if you care at all about how your computer performs, solid state hard drives remain a life changing experience.
Agreed.
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The Best Subtle Things About New Twitter
Great overview of what is new by MG Siegler, honestly though the only time I use the web interface is to change my profile picture. I want a new version of Tweetie for Mac.
Great overview of what is new by MG Siegler, honestly though the only time I use the web interface is to change my profile picture. I want a new version of Tweetie for Mac.
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Google Engineer Stalked Teens, Spied on Chats
People at Google can and do look at your ‘private’ data – if you want true privacy Google is not the way to go (nor is anything that you don’t host yourself). Though for the record this is the creepiest looking guy, seriously look at the pictures.
People at Google can and do look at your ‘private’ data – if you want true privacy Google is not the way to go (nor is anything that you don’t host yourself). Though for the record this is the creepiest looking guy, seriously look at the pictures.
