blog.tylerball

As the years pass and Apple continues to revolutionize our relationships with technology, the complainers continue to nitpick about the silliest things. More and more, I’ve begun to realize that they don’t know shit. As proof, a list:

• iPod doesn’t have an FM radio: Hilarious.
• iPod doesn’t Wi-Fi sync: Didn’t really stop anybody from buying one.
• iPhone doesn’t copy and paste: Took a while but it’s perfect.
• The App Store is a dictatorial regime: Actually, I wish it was a little more fascist. They should not only be removing inappropriate content, but all the apps that are just plain bad. It’s their platform, and it’s nobody’s right to develop for it.
• No Flash on the iPad: Fuck. Off.

Say it out loud: iPad

lonelysandwich:

But now, we’re stuck with it. Sure, we’ll have to move past it. Get the giggles out. But I’m afraid I’ll only ever love the device despite its embarrassing name. And that makes me love it a little less. Apple, you fucked up. But if the thing helps me be a better reader, we’re solid and I eagerly await the next one, which will probably be called something stupid.

What’s in a name?

When I mentioned the name of the newest Apple product to my roommates this afternoon it was met with chuckles. I remember having a similar reaction to the news of the Wii a few years ago.

I’m not sure whether the was an internet-wide wocka wocka-fest as there was today, but those were the days before “trending topics”. We need to ask ourselves how much weight is given to the punchlines of late-night talk show hosts and CNN’s latest edition of Twitter bottom feeding.

When the reviews come in there will be a line in the first paragraph of every review about how everyone thought the name was bad—but after that—I suspect we won’t hear about it again. Everyone has it out of their system.

Adam isn’t wonky in his reaction. It sure seems like a mistake. Let’s try to look at it from Apple’s perspective shall we?

• iSlate/Apple Slate: Good name, but it conjures up images of paving stones and Bill Gates fumbling with a glorified netbook at CES earlier this month.

• iTablet: Pill-popping reminder of all the failures of the Tablet PCs.

• iCanvas/Canvas: Before the announcement I was with Gruber on this one. Seemed like a good way to connote creativity and possibility. However, it doesn’t follow the single consonant naming scheme of most Apple products and has kind of a weird sound to it.

• iBook: I would’ve loved this one. Resurrecting an old name for a revolutionary new product, but in the context of a device that does more than just read books, it kind of pigeon-holes it.

So what does that leave us with? I excluded some names I saw floating around that were just too horrid to mention.

• iPad: Succinct. Follows the single-consonant naming scheme. Looks like iPod, sounds like iPod with a Boston accent. Conjures images of a pad of paper as well as that other thing.

I’ll take that image of the legal pad over the negative of the feminine hygiene product. A pad of paper is one of my favourite things. A nice big, blank, clean surface to fill with ideas. And it has layers for all the other things you want to do with it. It’s a nice image.

Time will tell if we still get all associative when walking through the drugstore. The iPad will definitely have a life beyond the front page of CNN, anyway.

Lust, Caution

mrgan:

I’m watching tomorrow’s event the Right Way™, by the way: time-shifted via MacRumors’ spoiler-free stream link. When Apple uploads the stream, I’ll dim the lights, pop open some St. Bernardus (yeah, not Kool-Aid nor Tab - I know, lol) and watch. If the demo is anything like the iPhone keynote, it’ll be worth waiting for. And if the tablet-thingy is anything like the iPhone, it’ll be worth the birthing pains.

Great idea. The best way to hear about a new Apple product is from the horse’s mouth. Remember:

“We’re introducing three revolutionary products today. The first is a widescreen iPod with touch controls [applause]. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone [go nuts] and the third is a breakthrough internet communications device. So, three things: A widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone and a breakthrough internet communications device. An iPod, a phone and an internet communicator. And iPod, a phone. Are you getting it? [laughter and cheering] These are not three separate devices. This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.”

marco:

Until we know why the panel is so cheap, I bet we’re going to see a lot of Mac Pro owners buying 27” monitors for $1700 and trying to figure out what to do with the free computer stuck to the back. For new-computer shopping, a lot of people are going to abandon whichever laptop or Mac Pro they were considering and get this instead.

That helps answer the “why” question: Maybe Apple wants to push more buyers away from today’s default system-type choice — laptops — and show them why they should consider getting a fast, spacious desktop instead. And, for the time being, it’s a desktop with absolutely no equivalent in the PC world.

I agree with some others that this is gunning for people to replace their TVs. I think Apple is working on some software that would be added to Front Row and the Apple TV to make them more useful, like a Boxee or a XBMC. They already have the content creators on the iTunes store, is streaming next?

Keep in mind the 27-inch iMac is also VESA mountable. Could the next Apple TV be a television? I’m not sure Apple wants to get into that business, but it’s essentially the iPod equivalent of the home entertainment market.

However, I can’t help but think of Sony and what happens to companies when they try to do everything. Think Different?