Why the iPad Should Support a Stylus
From Christopher:
Greetings, Dan, Charles, and whoever else may read this message,
I've been reading some of the speculation on Low End Mac about the
long-rumored-until-now Apple tablet (particularly from someone named Alvin from the latest
mailbag), and it makes me think about some of the things I was
expecting - and then found myself disappointed not seeing.
To be frank, I was expecting something more of a "MacPad", as in the
full Mac OS X, but I could get over it somewhat, since Apple
platforms inevitably have developer appeal, and anything found on Mac
OS X would probably make it to the iPhone/iPad OS. Even more
importantly, however, I wanted a detachable keyboard (a la the old
Compaq Concerto and
TC1000,
HP/Compaq
TC1100, Always Innovating
TouchBook, and who knows what else) and a Wacom pen.
There is a keyboard dock - not exactly what I was looking for, but a
third-party vendor could easily make a keyboard that docks onto the
iPad itself and has a swivel hinge. But that Wacom pen is nowhere in
sight.
That disappoints me in terms of making the iPad particularly useful as a tablet. Multitouch
is nice and all, but the pen is still a must. Think about that Brushes
app - and any other app designed for artwork. Now imagine if there was
a pressure-sensitive pen that could give the user finer control over
their strokes. Then there's the means of taking notes like with pen and
paper, except for the clunky dead tree stuff. The Notes application
would work well with a pen, and imagine being able to annotate all
these new ebooks meant to be read on the iPad, among who knows what
else.
Now this doesn't mean that the whole interface should be
pen-centric. Not at all - the multitouch is there for a reason. But the
way I look at it, the pen capability is there when you need it, to let
the user do more when the situation calls for it. Think along the lines
of the Microsoft Courier concept
(which, going by Microsoft's track record, either won't see the light
of day or will make it to market, but no one will know about it).
That philosophy of mine carries over in my choice of mobile
computer, to the point where I can indeed say that my laptop is my
tablet, and my tablet is my laptop. It's not like it has to be a "pure
slate with no keyboard or a clamshell with a hard keyboard and
no pen or touch support on the screen" affair. But Apple offers no such
options . . . and nor does Axiotron, for that matter.
Also, what's with all the gaming talk? I still don't see the iPad
(let alone the iPhone or iPod touch) as a serious gaming device, not
until I see some sort of gamepad attachment, or maybe the ability to
use a Bluetooth mouse in conjunction with the keyboard dock for FPSs,
RTSs, and other such genres typically the domain of the PC. (Now that's
an interesting thought - keyboard, mouse, and touchscreen to
play a game . . . wouldn't sell well due to accessory
requirements, but I'm all for innovation that could come out of new
input methods.)
Who knows, though? It's a first-generation product. Maybe I'll be
pleasantly surprised down the road for all I know, and finally see the
iPad succeed where the Newton MessagePad
didn't.
Besides, now that the Apple tablet is a reality, the pace of tablet
computer development is bound to pick up a bit, and everything will
improve as more people discover ways to use the tablet form factor that
even I haven't thought of yet. The niche is about to go mainstream,
more or less.
-Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the commentary and observations.
I don't think the iPad is intended to displace a real
laptop, at least for folks who do serious work with their machines.
I was delighted that they did include that keyboard
dock, but it won't be really fully useful until there's mouse driver
support to go with it.
Good point about the pen/stylus matter. I'm doubtful
that I would be likely to do much graphics work on an iPad - at least
unless Adobe or Pixelmator or someone comes out with a real image
editing program - although one of the several good online imaging sites
could be a usable workaround for occasional jobs. (See my Web Worker
Daily article,
Images in the Cloud: Checking Out Online Image Editors.)
Like you, I'm hoping the iPad will expand and evolve
into a more satisfactory work platform as well as an entertainment and
information reading machine, but it's a long way from there yet.
Charles
iPad: Genie in a Bottle
From Alvin:
Hi. How're you? The iPad is going to be great platform.
I think it'll be the most successful product, once developers offer
iPad-specific games and the things that are lacking, like a security
app. The 3G version won't even be needed by most people, which is
already the pro. Those who have a netbook and an e-reader will surely
switch, because you just add a few more bucks and you get more. It's
also for those who are planning to buy a netbook. With this it'll even
save you from buying a computer chair or a computer table.
The killer app would be games made for multitouch that'll have
better graphics than the PSP but with the fun of a DS, which is the
number 1 gaming device today. It'll be big in Japan. It'll be big
because this is what parents will buy their kids, coz they can do
homework with it also. It's most definitely for everyone who does not
need that much power.
I think it does not have a camera because it's for use with an
iPhone gen4, which will have a great camera in April. I guess they're
omitting stuff like the camera because they want you to buy the other
Mac stuff and at the same time, since it's multitouch, other companies
could fill in for what it lacks. They can't lose with the multitouch
and iTunes distribution combo platform.
A second killer app for it would be an app that would be compatible
for all kinds of pressure sensing pens (I hope it gets approved). If
you have a Wacom pen or another pressure sensitive pen, it could make
use of that; it's not that hard to implement. You can just buy the pen
from Wacom if you like. It'll be an affordable Cintiq for art students
without violating Wacom's pen patent (cordless).
For kids, a.k.a. students, gaming is number 1, but it's not as
portable as the DS or PSP we say? The portability won't be a problem,
because it's also their textbook and work stuff. Parents will buy it
for sure, coz of the online textbooks. I think that is the killer app;
it's not the app itself but Apple's bookstore - specifically the
textbook store (which is I guess an app in itself) for med students,
grade, middle school, etc. It's not even the paperback ebooks nor the
comics, because those are meant to be the real thing as collector's
item.
For the enterprise, it could be a controller for the military. It's
really going to be big once it has the apps (doctors, nurses, med reps
for the signature, photographers - not really, they have too many gears
already and their cameras have LCDs already, engineers). It's, of
course, a good controller for Macs themselves, including a virtual
keyboard - and yeah for those house management controllers. The iPad is
a genie in a bottle. A Pandora's box without the chaos (coz Apple makes
sure there's no piracy nor accidentally renaming or deleting system
folders and files)
It lacks what we all wanted because it's really just a platform to
get us started; this is what people don't understand and what the
competition cannot do, coz only Apple makes everything while still
having control on contents getting pirated. It's always been the app,
but because it's a multitouch, it's hardware is in a way changeable.
Reviews of it will become positive once people understand that it's a
very flexible and affordable platform.
So in short, the iPad is an anything device for everyone. It'll
really be big. Touch typing on it won't even be a problem once people
get used to it, much like when you get used to texting (hard at first)
with your thumbs.
It's where the portables will switch to in the next year (I predict
it'll have sales of all the netbooks, the other tablets, and MacBooks
combined, which would be in the hundreds of millions). Bigger versions
of it will be for those who want to replace their pro laptops next
year. If they can carry 17" work laptops, they can carry 17" iPads,
which would be more portable, coz there's no keyboard. I think
multitasking would be reserved for the MacPad Pro as well as the
MacDesk Pro (it can't be called a Pad if it needs a 60" to 90"
multitouch monitor already).
The multitouch tablets should be called something else. If we have
the desktop category and the portable category, the smartphone
category. The iPad should be called I guess multitouch category or
maybe how it'll be used - couchtop category, LOL :)
It'll sure replace the desktops as well later. iMacs will become
multitouch (we will get used to the orientation, because the tablet
orientation is actually more natural. It's like writing on a notebook
or drawing on one). Mac Pros will need a multitouch monitor, much like
what multitouch tables are now, only the icons are not as scattered.
It's also a new way to look at the upcoming OS because of multitouch.
We won't need to see icons scattered around, we just pinch and spread
them like cards. There's no need to even see the system files as well
(we're not seeing seeing the system files right now, we just do what
needs to be done right now. This also makes it secure as malicious
programs do look for those by finding its path).
Apple and Steve are truly a gift from the Higher Power.
Gbu,
Alvin
Hi Alvin,
Thanks for sharing your impressions and comments. Not
being a gamer, I can't comment knowledgeably on that aspect of the
iPad.
IMHO, the iPad's killer feature from the marketing
angle is the lowball price for the base unit. I wouldn't be in the
slightest interested for my personal use in a machine like this at
$800, let alone the $1,000 some had been predicting. At $500, however,
it's a whole different ball game.
Make that $568 for me, because there's no way I could
ever take a machine dependent on a virtual touchscreen keyboard
seriously as a production tool, and I want mouse support as well before
I take the plunge.
Indeed, the touchscreen is a relatively unappealing
feature for me, the biggest appeal being the light and compact form
factor - and the price! It could be a very attractive second computer
with a lot of tweaking. We'll see as things unfold over the next couple
of years.
That's just me, however. Different strokes...,
I don't anticipate seeing tablets displace
conventional clamshell laptops for a very long time yet, though, if
ever.
Charles
iPad Not Likely to Kill Off Laptops
From John:
"Gizmodo says:
"Only way to interpret the launch of the iPad? Apple
has declared the PC dead. Well-crafted but closed devices are their
future of consumer computing. And if no one else can match the iPad
experience, they may be right."
Editor's note: Or not. I really like the iPad, but it
doesn't come within a country mile of being even a halfway adequate
substitute for a real laptop, at least for folks who use their
computers as serious work tools. Laptops are going to be around for a
long time to come yet. However, with the iPad's price of entry at $500,
the netbook folks may have plenty to worry about. cm"
I couldn't agree with you more, Charles.
After the big announcement had settled for a day or two, I told my
wife, who's a high school Mac computer teacher btw, that I wasn't so
sure about the iPad. Goofy name aside (think Depends and similar
products), it's too big to fit in your pocket and too small to replace
a laptop, and a virtual keyboard will never do for real work. Also,
it's iPhone-ish operating system pegs it to a young audience. After an
initial surge from the texting crowd, I suspect iPad won't have the
meteoric takeoff that iPod and iPhone, two pocket-size devices, had.
I'm guessing that the next generation of iPad might look more like a
laptop, with a real keyboard.
John
Hi John,
Some sort of slide-out mechanical keyboard with a
trackpad (have you ever used a Logitech diNovo Edge
keyboard?) would be ideal IMHO, but the minimum I will accept is a
mouse driver.
Other shortcomings: Neither memory nor data storage
are upgradable - whatever amount of RAM Apple solders in (still
unannounced ) and no more, and whichever SSD capacity option you pick
out of the three available, but if you go for, say, the $500
entry-level price-leader, you're stuck with 16 GB of storage capacity
(minus formatting) forevermore.
As for productivity, with no USB or FireWire ports, no
ethernet, and optional-at-extra-cost additions needed even to download
photos from a digital camera or for video out, and no SD card slot -
all shortcomings that make the iPad definitely "not better" than what
you get with any MacBook,
save in some instances for the MacBook Air or even for that
matter the humblest PC notebook.
These problems are not unifiable, but will Apple have
the inclination to address them?
Charles
Quieting a Loud MacBook
From André:
Hi Charles,
I have some suggestions for our
friend who has the "loud MacBook". Here they go:
1st: open, clean, and change thermal paste on your MacBook. You can
find guides on iFixit on how to
disassemble your MacBook and guides all over the Net on how to change
thermal paste. Buy a good and nonconductive one like Arctic Ceramique. If
you don't feel prepared to do it, any store will do it for cheap,and it
makes a lot of difference. For example, it turned my hot and
loud 17' HP DV9500 into a fresh and silent notebook.
2nd: Update Flash. A friend of
mine, who runs an aluminium MacBook unibody, had the fans kicking when
surfing on Flash websites. After updating Flash, it became better he
said.
3rd: Undervolting. You can read all over the Web about this
technique, and all you have to do is spend 10 bucks on CoolBook app.
4th: If the above steps don't turn your MacBook in a "usable"
computer, go for the new white MacBook. I have one, and it is great!
Solid, quiet, fresh, with sufficient power, and cheap!
Hope it helps!
André
Portugal
Hi André,
Excellent tips. all.
I would just add: use sufficient thermal paste, but
don't overdo it, and too much can paradoxically cause overheating.
Charles
CoolBook Makes for a Cooler, Quieter 'Book
From Richard:
Hi Charles -
Regarding noisy MacBooks, you may recall that I have written about
similar dissatisfaction I had with my Nvidia WhiteBook. Like Mike, I
run SETI on my machines
and was unhappy about the amount of fan noise. My solution has been to
undervolt the processor via Magnus Lundholm's CoolBook.
I must confess that it worked better under OS X 10.5 than it does with OS X 10.6, but it does work.
It's $10 (US) shareware, and it works for me.
Richard
Thanks Richard,
I used undervolting a lot with my 17" PowerBook to keep the
fans quiet, since that option was built into the Energy Saver
Preference panel on PowerPC machines. Incidentally, since my wife took
over the 17-incher, the fan almost never cuts in, so it was associated
with my having 15 to 25 applications open all the time and multitasking
extensively that was causing it it heat up.
Not there with Intel versions, alas, but my Unibody MacBook is so quiet
that I would never need the feature anyway. For those who do, CoolBook
certainly can help.
Charles
Puppy Linux for Intel and PowerPC Macs
From André:
Let me just add a powerful distro that will happily run on Macs, the
Puppy Linux. It will run on Intel
Macs, and for PPC there is this port:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?search_id=71556632&t=39715
It is highly customizable and fast! In some things, it is not easy
to use as Ubuntu/Mint, but it is much, much faster and has lots of
variations (puplets).
This distro can turn any ancient machine (like my old gaming AMD
K6-3 500 MHz based machine) on a usable and fast machine, and better,
sometimes with the latest software!
Happy "Linuxing"
<center> - - - -
</center>
Hi André,
I hadn't heard of that one. Looks promising! Thanks
for the links.
Charles
Editor's note: You can download the latest PowerPup
ISO from http://powerpup.yi.org/PowerPup_beta.iso-
the current version is just under 14 MB in size. I burned the ISO to
CD-R and attempted to boot my dual 1 GHz Mirrored Drive Doors Power Mac G4
from it, but after a lengthy startup process with several screens of
text, no GUI. dk
Eudora Classic 6.2 for Mac
From David:
Dear Charles,
Greetings. I just read your article Test Driving Eudora 8 Beta 3: Better
but Not Ready for Prime Time (2008.02.25).
I am a Mac enthusiast, but I still love my Eudora Classic 6.2. I was
tempted to go to Thunderbird's Eudora 8, but like you I hesitate. My
wife and I love the classic over every other email program around for
Mac or Windows XP - ever since the early 90s, when we did dialup 200
miles from our server at 18 kbps in Borneo.
Can't the open source people at Mozilla just add some features like
find duplicates, compress files, and archive mailboxes, to our beloved
classic?
If it's not broken, don't fix it - except maybe update the code.
Like I said, in a fast paced world, I like Eudora Classic as is. It
is refreshing to have something that works without lots of bells and
whistles. I guess it's a monks dream.
Thank you,
David
Hi David,
Like you, my favorite all-time email client is Eudora
Classic, and I still use it in OS X 10.4 on my Pismos.
However, I've gotten used to Thunderbird/Eudora 8 on
the MacBook and am quite comfortable with it as well.
As I understand it, Qualcomm handed off the Eudora
name and appearance elements rights to Mozilla.org, but not the
application code, and the latter would have to be rewritten more or
less from scratch anyway (sort of what the Infinity Data Systems folks
are doing with MailForge)
to make it work satisfactorily on Intel Leopard, Snow Leopard, and
beyond.
Eudora 8 is and will remain a Thunderbird clone.
I was never really happy with version 6.2.4's
performance under OS X 10.5 on the 17" PowerBook, but it was
tolerable enough that I didn't switch until I went Intel.
Charles
Notebook Battery Life
From Amy following up on Lombard
G3 Power Adapter:
Hi Charles,
Thank you so much for your help. I'll check the condition of the
battery and install Coconut Battery so
that I can keep better track of what's going on with the battery.
18 months . . . what if it's more than 10 years old? May
be time for a new battery : )
Thanks,
Amy
Hi Amy,
Glad I was able to help.
Yes, I think it may be time to replace your battery.
;-)
After 10 years, it would be surprising if there was
any life left in one of those batteries, although I find the "official"
estimate of 18 months pessimistic.
Charles
'Obsolete' Technologies: Cell Phones and Ladas
From André:
Hi again Charles,
I read with interest your article [In Defense of 'Obsolete'
Technologies] on using obsolete technologies. I am "obsolete tech"
user too, from old mobile phones (like my beloved Siemens Sl45 or the
tiny Nokia 6510 that were found in a closet and only needed new
batteries (original and cheap)) that I used as secondary phones, to the
USB-to-Com adapters (which I use to connect the SL45 dock to transfer
contacts and send SMS via Mac) to USB Floppy Disk (which saved my life
a couple times, repairing corrupted BIOS in laptops).
Using obsolete can mean that you are "greener", like using an old
printer instead of buying a new one (that will "cost" to the earth
materials and pollution), and also it can save you some money (for
example, a new battery for one these mobiles cost 10 Euros; the one for
my brand new Nokia E52 costs about 40, both original, and in the end of
the day they last almost the same).
Of course
being "obsolete" in every tech is not possible for everyone. My
example: I am a mechanical engineering student, so I can't run as
primary notebook a PowerPC 'Book, because I need Windows to run CAD
software, but if I was a writer or something, I'd be very happy with a
PPC 'Book :)
About cars, I guess I win in the "obsolete tech" user. I am an happy
owner of a Soviet Lada
Niva 4x4, it is from 95, but it is more or less equal to the ones
made in 1978/79 - and to the ones made in 2010. Few changes were made!
Although it is not very "greener", it was cheap to buy and cheap to
maintain, and it can take me to beautiful places that others can't go.
And in the end of the day, it's our smile that counts, and I'm happy
running all this obsolete tech :)
Hi André,
Good for you! I spend 3 to 4 hours a day working on a
Pismo PowerBook from 2000. I fully agree that a PowerPC machine can
make a very adequate writing tool. And, of course, there are a lot more
powerful PowerPC options than my ancient 550 MHz G4-upgraded
laptop.
Nice shot of the Niva. Ladas were fairly popular here in Canada
20+ years ago, and there used to be quite a few Nivas around, but Lada
dropped out of the Canadian market in the early '90s, and I haven't
seen one on the road (or anywhere) for years. I expect that parts are
very hard to get.
I drive an old 4x4 too - actually a year older than
your Niva, a 1994 Mazda B-4000 pickup, which is a "badge-engineered"
clone of the American Ford Ranger. It was built in Edison, New Jersey.
It's fairly obsolete technology as well, although Ford still builds the
Ranger and will continue to do so until 2012, when it will be replaced
with a new compact pickup - probably a bit smaller.
Charles
Go to Charles Moore's Mailbag index.
