The iPad's magic

Really a wonderful act...

With added color here.
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

The new iPad from Apple

First, Walt Mossberg's (WSJ) hands-on review...

"iPad could be described as a personal display through which you see and manipulate text, graphics, photos and videos often delivered via the Internet. So, how has the company chosen to improve its wildly popular tablet? By making that display dramatically better and making the delivery of content dramatically faster. ... These upgrades are massive. Using the new display is like getting a new eyeglasses prescription — you suddenly realize what you thought looked sharp before wasn't nearly as sharp as it could be."

This makes it seem as though the new iPad is designed and built for an audience of one, me. I use my iPad regularly and intensively. And daily as an e-Reader. My eyesight, while not horrible, is not very good, so I appreciate all the innovations and upgrades that Apple keeps providing... Miraculously, at the same price.

So, yes, I await my new iPad with outstretched hands and welcoming eyes. You see, I have taken the measure of my iPad 1, and found it wanting. Specifically, its processor and 256Mb of RAM, and, for an app, iBooks. To wit,

• iOS 5.0 (and its successive upgrades, 5.01 and 5.1) tax the processor and RAM to the point where apps repeatedly time out or crash; no problems prior to iOS 5.0
• iBooks 1.5 (and 2.0 and 2.1) is neither designed nor built to accommodate a library the size of mine (6100+ ePub files, ~10Gb)

What I have found, and confirmed independently, is that the larger the library, the more frequent the timeouts, low memory issues (check your diagnostics and usage page), and repeated crashes of iBooks. This all means that its functionality - nay, its usability - as eReader is rendered nil.

I would not ordinarily complain or moan about such items. Technology - heck, life - is about discovering limitations, and expanding beyond them, whether by design or effort. No, what bothers and troubles me is that Apple - which by all measures designed a gorgeous interface for iBooks but stinted on its functionality (though, I admit, Apple continually improves iBooks over successive generations) - hides the fact that iBooks cannot handle a library larger than x size. (Well, I have seen no ad nor fine print that states this shortcoming.) Such an item would be good to know; certainly in advance of a device pushed beyond its limits. And, for the record, my 10Gb of ePubs take up only 15% of the 64Gb hard drive; why should such a small usage percentage cause such fits?

And, to make matters worse, Apple's engineers hide behind the scrim of minor app tweaks (stop syncing, etc) that have nothing to do with the hardware that lacks necessary oomph, and an app designed for beauty and elegance but not functionality. Apple's engineers are not stupid - these problems have been known since day 1 (do a Google search) - but neither are Apple's customers (stupid). Why must we waste our time on minor settings tweaks all the way up to and through complete restores... when the company knows the problem and its causes? (btw, the iPad 2 has 512Mb of RAM, the new iPad purportedly offers 1Gb of RAM.)

Which all means I am forced to upgrade. I would buy the new iPad anyway; I loved my iPad 1, and am certain to propose marriage to my new iPad. Nonetheless, I sure would appreciate more honesty and transparency from Apple.
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Apple's iBooks v1.5

Apple has updated its e-reader app, iBooks. The changes, in a word, brilliant! Better would be two words, non-brilliant.

You see, they implemented a night time reading theme, which works wonders. No longer does the iPad's backlight bathe you, and anyone near you, in its glow. The change, in essence, reverses the image: white type on a black backdrop rather than black type on a white (and ultra-bright) backdrop.

A few other changes: full screen and a greater variety of fonts.

I like the update. Download, and see for yourself.
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Siriously

Yes, I intentionally misspelled the header, but for a purpose: To introduce this excellent article re Apple/AAPL's new (purchased) voice interface, Siri...

"Apple has just introduced voice as a major user interface and that its use of voice coupled with AI on a consumer product like the iPhone is going to change the way consumers think about man-machine interfaces in the future."

Change the way users interface with their mobile technology? (A generic heading because Siri paves the way for more devices from Apple.) You bet'cha. No longer do you use the device to communicate with other people and services, you have the device communicate with you. Remember all the cool devices in old science fiction stories? While many have yet to come true, the future is at hand... in your hand. And equally distributed.

btw, investors should note the article's penultimate paragraph...
"For Apple’s investors, the call for them to start paying dividends on their cash hoard is too short-sighted. Instead..."
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist