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On the iPad’s Self-Sufficiency

I read many posts about the iPad being a replacement for desktop computers, the device that’s aimed at changing your computing life. This is partially untrue.

There’s a big difference between replacing desktop computers and changing the computing scene forever. The iPad won’t replace desktop computers as it is now, and you know why? Because it just can’t. The iPad isn’t a self-sufficient device, it’s not independent of iTunes, it can’t manage itself on its own. As long as you can install every application and purchase every song from iTunes on your iPad (like you’d like to do so), you can’t - say - install software updates using just the device. And even in the best situation where you actually buy every single song to build your music library, I don’t think that situation is statistically accepted as “common”. Same applies for contacts, photos and, especially, movies. You need a computer to move that stuff into the iPad, period.

Now the question is, if the iPad can’t replace a desktop computer just because it needs one to fully work, how can Apple even think to revolutionize the computing world? Because it’s a start. I personally don’t think I’ll ever ditch my MacBook and replace it with an iPad, but I’m sure a lot of people will - and today is the start of this process. The iPad we currently know is the first iteration of a (hopefully) series of products that will slowly evolve over time, just as internet connections will grow in speed and reliability. The day you’ll be able to a) download an entire movie or software update from iTunes and b) have that download finished in an acceptable time, that’s when things will change. It’s not now, it won’t happen next year - nobody knows when that’s gonna happen.

You can’t think of the iPad as a full desktop replacement now, even for the less skilled user who just needs Safari and Mail to work, because that user needs the cable to make his device work.

The iPad is not a replacement for desktop computers, but it will be someday. And until that day, keep syncing.

Organizing Files: The Librarian Syndrome

But the more important conclusion is less obvious, which is that nearly everyone can benefit from the use of software that doesn’t require explicit file system management at all.

Instead of putting music files into a folder, all you had to do was put it into iTunes. Once you’ve added a song to iTunes you no longer need to worry about where it actually is in the file system

To argue that users should embrace manual file system management for every bit of data they wish to store is to argue against human nature.

This is not an argument that all software should abstract the file system by using the library paradigm, but just that more software should.

- John Gruber, The Untitled Document Syndrome -

It wasn’t long time ago, though I can’t remember very well. I’m talking about the day I realized I needed a better solution to store all my documents, as the Finder simply couldn’t do that anymore. Maybe it was some months ago, back in September / October, when I made up my mind and decided to give Yojimbo a second, in-depth spin. I fell in love with it, much like I did with Things from CulturedCode the second time I tested it. Guess there’s a second time for everything, right?

Problem is, I couldn’t use a hierarchical folder system anymore. With hundreds of documents to manage (be them .pdf files, spreadsheets, reports, casual but still important notes) and new pieces of text each day, the situation became unmanageable and yeah, Finder was slow and cluttered. So I started using Yojimbo which allowed me to enter any kind of information both manually and in other ways like the Quick Panel or the Drop Dock. Be sure to read my previous post about if you missed it. I still have Yojimbo in my dock, if you ask.

A few weeks ago I discovered and wrote about a new app, iDocument, which wants to be the ultimate solution for storing and retrieving documents on Mac OS X. iDocument lets you import documents, tag them, organize them in folders and smart collections.

If you work with your Mac, you need a powerful centralized solution to sort and archive files. In this post I and Cody will take a look at 4 different systems (Finder, Yojimbo, iDocument, Leap) and discuss how they actually work, in which cases. We’ll surely miss a lot of apps, but we wanted to focus on those we know and use on a regular base.

Enjoy.

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Necessity vs. Want & Apple’s Mobile Pitch for The iPad

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“The first truth is that by selling the iPad as an accompanying device, and not a stand-alone computer, you immediately instill this idea that it’s not necessary to own. You’ve already lost a lot of interest because people are thinking, “Why would I buy this device in addition to what I already own that already does these things and more?” Apple, if you believe that the iPad’s form of computing is the direction we need to go, you gotta make people ditch what they already have – even if it is a Macbook.”

iPad UX Interactions

Huge collection over at Designing Web Interfaces’ Flickr photostream, showcasing interactions snapshots for the iPad. From popovers to split views and 3d transitions, this is a must-have resource for developers who are about to create apps for the new device.

/via David Kaneda

iPad App Pricing

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“Apple has also said that existing iPhone applications will run on the iPad and that they will be able to be “blown up” in size to be full screen. From reports I’ve heard and my own experience in the simulator, this doesn’t look very good. Developers will want to have an iPad specific interface built into their app. The amount of work to get an iPad app’s UI to have the great polish it should have is going to exceed that of the iPhone. This will mean higher development costs. Presumably with higher development costs, higher prices will come with it. The rub is that these universal applications are going to be subjected to the same price pressures from the iPhone side of the market because users will buying a single binary.”

Adobe and Wired Introduce a New Digital Magazine Experience

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“Built on Adobe AIR and developed with Condé Nast, the tablet prototype we showed during the TED “Play” session illustrates the possibilities for magazine publishers to reach readers in new ways. The concept enables — in digital form — the immersive content experience magazines are known for, and allows new interactive features to stimulate reader engagement”

Magazines built with Adobe AIR on the iPad? I’m very skeptical about it.

Neven Morgan on 16:9→

Neven Morgan on 16:9

Every aspect ratio is a compromise. If a device is ever to be used in portrait mode - and my guess is that people will use the iPad in this book-like mode most of the time - that compromise must result in something closer to 4:3.

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The Complexities of the Filesystem

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“The professional might need access to the filesystem and even need multitasking in order to debug or configure apps. That’s cool, you will have access to that, however it’s not going to be the default mode. It’s like a car, you don’t care about how the engine works, you just want to go from point A to B. If it breaks you can take it to a professional that has access to the engine (the filesystem) or become a hacker yourself and fix the engine.”