iPadding around?

[Richmond Mathewson]

On 28/01/2010 11:33, Peter Alcibiades wrote:
> Hard to believe this is much of a commercial loss - if Rev doesn't run on it.
> The thing first makes you go through the app store to get any apps available
> for it or loaded on to it.  You don't want to mess with the app store.  Then
> as a user you have to buy extra stuff to be able to connect even the most
> basic devices like USB.

This is a commercial ramp; reminds me of my BBC micro - first you buy the
computer, then you find that you need to buy all sorts of extra ROM chips,
a joystick and a mouse, then a Winchester disk . . . all of which, 
naturally, have
to be "species specific". . . Steved again!

>   No flash.  Printing?  How exactly are printers
> supported?

Ha, ha, ha - probably you will find that printing is supported via a 
wireless or
bluetooth set up; or, dare I say it; printables have to be routed via a Mac
computer (well, we'll buy a couple of those just so we can print from 
our iPad).

>   Again, writing for it, be careful what you assume about the
> environment the user is running.
>    
> It probably has a niche, but its not a substitute for a laptop, and its very
> expensive as a touch screen media player, and its way too big to be a phone,
> and it seems to be a mediocre ebook reader.  People probably will buy it,
> but it must be doubtful that enough of them will to make it a viable
> platform for the delivery of applications.
>    

I think the whole thing is a fudge; it is NOT a tablet PC, it is not an 
E-Reader, and
it is at best a crippled cross-breed between a PC and an iPhone. I am 
sure that
people will only buy this thing for POSE value; after all it would be 
very "sexy"
to be seen checking one's e-mails on it in the lobby of some swish hotel 
or an
aeroport; err, sorry . . . maybe the buzz word these days is "aerodrome" 
. . .  :)

Mind you, having said "sexy", it looks almost as anorexic as Steve Jobs 
or Kate Moss.

Perhaps the next thing Apple will be pushing will be so thin that it 
will be invisible;

the "iEmperor" or the "Hans Christian Andersen reader" perhaps.

> Some of the similar units that are coming down, running Windows or Linux,
> cheaper and more functional because more open, may well end up being viable
> for embedded apps in commercial and industrial applications.  The concept is
> probably viable, this particular device in this form probably will not be a
> mass market entrant.  Jon Stokes on Ars has an interesting and well balanced
> initial take.  The interesting dual screen entourage device announced lately
> might be a clue to the future - viable open platform with an e-ink screen to
> make long reading pleasurable.  Whether this turns out to be a decent
> contender, something of that sort will come down soon.
>    

Books feel and smell nice; the sensual dimension of a book will never be
replicated by some electronic gadget.

> As for Rev, far more important to get the basics working properly on all
> three platforms than move into trying to support yet another, and one whose
> market significance is doubtful.
>    

THAT last paragraph is very much too the point. Personally I think the 
hullaballoo
about revMobile may mean that RunRev are spreading themselves too thin.