Fear for Pixar

I saw Tangled today; entertaining, but perhaps only the fourth-best animated film of the year.

John Lasseter of Pixar fame was listed as executive producer; anything Lasseter touches should be better, but this was fairly standard Disney fare.

What concerns me more was the trailer for Cars 2 that preceded it. I admittedly wasn't a big fan of Cars, but the sequel looks like a disaster.

I think everyone hoped that Pixar would infect Disney with their creativity and risk-taking, but for a company averse to sequels, it's worth noting that of their four films for 2010 and beyond, three are sequels (Monsters Inc 2 is planned for release in late 2012).

Steve Jobs, are you paying attention? In another quarter or three, you could buy Disney outright with the cash Apple has in the bank; maybe it's time to shake things up a bit.

Greensburg

Rushville

New Pal

Dead Man's Cell Phone

I completed the Sarah Ruhl Indy-area trifecta tonight by catching Dead Man's Cell Phone, performed by the Carmel Players.

It was entertaining, but in retrospect, I wish I hadn't known it was a Ruhl play. During the first act, I waited for it to capture me like In the Next Room or Eurydice; I finally had to reset my expectations in order to enjoy myself.

Not that the actors let me down; I think they did a fine job. However, the script itself simply wasn't up to the level of the others, or perhaps it didn't play to my sensibilities–your mileage may vary.

Nonetheless, the play was well-cast and performed. Diann Ryan took advantage of a juicy role as the domineering mother, and Catherine Nading was delightfully wicked. I was unsurprised to discover via the playbill that she had formerly played Lady Macbeth; I suspect she took to that character like a fish to water.

Greg Howard was deliciously amoral. Despite being the "title" character (and perhaps fittingly for someone playing a dead man) he had far too little stage time: his monologue directed to the audience was the first scene that really grabbed my attention, and sadly it didn't occur until after intermission.

The stage hands played to the audience during scene transitions, but I found the effect uneven at best. Suzie Catering made sure she was noticed, but the other performers mostly failed to leave an impression.

Overall, I'm glad I went, but it won't be one that sticks with me like the other Ruhl plays.

Sarah Ruhl month in Indianapolis

• Phoenix Theatre, In the Next Room, September 30-October 24, 2010
• Butler Theatre, Eurydice, October 6-10, 2010
• Carmel Community Players, Dead Man's Cell Phone, October 14-24, 2010

Clearly Sarah Ruhl, the playwright for all three, is a popular woman in Indy this month. She won a MacArthur Fellowship, but having such a prominent presence in our city is surely the greater honor.

And how are the plays? Glad you asked.

Butler's performance of Eurydice was poignant and beautiful. The spartan stage was, if anything, more evocative than an elaborate set would have been, and the student actors were quite capable. The Stone chorus provided exposition where necessary and comic relief that was sorely needed for such a dark, moving story. The father/daughter relationship was heart-wrenching.

The Phoenix has done their usual masterful work on In the Next Room. It's hard to single out any particular performances, because everyone who took the stage did so with élan, but Michael Shelton and Lauren Briggeman are the heart and soul of the story, and each conveys a complex mixture of strength and vulnerability. Briggeman in particular grabs the audience and takes us with her on her roller-coaster ride of emotions; her evocative facial expressions are evidently finely honed.

Angela Plank has shone in several recent plays for the Phoenix, and her performance here does not disappoint. She plays a difficult, understated role with grace.

Dwandra Nicole similarly has a restrained role through most of the play, but her monologue near the end leaves no doubt as to her acting skills.

Scot Greenwell doesn't appear until the second half of the show, but acts as the catalyst for Nicole's speech and compels Shelton and Briggeman to confront the problems with their marriage. His is a rich performance with no false notes.

In the Next Room runs for two more weeks; despite its unorthodox subject matter that will undoubtedly turn off some who read its subtitle (you'll have to find that out for yourself), it is as close to a must-see performance as you're likely to find in central Indiana.

At least until the next Phoenix production.

Of money and visual display of information

And speaking of good visual display of information (and Apple)...

Horace Dediu's final chart of phone manufacturer profits and growth is a marvel, both of display and content.

Of lawsuits and visual display of information

Dramatic improvement over the Guardian's take. Tufte, your turn.

Update: Here's my version. Rougher than the one from Design Language, but I think that one sacrifices too much by pursuing aesthetics. Mine could be cleaned up by someone with a sense of design, certainly, but I find mine much easier to scan.

Update #2: Dan Moren's version is vastly easier to process than any of the above.

Celtic Spring

I have been going to the Indianapolis Irish Fest for many years, and I've seen great performers (how I miss you, Gael Sli), but I've never seen a show as entertaining as those put on today by Celtic Spring. TV watchers may already know of the Wood family, courtesy of last year's America's Got Talent, but today was my first exposure to them. High-kicking musical fun of the highest order, alongside haunting renditions of Amazing Grace and Sleeping Tune.

Simply magnificent. Thank you for coming to Indianapolis.

Editors untie!

Spotted in Macworld UK (emphasis mine):

While some attorneys using iPads must still rely on desktops or laptops for long document creation or editing, LaRow said he and others in his company find that using a Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad is working just fine for creating long memos. LaRow is also using a Bluetooth mouse supplied by Apple when he sits to use the iPad.

What's this? Without a cursor, a mouse would be largely unusable, and so far as I know there's no mouse support for the iPad. Curious.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Stable Boy and the iPad

A compelling anecdote about the user-friendliness of the iPad from Forbes. Try that with a netbook.

Deep Fried Butter

My oh my, that's good. Couldn't refrain this time around.

Are you kidding me?

Legally compel manufacturers to include an FM radio chip in all mobile devices? Seriously? Did I wake up in some alternate universe? Nope, still have my beard.

The RIAA has done enough damage. Please, someone, let's legislate them out of existence. (Yes, that's a feeble attempt at humor, not an exercise in hypocrisy.)

Folk heroes

Curious how the last two folk heroes both emerged from the airline biz: Sully & Slater. Not bad for an industry that never seems to actually turn a profit.

Under construction

Calorie Alley at the Indiana State Fair

I refrained. Barely. But since I'm still here, there's time to recant...

Alpha & Omega

Seeing trailers for this film just drives home how much of a lead Pixar and Dreamworks have over most of the industry. Predictable plot, primitive graphics. I'm guessing it'll be in at the dollar theaters well inside of a month.

Of Forest Tunnels and Watery Fields

Just west of Fairland Indiana [maps.google.com] along 400N, one temporarily leaves the corn and soybean fields and travels through a dense canopy for roughly 3/4ths of a mile. It's quite an unexpected pleasure.

Because I didn't take the time to figure out how to capture it photographically during my Saturday road trip (my 2nd of the summer, and much more random than Friday's jaunt), here instead is a partially flooded field along 550W. Also iPhone 4, edited in a different app.

Arlington Elementary School

Took my first summer road trip yesterday; it was also my first road trip with my new iPhone 4, and as importantly, the first road trip with my new iPhone 4's camera.

This is a beautiful school in Arlington, Indiana [maps.google.com], along my favorite road trip highway, 52. The photo was taken on my iPhone and edited with one of its apps.

Per a Word document on their website (really, you couldn't put this in HTML or PDF?):

The mission of the RUSH COUNTY SCHOOLS is to provide an appropriate educational program and learning environment which will effectively:

MEET THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF ITS STUDENTS AND CITIZENS;

HELP ITS STUDENTS ACCOMPLISH EDUCATIONAL GOALS WHICH ARE SIGNIFICANT, DURABLE, AND/OR TRANSFERABLE.

It's a little discouraging that some of Indiana's school systems don't know that SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS IS A LITTLE HARD TO READ. I'm also disappointed in the use of "and/or"; it makes an already wishy-washy mission statement even less significant and/or durable.

Wayfarin' Stranger

I'm not sure there's a more beautiful rendition of a more beautiful song than Tim O'Brien's performance of Wayfarin' Stranger, from "Songs from the Mountain."

Wrenching violin (fiddle?) work, heart-felt vocals. Highly recommended.

The Chronically Unreasonable Steve Jobs

The article says it all.

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/steve-jobs/6/18/2010/id/28810

Sent from my iPad

Why FaceTime Matters

The Europeans are pointing out that they've had video calls for years and never use the feature.

My question is this: can you switch in-call?

My guess is that the killer feature for Apple's new FaceTime feature is the off switch.

I'm talking to a family member and I mention that my dog has wandered into the room. "Here, let me show her." The key is this: I would never make a video call to a family member except as an experiment, but to be able to fire it up and show something interesting? That's way cool.

Without music...

Truth, Beauty, Science

A World Without Monarch Butterflies

...is too horrible to contemplate.

Memorial Day

Missed Opportunity

The one moment in Robin Hood where I thought to myself that the movie could redeem itself was a brief hallway confrontation between King John's advisors, played by William Hurt and Mark Strong. If the movie had just focused more on interactions between those characters and less on, well, just about everyone else, I think it would have been much more interesting.

Robin Hood: Don't Let The Thieves Get You

Well, I must say, that was a colossal waste of time and money.

It started ponderous and melodramatic, and ended on a utopian note, with so many coincidences along the way that you might think the screenwriter was required to end the movie with Robin Hood and his merry men in the forest of Nottingham as outlaws.

Oh, wait.

By now, Russell Crowe is synonymous with Epic Heroism, but he came up small here. There simply wasn't much to do with the role. He simply had to be in the right place at the right time. Over and again.

Which reminds me: is England a large country? As best as I can tell from the movie, one thousand soldiers could conquer it, and it's possible to ride across the entire island in a day or two, with most villages in spitting distance of each other.

The movie from the very beginning screamed "Epic, epic, look at the epic." Unfortunately, it simply had the trappings of an epic, with all the story quality (and seemingly budget for extras) of a B movie.

Lessons from a week plus on the road

First, I gotta say: the iPad is a phenomenal travel device. I didn't expect to find any differently.

Perhaps its most notable failing is that it's difficult to use for navigation while driving, but that's not a terribly safe operation anyway.

My uncle and I used it twice to reserve hotel rooms, including once from the parking lot of a rival hotel across the street. We arrived at the desk before our reservations did.

Beyond the iPad, this trip made it clear that I'd love to spend more time traveling. Shame travel is so bloody expensive.

The Everglades are a remarkable, precious resource. I'm grateful we awoke to the value of wetlands before we wiped them entirely off the map. I'd love to see what northwest Indiana looked like when it was one vast wetland.

Sunscreen is a valuable resource too. Three hours of driving with the top off through central Florida on the first day nearly prematurely ended my vacation. Hard to enjoy 90+º weather when any direct contact with sunlight causes pain.

Oh, and random AirTran clerk? When I tell you I want a window seat, I don't mean a seat at the rear of the plane on the outer edge but with no window. Even the row ahead of me, which was graced with a window, was treated to a view of the engine and nothing else.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:E Washington St,Cumberland,United States

What a steal

Only 35k!

Southernmost point

Key West

Pennekamp

Bobbi Jo's Diner, Homestead

You are here

Sunset over Florida

Cycles Of Irony

Hanging out tonight with Sarah^2, short Sarah mentioned her friends who live on the reservation in Arizona, and how little they're looking forward to being forced to prove their citizenship on a regular basis.

The irony of Native Americans being forced to prove their "immigration status" is a bit much.

In late 2008, I was fortunate to hear a presentation by Richard Rodriguez at the University of Indianapolis titled "The Hispanic Immigrant in American Culture". The most memorable point of his lecture for me was the fact that history is a circle; specifically, that the Mexicans who are "invading" the southwestern US are largely descended from the Native Americans that we drove out of the southwestern US.

They could have been our brothers, but we evicted them from their homes. Perhaps this time we can learn to live together.

I'm not holding my breath.

It's happening

Haven't updated in a while, and there are countless articles I could link regarding how the world now views the iPad, but here's one that captures my feelings, and apparently the feelings of hundreds of thousands of fellow users as well.

What iPads Did To My Family

iPhone OS 4.0 and Multitasking

Daniel Eran Dilger has written a great article for AppleInsider covering the multitasking features for the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad.

My last concern regarding multitasking on my phone and iPad is the ability of my remote systems management tools to survive being placed in the background. I suspect/hope that the Task Completion API will allow RDC or SSH tools to continue to maintain their network connections while I switch to other applications (hello, MyKeePass, if I could only get it to download my password database).

On the other hand, I'm finding that having an iPad and an iPhone at the same time addresses some of my multitasking needs so it won't be a total loss if Task Completion doesn't do the trick.

Apple's Monopolies

I don't agree with everything contained therein, but there is much truth in this commentary on why Apple has monopolized tasteful computing.

iPad News & Notes

One quick update: the ergonomics concerns I had have effectively been handled by the iPad case offered by Apple. I imagine there are cases out there which do a better job of propping it up in portrait mode, but other than that, I'm quite pleased by it.

Having said that, I make a point of removing the iPad from its case when introducing the device to someone who hasn't had a chance to play with it, because I think the iPad should always be experienced first naked (the computer, not the person).

A couple of reasons why I love Apple and the iPad?

• Fully blind-person friendly straight from the box (per comments I've seen, Apple has been emphasizing accessibility of their computers for quite some time)
• Fully cat-friendly straight from the box
• Fully kid-friendly straight from the box

Many years ago, I helped teach a class for people who were new to computers. I tried (and failed) to help one man who was intensely frustrated that I couldn't just tell him exactly what to do in any situation. I tried to explain that computers were too complex to anticipate every combination of uses, and that much of the learning process was simply experimenting, learning what happened when you press button X or select menu Y; he shortly stormed out of the class, never to return.

If I could find him again, I'd give him my iPad as an apology. Here, finally, is the computer he needs, but the best thing of all is that you don't have to be terrified of, or simply confused by, computers in order to enjoy using an iPad.

(Having said that: c'mon, Apple, what about that iHub appliance to let him perform backups and upgrades when he buys one?)

Polish tragedy

My heart goes out to Poland today. That country has borne far too much misfortune over the centuries.

iPad, Day 3

Curiously, today I was able to experience a (nearly) full day of work on my iPad. My laptop froze, and when I power cycled it, the filesystem was corrupted. Hello, re-install.

It was also my first day at work with the iPad, so a good portion of the day was spent giving demos to my curious co-workers.

What have I learned?

• Star Walk for iPad is the killer marketing app Apple should consider preloading on every iPad. Hand that to someone, and they suddenly get it. THIS is why "just a larger iPhone" is the whole point of the device.
• (Or as I read today in an excellent article on TidBITS, "As our friend Ken Case of The Omni Group has said, size matters, which is why a swimming pool is not just a big bathtub".)
• Magic Piano is a close second in inspirational qualities, while Netflix can generate more "traditional" enthusiasm.
• An iPad will never replace a true general-purpose computer for IT support technicians. The best apps that I've found for logging into remote systems, iSSH and iTap RDP client, are a far, far cry from iTerm and CoRD.
• The lack of multitasking is not a show-stopper for many purposes. Most iPhone/iPad applications are well-behaved and will load quickly to the same place where you were when you left.
• I really can touch-type on the iPad, so long as I don't need hyphens, semi-colons, or numbers.
• The case and keyboard dock can't come quickly enough.

iPad, Day 2

Yesterday was too busy with initial setup and seeing friends and family to post anything, so here are my thoughts on the iPad after the first day. 

First, wow. Such an utterly silent yet fast computer. I find myself waiting on my iPhone all the time; no such problem with the iPad. And the immersive quality of the experience of working with this thing is indescribable.  

Before I ladle the praise on too heavily, however, I must point out one possibly killer flaw: ergonomics.

I'm trying to find someplace in my house where I can comfortably type out this post, for example, and not having much luck. 

My glasses are too small. When I'm reclining, the iPad naturally falls below their coverage range. 

If I hold it with my palms against my bent legs as I recline and type, I can see and type well enough, even touch typing to a remarkable degree, but there must be a better way. 

Perhaps a case or the keyboard dock will make the difference. Both should arrive this week. 

Other general comments:

• iPhone apps aren't satisfying at all. Functional, but I spend as little time as possible using them.


• Did I mention how fast this thing is?


• Web browsing is a much more fulfilling experience than on an iPhone. I'm no longer looking through a tiny peephole at the splendor of the Internet.

iPad and Apps

I've been perusing iTunes for free and cheap iPad apps to load up Saturday. A few thoughts:

• Paid apps are definitely trending more expensive. I actually consider this a good thing: I want developers to have the necessary incentive to, y'know, develop. $2/app is awfully cheap.
• Having said that, $50 for OmniGraffle, an application I love on the Mac, is mighty steep. I'd like to try it, and hopefully Omni comes out with a "lite" version for free to explore. If it's good enough, it's worth $50, but effectively sight unseen...
• The App Store is awkward to browse. I think many are going to find it confusing to browse specifically for iPad apps.
• Where's iBooks? Doesn't appear to be out yet. Nor is Kindle for iPad, or an updated Barnes & Noble reader. Presumably iBooks at least will be available on Saturday.
• I had planned on picking up the iWork applications right away, but pulling the trigger on a $30 purchase (or 3x$10 purchases, whatever) is painful. I'll probably wait to play with other apps for a while first.

Update: Found a nifty application for a household: My Frame. I currently keep my birthdays in a calendar instead of address book, but perhaps I should reconsider.

Not that I have anyone else in the house to leave sticky note reminders for.

Anyway, for a house of more than one sentient being, My Frame looks like it has potential.

And so it begins

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has unleashed his review of the iPad.

He's been an Apple fan for quite some time, so it's no surprise he received one to review, or that his review is generally positive.

What's particularly exciting for me:

• 11.5 hours of battery life while playing video
• Keyboard in landscape mode is competitive with cramped netbook keyboards (but as a touch typist, I'm still skeptical)
• Quote: "Apple's custom processor makes it wicked fast."

I'm planning a trip to Florida mid-May; I think I may have to pick up a 3G version for the trip.

Update: There are several more reviews out tonight. See MacRumors.com for the full list. All sound positive from the bullet points on the linked page.

Update #2: This review from PCMag is much more in-depth than others I've seen.

Apple, Flash, and DED

Daniel Eran Dilger: often caustic, frequently partisan, and usually right.

The blogger has been on a tear lately, dealing with iPad myths and the conflict over Flash in particular. Today's entry is instructive, emphasizing the open/closed argument of HTML5 vs. Flash, and the curious blinders that many tech writers have when it comes to all things Apple.

Daniel is particularly good at constructing narratives from older technology news that make trends clearer (especially recurring foibles), and then creating meta-narratives from his own previous articles; I highly recommend perusing the links he includes in today's piece.

Media options in the Age of Apple

The New York Times Media & Advertising blog has an interesting summary of the tension between content providers' desire to ride the iPad train and their fear of becoming trapped, and mentions some of the issues I've touched on in the last few posts, including the idea of an iNewsstand which might (although probably won't) include the micropayment idea I'd like to see.

Of iPads and Guided Tours

Since Paul of Paul's iPad has linked to this blog for iPad commentary, I feel compelled to offer more up.

Today, Apple unleashed its Guided Tours for the iPad. Some thoughts on the videos...

Printing, or Lack Thereof

Perhaps the most important fact I've learned from watching the iWork tours: printing does not appear to be an option, yet.

I think the hue and cry for printing will mount. Certainly, if Apple wants this to be a serious business device, it will have to be addressed.

My best guess is that, since the iPad is primarily oriented toward consumers, and since many (most?) home users don't have networked printers, printing wasn't considered a high priority for the initial release.

Apple releases new features carefully (see: copy and paste), which is often a nuisance but usually results in a better experience in the long run.

iWork, My Oh My

The sheer visual appeal of the iWork suite leads me to a few conjectures.

First, iWork.com (still in beta) had better be ready for a significant number of new subscribers. I'd never visited the site, although I was vaguely aware of it; I think it'll be a popular tool for iPad users who also have a Mac and would like to edit documents on both computers.

I also think that iDisk and MobileMe may get more of a workout for similar reasons. Since performance of Apple's cloud solutions has been an issue in the past, I sincerely hope that their new massive data center in North Carolina is up to the task of serving millions of iPad users.

Accessories, Accessories, Wherefore Art Thou Missing?

Availability of accessories will, I think, also be an issue. Typing extended documents in Pages will be much more pleasant with a keyboard, but the keyboard dock won't be shipped until mid-April.

I could use my case to prop up the iPad for my existing bluetooth keyboard, but the case isn't due to ship until the 3rd, which means a few days (at least) of case-less iPad work.

Where's Calendar?

I firmly believe that the calendar and contacts applications will be big hits on the iPad, yet there are no guided tours for those.

Both applications need a back-end service to take best advantage of their features, and I wonder whether Apple is concerned about getting too many people interested in MobileMe before the data center opens.

Or perhaps it's simply a lack of time/resources/desire to create more videos.

iBook, Therefore I Am

Before my iPod, I rarely bought music[1], but that changed very quickly once I had easy access to $.99 songs. I suspect the iPad will similarly impact my book buying habits.

Today, I use the library for most books, and the rest are usually purchased from used book stores.

Particularly if good technical (O'Reilly? Please?) and reference books are readily available in the iBookstore, I can see myself acquiring the purchasing habit. Just one or two novels a month bought online would dramatically increase my current intake of fiction (unless you count re-reading the Harry Potter books a few times too many).

And if self-publishing is easy enough, what could this do for the poetry world? (I don't want to think about how awful self-published novels could clutter up the iBookstore, just as the App Store is increasingly burdened with subpar software.)

The Future

I really hoped that the iPad would bring a micropayment system to newspapers and magazines: while I appreciate free content, I would be eager to help keep vibrant journalism alive by paying a few cents (or more than a few) for every Economist or Atlantic Monthly article I read. (This is the year I finally subscribe to the Economist, I swear.)

Please, Apple, will you make my dreams come true? I'm sure you're getting burnt out on trying to get media publishers to let you sell their wares at reasonable rates, but this is another fight worth waging. It's time to help the news world recover from their free-content-induced hangover.

Footnote

1. And no, I didn't download music for free: I simply didn't listen to much. I'm a firm believer in paying for copyrighted content, even if I think copyright law has been woefully perverted to the benefit of corporations over citizens.

iPad and Flash

Yesterday, I mentioned the two perceived "killer" flaws of the iPad: the absence of multitasking and Flash support.

We've already seen push notifications added as a way to handle some of the needs that otherwise would be handled by multitasking, and it's safe to assume that competitive pressures and Apple's strong desire to provide a compelling product will lead to more such enhancements. Personally, I'm content to appreciate the products as they are now, and trust Apple to handle future changes with their customary aplomb.

Flash, on the other hand, will likely never be seen on the iPhone OS devices.

What Is Flash?

Flash is a proprietary technology that drives much of the interactive content on the web. Seemingly every major automobile manufacturer's website is purely Flash, for example, and a great deal of the advertising content on the web is conveyed using Flash.

Displaying and interacting with Flash content can only be done by installing and running software from Adobe, typically integrated into your web browser for convenience.

For years, Mac and Linux computers have been treated as second-class citizens by Adobe, resulting in Flash software that's buggy, insecure, and a heavy burden on a typical desktop computer. Flash under Windows is much less processor-intensive, but not much less buggy and insecure.

What's The Fuss About?

Flash's absence on the iPhone is a minor annoyance to most, since browsing the web on that device is an exercise in compromises anyway[1].

The iPad, however, is a much more serious web browsing platform: the Internet in your hands. Many argue that the Internet is incomplete without support for Flash.

Why Apple Can "Block" Flash

Apple's general-purpose computers (MacBooks, iMacs, etc) are just that: general-purpose computers. You can install anything you want or can write yourself, and Flash is available for all of the major web browsers.

iPhones and iPads, however, are not intended to be nearly as flexible[2]. Without jailbreaking an iPhone, many activities common to a desktop or laptop computer are simply impossible.

The control that this gives Apple includes the ability to deny Flash a seat at the table. Its web browser doesn't support the Flash plugin, and Apple constrains the software that can be installed onto the devices through iTunes and the App Store.

Why Flash Is Missing

To my knowledge, Apple hasn't made any formal statements about Flash, not even verifying that it will be missing from the iPad. However, reports from a recent internal Town Hall meeting at Apple indicate that Steve Jobs feels that Flash is buggy and archaic.

Certainly, Steve seemed to take great pride in not quickly moving away from the missing Flash content on the New York Times website when introducing the iPad.

Here are my suspicions on why Flash seems to be verboten.

New Interface, Old Paradigms

A finger is distinctly not the same as a mouse. The mouse is a precision instrument that doesn't obscure the screen, and a computer can tell exactly where a mouse is at all times, even when no buttons are held down.

A virtual keyboard is distinctly not the same as a physical keyboard. There's no meaningful tactile feedback, for example.

What does this mean for Flash and the iPad? It means that much of the existing content on the Internet that is Flash-driven is going to behave badly, or be completely unusable, on a purely touchscreen device.

For example, if you move your mouse over much Flash content, the mere presence of the mouse in the vicinity is sufficient to cause different behavior. The flash content may scroll, or pop up video controls, for example.

Furthermore, many Flash interfaces expect the user to click on small controls; when the "click" is a large, clumsy finger, the user may not be able to see the controls, much less manipulate them properly.

My credit union uses a Flash login screen, so that it can measure the rhythm of my keystrokes as an additional layer of security. I don't know for certain, but I sincerely doubt my typing rhythm will be the same on an iPad as it is on my physical keyboard.

Battery Life

By asserting control over the software on the device, and by disallowing a mechanism for swapping out batteries, Apple has set itself up to blame when battery life is less than ideal.

No matter how frugal with battery life the Adobe Flash plugin may become over time, it is certainly not perceived to be friendly right now, and Apple doesn't wish to give Adobe the ability to kill the iPad's/iPhone's battery while users are simply browsing the web.

Crashes

Similarly, Apple wants your phone to always work (not a bad approach for a device that will be expected to work in an emergency). Apple can't control the quality of the web browser it provides on the device if it also supplies Flash along with that browser. Apple doesn't want to relinquish that control.

Open Standards

One of the primary reasons Apple has survived the Microsoft onslaught (and in recent years thrived) is the open nature of the Internet.

Microsoft attempted and failed to define networking on its own terms, allowing UNIX, Linux, MacOS, and any number of alternative systems (including many that have yet to be created) to peacefully coexist. As long as your computer can comply with open standards, you can participate in the Internet.

Except, that is, where Flash is concerned: to display Flash content, you have to wait for Adobe to bless your operating system, or you have to find a way to simulate an operating system that Adobe already supports.

As far as I can tell, there are only three (probably soon to be four) companies that can realistically break this unfortunate dependence on Adobe: Microsoft, Adobe itself, or Apple. Google may join those ranks in the near future.

Microsoft would happily replace Flash with its own Silverlight proprietary solution, but that doesn't result in a more open future for computing.

Apple is pushing for the evolution of the HTML standard to include the features that Flash provides so that anyone in the world can write a web browser or operating system that can interact with the rest of the world.

Apple's only real bullet, its only chance to break the Flash codependency, is its mobile operating system and devices.

Despite Apple's relatively small market share in computing, the content providers of the world know that Apple customers are desirable. Apple has a 90% market share of retail computers over $1,000, and its smartphone share is rising rapidly. Apple customers and their money matter a great deal to the business that turn a profit on the web.

If Apple puts Flash on its mobile devices, its only bullet is spent, and while Flash will probably eventually die, that day will be a long time in the future.

If Apple can build up a base of hundreds of millions of affluent consumers who don't have access to Flash content, Flash will probably die much, much faster.

And the world will be a better place.

Further reading

Flash

• http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/02/01/ten-myth-of-apple’s-ipad-2-ipad-needs-adobe-flash/

Multitasking

• http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/02/17/ten-myths-of-apple’s-ipad-9-it-cant-multitask/


• http://smokingapples.com/opinion/multi-tasking-iphone-ipad/

Footnotes

1. A slower processor, a small screen: the web browsing experience on an iPhone is far better than anything that existed in the smartphone space before Apple turned the market on its head in 1997, but still a far cry a "real" computer.


2. Apple has proffered explanations for the lack of customization and flexibility on iPhones, including the desire to protect the cellular networking infrastructure from rogue software. I, and many others, feel that by constraining the iPhone and iPad, Apple is attempting to create a much more user-friendly experience for its customers by sacrificing the needs of power users. Those users can always use general-purpose computers to achieve their ends.

iPad thoughts

One week to go.

Very few gizmos are met with the sheer quantity of punditry that is obligatory for a new Apple offering, and the iPad is no exception.

I doubt I can make points that haven't been made elsewhere countless times, but for my own part, here are my hopes and concerns for the new device.

What I'm excited about

Mobility

Repeat after me: a tablet is not a small laptop.

And this is a very, very good thing.

A laptop is a self-contained, luggable[1] computer. It's quite useful when you're seated somewhere. It's virtually useless, even treacherous, when you're standing up, walking around, or doing pretty much anything else.

A tablet, on the other hand, can be useful both when seated and not. I use my iPhone when I'm sitting down, but perhaps even more so when I'm walking.

In my office, I frequently walk around to talk to co-workers about problems I'm having, or problems they're having. Do I take my laptop with me? Once every couple of months. Maybe. I don't generally take it to meetings, even.

I took it to meetings before I had my iPhone, but now that I can keep an eye on email without my laptop, why bother?

An iPad? That, hopefully, will be a whole 'nother story. I figure I'll nearly always have my iPhone when I'm wandering through the office, and the iPad will be with me closer to a quarter of the time, maybe more, because I can just grab it and go, and it's useful without sitting down.

Proximity

When I'm reading on my home computer, I like to lean back and relax. However, that takes me farther away from my screen, so I'm forced to adjust. I can enlarge text, but I can't enlarge graphics quite so readily without magnifying my screen[2].

Furthermore, although I have a bluetooth mouse, it's still a pain to navigate when I'm not in close contact with my desk, especially when I'm navigating through a series of pages with small navigation links (e.g., webcomics).

The iPad will be a perfect "kick back and relax" type of device, especially if/when content migrates from webpages (that are too often not designed for convenient navigation) to iPhone OS applications that are designed for the touch format.

Which leads me to...

Navigation

Serial content on the web is a disaster. It doesn't have to be, but it nearly always is.

Look at Dilbert. Move back a month, and try to navigate forward one day at a time. Notice that the forward arrows move around[3] on the page even on this minimal interface, so there's no place where you can leave your mouse and count on the next action working.

On proper iPhone applications, you swipe, or tape the right side of the screen. That's serial navigation in a nutshell, done right.

How much would I pay to have Gunnerkrigg Court in a native iPhone/iPad application with proper navigation? Quite a bit, even though it's free on the web.

It's all about the experience.

The Experience

Using a well-designed touch application under a well-designed touch operating system on a piece of beautifully-designed touch hardware with a large, colorful screen is a pleasure.

How many times have you said that working with a computer is a pleasure? Not often, I bet.

Today, I have everything but the large screen, and I am desperate for that last, missing piece.

Apple has produced a peerless ecosystem of hardware and software. I hope that the iPad brings that experience to a large, new audience.

Speaking of which...

The Audience

How many times have you wondered where you saved that file, or what hidden dialog box is preventing the window at the front of your screen from responding, or why the application shortcut on your desktop no longer works?

How many times have you been huddled over your computer trying to get your anti-virus software to find and kill the latest piece of junk that's preventing you from getting anything done? Or watched a friend or relative try to do it for you?

As a computer professional, I desperately want people who don't want to understand the inner workings of their computer to not have to.

The iPad is a big step towards that dream. Its application-centric instead of document-centric design takes away the flexibility that a desktop or laptop have, but in exchange it offers a huge win in basic usability.

Give an iPod touch or iPhone to a three-year-old, and they'll be able to use it right away. Give an iPad to a grandmother who wants to be able to keep in touch with her family, tell her that she doesn't have to worry about modems, anti-virus software, or misplacing important files...

I'm betting she'll thank you.

Especially given its...

Large screen

Many pundits criticized the iPad for just being a large iPhone.

Well, duh. The iPhone and iPod touch are marvellous devices hindered primarily by their small screen. The screen size makes them highly portable, but for old fogeys like me, I want a bigger screen!

Even with my recent acquisition of progressive lenses, I still find the screen difficult to read at times, and there are any number of applications that could be much more enjoyable with a large screen. Mind mapping with iThoughts is already quite pleasant; using it on a larger screen should be an utter delight. Playing Civilization Revolution (assuming it doesn't crash every few minutes) can kill countless hours on a small screen; if 2K Games revises it for the iPad, I'll be absolutely thrilled.

And reading any book I want on a graphically-sophisticated, handheld device? Mmmm.

Appliance, Appliance, Appliance

I really think that, given some creativity from developers and businesspeople, the iPad will be a huge hit in the business world.

Mount one outside your conference room for displaying its schedule, allowing new meetings to be slotted into open slots (or existing meetings to be canceled), and it can provide any number of other functions as well.

Realtors, take these with you to meet clients, and you can offer 3D views of houses you're selling, perform searches for other homes in the area, pull up a history of home prices in the neighborhood, etc. Sure, you can do all this with a laptop, but how much easier will it be to share this information with 2 or 3 other people if you're all seated around a flat display on a table instead of having everyone huddled around a small laptop display?

Retailers, give these to your floor staff. Need to find out if you have an item in stock at this location or a different one? Piece of cake, especially with a camera or other scanner to read barcodes.

Concerns

Really, I don't have many personal concerns for the device. Would I like to be able to run Pandora in the background while I browse the web? Sure. But I'll always have my iPhone with me, even if I'm not near a computer to provide my music.

I do have a few concerns that I would like to see addressed to assist with more widespread adoption. So for the benefit of those who have yet to fall in love with the device...

iHub

The iPad is not a computer in the traditional sense, and it still requires a full-fledged computer for backups and upgrades.

Moreover, there are websites which won't work on the iPad for a while, until the web design world fully acknowledges the fact that Flash simply isn't going to work on Apple's mobile devices[4].

I encourage Apple to help move the device to a new audience of users who just want a simple computer to keep them in contact with the outside world by providing something similar to the AppleTV: an appliance that runs iTunes and Safari, purely for the sake of providing the management features that the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad lack.

Apple could make this "iHub" even more useful by removing the need for a display. Plug in an iPad and use it as a dumb display while the iPad is syncing with the device.

Multi-user Support

To some degree in the business space, and to a much larger degree in a family household, the ability to have custom sets of applications and content for different users would be very useful.

On the other hand, Apple may have decided it would rather just try to sell each household several iPads.

Footnotes

1. Yes, I know "luggable" was once used to describe extremely heavy computers that resembled large laptops.


2. Hold down the control key while using the scroll button on your mouse in MacOS X. Easy, but magnifying the page generally leads to more awkward navigation.


3. Don't see it change locations when using the top arrows? Try moving from February 9th to February 10th, or July 31st to August 1st.


4. I'll probably post a note about Flash in the near future, but suffice it to say that I'm a fan of open web standards, which means I'm emphatically not a fan of Flash.

Conseco Fieldhouse

Farewell Claude

Claude Sifferlen was a tremendously talented jazz pianist who passed away Thursday. I enjoyed watching him perform with Frank Glover–a talented jazz artist in his own right, but it was Claude I went to watch at the Chatterbox.

What impressed me most about Frank and Claude on a personal level was that they always seemed to have something to talk about together onstage, despite the fact that they performed as a duo for decades.

Claude will be sorely missed by many jazz fans in central Indiana. Rest in peace, maestro.

Youth, in all its vapidity

If you want to make sure that everyone on the Internet knows you're young, simply follow one rule when commenting: describe anything you don't like as "stupid."

iPhone frenzy

From the NY Times:

TeleSoftas’s application also works on Symbian, the open-source operating system owned by Nokia. But in some European countries, that is secondary, Mr. Stonys said.

“Sixty percent of all smartphones in Switzerland being sold today are iPhones,” he said.

“You’ve got to produce for the platform out there that is selling the best.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/technology/companies/15apple.html


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