I've Changed My Mind About The iPad

http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/05/ive-changed-my-mind-about-the-ipad.html

by px • 16 years ago

249 163 16 years ago

briancooley4• 16 years ago

I like how I feel when I am using the thing

This sums up my opinion on the iPad. It just makes casual consuming fun.

My wife still sings "Flash, ah-ah" to me every time we talk about it, but she's warming up to it. Watching Modern Family on the ABC app while snuggled together on the couch was a revelation for her.

We don't use it for everything, but the things we use it for sure are fun.

It doesn't replace my MBP, but neither did my smartphone.

jerguismi• 16 years ago

OK, so the point is that the iPad doesn't replace laptops or smart phones, but complements them. Great, more devices to buy! Just what I wished for.

I guess in couple of years Steve implements some new consumer device which complements the existing ones. He's so visionary.

viraptor6• 16 years ago

Not sure why this is downvoted... a bit of trolling, but in general it's right. If Apple starts selling a large range of devices that just complement the laptops and phones, without making a good product in itself -- people are going to end up with a lot of gadgets. It's fun for a rich customer (I've got a music player, video player, phone, communicator, web browser device...), not so fun for a typical customer (I've got a choice between a hard to use laptop, or one or two easy to use devices).

Many of us are geeks here and buy gadgets just because they're shiny and new. But many normal people would rather get an easy to use laptop instead, or a "laptopised" dockable ipad.

olaf• 16 years ago

You have my whole sympathy. Upvoted.

jrwoodruff• 16 years ago

I actually bought an iPad instead of a MBP. Not sure how good that is for Apples bottom line (good, in the long run I suspect) but so far I'm very happy with my decision. I take the iPad to the bar, the porch, meetings, use it to stream pandora in the car and much more. I wouldn't do half those things with a laptop, and for the 'work' things I do on it (note taking, task management, etc.) the iPad is good enough.

When I'm -really- working, I want my dual monitors, wired LAN and an ergonomic chair. For me, it hasn't been yet -another- device.

ugh• 16 years ago

Why should it make laptops and smart phones completely obsolete? I do think that the new breed of iPad-like tablets can replace quite a few computers but probably not all of them.

With computers as cheap as they are and families usually owning several computers (kitchen or living room laptop or netbook, a few laptops or netbooks for the kids, desktop for the office and so on) I really fail to see how a device which can replace one or two laptops in such a household is a bad thing or one more thing to buy.

listic• 16 years ago

Isn't it in all ways better to watch the bigger stationary screen while on the couch?

jodrellblank4• 16 years ago

Typical internet comment there. Did you think about it ... at all?

What does iPad do?

Films and TV Music iBooks Apps Web browsing Email

Only films and TV are better on your big, far away, non-touch, lower resolution TV. The rest are significantly worse or completely unavailable.

briancooley4• 16 years ago

No, mostly because it was on demand. There was no way to watch it on my television. (On demand > time shifted)

In the past, I would have setup my laptop. I never considered that a hassle, but now I do. Also, the app itself was a cue. I probably wouldn't have thought to go to abc.com had I been on my laptop, which I primarily use for working rather than playing.

frossie• 16 years ago

My wife still sings "Flash, ah-ah" to me every time we talk about it

I am hereby up-voting your wife's sense of humour.

trezor• 16 years ago

Watching Modern Family on the ABC app while snuggled together on the couch was a revelation for her.

Not putting the rest of your points into question, I'm just going to guess that for the rest of the world not being the US, this thing will never happen and we will still need our dedicated servers/laptops and BT/Usenet apps and the commercial, "smooth", DRMed solutions will still be utterly useless.

I guess I'm still disappointed that what in I consider the "digital age" where the world should be one marked, one solution for everyone, every single big player still does everything in their power to create artificial barriers, restrictions and markets for some pipe dream that it might increase their (relevance and thus) profits.

I guess my monthly expenses will still remain at $0 for cable and $15 for usenet.

ojbyrne• 16 years ago

I have the 3G version, and for me it's the perfect commuting companion.

stcredzero8• 16 years ago

I concur. I have the Wifi with a mobile hotspot. I fly a lot and it's much better on the plane. No wifi in flight most of the time, but I can download content easily enough. Much more comfortable and usable than the Macbook in the plane seat.

david927• 16 years ago

I think this is the potential of tablets in general. If others, like Notion Ink's Adam, are able to deliver the features/price that they're promising, the whole category could be a big hit. The iPad is just a hint of what's to come.

cwilson• 16 years ago

You better hope that Notion Ink also delivers on the EXPERIENCE as well. Look at what everyone else is saying in this thread; the iPad is a hit because of the experience of using it, the attention to detail, not the feature set.

If it doesn't deliver on experience people will not buy it in the first place (because no one will be talking about it) or they will return it. I don't care how many features you pack into a device, if I don't smile while using it it's a failure.

iron_ball• 16 years ago

That's what everyone said about Android phones, but in the end, many people were delighted to get an experience a cut below Apple's as long as the features and pricing were a cut above. It seems there is plenty of room for both approaches.

zalew• 16 years ago

Like I care if random people like having a cup of coffee on the terrace with an ipad.

1. put 'ipad' in title

2. write some random thoughts, don't matter if you like it or not, if they are even technical or just stories about posting while sitting on the can.

3. ...

4. profit!

jdunck• 16 years ago

Fred Wilson is a VC -- I'm pretty sure he doesn't need any money derived from this post. He's just posting observations as this market forms.

garply• 16 years ago

Not to say that the GP was particularly insightful, but:

I suspect he derives money indirectly from his blog - for example, by securing himself as an authority on tech investing in an industry where reputation is quite important.

nir• 16 years ago

OP does have some point in that Wilson's experience is hardly a common one - first, buying an iPad just to see if he'd like it, second, having email/browsing so important to him that he's even considering a 2nd iPad just to make the experience slightly better.

Basically, the early adopters have now bought their iPads and are sitting in the terrace with a glass of wine reading emails. It's fun, but it's not "this changes everything", it's "this gadget is so cool".

TotlolRon• 16 years ago

Another reminder why using is the best way to understand what a product is about.

daten2• 16 years ago

I'm not trying to troll, I just have an ongoing concern when I read articles like this.

Another way to look at it is, I've been convinced by marketing and countless articles on HN telling me how amazing this new gadget is that I went and bought one.

Now I need to find a place it fits in my life and convince myself it's something I didn't know I needed and that I didn't waste my money.

I've only owned it for a week but I'm sure that a year from now I'll still love it because it's a great product, not because it's new and shiny.

nooneelse• 16 years ago

Cognitive dissonance is not to be underestimated in these things.

silkodyssey• 16 years ago

This is a powerful endorsement of the iPad. To me the message is you can't really judge the iPad based on the features it has or the list of things it can or can't do but instead it has to be experienced.

empire29• 16 years ago

I agree -- using the ipad over my laptop allows for a much more casual experience. i find myself picking it up/putting it down MUCH more than i did using my laptop (pre-ipad) .. using my laptop was/is a much more focused experience for me. I readily admit that using my laptop is generally faster/more efficient for most typing-intensive tasks, but i am really enjoying how the ipad's (re?)introduced casual computing to my life.

ivanstojic• 16 years ago

That's the phrase I've been looking for! casual computing!

bdickason2• 16 years ago

Do you believe that the 'casual' aspect of it will remain? I remember that people used to love laptops when they first came out (yes I'm old) because they could take them to a park and work. They found it relaxing and not as "business" oriented.

Fast forward to today and they've lost that vibe. I'm kinda feeling like the iPad will also lose that after people get used to the 'newness' of the form factor.

philwelch• 16 years ago

But there you go--people loved laptops because they could take them to a park and work. You don't hear about people working on an iPad.

In fact, laptops probably became stressful to people just because having a laptop meant you could work--and were expected to work--whether you were at the park, on a flight, on the train, or wherever. An iPad is explicitly unsuited for serious business, therefore it won't be expected to use it for serious business.

commieneko2• 16 years ago

It is, of course, relative. My laptop is _more_ casual than my desk top, and I'm finding my iPad more casual still.

Now, I often use my laptop _as_ my desktop computer; hook it up to a larger monitor, mouse, an external keyboard, stereo/video/telescope/interociter/history eraser button/etc. But that doesn't mean that my laptop experience isn't casual when I plop down on the couch, sans accoutrements, and surf hacker news, listen to music, or watch a movie.

And the iPad is more casual still. And the fact that I _can't_ do many things that are not casual may help to keep it casual. Maybe not...

(And for the record, just carry the iPad into the "little room down the hall" for the _ultimate_ in casual computing...)

px• 16 years ago

The key aspect of the ipad/tablet experience is being able to use it in new contexts (on the kitchen counter, making guacamole). Opportunities abound for savvy developers who are able to recognize some of ways in which tablets will fit naturally into our daily lives.

michael_dorfman• 16 years ago

It's replaced our kitchen computer on our kitchen countertop.

Wait, what?

chadgeidel• 16 years ago

I thought the same thing. Is it that resistant to spills/splashes?

shaddi• 16 years ago

I was more surprised about having a kitchen computer.

MartinCron• 16 years ago

The screen is just glass, and there's no keyboard for little things to get stuck into. I use mine in the kitchen all the time. If a little something splashes onto it, I just wipe it off with a soft towel. Much better then a dedicated kitchen computer.

nocman• 16 years ago

I had a similar response. Perhaps it's me, but if I spent $500 on such a device, it would never be just sitting anywhere (and especially not in a kitchen where it could easily be doused with liquid or have something heavy fall on it). In fact, this is one of the things that would make me nervous about purchasing one. You've got so much money tied up in this small thing that seems so fragile and vulnerable to damage.

nkassis2• 16 years ago

I like the part where he mentions the android tablets. Frankly I love the idea of a tablet computer but I just can't bring myself to use the iPad. If only a good android tablet was out right now, I'd give up the rammen noodles for one. (I'll just steal some tomatoes from the neighbor for food ;p)

bdickason2• 16 years ago

Are you craving an android tablet because it's a better/faster experience or because you don't like Apple? I haven't used an Android phone in about a year, so I'm missing the connection. What evidence is there that an Android tablet will be superior, besides the draconian App Store policies?

blhack7• 16 years ago

Apple just frustrates me as a company (which is probably a silly reason not to want an iPad, I suppose)...

There are the ridiculous app store policies (which is a HUGE problem) but there are also little things. For instance, have you ever tried to use an iPhone in bed? I keep mine sitting next to my pillow so that I can listen to music while I fall asleep...

Doing this is a huge pain in the butt. If you turn the thing sideways to change songs, it goes into the oh-so-useless "cover flow" interface. If I'm browsing the web, the phone decides that it should rotate the screen for me...

These things are fixed...but only if you void your warrant and jailbreak it...why? Honestly, the only thing I can come up with is that it is some stupid power trip by the folks at apple... "Bah! We designed it that way and we're never wrong!" JUST EFFING FIX THIS GUYS! It's a very very common problem.

I was traveling last week...my laptop's battery needs very badly to be replaced (only holds about a half hour of charge anymore), so I decided to transfer some podcasts to my phone so I could listen to them on the plane...now, this isn't as simple as most of the blackberries I've ever owned (the blackberries, if you're not aware, simply get mounted as an external storage device...copy and paste MP3s to it and it will happily play them for you), but firing up iTunes should be too much a problem, right?

Wrong. iTunes refuses to add songs to the device unless I erase everything on it and "sync" it to my laptop. WTF? Apple, this is completely unnecessary! So I lose everything on my iPhone in order to listen to a couple of podcasts? What the hell, Apple.

Okay, howabout email syncing? 4 times an hour at the most. Seriously? The phone is absolutely capable of more than this! So it will hurt the battery a bit more, I don't care! Warn me about it when I select "check email 1 time per minute".

Don't even get me started on Google voice (which I use as my primary phone number and voicemail)...

And then there is flash...

Oh, and howabout the newest version of their iPod? You cannot disable having album artwork take over half of your screen? Why the hell not?! These just seems like more power-tripping my Apple/Jobs.

I've played with the iPad (while I was waiting in the apple store for three hours for my appointment with the "genius bar"), it seems...kindof neat I guess? But apple leaves such a sour taste in my mouth from the experiences I've had with the iPhone that I cannot imagine myself ever buying one.

daten2• 16 years ago

The draconian app store policies alone are reason enough for me. I wouldn't try to downplay that.

Other limitations Apple puts on their devices come in second. I'm a very technical person. I would be happier having another gadget with Linux on it.

nkassis2• 16 years ago

I don't like the way apple runs things is the main reason, the other is that I've been having fun learning to develop for android. I love how easy it is to add apps not even on the market. Point the phone's browser to the .apk and done or use adb. (security risk blah blah) Real easy. My phone rocks as much as the iPhones I've seen.

dpcan• 16 years ago

When I first got my iPhone, I had to charge the battery daily for a month because I just couldn't get over it.

Now it lasts days and I use it more like a phone and a casual gaming device while I'm bored.

Bloggers should no better. It's too early to make statements about the impact of the iPad on computing. Let's see where we are in 6 months.

I'm not saying it will go one way or the other, but I imagine the hype will double with the 3G, then in a year we'll start seeing true reviews of how the iPad is used. I'm personally holding out for 3G.

EDIT: Somehow I missed that 3G is available, so I give it 6 months :)

ben1040• 16 years ago

This experience about mimics mine with the iPad. The first two weeks or so I couldn't put it down, and now it's just kind of something that I have on my coffee table.

I still find it very useful - I can now just "hand a web page" to my wife, it's great for having around in the living room for random web surfing on the couch, and yes, reading the news or doing a crossword while having a beer on my back patio.

I still can't type properly on the thing to save my life. I didn't realize just how awkward it is. I need to set it on a flat surface and type on it like a regular keyboard, and if I'm going to do that I'd prefer a laptop.

DanielBMarkham• 16 years ago

Same for the kindle.

At first it's this completely super-cool thing and you wonder how you could live your life without it.

Then it just becomes a piece of stuff that you have to carry around because it does a couple of things better than all the other stuff you already carry around.

Encosia2• 16 years ago

Would you willingly give up your iPhone for whatever you used before though? The neat factor definitely wears off these things, but their game-changing utility remains.

abalashov3• 16 years ago

Yes, gladly. The iPhone was one of the biggest, most wasteful mistakes of my life,

melling• 16 years ago

I got mine on Monday after much debating. Initially I was going to wait for the second generation because I know it will be so much better. In the store, the iPad felt a little heavy and basically like a big iPhone. After a few weeks, I took the "you only live once and it's cheap enough that I'll just by gen 2 if it's really that much better." By last night, I realized this thing is revolutionary, or the start of it. It's perfect for consuming the Internet and other information. The apps make a difference. Instapaper Pro, Good Reader, SimpleNote. I bought Numbers last night and I'm investigating whether Omnigraffle is any good(many poor reviews and a few positive ones and it's $50)

Missing multitasking. Need To keep Pandora running. My only disappointment.

cpr3• 16 years ago

Multitasking (exactly for the kind of apps like Pandora) is coming this fall (with iPhone OS 4.x ported to the iPad), Apple says.

stcredzero8• 16 years ago

As flying changed from an esoteric daredevil activity to a dreary consumer experience, many consumers gained access to great utility and tremendous wealth has been created. As cars changed from finicky things requiring enthusiast skills to keep running smoothly to closed, consumer devices, many consumers gained access to great utility and tremendous wealth has been created.

So it will go with computers. (And also note, that expert/enthusiast flying and driving experiences are still readily available for those with the burning desire.)

dmlorenzetti• 16 years ago

Not that I disagree, but the analogy seems flawed. The "closed consumer" cars and airplanes of today also are more capable than the finicky, esoteric products they replaced. Conversely, the reason many people thought the iPad would fail is that it's less capable than its seeming competition.

stcredzero8• 16 years ago

Not that I disagree, but the analogy seems flawed.

Your analysis is flawed. See below.

the reason many people thought the iPad would fail is that it's less capable than its seeming competition.

Yes, but the smart money is on the capabilities of the iPad increasing over time. (In fact, we already know this to be true.)

Also note that the consumer-relevant increase in capabilities in cars and airplanes have been quantitative in specific metrics. (More reliable, able to go farther, faster, more efficiently.) The decrease in capability for the iPad was qualitative in terms of tweak-ability, flexibility, and accommodation of user expertise. Those are not the qualities that appeal to the mainstream user.

I'm sure a lot of people complained when automatics came out, because they're less flexible. (You can't push-start them, you can't easily rock them out of ditches, and there's less flexibility in terms of using compression braking.) The flexibility isn't what consumers really cared about.

kaiuhl2• 16 years ago

I entirely disagree.

Enthusiast cars are still based around horsepower, handling, and the "joy of the ride", whereas modern cars are using increasingly smaller yet more efficient motors that, while not as exciting, get out of your way and still get you where you need to go.

jazzdev• 16 years ago

many people thought the iPad would fail [because] it's less capable than its seeming competition

The success of the iPod and the Flip Video camera seems to demonstrate that mainstream consumers prefer usability to capability.

The iPod wasn't the most capable MP3 player when it came out. But Flip Video is an even more dramatic example. An unknown company came out of nowhere and captured 13% of the video camera market in 6 months. And they were competing against Sony and Canon and Panasonic, some big, well established players. The first Flip had 6 buttons and no onscreen menus. Just 7 features (one button handled zoom while recording and volume during playback). The competition had at least twice as many features.

johngalt• 16 years ago

Exactly. A flamethrower is more capable but everyone buys lighters.

As technologies mature they become more simple and elegant not more complex and capable. The problem is that it's a pass/fail test. There is a small difference between something simple and something useless.

IMHO, the future is dockable smartphones. Tablets may be a milestone on that path.

stcredzero8• 16 years ago

The tablet form factor will exist, but that will primarily be for interface and display purposes. They may well become an adjunct to a phone sized data device.

smackfu• 16 years ago

If the killer app for a tablet is web browsing, that makes the iPad very vulnerable to an Android tablet.

miri2• 16 years ago

Oh, the iPad might be all fancy-glitzy-waste-of-money-blah-blah, but as a product, it's good at it. It provides an experience, as well as providing usefulness. I have used a laptop for recipe purposes in a kitchen, too, but using an iPad to do it just makes it feel a lot more cool, which makes people bother to use it more. My mother never saw the use for mp3 player speakers until she realised that it was a very easy and convenient way to listen to Alice Cooper in the kitchen while cooking. She could've gotten a portable player/radio - the technology's been around for a while, I'd say - but she didn't.

It's a brilliant marketing idea. I'll probably stick to my laptop and paper notes, but I guess I, like everyone, have some sort of dream of a future where we have fancy computer screens everywhere. Kitchen computers, robo-butlers (or a disembodied mildly sarcastic voice with a British accent answering your questions), projectors projecting the next recipe on your kitchen cupboard, fridges keeping tally of your shopping list, you name it.

cpr3• 16 years ago

Wait, your mother? Alice Cooper? ;-)

miri2• 16 years ago

Why, yes! I've grown up with hard rock/heavy metal, opera, and good food. Food usually gets good when mum's rocking out in the kitchen :P

asdfghjkl1521• 16 years ago

yes it is an awesome device and i am loving it.

antidaily• 16 years ago

"Seeeeeeeeee!" - Steve Jobs

callmeed• 16 years ago

This is exactly why the iPad needs some sort of user account system. Everone in my family loves using it—and friends and co-workers love to play with it—but I don't like my email accounts and some app data accessible to all.

emehrkay• 16 years ago

Yeah it does. At least have an api where accounts could be implemented on a per app basis, but still use the system's accounts

illumin8• 16 years ago

I think Apple's long term model is that the iPad is more of a "personal" computing device. Of course they probably wouldn't complain if you went out and bought one for each member of your family.

cheald2• 16 years ago

Or, Jobs introduces the iPad 2.0 with revolutionary security-protected user space partitioning, a magical innovation in computing that will revolutionize your approach to your information.

Edit: Forgot "magical".

Tichy4• 16 years ago

"I wanted to take the iPad with me but decided not to so it could stay at home on the kitchen counter."

I am really interested in a sort of family computer device, that would display calendar for everyone, shopping lists, and so on (a bit like the Weasley's Wall Clock in Harry Potter perhaps - family dashboard?). Only I am hoping for something cheaper than the iPad.

While I kind of hate Apple, I have recently considered getting an iPad after all, just for reading websites and API docs. Thinking I might be able to avoid having to get a standing desk, and instead try to pace around with the iPad whenever I need to read stuff online.

So far I don't even have a kitchen computer, btw. It hasn't bothered me that much. On the rare occasion I want to cook by recepy, I either print it or I have a paper book.

viraptor6• 16 years ago

I think O2 does it with their joggler: http://yourfamily.o2.co.uk/o2familyjoggler

They even advertise it as "your new fridge door".

Tichy4• 16 years ago

Interesting, thanks. Unsurprisingly, their web site sucks, so I was not able to view details of the device. I can only hope that it is "open", and extendable.

I think there is/could be a market for this kind of thing.

Some cheap universal replacements might be an iPod Touch (though rather small and expensive at 200 bucks) or that open source hardware thingy whose name I can't remember - I think it's about 100 bucks? But rather bulky.

jonpaul• 16 years ago

Originally, I thought it was a device in search of a problem. However, it has made my life more efficient in one key way. Reading. I put my iPad on the treadmill and crank up the font... I can run fast and read iBooks. I love that I'm getting smarter and staying fit.

hernan72• 16 years ago

After reading this, one could ask Jobs the same thing he once asked Sculley: Hey Steve, do you want to spend the rest of your life selling overpriced toys to rich ne'er-do-wells, or do you want to change the world?

ekanes• 16 years ago

There's a significant trickle-down effect from the innovation and competitive pressure they apply. All MP3 players and (practically) all phones will be better, (even if they're simply selling overpriced toys.) :)

rradu• 16 years ago

A small netbook serves the same purpose as that described in the post. That easy access and family use is not really tablet-specific.

pvdm• 16 years ago

How does he get around the "unbearable shittiness of iTunes for Windows" ?

http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2010/05/open-android-vs-clos...

fredwilson4• 16 years ago

i have not connected the ipad to itunes since we set it up.

and we use macs in our house so the initial connection was on a mac.

vtnext• 16 years ago

Odd, since our ipad has hardly been used the last few weeks. After a couple of weeks of heavy use, it's now gathering dust. Wife is back to using her netbook, kids have gone back to their own computers.

Not saying it's useless, but it is far less used than I expected.

grandalf• 16 years ago

I bought an iPad (after using linux exclusively for years) and have really been enjoying it.

Highlights:

- Great music apps (drum machines, synths, etc.)

- Solid battery life

Frustrations:

- Not sure why the app store exits right after you install a new app

- Safari crashes often

drivebyacct• 16 years ago

The thing is, none of these comments are ever unique to the iPad. People are realizing that a portable tablet is a complimentary computer. Personally, my laptop and my phone span all of my computing needs. If I ever felt that I had the cash on hands or use-cases that demanded a tablet, I would consider it; but on a matter of practically and experience with both platforms, I'd certainly be choosing an Android (hopefully Tegra) tablet.

zmmmmm• 16 years ago

I guess I must be the only person with an iPad for whom it is now just going dusty in a cupboard.

I had an enthusiastic few weeks with it but after that it just seems to be sub-optimal for most of the use cases I have. I really dislike browsing the web on it, which is the main problem.

It's great for viewing photos but I just can't work with iTune's retarded methodology for putting them on there. It's nice for viewing videos but only at close range and then you have to hold it so it doesn't really work for me for movies. It is far too hard to type to be a practical device for email.

It's really interesting to watch how people's reactions to it change as they adapt to this "new" kind of device.

blhack7• 16 years ago

This was my experience with netbooks. After the honeymoon wore off (a couple of months for me, actually), my netbook has been sitting on the coffee table, dead.

amitto• 16 years ago

That sounds like a real waste of space in your cupboard. I feel compelled to take that iPad from you to free up some space :)

abalashov3• 16 years ago

No, you're not the only one with that experience. Most vexing complaint: too hard to type to be a practical device for -- well, anything.

kentosi• 16 years ago

On a related note, I'm having a strong urge to buy the latest Sony Viao X notebook (netbook?).

It looks awesome, it's thin and light as hell, fast (with an SSD harddisk), and from what I've read it even works well with Ubuntu.

However, I just know that after a few weeks of using it the romance period will be over and it'll just be this "thing" sitting on my desk.

Goladus5• 16 years ago

I think his initial conclusion is still correct: the iPad isn't going to be the same kind of hit the iPhone was. I think that's a direction where computing is going to expand, but it'll happen a lot more slowly. Especially while the it's expensive enough that the target market is people who are "replace their kitchen computers."

neovive• 16 years ago

I wonder if a lot of the utility comes from being more of an instant-on computer vs. having to boot up a laptop.

_sh• 16 years ago

This is a very interesting statement. I've been working with boot times at work recently. In one release, I pulled boot times from ~25 seconds to <7 seconds by going ninja on the kernel and init.

The response was out of all proportion. Users liked it so much, talked about 'latency' and 'improved workflow' (none of the software had changed, only the boot time). There is no doubt that startup time is a significant contributing factor to the way users respond to applications/devices.

I was musing over all this with a co-worker who expressed no surprise, and told me a story how, back in the 90s, he got a similar response from his users by simply removing the splash screen. Not even reducing startup time. He said people were waiting for the splash screen and when the main window opened, they thought it must have started so quickly they missed it.

MikeCapone• 16 years ago

It probably isn't too rare in this crowd, but in the world in general, it's pretty rare for someone to say "I changed my mind" in public. Kudos. More people need to stop being irrationally attached to their past opinions out of fear of "flip flopping".

billpaetzke• 16 years ago

I'll probably wait for the first Android tablet and get that for my personal use.

Me, too.

dna• 16 years ago

My experience with the iPad : My aunt (I'm French) came back from a visit to her son who lives in the USA and she was helpless because she couldn't understand why there was no way to add anything to her "computer" (she thought the iPad was an actual computing device, not a c.r.a.p.pliance) without erasing the pictures and videos of her family that was transferred to the iPad when her son synced his computer to it. She didn't ask my advice beforehand, she succumbed to the power of marketing and the novelty of getting something before its availability in France and bought it without thinking much about it. You should have seen the look on her face when she came to understand that her device could erase all the videos and pictures of her grand-kids at a whim. If it wasn't enough, she couldn't use the app store once she got back to France and will have to wait for general availability, even switching to the US appstore didn't let her. This is what a crappliance you don't actually own will do to you. You may have bought it but Apple still owns it.

THIS is what is supposed to be the future of computing, the device that will replace the desktop and laptop for the masses ? Job's full of it. The future of computing is a future where you can't even share your own data with your friends and where the manufacturer has a say on everything you do, even the installation of apps and what country you're in ? There is a reason why lots of people feel much stronger hate toward Apple than anyone ever did to Microsoft. I sincerely hope that the iPad will tank after the first generation and gets rolled over by Android, WebOS and whatever is in the work at MS. This device HAS to die or it will inspire a new era of madness if its model gets successful enough to be copied by everyone else. Microsoft is already joining in the crazy with the Windows Phone 7 that restricts you to its app market with no standalone app installation even though Windows Mobile used to stand for freedom.

I've Changed My Mind About The iPad

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