Bill Gates unimpressed by Apple iPad - Page 9

Of course! I can do that now with Mobile Me and video or audio streaming from iDisk. However, your example still has the iPad syncing with a PC which means it's not the device that I described.

As long as you can't sync an iPod or iPhone with the iPad directly it will always be an accessory device.

The week before last, I would have agreed with you. But as I'm said, I'm just floored my dad asked me about ebooks, newspapers and magazines. Normally he wouldn't pay attention to any of it - but for whatever reason not only did he, but he paid attention to the details. He then parroted them back to me for me to confirm that he understand what he read or saw.

The only reason he paid attention is he thought there was something in it for him. So yes, while I do have some influence, if he wasn't interested in an iPad at all no matter how much I prod, he wouldn't look at it - or he would just humor me. But this time, he is actively interested in it - and I wasn't directly responsible for it. That's a pretty big (yet subtle) shift.


That was my father. Until a few years ago when he discovered through email he could reach friends and family - even if they were overseas - easily. All of the sudden he became very interested in using email. Not running a computer, mind you...

My mother has had a Mac since the 80's because she is a Quicken addict. I almost didn't get to take my Mac with me to college She is slowly getting into digital photography, but there are many times I still have to come in via iChat and show her stuff.


Meh - I'm not hung up on "Mac" or "iPod" labels. I'm much more interested in functionality. Will it do what I want, with a minimum of fuss? If the answer is yes, it's a win and I will buy it. If no, then I won't buy it. Same thing if it says Microsoft or Apple on the front. By and large, I am more loyal to Apple - but not because it's just Apple, or they are popular - Apple has traditionally been the best fit for my needs. When they cease being that, I will stop using them (much like I pretty much stopped using Mac's during the horrid Performa days). I just don't get the emotional responses or the hand wringing over the iPad being a "real" computer - heck, I have friends that think you are a wuss if you don't code in Assembler - at what point do you separate the hobby/for the fun of it tendencies vs. the tool aspects of computing? I am in both camps depending on what I am doing or when, but there are some people who never ever want to be in the hobby/for the fun of it and only look at computers as tools. That latter group is where the iPad is targeted, and it's a smart targeting as that group is much, much larger than the hobbiest/for the love of it group.

Your assuming everyone has a "real computer" legacy. My father doesn't. He has nothing in iTunes, no iPhone or no iPod. All he cares about is what is in the cloud - email. if Apple does offer a Mobile.Me backup solution for the iPad (which I would expect them to) then quite literally, for him, the iPad will do everything he needs.

Much like those who held onto Prodigy and AOL, the iPad has a large potential audience of people just like my father. You should be very careful about evaluating "needs" through your point of view - whether you think so or not, you (and me and everyone else in this forum) are in a very small minority in relationship to the rest of the population.

It will be interesting to see to what degree has all of the above developed. I agree the potential is definitely there.

The odd part is nobody else seemed to know who he was. I was freelancing back then and had an idea to write an article about him. I waited too long -- not many months after that, he died. So instead I wrote an appreciation/obituary, which his widow saw in publication. She wrote me a very, very nice note of thanks. I also saw Hertzfeld at MWSF one time but too many people were hanging around to talk to him so I moved on. I attended the expo for years but never saw Woz. Not sure why -- I'm sure he was there more than once.

For your dad there's mobileMe, or if he is not going to travel with his iPad a simple set up with some kind of Airport Extreme & TimeMachine configuration. For people (like your dad) who also use a digital camera there may be a question whether the iPad will have a version of iPhoto (and the horsepower to manipulate large images). But even at a modest 16gb the storage is plenty for email, surfing and photographs for many people. People like my mother takes few photographs and deletes most of them. She even deletes emails - I have tried to tell her she needn't but alas, she will only keep ones she deems essential. (housekeeping)
I agree with Solips that the iPad is probably thought of as a secondary device but I suspect a lot of people will be using the iPad as their primary / only device.

It's horrible. We've had nothing but crappy, cloudy, freezing rain weather ever since I got it a couple weeks ago. Sucks to have a new toy and not be able to go out and play.

So I haven't really had a chance to see how well Aperture deals with the larger RAW files. But I'm loving that it will now manage the 1080p video the 7D can capture and import my GPS track logs.

You can take gorgeous moody pics in cloudy freezing rain. Try some low-light streetlight pics at night or boost up the contrast on some moody landscapes. Try a fog effect with a foreground subject. Under an umbrella.

These can all be done in B&W or color with fantastic effect.

If you're worried about weather exposure, just wrap a huffy bag around your kit with a tight rubber band around the lens hood.

Of course, you know all this.

I'm going to be doing a lot more work myself once I get my Alpha 850 (or the equivalent when I can finally afford it).

Apple will always require a computer of some kind to support an iPhone/iPod/iPad. not because they can't figure out how to make that unnecessary (as Google is trying to do with Android - there is still no desktop client for it), but because, of course, they want to keep selling desktop/laptop Macs too. sure, you can use a Windows PC, but they know that their portable devices are the best avenue to getting those folks to switch to or add Mac computers.

but a single household computer can support multiple mobile Apple devices. so instead of everyone in the household getting their own computer like now - often via hand-me-downs of older equipment - there could be just one common one in the office or family room and then a different iPhone/iPad for everyone.

this isn't as debilitating as it sounds. household members will actually share apps (why pay twice?), tips, and help. something to talk about at the dinner table! actually, iPhone users who are just friends already do this too. but except for techies/geeks, no one does this with regular computers - they're just too complicated for that.

bringing people back together - what's wrong with that? you know, desktop computers had a powerful effect of actually separating people from each other locally - all of us staring into a computer screen one at a time in our own separate rooms - even while it connected them with many others globally via the internet.

f.u.d.

You are not alone, ironicly, all the anti Gates people overlooked this part of the story.

"Gates joins a chorus of technology enthusiasts and casual users alike who have said they feel they were let down by Apple's iPad announcement. One study found that while the number of users interested in buying the device tripled after it was unveiled, the lion's share have said they will not purchase an iPad".

I will wait until rev 3 or to see if the Courier is real or vapor.
If Apple added flash and xvid codecs, I might buy, but to Apple, greed gets in the way as why pay for a TV show, that's free?

I agree with you 200% I am a borderline tech geek. I look at specs but I also don't lose perspective of the device. I have an iPhone so I know how it works. Most geeks see that the iPad has one GHz and go oh its going to suck. I se that it has 1 GHz and I say given how iPhone OS operates its going to be really fast! I also find myself in situations where it would be great. I'll probably get one but I'm saving my final judgement til I get to touch one and play with it. I think people jump the gun a little bit. I think you should save your judgement and criticism until you actually get your hands on one.

Don't whine. Just put up $10K and have him taken out. That service is available on every street corner of his city.

more f.u.d.

Does ANYONE think it's real?

...and that's WITHOUT Apple Stores in every major city!

Here in Germany, the word is out, and Apple is booming. I attribute the boom most to the iPhone, considering that T-Mobile is the largest telco here (obviously), and they do have a store just about everywhere. People that have jumped on the iPhone bandwagon, are now getting MBs and iMacs... looking forward to the same ease-of-use. It's also helped that Win7 is not taking hold, PCs are breaking and people are simply bored of WinXP. Add to that almost weekly "All-Point-Bulletins" in the news about another security compromise using Win and IE, and the consideration to "Get a Mac" just becomes too much to ignore.

I have more than a few connections to T-Mobile corporate, and I know that they are seriously looking forward to the iPad, and not just as a consumer device. They also work with the govt. and different ministries (health care, job centers, education, etc.) and provide logistical and systems consulting.

A personal family member is responsible for a project for providing out-patient care and monitoring using mobile devices. He's being swamped at the moment for more info re: the iPad and how T-Mobile/Apple plans to role it out to clinics and hospitals. The iPhone and iPod Touch are also included, but the small size has been the largest problem, considering the advanced age of the majority of patients needing these services.

NOTE: yes, the lack of a camera in the presentation of the iPad was a head-scratcher to say the least... but they are now looking to BT or wireless webcam add-ons at the moment.

I also see Europe overtaking the US in Apple sales soon.

Fact is, we on this side of the pond, are far more fashionable and "sleek industrial design" conscious than the US as a whole (cars, fashion, appliances, etc.)... and we are used to very strict standards and guidelines. Something that Apple brings to the table in spades... for better or for worse.

I hadn't considered that. I did remember that Apple Stores were expanding more rapidly in Europe but not the fact that so few countries and cities have them.

Wow! France had 24 more stores planned, while Germany has 4 more planned. Three new EU countries are in the works, too. Ireland can finally go to an Apple Store in Ireland.

•

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Store#Locations

Bill Gates authored MS-Basic if I recall correctly. Then, when IBM wanted his Basic for the new IBM PC he sold them DOS (as IBM needed an OS as well, but Gary Kildall of CP/M from DR was being extremely arrogant). Gates has QDOS from SCP in house because they needed some sort of OS to use while porting MS-Basic to the new system. He then bought QDOS (which was inspired by CP/M) and sold it on to IBM. When he bought QDOS from Paterson he paid something like M$500. Later SCP (Paterson's company) sued Microsoft for lying about the potential revenues for MS-DOS. This was settled out of court for the rumored amount of M$900.


People who think SJ is a 'marketing guy' misunderstand him completely. SJ is a 'user experience guy' and has often done things that fly in the face of marketing wisdom (with hits (iMac w/o floppy, expensive iPhone) and misses (NeXT restricted to higher ed, G4 Cube). And next to being 'user experience' driven he is also a 'sales guy'. But his effectiveness at selling an idea/solution is hard to separate from its basis in 'user experience' which by and large also sells itself. You can see SJ making marketing mistakes, but even his market failures have been user experience triumphs (the NeXT was decennia ahead of the competition in user experience).

Gates is a rather basic nerd who is also a great marketing strategist. The success of Microsoft has been documented perfectly by him in his book "The Road Ahead", where you can read how marketing and strategy is what made Microsoft great. He has no feeling for user experience (what SJ calls a lack of 'taste' on Microsoft's side) and no true understanding of the limits of technology in that respect (think about the billions Microsoft spent on AI-like programs which brought nothing). In Microsoft's defense, innovating when you depend so much on OEM's is difficult, it is part of their position that true innovations in user experience are very difficult. Still, I think SJ has a far better feel for technology than BG, who has always impressed me as being a truly exceptional strategist while being a mediocre technologist.

Many pundits complain about technical iPad details, like the lack of a camera, or the wide bezel which they think is ugly. The wide bezel is however important for the user experience of holding the device in one hand and working it with another. And the camera in the top of the bezel would not be a perfect user experience (front facing, it would mean you are being displayed in a unflattering angle and if you turn the device your hand might be in the way, back facing it would be a rather unwieldy camera to handle). I expect different future solutions for the camera option (e.g. a front facing camera 'behind' the middle of the screen).

The iPad, as a first in a new category has many compromises in its design for the multiple aspects of user experience (e.g. battery life versus unlimited background apps). The question is not if there are compromises (there are) but if the end result offers a great user experience for enough types of users. From what I have seen, I think it will.

Excellent summary!

I may need to watch Pirates of Silicon Valley after that.

C.

Just after this declaration, Bill suffered a major crash and had to be rushed to the MS Eemrgency ward where he's going to stay for a few weeks in "observation"....

I found "Triumph of the Nerds" (PBS documentary series) very interesting.

"General Protection Failure". That could be a great subtitle for Windows over the years, btw

Apple's subtitle could then be "Don't Panic!"

Something we haven't seen before. Or maybe to be more precise, something nobody has thought of before. Or maybe, something that nobody has implemented before.

And its not black/white, but rather, a spectrum. We haven't seen a tablet running a telephone OS before, that is true.

Edit: Now that I think about it, Archos long ago released tablets running Android, so I take back the bone I threw out above.

A bigger iTouch is a diasapointment because folks expected a more capable device.

A 17 inch MBP would be a disappointment if folks expected a whole new line of laptops, and instead got more of the same in a bigger size.

As of now, there are no tablets that I would consider buying. But I think great things are going to happen...real soon now...

By groundbreaking, you must mean there is something clever about taking an iPod Touch and making it comically huge. Or by making an eReader with a US exclusive book store, and a screen so bright it will cause headaches within minutes. There are good reasons why every other ebook reader uses e-ink.

And I don't think there is really anything groundbreaking about looking at a whole load of 'missing flash' blue lego brick icons when browsing the web. Maybe if HTML 5 takes off 3-5 years down the line then it will be fine, but right now the iPad is a seriously broken web browser.

Apple could have done so much with a tablet, but the took the easiest, cheapest, least inspiring route. Quite how Jobs was happy with it boggles the mind.

iPad is a dud. Sorry, I wanted it to be good too. I just hope Apple come up with the good for the next iPhone revision.

Who said screen brightness can't be adjusted? If the screen is set too bright, that's the user's own damn fault for not dialing it where they like it.

A lot of digital media stores focus on one region first, before expanding it. I know it's frustrating, but there are valid reasons behind it. Amazon and Sony took some time before expanding the reach of their book stores.


An IPS panel and aluminum back panel says they didn't take the cheapest route. Almost all portable devices, including Apple's portable devices, use cheaper TN displays. Plastic is the most prevalent material for device shells, in part because it's very inexpensive.

What would you want that you would call inspiring? I am curious here. Maybe I'm jaded, but I don't remember thinking any electronic gadget is inspiring.


I don't think it's smart to declare an Apple product a dud until it actually is sold. How many people declared the iPod a dud? iPhone? It would seem people should take a cue from history and wait it out first. I'd hate to be the one with my foot in my mouth for calling it wrong, I'd rather just stand back and see how it goes.

The e-Reader is US only at launch. Do you honestly think other bookstores won't be in place in almost no time at all? The App Store was US only at launch, too. The iTunes music store is still limited to only a few countries scattered around the world. The screen brightness can be turned down. Duh.


I use FlashBlock for FireFox and is a way better browsing experience with it on, showing all those "F" circles, than with it off, showing all those ads and slow animation effects. And you can bet websites will be redesigned to use fewer and fewer of those lego instances.


What... like a Win 7 tablet?

This is quite an interesting point.

Book publishing rights vary from territory to territory.
Amazon sells the Kindle internationally. But only sells the American Kindle, with American books.

International customers have to buy it from the US store (in dollars.)

This makes me think that electronic book selling could be tougher than music.

C.

Why do you centre align all you comments? It just looks stupid.

Somebody should tell IBM that gates is not impressed.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/11/ipa...twork-ibm.html

Fair enough. I guess it all depends on how your define 'successful businessperson'. If you define it as the ability to crush and destroy all competition - i agree with you. If you define as the use of business to make the world a better place (which is my definition), then -> enh, hard call.

I will go with the idea of changing my comment from: "... never businessperson..." to "... ruthless businessperson..."

I'm exactly with you on this. I love my Touch and just wish it was as big as a jumbo GPS. That's all I want.

I addressed some of this in an earlier post. AFAIK, Gates had nothing directly to do with coding anything after he and Paul Allen camped out in motel room in Albuquerque and wrote the basis interpreter for MITS -- and Allen did most of the work on that. This was in 1974 I think. Allen actually ended up working for MITS after that.

The story about IBM and Gary Kildall has been told and retold a million times in nearly as many different ways. Kildall could not have been "extremely arrogant" with IBM when they came calling at DR, because he wasn't there. His wife was. The IBM reps insisted on her signing a NDA before they would even tell her why they were there, which with Gary not in the office, she would not do. So IBM went calling on Microsoft. Nothing to do with porting Basic to the PC to my knowledge, and I don't see how it could, since at the time IBM had no OS for the PC. Gates & Co. promised to deliver DOS to IBM in about a year, although they really had no idea how they were going to do it.

I believe Microsoft first had a license from Seattle Computing for QDOS, which later turned into an outright purchase. The price as I said earlier was $50,000. Seattle Computing did sue Microsoft and ended up with a $1m settlement. Paterson worked for Microsoft and became a millionaire many times over. He now races cars, or something like that.

Poor Bill, can't make any gash! What a mofo

They'll make money. There will be paid MS Office apps for the iPad, you can bet on it. They'll also get license fees on certain patents as well as advertising revenue from iPad-related internet activities. MS has its fingers in lots of pies.

that will be a really big test. can MS re-design Office for touch UI and do a really good job of it? like Apple very possibly has done with iWorks? so far they have not been able to do this - WinMo.

once the dam of "you must have Office" breaks somehow, there will be a flood of alternative office suites into the market and popular use. because of course MS charges outrageous prices for Office. (it was file compatibility that made Office the standard in the 90's, but that doesn't matter any more now that all brands can convert files into any format.)

Actually, DOS (which was called QDOS for Quick and Dirty Operating System) was developed by Seattle Softworks and stolen by Bill Gates who argued in court that his license gave him an unmentioned right to redistribute (Bill had some powerful attorneys behind him). They eventually settled and, in exchange for a large sum of money, the owner of Seattle Softworks agreed never to discuss the particulars of the case.

Much like J. P. Morgan, Bill Gates had powerful people behind him from day 1, but where J. P. Morgan was really simply a front man for Rothschild bank; The bank behind Bill has always been the Bank of London.

This is mostly incorrect, but since the real story has already been posted here...

Excellent post! Seldom do we such succinct and accurate analysis.

Welcome to AI!

This machine really isnt for corprate otherwise you would get a stylus. If they do get exchange then that could make a difference. If the Courier is real and not vapor and is msft only and not oem, then this would have a Aegean impact.