People spend more time with tablets (iPads, really)

According to a recent survey by Google, people spend more time with tablets (iPads, really) than other content delivery systems like TVs, and books.

The iPad, Circa 1970

The scifi show Tomorrow People featured a tablet that looked remarkably similar to the Apple iPad: a silver back, a black bezel and approximately 9 inches in size.

Kindle Lending Club

Amazon recently allowed Kindle ebooks to be lent out (the lender is unable to read the ebook they lend out for 14 days).

There is now a Kindle Lending Club website where borrowers and lenders can get together.

Those with the iPad Kindle app should be able to take advantage.

iPad Storage Usage

Here is the current usage of my 64GB (59 actual) iPad:

Type	Usage
Audio:	1.7GB
Video:	26GB
Photos:	1GB
Apps:	2.7GB
Books:	140MB
Other:	600MB
FREE:	27GB

iOS4.2 Coming Today (Nov. 22)

The reports say that iOS4.2 will be available for download at 10AM PST.

I am delighted that the Find My iPhone lost-device-recovery feature will be available free for everyone.

Update: The first 4.2 bug (verified on the iPhone): music on the iPod disappears.

Update 2: The second 4.2 bug certain USB devices stop working with the camera connection kit.

Carbon-Fibre iPad?

Apple has applied for a patent for a tablet-like device with a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic case.

Is this a tacit admission that the iPad is too heavy? I don't know. Most of the iPad's weight is in the battery, not in the glass and the aluminum case.

On a related note, my iPad has a large wandering scratch on the back of it. I wonder how the kids managed to do that because they usually use it on the sofa or bed.

I might try rubbing some toothpaste to try and remove it as the scratch is not deep but mostly cosmetic.

iOS 4.2 Feature Preview

AppleInsider has a feature preview of iOS 4.2 including the change of functionality to the orientation-lock button.

I expect a 4.2.1 release within a few weeks of the 4.2 release.

Adopt an iPad

The adoption rate of the iPad by consumers has exceeded that of the iPhone and the DVD player.

If the current rate persists, the iPad could become a $9 billion per year business, blowing right past game consoles and cell phones to become the fourth largest consumer electronics category. That would put the iPad right behind TVs, smartphones, and laptops.

iPad Portraits

David Newman travels to technology conferences and companies around the world and paints portraits of attendees on his iPad using the Pogo stylus.

I don't know what painting app he uses.

Based on a comparison on this page between the portrait being drawn and the subject, I would say the portraits aren't very true to life. The Howard Rheingold portrait looks accurate, though, but that might be because he's such a caricature of his own character.

Battery Charge

The battery usage of the iPad is excellent. I charge it once a week on Saturdays.

The lowest battery capacity I have seen is 20%, since internet access was enabled; before that, the lowest was 32%.

The biggest complaint I have about the iPad is the weight, which is mostly due to the battery. I don't know if I would trade a lighter iPad with needing to charge it more than once a week-- it's a difficult choice to make.

A smaller iPad (rumoured 7" screen) would certainly make it lighter, but would it still have the great battery life I get now?

iPad Sightings

I see an iPad at least once a week now— at the train station on the way to work, or on the train itself. I haven't seen anyone at Union Station using it but I did see one at the bus station at Union.

If I walk through the entire length of the train, randomly choosing to go upstairs or downstairs (it's a double-decker train), there will be at least one person using an iPad every day of the week.

Twice last week, there was an iPad in the same car I was in; one girl was playing chess over the phone.

All the iPads I've seen are in the Apple folio cases which I find somewhat decrepit and they tend to obscure the fantastic design aesthetics of the device.

I am still waiting for the Apple Store to carry the iSkin for the iPad.

Miyazaki on the iPad

Hayao Miyazaki comments negatively the iPad:

For me, there is no feeling of admiration or no excitement whatsoever. It's disgusting. On trains, the number of those people doing that strange masturbation-like gesture is multiplying.

I am a bit surprised.

iPad and Kindle reading speeds compared

Jakob Nielsen performed an experiment comparing the reading speeds of an iPad and a Kindle to that of a book. The results were that both electronic devices were approximately 10% slower than a book.

I haven't used a Kindle, and I have yet to read an entire book on the iPad. I have loaded a few of the free Gutenberg Project titles: Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers in iBooks and I loaded The Hobbit and Neuromancer as PDFs.

I prefer the iBook interface to the PDF interface because the text can re-flow as the font-size is increased or decreased. I tried using Calibre to convert a text to ePub and it was very confusing to use.

Given a choice, I would still buy a solid book over the digital version because I can read it "anywhere", make annotations and notes (hand-written in a Post-It inside the front cover) and because there is currently no technology that matches the clarity of printed typography. I can also lend the printed book friends and family.

Coincidentally, last Saturday's Globe and Mail Focus and Books section, had an essay on the encroachment of the digital world into the traditional paper world and how it affects book collections and their collectors. Though the essay does make the usual point about digital books being unreadable in subsequent decades, it fails to point out that the content of digital books is far easily searchable that that of their solid brethren.

First Impressions

I had no preconceptions when I took it out of the box last night but I thought it was heavier than I expected. It is definitely a noticeable weight in my shoulder bag, but it's not as heavy as my PowerBook and can easily see taking the iPad in to work with me everyday. I would not consider taking my PowerBook unless I was forced to.

This morning, when I dropped by my parent's place (the iPad was delivered there) my Mom mentioned that she was surprised that the FedEx delivery man knew it was an iPad. I told here that Apple is selling 1M iPads a month (Apple announced 3M in 80 days) so the FedEx delivery men were quite aware of the contents of the medium-sized boxes they were delivering.

I took the iPad to work today and activated it (in the future, the idea of connecting a portable computer to another computer to "activate" the first will seem quaint) via iTunes. I then proceeded to download all the free apps from my previous post (about 500MB).

Sitting at my desk and holding the iPad on my lap, I noticed that my wrist was getting sore and I had to consciously set it down (having to cross my legs to create a "stand" on my lap or leave it on the table and lean over it.

***

At work, one of my colleague's first impressions was, "It's smaller than I remember it from the store/on TV". I suggested that perhaps the store had put a security frame around it and he said no.

Later that evening, when I showed it to my brother, he said exactly the same thing-- that the iPad was smaller than expected.

There seems to be a perceptual disconnect between the size of the iPad as seen on TV or in a store and then seen in person, in a familiar setting.

***

Yesterday, my boss asked me whether I would buy an iPad for myself, I told him I couldn't conceive of a use for it. The next day I had a better response-- I would buy an iPad when either Photoshop Elements or Lightroom were available on it so I could use it for my photography; currently, the primary use of my PowerBook.

The biggest annoyance I had (through no fault of the iPad) was having to re-connect to the campus-wide network after the iPad powered down; to re-establish network connectivity required logging in with a login and password EVERY TIME!

The departmental network only covers two floors of the building but the devices are added as static addresses (with a unique login and password) and the so connection has persistence.

***

Currently, my carrying case is the large, padded manila envelope that apple shipped my 3G SIM in and I wrap the iPad in a small towel (which I carry with me anyway, ever since I learned of Towel Day) before inserting it in the envelope.

I am intrigued by a line of slipcases made by Waterfield.

Tracking the iPad Shipment

• Jun 18, 8:12 PM: left Shenzen, China;
• Jun 18, 1:01 PM: arrived in Anchorage, Alaska;
• Jun 18, 4:57 PM: the brokerage paperwork in Canada was processed;
• Jun 19, 9:17 PM: it left Alaska;
• Jun 20, 6:23 AM: arrived in Memphis, Tennessee where it now sits.
  

I can't see it getting to me tomorrow (a distance of 1,000 km as the crow flies).

Updates:

• Jun 20, 4:18 PM: it left Memphis and is in transit;
  
• Jun 21, 11:00PM: still in transit, it's been more than 24 hours and the tracking information is unchanged;
• Jun 22, 6:19 AM: arrived at the sorting facility;
• Jun 22, 8:14 AM: arrived at the local FedEx facility;

Wooo!

• Jun 22, 9:23 AM: On FedEx vehicle for delivery;
• Jun 22, 11:03 AM: DELIVERED!

I'm at work. Boooooo!

iPad Delivery Advanced

I received an email today informing me that my iPad had shipped with an expected delivery date of June 21, though FedEx tracking says delivers by June 23.

Woohoo!

Delivery was originally scheduled for June 29.

iPod Touch

I was expecting an announcement of the next revision of the iPod Touch during Jobs' WWDC keynote. I expected it to have either a 2MP camera (last year's model that never was) or to have the iPhone's 5MP camera.

Now there are a few possibilities for when the next revision will be announced:

1. The announcement will be in the September/October with the other iPod devices.
2. The announcement will be in January 2011 when the revised iPad is announced.

A 2010 announcement will likely mean it will keep its original size, using the iPhone's improved Retina Display and 5MP camera (or it could be last year's never-released model with a 2MP camera but with a Retina Display).

A 2011 announcement could mean the iPod touch will transform into a smaller iPad, perhaps in a 5x7 form factor.

Proof that it's 1984 all over again

The iPad fits perfectly inside the gutted case of a Macintosh Classic.

ATT website breached to expose iPad ICC-ID and subscriber information

A vulnerability was exploited on an AT&T website to harvest iPad 3G ICC-ID along with the respective subscriber's name and email address for several thousand subscribers.

iPad Ordered

Product Name: IPAD WI-FI + 3G 64GB-CAN
Product Number: MC497C/A
Unit Price: $879.00
Qty: 1
Subtotal: $879.00
Ships: 22 Jun
Delivers: 29 Jun

I didn't order the CCK as it ships in 4-6 weeks. Total, with AppleCare and taxes CAD$1,119.78