http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/adobe-porn-flash/



Yup. No porn no pad.

Seriously, we keep stomping on the iPad, the expectations will become lower. In fact it might become too low that if it performs in the mediocre range it will be considered a success.

Not true in respects to porn. Many porn sites have a sniffer to detect browser and platform. Movies then switch to QuickTime format which are playable. And the number of sites doing that are growing.

That said, Adobe needs to think before getting involved in this. Many people are pissed about their proprietary system. Many developers involved in html5 are looking for ways to have an open-source method of doing the same thing. Now, if only they could agree on the codecs. Sadly, Apple is not helping this process. They are actually gumming up the works insisting on their own proprietary systems. They are evolving into MS more and more.

Um, Apple has been far more protective than Microsoft has ever been. From restricting the market place for software to run on its products (iTunes, Applestore) to propriatary hardware, Apple makes Microsoft look like a bunch of pikers on the whole monopoly game.

Because it is a smaller company and has done a great job of spinning itself as something other than a corporation focused on the bottom line, it gets a pass.

Steve Jobs makes Bill Gates look like a touchy-feely type of guy who's only in the computer game in order to spread love and good feelings. Apple is friggin' ruthless.

If iPad does fall short, I don't think Flash will be the primary reason. But then I probably don't understand the market that buys these things in the first place.

I agree that Apple is right up with the top players in the proprietary hardware/software front. It's glossed by the marketing appeal. But it's there.

I would also like to see the grip of Flash diminished on the web.

I know. My point is that now that level of control appears to be aimed outside their brand now.

So basically the iPad is a larger iPhone but loses the ultra-portability of the iPhone for a larger tablet style design? The market is already full of so-called ultra portable designs with wireless capability so I don't really understand the buzz from the consumer side. iPod and iPhone were highly successfull at launch and continue to be so but mostly because they were so innovative at launch and accumulated a large base initially. I don't see that being the case with the iPad. I'll go crazy and predict that initial sales will be good due to hype and curiosity factor but I don't see the iPad being a longer term great product for Apple.

As for Apple's propriety strategy, I would argue that it has actually diminished (but still remains live and well) over the years. Apple orinigally backed themselves into what would become their niche market in failing to follow the IBM/PC clones. Today Apple computers for all practical purposes are PCs running Intel processors and nVidia GPUs and distinguished mainly by the Apple OS.

Except that the hardware is priced at least 2x the comparative specs of a Windows box. The reason I think Apple is completely in it for the bottom line is their tight grip on the OSX, Jobs should release this to Windows users since as you stated the hardware is now compatible and let true competition of which OS win, but noooo, there's much profit in the overpriced hardware.

I had to laugh watching the keynotes speech on the release of the unibody macbook pros, unit has a 9600GT (wooo...wow from the audience) where the Windows machines were at mobile 260s, and what's with no HDMI, Blu-Ray, media card I/O in their laptops.


The iFail will do moderate sales just based upon the Apple koolaid drinkers who would buy digital horseshit if Jobs released it.

And it isn't that hard to run OSX on non-Mac hardware now either. Depending on what you have, the hoop jumping is minimal...mostly just getting around hardware checks in the software.

Heck, I'm running OSX (I bought it...25 bucks is hard to beat) on my m1530 along with Win 7 and XP. Nice, stable and fast...seems like there would be a built in market for such a thing...

FC

True... I have OSX running on a Dell GX755 and a Dell GX620. They are my "Dapple's", and they run very well.

-Skater

I'm going to disagree with this statement because I think it's perhaps even too generous. More expensive models will be like the iPhone, but that base model being released very soon will only have wifi, thus it is no better than a large iPod Touch. There isn't even a camera which essentially all iPhones have.

There appears to be a profitable market for both netbooks and for e-readers. IF - and that's a big IF - there is a market for the larger e-readers such as the Kindle DX and the other upcoming models at about the same price point as the level one iPad, then those two markets combined, netbooks and e-readers, are where the iPad must score big. There is an alternative view; that the iPad's real market will be limited to people who are already Apple devotees combined with people who are new buyers - not yet in the e book and netbook market. As in many cases, surely the iPad will draw from both those already in these markets, and from new buyers. I will be that Apple's marketing department has done exhaustive research on all these markets and kinds of consumers. They know the relative sizes of those markets, the penetration of them by each competitor, the dollar volume being spent and the percentage of likely growth in each segment and what slice of these markets they must capture in order to turn a profit.

No single e-reader has every feature and convenience that all of them together possess, so it isn't clear who will dominate mid way through 2011 when another Christmas buying season will have passed and that niche will be relatively filled up. Right now, the smaller primary Kindle is strong. But the iPad looks highly competitive for the larger e-reader form. It offers a host of additional reasons over the other e-readers for carrying a larger device than a phone or media player around. Meanwhile, the e-reader market is expected to grow significantly over the next few years.

On the netbook side, the battle isn't clear despite assertions by both those who say the iPad is dead compared to netbooks - and those who say netbooks are dead in the wake of the three (or six?) model blitz by the iPad. I don't think anyone today knows how much the sales of netbooks have depended on their specific feature in comparison to laptops, versus the simple factor of price for a portable computer. Does everyone who has a netbook already have a laptop? Or are the majority of buyers getting onto the portable computer market now because of affordable pricing? Don't think we know. Either way, the iPad will have to and probably can compete in both scenarios. They don't have to take the entire market segment - just a share that allows a profit. They've made that work in the desktop world - dwarfed by the Windows market share but still making enough of a profit to stay in the business. Same with laptops and phones (btw, Blackberries significantly surpass iPhones in American market share).

And finally, it's hard to say how the competition will react, up-featuring netbooks to take away some of what edge the iPad may have...and Apple doing the same thing, just as they have with other devices; adding improvements in hardware and software.

Competition's a great thing and this will an interesting battle to watch.

As a prospective e-reader purchaser, I can tell you that I am really intrigued by the extra functionality the iPad brings to the table. I was really interested in picking up a Barnes & Noble Nook over the holidays but they just weren't available. Having had to wait, the thought of using one device for carrying around books and movies and music as well as web access is appealing.

That said I'm left wondering just how many of the books I'll want to read will be available throught the Apple Bookstore.

Apple, ruthless, lets see, another American corporation that is based on the Rinehardt Heydrich school of management, sounds correct to me.

Worse, they're a ruthless corporation wearing beatnik attire and spinning it that they're artistic and cool. Nazi's never fashioned themselves to be cool.

I am officially an old codger. I find the idea of reading a book on a electronic tablet irrationally repulsive and Orwellian.

I think I can be converted. Maybe. I'll never go Mac (that's for sure)..but if the iPad can work as a reader..that might have me raise an eyebrow. I'd love to have a little electronic tablet to read the Black Shark manual on while I'm flying. I have the printed manual..but I wouldn't mind having it on a reader of some sort. Can you view PDF files on this iPad thing?

Could also be useful to watch videos (tutorials) while learning a sim and following along while playing the sim..

I still think the iPad will do well. When you compare it to something like the Kindle (which isn't cheap) then Apple's product is streets ahead. If it is nothing more than an oversized iPod Touch then so be it. My iPod Touch is a great little device, which could, in many ways, be more useful if the screen was larger.

Dart, I agree with you about books being a much better experience in paper format. I doubt I would ever sit down and read a novel on a tablet or eReader device. Having said that, a lot of manuals come in PDF format these days. I can see that an iPad would be a much more convenient platform for reading such material than on my laptop screen (which is probably running the software I am reading about).

I wouldn't call myself a complete Apple fanboy. I have never owned a Mac, and probably never will but I do think the iPhone and iPod Touch are very elegant devices. I see the iPad as an extension of that line. I will probably get one eventually and I can see myself using it a lot once I do.

Does it run "apps"? I don't have an iPhone..but a lot of the pilots around here have them..and rave about the great apps they run for fuel burns and flight planning and NOTAMs and stuff..

Chris, I believe it will run most of the apps. I would guess the limitations would be the same as for the iPod touch.

I use a couple of good ones for flight planning. One in particular is a free app called Aeroweather. Perfect for that late night call out when dispatch wants to know if you can take a flight. With one tap I get a run down of all the usual destinations.. a real help when you are half asleep. Obviously, a more thorough wx brief will be needed once you wake up ..



The first screenshot is the first page you see on opening the app. I have 19 airports preselected. When you open the app their weather data is downloaded.

The second and third shots show the selected airport's detailed weather in raw or decoded form.

Very useful for a quick picture.

From Apple's iPad website:



So it seems that most existing apps will work, but there will also be iPad specific apps developed too.

Something else I like about 'Apps' is their price. The most I have paid is $20 for a very comprehensive astronomy app, but the vast majority are well below $10 or even free. Of course, the quality varies but there is a lot of good stuff available (even X-Plane)