iPad Wannabees - Bargin or Scam?

Online sites like eBay are offering iPad like tablets for less than $100. The devices are being sold under names like Apad and ePad, mostly from vendors in China. But buyer beware so read this article before you take the plunge.

What a Difference a Decade Makes

For many years Microsoft, Intel and Dell lead the league in the minds of investors. The following snapshot of stock prices over the last five years shows an entirely different story today.

The chart shows how stock prices of six leading technology companies have changed over five year and one year intervals. In the extreme cases Dell lost 66% for its investors and Apple gained 498%. The other two "big names" a decade ago - Microsoft and Intel fared only slightly better than Dell.

Is Facebook getting too big to be useful?

According to one writer Facebook's social network can't mirror the actual social networks, or social groups, that people have. Because of that, users are beginning to notice a curious effect: The more you use Facebook, the less usable it becomes. See what you think of Mike Elgan's article. More generally, this excellent NY Times Magazine article "The Web Means the End of Forgetting" by Jeffrey Rosen is a fascinating look at the endless archive of everything we say to everyone. Here's a quote that should get your attention.

"It’s often said that we live in a permissive era, one with infinite second chances. But the truth is that for a great many people, the permanent memory bank of the Web increasingly means there are no second chances — no opportunities to escape a scarlet letter in your digital past. Now the worst thing you’ve done is often the first thing everyone knows about you".

And according to this article the privacy policy of Facebook is longer than the US Constitution!

Is DC culture changing with the times?

According to a recent article in the Washington Post "To do business with the feds, BlackBerrys are not preferred; they are often required. To my knowledge, I don't have contracts that require I get an iPhone for an employee," said Frank Smith, chief information officer for McLean consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton. "I do have contracts that stipulate BlackBerrys." ... But people [including] app developers, telecommunications companies and even the chief technology officer of the United States -- think change is coming..." Read the complete story.

New Photo Book software

Photo books have existed for several years but there's always room for something new. The complexity of photography and publication design means there are still opportunities for improving the design process as well as the user interface. Picaboo is a recent entry into the field and is worth considering. PC and Mac versions are available for download free. In my early but incomplete experiments it appears powerful and easy to use.

Favorite iPad, iPhone Apps Identified

My recent post identified app categories but did not name names. There are so many in each category I didn't want to play favorites. But, that is exactly what makes app selection so difficult - there are so many to choose from. So here are the names of the ones I use most frequently - you can search for them at the app store. Remember iPhone apps are usable on the iPod Touch and iPad.

I am also interested in starting a discussion of apps on other devices and would be grateful for comments from Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Microsoft and other smartphone and tablet users to kick it off.

Comments are always welcome (go to the end of this post to leave a message).

Travel

• The built in apps
• GPS Drive
• Inrix - One click display of current traffic - don't leave home without it - I've avoided countless traffic delays

Voice Input

• Dragon Search - I use this for Google searches even when I'm at my computer
• Google Search - similar to Dragon search but more limited
• Dragon Dictate - tiny keyboards be gone! it's time to talk
• Vlingo is the current alternative but I have not used it

Photo Editing

• Filterstorm - I used this for the lighthouse photo but I've barely touched the surface of this one
• Photogene
• Framed
• Imikimi
• Fingerdesign
• iFlashReady - compensates for the lack of flash on "old" iPhones (before version 4)

News and Weather

• Fluent News - aggregates news from a variety of sources
• SkyGrid - similar to Fluent News but more organized
• Dozens of other general, technical and political news sites
• The Weather Channel

Calendar, Contacts, Etc.

• The built in Calendar and Contact apps are integrated across platforms and the web
• Bento - this easy to use Filemaker lite database greatly improves on the standard contact app and integrates with it
• Whitepages - long a standard for address look up

Presentation

• Keynote - the only presentation program currently available - but probably not for long

Flight Tracking

• FlightAware

Stock Market

• Stocks - Built in iPhone app
• QFolio HD - A powerful iPad app

The BestAppSite is always a good source for app reviews.

Is the Apple iPad just an overgrown iPod?

Since Apple announced the iPad in January it has sometimes been dismissed as just an extra large iPod Touch. After all they bear a striking resemblance – except for size – when you put them side-by-side. In part this is due to the minimalist design embodied in Apple products – there are few physical buttons on either and those that exist are small and hidden from view.

The devices also use a similar interface – a single glass surface displaying twenty to thirty icons with no physical keyboard (an optional wireless keyboard is available for the iPad). Most operations are initiated by touching or sliding one or more fingers on the surface. Neither has a built in phone and both can run most of more than two hundred thousand apps available in the Apple App store.

 But it turns out, size does matter. The iPod is certainly more convenient to take everywhere - measuring only 2.5 by 4.5 inches. The iPad is about the size of a thin book measuring 7.5 by 9.5 inches and weighing one and a half pounds. To see the important advantages the iPad has, you need to divide apps into three categories: those that run fine on both devices, those that work but not very well on the iPod and those that require the large iPad screen to function at all.

Navigation apps would be in the first category. Although a large display would certainly show a better map, the convenience of a small device while traveling will cause GPS devices and smarpthones to be the primary platform. Other well-established apps including contact management, calendaring and email will do quite well on the small screen. However, the power user with lots of contacts and lots of appointments will definitely appreciate the iPad calendar and contact applications.

Web surfing works on small devices but when you cross the line from simple searches to full blown web site display, the advantage of the large screen is obvious. Debates now concern whose display technology is best; debates which have been on going since the birth of the CRT display some forty years ago.

Possibly the most important use of tablet computers has barely begun. Successful tablets in the past have been used in commercial applications – health care being a primary example. When current tablet technology – including a touch screen interface and easy app installation – is adapted by the corporate world, tablet use will explode and the large screen iPad may be the device that propels this development. Windows based tablets will reignite the Microsoft-Apple wars of the past. This debate will become more complicated when you ask “which Windows mobile OS are you talking about? The company currently has four incompatible versions.

The ability to develop and display a presentation using an iPad illustrates the potential. The same 24-ounce device used for routine communication, web surfing, as well as corporate and private document retrieval can be used for boardroom presentations. Holding an iPad and changing slides with a finger like turning a page in a book completely alters the feel of the task. It is a change that presenters – other than die hard mouse fans – will quickly appreciate.

Make no mistake – the iPad is not perfect. One of its greatest strengths is currently its biggest weakness. The simple touch screen interface exists because the user does not interact directly with the operating system. You never navigate through folders to find documents; each app keeps track of its own files. Tap on an app such as Keynote – the Apple presentation program – and you immediately see a list of all Keynote presentations. Tap a file and it opens; nothing could be simpler. But, what if you have fifty or more presentations and they are all stored in one folder? This will be a problem.

The newest version of the iPhone operating system – referred to as iOS4 – introduces folders for applications. This allows you to have more than the current 180 apps on an iPhone and 226 on the iPad. It would make sense that this change will eventually lead to a folder structure in the applications themselves so organizing files within an app will be much easier. Whether or how Apple will address the fact that files of different types cannot be stored together – e.g. all files of any type associated with a project in one folder – is unclear.  Since PC and Mac users alike waste enormous amounts of time trying to “find stuff”, coming up with an elegant but powerful tablet based filing system will be critical.

While tablets of been around a long time, only since the iPad was released do you see them popping up everywhere. Owners show them off and answer a barrage of questions about what they do. They are rapidly changing from specialty PCs to mainstream products. A variety of devices will coexist for many years but as the power of tablets increases and apps continue to multiply, it is likely the iPad and others like it will take a bigger part of the information pie.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Apps

I was going to list my five favorite iPad iPhone Apps but quickly realized such a limited list would be impossible to create. So here is a slightly longer list in no particular order. These are app categories and not specific apps since there are often several good ones to choose from in each category. Keynote is the only app not available on the iPhone. Most iPhone apps run on the iPad and there are now over 10,000 iPad specific apps. Of course  most of these apps are available on numerous other smartphones. I'm just writing about what I know best.

• Traffic and Navigation - I've avoided many travel delays by checking traffic conditions before and during my trips. Of course locating a destination as well as a restaurant or other meeting place is a snap with the many navigation/GPS apps. All the major navigation device makers have iPhone apps.
• Voice Search and Dictation - Voice search is much easier than typing on any tiny keyboard and extremely accurate. It's so good I'll even pick up my iPhone or iPad to do a quick search when using my desktop Mac or laptop PC. If the iPad is nearby, I just reach over and tap the voice search app, speak the query and see the Google search results appear. Using one finger, I scroll the list and tap on specific entries. 
• News and Weather - I check several news sites each day as well as a number of technology related sites. These are "readable" on the iPhone and beautiful on the iPad.
• Calendar, Contacts and White Pages - The calendar and contact apps are integrated across all devices.
• Photo Editing - I have a DSLR and often use Photoshop LE. Lately I've done much of my work on the iPhone and iPad. The latter does not have a camera - not a big omission in my opinion - but editing photos is simple using one finger to manipulate  the controls. The original photo of a lighthouse in the Duluth harbor is shown first along with three "artistic" variations. Remember I'm a programmer - not an artist!

• Presentation - Keynote is the Apple version of Powerpoint. It's easy to learn and a joy to use the iPad in presentations. Try scrolling through slides by swiping your finger on the screen and you'll never go back to a keyboard and mouse.
• Flight Tracking - Checking flight information is a snap with one of these apps.

Smartphone Wars

Most reports indicate that Apple and Google Android phones are gaining ground at the expense of other smartphone companies. RIMM (Blackberry) does not have the level of consumer interest or app store capability that are driving the current market. Palm, the early leader, was recently acquired by HP but it appears their primary interest is in the Palm WebOS operating system for tablets and not Palm phone hardware. In fact at the time the acquisition was announced, HP dropped their plan for a Windows tablet in favor of the "Streak" based on WebOs.

The choice is between a tightly controlled product from Apple where hardware, operating system and applications are well integrated and the wide open approach of Google where numerous companies make the phones which can operate over several carriers. There are currently five different versions of Android; each of which can be modified by the manufacturer. It's not easy to answer the question "exactly what is an Android phone?"

Having AT&T as the only carrier has definitely hurt Apple but it is likely that will change and Verizon or T-Mobile will be an option before the end of the year.

A Brief History of Tablet Computers

Since the Apple iPad exploded onto the scene in January it might seem that tablets are a brand new idea. However, some tablets have been used in recent years where a portable handheld device operated with a pen or stylus could do the job. This would include medical applications where they could replace a chart or possibly warehouse and delivery functions.

The tablet concept, however, is really quite old. In fact the "Dynabook" was created by Alan Kay in 1968. Kay wanted to make “A Personal Computer For Children Of All Ages". Read more of the details here. Alan Kay and collaborators at Xerox PARC are credited with designing many of the elements of modern computing including the mouse and the graphical user interface nearly forty years ago.

And, as with most breakthroughs, there were a lot of trys and a lot of failures preceding any successes. Read A Brief History of Unsuccessful Tablet Computers.