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My mind has been racing with thoughts about Apple’s latest and greatest new device, the iPad ever since the announcement Tuesday. There has been so much speculation and hype that there was no way that the actual device was going to live up.

iPad © Apple

Apple has put together some top notch hardware as usual. The iPad sports their standard aluminum and glass exterior and is manufactured to be environmentally friendly.  The most surprising part is the A4 CPU. The workhorse of the device is the first of it’s kind that we’ve seen from Apple. Gizmodo has an article stating it runs at 1GHz. It’s been deemed an ARM chip (as opposed to a mobile chip). The chip has to have come out of Apple’s 2008 acquisition, PA Semiconductor. The A4 is a low-power mobile chip, so I wouldn’t expect to start seeing iMacs and Mac Pros being powered by it any time soon, but could we see a variant at some point? Absolutely. I have to believe that Apple is exploring the idea. It would make even more sense that we’d see a future iPod or iPhone making use of the A4.

In addition, there is the standard array of components such as touchscreen, a mic, a compass, an accelerometer, GPS, and wifi. A mid to high end model will also have 3G wireless which requires a monthly contract with AT&T. The wifi variant will be making it’s debut in “60 days” while 3G models won’t go on sale for “90 days” because of  they are awaiting FCC approval. Leo Laporte and gang on MacBreak Weekly quipped that Steve has found a way to make us each buy two. I figured AT&T must have got on their knees and begged and promised they’d beef up their network. I fully expected them to announce a different wireless partner.

The wireless plans available are either $15 or $30 per month for 250MB or Unlimited data respectively. So much for the idea that the wireless would be subsidized with each purchase/download. The contracts can be terminated at any time, but it’s still painful to think that some people out there will be paying $30 for unlimited data on both their iPhone AND this new iPad device. Even so, most of the iPads sold will end up being the 3G models. The sim chip is swappable, so evidently it will be possible to chose a different data provider.

The iPad runs iPhone OS 3.2. There are the standard set of applications you’d imagine for email, web browsing, playing or viewing various media types. The device quickly was nicknamed the “giant iPod Touch,” for it’s resemblance in both hardware and software to its smaller cousin. Just like it’s next of kin, the iPad runs all the existing AppStore applications. There was some speculation that it would be very easy to port existing iPhone applications to the tablet device when it came out. It will be interesting to see what kind of app purchasing frenzy the initial set of iPads sets off. A large part of the success of the iPad will depend on the apps that are available. You’re going to need to see a different breed of apps as well. Things that work on the iPhone won’t always translate and vice versa. It may take some time to get everyone on board. There will be new gold rushes in the AppStore.

Apple also announced it has ported all of it’s iWork apps over to the iPad. The total cost to get a spreadsheet, word processor, and a presentation app is $30. Not too bad. They almost had to do iWork on the iPad or the analysts would say there was no way to do “real work” on the device. To a certain portion of the population, that is still true. As a developer, I’m not going to be coding on the thing.  Graphic designers aren’t going to be using them as workstations either.

A prominent feature of the announcement was the new book store. The books will be in epub format, which should make the publishers happy. They are already used to producing books in that format. Apple announced a number of big names as partners. The general sense is that this will be the Kindle-killer. Apple is claiming a 10 hr battery life even while playing fullscreen video, so it will be able to go quite awhile displaying text.  What it may come down to is preference. Some people get more fatigued when viewing backlit screens.

iTunes Bookstore © Apple

Of course Apple leaves the price for last. They even were quick to acknowledge that the iPad had been rumored to be a $1000. Depending on how you look at it, that could be way off or that could be pretty close. The iPad comes with either 16, 32, or 64 GB of storage and as previously mentioned, you can opt for a 3G model or not. This equates to a price range of $499 – $829 with the higher end models also carrying that 3G contract. Certainly a bit lower than expected and in line with Apple’s existing device pricing structure.

In addition there were a number of accessories shown. There is a plain old dock, a dock with a keyboard (which basically looks like their small wireless keyboard), a snazzy looking cover, and a camera connection kit. All of these items are extra. Once you throw in one or two, some apps, you are pretty much at that $1000.

What would an Apple release be without the critics. There are plenty of things the iPad was supposed to have or was rumored to do which it doesn’t. Because it uses the iPhone OS, it can’t run multiple applications. No playing music while you are web surfing on the couch (or toilet).

As I already mentioned, if you have an iPhone with an unlimited contract, you’re going to be paying the same amount to get a 3G data plan on the iPad.

There is no camera, so there is no way to do video conferencing. Maybe a camera could be made to attach to the dock later?

There is a dock connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack. While there is a vast amount you can do with a 30-pin cable, it really makes it a one-at-a-time deal for accessories. It would have been interesting to see 2 mini USB ports on the side. Almost not worthing noting is that there is no optical drive or ethernet port. However, you can get an existing iPhone video out cable to drive an external monitor.

The iPad Side View © Apple

During the demo, Steve loaded Time.com and it clearly showed that Flash wasn’t supported. A lot of pundits are saying that this is a deal-breaker for that size device. If the iPad is meant to replace a laptop, it must do the web just as well as a laptop and that basically means Flash.

There is no handwriting recognition. While a large touchscreen like that begs to have a natural handwriting interface, maybe the keyboard will be enough. I’m not convinced we’re going to care about that.

There are also a contingent of people lashing out at Apple for making the iPad a closed, proprietary system. I ask them, would you expect anything else from Apple? Take one look at their history with iTunes, the iPod, and iPhone. The iPad was never going to be an open device.

It must be said that this is a first generation device. There has been a history of Apple’s first gen devices not living up to expectations. To Apple’s advantage, there is much they can do in software to add to the already solid product. There will likely be enough inertia generated by this initial foray into the tablet space for them to continue tweaking the iPad. It’s not so much the iPad I’m interested in. What I really want to know is what will iPad version 2 look like? What will the world that has acclimated itself to the iPad look like.

As most have said, the iPad is not a device for the geeks. It’s mainstream appeal comes in the familiar iPod interface and the simplicity. The fact that it doesn’t have Flash or an open operating system truly does not matter to a large portion of the audience for this thing. Everyone that is frustrated by having a computer and the complexity of it will find the iPad a joy to use. If you can afford a Kindle, you can afford the iPad and it does so much more. There are also a myriad of other applications. Imagine your doctor having applications for charts and to show patients information. Think about an application that does statistical analysis based on input. You could take an iPad out in the field with you to crunch numbers on. Or how about just as a generic touch interface. I’ve heard of dumb industrial machines being made “smart” by connecting an iPod Touch and writing a specialized application. There are literally millions of tasks that could be done with a large, precise touchscreen interface. This is why I am so excited to see what the future will bring.

Safari's Top Sites

If you do more than a minimal amount of work on a number of Ruby web projects, you’ve more than likely sat down to figure out how to use Phusion Passenger in development. It makes switching between several projects a snap. Ruby and Rails developers have also been known to disproportionately favor Apple machines for their development workhorses. Continue reading if you fit the mold.With the release of Safari 4 came the nifty “wall of screens” feature known as Top Sites. This feature takes your most visited sites and displays them in a nice grid. It’s more pretty than useful, but I’d be lying if I didn’t use it at least once a day.

Lately, the combination of the previously described tools have been causing me pain. One of the things developers tend to do when developing sites is refresh them; A LOT! So typically there are at least a couple of my projects that wind up as Top Sites in Safari. The problem with this is Safari likes to go update those pretty looking screenshots every time you view the Top Sites screen (and randomly at other times). Because I have this set to display when a new tabs open, this is every time I open a blank tab. In other words, very often.

If you haven’t put two and two together by now, what happens when I open a tab is Passenger spawns processes to handle the requests Safari makes (just so it can update it’s screenshots). This ends up consuming several hundred megs of RAM and spikes the CPU load. If you happen to have a memory leak in your application, be prepared to launch Activity Monitor in a hurry to kill the ruby process that is spiraling out of control.

Delete/Pin Button

As a solution, you can easily hit the edit button and blacklist the worst offenders, but you have to do so for each unique URL. There is no way to say don’t ever list pages from “localproject.dev” or even “*.dev”. There is also a way to temporarily stop Safari from trying to update the images, ‘Command + .’

In my final semester at St. John’s, I was required to take up a research project, give a presentation on the topic, and then write a lengthy paper. Naturally, the topic was also required to be from the field of Computer Science. I knew right away that I wanted to do something with Linux. Through some guidance from my professor, I came to the topic of Free and Open Source Software. One of the first important people I came across in my research was Richard Stallman. So when I discovered a few weeks ago that Stallman was giving a talk at the University of Minnesota, I made sure my calendar was free.

After wandering around the U of M campus for the first time, I managed to find my way to Wiley Hall Room 175 just in time. Stallman took the stage moments later and began what would amount to 2 straight hours of speaking, evangelism, and laughs.

If you aren’t familiar with who Stallman is, well, I’m not surprised. Have you ever heard of the term ‘hacker?’ Stallman was one of the first. Ever heard of GNU, Linux, or Emacs? He either made them himself, or made them possible. If you’re still lost, then maybe you should stop reading here.

RMS began by explaining the four freedoms of free software.

• Freedom 0: The freedom to use software as you wish
• Freedom 1: The freedom to view the source code and modify it as you wish
• Freedom 2: The freedom to distribute copies of the software to others
• Freedom 3: The freedom to make improvements to the program and distribute those modifications to others

These four freedoms all must be true in order to call a piece of software ‘free.’ From there things really went everywhere.  There was much badmouthing of proprietary software and all the problems and hassles it brings. Stallman’s primary message was to refuse to use proprietary software, evangelise free software, and the computing world will become a much better place. Oh and there were a few jabs at the US government, Microsoft, large corporations that I’ll admit I laughed at.

RMS was also endlessly quotable:

“Ms. Clinton… probably mentions freedom more often than I do, but says much less about the substance of it.”

“If you see someone drowning, and there’s no one else around, and it’s not Bush, you have an obligation to save that person.”

“I am St Ignucius of the Church of Emacs.”

“Vi vi vi is the ‘Editor of the Beast’, but using a free implementation of vi is not a sin, it’s a penance.”

I can’t completely agree with Stallman though. It’s tough because I have a lot of respect for the man for what he’s accomplished and the views we share. Free software is great and so is the idea that we all should share and help each other out. However, that view is unrealistic. I think proprietary software has its place in the world too. And the world certainly isn’t as amiable and agreeable as Stallman would like it to be. I’m not about to give up my DVD movies, my Macbook Pro, or playing Warhammer Online, all of which are, run, or use proprietary software.

Most people probably don’t think about the freedoms they give when running proprietary software, but at the same time I think if they did, most would make the same choice. Because of that, Stallman’s vision of a utopia for free software will never exist. Nonetheless, I encourage Stallman and the Free Software Foundation to continue their work. He is exactly the kind of person you want to lead a movement. He’s pure, uncorruptable, and unflinchingly loyal. He’s made it his life’s purpose to bring his vision to reality. If only some of our politicians and world leaders had the same passion and outlook.

Tuesday started innocently enough. I got to work, felt groggy, and went over to grab a latte at the local coffee shop. My first sip was cautious, but not enough to avoid the burning. I jerked back a little bit and spilled a drop of latte the size of maybe a quarter on the arrow keys of my Macbook. That’s when the trouble started.

First it was left shift + ‘i’ that wouldn’t work. Then it was the arrow keys. Finally, the whole damn keyboard just stopped working. Now I’d doused the laptop in much worse in the time I’ve had it so I didn’t think much of this relatively small spill. Given how fast things progressed, I was concerned.

The next few hours I spent researching keyboard replacement. Let’s just say there’s a reason Apple doesn’t just send you a replacement keyboard and let you fix yourself. Take the battery out, unscrew the memory cover plate, remove the bottom cover, remove the non-conductive black tape, remove a dozen screws, unclip ribbon cable… you get the idea.

So it was either use an external keyboard, send the thing into Apple for a few hundred dollars and a couple of weeks of time, or try to fix a replacement and fix it myself. The external keyboard worked fine in the office, but I wasn’t going to be lugging around a keyboard with me for work away from the office. Instead, I started searching for a replacement keyboard online. They were at least $70. At that point, I decided an Apple Wireless Keyboard was in order as it would cost just as much and have no installation. It’s also small and easily tossed in my laptop bag.

Consequently a few hours after I got the new keyboard, the Macbook keyboard started working again. It’s not back 100% though because random arrow keys get triggered from time to time. It also won’t sleep reliably as it keeps getting input from the keyboard. Things seemed to have gotten better since yesterday, but I’ll still be taking this external keyboard around with me for at least awhile.

No sleeping in for me even though I was on vacation. I had a date with an airplane at 11:45. Instead of paying for parking at the airport, or even the minutely less expensive park-and-fly services, I opted to park at my work parking garage and take mass transit to the airport. As it turned out, I was running a tiny bit late for the bus I needed to catch to get to the airport. In my haste, I hopped on the bus that was going west, not east. A helpful bus driver got me on a bus that connected with the light rail.

From there, I made my way to the airport with plenty of time. I hate sitting around waiting to get on the plane anyway, so it worked out. The flight out was smooth. Unfortunately, my laptop battery only lasted 45 min which made the 3 and a half hour flight a little more boring. I tried napping, but there was a crying baby sitting DIRECTLY in front of me most of the flight. Honestly, there should be adult only flights. I would pay a small fee (under $25) to ensure that never happens again. Between my iPod and the roar of the jet engines, it was almost enough to drown out the baby, but it was getting to me after over 2 hours.

Louie came to the airport to pick me up and we made a break for the Apple Store so that I could get a new battery. After that, it was off to the ski shop to rent some equipment for the week. I decided that it’d be easiest if I rented rather than bringing out my own equipment and worrying about it getting damaged. I also have outgrown my boots which means I’d be renting some anyway. The road was calling our name, so we made a dash for the border.

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. We made our way to Kamloops. By this time it was after 11PM, so I knew finding a room might be a little tough. The first place we stopped at turned out to be a little to spendy. The second, however, turned out to be quite a bargain. The woman in the office explained that she only had 2 executive suites left, which cost $159/night, but she was willing to do $99. I agreed and by the time she got to printing the receipt, it was $89 (plus taxes of course). Quite the steal. The room itself was not all that impressive. Jacuzzi, fireplace, and a pullout bed. The most interesting thing about the room was actually the bathroom door which was mounted incorrectly. Louie and I had plans to get up early and hit the mountain, so it was time to call it a day.

Yesterday, Steve Jobs’ made his biannual descent from Cupertino to enlighten the masses with what Apple has been up to for the last six months. The verdict? Largely disappointing. At the start of the keynote, Steve said he had four things for the crowd which turned out to be Time Capsule, the iPhone SDK and software updates, iTunes movie rentals, and the Macbook Air.

The Time Capsule, though obviously a major bullet point in Steve’s presentation, wasn’t given much time on stage. However, that was probably due to the nature of the product. It’s a wireless router with a network hard drive in it. Not all that exciting to demo. Out of all the things announced yesterday, Time Capsule was the one thing I actually would consider buying in the next year. Though, $499 for a 1TB drive and a router seems a little spendy. A similar setup using a router with a USB port and an external hard drive would cost me at least $100 less. I guess that’s why it’s called the Apple tax.

The iPhone/iPod Touch SDK was item number two, but was also glossed over rather quickly. Instead, much of item two consisted of updates to the iPhone and iPod Touch software. Multi-person SMS, triangulation of your location on Google Maps, some new apps, and a customizable home screen were among the features added. These are all things people have been screaming for from the beginning. It’s becoming more clear that despite it’s widespread success, the iPhone v1 that came out last summer is incomplete. Even with all the additions, you still can’t copy/paste, you still can’t get one with more than 8GB of storage, and still no 3G.

Something that really bothered me was they announced 5 new applications for the iPod Touch that cost $20 for anyone who already has a Touch. Anyone who goes and buys one today (or any other time in the future) gets these apps for free. Everyone else who already has one has to pay $20 for them. Why? Did these apps really cost that much to develop? That clearly isn’t the case as the apps are already on the iPhone and they’re being included on new models. Obviously the only people who are going to buy this little software package are current Touch owners. Was the $300 or $400 you already got off these people not enough Apple? What’s $20 when you’ve already spent $300+. Bad Apple, bad.

The third item of the day was has been expected for some time now: iTunes movie rentals. The big surprise was they managed to get all the major studios on board and they completely redesigned the Apple TV interface so rentals without a computer are possible. The fact that you can rent movies isn’t such a big deal. Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon, and others all have made this available for awhile. The killer feature is that you can do it right on your TV and without any computer. It’s now a stand alone box, not an accessory. To top it off, new Apple TV’s are $70 cheaper than before and existing owners get a free upgrade.

The price $3.99 for new releases, $2.99 for other titles is spot on. However, the fact that you have to watch it within 24 hours is not. Make it 72 hours. Give me a weekend. I buy something on Friday night, but end up going out instead. I should be able to watch it on Sunday when I have the time. And the HD versions (sold at a $1 premium over their standard def counterparts) can only be rented on the Apple TV, not through your computer. I suspect that restriction came from the movie studios paranoia about piracy, not from Apple itself. Good Apple, (mostly) good!

The final line item was the Macbook Air; a $1800 ultra-portable laptop. Just as with the movie rentals, ultra-portable laptops are nothing new. However, no one is quite able to do things like Apple does. The Air is super thin; Apple claims the world’s thinnest. I’m still not sure if that means it’s more sexy or more flimsy. The other notable thing about the Air is it is virtually devoid of ports. It’s got 1 USB port, 1 Mini DVI port, and a MagSafe connector for power. There is no optical drive and there is no ethernet port. I guess thinness comes at a price.

After sitting on it for a day and reading all the fallout online, I’m still trying to figure out where the Air fits into Apple’s lineup. The two sweet spots they don’t cover is enterprise workstations and the mid-range desktop and these are two areas of the market Apple has said they don’t want to go after. Back to the question at hand. Who is this machine targeted at? The type of person who is going to buy this (besides the type who just want you to gawk at their expensive toys) is someone who doesn’t need to do a lot of heavy work and someone who doesn’t have much of a budget. The only group of people I can see fitting that profile is writers. What kind? Columnists, novelists, freelancers, and the like. They are probably traveling quite a bit. Their primary needs are word processing, email, and internet connectivity. However, it doesn’t make sense that Apple would release a computer for such a small niche of consumers. They clearly have something else in mind and I can’t quite put my finger (or mouse pointer) on it.

After hearing about all of the announcements, my overall feeling was one of disappointment. There was nothing in this keynote for me. None of it made me want to run out and buy it right away. None of it had me checking my bank account and making exceptions in my budget. Is that selfish? Sure, but Apple has conditioned me. The thing I was hoping for most, a 32GB + iPhone with 3G, wasn’t even hinted at. Not even a 16GB version like the iPod Touch. There was indeed something in the air yesterday at Moscone Center and it smelled slightly foul.