iPad

[tgr]

I've got a huge desk which is just the right height to allow me to sit in a relaxed pose in a stressless.

A stressless, btw, is god's gift to geeks.

[Engels]

I turned my iPad into a giant mousepad for my Windows 7 box. It works over TCP/IP rather well and it services as a remote control for my DVD player while on the couch.

I mistakenly tried to play Bad Company 2 using the iPad as the mouse, and promptly launched a 40mm grenade into my teammate's face while running around in random directions.

[Tale]

I still think the iPad is stupid. But one of my workmates is so convinced it's a revolution, he bet me $50 that I'll buy one in the next 18 months.

[Samwise]

I still think the iPad is stupid. But one of my workmates is so convinced it's a revolution, he bet me $50 that I'll buy one in the next 18 months.

Can I get in on that action?  I'll bet him I don't buy one in the next 18 months either.

[Kitsune]

This is my HTML/CSS developer app:



How have I survived so long without paying Apple $3000 for a workstation and Adobe $2000 for a design program?  After all, fuck knowing how to write the code myself or anything, clearly I need a program to hold my hand and do it for me.  Of course, I also don't attend web development seminars for the same reason I don't attend high school algebra classes, so maybe the attendees really do need those macs.   

[Teleku]

Oh come on now, you can at least use notepad++ or something!

[Tebonas]

"copy con" too hard for you, Mr Fancypants? 

[Trippy]

Obl. xkcd:

http://xkcd.com/378/

[Kitsune]

"copy con" too hard for you, Mr Fancypants? 

Actually, yeah.  Not for the initial creation, but I'm a bigger believer in repairing than proofreading, so I bang out the code, fire it up in a few different browsers, then look at what parts are fucked up and go back into the code to find out where I typoed.  And sadly copy con isn't so good for editing the files once written!  But there's no substitute for the cleanliness of handwritten websites.  I can put up a multi-page website in under 400k, graphics and all.  My parner uses Netobjects Fusion and the resulting code is unreadable gibberish and the websites are bloated to hell.  In fairness, I don't know a damn thing about PHP and he writes online stores in it; it's not like he's a useless hack or anything.  But I die a little inside when I see the HTML generated by his program.

[Lantyssa]

Actually, yeah.  Not for the initial creation, but I'm a bigger believer in repairing than proofreading, so I bang out the code, fire it up in a few different browsers, then look at what parts are fucked up and go back into the code to find out where I typoed.  And sadly copy con isn't so good for editing the files once written!  But there's no substitute for the cleanliness of handwritten websites.  I can put up a multi-page website in under 400k, graphics and all.  My parner uses Netobjects Fusion and the resulting code is unreadable gibberish and the websites are bloated to hell.  In fairness, I don't know a damn thing about PHP and he writes online stores in it; it's not like he's a useless hack or anything.  But I die a little inside when I see the HTML generated by his program.

This is part of why I hate being moved from my own web server to some silly CMS piece of trash.  Not only am I constrained to its parameters, but it turns two minute jobs into twenty minute ones (literally, not figuratively), then I have to wait for publishing cycles to see if my changes even do what I want, and it rewrites my code!

It even tries to rewrite my longer php snippets despite them being in code blocks.



I got around it by doing a simple include statement.  It doesn't seem to touch my php then.  Which you know, could work for my HTML, too.  That's it!  You're a genius!  I'll do include files for all my HTML.  Muahahahaha!

[Engels]

Our department is considering changing from vanilla CSS templates to Drupal CMS, and I'm not sure its a very good solution. The idea is that with Drupal, faculty can edit their own publications page. However, Drupal seems so heavy and invasive that I think I'd rather do the updates myself as I have been doing.

Oh, and the iPad really really isn't very good at content creation. It'll do as an emergency SSH into a server if you need to, but anything with long lines of code that require you to be precise in your editing is a bit of a nightmare.

[Lantyssa]

Stick with your old system.  Write a form so faculty can enter what they want if you must.  Most still wouldn't ever update their pages, especially if it requires learning on their part, and they will find a way to break it.  The trade-off isn't worth it.

I wonder how well the iPad works with various types of CMS.  Seems like it'd be one more frustration on top of what those systems introduce.

[Mattemeo]

Nice little article on the similarities of the iPad to Alan Kay's 40 year old 'Dynabook'. Title's sensationalist but the article itself is pretty objective.

[Trippy]

Nice little article on the similarities of the iPad to Alan Kay's 40 year old 'Dynabook'. Title's sensationalist but the article itself is pretty objective.

It's kind of hard for Apple to have stolen the idea from Alan Kay when 1) Alan worked at Apple for a while disseminating his ideas throughout the company and 2) Alan specifically told Steve Jobs about the potential for an iPhone with a larger screen back when the iPhone was released:

“When the Mac first came out, Newsweek asked me what I [thought] of it. I said: Well, it’s the first personal computer worth criticizing. So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.”

[Azazel]

Charlie Brooker on the iPad

Apologies if this has been linked before, but it's still worthwhile either way.

 

Edit by Trippy: you fail at linking

[Margalis]

It’s like having an Xbox or Playstation in the palm of your hands.

It's actually exactly like that.

Anyone who thinks otherwise should pick a 360 up with their hands and try playing a game with it.

[Mosesandstick]

Oh fuck. I lolled.

[Engels]

In other news, that video where the cat's fascinated by the iPad app? Well, my cats couldn't give a flying fuck 

[Quinton]

I wonder if Apple has to deal with return reasons like "magical device does not delight my cats."

Probably.

[Prospero]

I think it's a pretty safe bet they do.

[naum]

Visited the Apple Store yesterday and people were queued up just to touch one. Like 3+ tables with ~6 iPads each…

…had seen one up close earlier in the week at a ruby user group meeting but did get to finger it again and would have added it to my purchases (picked up one of the new 13" MBP) but sales dude informed me they completely sold out the day before.

Book reader is way sweeter than Kindle — can do color, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.… …and while Kindle better at pure text with e-ink, page flipping and PDF experience sucks on Kindle, and is done eloquently on iPad.

Waiting for v2 and/or price cut…

[tgr]

Book reader is way sweeter than Kindle — can do color, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.… …and while Kindle better at pure text with e-ink, page flipping and PDF experience sucks on Kindle, and is done eloquently on iPad.

Waiting for v2 and/or price cut…

How's that to lug around?

[naum]

Book reader is way sweeter than Kindle — can do color, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.… …and while Kindle better at pure text with e-ink, page flipping and PDF experience sucks on Kindle, and is done eloquently on iPad.

Waiting for v2 and/or price cut…

How's that to lug around?

Without having it for an extended time, I can't appraise, though those I know that have them are indeed enamored (except for the criticisms of iWork which appears needlessly and brain numbing hobbled and lack of printing (or cumbersome kludginess)).

I will say it was not as large as I expected (it's not much that much larger than an old school Franklin Day Planner) but it was slightly heavier than anticipated, but still way less a load than that 13" MBP I bought (1.5 lb v. 4.5 lb).

But you might not even need to hold it — it seems just dandy to place flat on table or prop up (via case) or with a pair of cheap black rubber stoppers.

[Nerf]

But you might not even need to hold it — it seems just dandy to place flat on table or prop up (via case) or with a pair of cheap black rubber stoppers.

Expect to see those at the apple store for $59.95 soon.

[Engels]

But you might not even need to hold it — it seems just dandy to place flat on table or prop up (via case) or with a pair of cheap black rubber stoppers.

Expect to see those at the apple store for $59.95 soon.

I found a case for mine for 20 bucks at Amazon. As far as lugging it around, its fine. Now, I am having a hard time finding daily uses for it as an IT guy. The department got the thing for me to use, and I'm getting a bit embarrassed by it.

I'm still using my Kindle over it, because it really isn't very pleasant to read from for a dedicated period of time.

[Kitsune]

I've messed around with one at the best buy near my office, and my initial assessment of 'giant ipod' played out like I expected it to.  The screen's as beautiful as one would expect, but the thing was ugly with finger smears all over.  My ipod has a matte screen protector on it that does a good job of hiding fingerprints; I imagine similar are available for the ipad.  It's too big to be convenient to carry, too small to be awesome enough to be worth carrying everywhere, and doesn't do anything my ipod doesn't do.  If it were significantly cheaper, I'd be tempted.  It'd be a sweet nerd toy, no question.  But for work I keep a Dell Vostro A90 in a briefcase with my tools and CDs/flash drives.  It has magical things like a keyboard, USB ports, Windows 7, and OS X Snow Leopard.  Carrying around the ipad would require that I toss the netbook to make room for it in my case, and it's simply not nearly as useful.

Get an ipad strong enough to support a real OS and I'll be all about it.  Significantly drop its price and I might splurge on it as a shiny toy.  With neither of those things being the case, I really don't see the point.

[Tannhauser]

It’s like having an Xbox or Playstation in the palm of your hands.

It's actually exactly like that.

Anyone who thinks otherwise should pick a 360 up with their hands and try playing a game with it.

So I can play Mass Effect 2 on it?  World of Warcraft? 
Jesus.

[Margalis]

So I can play Mass Effect 2 on it?  World of Warcraft? 
Jesus.

Read what I wrote again.

[Azazel]

 

[tgr]

So I can play Mass Effect 2 on it?  World of Warcraft? 
Jesus.

Read what I wrote again.

Tannhauser fell into the sarchasm and can't get out.

[Tannhauser]

Why did we stop using green again?   

Still, glad that was sarcasm, because that post almost made me lose hope in mankind.

[Baldrake]

Well this will make multi-touch that much harder...

[Mrbloodworth]

Apple Rejects Kid-Friendly Programming App

Apple last week removed an app called Scratch from its iPhone and iPad App Store. The Scratch app displayed stories, games and animations made by children using MIT’s Scratch platform, which was built on top of Kay’s programming language Squeak, according to MIT.

[Lantyssa]

The app was written by a guy named Mcintosh, too.

[Viin]

Those with an iPad, does it support multi-touch gestures for back/forward while browsing? I forgot to test while I was looking at one at BB. And yeah, its a lot heavier than I care for, but I love the screen size and zooming capability - which my netbook could sorely use.