Just received my DodoCase iPad case this morning. I ordered it over a month ago. It’s a hand made iPad case made by an old book binding company here in San Francisco. Definitely the best iPad case you can get.
Check out the video review that Kevin Rose & I shot a few months ago:
I’m excited, as I’m sure many others are, about tomorrow’s WWDC keynote. I’ll be watching simply to find out how much money I’m going to be paying to Apple in a few weeks when the next iPhone goes on sale. That’s right. In my mind, I’ve already justified the purchase of the new phone. Yes, I’m perfectly happy with my 3GS. And no, I’m not a totally sold out Apple fanboy. Though, I admit, it would be hard to convince anyone that I’m not.
I’m not just falling back on all of the usual arbitrary reasons people use to justify buying a new Apple product. I’m buying the next iPhone simply because the iPhone, in my opinion is still the best phone and the best platform out there. Using the iPhone over the past 3-4 years has been the best experience I’ve ever had with a phone. I’ve been impressed with Android’s offerings lately, but there is just no device that competes with the iPhone in terms of end-user experience.
As Apple’s iPhone has rocketed to the top of the smartphone world in the last 3-4 years, the company’s image has taken quite a beating. Apple has been accused of being quite evil for the ways in which it closes down and polices the iPhone platform. I honestly don’t think Apple purposefully behaves in a way that hinders developers, nor does it willingly close down the iPhone platform just as a profit motive. I think what Steve Jobs said onstage at the D8 conference last week was the honest truth: that Apple just wants to make the best products it can. And for that mission to be accomplished there’s a certain amount of quality control that has to be in place. Hence, the App Store approval process. Hence the closed platform.
There are numerous ways in which we could split hairs over the current smart phone market, but my honest opinion is still that Android’s open platform is both its best feature, and its greatest flaw. It’s marketable as a great competitor because it’s an open platform, yet, the user experience can be inconsistent and typically falls flat. And rest-assured, whatever Apple announces tomorrow in the way of the next iPhone is likely going to be another leap in quality controlled, fine-tuned user experience that will put the Android platform another year to two behind achieving anything similar.
A lot of people are criticizing Apple’s new tablet device for its perceived shortcomings without having even used it themselves. In my opinion, this sort of harsh and snarky criticism is to be expected with any significant Apple release, and if you follow the pattern of previous Apple product launches, this type of criticism is always present, and is, in my opinion, a very good sign. I think Stephen Fry has said it best on his blog why hindsight is important with product releases like this:
The first release of iPhone was 2G, closed to developers and without GPS, cut and paste and many other features that have since been incorporated. Neither they, nor I, nor anyone, predicted the “game-changing” effect the phone would so rapidly have as it evolved into a 3G, third-party app rich, compass and GPS enabled market leader.
There are many issues you could have with the iPad. No multitasking, still no Flash. No camera, no GPS. They all fall away the minute you use it. I cannot emphasise enough this point: “Hold your judgment until you’ve spent five minutes with it”. No YouTube film, no promotional video, no keynote address, no list of features can even hint at the extraordinary feeling you get from actually using and interacting with one of these magical objects.
Literally every super-sucessful Apple product was met with harsh criticism at first, which then transformed into high praise as those devices matured in the marketplace. Back in 2001, the iPod was largely dismissed by critics as “too expensive”, “too niche”,Slashdot users even called it lame.
So save your judgment on the iPad until you actually use one, and even then, if you still think it’s lame, at least recognize it for the innovative product it is, and the game-changing product that it will eventually become.
It’s my day off and I didn’t have anything planned so I decided to take a trip to Cupertino, CA to visit the Apple Campus. There are a few spots of the campus that are open to the public including a few restaurants nearby and the Apple Company Store (a gift shop with Apple branded goodies).
The campus isn’t as big as you would think, although I’m sure that the buildings surrounding the main campus are also Apple owned as well. Rumor has it that Steve Jobs was back at work today, too, now having recovered from a liver transplant in Tennessee. Though, of course, my visit to Apple was uneventful and I didn’t see anyone walking around in a black turtleneck and jeans.
Proof that I'll buy anything if it has an Apple logo on it.
Wow. I don’t think there’s ever been a Macworld Keynote where all of the rumors preceding it were so completely off. The only rumors that proved to be accurate were the ones that surfaced late last night about iTunes nixing DRM.
Take this to heart: now that Apple’s market share has more than doubled in the last five years, the rumors are even more speculative and inaccurate than ever. Folks overlooked the fact that Apple was overdue for a new iLife & iWork suite, and that the Macbook Pro 17″ needed an update to match the current generation of models. Instead it was all high-flying ‘Gee, wouldn’t it be great?’ rumors that weren’t even on Apple’s radar. You gotta love Macworld.