News
01.26.10
Apple iPad: It's Real
There was more as much mystery around Wednesday's announcement as there is in the final season of "Lost." Many questions were answered on Wednesday (except for "how will it sell"?) Stay tuned for many links to new about the announcement coming out of the event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. We'll have lots of news and links then.Here are a few links to what we've read so far:
New from Wednesday 01/27/10:
iheartradio: Apple unveils "iPad" tablet device
NY Times: Apple Reveals the iPad Tablet
Speculation before the announcement:
Apple Insider: Up next for Apple: the return of the Newton (September 26, 2007)
Wired.com: Everything We Know About Apple's Touchscreen Tablet (09/29/09)
Apple Insider: Apple's Jan. 27 'one more thing' could be Verizon iPhone (01/20/10)
LA Times: Everyone's talking about Apple tablet (01/20/10)
MacRumors.com: Apple Tablet Hints: Virtual Keyboard, Camera, eBooks, More (01/21/10)
WSJ.com: Apple Tablet Portends Rewrite for Publishers (01/25/10)
NY Times: With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday (01/25/10)
MacRumors.com: AT&T Losing iPhone Exclusivity on Wednesday? (01/25/10)
MacRumors.com: The Apple Tablet Rumor Roundup (01/26/10)
EW.com: Apple's Tablet: Will it change how you approach print media? (01/26/10)
MacRumors.com: McGraw-Hill CEO spills details on iPhone OS-based Apple tablet (01/26/10)
NEW: Wired.com: Apple Event to Focus on Reinventing Content, Not Tablets (12:49 am)
NEW: Garcia Media: Apple's Tablet: today is D day (8:37 am)
Two fun videos to leave you with. First up the "Futureshock" Knowledge Navigator from 1987 and Apple's first "Personal Digital Assistant"--the Newton:
The WIRED Tablet App:
Below is the video that Grant mentions. Its interesting that the iPad is not mentioned. As Gizmodo points out: "The catch, of course, is that while Wired Reader can be packaged into its own Air runtime app to load on the iPad, Apple doesn't have to allow it (for reasons of security, stability or, well, whatever grumpy reasoning Apple comes up with)."
Interview on the iPad:
Recently, Interview magazine unveiled their prototype for the iPad at their 40th anniversary celebration.
[Updated: 03.16.10]
See related stories:
Pentagram's take on how this (might) change things for magazines:
http://pentagram.com/en/new/2010/01/five-ways-the-ipad-will-cha-1.php
A little disappointed the keynote didn't feature any apps for magazines. What the New York Times and MLB did was very exciting. My question is... when developing your magazine do you create an app or a product for iBook? Jobs said any publication in iBook can feature videos and sound... Getting the SDK today.
As a creative, I am greatly disappointed by the ipad.
1. Despite have a 9.7-inches wide screen, iPad has Poor Resolution
At 1024-by-768-pixels the iPad has a resolution that is vastly inferior to cheaply printed newsprint. A Blu-ray disc, which was developed and is licensed by a consortium of which Apple is a part of, can store video at 1920×1080 pixels unfortunately the Ipad can only display video at about half the quality. Super Hi-Vision is the kind of resolution a screen devices must possess to deliver print comparable image quality.
2. The iPad approaches book design under the same erroneous principle as Amazon
Books are not a text delivery tool they are an engineered experience of which the graphic design and in particular the layout are CRITICALLY IMPORTANT. By permitting the software to determine the appearance of the content it degrades the interaction with a book into a software usage experience. Of the tens of thousands of printed works in my Library far less than 5% rely solely on text to communicate. My experience with my visual arts books, graphic novels and magazines, to name but a few categories, would be devastatingly diminished on the iPad.
Heh ... I have to agree with you, John, I was a bit surprised by the iBooks app. Especially considering their legacy as a design company, I never expected Apple to throw book design out the window and ask the user to make typesetting decisions. Verdana and Times New Roman? Seriously? I've always wanted to make 1,000 Years of Solitude look like a sixth-grader's book report.
It was nice to see The New York Times show off their customized app, but you'd think a magazine demo from People or Wired would have done more justice to what that device is capable of. A touch-sensitive interactive graphic from National Geographic? Panoramic landscapes with in-depth stories weaving in and out of it? Sky's the limit, though I'm not clear if the ePub format can do what magazine designers want. A magazine section of the iBooks store seems like common sense, but not if that format forces magazines into columns of Palatino text.
Totally agree on photos. That seems like photo galleries are an area magazines could have BIG win. People, Us, InTouch, SI, ESPN, Maxim, Cosmo could rock photo galleries on the iPad.
Infographics too... NY Times, NY Mag, TIME, Pop Sci, WIRED, Billboard (music + charts!).
The $30 data plan is pretty interesting. Would love that for my MacBook.
Personally, if it had a camera for video iChat—I would have been sold. I'm waiting for version 2.
The wait now begins for a multitouch iMac.
Regarding resolutions, the iPhone (163 ppi) and iPad (132 ppi) are much more detailed than your typical LCD monitor (~100 ppi) but still lag quite a bit behind print.
If the formula I have is correct, a screen would need 293 ppi to meet the same detail level as a glossy magazine page at 133 lpi.
Cripes .. 100 Years of Solitude. Must be tired. :)
Clearly Apple put a huge emphasizes on the cost. The addition of a camera and a higher resolution screen would of resulted in a product that is $999+... I believe their course of action is correct. Get this in the hands of the most people as possible... to do that you need a price point that is around $500.
Emily's link to Pentagram's article was great... I thought Luke was dead on with his observations.
RE: Mikes response to the type features in iBooks.
I feel you, as someone who cares about typography and creating curated experiences my initial impression of the customizable type feature also was one of horror!
On second thought though and as a designer now working primarily on the web I do feel we have to learn to adapt as designers. Design is morphing into more than a static experience this level of customization is the future and we can embrace it or fight it, however we will loose as I guarantee many users will find this ability attractive and useful.
Hey Jeremy -- Definitely agree with you. I wasn't surprised by Apple's customization. I was surprised by their choice of fonts ... lol. Baskerville's a safe classic, but Verdana, Times New Roman and Palatino? Really? Those were the staple of my high school newspaper. :)
Where's Hoefler & Frere-Jones when you need 'em?
Hey Grant (and everyone in the circle) —Â
In terms of getting the product in people's hands so we can be sure we're getting them to see/use what we REALLY want, in terms of content, have you all seen this today?
http://joezeffdesign.com/blog/?p=145
Basically, iPad (where is our thread about hating that name?!) sold/given away by media companies on the cellphone/service contract model or the old "SI sneakerphone / your-local-credit-union-gives-you-a-toaster" model.
I remember for a time in the early iPod days, Audible.com was giving away 5G iPods if you (ahem) signed-on for a year's contract with them. I'm sure someone fell for that.
Hey Emily,
Remember how big the name backlash was when Nintendo came out with the Wii?
They took a few knocks on the chin and went on do do so well that these days Wii seems perfectly appropriate.
I have to believe that Jobs and Co. had conversations about this and even used the Wii as an example before opening themselves up to any amount of ridicule.
I have to believe there is thought and strategy behind the name.
For the record I don't like the name either, I'll probably get over it though!
Emily, thank you! Another great link. Interesting business models are going to pop up everywhere... this one, I think has some traction. I would definitely be interested in that kind of offer and given the right kind of advertising I think a lot of people would.
"Video Demonstrates Wired’s Concept iTablet App"
Watch the video at Wired.com:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/itablet/
From Josh's link:
"Condé Nast earlier this week revealed its plans to work with Adobe to repurpose magazine content."
Keyword there is Adobe... Flash did not work on the iPad. So lets say Wired's interactive prototype was built using Adobe’s Air — which means it won’t work. Like Flash, I believe Apple isn’t supporting Air on the iPad.
I do realize it is a demo but now you have to go back to the drawing board using the new SDK 3.2 if you want it to work on the iPad... This is a downer because the demo was awesome and as a subscriber to their magazine I believe it has huge potential on the iPad.
Wow! Nice work Scott! So what you're saying is I can get it for the iPad?
Me + Wired App = Subscriber 1
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/the-wired-ipad-app-a-video-demonstration/
Just embedded the WIRED video into this post.
Take a look at this story by UK smart guy William Owen on the Made By Many blog:
http://tinyurl.com/yh8h4fl
The title is: "The iPad: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?"
Here's a sample:
"But it also might spin us backwards into a web of pages, paid content and idle, private consumption. There’s proof already that this will be at least the temporary effect (one step back, then two steps forwards?) quickening the momentum of existing trends such as Rupert Murdoch’s pay wall construction programme....
I see in these publishers’ videos a position of denial. They believe you can pour a magazine (and its business model) straight and unadulterated into a new medium that works in an entirely different way. The threats and opportunities magazine publishing faces are more profound than this approach addresses and the response must be equally profound, more innovative."
Updated to now include the Interview magazine prototype.
Newspaper design guru Mario Garcia remembers Havana of the 1950s, and recreates it on an iPad screen. An interesting excercise on how to visualize stories in the new medium:
http://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/the_havana_of_the_50s_i_remember_it_well/