Greg In The Desert

Apple announced their worst kept secret, their Apple tablet computer called the iPad. It’s exactly what what it was rumored to be, a oversized iPod Touch. The iPad will run all the apps the iPhone and iPod touch will run but it’s missing a camera and GPS. Apple says they got 10 hours of use out of it, it will come with WiFi but a 3G cellular data option is available (and unlocked).

I think every rumor, including the prototype pictures at engadget and interview with McGraw-Hill’s CEO and President (Update: McGraw-Hill might have been punished for making the comments about the iPad before it was released), were all sanctioned by Apple. It was just enough to keep the hype and Steve Job’s reality distortion field in place but not enough to actually reveal the device.

I can’t imagine I will purchase an iPad as soon as it comes out (which is not for another 60 to 90 days) I do hope that parts of it make it into Apple’s laptops before my next laptop purchase. I also was hoping for an iPhone OS 4.0 and iLife 2010 announcement.

I wrote about an rumored Apple tablet computer as far back as 2004 and now it seems to be confirmed by the Wall Street Journal.

While the device’s ship date hasn’t been finalized and could still change, people briefed on the matter said the new product will come with a 10 to 11-inch touch screen—which would make it closer in size to Apple’s line of MacBook laptops than its smart phone.

John Martellaro at macobserver says this was part of a controlled leak because he used to do the same thing when he was a Senior Marketing Manager at Apple. I always believed that Apple did controlled leaks like this and they have figured out how to control the hype around product releases.

Supposedly this thing will be announced in a January 27th event. I’m also hoping for an updated iPhone and especially a updated Apple TV.

I don’t buy this iPod nano leak. Yes, i think the device is real but I don’t think the leak was an accident. This is all part of Steve Job’s reality distortion field and Apple’s ploy to build hype before the September 9th event and still maintain the perception of their no-preannounce secrecy scheme.

There are two dangers in leaking products early. If it’s leaked too far in advanced competitors get an idea what your up to and can make adjustments to their products. The iPod nano doesn’t count here because it was only leaked a few weeks before it’s official release.

The other danger is the leak could kill sales of the older model leaving an unwanted inventory. Several days before Kevin Rose posted about the new model, Appleinsider reported that the older model of nanos were discontinued and inventory was running out.

Besides, the nano isn’t the most exciting of Apple’s devices or a new device so leaking it only helps drive speculation about what else Apple could announce. Apple told a east cost journalist that they should be at the event on September 9th because it will be a big deal. I wouldn’t want a Apple event to be anything but a big deal..

The RDF is building and the internets are caught in it. Good job Apple.

Amazon has introduced the Kindle e-book reader which has been getting a lot of hype in the tech world. The purpose of the Kindle is to do one thing and do it well, replace your stack of paper back books with a single light weight, long life, simple device for reading books. Why does the Kindle have a keyboard and cell phone connection?

The Kindle can do more than read books, it uses Sprint’s EVDO data network to connect tot he internet. There is no subscription sign up or fees required to access this network. Think this sounds like a good deal? Think again, Amazon is going to nickel and dime you to death on content. After you paid $399.00 for the device, you will pay for every book through Amazon. Best Sellers run about $10 each, public domain books costs $1.99. You can subscribe to RSS feeds, but you will pay $1.00 a month for each feed. These are the same feeds that are available on your computer for free. You can also get newspapers, but again you will pay. There doesn’t seem to be anyway to get content onto the Kindle for free, you will pay Amazon for everything.

I don’t have a problem with Amazon charging for content, or even all the content, but only if the hardware is free or cheap.

I didn’t even write about the hardware, the screen or it’s very 1990’s look. I will leave it to people who have one to talk about those things. Most of the reviews I’ve read have been in the “meh” or negative category with a small number that really like it. I’ve been using Palm devices for reading books and RSS feeds. I expect my future iPhone to have this same capability. This one isn’t for me and I doubt any device which is designed around business model instead of the users will ever be.

[Update 12/02/07 12:41 PM] I should note, I also don’t like the Sony PRS-500 e-book reader. It has it’s own list of issues, some of them similar to the Kindle. At least it’s not as ugly.

Slashdot has post about whether there will be 3 more episodes of Star Wars that takes place after the Return of the Jedi.

“According to the HoustonChronicle.com, with all the hype surrounding the recent release of ROTS, speculation abounds that someone may still take a stab at creating episodes VII – IX. Gary Kurtz, producer of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, gives some insight into where the storyline may, or may not, go. On a related note, Roger Ebert, is also giving a thumbs up to a continuation of the storyline as well. Where does the line start?”

I’ve always heard that Lucas was going to make 3 more as well, but I suspect he just glad to be done with them all together for now. As the article says, never say never and I think if Lucas lives long enough he will eventually make them. After all we have to see the Republic recreated and the search for new Jedis.

Mac Rumors has a link to some screen shots of Panther. These look pretty real to me. However I am somewhat disappointed at the picture of what appears to be a new type of Finder window. I hope that Apple isn’t trying to copy Micro with the look of navigating the hard-drive. However it does look like they took the metal and aqua “themes” and combined them together. That looks pretty nice, as compared to the inconsistent metal look that they randomly spread around now. And I do believe that Apple has purposely let these and the leaks of the “G5″ powermac leak to build up hype before the WWDC on Monday.

If this is the new finder view I will be quite unhappy.

[Update:] Just for the record, I was wrong. The new finder rocks. Could have done without the metal interface but I’ve gotten use to it.