Tech-Me – Blogging my thoughts on gadgets, techology and web based media – chapmanmania

Apple once prided itself on the secretive nature of their conferences. This didn’t stop people speculating about what the forthcoming product would be but over the past few years, that all seems to have changed. Products have a definitive life cycle. This predictability has meant that even the most casual consumer has become wary about when to purchase an Apple product for fear of the next generation being released soon after. Such predictability has arguably impacted the enigmatic approach Apple once prided itself on. As well as increasingly apparent product cycles, the interaction between Apple and third parties means that the flow of information is more widespread. Products like the iPhone need network providers to co-operate, and negotiate deals ahead of the launch. Similarly, content deals with media distributors increase the potential for news to leak from various sources. Just days before Steve Jobs was set to take to the stage, the CEO of McGraw-Hill leaked several key pieces of information; effectively confirming the iPad to viewers of CNBC.

This arguably leads to disappointment amongst fanboys, as it becomes apparent what the product will be, and even roughly what it’ll look like before the conference itself. Nonetheless, this doesn’t limit speculation, instead fanboys overhype the product to such an extent that the result can’t fulfil their ridiculous expectations. The majority of views about the iPad seem to be skewed toward the negative. This is nothing new, as the original iPod received a similar negative reaction from such fanboys back in 2001. Although having said that, I’ve come to expect the stereotypical Apple fanboy to defend Apple products to the hilt, proclaiming obvious flaws to be ‘features’.

Aside from being able to playback HD video on a slightly higher res (than a regular netbook), this is nothing more than a novelty iPod Touch that Apple seem to have overlooked the potential for the name to sound not dissimilar to a female sanitary product. I thought that the Macbook Air was an over-priced excuse of a netbook, but this is ridiculous. The whole point of netbooks is that they are cheap, portable and generally have the capability for light web surfing, emails and documents. I think that the inclusion of a productivity suite is limited by the lack of a decent keyboard. Since the screen is LCD rather than e-ink, I don’t think that reading would be desirable for lengthy periods, and for the same reason cannot possibly match the battery life of a dedicated e-book reader.

Whilst netbooks can’t playback/edit HD video, they’re underestimated in terms of capability. Mine runs Windows 7, runs fine with several apps simultaneously without any noticeable issues (including Photoshop). The iPad has an inferior processor, less storage capacity and the web browser doesn’t support Adobe Flash. It’s a contentious issue with the iPhone, but I believe it’s inexcusable for a device pretending to run a full operating system to not support it. The fact that there’s an app for YouTube/ BBC iPlayer is beside the point, as there’s a plethora of VoD/live streaming content that can’t be viewed on an iPad, but can on any other netbook.