The whole vision of the iPad is to fall between a laptop and an iPhone or iPod Touch. It was never intended to be a watered-down laptop. The iPad is a more specialized device rather than a generalist like a netbook. Like el Jefe said in the speech, he wanted the tablet to do a few things well. The main things are the internet, movies and music, books, and apps/games. If you want to do other stuff, you'll just use a regular computer. The people who will buy an iPad aren't people who need their device to do everything; they just want a device that can do a few things very well.

Once we understand this, then we can understand what the iPad is all about. So, what are the criticisms, anyway?

Flash Support:

It was an EPIC FAIL when Steve was reading the NY Times, and that familiar icon that iPhone users are used to seeing on websites popped up. This criticism is actually a good one. Flash is still used by tons of websites, and if the iPad is supposed to be excellent at looking at websites, not supporting flash is straight up dumb. If you like to play Flash-based games on Facebook like Farmtown or Restaurant City, for example, you're out of luck on the iPad.

However, one thing about Flash is that it's a bit antiquated. It hogs computer resources, and it's becoming less relevant every day. With HTML 5 and CSS 3.0 already supported by the most modern browsers, many of Flash's tricks are easily reproduced by using web standards compliant technologies like HTML and CSS, plus Javascript. Sure, some lazy developers probably won't be changing up their Flash-based sites for awhile, but the truth is, Flash's days are numbered. UPDATE: Maybe the iPad will have Flash support?

Camera:

No Camera! So what? Are you telling me that you want to take pictures with this huge tablet thing? Don't drop it! With regards to video support for things like videoconferencing, I don't think the tablet is the right device. For one, you'd have to hold the tablet, so videoconferencing would be sort of wonky. Of course, on the other hand, with a stand, videoconferencing makes a bit of sense on the tablet. I wouldn't be surprised if v.2 comes with a video camera. I mean, if they can put one in an iPod, why not a tablet?

Multi-tasking:

The iPad is a specialist, not a generalist. There really isn't much need to switch back and forth between a web page and an other app. You either browse the web, or you use the app. Same thing with video content. You usually just focus on watching. With books, again: You focus on reading, that's it. Of course, there probably is a degree of multi-tasking on the device, similarly to the iPhone: You can listen to music while you do other stuff, for example.

No Optical Media:

Optical media is dying. I expect Blu-Ray to be the last mainstream optical media format. It's all about the internet and wifi, and it's better for content providers and consumers.

But! Let's look at the bright side:

Gorgeous Screen:

The screen is very nice, and is perfect for consuming digital media, whether it's movies or webpages. It's awesome for gaming too.

Long Battery Life:

Great for those long flights. You can watch a few movies on it, no problem. That won't happen with a laptop, or even a netbook.

Games:

This looks like a serious threat to Nintendo and Sony. Those tiny screens just can't compete with the massive iPad screen. Plus there are thousands in the app store, and most of them cost significantly less than what you would pay for a Nintendo DS or PSP game.

Digital Content:

This is the whole point of the iPad, and this is where it excels. If you want to read, watch, or listen to digital content on the go, then the iPad is for you.

So, just to clear things up, the iPad is not a generalist computing device, it's a specialist device. If you're the type of person who likes to consume digital media, then consider it for that purpose. If you're a person who wants to edit digital photos, write documents, program, and multi-task, you're probably better off sticking to a laptop. The iPad is a device for passive activities, not active. It's not a netbook, but it never was intended to be one either.

Apple has done a great job of keeping this under wraps. No one really knows the fun parts of what the tablet is--except for people who have been given very clear instructions to keep their mouths shut. Based on everything that I don't know, it seems to me like the Tablet is going to be an iPod for a wider range of digital content. It will be an iPhone minus the phone, with a bigger screen--optimized for websites, movies, and digital publications. This is just a big duh.

What's really interesting to me is how Apple is going to make money, and quite honestly this tablet is going to be a money machine for Apple--even more than the iPod and iPhone mixed with iTunes. Let's take a look:

First, they sell you the tablet. My guess is that it will be cheaper than people expect. Many people are saying $1000, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's closer to $600. I don't want to go on about why I think it'll be so cheap, but take a moment and think about how HP Printers are like $80, and print cartridges (which have to be purchased over and over) cost $40. HP isn't making the money on the printer, and Apple isn't going to be making the money on the sale of tablets, just like AT&T doesn't make any money selling iPhones. UPDATE! This is now being backed up by Gizmodo. You read it here first.

So, you throw down your money, and you now have a shiny (of course!) tablet device. Of course, out of the box, it doesn't do too much. Sure, you can get online and add your contacts, but that's kinda boring. The tablet becomes a bit more interesting when you use it to download and view content. But first! Before that content gets on your shiny new tablet, let's take a look behind the scenes.

I'm a content provider. Let's call me the "New York Zeitgeist". I have tons of people on staff doing research and writing great stuff, and people love it. A long time ago, people were paying a premium price for that content printed on paper. In addition, people were paying big bucks for us to print their ads in there. Then, the internet happened, and to get with the times, I put all that content online. Of course, now the advertisers are still there, but the readers aren't paying anything for the content. It's OK in a way because I don't have to print as much, but those revenues just aren't what they used to be. Then, this California dude driving an SL-55 shows up at our offices with a halo over his head, and a magical device in his hands. When this guy talks, people listen.

Here's what he proposes:

Keep creating good content, there is a market for it.

Translate that content to digital, with some little spaces where we'll put ads.

Charge a small fee for access to that content.

Sit back and relax while our device figures out who is reading the content, and what media they consume. Meanwhile, we've got a whole ton of advertisers paying big bucks to be placed in those ad spaces.

Next, a user views your content on our device, and they're shown ads that reflect their taste.

You get paid. CPM = An amount per 1000 views. CPC = Anytime a user clicks an ad. CPA = Everytime a user clicks an ad and makes a purchase.

In the past, you got paid for ads one time, but you had to continue to create content to keep that money coming. Now, you create the content once, and the money keeps coming. Forever.

You don't need to waste money and resources to print. You don't need to spend big bucks to distribute your content. We just built a fat data center to handle all that. We'll collect $ from the advertisers, and we'll pass it over to you.

Your troubles are over. Oh, and welcome to the future, print media.

...And of course Apple. They're taking a little chunk of every ad that gets displayed. Every app that's sold, every movie, every song. Remember Apple's cross-town rivals named Google? Apple is gonna be Google 2.0, except instead of serving ads on questionable SEO'd content, they'll be serving ads on quality content from publications we trust.

When you get your new, shiny Apple tablet in just a few short months, you can bet that the first thing you'll want to do is log on to their all-new content delivery service (whether it's called iTunes or something else), where you'll be exposed to ads from Quattro (which will probably have a cooler name soon), all served from their massive data center in North Carolina. The app/music store model has done very well for Apple, and you can bet that this new device will be Apple's biggest win yet.

No wonder analysts are saying the Apple stock is headed to $1000.

Description:

The Magic Mouse is a wireless Bluetooth device with multi-touch technology. The design is very sleek and Apple-like. The top surface is made of plastic, white, and clicks when you press on it. The bottom portion of the mouse is made from the same aluminum that Apple makes its laptops and desktops out of. You turn it on by sliding a tiny switch on the bottom.

Multi Touch:

If you've never used multitouch before, I'll tell you that it's really awesome, and allows you to accomplish more things by using intuitive finger gestures. The Magic Mouse has a few gestures that once mastered, you'll wonder how you lived without them. For starters, you can move one finger forward, backward, left, or right on the top of the mouse surface, and the effect is exactly like using a trackball to scroll, which comes in handy when using the internet and working with documents. It's super easy. Of course, if you can master swiping two fingers left or right on the surface of the mouse, you can do other things like switch between tabs in internet browsers, also a very handy feature. Of course, one of the drawbacks of multi-touch is that you lose some of that tactile feedback that trackball mice have.

Design:

OK, when it comes to design, Apple is doing better than just about every computer maker out there. The Magic Mouse is no exception. The top plastic part is curved symmetrically both from the front to back and the left to right. It is white with a shiny clear coating. There is a gray Apple logo towards the back of the mouse. On the bottom side, there is an aluminum piece that is also curved beautifully with two plastic pieces that stabilize the mouse. There is a battery compartment which holds two AA batteries, along with an on/off switch and a tiny LED light to let you know the mouse is on.

My biggest gripe(s)...

I like this mouse, but unfortunately, there are a few problems.

First, the shape. The mouse looks really sleek, but it doesn't fit as comfortably in the hand. The previous Mighty Mouse felt a bit more substantial, and was easier to hold.

Second, the mouse gives up some of the functionality from the Mighty Mouse. With the Mighty Mouse, I could bring up my dashboard, or open Expose. I can't do it with the Magic Mouse.

Overall:

Looks great, multi touch is awesome, a little awkward to hold, and less functionality. Worth the price if you're a fanboy, need a new mouse, or you get one with a new computer. If your mouse is working great for you, I'd save your money.

Pictures!

So anyway, now you've seen it.

Here's my take. It's accurate. You can get Vista laptops for pretty cheap these days, and even the entry-level Macbook ($1000) is more expensive than most PC laptops. You can definitely find PC laptops that have more impressive specs than Apple laptops. It's true.

However, the one thing that (legal) PC laptops will never have is Mac OS. Mac OS is a better operating system than Windows. Sure, if you don't use it, you don't see the benefits, but once you do, you'll never go back. It's as simple as that.

Mac OS is a luxury operaing system, and Windows is an economy operating system--even though, ironically, the Windows software is more expensive than the Mac OS software when not purchased with a new computer.

I know my Macbook Pro cost way more than most PC laptops cost, and boasts specs that could probably had on a PC laptop for $500 less. But then again, that PC laptop is probably made of plastic (mine's solid aluminum), and runs Vista. Your Vista laptop is a Ford Mustang, my MBP is a BMW.

I'll take the BMW, thanks.

Let's talk about this tax for a second. First of all, comparing an Apple laptop to any PC laptop is like comparing a BMW 3-series to a Chevy Cobalt. My Macbook Pro is made of a solid piece of aluminum, while your average PC is made of plastic. While my LED display is gleaming bright whites, and black blacks, your LCD is showing yellowish whites and greyish blacks. While my OS X is running smoothly, quickly, efficiently (and virus free), your ***ta (and XP for that matter) is clunking along, hogging resources, nagging you, crashing programs, and making you ***'s bitch. Enjoy that.

I am a serious computer user. I am online 12+ hours a day. That's not a lie, either. If I am going to get to work, I need a serious computer to meet my demands. I don't want to download updates to software and hardware all the time. I don't want to hack my registry. I don't want to remove stuff from my win.ini file just to get more stability. I just want to wake my computer up and go to work. My time is worth a lot of money, and every minute I spend optimizing my computer is a minute not spent working on my websites and business. That time adds up. Every reset, every update. All wastes my precious time. If I save just a few hours a month, my Apple tax has been paid back in time.

So, in response to ***soft's BS about an Apple Tax, let's talk about a ***soft tax.

1. Wasted time updating hardware/software
2. The necessity of anti-virus software
3. Wasted time downloading anti-virus software updates
4. Wasted time clicking OK or Cancel when ***ta nags you
5. The blue screen and application crashes. Don't pretend it doesn't happen.
6. Wasted time Rebooting/Reseting. (My iBook G4 has been on for over a year, asleep when I'm not using it)
7. Unintuitive software that is clunky and wastes time
8. Steve Ballmer
9. Funky, confusing interface
10. Too many steps in setting up simple things (like a printer or wireless network)
11. OK, OK. I know. Windows has more games.

So, there you have it. The ***soft tax.

This post is not coming from some Mac fanboy who likes to wait in front of Apple stores for 48 hours to get the latest iPhone. In fact, I don't even have an iPhone. I am an avid computer user, and have been since I was about 8. I used PCs for over 17 years before making the switch to Mac. I even tried to dissuade people from getting Macs for years. I believed what I told people too, and I was right for quite awhile. The problems faced by PC users were not much of an issue until two things happened: Apple released OS X, and ***soft released ***dows Me. At that point, it was no longer worth owning a PC unless you were a gamer or didn't want to spend the $$$ on an Apple. ***dows Me was buggy, sloppy, and worthless. You could run 98 (or even 95) with no consequences. There was no real reason to upgrade, and pretty much everyone I knew at the time stuck with 98, 95 or 2000, unless they got a new system with Me installed on it. ***soft released XP very soon after that, and it was a huge step forward from Me.

However, Steve Jobs had come back to Apple after his failure NeXT project was purchased by Apple. The technologies developed while at NeXT would form the basis for OS X, and is what finally pushed the Mac OS light years beyond what was happening with Windows. The interface was light, beautiful, and intuitive. Subsequent versions of OS X further refined the look and usability of the Mac platform, while adding useful features that allow you to get more done with less hassle.

What happened with Me is happening with ***ta...again. The OS is trying too hard to do too many things. What people really want is a transparent operating system that allows them to use their applications easily and intuitively. Vista is not that. It draws too much attention to itself. It is a jack of all trades, master of none. I admit, the A*** interface is neat, but I don't care about that. I just want to get to work, and not have stuff get choppy because my explorer window has to fade in and out every time I open it.

Take it from me, a very savvy computer user, ***soft is fighting a losing battle in terms of usability and convenience. The Apple Tax. Well, I guess I get what I pay for.

I had already been hearing chatter about something called "The Brick", which as it turned out was a new manufacturing process for the laptop bodies. I had even seen some leaked photos of the new laptop before being officially released. It looked neat, but I was really excited to see one of these Macbooks up close and personal. Fast forward to October 15th, the wife says I can get a new laptop if she can get a diamond ring. Of course, I was totally excited, so we had dinner and went to the friendly Palo Alto Apple Store. Of course, there were tons of fanboys crowded around the latest and greatest, and if you can believe it, they only had one out on display.

I asked the clerk if they had any of them left, and he said "Yeah, we have a few", so I was like, "OK, well, uhhh, I don't want to stand around and geek out like the rest of the folks in here, I want the $2500 one." And he was like "Oh, yeah. Uhhhh, we won't have any of those until tomorrow". So, I was like "Ok, thanks." The next day, I did a little work, then checked in at about 11:30. Approached another clerk who was a little off-kilter. She kept trying to upsell me on everything under the sun. But, the time came, the old credit card was swiped, and I was out the door.

So, I'm feeling all delay of gratification, and before heading home, I did some errands. Finally, I arrive home, but I have to check in with one of my clients, and sadly, most of that work is PC-based. The poor MBP sits in its box for a little while longer. However, it turns out that my client is not ready for me, so I crack it open and turn it on. I get the cute international "Welcome" video, and input all of my contact info. When it's done, I figure its time to start loading up my good software...iWork, Creative Suite, Quickbooks, MS (gag) Office, etc. etc. Configure my router, and I get online. I set up all of my preferences, including the environmentally unfriendly high-end video adapter. I must say, the graphics are pretty darned slick on the LED screen with 512Mb of video ram.

Today, I have to get some little bits. Probably a game to benchmark the video capabilities, a Firewire 800 adapter...Gotta transfer those files from my old iBook. I may (gag) look into VMWare Fusion, so I can ditch my PC laptop, and get some more cash to help pay for my $2700 (w/ tax) toy. I'd also love to get a Time Capsule, so I can do all of my backups wirelessly and effortlessly. I have been really bad about manually backing stuff up, and I've been lucky so far, but I have priceless data on my computer, and I don't want to lose it. So, yeah.

Anyway, who cares about my story...Who wants to see some pictures???

The main event with the new laptops is the manufacturing process. In the old days, laptop bodies were made from several parts that had to be assembled. The new Macbooks (and Macbook Pros) feature a single component to form the top part of the case that they're calling a unibody. This piece is carved from a single piece of aluminum, creating a part that in the old days required several sub-parts. Make sense? This one piece is of course more rigid and more beautiful, and when you see the images of this new laptop, you'll be pretty amazed too.

New Macbook Closed

As for the look of the new Macbooks, you simply cannot beat how attractive these laptops are. The lid of the laptop, which contains the screen is extremely thin--like Macbook Air thin. Surrounding the screen is a black border. Covering the screen is arsenic-free glass. Sleek. Awesome. The body is uber-sleek with no seams or screws on the outside. Those engineers at Apple...A good crowd.

New Macbook Open

As for performance, the new laptops are similarly powered to the laptops they're replacing, with the exception of the graphics. The new laptops feature a new chipset from NVidia called the 9400M. This chipset is said to provide 500% more graphics processing power over the previous Intel integrated graphics of the previous generation of Macbooks. This chipset is also being installed in the new Macbook Pros, to conserve battery life (More on this in a second...)

The new Macbooks also feature a brand new trackpad. Made entirely of glass, it is said to be extremely "glide-able". What is really interesting about it is the lack of a button. The entire trackpad serves as a button, and through software, you can set it up to not only act as a dual-button mouse (ala Windows), but you can also use up to 4 fingers to accomplish certain tasks. COOL!!! Much like the iPhone, you can "pinch" the trackpad to zoom in (and out). You can rotate images by using two fingers and doing a turning motion (like adjusting the volume on a radio). With three fingers you can cycle through multiple images (also similar to the iPhone), and with 4 fingers you can set it up to switch applications, and enact various Expose functions. For those that don't know about Expose, it has completely revolutionized the way I interact with my computer and applications (In a good way, of course!)

New Macbook Trackpad

Also new in the new Macbooks: The display. Using a backlit LED, the new Macbooks achieve better contrast, brighter colors, and more energy efficiency for better battery life. I really can't wait to see these new screens in person.

These new Macbooks are a bit more pricey than the previous generation Macbooks (but not by much, if you consider the $1500 black Macbook), however, the older white Macbooks are seeing a price reduction to $999.

...And now the Macbook Pros

Macbook Pro 15

Everything you read about the new Macbooks is true for the new Macbook Pro laptops. New screens, revolutionary manufacturing and design, glass buttonless trackpads, new graphics processors...etc. However, the new Macbook Pros also feature independant graphics processors. Yes, that's right. In addition to integrated graphics (for better battery life), the new Macbook Pros have independant graphics processors for the ultimate in mobile graphic performance (with a sacrifice in battery life). So, you can use the basic graphics for web browsing, and word processing, then pull out the big guns for Photoshopping and video work.

The new Macbook Pros don't have much more power than the previous models (except in the graphics department), but I expect us to see faster models going into the 3Ghz range. Also of note, the new Macbooks are only available in the 15" size, but if everything goes like it did a few years back when Apple last released new Macbook Pros, we'll be seeing a 17" model coming along very soon.

If you're in the market for a mid-priced (at least in Apple-land) laptop, go for one of the new Macbooks. If you're a pro looking for the very best, I might hold off for a few months on a new Macbook Pro. We may end up seeing some more power from the CPU and possibly a 17" model just around the corner.

These laptops are super sexy, and I can't wait to get to an Apple store to play with one. Once again, our friends at Apple have set the bar higher for every manufacturer of computers by introducing a beautiful product that is higher quality, more powerful, and easier to use than anything else out there. Just another reason why this ex-PC guy has switched to Mac.

I am your host, Alan, and I am a recent convert from PC to Mac. You see, in my younger years, I was all snotty and anti-Mac. I thought Windows was sooo cool, but then I got to the point when I was like "Jeez, Windows takes all this time to load, and you gotta waste all this time to set all of this poop up." Then, I decided, I'd get a lot more done if I actually didn't waste all this time with Windows.

After getting used to the different interface on a Mac, I got to the point where I was zooming through tasks in record speed since Mac stuff is much more intuitive, and requires much less fussing to get things right. You literally wake it up and go. Not only that, but the Mac is so much more stable than your average PC, and there are literally no viruses for Mac. Cooooool.

Anyway, I can tell everyone who reads this with great authority that "Once you go Mac, you'll never go back". Once you get used to a Mac, you'll wonder why you waited so long.

Welcome to the good life that Mac offers. Enjoy the info and enjoy the deals.

Later,
Alan