First Thoughts on iPad + Ebooks

Work bought me a new 64gb iPad 2 (wi-fi only). Not really a bonus for finishing my dissertation, but it feels that way. Impressions? Like everyone says, it's just a big iPhone. If you are used to the iPhone/iTouch, it won't wow you. But it will still fill you with a slow, fizzy elation, if only from the undeniable fact that you are holding the future of reading in your hands.

This fact really hit me when I downloaded a copy of Wired magazine for the iPad. It incorporates innovative navigation and formatting, audio, video, and other rich content in a seamless and compelling way. You read a book review and then just hit a button to download a chapter from the book. A film review will have a stills gallery and trailer, etc. It sounds (duh) like the Web, but the tablet format and touch navigation make it much more compelling experience. It really is comparable to reading a book, but a super-book.

It's way beyond the Kindle. When Tani the Kindle User first saw my iPad, she had zero interest. Ten seconds into browsing Wired, she said, "Oh, I have to get one of these." The future of glossies, clearly, will be on color tablets.

The future of ebooks more generally will be on both color and e-ink tablets, it seems. E-ink readers will soon be cheap as chips, though already, even the Nook Color is just $250. And now that I am actually using a tablet, I confess that my love of analog books is a bit diminished. The ergonomics of tablet reading are great, I'm used to reading on screen (anymore, who isn't?), and the convenience is surprisingly compelling. It's increasing the amount of discretionary reading I do, which I would never have expected. (That may just be Shiny New Toy Syndrome. Time will tell.)

Yet another surprise: I'm seriously reconsidering the future of my physical book collection. I have a whole wall of my large study taken up with books I never read. Many I have never read once. I have hundreds more at work, in boxes, on other bookshelves, etc. A certain subset I own as a collector, and that segment I expect both to keep and to grow. But all those crumbling Baen and Del Rey paperbacks? As physical objects they give me little pleasure, and space is at a premium. Why keep them? Nostalgic commitment to print, even among print lovers, is evaporating before our eyes.

This is why we are using a very, very precious empty staff position
at my institute to hire a digital publishing specialist. We're rapidly
reaching the tipping point where if your publications are not pushed to
portable devices, you are severely limiting your readership. I've been asked to take a point position on the hire. This should be interesting.

First Trip to iBooks

So, I load up iBooks for the first time and find that three of the top ten paid books are by Mormons, two by Stephenie Meyer and one by Glenn Beck (a novel, ghostwritten). I've puzzled on this before. Mormons seem to have a disproportionate presence in politics, popular fiction, and multilevel marketing companies. In all those areas we are consistently an embarrassment. Can someone decode this for me?

Apple is reported to have added 30,000 free titles from Project Gutenberg. Searching for "Gutenberg" will get you to quite a few. But trying Treasure Island out on the iBook reader, it doesn't impress me. There are basically no configuration options. Parts of the copy of I downloaded do not scale to portrait orientation, so you have read it landscape, ten lines at a time. When you change orientation, the iBook reader takes a five full seconds to respond. The book has plates, but again, they only display landscape and are a bit scrambled. Etc., etc. Stanza beats this reader to pieces. Color me unimpressed.

iPod Thoughts

As every geek knows, Apple refreshed their iPod line last week. Is there anything to get excited about? Not a lot.

The iPod touch got a price cut for the 8gb model ($199), with 32gb ($299) and 64gb ($399) models following. All evidence points to the probability that Apple had planned to include a video camera in the new models, but had to pull it just weeks before launch, due to technical problems. That camera will likely reappear in at least the 32/64gb models in the near future, with little fanfare. Apple is not calling the new models just introduced the third generation (3G), but rather the "iPod touch (Late 2009)" models. That almost screams, "Don't buy me!"

The 32/64gb models also have new processors that make them up to 50% faster than the previous models and the current 8gb model. They also support a new graphics API which, again, the 8gb model does not. So the 8gb model may be relatively cheap now, but it is also relatively slow and will not be able to run some next-gen software. Stay away.

The new iPod nano (5G) differs very little from the previous model. It includes a VGA video camera, but that camera cannot take still photos and does not have autofocus. It's probably a $2 part and does nothing for me. But the new nano does have a slightly larger screen (.2" larger) that is also brighter (TFT), and now gets an FM radio. All that does not add up to much, and most critics see this revision as just a glomming on of gimmicks to extend its lifespan. But it remains a good basic player and I will be getting one this next year.

I won't even comment on the iPod shuffle. It's still lame.

For competition, there are some great new PMPs just out. In the shuffle class, the new Sansa Clip+ now has a microSD slot, making this tiny, brilliant-sounding player almost perfect. Starting at $40 retail, and with an 8gb microSD card being just $15, you can have a great high-capacity player the size of a matchbook for very cheap. I use my Clip constantly.

In the nano class, two new Sony S series Walkmans starting at $110 (NWZ-S544) and $150 (NW-S644) are looking to be much better players. And starting at $80 (NWZ-E443), the entry-level E series remains a real price-performance bargain. Sonys have always had better sound than iPods and support drag-and-drop music transfer, which is my preference. These models are just arriving in the US.


A Sony NWZ-S544 ($110), with some serious external stereo speakers built in and a nifty kickstand. No reviews out yet on how good they sound, but I think they are a great idea. Why didn't someone do this sooner?

Finally, just announced, the new Zune HD is Microsoft's best player yet (and they have all been good). The tough reviewers at Gizmodo even say it is simply "the best touchscreen PMP on the market." 'Nuff said.

But really, while everyone is beating Apple at hardware and value, iTunes overrides every price and performance advantage that the competition can field. I will be getting a nano, not because I especially like the nano itself, but because I need a small player with a screen that works with iTunes. I listen to podcasts on my way to work, and iPods+iTunes are by a huge margin the best solution for podcasts. In fact, for many podcasts, the only solution. They're called podcasts for a reason.

So, for better or worse, I'm still wedded to Apple.

Heatin' Up the Game(s)

I wrote about the iPhone/Touch phenomenon last week just ahead of the new iPhone 3G S launch, and speculated that the next Touch would be a must-have. And I'm sticking to that. The next gen Touch and Nano will probably not be out until September, but we now have the hardware specs for new iPhone, and it rocks.

TouchArcade gives us a detailed look under the hood and we find a major revision of the CPU core and GPU. In brief, the core gets a 188MHz bump in speed, which is nice, but that is just part of a massively revised architecture that is more powerful and efficient. I'm guessing at least 50% more powerful. Even more exciting is the GPU revision, the graphics engine. It should produce 3.5x-7x the geometry throughput and 25%- 150% more pixel bandwidth than the original iPhone, depending on how they clock it. And it will be OpenGL ES 2.0-capable, meaning, programmers can make even better graphics for it.

The article ends by noting, "It may look like just the same old iPhone on the outside, but under the hood it's a screamer. Sony and Nintendo have good cause to shift from worry to fear as this hardware makes its way into users' hands. The PSP has nothing on Apple's latest mobile game console."

Look for all this hardware under the hood of the next Touch, likely out end of summer. I know I'm starting to save my pennies.

Touch Notes II

More iPhone/Touch paradigmata:

Touch screen + accelerometer: That large, hi-res screen is beautiful and functional, but Apple's brilliant implementation of the touch interface is a paradigm maker. Pinch zoom, two-finger rotation, etc., are becoming new standards for device interaction. Combined with an accelerometer, you have a whole new device interface. This is as revolutionary as Apple's introduction of the mouse. Touch screens, accelerometers and mice were of course not invented by Apple. Apple just made them really work. Huzzah!

I am most impressed by a few programs that make this new interface foundational, doing things that just cannot be done on a PC. I'll profile two in a near-future post. And Apple's success here is breeding imitators, like the slew of new touch screen netbooks forthcoming and Microsoft's aggressive support for touch interfaces in Windows 7 (see here). Touch screens are (finally!) about to arrive en masse.

apps, Apps, APPS!: Powerful CPU and graphics, big screen, revolutionary interface, ease of use and low cost for apps are driving incredible software sales through the App Store. More than 1 billion apps already sold (April 23, 2009), and the App Store has been open less than a year (from July 10, 2008). As ever more devices are sold, prices are dropping, quality rising, and sales are still accelerating. And this is all just getting started.

Simply put, Apple has created a new computing platform.

iPhone/Touch developers are still mostly independents, many just porting apps they had already published for PCs or other mobile devices. And they've made a lot of money, to everyone's surprise. Like, $10,000 a day. This platform is an independent developer's dream, since there is (as of yet) no publishing or marketing cost required to sell their software, beyond a $99 yearly registration fee to Apple.

Now the majors are getting into it with big, original titles. They have to. The iPhone/Touch is the hottest and most crowded platform in the software universe. And with 1000 new APIs being introduced with OS 3.0, we're just seeing the beginning of what developers can do.

I am close to taking the plunge and buying my first "premium" ($10 and up) Touch app . A game, of course, probably Need for Speed. I've played NFS for years on the PC and the new Touch version is getting rave reviews. It is among the first big productions from a major publisher, and much more is in the pipeline.

The low price, staggering quantity, innovation and rising quality of Touch games is pushing it into competition with dedicated handheld game consoles. Many Touch games currently are of the casual variety, for which there is a huge market, but console-quality titles like NFS are arriving.

Many believe the Touch has already started crowding the consoles' market space (see here, here and here). It may even challenge the success of the upcoming Sony PSP Go, even if more by making new gamers than stealing old ones, as the Wii did with the PS3. But I guarantee both Sony and Nintendo are wringing their hands. They rely on developers and developers go where the money is. Which is at Apple.

With so much innovative software available for a buck or two, or free, the App Store has me hooked like crack. Look out for a bunch of mini software reviews forthcoming.

But I end with a word of warning. If you start down the iPhone/Touch road, start saving for upgrades now. Not only will OS 3.0 cost Touch owners $10, software performance will always be hardware dependent and developers develop for the latest platform. The next Touch will be, yes, that much better than the current G2. It will be a must-own. Start saving today.

Touch Notes I

I find this to be a richly pivotal time for consumer technology, partly due to netbooks, but mostly due to my iPod Touch. The iPhone/Touch is something more that just the second coming of the iPod or a cool new smartphone. It's actually not user friendly as mobile music player, and to a large extent, a phone is a phone. It's all the non-phone features, had in common with the Touch, that make the iPhone unique. So let's look a those common features which are making and breaking paradigms.

The greatest feature is the hallmark of all Apple products, which makes it less revolutionary but is certainly critical. The iPhone/Touch looks great, has a brilliant GUI, is simple to use, and just flat works—hassle free. Most importantly, this extends to iTunes and the App Store. If I find a program that I like, I click a button, it downloads to my phone, and two minutes later I'm using it. My only complaint is that the iTunes client software is very sluggish and a little buggy on the PC. I've never used it on a Mac, but I understand the difference is dramatic. Some have suggested that Apple sabotages the PC version to drive consumers to their computers. Not impossible.

Now, on to the revolution:

Internet: PDAs and applications for them have been around for years. I've owned just about every incarnation of the PDA, starting with a Casio Palmtop PC about 10 years ago. I've had apps for them all, of course, but they all soon ended up in drawers gathering dust.

PDA apps were underwhelming, largely due to underpowered devices, small screens and clunky interfaces. And as I now realize, their lack of internet access was very limiting. My last PDA (a Dell) did have wireless access, but it was slow, as was my Dash smartphone. And again, the screens were just too small, the browsers too limited.

The iPhone/Touch has surprisingly fast wireless access and the screen is just big enough, combined with pinch-zoom, to view non-mobilized websites. Which results in the first fully-functional web client that fits in your pocket. Well, let's say 80% functional. The lack of Flash, pdf, and some other plug-in support is limiting.

But given the aggressive development of hardware Flash support by Nvidia for mobile devices, and increasingly video-capable netbooks crowding the edges of Apple's market, I'm very sure Apple is working very hard on Flash. I'm looking for it in the next hardware update, if not OS 3.0. And we already know that YouTube support will be improved in 3.0. Mobile video on the iPhone is a top concern for developers, so we are just seeing the beginning of the iPhone/Touch's potential as a video delivery platform.

(continued)

Comic Books: All Grown Up (Part 3)

Of course, comic popularity is even bigger in movies than in print. Badly-animated children's cartoons and silly live-action TV series have given way to Hollywood blockbusters, and even to independent hits like American Splendor. It began with Superman (1978) and then Batman (1989), a decade later, but now with the massive success of the Spider-Man and X-Men movie franchises, comic-based movies are coming fast and thick. As many as came out in 2008, this year looks to be even more so the Year of the Comic Book Movie.

Naturally this is giving print comic popularity a bump, and at the same time, digital comic collecting has taken off. Comic enthusiasts began a number of years a go to scan their old comics into pdfs and share them with fellow fans on internet forums and newsgroups. The more ethical groups impose a moratorium on trading files of comics less than one year old. No one wants to hurt the publishers. But the publishers have been curiously slow to capitalize on this interest in digital copies of their back-issues.

But I predict that will change very soon, thanks to the iPhone/Touch. You can now purchase digital comic reader software for the iPhone/Touch (ComicZeal) that is specifically designed to read the most popular formats for scanned comics. The interface is a little rough (it is fairly new), but it works very well. And, the software publisher also has out-of-copyright comics available for download.

The major publishers will certainly make paid content available on iTunes sooner or later, and iVerse is leading the way with the backing of a number of smaller independents. The idea of iPhone comics has been dissed. The content problem (lack and cost thereof) can be solved, but there is not much to do about the small screen size. For me the Touch screen is just big enough, but just barely.

The majors (DC and Marvel) are already testing the waters with different comic-based products, in particular with voice-over narrated, semi-animated comics which Marvel calls In-Motion or simply motion comics. These are based on print comics and have some big talent behind them, like Joss Whedon. Most ambitiously, a 12-episode motion version of The Watchmen was published on iTunes, as well as on DVD and Blu-Ray. Unfortunately, at $20 on iTunes, the price is simply obscene.

But motion comics are really minimalist cartoons, not comics. Since a lot of enthusiasts are already trading scanned comics, and loading them on their iPhones/Touchs, the major publishers will not be long in getting their content up. In fact, Marvel has a digital comics subscription service, but they need more content, especially at $60 a year. And it's not available through iTunes. But it'll happen.

2nd Class Citizens

I'm looking forward to the new iPhone/iPod Touch OS (3.0) and am glad that my Touch will support it. (See officially here and unofficially here.) Some highlights for me are landscape keyboard support across all apps, more sophisticated app support and in-app purchases, and most especially, greatly enhanced YouTube support. I love YouTube and love using it on my Touch, but the current support for it blows.

But while iPhone owners get this update for free, Touch owners will have to shell out $9.95. Why? Because there are competitors to the iPhone but not to the Touch. And trust me, we Touch owners have no practical choice but to upgrade. All apps from here on out will be coded with the OS 3.0 SDK. Do not upgrade, and your Touch is hastening towards obsolescence. Isn't it great that now even our music players are on the software upgrade extortion merry-go-round? You just gotta love being the willing victim of a monopoly.

Update: DailyTech just noted that Apple has fessed up that the Touch does indeed contains a bluetooth chip (Apple in the past denied it). It was used originally for its lame Nike+ service. BUT, if you want to use it for bluetooth headphones, syncs, remotes, etc., you will, no surprise, have to cough up 10 clams for the OS upgrade. Grrrr.

The Anti-Touch

Apple has revised its Shuffle, perhaps to ensure that it really is the polar antithesis of the Touch. While the Touch does so much that its ability to play music is almost forgotten, the Shuffle only plays music, and that just barely. The Touch is highly configurable, with numerous bells, whistles and gewgaws, and multiple controls. The new Shuffle has one switch on it and no buttons. It still shuffles, naturally, and you can change the volume and skip tracks with headphone cord-mounted controls. But that's about it.

It's "hot new feature" is an artificial (vocoder-like) voice that tells you the name of the song and artist you're listening to. Yawn. It also supports multiple playlists. That is more useful. But you can't buy a player today that does not support playlists. So yawn again.

And the new Shuffle comes with multiple downsides. First, $80 is a premium price, even for a 4gb player. And the smaller size is not useful. They've gone from a player that is slightly larger than my thumb to one slightly smaller. I don't need something that small. As a NYT article said, "Of course, at this size, Apple may want to consider adding another feature: a locator beacon. The new Shuffle’s so small, it’s only a matter of time before you lose it."

But the real deal-killer is the fact that you have to use the Apple-supplied earbuds with it, since it requires the integrated controls to operate. Some of us just cannot use the Apple buds (ouch!) and their sound quality is terrible. Doubtless Apple (and perhaps some 3rd parties, too) will introduce upgrade earphones. But Apple's earphones are never a good value, and in any case, you simply cannot use your 'phones of choice.

Of course, Apple is trying to hold onto a profitable niche. I expect these cost $20 or less to produce. I personally was hoping Apple would take a cue from Chinese Shuffle knockoffs (see left) and put a little screen on it.

But if you want something like that, with much better sound besides, just get a Sansa Clip.

Touched: Solebon Solitaire

I mentioned in my review of Mondo Solitaire a competing game, Solebon Solitaire. I did in fact get it and have been testing them in a head-to-head smackdown. The winner? Undecided. Mondo has many more games, an insane number, but Solebon is adding more with every update. Mondo is a little more automated (it moves cards where they should go for you), which may be a pro or con, depending on preference. The big difference is graphics. Solebon uses a vertical screen orientation rather than horizontal, as Mondo does. The cards are also larger and the graphics a bit nicer. I find the instructions a bit better, too. And for $2.00, I can't imagine anyone feeling they did not get their money's worth. Disappointingly, neither of these solitaires just has my favorite variant, Australian Patience.

Touched: Mondo Solitaire

So, what is it with me and reviews? What can I say. I like reading 'em and writing 'em. But at least I'm not reviewing another set of headphones. At least today.

I've been really loving my iPod Touch. At night I get in bed, put on some soothing tunes (Fleet Foxes!), and play a game for a bit to unwind. Touch Physics was great for a while, but it's just hard enough not to be entirely relaxing. Now I'm really grooving on Mondo Solitaire.

This actually surprises me. Every computer has it, everyone has played it, but I've never been a big fan of solitaire. I'm a serious computer gamer, which means (almost by definition) I'm not a casual gamer, and have never liked casual games. But this version of solitaire is very well implemented. Graphically, if it is not Hardwood Solitaire, the ultimate solitaire for the PC, it still looks good, given the screen territory the programmers had to work with. It is very easy to play with the touch screen, though occasionally my fat fingers make it a bit hard to see exactly what I'm poking at. And it has every conceivable variation of solitaire (over 100, they say). I picked it up on a 99 cent sale over Christmas. It is now back at $5.00. If that's a bit too much bank for a card game, or you just want something basic, then Sol Free Solitaire is both free and very good. I like its graphics even better than Mondo's, but of course, it has fewer games (just five). I note that the full version, Solebon Solitaire (35 games), is now priced at $1.99. I may just have to try it . . .

Physics Can Be Fun!

I said in my review that the iPod Touch 3rd party apps were very good, and that in particular there were some first-rate games appearing. I have only been sampling the free and 99cent variety, but I've come across a few even in that modest segment that are really well done.

I've read that one of the hot indy games on the PC right now is a game called Crayon Physics Deluxe, which was also just released to the App Store for the iPhone/Touch. I have not coughed up the five clams for that (yet), but I have been playing its cheaper cousin, Touch Physics. For a buck, it is a mini-marvel. Descriptions are dull, but in a nutshell: the game has you draw shapes on screen, which then follow the laws of physics. So, round things roll, square things stack, etc. You need to use these shapes to move an object from one side of the screen to the other. Sounds dull, but it's really loads of fun. But don't take my word for it. Live large. Blow a buck on it and see for yourself.

The iPod Touch: Yes, It Is All That

My parents gave my wife and I an iPod Touch for Christmas. I've been jonesing for one, but if I'd known how utterly cool they were, I would have done something rash months ago. Yes, I know, I know, I was just arguing a couple of weeks ago that iPods are not all that. What can I say. I've been Touched.

But in fact, an iPod Touch is not just a DAP, a lowly audio player. Sure it plays audio and it sounds good. It sounds almost as good as my incredible $14 Sansa Clip, which is saying something. But I can't imagine anyone buying it just to play music. It has much more in common with my Dash smartphone than my Clip. It is, of course, just an iPhone minus the phone. That makes it part PDA, part PMP (personal media player), part netbook, and a whole lot of eye candy. But why exactly am I geeking out?

Wireless: I got a Dell PDA several years ago that did wireless, and it blew my mind. For about 10 minutes. Then I realized it was too slow and the screen too small for it to be really usable. Same with my Dash. But the Touch has a screen just large enough to effectively browse, even if you have to squint a bit at tiny type. And the new 2G's faster 533MHz processor kicks things along pretty snappily. But one question: Where's the wireless sync?

Apps: The built-in apps are not that great, given the Touch's typical uses. They're leftovers from the iPhone. But I've just started sampling some 3rd-party apps and they some hold real promise. The most important one to me is a good reader, and Stanza is far better than any reader I have used on my other devices. I'm just waiting for a proper Adobe Reader for pdfs, which must be in the works. Even if it's no Kindle, the Touch is still a highly usable palmtop e-book reader. And games rock. Again, the Touch is no PSP, but already it is proving to be a fairly competent gaming platform. I'm this close to getting SimCity . . .

iTunes Store: I hate the iTunes software, I hate DRM-managed music, but the iTunes store is brilliant. I'll still never buy music from Apple, but they sure make it easy. I will buy applications and videos, and wow is that easy too. But what really rules are podcasts—no other player is even half as easy to catch podcasts with. As I've said before, Apple owns the market first and foremost because of iTunes, and it is very well integrated into the Touch.

Movies: Again, the large screen and snappy CPU make this a very capable movie player. It leaves my iPod Video in the dust. I fully expect to watch movies on this baby, and enjoy them. That, for me, is epochal.

Oh yeah, music: Cover flow and album art is gorgeous. The interface is slick. The sound is good, almost even great. It falls short of the warmth, roundness and detail of the Sansas, and has nothing like the Sony's booty, but it may just sound as good as any iPod ever made.

So, movies, books, music and a capable web browser, all in a device the size of a calculator. What's not to like? I'll pick at just three nits.

First, I'm disappointed that Apple has not done more to take advantage of the 2G Touch's great power and graphics during playback. No VU meters, no AV plugins, nothing but static album art, if your album has it. (If not, you get a homely stock logo screen.) This may be a powersaving measure, but you're idleing a racecar. I'm sure some 3rd party will amp this up if Apple doesn't.

Second, Apple really sticks it to you for storage. The $70 jump from 8gb to 16gb is a racket, given that an 8gb SD card is $15 retail. Really, I just flat want a microSD slot, like the Sansas and most smartphones. But Apple is effectively marketing from a monopoly, so it will never happen.

Finally, the Touch is brilliant for stationary listening, but its design just does not work well for active use, since you have to be looking at it to change tracks, etc. Apple went part way in addressing this problem when they added the external volume control to the 2G Touch. But inherent design limitations will always make it a less than ideal player for on-the-move listening. But for that they'll sell you a Nano or Shuffle.

I could grumble more, but that does not change the fact that the Touch is a watershed product. Again Apple breaks out with a product that almost creates a new segment. With the price drop, it owns its price point. They'll sell a zillion. I just can't wait to see what they come up with next.