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ActiveSync for Hotmail is starting to be enabled! And once iOS4 comes out you’ll be able to have several ActiveSync accounts on your Apple mobile device at once. Awesome.
More from WMExperts.
More from the SproutCore blog.
Now you can use your iPad to connect to your desktop. Check this cool app out on the App Store
I’ve been waiting for the Nike+ Heart Rate Monitor since Nike+ first arrived. This is the missing link for just about every serious runner.
Intrinsity’s the company responsible for developing, along with Samsung, the Apple A4 processor. The A4 is already in the iPad and almost certainly will be coming to an iPhone and iPod touch near you.
More at NYT: Apple Buys a Chip Maker Thought to Be Behind the iPad Brain.
AppleInsider lays it out here.
If these numbers are to be believed, Apple’s not exactly crying over sales of the iPad at this point. The true test will come after initial supplies have stabilized and new apps begin to emerge.
As for now I just wish the unexposed and ignorant would stop saying the iPad is just a big iPhone or iPod touch. Making that statement shows a serious lack of understanding of the importance of the entire Apple user experience.
I’ve noticed a lot of Google-ites going absolutely manic over Google Buzz and its implications. You can tell they’ve bought into Google’s approach without question. Many are unimpressed with the new iPad to the point of parroting the usual “it’s just a big iPod touch” cliché – but they fail to recall recent history and iPhone 1G’s place in it.
It’s easy to forget that the iPhone was launched with no app store and no way to buy and run apps until much later. People criticized this in large part because they knew there would be times their device would be connectionless and/or they didn’t want to have to wait to refresh an app every time they started or ran it.
At the time no one had any idea how data would be manipulated on the device other than your basic scroll and pinch and a tight keyboard and only now they’re starting to get past the stylus or physical keyboard mindset. Every day developers are creating more intuitive uses for iPhone and copycat hardware, particularly on the games front – and the iPad will be driven by entirely new markets. Think carriers like UPS that spend millions on a system they’ve built and maintained that can be easily moved to the iPad for a fraction of the cost, or hospitals doing exactly the same thing. Small businesses will use this thing as a field POS instead of being effectively priced out of the market. Kiosks won’t need to spend thousands just to sell merchandise while other retail outlets could completely overhaul their sales model to more closely resemble what Apple does in their stores but without screen size constraints that effectively lock out other business types. This thing even replaces the pad of paper taken to meetings: people often don’t take laptops because their screen blocks others at the table and sends a negative signal. Now it’s gone and we can even work documents in these meetings using a device that can easily turn to their native portrait form factor.
The iPad is in a similar situation to the iPhone when it was launched. The OS really hasn’t come of age for the form factor and will almost certainly see a dramatic upgrade when iPhone/iPad OS 4.0 arrives. I’m betting the biggest surprise will be the merging of the Mac OS X Dashboard widget design and a class of apps (like the iPhone weather app) that work on the iPad just like they would as Mac OS X widgets. Additionally, and more importantly, the device is perfectly positioned for a substantial segment of the market that wants no part of traditional computing. Some of them purchased or considered purchasing netbooks but this OS will be far more elegant and easy to use with the iPad form factor than the traditional OS + netbook form factor, and pretty much everything they want to do will be available to them.
It’s probably also a good bet that anyone comfortable with Google apps and cloud computing as each stands right now will not have nearly as much of a use for this device. Why? Because eventually HTC or someone like them will build a device that matches its hardware capabilities (barring lawsuit fears) almost feature for feature, just as they already have with Nexus One. Sure, it won’t be nearly as elegant but it will do what it needs to do to accomplish the tasks of an OS that isn’t the iPhone OS while Apple will continue to develop seamlessly forward, rendering existing user experiences continually challenged from a relative standpoint.
Despite being a lifelong techie in an IBMer family I find myself very unfulfilled when faced with the immaturity of most cloud-dependent apps and very particularly disinclined to work with Google’s frontend. It feels like the maximum realized potential of an inferior set of design and appearance standards and forever limited by the need to be basic and cross-platform while being serviceable in a lab geek sorta way. It’s like wearing khakis and a polo shirt to an important event. And even worse, the IA painfully obscures some very important application settings, leading me to actually prefer Microsoft’s overkill design mantra more and Apple’s elegance far more.
Eventually cloud computing should be about sync to and from the device and backend, not about the app frontend since consistency across vendors is a virtual impossibility. With HTML5 fully exploited and ubiquitous the browser will capably approximate all this regardless of connection state, from synched database to synched interface. But we’ll still effectively be returning to distributed computing because computing tends to always come back to the user interface, its ease of use, and robustness and feedback. It’s hard to imagine, all things equal, that this doesn’t put interface masters like Apple in the driver’s seat. Not only do they execute better than anyone in this space, they’ve already built both closed and browser driven development platforms and baked design consistency standards deep within each.
Though I know I’m by no means speaking for a large bunch of folks, these shortcomings are defeatable by implementing a more mature connectionless/sync-oriented data model (the reason many still use IMAP mail clients, for example) and a far more robust, attractive, and logical interface.
The whole package – software, hardware, and how it works (easily, consistently, expectedly, and beautifully) seems to be the holy grail. And if the hardware paradigm for the iPhone/touch achieves the hardware part of this in its form factor building something highly similar in a larger form factor that takes advantage of the increased real estate (through as yet unreleased software) the familiarity will be a huge win that no one else can achieve. The real questions are how much of the backend will Apple build and how much they will depend (or be allowed to depend) on backend from providers like Google.
…and then the iPhone, iPod touch (and iPad?) VoIP floodgates opened. OK, phone.com. I’m waiting for your app for that.
Like almost everyone else I’ve found a lot of old friends on Facebook since joining some time ago. And also (like everyone else) most of my friends are from childhood and are, logically, very close to my age.
At the moment that means were all approaching forty years old, we’re all watching grandparents die, and our parents aren’t getting any younger either. Not that they need any help figuring this out as they say goodbye to their parents.
Those of us who have children are seeing them transition into at least their second or third defined phase. What was once a helpless baby is now an independent thinking, analyzing, and often independent being that doesn’t need us as much as before and is showing strong reflections of what we’ve taught – or exposed to – them. This rush of diverse emotional feedback causes most of us to reflect inwardly at the things that have happened to us throughout our lives, perhaps more lucidly than ever before.
And how are we going to move forward? I can’t attest to what most of my friends have decided. I feel as if what’s come before is actually a “pre-test” of a sort. It’s almost like saying, “You’re finished with your audition and now it’s time to perform.”
The funniest part is who I thought to be and who I want to be are two entirely different things. What was so important to me not so long ago has become incredibly insignificant. Perhaps I succeeded beyond my wildest expectations too soon. Perhaps my values have changed. Or maybe the world I’ve seen around me is not the same as the world I expected.
Regardless the answer, I feel I’ve learned several things. Everything we were ever told when we were young about not wasting every single moment is true. Every sentiment written in a store-bought card, every story that seems too good to be true, every dream we’ve ever had… there is no reason why we shouldn’t be actively pursuing these.
And mortality truly isn’t the real enemy – it’s regret.
Remember that list you made? Stop looking at it as that thing you rehash every January 1 or throw away every March after you fail to realize your most desired goals. Start checking items off this list, one at a time. If you can’t complete at least some items quickly, add items you can. Be realistic. Don’t set yourself up for failure. More importantly, don’t set yourself up for regret.
Start now, don’t delay. Time doesn’t care if it’s January 1, or January 15, or September 18, or December 11. You can’t delay death so don’t delay your life. Most importantly, don’t delay your goals.
My guess is that’s one thing on which all my forty year old friends would agree.
Here’s how to get started:
1. If you haven’t already, read Getting Things Done by David Allen. If you have, read it again. Here is more info if you haven’t or are unfamiliar. And by the way, his book is available just about everywhere including Amazon (get it here). This will change how you look at everything you do, and in particular will give you amazing control over all the stuff that gets in the way of your most important – yet hardest to achieve – goals.
2. Grab an app that’ll keep you on track every day. My favorite for the Mac is OmniFocus. There’s another one called Things that’s pretty good, and more can be found here. OmniFocus is by no means the cheapest, but are you really going to put a price on gaining control over your achievements? While you’re at it, think about things like syncing with your iPhone or smartphone, because this is something you want to have with you everywhere (OmniFocus, Things, and others have an app for that, by the way). If you don’t have a Mac, try TeuxDeux or use Google’s To-Do list and Calendar apps on the web. Again, I don’t recommend you do this on the cheap because you’ll find yourself right back where you are now. It’s like trying to run a marathon after training by walking around your house.
3. Thoroughly read the document set for the app. In fact, this probably should be done before purchasing, so hopefully you’ve been working with a trial version at this point. See? I’m proof of how important it is to get your life in order!
4. Use every ounce of discipline you have. It’s a change keeping your list updated and close by at all times, but it’s no different than brushing your teeth every day without fail because you don’t want them to fall out. Remind yourself how this is changing your life, and consider this effort your *only* goal for now, since without it all other goals can’t be achieved with nearly the success.
If you need help along the way or simply discipline to stay with it, don’t forget there are hundreds of sources online for assistance and inspiration.
Here’s to a life without regret.
