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Ten Apps That Make Me Want an iPad

// April 22nd, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Computing

I did my best to try and be objective about the iPad. I even went to great lengths to document those things that I like about the iPad and those I don’t. It only took me roughly five minutes of watching someone use one at the airport for me to get all Gollumish, “I wantss it!” Having had more time to check out the apps available and some of the online videos that desire has only intensified.

Here are ten apps, in no particular order, that really make me want an iPad of my very own:

Dragon Diction

Dragon Diction is the mobile equivalent of Nuance Communication’s Dragon Naturally Speaking, easily the most recognized voice recognition package there is. By all accounts, Dragon Diction performs very well and provides users with the ability to write just about anything with their voice.

WordPress

WordPress has evolved over time into the blogging platform of choice; the very platform I use for all of my blogs. I’m a big fan of the WP app for my Blackberry, but it is really only good for minor edits, changes and approvals. With an iPad friendly app and our good friend Dragon Diction, I can now blog more effectively on the move. Heck, I can write a rough draft for a post on the long commute home, by merely talking to my iPad.

Evernote

I cannot say enough good things about the cloud application that is Evernote. I use it on my Windows laptop with the native Windows client. I use it on my Mac with the native Mac client. I use it on the web using the web interface. And, I use it on my Blackberry. Evernote is the ultimate note collection system that allows you to capture snippets of notes from the web, pictures, voice recordings, files and simple text notes. The iPad app doesn’t look all that different from the other clients, but it provides a mobile interface that is infinitely more useful than the one on the BB.

At Bat MLB 2010

Some of you may be aware that I haven’t subscribed to any form of television service for nearly a decade. I watch most TV shows, when I want to and how I want to either by streaming it over the web or purchasing them through the AppleTV. For the most part, I’ve been more than content with this arrangement, but there is no substitute for watching a Major League Baseball game. That is until I saw this nifty iPad app. Check out the video for the guided tour on the right.

TabToolKit

TabToolKit, from the makers of GuitarToolKit, is yet another great mobile application geared directly for guitarists. Just the other day, I was at a friend’s house jamming on our guitars trying desperately to remember how to play songs we haven’t played in a while. With the TabToolKit we could have propped the iPad up, looked up some tabs and immediately started playing. The best feature is the synthesized playback for those times where the Tab alone doesn’t accurately convey how something should sound.

Calendar

One of the best applications I have seen for the iPad is the built-in Calendar. Long before the term “tablet computer” was on the tip of anybody’s tongue, I had been trying to think of a way to get an online, multi-user calendar up on the wall in the house. Paper calendars with scribble marks and various forms of shorthand are great and all, but a real computerized calendar that syncs with my computer and phone would be a monumental improvement. Enter Apple’s core Calendar application. Simple, elegant and effective.

Epicurious

Continuing the theme of the perfect kitchen computer, a wall mounted iPad and this free application would eliminate countless cookbooks and make cooking fun, at least for me. Epicurious is one of the premier, online recipe sites on the net and this app provides an elegant extension of their site and the content contained within. It just might be the only thing to get me to follow a recipe.

MY:RO

For me, MY:RO is a pipe dream, but a dream I’ll revisit from time to time, I’m sure. There is no geek on the planet who has watched an episode of Star Trek TNG and not envied at the ability to control one’s environment through a touch panel on the wall or with the sound of their voice. The my:ro application for the iPad can make that dream a reality. With my:ro you can control the lights, appliances, HVAC, security system and home theater in your home all using an iPad. Just don’t ask how much all of the various pieces that iPad will control cost.

Scrabble

Last but not least, is the legendary game Scrabble. Words cannot describe how much I love the game of Scrabble, but I’m sure you could spell a few using this iPad app and maybe even incorporate a Double Word Score while you’re at it. You can play the game alone on your iPad, against someone else using their iPad, or get the whole family together using the iPad as the board and each person holding their letters on their own iPhone or Touch. Then ask yourself if you’d happily spend roughly $1200 to play a $20 board game. I would.

What I Dislike About the iPad

// February 28th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Computing

If you recently read my post on What I Like About the iPad, you probably got the distinct impression that I’m one of Steve’s mindless automatons. The truth is that while I “love” the idea of the iPad, I’m not so naive as to think the iPad is the bringer of doom for laptops and netbooks. In fact, there is an awful lot not to like about the iPad.

First and foremost, allow me to be fair that while I do not care for typing on my laptop for any extended period of time, I am under no delusion that typing on the iPad will be any better. In fact, I think it will be largely unusable for anything other than the shortest and simplest of writing tasks. I certainly would not want to type this post on an iPad. In order for the iPad, or any tablet type computer to be of any real use to writers is through the use of voice recognition software (ala Dragon Naturally Speaking) or stylus and handwriting recognition. Both of which are technologies that have improved significantly over the years, but still have many miles to go before they sleep.

The biggest problem I have with the iPad is that the device allows its users to experience the past, present and future of personal computing at exactly the same time. It is quite literally the perfect time machine. No, I’m not talking about “Time Machine”, Mac OS’s backup utility, but the fact that the iPad allows the user to travel back to a simpler time. A time when users were not troubled by the burden of multi-tasking. Why on earth would anyone want to leave their email open while they open a browser to look soemthing up? All kidding aside, this limitation is going to annoy the hell out of most, if not all iPad users.

In keeping with the time travel theme, when was the last time you used a computer with only 16, 32 or 64 GB of storage? I’m guessing it was about the same time that you used a computer without any USB or Firewire ports of any kind. Of course, that prehistoric computer we’re remembering so fondly at least had the ability to load data from a removable storage device, like a floppy or CD. While I never expected Apple’s tablet would have an optical drive, I am absolutely floored that it has no means of expanding the storage of the device in any way, shape or form. Of course, they most likely did this to prevent hackers from cracking the device and using external storage to load alternative software like a Linux operating system or non-App Store applications.

This brings us to my last, but vital point. The iPad is a return to the darkest days of personal computing, to a time when the only thing you could run on YOUR computer was the software the manufacturer would let you. The App Store is a great idea, but the iron fist with which Apple controls what gets in and what doesn’t leaves much to be desired.

I would really love to have an iPad, but I can honestly say that I’d be hard pressed to plunk down my own money for one. There is no doubt in my mind that the iPad has changed the landscape of mobile computing, but I can’t wait to see version 2 or similar products from other vendors.

What I Like About the iPad

// February 21st, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Computing

It has been a few weeks now since the unveiling of the Apple iPad and I’ve been reading an awful lot of thoughts and opinions on the device ever since. The first thought to cross my mind was, “I wants it!” and don’t think that that the voice inside sounding a little too much like the voice of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings wasn’t a little disturbing. The simple truth is that the device is slick and the video presentations of the device even more so.

The weeks immediately following the announcement were filled with a whole lot of hot air from the fanboys and the haters. That being said, there were some pretty compelling arguments both for and against the newest offering from Apple. The proponents see a blessed new era in personal computing while the skeptics have dubbed it a fat iPod Touch. (It’s not fat, its big boned) In my mind, both camps are correct in their assessments. The iPad isn’t much more than a husky iPod Touch, but that is precisely what people like about it.

There is no doubt in my mind that the iPad is a game changer in the world of personal computing. The iPad was designed to completely change the way humans interact with computers and while touch, or “multi-touch” technology isn’t new, it has never been fully realized. There is no denying, by even the most stalwart Apple haters, that multi-touch technology is here to stay and it isn’t much of a stretch to see touch, along with voice activation, rapidly replacing traditional input technologies like keyboards, trackpads and mice.

I’m currently writing this post from my laptop while waiting in the airport for my flight and I can say with some certainty that laptops (or netbooks, which are decidely worse) are incredibly uncomfortable devices on which to work. Nevermind that the term “laptop” is a complete misnomer. By the time I finish this post, my lap will be burnt, my spine permanently bent in half and my hands all gnarled and crooked. OK, so I’m using a bit of hyperbole, the point is that using a laptop at anything but a desk or table is not the most comfortable experience. But I digress, I think that is quite enough whining about my current predicament, back to the task at hand.

One thing I absolutely love about the iPad is the price. Yes, I am fully aware that the device is more money than most netbooks, but I cannot stress enough how much I hate netbooks or even ultra-portable laptops. Take everything I hate about laptops and put it in a case with a tiny screen, tiny keyboard, tiny trackpad and very tiny performance and you have the makings of a truly dreadful computing experience. I’ve spent a good deal of time with some of the top rated netbooks on the market and hated every single one of them. To show that I’m an equal opportunity portable hater, I can’t stand the standard Macbook either. Take a netbook, put it on performance enhancing drugs, jack up the price and you have a Macbook. No thank you.

As part of the iPad release keynote, Jobs showed a new edition of iWork that immediately got me thinking about some pretty exciting possibilities for the iPad. The brilliant screen, portability of the device and Keynote software make for the perfect mobile presentation tool. Through in the DVI adapter and business travellers have arguably the best sales and marketing tool in their arsenal. The clipboard like feel of the device with Numbers or lightweight database application and you’ve got the perfect device for medical professionals, shipping managers or anybody who regularly carries around a clipboard. A USDOT log book application and an iPad would be perfect for my truck driving Father.

Before I had any of the preceeding thoughts, even before the iPhone was in the early design stage, I have always dreamed of a digital replacement for the message board and calendar combination hanging on the wall in our dining room. A simple wall mount docking station and you have the perfect central nervous system for the modern, on-the-go family. The calendar helps you keep everything organized, synced with your computers and phones to make sure that the whole family knows: what time, where and who for. Syncing the data from tablet to computers to phones is a snap and you’ve truly got a unified scheduling system many enterprises would kill for.

Other things I like:

• eBooks – I would never spend $300 to $400 on a dedicated eBook reader, but I would spend $500 to $650 on an iPad and give eBooks a shot.
• Games – Games on the iPod Touch are cool, just imagine how much fun they could be on the iPad.
• GPS – With the 3G enabled models you also get GPS and a cool maps program. The first thought that crossed my mind was, “How cool would the Geocaching app on the iPad be?”

Think I’m drinking the Kool-Aid? Reserve judgement and stay tuned for my next post, “What I Dislike About the iPad“.

GarageBand Guitar Sampler

// March 23rd, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Guitar

Welcome to my GarageBand electric guitar amp/effect sampler. With the release of the Apple iLife ’09 suite, came a big update to the GarageBand program. There were a lot of enhancements to the product, such as lessons, interface tweaks, and some new songwriting features, but none of those come anywhere near as important (to me) than the new guitar amp and effect models now built-in to GarageBand. The following is a sampling of the default amp/effect models included with the software. They are infinitely customizable and they very well may contribute to the retirement of my Line 6 POD 2.
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Garageband a POD Killer?

// March 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // Guitar

The latest version of Garageband in iLife ’09 includes a number of new features and of all those new features none were as interesting to me as the new built-in electric guitar effects. A little over a year ago, I got my hands on an old, beat up, non-functioning Line 6 POD 2.0. At the time it was a critical (missing) piece from my home studio and I desperately wanted an amp/effect processor to liven up my recordings. I spent about $80 getting it back up and running again and while it still has some issues, it generally works OK. With the new guitar amp/effects built-in to Garageband, the question was, can it compete with the POD? If so, could I simplify (or even improve) my recording environment by simply removing the POD from the mix?
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Loading My DVDs in iTunes

// February 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // Computing

Why is it that I can’t copy my DVDs to my iTunes library and then watch those videos on my iPod or AppleTV? Now that being said, that is something that I have been working tirelessly to make happen and for the most part I have been successful. Unfortunately, there are still far too many discs that I cannot rip because of the disc’s copy protection. Anyone with small children can certainly relate to the pain of purchasing Finding Nemo for the second time because the first disc came into contact with something either abrasive or super sticky.

Ripping your own DVDs on your Mac is actually a remarkably simple task with the great program Handbrake. This open source application greatly simplifies the process and even includes a number of preset configurations for ripping your movies to a format your players can support. With the previous version of the software (0.9.2) the stack of discs that I could not make available to my AppleTV was rather significant. The new version (0.9.3) has worked wonders at reducing that stack significantly, but there are still DVDs that I cannot load into iTunes. Hell, there are even some DVDs that will not even play on my iMac at all.

Rather than go through the process of using Handbrake, here is a good YouTube video on using the product.