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Mar 15 2010

Apple iPad – "This Changes Everything" – The iPad Arrives April 3 (3-15-10 update v7)

Category: iPad-iWay!, social media, speed the web, tech opinion, tech reviewsjmacofearth @ 6:40 am
image: visualizing Apple's new iSlate tablet computer

visualizing Apple's new iPad computer - on sale April 3, 2010

UPDATE 3-15-10: Did you pre-order your iPad on Friday? I did. I'm going to pick it up on April 3, at the nearby Apple store. I have until 3pm to grab it, or they will give it to someone else. They've even got their distribution system worked out, having dealt with the iPhone releases. I can't wait.

What's the first thing you are going to do on you iPad? I'll probably play DoodleJump.

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UPDATE 3-10-10: Starting March 12, pre-order from the Apple Online Store or reserve for pickup at an Apple Retail Store. First available April 3, 2010. Get ready, cause here we go!

Here's the latest post on the iPad and a link to the first iPad commercial that launched during the Oscars.

[When I pick mine up on April 3 I will be forever rebranded as iDad!]

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I still can't pre-order my iPad, but I can tell you a few more tidbits about it.

1. It will NOT, nor will it EVER have FLASH. (FastCompany)

2. It's gonna be bigger than the iPhone. (and I mean market share rather than just screen size.)

3. Like the early iPhone days Apple will have a hard time keeping up with the demand.

So imagine, you are about to release a product and your biggest worries is inventory! What a problem to have. Not will it sell, but how can we increase the numbers we can manufacture so we can sell MORE.

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I hope you weren't holding on to a lot of Apple stock hoping the doubling was going to continue unabated. It turns out that "leading up to" and Apple big event is the best time to grow Apple stock value. And since we've all be working so hard to figure out what Apple was about to release, the "after party" is usually a bit more glum.

It's nothing to worry about. I guess if you are a speculator you'd sell all of your apple stock the day before the big party. And then buy again sometime in the following weeks as the public perception comes back to earth and Apple's business model shows it's basis is revenue and not trying to do magic tricks.

Everyone at the iPad announcement wanted a magic trick. We'd see the vizualizations (like the one here to the right). We'd see videos of what these devices would look like. There was very little that Steve Jobs could pull rabbit-like out of his hat. His two major bombs: $500 starting price (a virtual gasp in the audience, as most were guessing in the $700 – $999 range the day before the show. And ship date: 60 Days.

I'd have mine or order if there were a place to pre-order them. Amazon has a series of hilarious screens if you go to their site to order your iPad. And believe me Amazon the store wants to be in line for the gravy train of sales that are going to come out of this device. (I am putting my images into a new post that will be up shortly.)

UPDATE 1-27-10: Welcome to the real world folks. Imagine this, take your MacBookPro, break it in half and hold the screen-only half in your hand. Apple's iPad! Any questions?

UPDATE 12-26-09: So even if they are calling it the iSlate iPad, the new tablet Mac is coming in January. If we are lucky it will be on sale as early as Feb. Wow! 
Apple’s New Tablet To Be Baptized iSlate? Let’s Dig A Little Deeper
from TechCrunch
Here’s what I think happened, based on the evidence presented above: Apple decided on the name iSlate for a new product it was working on, whether it will ultimately turn out to be for their new tablet computer or not, in November 2006. That same month, they moved to file for a trademark for the name in the United States and Europe under disguise, setting up and using Slate Computing LLC as a shell company, and securing a couple of available domain names through Mark Monitor (islate.co.uk, islate.biz and islate.info).But getting back into the swing of it. ;-)
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Say what you will about the Kindle, and I certainly do, but Apple's entry into the netbook market is going to hurt a lot of the other players.

Kindle/Amazon (although they can sell the books to iPhones already, so the book sales are safe), Dell/HP/Acer/ARM/Asius.

Even if this visualization is not real, you know it will be here soon enough. We waited for the iPhone to finally appear for over 2 years. And look what that has done to the market. Now come the apologists for the other manufacturers who will say, "Apple is late to the netbook game, Apple will not be a factor… " And all I can say is goodnight and good riddance to a category that needed to be put to sleep.

How about this reversal, "Apple's new Netbook Killer!" Or "Apple Knocks Out the Kindle for Good!"

And to all of you who have ARM-powered netbook/laptop-wannabies, I'm sorry about that. Perhaps it's not to late to take/send it back. "Don't let your friends to netbooks."

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/apple-ipad

The latest: iPad from Apple, Coming April 3, 2010 – You Will Never Be the Same!

The entire Uber.la Apple iPad coverage can be seen via the iPad-iWay tag.

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Mar 07 2010

iPad from Apple, Coming April 3, 2010 – We'll Never Be the Same!

<preRant>I'm NOT watching the Oscars tonight. I might youtube Steve Martin tomorrow and see if he had some good lines. But if there was ever a built in Boolean subtract feature in Twitter, I would've used it tonight. (-#oscars) But of course there isn't, so I'm just staying off the statusphere tonight.</preRant>

And but here's this, Apple's new iPad commercial aired tonight during the -+@#oscars. And here it is for you to admire.

So what do you think?

I can imagine you might be saying, "no big deal," or "seen it, done it, got it." But… I'd have to ask, which part did you not understand?

Let me tell you what's going to happen. The world is gonna go bonkers for the iPad with the same ferocity that launched the iPhone and the iPod before it. Why are we still buying iPods at the highest rate year over year? Why, because Apple changes the game so fast ahead of the other manufacturers, they simply give up. Digital Walkman anyone?

So you're nonplussed about the iPhone? Me too, actually. I use a Blackberry. And you think the Apple Store, Mac OS, and MacBook Pro are just, ho hum. It's okay, I understand that as well. It is hard as we are standing on the brink of a new era to imagine the era just beyond our sight. We are at such a place today.

I am sorry the iPad is not going to ship BEFORE SXSWi (the largest digital media conference in the US) because the place would be flooded with them. As it is we're going to wait until April 3 to get our hands on one. But I hear we can pre-order TOMORROW. (Monday, March 8, 2010) So at $500 the baseline for tablet computing just dropped Motion Computing, Intel, Dell, HP and all followers on their heads.

First, they have to figure out what magic apple has pulled off with their new proprietary chip. Second, they have to reverse engineer the mechanics. Third, they have to try and make Windows 7 or Android work really well. Fourth, they will play catch-up to Apple's innovation every six months. It's really no wonder Vista sucked. And while WIN 7 is better, it is certainly no evolution of the OS.

Android is cool. And Google Chrome Desktop is pretty good. You can get a preview of exactly what Google Chrome Desktop will be like by opening Google Chrome the browser. That's it. That's the whole thing. If it runs in a browser, why do you need anything else cluttering up the interface, taking processor cycles, or adding to the memory requirements? In fact you don't, IF… you like everything in the browser.

I'm close, but not quite there with Google Chrome the Browser. I love it. I think it beats the pants off Firefox and Safari (which I actually un-installed last week) and poor old IE. Are they really going to keep flogging us web dev types with new versions of IE? (Internet Explorer for you unWindows elite.) And I think the sad answer on that is, YES. If you saw Ballmer at CES you know his biggest vision is WINDOWS 7-enabled Television sets. Why? Cause they got nothing else.

So sit back, enjoy the show. Put in your pre-order if you dare. But mark my words. April 3, is gonna be like 1984 all over again. (Apple launched the Mac in 1984 with a Riddley Scott powered tv commercial mocking the corporate power structure that is so much like Orwell's nightmare tome. This commercial ain't Oscar material, but you watch how quickly the iPad wanna-bes start coming online. And continue to try to innovate in Apples wake. Not a position I'd like to be in, personally or professionally.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/April-iPad

See all the iPad-iWay posts.

Other coverage:

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Jan 29 2010

Apple iPad Says HELLO WORLD! Most Lose Their Marbles (1-29-10 update 3)

Category: iPad-iWay!, social media, tech opinion, tech reviewsjmacofearth @ 7:00 am

My new demo Apple iPad is SWEEET! Being a pundit of pugnacity and loving all things Apple has it's rewards. When Mr. Jobs hits one out of the park, people like me shout our congratulations, and if lucky someone at Apple listens. Now, I can't really tell you this, under the terms of my NDA, but… I have had my iPad (yes I knew that's what it was going to be called back in December) for over three weeks. And I told Steve Jobs directly, via conference call, "Steve, the name is bad. iSlate is not great, but iPad, you're gonna take some heat for this!" It's almost as if he didn't hear me. But that's what they pay me… I mean, if they did pay me… That's why might pay me the big bucks. Now a loaner iPad, nobody's gonna claim that on their income tax statement. Me neither.

Sooo…. I can't show it to ya, and I can't really, (really) tell you that I have one… but… here's a sneak. Dang, I had uploaded these from my phone. But Steve called and told me I had to take them down or lose my Apple Developer Account. Dang! You can email me and I'll send you the real ones!

my iPad demo, the day after the Apple iPhone HUGE is announced

I had one in my hands, now it's back in FEDEX back to Steve Jobs.

One: unboxing and shaking Steve Jobs' hand.
Two: Steve sets the scene, says the iPad is going to be huge, I caution him about the name.
Three: Editing this blog with the touch of a finger.
Four: Checking my posts on Delicious, navigating the web.
Five: Pulling up About this iPad.

Unseen One: Apple asks me to take down my Facebook mobile pics of my iPad. Then asks for the iPad back.
Unseen Two: iPad goes back into FedEx envelope and back to Apple.

The hardest part was not sharing the iPad experience with others. Not even my wife could know what I was doing… (heh heh) Seriously I wanted to call everyone I knew. "Hey, come over dude, you have to see this frackin HUGE iPhone."

Yeah yeah yeah, and I got Snow Leopard a week early too. wOOt!

Whatever!

I am so sick of the iTampon meme already. People are just looking for somthing to complain about. I personally was hoping for iNote or iWrite. But iPad, so what.

apple ipad kotex box image

The big things that seem to be missed are:
1. It's $500 for the base system. (Holy crap, that's 50% less than said pundits!)
2. It's a HUGE frakin iPhone. (Everyone's like, Oh I wish it would do X, or they should've done Y with it.)
3. It's shipping in 60 days. Holy crap again. They're gonna have these things in people's hands before HP, ACER, DELL, Microsoft, Fujitsu, RIM, Nokia, Samsung or any other technology company will have anything remotely close. I'm thinking the "slate computer" that Ballmer showed from HP will be actually working by say Summer 10.
4. NOBODY MENTIONED STEVE'S HEALTH. And you know why don't you? The machine was so frackin cool that Mr. Jobs himself was not even part of the story.
5. Even Obama's SOTU meme paled in comparison to the iPad discussions.

apple ipad touchscreen demo - visualization

image from Steven Fry's iPad Review

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/my-ipad

All the iSlate iPad fun we've ever had:

The Wordle Says It All – Apple iPad vs Ballmer's Slate PC
Apple iPad – I Told You It Was Coming – The Apple Media iPad (updated 1-27-10)
NOW: iPAD Announcement from Apple (Jan 27, 2010) LIVE-virtual-Blogging So You Don't Have To
While Writing a Post About the iSlate… TechCrunch Goes Down with a BANG BOOM!
Texas Social Media Awards Are Here Again – My Picks and …. (err, My Picks!)
#CES Summary: Turn Out the Lights, the Party's Over – Name One Thing That Stood Out at CES 2010
Dell Mini-3 *Phone* – Excuse Me, Let Me Answer My Dell Ditty! #CES (iSlate in 19 days!)
CES 2010 – BIG NEWS: It's About the PHONE! (Dell, Windows Mobile, Android, Nexus)
#CES… Wait, Are We Done With Ballmer and Co. Already? (part 2)
NEWS FLASH: Microsoft Kills the PC at CES 2010: "Windows 7 – It's like enhanced TV!"
#CES Day Three Begins with the iSlate Wannabes: HP, MSFT, Android-based Systems
MSFT and HP Announce "Me-Too Tablet" Computer at CES 2010 Today
iSlate iPad from Apple Version 2.0 Features Leaked at CES 2010 (OS-M Revealed)
CES Day One: Apple BUYS Twitter and Shows their Tablet Computer, the iSlate iPad
Apple iSlate iPad Released Before CES: Rumors Abound, Non-Apple Execs Faint

NYTimes whyPad by Paul Krugman

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Jan 12 2010

Is Social Media in the Top Office? Rise of the Social Media Peer Group (SMPG)

executive office decisions with social mediaNew Harvard Study Says, "The Big Three Social Networks Have Emerged as Professional Networks"

According the the HBR popular social networks are now being used frequently as professional communities with

  • More than nine in ten respondents indicated that they use LinkedIn (91%)
  • Half reported using Facebook (51%)
  • Twitter (41%)

Information obtained from offline networks still have highest levels of trust with slight advantage over online (offline: 92% – combined strongly/somewhat trust; online: 83% combined strongly/somewhat trust). *Jeff Bullas

The era of Social Media Peer Group (SMPG) has arrived and information will travel at a business velocity that has never been seen before enabled by the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies.

Professional decision-making is becoming more social, traditional influence cycles are being disrupted by Social Media as decision makers utilize social networks to inform and validate decisions.

The study does a good job of informing the use of social networks for business, but what I am missing, from the study and from Mr. Bullas' post is about the C-Level executive. Having worked with Michael Dell, I KNOW that he is online and active on many networks, but what about the more traditional CEO or CMO or most importantly the CTO? Where does the "top office executive" spend time online?

I have spent over two years trying to answer this question and the answer is still elusive. And here's why.

While browsing the web, for Christmas gifts for example, we are all consumers. Even the CTO of Microsoft is a consumer when he is looking to buy a new Wii game for his kids. (Sorry X-Box) And most of the information on social media is driven by metrics. Metrics like Dell used to gather regarding sales and channels and profits and margins and something called CPU and CPT.

It is much more difficult to ID the path to the million dollar Dell sale that was a result of a customer review on Best Buy's website about the new Latitude Z. Because that site and thus that "hit" is tracked as a consumer-market page view or "influence." Currently we have no way of tracking that "ratings and reviews" endorsement as it travels from the casual browsing of the CTO in "parent" mode to the CTO as major buyer and deal negotiator.

When "pathing" the purchase, we often tried to track the numbers of a big sale to an interaction with the site or the store or some other outside-Dell.com influencer, but we came up with blanks 99% of the time. Why? Because the customer was morphing from consumer to CTO and we had no way to track these outside influences as they powered sales and profits within Dell.com.

So how do we know that the CTO is online? How can we put a value (read: a dollar earned per dollar spent on social media) on our efforts? We are reaching the consumer at point of sale (fancy name for while he is buying we're putting some influencing advertising and marketing into his line of sight). We can put stickers and teasers and "deals" inside Best Buy's store. We can put banners and promos inside bestbuy.com to influence 'that' sale. And we can track all kinds of information as it passes through those "channels."

What we don't do so well is finding out what caused the CTO to purchase the Latitude vs. an HP or an Acer. We can ask the corporate customers to tell us, fill out a survey, answer a few post-sale questions. BUT… for the most part, those surveys and responses from business customers are unreliable. If someone did fill out the iPerceptions survey at the end of their Dell.com purchasing experience, they were likely to give us *some* answers, but often they would leave the most valuable questions, or open-ended survey questions blank.

We've got to do a better job at tracking the CTO once he becomes the CTO. And we've got to do a better job of discovering what influences work with the corporate buyer at the time of purchase. What causes the buyer to choose Dell, for example, and push the BUY NOW button on the 75 systems.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/social-CTO

*Points from Jeff Bullas's post

A viral discussion on the LinkedIN groups.

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Aug 18 2009

Laptop Magazine Ranks DELL's Tech Support Dead Last – Apple Tops

Category: tech opinionjmacofearth @ 7:59 pm

Picture 4

Laptop Magazine does the due diligence on Dell and Apple. An amazing but not surprising revelation.

First Dell:

Picture 1

So a C- would get my ass kicked to Sunday if I were a student. 20 minutes on hold! Victim of their own success or crap system with crap process and who-cares attitude? I don't have an opinion on that one.

And Apple:

Picture 2

There's not much else to say about this one.

Okay so how about HP.

Picture 3

It's humorous to me that Dell's saving grace is their web site. An A? Wow, not from where I sit, but I'm just reporting them as they come in.

Any other standouts in this report? Lenovo, Gateway, Fujitsu, Sony all got a B or B+.

It's hard to maintain a high brand value when your tech support is DEAD LAST in the industry. Very hard.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/laptop-tech

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