Apple iPad

As 2010 Comes to an End We Ask: Was it a Good Year in Tech? And We Answer… Nope

As 2010 comes to an end we ask… Was it a good year in tech? And we answer… Nope Nope??? Nope! It was a great year in tech. That’s right. 2010 finally saw some of the key things we have been hoping for come to fruition. iPad Baby!! First and foremost 2010 gave us the iPad. The iPad wasn’t significant just because of what it did for Apple but because it finally showed that a tablet form factor can and will work… And be loved by consumers… if it is done right. Think about it for a minute–the iPad is…

News

New iPad??? Read This!!!

The iPad-train just keeps on rolling. There’s no question it was the “hot gift” this season and as more and more people get their hands on the “wonder tablet” and discover all it can do the momentum will just continue to build. My own circle has seen numerous iPads make their appearance in recent weeks. My niece and nephew got one from their grandmother. (My nephew emailed this morning “Uncle Dan, we’re at the airport and I’m emailing you from my iPad using Dragon Dictation!!!” Love that!) Their grandmother (my mom) just asked me to pick one up for her….

Editorials

How the iPad and Twitter Have Changed My News Consumption

Image courtesy of CleanSlate and Better Homes and Gardens I’m 47 years old–the “wedge” generation just after the Baby Boom, and just before Generation X. I’m old enough to have owned a black-and-white TV (13″; it was my high school graduation gift!), had rotary dial phones (Michael just talked about these the other day!), one phone company for the whole country (Ma Bell!), three TV channels, and read the newspaper for news. I don’t delve into this nostalgically–I love all my modern gear. I have an iPad, iPhone, Lenovo Thinkpad T61, DVR, DVD player, a 1 Terabyte drive for storage…

Reviews

JAVOedge Editor Quantum Case iPad Case Review: Thin Is In

In case you haven’t heard, thin is in. Don’t believe me? Just look at the popularity of the new line of Mac Book Airs. The thinner a mobile device is, the easier it is to carry around. However, protection is important too. Not many of us want to sacrifice shock and impact protection for something that’s a little lighter in our gear bags. The JAVOedge Editor Quantum case seeks to satisfy both needs. It’s very thin and very light weight yet sturdy enough to provide ample protection from the dings everyday life throws your way. The outside of the case…

Editorials

Things That Make You Go “Duh?!?!” The iPad Edition

One of the things I love is when something is spread throughout the Blogosphere that is just common sense. You know, those tidbits of news or rumor that you hear and you just think, “Well Duh????” Two that have been floating around today really caught my eye. The first… Did you know that the iPad two will likely be thinner, lighter and have two cameras??? I know… I know… Shocking. I mean… It isn’t as if Apple has constantly been working to make their notebooks thinner and lighter, or they have added cameras to devices after the first or second…

News

How ‘Just a Big iPod’ Changed Our Computing Lives!

For the second time in two days I was giving a technical talk: one at night in a public setting, the other to a project team at work. In both cases I needed to note some questions, discussions, take contact info and jot down some ‘to do’ tasks and follow ups. It was only when someone said something in each case that I even realized – all I brought with me was my iPad. It has been nearly 8 months since the release of the iPad, and I cannot imagine going anywhere without it. Through numerous discussions I know that…

News

Gear Chat: Rotation LockGate. Seriously??

The other morning I read a post by Warner Crocker about his being upset over the change in the iPad’s screen rotation control between the original version of iOS on the device and the new version 4.2.1. Warner referred to it as a “boneheaded move”, and he went on to write this: Where Apple got stupid is in changing the screen rotation control from the hardware switch on the device’s side to one that is now only accessible from the multi-tasking dock. I use my iPad mostly in portrait mode but there are some Apps that work better in landscape…

Editorials

Why Is Apple Letting the iPad Sell at TJ Maxx and Marshalls for $100 Less?

Word came last night that the 16GB WiFi iPad would be available in limited quantities at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. At first many of us assumed it would be a refurb. Even still, $399 would be a full $50 less than Apple sells refurbs so it would be an awesome deal. Now it seems that the units coming to the stores are new. New iPads for $100 less than they cost at Apple? or Best Buy? How can that be? Seth Weintraub over on 9 to 5 Mac Apple Intelligence has an interesting post on why this might be. Among…

News

Apple, Competition, and Silly Statistics

The Wall Street Journal this morning reported Apple has 95% of the tablet market. Amazing, in the face of virtually no competition! Also, Apple has 99.9% of the “electronics starting with i” market. But they aren’t the only ones with big marketshares in questionably competitive areas… -Toyota has 85% of the market for “sudden, unexpected, OH CRAP, 0 to 60” cars. -Snapple has 100% of the “greatest stuff on earth” market (tm Dan) -Gear Diary has 100% of the market for blogs named Gear Diary! -Coca Cola has 100% of the “secret formula cola” market. -Google has 93% of the…

Editorials

Sunday (Actually Every Day), the Rabbi Used an iPad

(Dan in action at my wedding with his handy iPad) A few days before my wedding I received an instant message from Dan (who was our officiant). It’s never good when your rabbi tells you he has a “dilemma” regarding your ceremony…but I had to laugh when his central issue was whether to use an iPad or a Kindle for the service! Never one to choose, Dan had us reading off the iPad for part of it, though he did use the Kindle for the outdoor portion. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen Dan use an iPad for rabbinical business, as he also used to walk us…

eBooks, Editorials

NPR’s Libraries and eBooks Report Highlights eBook Ignorance

The good folks at NPR’s Marketplace did a story on the state of ebooks and libraries the other night. At first I was excited, since it’s great to hear any story about ebooks, especially library programs that tend to fly under the radar. But NPR’s reporting was so horribly, egregiously, painfully inaccurate that I really wonder if they did any research at all. Let’s start with the biggest head-scratcher: Kai Ryssdal: For all that die-hard bibliophiles say they will never ever give up their actual printed books, they may be fighting a losing battle. E-book sales are up 118 percent…

eBooks, News

Random House Loves eBooks, but Not iBooks

(image courtesy psdgraphics) Random House was the only major publisher last year to hold out and refuse to work with Apple on an “agency pricing” system. They basically said setting prices was not their job, but that of the retailer, and if Apple wanted to sell books they could set the prices too. Apple refused, and Random House has famously been absent from iBooks. As it turns out, it doesn’t seem to be hurting Random House much in the ebook department. Markus Dohle, their CEO, recently stated ebooks are currently 8% of their revenue stream, and it looks like it…

News

Gear Chat #17 Is Live…

On Gear Chat #17 Larry and Dan talk new iPods, iPad apps and more. Dan sent his iPod nano back and explains why… Larry finds that the iPod touch has the worst single feature of ANY Apple product and offers details. That and much more on the 17th episode of Gear Chat. Intro Music- Lean On Me- Sounds From the Ground Solarstone’s Chill Out Remix… Editorial note- we refer to questions as to whether or not the Apple TV was delayed during the episode which was recorded prior to said devices shipping earlier today.

News

Old Meets New as iPad Becomes Essential Tool for… Archeaology!

My background is in archaeology. Long before I became interested in theology or moved heavily into tech, I loved excavating. I worked on a dig on the Mediterranean Cost when I was 17 and spent two summers excavating the ruins of a major city in the Galilee. Yes, my favorite fictional character was and remains Indiana Jones. This is a Roman house we excavated during one of the dig seasons. (And yes, that is me… a long, long time ago.) During one of the summers were excavating in the Galilee, there was a second team of archaeologists digging in a…

Reviews

Review: Speck PixelSleeve For iPad, Netbooks

Until very recently, I have not been mobile with my iPad. I was able to get WiFi set up in my classroom last week and love being able to take my magic little device to use as a teaching aid. I previously used a book style leather case that I liked, but was not comfortable in traveling with it in my bag. It just did not seem like enough protection for the iPad. Although I liked the ability to stand up my device with the other case, using it in an educational setting proved to be difficult. I needed something…

Reviews

Blue Plate Special Silly Edition: Flip/Bubble Text for iPhone and iPad.

We all use our iPhones and iPads for many daily tasks. Besides gaming, most of these tasks have become quite practical and serious. Sometimes it is fun to just be silly for no good reason with your i device so this week I am bringing you the Silly Edition of the Blue Plate. This app really has no great value other than it is just kind of fun. If you ever get bored with the default text the iPhone allows then it is time to try Flip/Bubble Text for iPhone and iPad. Basically, the app allows users to type anything…

eBooks, News

Amazon Kindle Plays Rough

Looks like Amazon isn’t taking the iPad/Kindle rivalry lightly. In fact, they are actively playing it up in their latest commercial! Let’s look at where Amazon really came out swinging: •Showcasing how nice the Kindle is in daylight versus the iPad. •Having the kindle user be a hot girl, while the iPad user was a fairly average guy. •Implying the Kindle user was smarter and better with money-she knew her device worked well in the sun and was cheaper, while the iPad guy seemed clueless. This is a far cry from those earlier surreal fantasy style Kindle ads, and I…

News

Friday Funnies… Finally, the Limitations of the iPad Become Clear…

I now officially use my iPad for pretty much everything. I use it for reading. I use it for writing. I use it for gaming. I use it for email. I use if for calls (via Skype or the Ooma app). I use it in place of my MacBook Pro most of the time. I even used it to lead services and preach during Rosh Hashanah services and it worked beautifully. (If I were Conservative or Orthodox using electronics on the holiday would not be an option but I’m not, so it was. Being able to flick the screen instead…

Editorials

Gear Chat #16- New iPods Coming… New Gear Chat Already Here…

Larry and Dan serve up Gear Chat 16… In this podcast we talked about Apple’s September 1 announcement hits and misses, the new Kindle, iPhone and iPad apps and a new iPhone case company that understands good customer service… Intro Music- Lean On Me- Sounds From the Ground Solarstone’s Chill Out Remix…

eBooks, News

New Study Reveals eBook Readers Buy More Books

Do you own a Kindle or a nook and feel like you’re reading more than usual? As it turns out, it’s not just in your head. A recent study has shown that 40% of ebook reader owners read more than before, while 58% read at least the same amount! No wonder ebooks are growing at triple-digit rates! There are some fascinating statistics cited in the Wall Street Journal regarding ebook readers. Apparently, some studies have shown that people reading ebooks on a Kindle or nook read SLOWER than readers of paper books. Even more interesting, there was a slowdown even…

Editorials, News

All the iPad vs Vaporware Nonsense is Growing Tiring…

In a recent interview Acer’s Chairman JT Wang predicted that the iPad’s near-100% market share in the tablet space would drop to between 20 and 30 percent. Now PC World has posted an article entitled “Five Reasons to Pick an HP Tablet Over an iPad”. So I thought I would add my voice into the mix and offer up Five Reasons They Should SHUT IT! No, actually I only need ONE! Neither Acer nor HP has actually released a device and until they do there is NOTHING to talk about. Nothing! I mean, when we were at CES we saw…

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