On 13 Mrz., 09:16, OldFatGit <[email protected]> wrote: > This is a thinking mans answer to the iPad... > > http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=7590&tag=content;wrapper
Thinking he did, but not enough. DRM Content owners (movie studios, publishers) demand DRM, not distributors (like Apple or Amazon). Apple even suggested getting rid of DRM for music shortly before the music industry agreed (http:// www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/). For a number of reasons, most distributors don't agree on what kind of DRM to use, so everybody (including Netflix, Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, Apple) has their own DRM for movies, ebooks and audio books. Lock-in All platforms lock you in, only the degree varies. The iPad is not an "open" PC/Mac but a closed system which I think will give it a better user experience for the majority of its users. So it's more like an Android phone or a Blackberry. No Flash support Currently, there's no Flash Player in production that runs fine on mobile devices - Flash Player 10.1 is that version and is supposed to be out in the next few months, on "all mobile platforms but Apple" over time. Flash on the Internet is mostly used for ads, games, video and rich internet apps (RIA - see Flex). Ads I don't care for, games are plenty for the iPhone, which leaves video and RIA. Bigger video sites (Youtoube) already provide video for the iPhone, even when you come across them on the iPhone's Safari. But a lot of video is not accessible, which sucks - but if one company can convince big web pages to show video as plain H.264 in addition to embedding it as H. 264 in Flash, then it's Apple. Now most desktop apps (including RIA) don't work well on the iPhone for a number of reasons - they are used differently (hours on the desktop vs. "quick check" on the iPhone), the content doesn't fit well (iPhone/iPad: portrait mode, desktop: landscape), the UI elements are too small to use with touch (vs a mouse and a pointer), and some functionality is not accessible at all (there's no "mouse-over" in the iPad/iPhone, so showing controls / menus / additional info when hovering is flat-out broken). So you're better off re-writing these apps with the functionality subset that's applicable to mobile as native apps. PS: Not too long ago, vocal Internet activists ridiculed Adobe for its slow, proprietary, browser- crashing Flash Player and wished the open-standard HTML 5 to put Flash in its place. In the face of greater evil (Apple), Flash now seems to be the flag-bearer of software freedom... No removable storage Apple announced a camera kit for copying video/photos to the iPad through USB/SD Card (http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/). The iPhone doesn't have a traditional file system, only "file sandbox per app", so a USB stick / drive would be of lesser value; it's not clear if and how that is extended (syncing?) for the iPad. No USB support Even if the iPad has a USB plug, that doesn't mean that the "existing hardware" that the author wants to use would actually work on the iPad. What's the iPad supposed to do when you plug in a mouse? A fingerprint reader? A sound card? Apps have had access to the dock connector since SKD 3.0, so we'll see what's possible on the iPad (e.g., web cams, keyboards or printers). Built-In battery To me, Apple made a convincing case that they can have more battery capacity (and a better looking device) with the sealed-in battery. There's a ton of battery packs / charging devices if you need extra battery capacity. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
