Apple Cart

We interrupt our irregular broadcast for a special look at the latest crop to land in the Apple cart.

As my tiny group of fellow bloggers know, Mr Jobs will be introducing something new, something shiny and definitely expensive. There has been many rumors for a long time and like a watched pot, it is finally boiling. The latest and most credible to bubble to the surface is IT will be a tablet running iPhone OS, basically an iPhone that won't fit into any pants.

One thing for sure, it will be all operation shock and awe, and all the devotees will be waving their hands and credit cards in anticipation. Mr Jobs knows how to work the crowd and this will all happen in about the time I take to drain my Ipod Touch battery.

Wait wait, I am NOT a Apple Devotee. It is a love-hate relationship between Apple and me, but I am still interested in what is happening.

Skipping over the history with the iPhone (which I refuse to own), let's have a quick thought about the IT thing.

Tablet. I think it is a natural progression from the traditional notebook computer, mobility is all the key. People want untethered power. Netbooks are unwieldy, even Hackingtosh-es, with their boot-up time. Smart-phones gives that instant satisfaction of connecting to the internet but lack the power and screen space.
Hence the IT. Nothing really new actually, so many others have tried and still trying.

Ah! but what will emerge from the Temple of Style? Stay tuned

I am looking forward to having a 10"-11" machine to use. The iPod Touch is just straining on my old eyes for reading and I get instant ADD trying to read e-books. Now mono-purpose e-books would be good, but face it, I web surf 99% of the time, e-book feature would be more a bonus than a primary requirement. Hopefully they would have boosted the brainpower to make a very responsive system even faster. Multitasking beyond music playing in the background I wish.

The other bug-bear with the iPod Touch is online banking. Sure some banks have apps, but the one that has my hard earn money captive does not. Yes, DBS, I am talking about you. Also I cannot view this blog in its entirety, mainly the cool Cool-Iris 3-D wall inserted. So full web compatibility would be my wish.

Battery life should be improved with more real estate, the Touch just lasts 3-4 hours if I play games. Wonder if that would increase the weight. Come to think of it, pretty scary if the instances of exploding iPods should repeat here.

As with all Apple products, I know IT will be bugged by deficiencies after the initial infatuation is over. IT will probably still be tied to iTunes, which I am not fond of. Definitely expensive, worse if it has mobile connection. The iPhone mobile plans turn me off. And, will I need to pay to upgrade the operating system like my Touch? (That is another story for another post).

The famous "myth" of Apple being easy to use is actually a veneer that covers an inflexible system. I agree Apple products are pretty straight forward to use, but explain to me why I cannot switch off the Auto - Login page for WiFi that pops up when connecting the Touch. The Touch sometimes think Wireless@Sg is a totally foreign network when in a different hotspots and safari pops up to the login page. Totally unnecessary when I have a app for login in 2 taps. Close that pop up and the WiFi shuts down, and said app is useless. Dark thoughts cross my mind in situations like that.

Actually this up and down relationship is not a surprise. After all, their logo is a half eaten apple, you just don't get the whole thing.