Well, that was an adventure. Last night, Penny tipped a glass of water over onto my computer. It's completely fried. However, the symphony replaced Katy's whole computer when its hard drive died a few months ago. So, we've had an extra laptop with very similar internal hardware laying around unused. After checking with Apple to make sure it would work, I put the good drive from my dead computer into her old machine, and everything works well. It was terrifying for about 12 hours, though. All's well that ends well!

Private Entry

Microsoft is finally trying to kill IE6. Finally. It was a disgrace from its first conception, and has wasted more programmer time than any other piece of software I can think of. I fear, however, that this is too little too late. I think we're stuck writing IE6 versions of sites for at least another 5 years.

I just watched the Apple special event where they introduced the iPad. I basically agree with what everybody else says - it's a big iPod Touch. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing; I love my Touch, it's probably my most-used device. I can see plenty of situations just in my own life where the iPad really would be a great tool. For instance: on tour looking at a week of 6 or 8 hour bus rides. Or taking a document (presentation, spreadsheet, etc) from home and using it on campus. What it's not good at is document creation. Yes, they came up with a new interface for all the iWork apps so that you theoretically can create some kinds of documents. But, the ability to edit a spreadsheet does not count as document creation if you can't remaster an audio file or record video. The iPad's primary function is consuming content.

That's one thing Apple has been very particular about throughout the years: distinguishing between content producers and content consumers. Admittedly, everyone does a little of both. But, Apple tries very hard to put people in one box or another, and so far they've been very successful at it. Historically, Apple has catered to the content producers. At home and in business, everything was always IBM and Microsoft. Until you walked into the graphic design office, and every desk had a Mac on it. And, quite honestly, I don't see that association with content producers changing any time soon. They sell Final Cut Pro, 30 inch cinema displays and 8-core towers, and their close working relationship with Pixar and other multimedia companies spurs the development of those kinds of products. Content producers still can find the tools they need at Apple.

Apple's current branding, however, ignores the content producers entirely. When was the last time Steve Jobs stood on stage and talked about the XServe? When was the last time anybody made an announcement about the latest innovations in the Pro line of applications? With iTunes, and iPhoto, and iDVD, etc, Apple is marketing itself to the content consumers. Just go to the iTunes store, purchase whatever content you want to enjoy, and Apple will give you a great viewing experience without having to worry about where the content comes from or how it got onto your machine. GarageBand and iMovie and iWeb are also part of that marketing message, and they do facilitate some content creation. But, they're little more than toys, available for consumers who want to play around with content creation without taking it too seriously. And that's the marketing message: "You can record your own music with our tool, just like the real musicians!" While Apple does make tools for the "real musicians," those tools are not GarageBand and the microphone built into the Macbook. In short, Apple has created specialized products for various groups of people.

This specialization brings me to a reflection that I think is applicable to the iPad. I remember ten or so years ago when people were starting to talk about computers as specialized appliances, just like your dishwasher or alarm clock. I fought the concept; I argued that you'd never have separate devices for your word processor and your spreadsheet. I said that the computer was an inherently general-purpose tool and would therefore never become an appliance like that. I, quite clearly, was wrong. Many households now have a specialized computer (DVR/Tivo/etc) for playing media through the TV. Many people have a specialized computer (smartphone) for correspondence, including email, telephone, twitter, facebook, and other channels. And, there's the specialized content creation computer sitting on the desk in the office, which takes care of word processing and spreadsheets.

Where does the iPad fit into this view of specialized computers? So far, there hasn't been a very good solution for mobile content consumption. The iPod and other MP3 players have done pretty well for audio content, but that's fairly limiting in a predominantly visual culture. The iPhone and other smartphones have made some progress at making more content portable, but the experience is pretty kludgy for almost all media types. The iPad is the first serious attempt at making consumption of most media portable.

Other tablet computers, which have not done well in the market, were intended to be general-purpose machines - just like an office computer - in a smaller form factor. They failed because the smaller form factor limits the UI in many of the functions for which one would use a larger computer. But, Apple is going about it a different way. This is not a general-purpose computer; it is a very different product than a netbook or the Macbook Air. Its closest cousin is Amazon's Kindle, but Amazon stopped far short of Apple's vision. The iPad is a mobile multi-media content viewing appliance.

Week In Review

Sunday—We enjoy some of the most beautiful fall weather I've ever seen. Matinee at work goes well, and we decide to head to Barcelona. The food was pretty forgettable, but I had a pear martini that was delicious! Ben had bourbon infused with fall spices.

Monday--Busy busy work day. Made a trek up to the apple store to get my faulty track pad figured out. Oh if only it had just been a track pad...

Tuesday--hard drive dies. Hard drive is so dead by 10 am at work that I'm pretty much incapacitated. The three calendars I run my work off of--gone. My color-coded task list organized by deadlines--gone. ALL OF THE DOCUMENTS FOR A BIG FAT MEETING AT WORK THAT SAME DAY?? Yep. Gone. Lovely. Results in an evening trip to the Apple store and a gracious employer suiting me up with a new machine with a fancy backlit keyboard.

Wednesday--flying without a net. Have nothing, from bookmarks to passwords to call sheets. Computer is fancy and pretty, but any computer is only as good as the data on it, if you know what I'm saying. Wishing I could strike bargain with computer gods: one fancy backlit keyboard for all those little old files I lost. Commence taking pictures of Penny for therapeutic purposes:

Thursday--head straight to MoJoe lounge from work. Enough said.

Friday--in bed by 9 pm.

Saturday--unable to be productive in any way.

Sunday--quasi-productive. Good run with Prasanth this morning, caught up on some file re-building this afternoon, and accompanied Ben to a recital at Capital. Feeling almost (almost!) ready to take on a new week.