David Strom asked:




Pardon me for adding yet another iPad analysis (certainly, when a computer product launch makes it into Doonesbury, we have crossed a new threshold of hype), but one thing actually missing from the copious words and videos on yesterday’s event at Moscone was the simple fact that we have a new browser war on our hands, and it isn’t a pretty sight.

The browser wars of yesteryear between Microsoft and Netscape seem so quaint. (And look what happened to Netsacpe, too.) Today it is all about Adobe Flash versus the multi-touch swipe technology that is part of Apple’s product lines.

Why is this a war? Apple’s iPod, iTouch, and now iPad all share a lack of support for Adobe’s Flash technology, the animation glue that binds Web pages to in-line video playback. When you bring up your Safari browser in these devices, you see a big blank nothing on the pages that have Flash content to play. And what that means to me is that Apple has made it clear: rewrite your sites to support our own technologies (including new apps that are certain to populate the iTunes Store soon), or be forever absent from this brave new world of cool devices that Steve is creating.

I come to the support of Flash most reluctantly, mind you. Flash is a necessarily evil, and for the most part we just don’t even think of it when we merrily surf around the Internet, finding new video content to amuse and inform us. (Unless our plug-ins are outdated or messed up, that is.)

Flash will bring about the Internet TV revolution a lot sooner than the misinformed mainstream TV executives will like to admit, too: the more video that gets encoded in Flash, the fewer hours that 20-, 30-, and 40-somethings will spend in front of their living room TVs, if they even have living room TVs anymore. See what has happened to Leno et al. Their best bits are immediately uploaded to YouTube and watched the next morning. That is the power of Flash.

But Apple has its own idea about how to watch video, and it has nothing to do with standards that anyone else creates. It is about making Web content creators develop new iTunes Apps that can deliver their content customized for their devices. Anyone using an ordinary Web browser can be ignored. Granted, they have sold a lot of iPhones, so it isn’t a market that has been marginalized like their share of the PC market – but still. Why do so many Web site owners want this? Because of the latest Steve reality distortion field. See the comment about Doonesbury above.

It is ironic, because in the early days, Apple was a big boost to Adobe’s Postscript technology, the glue that made printing pretty pages from your PCs possible. But let’s not rest on these accidents of history.

Is a multi-touch swipe worth starting a new war? Maybe. Swiping the glass for controlling the display is very intuitive. It is a wonder that more tablet PCs haven’t incorporated it yet. In the mean time, we all will be watching and see how this shakes out, but (I can’t believe I am saying this) my bet is on Flash.

Dawn

Sam asked:


I would like to make my own tablet PC like the iPad or the HP Slate. I know that it’s been done and it will be difficult and costly.

Corey

whenseptemberends75 asked:


I used to have a tablet pc and I absolutely loved the Windows Journal program.
Is there a program like that for Mac with markers, pens, and highlighters, where I can actually write things out instead of typing?

Florence

Poppy R Smith asked:




All computers freeze at some time. Suddenly you find that the mouse

dewe52 asked:


Other than the touch screen and the size, what’s the difference of a Tablet PC from Laptops/Notebooks? I’m thinking of getting one.

Specifically, are normal programs not available on a Tablet PC? I saw this demo on the Microsoft site that said it allows you to transfer some of your favorite music from you desktop PC to the Tablet. Does this mean I can’t store my whole library in it? Does a tablet have a DVD-RW or CD-ROM drive?
Is there lower hard drive capacity?

Or is it mostly the same thing?

Hehehe… Thanks in advanced

Troy

Tracy Cunningham asked:




When the iPad came out, it came as no surprise that it was going to be in direct competition with Amazon’s Kindle. It is currently up for some debate whether readers will buy an iPad for reading, but it is no debate that there are millions of iPhone users who are currently reading Kindle books on their phone. With the iBookstore, these users will have a choice of buying between Amazon or Apple. This will definitely make things more competitive.

First of all, there will probably be more exclusive contracts with book publishers. This means that certain titles might be Kindle only or iBookstore exclusive content. Depending on which market place starts to dominate, one platform or another might have the most exclusive and best titles only one those devices.

If there are the same titles in both stores, the lowest price is going to win in the long run. If reading from an iPhone screen, there isn’t going to be a significantly different experience between reading a Kindle version or iBookstore version of the book. Users will simply buy the cheapest one. If the iBookstore wants to be competitive, it will have to have lower prices than the Kindle since both platforms can be read from the exact same device.

One overlooked side of this new competition is what the author makes. Apple is going to give the author around 70% of the sale where Amazon pays out much less. This means that Apple currently looks like the better deal for authors. It’s only a matter of time before Amazon raises the author percentage. What this could mean for customers is possibly lower overall cost since authors will be making higher profits.

With more and more devices and sources for ebooks, it’s just a matter of time that prices will come down due to competition and choice will increase for those who are reading eBooks.

The iBookstore announced with the iPad might bring some serious competition to the eBook market. While the iPad might not be the most read on device, the iPhone will. The competition is on between Amazon and Apple for this market.

Juanita