Apple and the Cloud at the Dawn of Cyber-Punk World

In what seems like a fitting first post for 2010, Apple's announced its long anticipated tablet - the iPad.  What has surprised me most is the amount of negative reception. Some of the criticism is accurate.  The name, for starters, is terrible, but I won't go into why.  But, I am less concerned by the software limitations or its "lack" of usefullness.  This is exactly the device I have been waiting for - a laptop replacement.  And by this, I don't mean a device that can replicate all of the functions of a laptop.  What is needed is a truly portable computer for connectivity to the cloud, leaving full PC activities to Pcs.  As laptops have become desktop replacements they have become less portable, leaving netbooks to fill this category.  But netbooks seem rather useless to me, lacking the usability of a laptop without gaining much advantage.  The optical drives are gone, but the bulky and unnecessary keyboard remains.  As does the full operating system, along with its ridiculous boot up time.  In these respects, the iPad provides the solution.

At the other end of the spectrum, the argument goes, smart phones fill the need.  I don't think so.  Besides having the opinion that I prefer a phone to be just a phone (and I loathe AT&T), I'm not going to read a book or browse on a phone screen.  I don't want one device that does everything.  I want as many devices as are necessary to perform their respective functions the best.  The iPad solution begins by replacing the Ebook reader, and adds picture viewing and web browsing.  Since I don't need a laptop for full productivity, this eliminates two devices for me.

As for hardware, I am most surprised by the complaints about a lack of a camera.  Does everything really need a camera?  I don't want it.  At most I want two cameras - one that takes good high-end photos and one I can carry easily for everyday shots.  The best criticisms of the iPad do address its lack of drive connectivity.  It doesn't have a media card connector or a USB connector for flash drives.  This would pride much more flexibility for accessing photos and ebooks and would eliminate limitations with the internal flash memory.  There is a camera connection kit available, providing USB and SD connections.  Hopefully this will work with any devices of those types.  The other major problem is the lack of Wi-Fi syncing.  The iPad must be connected (by USB) to the host computer and files must be synced through Tunes like the Pod.  This also reduces functionality.  It would be much easier to access shared files through the Wi-Fi connection, like any computer can do.

But, it's early in this game and just as the first iPod had its problems, so will the iPad.  I'm sure the 2nd Gen will be much more useful and address the actual problems.  Apple may be a fashion-driven luxury item designer, being over-priced and over-rated.  But, they are good at what they do.  They produce items that are well received and integrated by consumers and reach the status of icons.  If anybody can introduce a new class of technology into the Zeitgeist, it is Apple.

More importantly, the iPad shows that we are finally advancing in our relationship with technology.  Computers are no longer boxes in the corner of the room, and now they're not boxes we have to lug around with us.   They have become integrated into the very fabric of our lives and everything we do.  We have invested so much into extending our lives into "The Cloud" through social networking as well as online information such as Google Docs and Notebook.  We have reached the door to the world of Cyber-Punk,but next we must enter it by making a fundamental leap to a new paradigm.  All that we need to do this is a good interface - something that is always with us and not an inconvenience or an out-of-place intrusion.  The iPad seems to me to be the beginning of this digital future.