Yes, it’s an oversized iPod touch.   Yes, it’s running iPhone OS, and yes, you still can’t multitask (yet).

The promise of what the iPad buzz gave us was a sense that great new things would be possible that weren’t before.  And after playing with the iPad for the better part of 4 days, I have to say: It will probably never leave my side.

It could just be buyers remorse fueling the fire of use, that’s true.  But I don’t think that’s it.  I’d get bored too easily after using it for 10 or 15 minutes if it were buyers remorse.

It could be that it’s a new gadget, and like any geek worth the letters I’ve been seeing what sort of limits are possible, but I’d still get bored of it after finding out I’ve hit that wall.

I really do believe that the iPad has turned a corner as far as mobile computing goes.  Even saying that it redefines the way that people (who can afford such a thing) will use consuming electronics doesn’t seem that far of a stretch.

The keyboard is next to useless due to it not being a faithful qwerty reproduction and being a touchscreen you hold with two hands, suffers from a myriad of user experience problems, it’s still better than buying a netbook by a few orders of magnitude, because it solves what I call the holy trinity of mobile computing.

Tenant #1: Be Cool – This is the most important tenant of a mobile gadget.  Thou Shalt Be Cool.  Netbooks, no matter how you slice them, are not cool.  Tablet computing up until this point simply didn’t have the much needed coolness factor to succeed- everything you bought was simply a convertible or included a way to function as a normal laptop.  That’s not what the cool crowd wanted.  No matter how you slice it, a stylus is not cool. Say what you want about the ergonomics of the iPad- playing Plants vs Zombies while sitting in bed watching TV felt like something magic was happening before my very eyes.  No controller necessary, no human-machine interface required.  Simply touch, and go.

Tenant #2: Be Affordable – Thou Shalt Not Break Thine Bank.   Netbooks range from $200 to $500, depending on your manufacturer of choice and what sort of warranty or internet service that comes with it.  That’s within the bottom rung of the iPad range.  I hate that there is such a thing as an “Apple Tax”, but any early adopter will pay a premium to see the latest and greatest.  The iPad is no exception to this.  Paying $650 for a 32GB iPad that can do all of my digital entertainment needs (streaming video, music, movies, light gaming, contacts, email, browsing) seems ludicrous when you break down what you’re actually buying, but once you’ve spent any amount of time with an iPad – serious time, mind you – doing things like business email, talking with clients or customers, or keeping track of your schedule, things become clear that this really does change how you perceive the concept of a mobile computer.  More on that in a minute.

Tenant #3 – Thou Shalt Not Shit Thine Bed – A lot of people complain about the ‘walled garden’ of the apple app store.  I tend to agree with them.  I think it’s silly that in an age of open information and the free exchange of ideas that a company can be so brutal and dictator-ish on an issue like ‘approved applications’, but you have to admit- the iPhone is a pretty phenomenal success precisely because of this walled garden effect.  The level of quality on the applications released for the iPhone OS platform have staggering levels of polish.  Because of these levels of polish required to be approved and subsequently purchased en masse by hordes of people clamoring to feel more informed, more efficient, and more connected to the world around them,  apps that make farting noises just seemed to miss the point about what the device is capable of, and that walled garden at least required that the farting apps be really entertaining to be approved.

Now that you have a good idea of  what the holy trinity of mobile computing is about (trademark noss media 2010 et cetera), what does this mean for the average consumer?

I think it means that the size difference will require that the notifications that become cursory glances on the imperfect solutions currently available- phone / computer hybrid Frankensteins that complain to you at the most inopportune or unwanted times, will slowly be phased out.    It’s not as though they will not continue to be marketed to us in the current style, or that the number of people clamoring for the latest apple gadget will suddenly feel a hatred for what I like to call “mixed-use devices”, but they will simply stop being so attached to them.

Take for example, the size of the average notification on an average smartphone.  You are lucky to get 15×15 pixels.  Why is that?  Why would something that is trying to tell you that important information is now available for your consumption by giving you what amounts to a freckle on the face of your device?  Aren’t notifications supposed to be big, bold, and, well, notifying-y? I don’t like how the iPhone handles notifications (popups are never the answer, damn it!), Blackberries can’t do it and neither does android or the latest Palm me-too devices.   What the iPad (will eventually) get right, is keeping those notifications in check, out of mind, until you’re ready to process them.

Phones have always been for making calls- but those became co-opted as mobile internet accessors when smartphones came around.  Nowadays, people understand that their phone will not be ‘just a phone’ anymore.  it will be the entire internet (yes, all of it) available to you wherever you happen to get service. (New York and San Fransisco notwithstanding)

Think about what a bummer that is.  From a geek’s perspective, a phone that does everything is a comic book fantasy that serves as batman’s belt to your inner child.  The only problem with that scenario is that it’s everything, including a phone, but not a phone that can do everything.

The fundamental shift that I am predicting the iPad will bring about is making the phone more about personal communications, and less about being everything-and-also-a-phone.  It will reduce the number of people who simply wish their phone to be a phone- a way to keep in touch with others, through whatever that happens to mean at the time (Social networks, email, text, IM, what have you), while the purpose built device can do the heavy lifting of entertaining us, keeping us informed about the world, and consuming information as we now do on our phones.

The stealth victory then, for all geeks and normal consumers of the world out there, is that you no longer need to buy a netbook with silly technical specifications and requirements and software licenses to experience nerdvana- just pick up the nearest slate, and get to work.  Windows (Or even MacOSX, to an extent) isn’t necessary anymore to be an online citizen- with as much as the world is now moving toward the web, what’s the point of having a multitasking powerhouse that consumes too much battery life, too much effort to keep stable and up to date, and doesn’t make your life easier?

So that’s it.  The iPad is a game changer, but only if you approach it with the mindset of wanting to change the game of mobile computing as it currently stands.  I’m tired of seeing everyone walking around looking at their phones.  Take a minute to sit down, grab your slate, and enjoy yourself.  Your phone will thank you.  And so will everyone else.

The internet isn’t meant to be viewed on 320×160 pixels.  And now, it won’t have to be.

Change the following code block:

function wpmu_signup_blog_notification($domain, $path, $title, $user, $user_email, $key, $meta = ”) {
global $current_site;

if( !apply_filters(’wpmu_signup_blog_notification’, $domain, $path, $title, $user, $user_email, $key, $meta) )
return false;

// Send email with activation link.
if( constant( “VHOST” ) == ‘no’ || $current_site->id != 1 ) {
$activate_url = “http://” . $current_site->domain . $current_site->path . “wp-activate.php?key=$key”;
} else {
$activate_url = “http://{$domain}{$path}wp-activate.php?key=$key”;
}
$activate_url = clean_url($activate_url);
$admin_email = get_site_option( “admin_email” );
if( $admin_email == ” )
$admin_email = ’support@’ . $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'];
$from_name = get_site_option( “site_name” ) == ” ? ‘WordPress’ : wp_specialchars( get_site_option( “site_name” ) );
$message_headers = “MIME-Version: 1.0\n” . “From: \”{$from_name}\” <{$admin_email}>\n” . “Content-Type: text/plain; charset=\”" . get_option(’blog_charset’) . “\”\n”;
$message = sprintf( apply_filters( ‘wpmu_signup_blog_notification_email’, __( “To activate your blog, please click the following link:\n\n%s\n\nAfter you activate, you will receive *another email* with your login.\n\nAfter you activate, you can visit your blog here:\n\n%s” ) ), $activate_url, clean_url( “http://{$domain}{$path}” ), $key );
// TODO: Don’t hard code activation link.
$subject = sprintf( apply_filters( ‘wpmu_signup_blog_notification_subject’, __( ‘[%s] Activate %s’ ) ), $from_name, clean_url( ‘http://’ . $domain . $path ) );
//wp_mail($user_email, $subject, $message, $message_headers);
return true;
}

omg so easy!

5. Why in gods name can’t I import and export contacts through iTunes?

No, really.  I’ve had an iPhone firmware update completely nuke my contact list.  After a year and a half of getting all of my business contacts organized into lists and properly tagged with company names, email addresses, and personal notes about the contact, I had everything wiped out on me.  This is unacceptable.   iTunes currently allows you to sync with Exchange and Google Contacts.  Why the hell can’t I just throw a CSV file at it and have it properly import?

4.  The keyboard is absolutely useless for anything other than quick messages

When the iPhone first demo’d way back in June 2007, everyone was so hyped up about the fact that it had no flip out keyboard.  It was just a brick, everything was handled through this incredible adaptive touchscreen that could pivot and move and wow!  The thing is; It’s all gone pear shaped.  It’s just not intuitive at all to type with the thing.  The spell checker allows you to blaze as fast as you can theoretically type, but even still you’ll have words show up that you didn’t intend to type, and god have mercy on trying to go back and edit that after the 3.0 interface changes with copy and paste, as every time you hold your finger down on the screen not only will it smudge, but now it wants you to select everything!  AARAGH.

3.  The app store is great, but the hardware can’t have more than a few apps installed or your iPhone will turn into an expensive, glossy paperweight

Some of things from the app store are invaluable.  Epicurious, voice activated google searching, urbanspoon, facebook and tweetdeck.  The problem is, if you install more than an extra ‘page’ of apps, the iPhone will slow to a crawl with even basic actions like unlocking your phone, dialing a number, or pulling up your contact list. Smartphones are almost slow by design, there’s simply too much going on within the pocket computer that is also a phone to make it as blazing fast as you want it to be, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that at a 300$ pricetag, you should be able to install all of the apps you want, without it destroying the end result; it’s a phone.  It’s used for calling.  If all the bells and whistles destroy that experience, it just becomes frustrating and irritating. And no, I don’t care what you say; paying another 150$ for the 3GS is not a valid rebuttle.

2. 3G is pathetic, and coverage is even worse.

This is more a slam against the unholy abomination that is AT&T, but my 3g service area is USELESS, as is the speed in which 3g actually operates.  I can’t do half of the things I’d like to do (Update twitter, check emails, and update my facebook status / loopt location) unless i’m on WiFi, and if i’m on WiFi, welp, there goes my battery. If the biggest push of your advertising is “More Bars in More Places”, actually deliver on that promise.  Verizon has you absolutely whooped, as does T-Mobile’s coverge area.  You suck, AT&T.

1. Updating and syncing my iPhone is the technological equivalent of getting kicked in the balls by a steel toed brushed aluminum boot.

iTunes has to be the biggest pain in the ass of any iPhone user.  Not everybody is on a Mac, Apple.  Nobody on the PC actually LIKES iTunes.  Your crushing oppression to any alternative methods of using your products, apart from the app store, is absolutely killing my will to live.  If I want to toss a few songs on my phone for when i’m waiting in line or in the car and nothings on the radio, it’s going to be an hour long process.  Why does iTunes simply stop responding when I connect an iPhone (or my iPod, for that matter)?  iTunes will crash, my phone will brick and have to be restored, and lets not forget about the phantom contact list.   Why has ‘dragging and dropping’ been superseded by a bunch of playlists and checkboxes?  Why can’t i just drag a goddamn mp3 to my phone?  You know, for kings of the interface and guru’s of the user experience, iTunes is a blight upon the internet.

I suppose the only alternative is to pickup an Android on Verizon in the coming few months, hmm?

Related articles

• 10-K Watch: Apple’s iPod Net Sales Dropped 12 Percent In 2009; iTunes Up (paidcontent.org)
• Apple: Time to Drop Anti-PC Sarcasm from TV Ads (readwriteweb.com)
• A Blinding Flash of The Obvious (mondaynote.com)
• Verizon and Motorola unveil the Droid (news.cnet.com)
• Google Wave to Get App Store, Kill the iPhone? (marketingpilgrim.com)
• Verizon opens fire on iPhone’s ‘geek chic’ with the bad-boy Droid (dailyfinance.com)
• Adobe to release Flash player for mobile – except iPhone (cbc.ca)

9 times out of 10, the reason your “Social Media Strategy” Failed is because you broke one of the cardinal rules.   People, like the internet, are fickle, bored and endlessly unfocused things;  There’s just no escaping this.

Lets examine the top 5 reasons why your social media experiment came crashing down like a bird with vertigo:

1. Participation, Participation, Participation.

There is nothing in the world that will bring your attempt to a crashing, embarrassing and frankly all-too-likely end.  You didn’t commit.   Participation, as proven by twitter and pioneered by sites like stumbleUpon, myspace, and LiveJournal is the key to any successful Social Media strategy.   If you’re trying to get a message out there to the world, and become a signal in a giant pool of noise, this will always, ALWAYS, bite you in the ass.

2. You hired some yokel with “10 years experience” and a stunning portfolio.

Face it.  Fresh ideas come from those who are willing and able to innovate;  Not to coin a phrase here, but “those guys”, the ones who are trying to break out of their cubicles by participating in Multi-Level-Marketing and referral schemes.  The “Social Media Revolution” happened circa 2005; How can they have done it all?  These guys can barely keep their own heads above water, much less properly plan, execute, and analyze your Social Media plan.  Want to know if you’ve hired a “That Guy”?  Do they have billions of twitter followers, do nothing but retweet other peoples content, and never participate in discussions?  Do they speak in obtuse truisms as an excuse to keep the hard facts tucked away?  Like a disclaimer that follows some revolutionary new diet pill, caveat emptor. If you aren’t being drowned in analytical information on your plans success or failure, there is a problem.

3. Like all those great dotComs in 2000, you can have a great plan and no execution and still make money.

No, really.  I’m being completely honest – Even “those guys” can be right twice a day.   But how do you track that progress?  Analytics being what they are today, how you can hire a consultant to help build an online presence and not have a keen insight to daily performance is an absolute travesty.  You should know your facts. Like any business venture, Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. This is a truism that applies itself to any facet of business.  Why should the internet make things any different?  Just because you’re making a few bucks here and there, doesn’t mean your strategy is successful.  Never be satisfied.

4. Automate nothing, personalize everything.

Merriam-Webster states that the word “Social” means: tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others of one’s kind.  No matter what the internet or some flashy “that guy” tells you, automation is never, ever, ever a good idea.  Not even a little bit.  No machine can create lasting and worthwhile connections with customers or partners on the web.  Not now, not in a few years, not through some genius innovation that does all of your work for you.  Unless you are taking the time to respond to people, get involved with the conversation, build your brand narrative and understand that your initial prospects have 3 seconds or less to understand and agree with your message, you will never get off the ground.  And automation will never let this wonderful connection happen.   Period.

5. Integration (Or lack thereof).

Lets say you’re a business who’s trying to get people to download a product catalog.  You’ve spent months working with professional designers making sure you’re website was perfect, your catalog had bright and vibrant colors, and you had a normal radio and television marketing plan.  When it came time to look at what channels were available to you on the web, you drew a blank.   Unfortunately, you probably got suckered by “that guy”, decided to build a myspace, facebook, and twitter profile, and start ‘pumping and dumping’.   You’ve got a blog, too.  But the problem is, your blog isn’t connected to facebook and twitter, so your followers don’t know when products are updated in the catalog.  Worse still, you don’t have any integration with your storefront to your blog, so people have to manually update the blog AND the twitter, myspace, and facebook feeds for a single product update!

So now what?  You stop updating.  It’s expensive!  You’ve got to nearly have someone on staff, full time, to handle those sorts of issues, which is exactly what “That guy” wants!  You’ve fallen as easy prey.  Congratulations! Your social media experiential has died.   It was slain by a grue who figured you were easy money.

Unless you’ve got a technical mind behind the marketing savvy, your attempts at entering this marketplace – one of people and instant access to information – will be half-cocked.