The IPAD doesn’t come with the iworks or ilife suites. iworks is sold in three a la carte apps for 30$. I’m not sure the equivalent functionality is available. Searching for the apps is cumbersome.
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IPAD: “Office” applications are $30
Friday, October 29, 2010
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Posted by reinkefj
IPAD: Limited wifi ‘capabiity’
Thursday, October 28, 2010The IPAD can not connect to the RWJUH wifi.
The RWJUH wifi is ‘available’ to patients and guests. But it has an ‘old style’ mickey mouse interface. It reminds me of the internet cafe system where you buy a User id and password for a few bob. (Sorry last time I bought inet access a la carte was in England. Before that in Biloxi, a life time ago. So bob it is.) And, you use that to authenticate to the network.
The RWJUH wifi splashes you a screen that makes you agree to be good, honor your Mum and Dad (that the English memory bubbling over), and a bunch of other stuff. Then it passes to the traditional uid and password challenge. If you don’t have an id, you can create one for free. It then spaws a small popup saying you’re logged on and “feel free to close this”. But if you do, you’re very quickly back a square one, the agreement page.
The uid and password stays active for awhile or until they wipe the database. That’s happened twice, with no rhyme, reason, or calendar schedule.
The RWJUH wifi “burps” a lot — there are even two type of burps. One, a stoppage where if on the McBa you stop and start you’r airport wifi, you pick up where you are and can keep on going. The other is a five minute, or what seems to be, time out and you start over from the splash.
So apparently, the IPDA can take the splash screen but it won’t allow the pop up after uid / password. It makes no difference if you have the Safari web browser active or not.
That demonstrates that the IPAD’s wifi is substantively different from the McBa’s. Both machines are on the most current release of software.
Makes you wonder what else is different?
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Posted by reinkefj
IPAD: Seems like the primary design principle is to sell the User “stuff”
Wednesday, October 27, 2010https://www.defectivebydesign.org/macappstore
Fool me once, shame on you… fool me twice, shame on me.
Posted On: Fri, 2010-10-22 13:39 by mattl
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Well, it’s official. Apple has now announced it’s bringing the App Store concept to the Mac and it looks like they’ll be restricting apps with FairPlay DRM too for good measure. When we first began talking about the problems with the App Store on the iPhone and iPod Touch, people wanted us to drop it and stop talking about the DRM tricks being pulled by Apple on the grounds that the iPhone wasn’t a general purpose computer (it is, and the iPad is too) but rather an appliance.
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It really doesn’t do too much out of the box.
It does keep the User captive in the box. I’d call it more of an “appliance” than a computing platform. And, while the User Interface is intuitive, what happens when the User doesn’t “intuit” so well. Where’s the F1 Help button?
My first road block is how to delete an application.
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Posted by reinkefj
IPAD: Island Dictatorship or Bridge Appliance
Sunday, October 24, 2010Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? IPAD apps have to come from Apple. Without the cloud, it’s really limited. A grand for the pad, capital cost. 250$/year for the 3G, with a bandwidth cap. So far it’s a very small expensive island. We’ll see if it can bridge anywhere.
It has to have a huge value equation if it’s just an island; a bridge can open new worlds.
Jury’s still out imho.
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Posted by reinkefj
IPAD: Opening a new research effort
Saturday, October 23, 2010Ok, maybe I am a “fanboy”. Of new technology. Maybe it’s supplanted my love of new cars. Just maybe.
What attracted me to the IPAD, and made me spend a lot of money imho, was the idea that it is a game changer for children. I’ve seen the stories of younger and younger human beings making use of it. Even those with different abilities seem to be able to deal with it. If they can, why not a fat old white guy injineer?
If it’s that good, then maybe this is more important than a cell phone for children?
At the very least, instead of children hauling a Herculean load of books, they carry an IPAD.
I was interested in the fellow who had the whole Talmud on an IPAD with translations and expectation. You ever seen all the books of the Talmud?
And, how does this change the ability to deliver dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom)?
And, is it a closed infrastructure? Or is it a computing appliance?
And, is it a good Christmas – Birthday – Every Occasion For The Rest Of Your Life type gift?
And, does it need the 3G option?
FIrst blush, after a day out of the box, it’s a game changer. It’s virtually brain dead without the cloud. (Or am I?)
There are a lot of design flaws or tradeoffs I don’t care for.
But, we’ll see if it grows on me.
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Reinke Faces Life 