Dan Wilson’s Blog

The Name iPad – Appears the name never crossed the desk of a female employee in Cupertino, assuming there are any. I was bummed to see that ipadjokes.com was already squatted on.

iWork – At first I was befuddled by this. Why the hell would you want docs and spreadsheets? Then it came to me. The iPhone was never, and never will be, a PDA (personal digital assistant). The iPhone was never for road-warrior working-stiffs, it’s for people with liberal arts degrees to look cool while dressing like hipsters. This is the reason the iPhone never had an app for a todo list, Exchange synching and all. My WinMo phone I had back in 2006 was able to view and edit docs, spreadsheets, and presentations. Not ideal, but was useful occasionally at airports reviewing docs before getting on a plane. The WinMo phone was an extension of all the (boring, non-hip, Microsoft) productivity stuff I used to do my job. Jobs described this as a void filling device, I see it as making up for the non-PDA void that is the iPhone.

Google Voice – All of a sudden, the controversial rejection of Google Voice to the iPhone app store makes a helluva lot more sense. You have a device with Wi-Fi and optionally AT&T 3G, adding a Google Voice app is an invitation for VOIP that would cannibalize AT&T service plans and even iPhone sales.

iPhone OS, not OS X – This is the big one for me. And it infuriates me, and I propose revolution. Bear with me a minute. If you are a rock star, you make it big, you end up being a slave to the record label and you make them rich. If you publish a book, in exchange for advances and distribution and marketing you make a publisher rich. Then comes the Internet and the digital revolution. Now the rock star can sell on iTunes and Amazon without a record label and get close to 100%. The author can sell directly to e-books without a publisher and keep almost 100%. This is theoretical and a simplification, but I do have a point here. Now suppose you are a software developer. You create an awesome game or web site. There is very little cost to sell this game, host it on Kongregate, shareware it, etc. It’s a win-win. You as the developer get most or all of the bounty for your wares while there is little or no cost to distribute. The end user gets creative games that can be made by anyone with the talent, dedication, and creativity to entertain. Same story with a web site or web app. Hosting applications and serving costs are minimal. All you need is a great idea, and it scales to the sky. The model is simple for developers: no middleman between our work and our audience.

Apple decided with the iPhone that if you want to develop an iPhone app, it will cost you $100 up front to become a “developer” and then they will take 30%. Sound familiar? It’s a middleman, extortion, a racket, whatever you want to call it. The worst part, for me at least, is that they duped the very industry that has worked to remove middlemen in every other industry. I once heard that the app store was successful because and only because iTunes trained users for micro-payments. The way Apple sold apps on the app store has also done something profound to developers: it has trained them to pay off middlemen. So far, developers have held their noses and written their $100 checks, received their 70%, and been thrilled to be on the “platform”. But now that “platform” has become a moving target. Intel has decided to make a netbook app store, with a similar revenue share. The iPad, I believe, is setting the stage for all applications having a middleman.

This is the centralization that our industry has destroyed for other industries. It puts power in the hands of the Apples, Intels, Hps, Sonys, and Dells to print money off the backs of the talent that creates the apps (Note: I didn’t mention Google, but they could easily follow suit if it becomes accepted).  Printing money is not an exaggeration either. The claim made by Apple at today’s event was that “already our customers have downloaded 3 billion apps.” That’s in about 18 months, and the overhead is the staff that reviews them, hosting the apps, and building and maintaining the app store and SDK. Also ask if the availability of apps didn’t help Apple sell more hardware. Doing some simple math, at 3 billion apps if the average price (accounting that many apps are free) were $0.10, that’s a cool $90 million, or $164,000 a day. If it’s more than a conservative $0.10, well, you get the idea – it’s a pyramid scheme.

You’re up, you’re down, but in the end the house always wins.

No Camera – This one I am waiting for my a-ha moment, but it isn’t coming to me. I have theories:

• The next iPhone will have that front-facing camera we’ve all been waiting for, and an iPad with a camera would cannibalize that.
• The price point they were so proud of dictated its omission.
• They weren’t ready, both in terms of a touch version of iMovie and providing one that is to be desired (high mega-pixel and fps).
• iPod Nanos and iPhones shoot video. And all MacBooks have cameras. If the device is filling a void between the iPhone and MacBook, not replacing either devices, then no need for a camera on the iPad. Hmm, maybe this is my a-ha moment.

Price – I see the price as filling a void (void filling is such a theme). With MacBooks starting at $1000, and iPhones and Touches in the $100 to $400 range, the iPad’s $500-$820 range fills the void almost perfectly. BTW, the “rumor” that the price was $1000 was an Apple plant, and I wish a non-fanboy journalist could prove it.

Wireless Internet – AT&T? Really? I really, really can’t wait for the fine print on the “unlimited” plan. That will create a stink to high heaven.

Connectivity – No USB or SD. That’s beyond disappointing and almost a slap in the face. No HD video out? I was surprised, as I often plug my laptop via a single HDMI to an HDTV for a great, easy experience. But, why would you not want to watch on the device? Sure, I guess.

The docks do seem interesting. Like the keyboard stand, or the leather case/stand. Seems a little un-Apple, however.

Touch Keyboard – I have heard on numerous occasions that the touch keyboard on the iPhone is just an issue of “getting used to” over a couple of weeks. It’s been a year for me, and I still long for the days of my Blackberry/Palm/T9/Anything but touchscreen keyboard. If your use for the device doesn’t require lots of typing, I forgive. But as a primary email or document editing device? Not so much.

Reality Distortion Field – Just watch this video. Talk about drinking too much of your own magical kool-aid.

Verdict – I will not be getting one, at least for this generation. It does not fill any void for me. I do hope its release will help improve the iPhone, not stymie it in the name of validating the void.