First the bad news: I tried to finish a post making fun of Chris Mathews' "Hardball" (sample frame above) in time to post it for Thursday morning, but it's not gonna happen. I bit off more than I could chew given the time I'm able to give this. Sorry about that.
Now the good news: have you seen the video introduction of the new ipad that debuted today? If not, go to apple.com and check it out. Be sure to watch the whole hour long video. Your first impression will be disappointment, because the machine Jobs describes at the start sounds like nothing more than a tablet-sized iphone...but stick with it. The Devil is in the details! You'll be cheering by the time the video's over.
Apple is revising their whole business model! Their idea is to give away the computer (I mean, sell it cheap) and make their money on the aps, which promise to be very appealing. The ap for Pages, which is Apple's version of word, is only 10 bucks, and it works faster and more intuitively than the regular version. Even if the ap version is scaled down, it's a bargain at 10 bucks. And the ibook ap...it'll put Kindle out of business.
It's also revolutionary in that it promises over time to make all consumer programs work by simple touch and drag and drop manipulation. I don't expect programs like Photoshop to convert overnight, but I wouldn't be surprised if a year or so from now an easy to learn, easy to use version of Photoshop Elements appeared. Apple has thrown down the gauntlet to the whole software industry: simplify or die! I loooove it! Steve Jobs is a genius!!!!!
Now the good news: have you seen the video introduction of the new ipad that debuted today? If not, go to apple.com and check it out. Be sure to watch the whole hour long video. Your first impression will be disappointment, because the machine Jobs describes at the start sounds like nothing more than a tablet-sized iphone...but stick with it. The Devil is in the details! You'll be cheering by the time the video's over.
Apple is revising their whole business model! Their idea is to give away the computer (I mean, sell it cheap) and make their money on the aps, which promise to be very appealing. The ap for Pages, which is Apple's version of word, is only 10 bucks, and it works faster and more intuitively than the regular version. Even if the ap version is scaled down, it's a bargain at 10 bucks. And the ibook ap...it'll put Kindle out of business.
It's also revolutionary in that it promises over time to make all consumer programs work by simple touch and drag and drop manipulation. I don't expect programs like Photoshop to convert overnight, but I wouldn't be surprised if a year or so from now an easy to learn, easy to use version of Photoshop Elements appeared. Apple has thrown down the gauntlet to the whole software industry: simplify or die! I loooove it! Steve Jobs is a genius!!!!!
Yes......but does it HAVE to sound so much like a female hygiene product?!!
ReplyDeleteThere are mixing programs as apps for Pro Tools that you can use while in the program on a regular comp, so yeah the photoshop thing is a good chance, but the processor and ram is probably too slow for the advanced stuff as of now.
ReplyDeleteOh, no! Eddie, you've gone native! Oh, god! You're in the crushing deathly grip of Steve Job's massive ego!
ReplyDeleteiPad has its faults from what I've read. Why it doesn't play Flash (used in just about every website at one point) I do not know. Maybe that'll change later on.
ReplyDeleteSimplified software is always a good thing, though. I'll be first in line for an easy-to-use Photoshop.
You agree Chris Matthews is a pompous hack who embodies everything that is wrong with the insular Beltway centric journalism that passes for news today? Have you read Neal Postmans "Amusing ourselves to Death?"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/magazine/13matthews-t.html great takedown of the guy. Apparently he was very upset by this profile.
if you like your balls hard, chris mathews is your man.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to take a wait and see approach with this.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons why Macs were more expensive than PCs was the quality and life cycle of a Mac was much higher than a typical PC. I'm interested to see how Apple was able to keep the price point so low.
Quite frankly, the iPad is missing some really basic features that I can get as a standard feature from a pitiful netbook, like a USB port. If I want that, I'll have to pay extra.
The major problem is it doesn't support Flash. Whether we like it or not, a good percentage of web sites use Flash in one form or another, and a lot of web games are using Flash. A person using an iPad wouldn't be able to visit a number of the sites. It also doesn't support multi-tasking. Welcome back to the 1980s!
That said, I use a MacBook Pro and I really like it. I just think that the iPad needs more tweaks before I think it's worth it.
http://www.stephenfry.com/2010/01/28/ipad-about/ Stephen Fry wrote a brilliant defense of the ipad here. Most people are judging this in the context of what an Iphone or Laptop can do. This sounds like an entirely new type of device.
ReplyDeleteWhat impact do you feel this could have on comic distribution and syndication? I've been really iffy on micropayment schemes and whatnot for comics online but this could be a gamechanger.
Excepts of Chris Matthews comments after Obama's State of the Union. What a blockhead!
ReplyDelete"I forgot he was black tonight for an hour".... "I was watching, I said, wait a minute, he's an African American guy in front of a bunch of other white people. And here he is president of the United States and we've completely forgotten that tonight -- completely forgotten it." ... "you don't think in terms of the old tribalism, the old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard. A very subtle fact. It's so hard to talk about..."
If Obama's not black, what is he? Why forget about it? ...In front of a bunch of white people? ...Old tribalism. Yes, astounding!
You should download Brushes; it's the painting app they debuted, but it's currently on the iPhone as well, and it will transfer over if you get a tablet.
ReplyDeleteLayers, eye-dropping, opacity and size, and a primitive brush interface. It works pretty good, but having a huge screen and lots more memory will do excellently.
Hmm... I dunno... I heard there where some problems with the Ipad, but we'll see what happens.
ReplyDeletethe reviews are in and so far word on the street is that its no big deal, just an iphone without the phone,experts are now saying that it likely wont put kindle out of business, but this is all likely to change, this is just an update. me? im all teched out, when will apple develop the apple brain chip? a simple device, surgically wired to your brain, enabling steve jobs to rule the world long after hes dead, just like palmer eldrietch from that phillip k. dick book.
ReplyDeleteThe iPad is gonna really piss off Captain Hook.
ReplyDeleteActually Eddie, there's a program already that you can use on the iPhone now called Sketchbook mobile which is based on Sketchbook Pro which is still the closest thing to paper on a computer.
ReplyDeletehttp://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=13872203
Anyway, with this new iPad you can use a stylus
http://tenonedesign.com/stylus.php
and draw on the iPad. It's like a digital sketchbook! Pretty sweet!
Check out some of the art done with the iPhone, and remember this is on a small 4" screen. Imagine what you could do on a 9" screen!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sketchbookmobile/pool/
Oh and Brubaker said that the iPda doesn't play Flash files and he's correct but the newest version of Flash CS5 will export native .ipa files which is what apps are so in a sense it will be able to do just that.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is that people are looking at the ipod as if its meant as a replacement for a cell phone or laptop. It seems like it has a truly unique interface and helds up insanely well when you compare it to the Kindle which is where the comparisons should be made.
ReplyDeleteSelling it cheap? For half the price of the larger model, you can buy a fully functioning laptop around the same size for portability and yet with double the storage space. They're not even close to giving it away.
ReplyDeleteI can see the beauty in a self-contained Wacom type thing but I don't think this is it. Though I love the Brushes app, when you get to something this cumbersome and at this price, I'd be looking for a pen and layers of sensitivity. Right now, the iPhone itself seems to beat it on features.
And the form? The border is so huge, it would be like browsing the web on a digital photo frame.
By the way, Mr.F, have you seen some of the iPhone art already out there?
ReplyDeletewww.drawn.ca has featured a bunch of iPhone artists. There's also a site just on iPhone art - http://justiphoneart.com/
One of my favourites, because I'm a horror fan and just because it's fun, is this one - http://toomanyzombies.blogspot.com/
Oh, and some of these from Matthew Watkins are just gorgeous - http://www.flickr.com/photos/36709780@N05/
Amazing to think they're done with a finger on a screen just a few inches wide. I'm not quite at that level myself (with iPhone or otherwise).
I'm sure some of these people will work wonders with the iPad.
Re: Brushes app, Oscar wrote:
ReplyDelete"Layers, eye-dropping, opacity and size, and a primitive brush interface. It works pretty good, but having a huge screen and lots more memory will do excellently."
.......
I agree that Brushes is a great app , but I'm amazed at how the iPhone has conditioned us to think of an 8" inch screen as "huge".
(8" screen is better for drawing than the tiny iPhone screen , but I would have preferred the iPad to have a 13" or 15" inch screen like the Modbook tablets, which are converted from standard Macbooks. )
So , anyway, the Brushes app is good as is Sketchbook Mobile . There's another one called Layers which is good, too. All of these will be easier to draw/paint with on the somewhat larger iPad screen, but the big thing to remember is that the iPad screen (like the iPhone touchscreen) does not have pen pressure sensitivity, so it's still not going to be as precise as drawing with a Wacom tablet or a tablet like the Modbook with a wacom-enabled screen. If someone can make a drawing app for iPad that accurately mimics pressure sensitivity then it would be much more useful for precise drawing and painting. (finger painted impressionism is fun and all , but sometimes you have to draw the line, y'know ?)
I can't wait to hold one at the Apple Store and try out the drawing apps like Sketchbook Mobile and Brushes. I'll take my POGO stylus along to try it out. The POGO is a great little addition for sketching on the iPhone, which I can only imagine will be even better on the iPad.
I'm not quite sold on the iPad yet, but very interested.
Anon: I read Postman's book. He was right about a lot of things, but...
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the link. The Mathews article was great!
Mike: Thanks for the links! The iphone Sketchbook ap looks great, especially the updated version. The stylus looks pretty blunt, though. Maybe it has a retractable tip. I'll have to see it.
I bought the regular Sketchbook Pro and was unable to use it. I lost my receipt, and the program won't work unless it's activated by registering and giving information on the receipt. I'm really mad about it. Auto desk, true to its reputation for ignoring customers, didn't answer my complaint.
Jennifer: I forgot about the Flash problem. Did you see what Mike M. wrote about Flash CS5? And the low power and lack of a USB are drawbacks.
What I especially like about ipad is the fact that it will exert pressure on graphics programmers to simplify their programs.
Photoshop gets more complex and less user friendly with every generation. They have no incentive to simplify or to re-think their architecture because what they have is built on patents that they own, and any deviation would get legally messy. It's a clumsy tower of blocks that gets taller and less easy to use every year. Photoshop recognizes the problem but sees no way out.
Enter Steve Jobs. He's going to get customers so used to the convenience of drag and drop that the demand for simplified programs will be deafening, and impossible for Adobe and others to ignore. That's a good thing.
Eddie, I'm on the Sketchbook Pro beta team for Autodesk and have some friends who work there. It's a fantastic program for doing exactly what you want to do with it; draw... so send me your email address and your purchase info etc. to mike@milowerx.com and I'll see if I can help you out. It's worth it as far as I'm concerned, nothing on the market even comes close to SBP as far as pure drawing and the feel of a pencil.
ReplyDelete"nothing on the market even comes close to SBP as far as pure drawing and the feel of a pencil."
ReplyDelete-----
I like SBP a lot , but I wouldn't say nothing comes close: ArtRage not only comes close but in fact surpasses SBP in some ways. There are certain things I like more about SBP and certain things I like more about ArtRage. I go back and forth between using both applications. Depending on my mood I'll use one or the other.
For animating the the feel of a natural pencil is best simulated by TVP Animation
Dave, okay I agree TV Paint comes close to feeling like a pencil but better? Nahhh... It's pretty much exactly the same but Sketckbook Pro is 300 bucks whereas TV Paint is like 1500! As for ArtRage yeah it's a nice program and probably the best on the market for pure painting but it has an awful pencil
ReplyDeleteMike: Thanks soooo much for your offer to help me out with my Sketchbook Pro problem. Your site provider won't divulge contact info unless you give them a birth date and other information, so I was deterred, but maybe I should risk it.
ReplyDeleteMike: I got your email address! Many Thanks! I have to run, but I'll reply tonight!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Kindle is concerned, one of my problems is that because of backlighting, it doesn't actually look like a book... have you seen Barnes and Noble's "Nook"? It's not back lit and it actually looks like paper...
ReplyDeleteI haven't bought any of these devices yet as I still like the feel of holding a book - also, the Nook is still unable to "print" color yet. I suspect that if the device manages to survive they'll eventually solve that "problem."