Well what would you know?

[nadinbrzezinski]

I went to finally replace my IPOD for a larger model, and have an older model (no the older touch my sis will get) recycled.

So I had a longish talk with the local manager after the staff started singing the praises of the Tablet, err IPAD. So I told him exactly what I posted here, and how it reminds me a LOT of what happened with the Macbook Air. Well, here is the skinny... they've been hearing this A LOT from people who go, but... but. They are actually sending the feedback to Cupertino. They KNOW they will sell it well to the fans but like the Air, they fear the same pattern, mostly because advanced sales are like matching that pattern.

His hope is that second gen will address SOME of the issues from folks who'd love a camera... as well as ahem physical hard drive space and even expandability. Of course there is this problem with Cupertino actually listening to local and regional managers. But yes, they tried... and I gave them a very detailed critique of price points and all... and even the light version of Pages will not be enough to lure many people. And yes the SDK is not addressing some issues either.

They expect their sales to go to gamers, office geeks who need a THIRD computer (like I use my touch for)... but not to go to people who may want it even as a secondary machine. Oh and yes, book readers. He wishes they actually go for the this is a book reader capable of doing much more than just books. That be actually SMART... I mean if I were going to college, given their contract with Hughton Miflin... and my bad back... I'd probably jump on one.

Now I do expect the fanboys to go bull crap but that's ok. This is WHY I took the time to let the manager know these are MY issues... and they include PRICE POINT. As I pointed to him... yes the screen on a netbook sucks for photo editing... (yes, yes it does), but not many SERIOUS photographers will use the tablet, er IPAD for that, even if the software (it already exists) is developed. They need like space and stuff, and the processor on that sucker is not fast enough for some hi end editing.

[Touchdown]

1. Since you put me on ignore, but responded to my photography issues.

... I'll respond to those who aren't ignoring me.

Here's the OP of a thread on it.

1. The LED-backlit color IPS screen should make the iPad useful for displaying photos ("here are samples of my work", "here's a photo of my two-year-old", etc.). These could be photos stored locally (by iPhoto/iTunes or presumably by the Camera Connection Kit). They could also be photos stored anywhere on the Web (accessed via WiFi or 3G).
2. The wireless Web browsing capability could provide the photographer on the go with access to photography news and discussion sites (like this one).
3. The e-Book functionality could let amateur photographers carry around books on learning various aspects of photography. Few photographers are going to load up 15 pounds of books in their camera bag, but they might be willing to load the equivalent number of e-books in a 1.5 pound tablet.
4. The Camera Connection Kit and the wireless connection MIGHT give photographers in the field a way to directly upload photos to newspapers or news agencies. (Even if there was no photo editing on the iPad, I could see this being useful to news organizations.)
5. It seems likely that there will be third-party photo editing apps for the iPad, although these are more likely to be "lite" versions of iPhoto than to be like PhotoShop.
6. With the aid of a third-party app, the 3G iPad might be able to display its GPS-derived location (for the photographer to apply to EXIF data later), or maybe even to apply that location to a set of imported photos selected by the photographer. This would be useful when the camera did not have its own GPS circuitry.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=34411824

A 3 part essay on it from a photographer...

http://photofocus.com/2010/03/03/the-ipad-will-change-photography-part-3/

From part 1
Interacting with PICTURES on the iPad is going to be very different from the way it’s done on a computer. There’s no mouse. There’s no trackpad or trackball. There’s no programming involved. There’s no learning curve. Three year old kids will start using an iPad successfully within three minutes because the iPad is about the content – and the interface that lets you access that content. More on the interface in my next iPad post.

Part 2
Apple has worked to expand multi-touch on the iPad. There are numerous new “gestures” planned for the iPad.
Bundles (or piles or stacks) can be made by holding a finger on one picture and then tapping others to group together.
New Resize handle makes it easy to tap and grab one or more images and resize them.
New page navigation sidebar lets you see thumbnails of pages to select.
New context-based keyboards will automatically resize to fit the app you’re using.
There are many more like floating control panels, optimized views, more spread and pinch options, popovers, dragging to create lists, etc.
And this doesn’t even count all the new gestures we’ll see once the third-party developers get into writing new ones.

Part 3
The transportability of the iPad is perhaps it’s biggest asset to photographers. Back in the day, we used to lug around and ship big books full of photos we called portfolios. We’d get assignments and photo buyers would license our images based on the work we presented in our “book.”

The Internet hasn’t completely eliminated the need for a physical portfolio in some parts of the industry, but the Internet does get emerging photographers noticed so that they can show their book.

I doubt that will change in my lifetime. But I do see some variances. I see a device like the iPad being able to bridge the gap between full-fledged printed portfolio, and Internet web site.

Now, the sales manager was talking about current apps for the iPhone, while some like Best Camera do have a few features, most of them only do one thing, and most of them do that poorly. The iPad is a much more powerful machine than the iPhone. Witness what was done with the iWork suite. Real, useable software will be made for this exclusively. Anybody thinks it's just going to have thousands of useless apps like the iPhone is being myopic. I'm not expecting to use Aperture or Photoshop on it, as a matter of fact, I'm currently running in the opposite direction... finding that too much time is spent on those programs tweaking the shots and never really accomplishing much more than wasting time. iPhoto has a basic editor in it. It works well, it handles RAW files, it's efficient, it's quick, it provides excellent results, and I find that it can handle 80% of my shots. I really only use photoshop for salvaging shots... many times to limited success. Since digital took over photography, one thing has been lost. Try and take the perfect shot in the camera in the first place, then PS won't be needed. Photographers spend too much time at the computer desk, and not enough taking pictures these days. Hi end editing is a new category, and energy consuming. There is some point were it ceases to be photography and starts becoming graphic design/art. I'm not one of those photographers. I'm at the place where I just want to re-gain the joy of taking photos again, and not have to spend $1000+ on software/plug-ins/print drivers/calibration peripherals, not to mention the weeks it takes to be proficient at these things, and get back to just enjoying taking pictures. A simpler machine will help in that.

You keep mentioning the Macbook Air for the clairvoyance to predict the iPad's failure. Why not the iMac, the iPhone, or the iPod? The technosphere was all on the floor laughing when the first blue iMac was introduced in 1998. "Nobody will buy this. It doesn't even have a floppy drive!" While they laughed, regular consumers bought enough iMacs in droves to make it the best selling single computer for 4 solid years. The floppy? Dead after 2 of them. Same with the iPod. "It's just an MP3 player. We already have those." MP3 players were a niche market until iPod came along. Now, CDs are dying. All the same arguments heard about the iPad are recycled from the iPhone... and that product's success can't really be questioned. Macbook Air is competing with 3 other Macbook models, so it's success is limited right there. The iPad is not a Macbook. It's a completely new product, and one that may be a new product category.

Will it do what I want it to do? I don't know. I can't imagine them designing the iWork suite for this and not doing the same with iLife. I currently have an Epson storage viewer, with a 40g HDD on it. It can only display photos, and store them so I can re-use my cards. It costed me $500 3 years ago. I wants something that does more, to allow me to knock out at least half of those 600 wedding shots in a hotel room or bar.

[TicketyBoo]

2. I'm not getting one.

I spend almost all my spare time on my MacBook 2.16 GHz.

My next purchase will be an upgrade to a 13-inch MacBook Pro.

I have no need for more portability than what the MacBooks offer to me.