The Houston Zoo (a Schipul client) is hosting the annual AZA 2010 conference in Houston this year and we are lucky enough to join them to document the experience!
From a fantastic kick off bash at Houston MFAH to a standing ovation for keynote speaker Jim Collins (author of Good to Great), the AZA 2010 conference is a great and interactive experience for zoo and aquarium leaders to learn, connect and innovate.
Jim Collins led a great panel on moving Zoos from ‘good to great’ – some tidbits from the panelists:
When businesses do well, they are making a bunch of money. When Zoos are doing well, they are making faces and running around happy. They don’t know they are successful until they see it.
Graffiti – you go into a school where kids don’t honor their spaces. In Zoos, you see no graffiti. People respect your facility and honor it.
Hire for people skills, as well as animal skills.
Be strategic in what you accept and what you don’t do for revenue streams – even if you really need the money, you must stay true to your mission.
How do you decide what donors to partner with? Money is good, but mission is important. Do the sponsors make you feel ‘icky’? Will they shine a negative light on your brand. Then the answer is no.
On staffing, Jim says ‘first who, then what’. There is a difference between seats and bus – someone can be the right person on the bus, but you must put them in the right seat?
How long should you be patient? Values, will and skills – if it’s a skills question you can be patient longer. Either you are self-motivated or you are not, there is less time for this. Then there’s the values – and that’s a no patience zone. Either they match yours or they don’t. No patience.
What’s changing – what are the brutal facts?
People come to zoos that care and love us, but not for the reason we want them to. Zoos are passionate about conservation and education, but most attendees come for a fun experience. We are aware and we wrestle with that.
Biggest threat to wildlife is that we have a generation growing up that has little connection to nature. We must teach them our values and connect them to what’s important – and, as always, our educators are leading the way.
It’s wonderful to see zoos using animals as ambassadors – not just nameless objects. Give them a personalized experience that pulls visitors in. But it’s important how we position themselves to animals, as other organizations are connecting with the allure of animals. We must remain authentic, educational and passionate.
Want to see some more great #AZA2010 posts? Check out these great ones on the Houston Zoo blog:
It’s been an adventure – from Web design to search engine marketing to software products to Social Media… ups and downs, laughter and tears, Flash and HTML5, conferences and webinars. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
But by far our biggest gift has been the Schipul tribe that we have been surrounded by over the years.
Our clients mean everything to us, they challenge us to grow and push us to innovate and stay smart. We love interacting, visiting and partnering with them. Such a blessing, every one.
Our friends and community keep us quirky and creative – hosting great events, sharing and training with us and being there for us through thick and thin.
And finally, our employees bring everything together for us on a daily basis. Their hard work, constant personal development and passion for serving our tribe is the difference between trudging into the office for another blah work day and truly loving the work that we are privileged to do.
Happy birthday Schipul — and congratulations to all! We wouldn’t be here without you.
I started working in Houston’s Theater District at Society for the Performing Arts before Facebook was well, Facebook and the introduction of the iPhone. Android was still just a dream of the Open Handset Alliance. Being the early adopter that I am, I began testing the waters of Facebook and Twitter, trying to figure out how all this crazy stuff worked. All the while, my mind kept spinning around the question, ‘How could these emerging methods of connection and communication be integrated into the Theater District experience?’
As with many organizations during this time, the answers have not been easy to come by. The main conflict is the ages of the respective audiences. The group actively using social media on the internet and their phones is considerably younger than the audiences taking in performances at Jones Hall and the Wortham. The great fear for some patrons is the degradation of the theater experience like we have seen in our movie theaters. Others find the behavior of these tech happy people abhorrent, and too unsophisticated for the filigreed temples of the arts. Honestly? They’re right. Going to a performance is an experience between you and the artists. It is an intimate relationship that sometimes requires the full attention of the patron.
Imagine yourself locked in a passionate embrace of your significant other. They are holding you in their arms tightly, stroking your hair, nibbling at your ear. When, all of a sudden, he or she pulls out their phone to send a tweet. That moment is, as they say, spent. Now, with that same scenario, imagine if a stranger interrupted this moment to post your picture on Facebook? We’ll call this phenomenon Theaterus Interruptus.
This is not behavior anyone here at Schipul would be likely to encourage, however, we also see the strong need for a conversation about the use of social media and mobile phones within the construct of a night at the theater. In the coming weeks, I want to open up a dialog with arts patrons and enthusiasts about the use of social media in our performance spaces. I will introduce you to different sites and apps that I feel have great potential, and hopefully develop a set of rules we all can follow to help expand our enjoyment of the theater-going experience.
In my last Arts post, I laid out some simple rules of how to attend an art gallery opening. This time around, I want to give you some suggestions about galleries you might want to visit.
Bering & James As I mentioned in my last post, this is probably my favorite gallery in Houston. You will recall Rule #7: An opening does not an evening make. Any gallery that you decide to frequent should have immediate access to post opening possibilities. Bering & James boasts Houston favorite, Gravitas, and the delightful BYOB gem Lucio’s within walking distance. Whether you want to go casual or chic, your post opening festivities are set at Bering & James. Parking can be a bit tricky, but B&J will normally have complimentary valet. That or you can always valet at Gravitas for a pre-opening cocktail, and walk over from there. Be careful with the latter option, you don’t want to run afoul of Rule #5: The wine is free, but this isn’t Cheers, Norm.
Gremillion & Co. Fine Art, Inc.
First off, let’s get your pronunciation right. It’s Greh-MEE-on not Greh-million. You’ll score serious points right off the bat if you can say her name right. I met the owner of this gallery during my time at Society for the Performing Arts. This is also a gallery for high-level art collectors.
Let me explain. You’ll know a lot about the level of collector you’re hobnobbing with pretty easily by looking at the prices of the art. Bigger price, bigger level of collector. However, don’t let that deter you from going to certain galleries. Attending gallery openings isn’t just about buying art, it’s also about discovering your personal tastes.
While it can be very subjective, an artist will typically charge what people are willing to pay for their art. More sought after artists charge more for their pieces. However, you should NEVER use the prices to dictate whether you like the art. In fact, I can guarantee that you will eventually find yourself looking at something that you think is ridiculously overpriced at $10,000, and absolutely fall in love with the piece that is priced at $100 somewhere else.
Which brings me to another point. You’re going to walk into some galleries, and you’re going to see some pretty crazy stuff. Embrace that fact right now. If all art was for all people, it would cease to be art. Art, by nature, is supposed to challenge people in different ways. Sure, you may like it, but you need to take time to ask yourself why? And the same thing goes double for anything you absolutely cannot stand. I tell you this because I promise you that you will, one evening, find yourself starting at a big effing mess on the wall, and will not want to live without it. If you allow yourself the proper amount of personal introspection, you’ll not be confused when this inevitably happens to you. It’s really okay, it’s actually a pretty fantastic feeling.
The Colquitt “Gallery Row”
This is my moniker, I don’t know if these galleries ever refer to themselves as a group. Nevertheless, the 2600 block of Colquitt is a fantastic collection of galleries covering a wide range of disciplines that makes for an entertaining gallery crawl. Better yet, the galleries tend to have openings en masse giving you delightful opportunity to see a great selection of art.
Your adventures in Houston’s art galleries are just beginning. Have fun, be willing to open your mind, and you’ll be sure to find yourself in interesting places both personally and socially. There’s a wonderful world out there for you to find, you just have to get out there and experience it. I hope I have been of some help.
Wind insurance in coastal counties is difficult to get. Alternatives include obtaining a homeowner policy excluding wind, then applying for wind insurance through organizations like the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.
*Expert Tip: 45-35% of hurricanes happen in areas that aren’t expected to have them. Once an area is under threat from a storm, insurance companies issue a moratorium and halt the purchase of policies. It’s important to stay current on your payments as you may not be able to reinstate your policy during a moratorium.
Expect power outages during Hurricane and Tropical Storms
Have a plan that anticipates extended power outages from Severe Weather
*Expert Tip: Air conditioning accounts for about 70% of electric bill. To reduce your bill, raise the thermostat or turn off the a/c when you’re not home. Also, change filter every month and use ceiling fans to keep air flowing freely.
Think Ahead for Emergency Planning
Have an actual road atlas in case you need to evacuate. Map applications on your phone may not work due to communication overload and the need to preserve power.
Consider services like Yammer.com that allows you to communicate via mass text message for communicating with employees.
Families may consider Geni.com for locating loved ones following a disaster. It’s not uncommon to lack important details about family members, neighbors or loved ones.
*Expert Tip: Cell towers have their own power generators that permit text messages to work when data packages on cell phones don’t. If you can’t access social media sites via mobile web apps, you can communicate by texting to sites like Twitter. This will alert people outside your area who can use the web interface that you’re ok.
For more information, contact the Schipul offices for help with your social media consulting for your small business or family plans.
Parts of the interwebz are buzzing today because the NBA’s Free Agency season kicked off at midnight this morning. Lebron James and Dwayne Wade head what is being hailed as the most talented free agent class in NBA history. To give you a sense of how HUGE this really is, I’m going to explain it in terms of technology and social media.
Lebron James is Steve Jobs and the Cleveland Cavaliers are Apple. You cannot (and fans of both don’t want to) think of one without thinking of the other. The separation of the two is just too painful to think about.
The Chicago Bulls are Microsoft, a once great and powerful force looking to regain past glory. Imagine Steve Jobs going to work at Microsoft. Imagine how that would feel to Apple employees and fans. That is what it would feel like if Lebron signs with Chicago, and it would replace this as the worst moment in Cavaliers franchise history:
The Miami Heat is Google and Dwayne Wade, who is likely to stay in Miami, is CEO Eric Schmidt. Imagine the Olympics are an iPhone keynote where Schmidt’s cameo is a Dwayne Wade assist leading to a Lebron James monster jam. Heat General Manager Pat Riley is the mysterious search algorithm, the source of Google’s power.
The New Jersey Nets (Brooklyn) are Facebook. Strategically well positioned with star power, Jay-Z, and a new owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, with limitless cash reserves.
The New York Knicks are MySpace. Once one of the coolest places in the NBA, now mostly pathetic and lame.
The Dallas Mavericks and Mark Cuban are Twitter. Still a major player, but no one is quite sure if they want it.
Chris Bosh is Foursquare. Most people recognize his value, but just don’t see long term success.
Now you should be informed enough to understand the latest news being tweeted, shared and blogged across the Internet over the next week or so.
Well, kids, if you have been following the blog during the month of June, then you know that the topic is about geekery and vacation.
The thing is—I am not a vacationer. Also, I am not a fan of summer. Or nature. Or anything that requires hiking, biking, or other forms of physical exercise that takes place in an outdoor setting. However! I am a huge geek.
Geeks lack proper social skills unless with likeminded geeks. Even then, it is horribly, horribly awkward. This is why, as a geek, “vacation” really means: “take off of work to attend a comic convention,” or “LAN party in Austin!” and if you are my friend who will remain nameless, “larping tournament in San Antonio!”
LAN parties have fallen from their former glory and the big comic conventions can be too mainstream, but, I have to write a blog post, so let’s act like we are geeks “vacationing” to a geek event.
Here are the top 5 things I suggest to bring with you to conventions, LAN parties, and gaming tournaments. And let’s throw in “geek-related conferences” for good measure:
Item 1: Power
These arent iPhone 4's! LAME.
The first thing you need is a battery charger and/or power cord for a laptop, phone, or camera. Yes, obvious item is obvious. Just like your toothbrush that you always forget to pack. Remember, less is more. Laptop to a comic con? Not necessary and a bit bulky. Pick your items wisely; you have few slots in your inventory until you level up to being Press and Media.
Item 2: Manna
It's not a party unless Bawls are involved.
The second thing you’ll need is fuel. No, not coffee. Energy drinks. Personal preference: Bawls. You will need lots, and lots of Bawls. It is not the most powerful energy drink, but there is nothing like a lewd Bawls related joke slurred out at 4am when you have been up for more than 40 hours. Doesn’t. Get. Old.
Item 3: Power +3
Internet to go-go
Third, you need some instant internet when the free wi-fi fails you and a data connection is crashing. Fellow Schipulite Glenbot wrote about a great source in his post: OH MiFi! What an Internet Connection!
Item 4: Scrolls
Try a Sharpie. They are the shiz.
Fourth thing you need is a marker and paper or a blank space on a body part of your choosing. Sometimes, you run into amazing people and you want them to draw for you or even sign your favorite comic book. Celebs and artists are usually prepared, but that female version of Kratos that you dig probably doesn’t have a pen to use when you ask for her gchat name.
Item 5: Proof
Why hello there Mr. Batman.
Fifth thing is pretty simple: a camera. I usually use my iPhone if I know it’s a slow day. For celebrity meetings and convention parties, I might have a nice point-and-shoot or my Canon. Cameras are essential to prove that you go out in public, socialize, and can take down a Zima like nobody’s business.
OH SNAP! Bonus item number six! Bring some dang deodorant. You know who you are. Mass 48-hour LAN party with hundreds of computers whirling can get hot and quite frankly, your smell is whack.
There you have it! Not really an essential guide for those who do it on the regular, but a good starting point for anyone trying to get in the game. I could write a longer list, but I need to go back into my safe shell full of coding magic.
An expression from the mid 1950s, which fell from favor by the early 1960s….until now..
Majority of corporate blogs are boring fairly informative and only transparent in the fact that they paid ‘anonymous†to write their posts. There is a complete lack of vigor and let’s be honest, if I wanted to continue reading textbooks, I would have elongated my college curriculum. Basically, I want to hear your story; I want companies to convey transparency, I want to know the people behind the brand and most importantly, I want to talk about a company that is actually doing it right…
New Media Strategies
The team over at New Media Strategies (NMS) have successfully positioned themselves as an industry leader in social media marketing and measurement; completely embracing transparency and putting the individuals that make up NMS front and center. Admittedly, a portion of this information came from their ‘About’ Overview†page while the latter was discovered when I could not stop reading the NMS corporate blog…and yes my friends, it is very boss.
Seemingly so, the NMS blog has become one of my favorite online reads. One day I am sipping a Sprite on the rocks reading about the Q3 ‘Ass Kicker’ and the next I am learning that the terms ‘Snuggie†and ‘Pelosi†actually can find common ground on Twitter. There is a different voice, opinion and face to every single post and you are given the unique ability to relate with the individuals that make up NMS. Seriously, how else would I know that one of their gals has an extreme crush on Jake Pavelka? You can’t make this stuff up and you know what, I totally dig it.
A lot of people are probably wondering who in the world would let their employees’ blog on company time; better yet, write posts that do not directly sell the product. Well folks, his name is Pete Snyder, Founder & CEO of NMS…and undeniably, the biggest advocate for employee blogging.
“It’s not about technology, it’s about the people. So many are concerned with site traffic. We don’t pay attention to that; the blog is for our people – positioning them as thought leaders within the industry in order to educate our clients.”
By simply going to the NMS homepage, you immediately understand what Pete is talking about. I am not one to shout out absurd statistics, but I would venture to say that over 50% is dedicated to the blog posts, NMS clients and each individual that make up the NMS team. It is quite obvious that these people are not robots and I, for one, greatly appreciate that.
“We give people the option to be front and center. It shows the world we really are eating our own dogfood. Our goal is to put the best and most interesting content out there through our blog and who better to do that then the people that are living it every day.”
Unlike many companies, NMS fully supports the NMS team fostering their own personal brands. There is no need for blogging ninja style in fear of receiving the pink slip on Monday. The NMS folks are out there blogging about what they love because it is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle.
“We want them to be the brands that we hired from day one. We only want people who have a passion for this industry, so when they begin developing their own blog, we encourage it on and off the clock. NMS is comprised of unbelievable minds and truly talented writers…putting it front and center and embracing personal interests are important to our success.”
You can’t help but admire and respect a company that says, ‘Here are our people, we love them and so should you!†Ok, maybe Pete didn’t say that exactly, but being able to understand that simply by reading their blog…well, that speaks volumes my friends.
Facebook has been booming in the last year. New features, controversies, applications, and millions of new users. However, you can no longer count me in that group of people. Follow along as I detail my reasons for leaving the most popular social network of all time.
Special Note: This is my story from my perspective as a Facebook user. Facebook has over 400 Million other users, and it is filled with marketing and community building opportunities. You shouldn’t base your decision about Facebook solely on my experience.
You won't find me on Facebook anymore
Early years
I signed up for Facebook when I was a college sophomore at Texas A&M in 2004. This was when it was university students only and they were regularly updating the homepage to list the new schools that were available on Facebook. I refer to this period as the “Good Ole’ Days of Facebook”. Call me elitist, but I loved when Facebook was only for college kids. There weren’t as many features back in those days, and friend lists were a manageable number for most, hovering around 200 on average.
The basic features were pretty simple. You could write on someones wall, or send them a message. There was a really cool feature where you could see your extended network (friends of friends). It was a perfect way to connect with kids I knew in other states or at other schools. And at that time, anyone that wasn’t in college couldn’t spy on your wall or photos or anything else you did on Facebook. It was ours and ours alone, and that was the best privacy controls we ever had. Then things started to change.
Middle Years
In 2006, Facebook introduced the News Feed, and it freaked everyone out. You could now see how many times Sally updated her favorite TV Shows, Quotes, etc. in a day. Some of my friends have 50+ updates in a span of 20 minutes, and they were all thoroughly embarrassed to see them listed next to each other on their friends’ news feeds. I personally loved the news feed, as it kept me from having to visit everyones page to “stalk” them. This also marked the first privacy concerns for Facebook, as the controls for what showed up in the news feed were not added until later.
As Facebook became essential for college students, I began to fall out of love with the service. I would get important messages sent through Facebook instead of email and would end up missing out on things. The email forwarding for messages or other invites were not around at that time, and is now fodder for viruses. The photos and tagging came about, which is probably the only useful service from Facebook, and immediately everyone was tagged at their best and worst. “Un-tagging” yourself was now added to the to-do list for finding a job.
I enjoyed keeping up with my friends, but their was and still is large social pressure to “friend” anyone that you have met in person, even if it was for 10 minutes at a party. I, along with most people, had grown my friend list to a point where it was now full of more people I wouldn’t consider close friends than with my real friends. It had become an acquaintance manager, but most of the features like news feed were only really useful for your real friends. I began logging in less and less because the news feed was filled with a bunch of crap I didn’t really care about. Then came applications.
The Application Madness
This was the beginning of the end. When Facebook applications first surfaced in 2007, it seemed like a breakthrough that was moving Facebook into a real platform. What really happened was much different. Thousands of developers created applications that you probably didn’t care about at all. Then, one of your 400 friends who you didn’t really know would try to get you to sign up for them. Mafia Wars, Dinosaur eggs, 50 different birthday calendars. There was no end to this stream of useless and distracting invites. All of this encouraged me to login even less. While you can now block all application invites from a friend, these controls did not exist at the time. The push of features without the necessary controls in the backend was starting to become a horrible trend. Next was the privacy concerns with applications. Developers were making cash hand over fist by offering in game points for your information. Sometimes it was a harmless form that took your email address. Other times it was with a credit card signup that could mar a freshman’s credit if they weren’t careful. And all so you could grow grapes faster on a make-believe farm.
There were little things like Facebook Beacon and Phone numbers in the iPhone app, and the recent additions of connecting with websites automatically that I truly despise. I eventually removed most of my “friends” because I couldn’t remember who they were. I blocked all applications from everyone, and tried my best to block many of the emails, but I wasn’t very successful at that. Then, in the last few months, I just got fed up with the privacy errors that Facebook was making over and over. I decided to weigh the pros and cons of staying on Facebook, and it was clear that it was time for me to leave.
Pros
Being tagged in photos I didn’t take
Hearing news and updates from people I didn’t keep in touch with very well
Cons
My information was being sold to the highest bidder
The distractions and noise of applications, news feed, and messages/emails
The social pressure of “friending” anyone I may have met
The time-suck that is all of Facebook
Bottomline
If I were a college student, things might be different. For now, I think Facebook gives you a false sense of staying in touch with friends. Reading online that Joe just got engaged because her status changed is far different than a phone call or a real-life hug and high five. I spend quite a bit of time on the internet, and for me, interactions with other people are best done offline. If someone is looking for me, they shouldn’t have much trouble finding me. And if I am looking for someone, I can use Google or ask my girlfriend to look them up on Facebook.
The privacy concerns continue to get bigger and bigger. It’s not that I don’t want people to know who I am. It’s that I want complete control over who sees what, and I don’t want things turned on in the background without my explicit knowledge. Facebook has always tried to fix things, butneverbeforetheyneededtobefixed.
You have to understand that Facebook sells attention and information. Facebook users, their data, and their attention are the products that Facebook sells to advertisers. I’d prefer not to be sold to when trying to relax. I consider myself a pretty savvy web user, and jumping through all of the Facebook hoops to block things is taxing for me. I can’t image that the average Facebook user monitors or even understands much of this.
Back in my engineering classes we talked about Peak Oil and what it meant for the world. Now, I’ve been thinking much more about Peak Facebook and what it means for the internet and social networks. How much longer are you prepared to remain on Facebook?
Alternatives
I have been very happy with twitter as a service. The relationship (“follower”) is only one-way, meaning I can follow Coco’s updates without receiving a reciprocal follow from him. I also use Tumblr and Google Reader for finding interesting things on the web, Flickr for photographs, YouTube and Vimeo for video, and del.icio.us for social bookmarking.
I maintain my own website on wordpress to host my info and content, and it has a simple contact form (and Google Phone number) for people to get in touch with me. I keep up with my friends through email and the other services mentioned above, and do my best to see them in real life as much as possible. In a long Kevin Kelly article about Amish Hackers, he quotes one Amish-man describing the problem with PDA’s, smartphones, and other devices being that “you got messages rather than conversations.” I have made it a goal of mine to have more conversations and send/receive fewer messages.
I think Facebook sends many messages and offers very few conversations. This is true of many of the services I use, however Facebook is (was) the only one that bills itself as a platform to connect people. Messages (status updates, photos, “likes”, links, notes, etc.) from hundreds of acquaintances cannot replace conversations with people I care about. Facebook doesn’t help me to connect with my friends, and instead feeds me ads, invites, messages, and other things that take time away from my day. I’m choosing a different route than most, and I’m very comfortable doing so.
I was pretty excited the day I heard about this thing. Now I’m typing this very blog post on it, sitting on an airplane on the way to California. What follows here is less of a review (5 thumbs up!) and more of a commentary on why I think this thing is the beginning of something.
My iPad home screen apps
iPad Form and Feel
The specs on the device don’t really do it justice. The screen is much bigger than an iPhone, but not exactly as big as a laptop screen. It weighs about as much as a dinner plate, which is light to move around but heavy to hold one-handed. The aluminum is a bit slippery to the touch, but I’ve got the apple case on mine which is thin but tactile enough that I don’t expect to drop it. While adding a case adds thickness, it doesn’t matter that much because the iPad is much too big to put in a pocket.
The screen is the same buttery-smooth glass as the iPhone. Fingers slide around very easily, though they do cause quite a bit of smudging. The buttons are all distinctly placed and easy to access. The headphone jack occasionally seems to be in the wrong place, but that it easily corrected by rotating the screen. Almost every app rotates around so that there is no top or bottom of the device. Overall the device is plenty big to see and light enough for a lap, which secures it in that middle space between iPhone and MacBook.
iPad Function and Performance
This thing is fast! The biggest problem that has plagued many similar portable devices is speed, and the iPad delivers better than anything I’ve ever used. You tap or swipe something, and things start happening immediately. The Wi-Fi is quick and browsing websites feels as fast as using a desktop.
The function of this magical thing is most called into question. If I already have a laptop, desktop, and an iPhone, why would someone ever need an iPad? Well, the short answer is you don’t need it, but you probably really want it. The iPad combines much of the portability of the phone with the power and relative size of a laptop. Using the apps loaded on the device along with some from the app store you can:
Play games where you touch the screen
Surf the web on a large screen
Read and respond to email with a full keyboard
Administer websites from a command line
Design websites using mockup and graphics apps
Edit, share, and upload photos
Write blog posts (like this one)
While that likely doesn’t cover 100% of what you do in a day, it probably covers 75-80%. And in doing so, it lets you do the things you need (or want) to do from a couch, coffee shop, airplane, or even the beach with the 3G model. The battery life will cover you all day, as it is pretty true to the quoted 10 hours. I got only 9 hours with the 3G, but that is still much longer than I would get if I was constantly using the iPhone or even a laptop.
Worth the cost?
I, likemanyotherpeople, fully expected the iPad to cost over $1000 when it was first announced in January of this year. I was blown away by the entry-level price of $499. For some people, that $499 version (16GB, Wi-Fi only) will be good enough. I settled in on the 32GB model with 3G, which rang up to close to $800 after taxes and such. Throw in the case and a couple of other extras and it’s closer to $900. Then, pile on the $80 on apps I have spent so far and I am almost at that $1000 mark. Even then, I think it all has been worth it.
The iPad changes my entire day. I wake up and am able to read my RSS feeds on a large, light weight screen while sitting in bed. That’s about 20 minutes a day. I take the iPad to work and use it to check and file email, test web designs, and keep up with social media. At night, I take it home and I browse the web from the dinner table or while on the couch. I use it as a giant remote for the media center computer hooked up to my TV. All in all, I probably spend about 3 hours a day with the device.
While I could do most of those things from a phone or a laptop, they are so much nicer on the iPad. It has the best balance of being powerful and portable than any other device I’ve ever used (and I’ve used a few). Having a great experience for 3 hours a day is entirely worth the cost of the device.
Future of computing
There was much debate before the device was released (some of which I contributed to) about the effects of the iPad on the future of computer. I do believe that touch is something that will be around for the relative future, until we get Minority Report style gesture interfaces. Using the device needs little or no training to jump in and start browsing or using apps. That jumps a major hurdle in using almost any other computing device. The iPad was made for people who aren’t that in to computers, but who use email, social media, and the internet at large.
A big part of the negative side of the discussion comes from individuals who want a normal computer with a touch screen. This is not the iPad, and I don’t think it describes the future of computing. When you really think about the level of abstraction that is involved in a normal desktop, it’s pretty mind-blowing. If you come in with the goal of wanting to look at pictures, you have to find the right folder, open the pictures (usually 1 by 1), and flip through them while they are surrounded by a window with menus and buttons and other extras. On the iPad, you tap the photos app, and there they are. When browsing a photo, your options are limited to what you can do with that photo at that moment. Many people are scared of that word ‘limited’, but I think the reduction in UI junk helps you to accomplish your goals at that time.
All of this said, the iPad can’t do everything. I won’t speak on Flash, because that has been talked to death, but the iPad is also incapable of some other things. As I said before it tackles about 80% of computing tasks. But remember, this is just the first iteration. The biggest thing the iPad has going for it is that it makes the things you want to do easier and more fun.
I’ve had my iPad for just over a week, and I love it. I carry it around with me and have already used it for movies at the gym, in a client presentation, while taking notes, at home, at my desk, and on an air plane. Much of those things can be done other ways, but nothing can do all of them the way the iPad can. Check out the iPad at your local Apple store or borrow one from your local Apple fanboy so you can understand what I am talking about.
While this review was written on an iPad with both the onscreen keyboard and a Bluetooth one, the post was published on a desktop.
