I may be stating the obvious here but soooo much went unaddressed at yesterday’s iPad 2 event. Too much is percolating to be left that way for long.
First and foremost is iOS 5. Nary a mention. History points to a preview coming some time in the next 4 – 5 weeks. Apple’s been busy of late so I wouldn’t be surprised if it came slightly later this year. Call it Tuesday April 12.
Second is MobileMe. Nothing. Zilch. And in a way that makes me even more optimistic that the coming overhaul is both massive and tightly integrated into iOS (and OSX…) File system (or app) FTW? Here’s hoping. I’m not going to overhaul my own personal workflow until that’s addressed, or not, by Apple.
Anyway, as I’ve stated in prior posts, I’m definitely trading up to the iPad 2. The added horsepower alone makes it a no brainer for me. The thinner, lighter form factor is just gravy as are the cameras.
Oh, and wasn’t it great to see SJ there? I knew he loved the iPad at least as much as he does President Obama 🙂
The iPad Alone 
Yeah i was reading some of your posts as well on macrumors and I do agree your workflow is pretty much all you can get out of the current OS. I forget the thread but I was reading at work that you were thinking of using box.net. I played with that idea but the only features with auto-syncing was the business license and they trick you in the pricing as it’s give a pretty good account but minimum of 3 purchase. Unsure if you researched more to see it.
Previous to your last post I am not surprised as no iOS 5 info was released as they did not do that with last years previous launch and didn’t want to take away from today’s event with previews although I was holding out for some hope. My preferred choice is a “shared” file area vs. a whole file system that would create for simple users a nightmare.
Both my wife & I will be trading up the iPad’s and getting the new one in a couple of weeks with our trusty iMac as the central syncing\backup computer but nonetheless the decrease in size was an unexpected and welcome addition that frankly I did NOT expect!
Regards,
Durious
Hey there Durious. Thanks for posting. And thanks for the info on box.net. I think either way I need to wait for the iOS 5/ MobileMe previews before deciding which way to go. But I hadn’t caught that about that box.net pricing. You’re totally right – they make it sound like you get three accounts for the price indicated, rather than having to pay the indicated price times three in order to get the feature! That’s crappy!! Hopefully Apple will do it right.
And you hit on one of the key challenges in terms of a file system: it needs to be simple and seamless. I have no particular loyalty to the nested folder structure we’ve learned over the last many many many years. I do fear though that a search-based, search-only shared sandbox (basically a flat file) will be unworkable *unless* the search tool is extremely robust. It’ll force us to give documents more obviously sensible names I suppose too, which never hurts! But it’ll have to also intelligently search document content as well, their save dates, etc. in order to be as useful for a large store of documents as the tried and true folder system is.
If anyone can figure it out it’s Apple, that’s for sure!
Sounds like you and your wife are doing what we will likely do as well, though I think my wife’s upgraded will come after mine. She’ll play with mine before admitting she really wants it 🙂
Yes honestly with the larger amount of iPhone devices in existence at least currently I don’t see apple announcing much with iOS 5 except centered around iPhone… Just as they’ll want to hit there larger market with the news and have it spreadnthat way. I guess I’m alright with a sandbox a one level folder structure would be good also and keep it simple while still letting people categorize data.
iPad 2 is certainly taking awhile it feels but I should have it around the 20th when I visit the us for work trip and not have to wait the fll wait (25th)!!
I might actually get the zaggmate as well but not 100% it seems good for the times you wanna do some heavier typing and seems more simplistic than a keyboard and dock at a desk.
Oh well the month end when i will have one is nearing!
I wonder if they won’t include the 4 and 5 finger gestures in iOS 5 (the ones that’d first been included in the 4.3 dev betas). They looked really slick, though not slick enough for me to JB just to get them now 🙂
Did Zaggmate announce a version of their keyboard case for the ipad2? I don’t follow many of the accessory device makers all that closely (I’m most interested in what will hopefully be a slew of airplay enabled audio/video hardware). A suggestion – pick up a BT keyboard, even a used or refurb Apple model, just to see how often you actually really feel a need to use it. Granted i don’t write all that much in the grand scheme of things. But I use mine approximately never 🙂
Good luck on your trip here – hopefully they’re not sold out by the time you arrive:)
Where in the US are you headed?
Those gestures are amazing i still get annoyed at hard buttons to bring up the application switching….
Zaggmate has preorders available for iPad 2 and phasing out iPad 1 but they don’t have any pictures just yet.
On my current iPad I have the apple Bluetooth keyboard but it’s tough to use in bed or on my lounge chair and usually just use it at the desk. I just like the zaggmate as it facilitates when i want to write something long without going to my iMac. You might be right though but for the price I save on actual laptops its worth the attempt.
I might actually invest in invis shields for the back this time around just so i can handle it more loosely and not depend on a case and just use a sleeve, still undecided on that accessory though, my wife is in love with the smart cover but I’m not sold just yet.
I’m headed for a two week trip for work to Houston Texas…. Although I have a 3 day weekend this week so now I’m tempted to go to Portland, maine which is a 7 and a half hour trip from my place in order to stand n line waiting for one… They are our closest US apple store… My only issue is I wonder if i get in line about 5 hours early if I’ll have a shot at getting one… I don’t know how big lines get there. Any advice??
A 15 hour round trip is worth it as long as i can get one.. Lol
Regards,
Durious