GREAT MOMENTS IN MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKING: LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE

[defrog]

O hai.

I’ve been on the last of my insane deadlines the past 72 hours, so it’s been a little quiet here. Consequently, I’m a little behind on my coverage. Hell, I even skipped this week’s big speech – arguably the most widely anticipated speech of 2010. I had to settle for the highlights reel afterwards, which is probably as well since really, about 80% of these things are set-up and showmanship and a really good AV team for the background visuals, so I’m happy to ...

What’s that? What do I think of Obama’s jobs initiative? What’s that got to do with ... Oh. I see.

Sorry. I was talking about Steve Jobs’ iPad launch.

I understand the confusion, though. Both events featured charismatic icons giving presentations so highly anticipated that everyone knew at least a week in advance what was going to be on the agenda. And both ended up disappointing many for more or less the same reason: both have a reputation for changing paradigms, and fans feel cheated when they deliver anything less than mind-blowing.

I look at the iPad, for example, and really it’s a bigger, cheaper version of the iPod Touch, but with less features that really shouldn’t be missing but are for obscure reasons. I look at Obama’s plans for 2010, and it’s pretty much the same deal.

There are differences, of course. For one thing, you already knew what the reaction to Obama’s speech was going to be even before you knew the talking points.

Democrats: YAY! Republicans: FAIL! Teabaggers: RADICAL ISLAM SOCIALISM!

Which was another reason not to tune in. That and Fox News is still the most widely trusted source of news in America, so it’s not like anything Obama said was ever going to make a difference, regardless of the content.

Anyway, that’s why I’m not getting an iPad.

Well, it’s not the ONLY reason. I’ve never really been enamored by the tablet form factor, so I don’t see a whole lot of usage for it personally. I do find the iBookstore angle interesting, and if nothing else, the color screen will make it more conducive to things like, say, digital comic books, than the Kindle is right now. 

But I don’t need a Kindle either – not until Amazon sorts out its business model and decides if I own the books I’m buying or just renting them, and prices them accordingly.

As for what I thought of the SOTU, I’ll just refer you to analysis from FactCheck.org and Jon Stewart’s pre-show report, as well as whatever he’s going to come up with afterwards.

iPadding it out,

This is dF

Comments

[thelastaerie.livejournal.com]

I was more or less expecting a fancy eReader out of the iPad, so I wasn't disappointed - iPad can do way more than that, like you said, ecomic books?

I also think tt's a good alternative to netbook, most people I know use the computer to check email and browse a couple of websites, so why do they need the whole desktop set up? iPad simplified that for them.

Even if it doesn't become as big as iPod, iPad will most certainly conquer the eReader market, when you think of how much Sony eReader and Kindle is, iPad is a bargain.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

Fair call. Most of the negative reviews have come from the hardcore tech nerds who wanted Steve Jobs to build a dream tablet that destroys Microsoft. And people forget that the iPhone got a similar launch reaction (no 3G? no Bluetooth headset support? WTF?) and look at it now. But I see a lot of people with Kindles in DB now, so I do think iPad has more going for it than people think.