A story on NPR this morning stated that (Sir) Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines, etc.) is going to publish a new magazine for the iPad only. This follows just a little while after Rupert Murdoch announced he was starting an iPad-only newspaper. Other publications, such as Time Magazine, have offered subscriptions to readers through the iPad, and some have offered essentially PDF versions of their publications either to subscribers or the paper editions or on a per-copy basis, without a lot of success. According to the story, this will be sold as an app because iPad users are wary of subscriptions.
In my opinion, whether the magazine or the newspaper apps sell is completely dependent on the user experience with them. I think people's expectations are being raised as the "there's an app for that" concept becomes truer each day. If the user experience with a magazine or newspaper app is "ho-hum, nothing new here," then it is likely to fail. The competition for user attention is already there as there are tens of thousands of apps available for the iPad. And, the ability to custom-make "magazines" already exists with apps such as Flipboard, an app that lets the user build a "magazine" with feeds from their Facebook, Twitter, Flickr accounts, as well as feeds from aggregators, such as the Huffington Post, and "traditional" news sources, such as the New York Times and the Associated Press.
There's almost a self-perpetuating speigel im speigel (mirror-in-mirror) mind-bending phenomenon going on when individual users can custom-make their own aggregations out of aggregations and social media, as well as other sources of news and information. It isn't an exaggeration, in my opinion, to stop and think that this must be what it feels like to be to be a pioneer starting out to explore a frontier—at once both excited and fearful.
Don't forget the iPad Demonstration/Workshop presented by Dan Senstock of Apple, Inc., on December 8th, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. in Room 213 of the K-State Union.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
iOS 4.2 Free Update Available
Next time you sync your iPad to your computer, and after iTunes opens up, click on the iPad name under "Devices" on the left sidebar of iTunes. Then, click the "Summary" tab at the top of the window and it should show you a page that has three boxes labled: "iPad," "Version" and "Options." In the "Version" box it should tell you that "a newer version of the iPad software is available (version4.2). On the left is a button labled, "Update." Clicking on that button will start the process of updating your software from 3.2.2, to 4.2. This is a FREE update and there's no reason to fear updating. I had no problems updating and no problems with it running. Although, once you've updated your iPad software, the next time you click on the AppStore button in the iPad, you will probably have a number of apps to update because many of them have been updated to run the latest OS, themselves.
Follow the steps in the process and it may take some time because it first wants you to transfer any purchases to your computer, and next, it will backup everything to your computer. This is a good thing. Let it happen. Ultimately, you will get an alert box saying that the iPad has been successfully updated. At that point you may disconnect your iPad and enjoy the updates.
Chief among the several updates included in iOS4.2 is the ability to multitask. Although every app isn't capable of running simultaneously with other apps, there are a number of them that can play well with others. For instance, if you have Pandora running and you're grooving on some delicious music, just double-click the "Home" button (the only physical button on the front), and a tray will pop up showing you other apps that you can choose to run at the same time, such as Safari, or Mail, etc. Under the old OS, Pandora would quit playing if you left it and went to another app. Now it won't. I haven't tried too many of the app combinations, yet, so I can't tell you what will work with what, but give it whirl.
Also, a big deal with this update is the ability to create "folders" to combine apps into groups. To invoke this, simply hold your finger on an app until it starts wiggling. Then, put your finger on an app and drag it on top of another app and let go. A new icon will appear with tiny icons of the two apps that you just combined into a folder, and a window will come up asking you if you want to name the folder something different from what it suggests as the name. That's your call. But, if you drag a game app to another game app, it will create the folder and want to name it "Games," probably. "Utilities," "Productivity," "Entertainment" and so on are folders I created by dragging similar apps together. After your folder is created, touch and drag any app that you want to add to a folder and drop it on that folder. If your folder is on a different "page" from the app, dragging the app to the side margin of the page will slide the pages to the right, if hitting a left margin, or left if hitting a right margin. Because the pages will flip pretty quickly, you will need to be light-fingered when doing this. After you do it a couple of times, you'll sense about how much "touch" is needed. If you drop the app somewhere you don't mean to, just touch and drag it to where you want it. It's a lot easier to do this, than it is for me to describe it. And, you can only touch a drag wiggling icons. If they're not wiggling, then touch and hold to make them wiggle. To get out of "wiggle mode" just click the "Home" button once.
These are the two biggest advantages (in my opinion) for updating. As I learn of others, of course I'll share them with you.
Follow the steps in the process and it may take some time because it first wants you to transfer any purchases to your computer, and next, it will backup everything to your computer. This is a good thing. Let it happen. Ultimately, you will get an alert box saying that the iPad has been successfully updated. At that point you may disconnect your iPad and enjoy the updates.
Chief among the several updates included in iOS4.2 is the ability to multitask. Although every app isn't capable of running simultaneously with other apps, there are a number of them that can play well with others. For instance, if you have Pandora running and you're grooving on some delicious music, just double-click the "Home" button (the only physical button on the front), and a tray will pop up showing you other apps that you can choose to run at the same time, such as Safari, or Mail, etc. Under the old OS, Pandora would quit playing if you left it and went to another app. Now it won't. I haven't tried too many of the app combinations, yet, so I can't tell you what will work with what, but give it whirl.
Also, a big deal with this update is the ability to create "folders" to combine apps into groups. To invoke this, simply hold your finger on an app until it starts wiggling. Then, put your finger on an app and drag it on top of another app and let go. A new icon will appear with tiny icons of the two apps that you just combined into a folder, and a window will come up asking you if you want to name the folder something different from what it suggests as the name. That's your call. But, if you drag a game app to another game app, it will create the folder and want to name it "Games," probably. "Utilities," "Productivity," "Entertainment" and so on are folders I created by dragging similar apps together. After your folder is created, touch and drag any app that you want to add to a folder and drop it on that folder. If your folder is on a different "page" from the app, dragging the app to the side margin of the page will slide the pages to the right, if hitting a left margin, or left if hitting a right margin. Because the pages will flip pretty quickly, you will need to be light-fingered when doing this. After you do it a couple of times, you'll sense about how much "touch" is needed. If you drop the app somewhere you don't mean to, just touch and drag it to where you want it. It's a lot easier to do this, than it is for me to describe it. And, you can only touch a drag wiggling icons. If they're not wiggling, then touch and hold to make them wiggle. To get out of "wiggle mode" just click the "Home" button once.
These are the two biggest advantages (in my opinion) for updating. As I learn of others, of course I'll share them with you.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
First Blog Post
Catchy title, huh? Stating the obvious is one thing I excel at.
The purpose of this blog is to start a conversation about the iPad and its use in the classroom, tips on how to use it, highlight apps that are useful, fun, funny, informative, interesting in their own way, and so on.
The impetus for this blog was a story I heard on NPR, connected mentally by me to a podcast discussion that I recently heard, as well as a blog post asking whether Adobe was wasting its time with the iPad. Just yesterday, I was asked by someone whether she should buy an iPad or the new 11" MacBook Air. Talking to her about the purpose of each and connecting those thoughts with these other discussions, caused me to start thinking about the iPad and its function. What it is, and what it isn't, as it were.
To put it simply, the iPad, in its current iteration, is mostly a content delivery system. The desktop or laptop computer, on the other hand, is both a content delivery system, as well as a content creation system. As I am a huge fan of the Bauhaus concept of form following function, I believe many people are confusing the function of the iPad with the function of a personal computer. Yes, the iPad is a computer--but then, so is my dishwasher, but I wouldn't try to play a YouTube video on it, or edit a Photoshop document. Likewise, I'm sure neither my desktop, laptop, iPad or IPod can get dishes as clean. Function. It's the function, stupid. But, I think many of us are still discovering the function of the iPad. Yes, you can create content on it, but that's not where you really want to expend your creative energy because you're going to be limited by what the iPad doesn't do as well as a personal computer, such as print, export, or save files. I have a feeling it's the limitations that people focus on when they wonder what it's good for, instead of the things it does well. What are those? Read on.
The iPad revolution, if it can be called that, is a process, not an event. Early on (all of seven months ago), people (including me) were predicting that the iPad would save magazines and newspapers, by providing a new and exciting way for people to use those media. The mistake several publications made (Time, The New Yorker, etc.) was that they simply tried to port the print edition over to the iPad. Apps that were developed (and are still being developed and sold) were just e-readers, offering virtual pages and the occasional link to audio and video. The iPad and the App Store became a virtual newsstand, where people could purchase magazines edition by edition. In short, we're looking at this new medium from a traditional media perspective and not really looking for the really new way of delivering and using content. The thrill of "turning" pages on a touchscreen wears off quickly if there isn't anything there to motivate turning to the next page. The thrill of seeing photographs in bright, vivid, highly detailed color, wears off if I can only view them, and (maybe) read a caption. And, video links that take me to YouTube to watch are more likely than not to take me away from the source as I get easily distracted by the latest cat-playing-a-piano video.
So, what is it about the iPad that gets people excited? Is it the rare app that truly engages and involves? Is it the mobility? Is it the convenience of accessing content sources? Are we dazzled by the shiny icons and pretty colors? Is it the unseen potential that we know is "out there"? I would say, Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Or, some of these, or none of these. Until you get one in your hands and start to explore, you might not "get it." And, that's precisely why the president was convinced to put up the money to provide each of us with this new technology. And, that's why I decided to kick off this blog. As we discover things about the iPad, let's share them, and I'm offering this as a central location for that. As you discover things about the iPad, make them known. As you hear or read of things related, make them known. As you stumble across hidden features, or not-so-hidden features, make them known. As you figure out ways around a limitation, make them known. Let this become a clearing house for all things iPad. Who knows? We might become famous!
Of course, these are my opinions (isn't that what blogs are for?) and may run counter to yours. Whether you agree with me or not—BRING IT ON! I want to start the conversation, but it has to be more than me, or else it's just a monologue. Or worse, I could end up talking to myself.
cp
The purpose of this blog is to start a conversation about the iPad and its use in the classroom, tips on how to use it, highlight apps that are useful, fun, funny, informative, interesting in their own way, and so on.
The impetus for this blog was a story I heard on NPR, connected mentally by me to a podcast discussion that I recently heard, as well as a blog post asking whether Adobe was wasting its time with the iPad. Just yesterday, I was asked by someone whether she should buy an iPad or the new 11" MacBook Air. Talking to her about the purpose of each and connecting those thoughts with these other discussions, caused me to start thinking about the iPad and its function. What it is, and what it isn't, as it were.
To put it simply, the iPad, in its current iteration, is mostly a content delivery system. The desktop or laptop computer, on the other hand, is both a content delivery system, as well as a content creation system. As I am a huge fan of the Bauhaus concept of form following function, I believe many people are confusing the function of the iPad with the function of a personal computer. Yes, the iPad is a computer--but then, so is my dishwasher, but I wouldn't try to play a YouTube video on it, or edit a Photoshop document. Likewise, I'm sure neither my desktop, laptop, iPad or IPod can get dishes as clean. Function. It's the function, stupid. But, I think many of us are still discovering the function of the iPad. Yes, you can create content on it, but that's not where you really want to expend your creative energy because you're going to be limited by what the iPad doesn't do as well as a personal computer, such as print, export, or save files. I have a feeling it's the limitations that people focus on when they wonder what it's good for, instead of the things it does well. What are those? Read on.
The iPad revolution, if it can be called that, is a process, not an event. Early on (all of seven months ago), people (including me) were predicting that the iPad would save magazines and newspapers, by providing a new and exciting way for people to use those media. The mistake several publications made (Time, The New Yorker, etc.) was that they simply tried to port the print edition over to the iPad. Apps that were developed (and are still being developed and sold) were just e-readers, offering virtual pages and the occasional link to audio and video. The iPad and the App Store became a virtual newsstand, where people could purchase magazines edition by edition. In short, we're looking at this new medium from a traditional media perspective and not really looking for the really new way of delivering and using content. The thrill of "turning" pages on a touchscreen wears off quickly if there isn't anything there to motivate turning to the next page. The thrill of seeing photographs in bright, vivid, highly detailed color, wears off if I can only view them, and (maybe) read a caption. And, video links that take me to YouTube to watch are more likely than not to take me away from the source as I get easily distracted by the latest cat-playing-a-piano video.
So, what is it about the iPad that gets people excited? Is it the rare app that truly engages and involves? Is it the mobility? Is it the convenience of accessing content sources? Are we dazzled by the shiny icons and pretty colors? Is it the unseen potential that we know is "out there"? I would say, Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Or, some of these, or none of these. Until you get one in your hands and start to explore, you might not "get it." And, that's precisely why the president was convinced to put up the money to provide each of us with this new technology. And, that's why I decided to kick off this blog. As we discover things about the iPad, let's share them, and I'm offering this as a central location for that. As you discover things about the iPad, make them known. As you hear or read of things related, make them known. As you stumble across hidden features, or not-so-hidden features, make them known. As you figure out ways around a limitation, make them known. Let this become a clearing house for all things iPad. Who knows? We might become famous!
Of course, these are my opinions (isn't that what blogs are for?) and may run counter to yours. Whether you agree with me or not—BRING IT ON! I want to start the conversation, but it has to be more than me, or else it's just a monologue. Or worse, I could end up talking to myself.
cp
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