This music video from Chinese artist PixieTea was recorded almost entirely on her iPhone 3GS — music and all. I really love the DIY feel of this production right down to the living room setting. And it’s great how the apps and the iPhone are characters in the story. The limitations of the medium add to the charm of the production.
This movement reminds me of the early days of desktop video that sparked venues such as the Low Res Digital Film Festival.
As other publishers have demoed their tablet vision over the past few months, there’s nothing really new that we’re seeing here. But that’s likely because Wired is one of the first to get past the prototype and into a live product. No small feat.
The content is created in Adobe InDesign(!) and powered by an AIR app. I think I just heard a collective sigh of relief from print designers.
Editor Chris Anderson sees this (as do the other publishers) as an opportunity to “reset the economics” of publishing, and give people an experience that they’re willing to pay for.
As I look at the stack of un-read copies Wired in my office, who knows, maybe I’ll bite when I get my iPad.
It’s finally here. The ultimate device that we’ve all been waiting for, right?
The iPad is probably the most controversial and polarizing piece of consumer technology to date. Never has anything been hyped this much before its announcement - not the iPod, not even the iPhone. And with such a monumental build up, shattered expectations could only follow.
All this, and so few have even touched this thing.
I have to admit, when I saw Steve Jobs unveil the same over-sized iTouch that all the Photoshop retouchers had predicted with such a lack of imagination, I was disappointed. We expect more from Apple. I mean, don’t I already have the Internet in my had with my iTouch?
It all really clicked for me, however, when Steve played the promo video - seeing the device on the coffee table and on the couch, watching people having a shared experience. I really think Apple has reinvented the computing experience here. Surely they have on the UI, but much much more on the where and how we interact with the computer. Apple has un-glued us from our desks, un-cramped our hands from the laptop, and shown us how the computer can more seamlessly and naturally be integrated into our home.
And man are we pissed. Why do so many people want this thing to fail? We all look to Apple to innovate, and when they do we’re criticizing them for going too far (or not far enough if you ask others) - “it does too much”, “it doesn’t do enough”.
All of us who live in this (tech) world tend to forget that using a computer is not a pleasurable experience for the average person - Macs included. The iPad just might change that. Apple’s talent is in stripping away the features, not adding them. Do fewer things, but do them right. That was the magic of iPhone 1.0.
There’s a lot of debate over how the public will perceive needing a device like this. Many are calling it a luxury device. Need is a relative and ever-changing thing though. At what point did you realize you needed a smartphone, or a netbook, or a Kindle, or an mp3 player? I distinctly remember turning the corner on the Kindle - going from “that’s too expensive” to “that would make my life easier and more enjoyable”. Many said the Kindle would never succeed - it’s too expensive and it only does one thing. I was one of those people. Turns out we were wrong.
But rather than ramble on further ... My thoughts on all this are probably best summarized in a response I posted on a friend’s blog - which I’ve re-posted below. It’s probably best to read his post first. He’s skeptical, I’m optimistic. We’ve bet a bottle on it.
For years we’ve been hearing about the promise of smart pen technology, but it has yet to really catch on. My inner-geek loved watching the video above, yet I’m still very skeptical that this technology will reach the masses. The biggest hurdle in my opinion is the need for specially coded paper. The other is the rise of the smartphone.
Beyond the presented applications to academia and the translation functionality, the commercial examples here are weak.
I still haven’t given up on these buggers - just don’t think they’ve nailed it yet.
Great presentation from the iPhone Games Bulletin‘s Stuart Dredge. This is a quick look at the five most significant apps stores and how games break down on price, developer, and genre. No surprise that Apple is in the lead here and driving the market.
