My design witterings…

I have now had the iPad for two weeks – me, the wife and my 2.5 year old love the ipad. This is my eighth apple computer (LCII, PM6100,G4 400, PB12″, mini, iMac 27″, mini Intel).

Here is a list of annoyances, so far:

#1 can’t print/save to PDF. This would be useful to save web content for reference, such as web receipts.

#2 I wanted to read and edit some text files. I can get at the files via drop box but there was no obvious way to edit them, without pay £8 for an app, bit expensive (relatively), to exit a txt file. So at the moment I can use drop box to read the files and then copy the text into an email to edit then email back to my mac. or there is a free app called simple notes, which combined with the one of five osx apps syncs notes back and forth. not ideal, but a work around for the time being.

#3 lack of multi tasking. for example buying apps. you go into the app store app, start flicking to the ‘featured’ apps, for example. As it only displays 10 apps at a time you need to click ‘more apps’ to see the next ten. so you down at the 54th apps which you want, so you buy it. this automatically pull you out to the 2nd home screen and starts downloading it. then you want to continue browsing from the 55th app, but you need to start from the beginning again and navigate back to the fifth page of apps, one page at a time.

#4 autofill in safari. both the wife and me have Facebook accounts, but it can’t handle remembering both the usernames and the passwords. It only ever seems to use the first password added for the site, no matter which username you enter.

#5 Safari will sometimes crop websites weirdly. I’m not sure was algorithm it uses, but some times you may end up with a tiny little site with loads of space to either side, which looks like a thumbnail until you zoom into it. Or you may end up with just the width of the main content DIV but this can be cropped cutting off, say, 50 pixels from the right hand side. Is this down to Safari or the web developer of said site?

#6 Can’t use the ipad out of the box, you must sync with itunes. What if the ipad is you first computer, you would not be able to get past the please sync message.

#7 Can’t upload images between the photo app and the Internet. For example, I wanted to upload a photo to a couple sites but I couldn’t browse the my photos. You can’t even save a pdf from a site to the pdf section of ibooks. Surely some sort of basic file manager, could be added – like a basic user folder. Music, movies, pictures, and documents. The iPod, Videos, and Photo app would use these as default like in osX and then the documents folder can be used fir other things. Other apps can also access these folders like GoodReader for example.

#8 Can’t copy text from a web site. I was trying to find some contact details to add to a to do list. I found them via google but there is no way of copying the data from the page. I seems you can on interact with data in text fields. So you need the write it down then type it in the other app.

#9 to come… when I come across them…

The more that I use the iPad for of day to day stuff there seems to be glaring holes in the os for just basic stuff. I’m sure that there may be ‘an app for that’ with some of these, but Apple should at least cover the basics.

hopefully a lot of these points will be addressed by ios4 in the autumn.

I have posted this via the word press app on my iPad. I have now had the iPad since launch and am very happy with it. I initially wanted to replace my ageing PowerBook 12″, so was intrigued when they launched the iPad back in January, but was a little let down when it looked as those it wouldn’t really replace the laptop. I decided to get a mac mini to use for any work that I had to bring home with me, and to use when I needed a full computer. the iPad would then just be used sat on the sofa surfing the net and checking emails.

my three year old daughter loves it too, especially the doodle buddy app, which is a free drawing app. I have also downloaded some educational apps for her to play with. she has taken to the iPad like a duck to water.

I’m going to see if any of the magazine subscription apps are any good and worth switching too when my printed version subscriptions run out.

Are you a fame of Mac & Pc, well now you can own your very own Cubee cutouts of Mac and PC.

The cutouts are designed by Jay Hauf, (best use the 1482 x 1173 versions and print on heavy stock paper). For video instructions on how to assemble your Cubees, see here. As well as recreating all 66 Get a Mac ads, you can also download Steve Jobs Cubee cutout.

[via TUAW]

Back when Guy Kowasaki was in charge of Mac Advocates you could send off for a pack that included brochures, flyers, stickers, VHS tapes and multimedia CDs to help you spread the word.

This was one of the two tapes. Macintosh or Windows? (Spring 1996, PAL VHS, 25 minutes). Mike Bobrowicz (Apple) talks about differences between PC/Win95 and Mac/Mac OS 7.5.

And the CD: ”Runs on Macs and Windows PCs (no, that’s not a misprint.)”

If you are a little bit of a mac fanboy then you may find this documentary, that has just become available online, interesting. Filmmakers Josh Rizzo and Rob Baca trace the evolution of Apple computers from the Apple-1 to the iPhone in this 83 minute documentary.

I know it’s old but this found it’s way to me the other day and it sort of explains the mystery behind how google ranks it’s pages, which if you need to get your head around SEO, you need to be aware of this stuff.

Read more about pigeonrank visit here.

I know it’s sad but I had to have it when I saw it. I have a soft spot for my childhood favourite toy and I did like the films, we might even take my daughter, who will be three when it comes out, to see it. The set is “Woody and Buzz to the Rescue”, recreating the chase on the RC car at the end of the first movie. Woody and Buzz minifigs are included and the car has a pull back motor. It is a little delicate when the Woody & Buzz are sat on RC, easily fall off when RC hits the skirting board.

Image © Lego

Well again I fell a little underwhelm by an Apple product that I hoped would be right up my street. I currently use a Powerbook 12″ which is now in it’s 6th year (and still going strong), but I would like to upgrade to something a little more modern.

What I originally wanted is something about the same size and the same power (ie bottom of the pro range), firewire port & a matt screen. In the run up to the launch of the Air, the rumours where pointing to something right up my street. But when it finally was revealed I was a dissappointed – no optical drive & 1 usb port; it was all about weight. At that point in time the only options where the MacBook (glossy screen & no Firewire) or the MacBook Pro 15″ (too big).

Currently my best option is the MacBook Pro 13″, the only negative is the glossy screen. Now I work on a iMac 24″ and the only negative is the glossy screen and this is set up with it’s back to a windows and never moves and the reflections still get on my wick. I was getting to the point where I would just bite the bullet and get the the MBP13″ but I decide to get a Mac Mini so that I can bring work home and continue to use the PB12″ for email/web when sat on the sofa.

So in the run up to the launch on the iPad the rumours again where drawing a picture of a tablet that sat between the iPhone and the laptop with a new os sitting between the iPhone os and osX. Also a new form factor would be nice. The iPad, to me and many others, is just a BIG iPod Touch. It’s a shame that the os does support multitasking, I might like to listen to iTunes while browsing, reading a book or writing, for example. I would like to have access to file system – even if it’s just a basic user directory. I would like the machine to be a stand alone computer and not have to sync it with another computer. Shame the apps are locked into the App Store, shame it’s a locked system. Bigger hard drive – my 5 year old iPod video has 30GB.

Why do I need to have 10.5.8 when a PC user can get away with the 9 year old XP, even the SP3 is 20 months old, 10.5.8 is only 6 months old. It syncs via iTunes 9.0 which only needs 10.4.11. which even the iPhone/Touch can get away with.

Obviously my opinion may change once I get to play with one, here hopes. But it’s not the device that I was hoping for – although now that I have a new desktop – having something to sit on the sofa with to do casual surfing and emails this would work perfectly. And if Apple made the MBP13″ with a matt screen option like it does with the 15″ & 17″ that would be great too.

Download here

There is a new lego book out, yay!

The Lego Book is published by Dorling Kindersley and it explores the story of how the brand developed. It includes fascinating imagery such as a pictorial history of the company’s logos over the years and it also comes with an additional guide, titled Standing Small, which gives a history of 30 years of the Lego mini-figure. Essentially if you’re into Lego, this book is for you.

The lego though the ages: