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Lindsay’s Blog
I’m not very good with touch screens. I eat while I work and my hands get gummed up with food detritus, which tends to hamper the smooth glide so necessary for these absurd instruments.
So the new Apple iPad is lost on me, and so is the concept of “bridging the gap between the smart ‘phone and the laptop”.
Why does the gap have to be filled? and does this mean that in order not to be a laughing stock amongst one’s peers I’ll have to have a Blackberry, laptop computer, and a tablet on the table next to me at the local boozer as I partake in my customary post show soother?
“What once occupied half your living room can now be dropped in a bag,” said Outsell Inc analyst Ned May. “It’s pulling together a variety of needs (in) a universal entertainment device.”
Quite. What occupies half my living room is a couple of very large sofas on which I regularly fall asleep dribbling while watching a game of football. Try dropping those in a bag you presumptuous geek.
The reader and iBook aspects of the launch is of great interest to me, but I’m really not certain that a mid sized gadget of this nature is that mind bogglingly desirable.
Anyway, here’s some info on it to ponder:
* 9.7 inch color multi-touch display.
* Costs $499 for 16 gigabytes of storage, $599 for 32 GB, $699 for 64 GB.
* 3G wireless capability costs an extra $130.
* AT&T Inc data plan costs $14.99 per month for 250 MB of data, $29.99 for unlimited data.
* 10 hours of battery life, and a month on standby.
* 0.5 inches thick, weighs 1.5 lbs (0.68 kg).
* New iBook store has partners including Pearson Plc’s Penguin, News Corp’s HarperCollins, CBS Corp’s Simon & Schuster MacMillan, Lagardere’s Hachette Book Group.
* WiFi and bluetooth connectivity, compass, ability to view in portrait and landscape modes.
* Runs a variation of the iPhone operating system. Apple says all iPhone apps can run on the iPad.
* Supports iWork, Apple’s productivity suite that competes with Microsoft Corp Office.
* 1 GHz Apple-made A4 chip.
* WiFi models ship in late March, 3G shipping in April.
While Steve Jobs was receiving toady and rapturous applause for the iPad, Barack Obama rather sheepishly delivered his State of The Union address.
He kindly sent me a note after he’s finished, and here it is:
Lindsay –
I just finished delivering my first State of the Union, and I wanted to send you a quick note.
We face big and difficult challenges. Change on the scale we seek does not come easily. But I will never accept second place for the United States of America.
That is why I called for a robust jobs bill without delay. It’s why I proposed a small businesses tax credit, new investments in infrastructure, and pushed for climate legislation to create a clean energy economy.
It’s why we’re taking on big banks, reforming Wall Street, revitalizing our education system, increasing transparency — and finishing the job on health insurance reform.
It’s why I need your help — because I am determined to fight to defend the middle class, and special interest lobbyists will go all out to fight us.
Help me show that the American people are ready to join this fight for the middle class — add your name to a letter to Congress today:
http://my.barackobama.com/SOTU
We have finished a difficult year. We have come through a difficult decade. But we don’t quit. I don’t quit.
Let’s seize this moment — to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more.
President Barack Obama
What you can’t see is the subject bar on the e-mail I received.
It says “We don’t quit”.
Obama started with “Yes we can”, moves on to “We don’t quit”, and unless he pulls his socks up and stops appearing both desperate and pathetic at the same time, he’ll end up with “That’s me done
