The 'New' iPad

So we have to learn a new, post Steve Jobs, language.   No longer are we in the world of the next great thing but rather an incremental iPad.  No longer 3rd generation but rather New.  To read many of the reviews of the new iPad it would seem that this means that the iPad is a bad product because there was no great '...and one final thing...' from the late master of presentation.   

What have we learnt from the all the guff out there on the internet?  Well that few people knew what they were taking about and that Apple could teach spy masters a thing or two about keeping a secret.  But mainly the thing we learnt is that the iPad is now a mature product with few great surprises - view the promo video and you see that they spend an awful lot of time talking technical stuff about the new display - and this is not a bad thing.   We now have a product that has set the standards and building on these standards for the '..post PC..' world in which the iPad, more than any other machine, has brought into existence.   To see how much the world has changed just watch an old episode of Star Trek Voyager, the most advanced of the modern Star Trek franchise.   Here we see a time, just 10 years ago, when the production staff having no idea how tablets will work, instead they have different reports on individual tablets.  Nowadays, in a Post PC world we know that all of these things, and so much more, can be contained on one tablet and at the moment that is called the iPad.

For me the killer features of the new iPad is the new chip-set.  I am sure the display is very nice but I have no problem with the display on the iPad circa 2010 nor 2011.  As for the inclusion of 4G mobile telephony I am sure that will be great but as it doesn't really arrive in the UK until 2013 not really much use - I suspect not that much use in the US either. 

This leaves us with a solid product that has been updated like most pieces of technology with the latest bits.  It is no longer earth shattering but mature.  It will deliver huge profits to Apple and become a little dull, much as Apple will become without the genius of Jobs.  Life goes on.   

Simon Marchini 

Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

New iPad Black and White app

I've just bought a new app for the iPad called Dramatic Black and White and it does seem to offer a wide range of black and white opportunities as well as being able to play around with infrared as well. This is the first attempt which also raises an interesting question when does a photograph become an iphoneograph as this was actually captured with my old Canon 1D and 500mm lens but then post processed on the iPad and iPhone. Indeed I used similar post production methods on the original image only that was in Photoshop. I guess in the end all that matters is the image rather than how it was made.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Steve McQueen

One of the most powerful contemporary artworks I have seen was produced by McQueen, a Turner prize winning artist and film maker. Queen and Country is a set of UK stamps with the photographs of military personnel who had died in Iraq. I found this portrait of McQueen some time ago and it had a great impact on me. I believe the photographer took it at Cannes, where McQueen was promoting a film and if my memory serves me well it was a bit of a rush job but nonetheless McQueen came across as a larger than life character.

So I have had this bubbling in the back of my mind for some time and now I have produced my take on the portrait again using Brushes but this time in a much looser fashion. I think it is effective and I feel happier with this than the other paintings I have made over the last few days.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Same person, different points of view

Over the past couple of days I have been driving myself mad by looking at other artists work with the iPad and I think these two images explain, in part, why that is. They are based on the same person but with quite differing results and I think it is clear which was made on the iPad using brushes. (just in case it is not it is the one on the left)

Now I like the brushes painting but it doesn't have accuracy of the drawing made on paper using graphite which is what I am striving for. Of course in a great part this comparison is fatuous for a whole lot of reasons but I think it does show that when I use Brushes I still have a steep learning curve to negotiate. However, on the other hand perhaps this is really the wrong way to go and I should forget other artists work and just develop my own style and embrace that. Who knows how I will resolve this question?

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Pushing the envelope

The last painting I made felt like I was hitting my head against a wall. Much as I tried I just couldn't take it any further. Well a good night's sleep helps provide a bit of prospective and so I have produced this. I feel it is a marked improvement on the last painting however with one or two flaws, not least of which was the choice of the colour of the underpainting which meant that no matter what I did the final result was not quite the colour I had intended. Of course this could have been overcome if I had not decided to produce the painting as if I was in the real world i.e. all on one layer, rather than putting the underpainting on a separate layer and then painting over it on a different layer. All valuable lessons for the future.

Perhaps the most important lesson, however, was to get the original drawing, upon which this is painted, as accurate as possible. For me this is really quite hard given the way I work in the real world but it was worth the frustration it created whilst trying to achieve this.

Overall a good start to the new year...lets hope that it bodes well for future endeavours. Happy New year.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Hitting the Talent Wall

Another day another attempt to get better at something - so here is my latest attempt at a Brushes painting and I have come to realise that there is a talent wall and I have just hit it. I have also realised that the talent wall can be moved further and further back the more you practice and so this is mine at the moment. I hope that I will be able to move it further away as I go on but for now this is as good as I can make things.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Battling with exhaustion

Hyperbole of cause but this is the hardest I have worked on a painting in one session. I have been researching other Brushes painters on line and frankly I am a raw beginner compared to some. But I suppose we all have to start somewhere so here is my first stab at a serious Brushes painting. This took me the best part of 3 hours to complete there are still many things wrong with this which I might try to correct but I am now feeling drained. I think a period reflection is in hand but the first thoughts are that this better than I feared.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Battery LIfe on the iPad

I know this is a well publicised problem but I have noticed that the battery life of my iPad is getting worse. This could be due to the problems brought about by iOS 5, which Apple are supposed to have fixed (and we all believe everything that Apple says don't we) but it might also be because my iPad is now getting old. It is, after all nearly 2 years old and in the fast moving world of consumer technology that is really geriatric. Whatever the reason the battery isn't lasting as long as it did before.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Tron

So what exactly is this? Well it is a digital image of a real world drawing manipulated in the virtual world to produce something that could be mistaken as a photograph. This is somewhat apt as it is based on a character from the film Tron Legacy which is, in part, about the capturing real world people in a digital domain.

So does this answer my question as to what this is? Well no but I like the resultant image and I guess that is all that matters.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Amazon’s Kindle Fire: A tablet... (thenextweb.com).

This is an interesting comparison between the the iPad and the Kindle.   I guess the killer app with all these things is iTunes / Amazon.   This means seamless shopping - especially as they are now enveloping cloud computing.   

Can't wait to see what the iPad 3 looks like.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire: A tablet more dangerous to Android than iPad
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2011/09/29/amazons-kindle-fire-a-tablet-more-dangerous-to-android-than-ipad/?awesm=tnw.to_1B3I8

---
Sent from Zite personalized magazine iPad app.
Available for free in the App Store.
www.zite.com

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Baby you're a rich man

Having just watched The Social Network again I can't get 'Baby you're a rich man' by the Beatles out of my head, in fact it is playing at the moment as I am typing this. Anyway, a question for Facebook - why haven't you developed an ipad app yet? I have the iphone app but this is really clunky when using the ipad.

Anyway, the drawing...just did this by eye rather than using the Colestream method..I like it...hope someone else might.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Keyboard and the Duke of Wellington

I had such a good idea the other day - why not use my ipad for research purposes over the autumn period? It is so much lighter than my lap top and would allow to do most of the things that I would do with my laptop. There was only one draw back - using the on screen keyboard is next to useless for serous typing. The solution of course is to get an external keyboard so this morning I duly traipsed down to the local Apple store and did just that.

So what are my initial reactions? well for a start it is just the standard apple keyboard so i have got to get use to the layout - not quite the same as the PC keyboard i am used to. The next thing is for reasons best know to the ipad/keyboard it will not work with notes. This is not a game changer and may well be down to user error but it is bit annoying all the same. Overall it wasn't a problem to set up and now running does make typing so much easier - which could be a bad thing as I will make even longer blog entries!! (beware the one or two people who might actually read this) Perhaps the strangest thing to get use to is having to combine using the keyboard with the touch screen - no mouse or touch pad to select fields so you have to use your finger - God's own mouse!

Now for the Duke of Wellington. Well there is no connection I just like this sketch I did the other day - hey oh such is life.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

iPad to rule the roost until 2015

This article seems about right to me.  I suspect that move away from Apple in the iPad Market will be much less marked as in the phone Market where I believe the glory days of the iPhone are behind it smoothed by the weight of the android onslaught.  The iPad is different,  it is bigger and it becomes far more personal as it takes over much of your relationship with the wired world without.  Also Apple appear to want to maintain their Market share as the prices are kept low by comparison to the product they are producing.  If I were  cynical I would suspect that this was Apple's plan all along - use the phone as a way to create a Market and then capitalise on this Market with a killer product such as the iPad -  this is far too cynical I know but it does fit the facts.

The real killer app in all this is iTunes - the iPad is good but without the limitless creativity of the App Store then the iPad and iPhone would be pretty but not very useful.  However, what the he'll do I know!

iPad News: Gartner Says Apple Will Rule Tablet Market Until 2015
http://www.ipad.net/httpwww-ipad-netipad-news-gart%e2%80%a6ket-until-2015-html.html

---
Sent from Zite personalized magazine iPad app.
Available for free in the App Store.
www.zite.com

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Platform war gets ugly - ouch the Apple tech blogs get touchy

A couple of days ago Businessinsider (see entry on 3rd April) stated that the Android operating system phone had taken over from iPhone in the smartphone Market - this has caused a storm amongst the Mac tech blogs.  In short it would seem that anything that down plays Apple's current dominance  in the smart phone/tablet market must be attacked.  Now the Mac bloggers do have a point to a degree but I think the Businessinsider entry is still valid.  If you have an operating system that is gaining the largest share of a particular Market then you would be wise to look to develop for it.  At the moment Apple's iTunes is really the killer app on the iOS ecosystem.  It allows micro payments that are very easy for the user to use - it also has the advantage of being a well established system so it has a large amount of Market penetration.  This will not always be the case and by the end of this year the Google version will no doubt be providing a similar level of service.  In short Apple's run will have come to an end.  Does this matter?

Well to me no.  I love my iPad and my iPhone.  This doesn't mean that I think that apple is wonderful, far from it, it just means I think that their non PC technology meets my needs.  It doesn't mean that they always will and if that day comes I will happily move to a new platform.  However, I am sure that Apple must be aware of this otherwise why didn't the latest iPad have the usual Apple 'premium'.  For those of us with long enough memories this is starting to feel oh so familiar.  Apple introduce new technology which takes the rest time to catch up with but when they do Apple becomes a small player in a bigger world.  I do hope that Apple does continue to innovate  and the day that I consider moving away does not come but never say never.

Sent from my iPad

Platform war gets ugly as surveys ignore the big picture
http://www.9to5mac.com/59242/platform-war-gets-ugly-as-surveys-ignore-the-big-picture/

---
Sent from Zite personalized magazine iPad app.
Available for free in the App Store.
www.zite.com

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Plasticine iPad!

This is a better link - sorry for the Mashable corporate nonsense before. Check out this video on YouTube:

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

YouTube Video of the Day: Plasticine iPad Is a Work of Art

About Mashable

Founded in 2005, Mashable is the top source for news in social and digital media, technology and web culture. With more than 40 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the most prolific news site reporting breaking web news, providing analysis of trends, reviewing new Web sites and services, and offering social media resources and guides.

Partners

W3 EDGEConcentric SkyRackspaceIntrideaDynect DNSWebtrends

Global Syndication Partners

ABCNewsForbesMetroUSATodayYahoo

©2005-2011 Mashable, Inc.
Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.

via mashable.com

this is one of the most interesting videos I have seen in a while. I wonder how long it will be before it has been ripped off for some lame advert?

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

My thoughts on the new iPad

So having slept on the new iPad what do I think? Before I answer that I think I should set out my criteria for judging. The first is I don't know what the new iPad feels like when you use it so any comments I might make with regard to this should be treated with extreme caution. However the second is that I have lived with an iPad for nearly a year now and so have got a real feel for true impact of an iPad is in your life.

So what do I think? Well in truth this seems like a holding product. Apple had to do something to keep the hype fresh but they seemed to have done the minimum. Perhaps the best example of this is that the most interesting development isn't the iPad itself but rather the option extra of the new cover. This looks really funky but how useful it will be in real life only time will tell.

There is nothing in the new iPad that would enhance my use of the iPad. I don't play graphics heavy games on the iPad so the enhanced chip speed and graphic capabilities would be of limited appeal. I don't video conference with other apple users so the backward looking camera wouldn't help. I would consider editing video on the iPad, that is what my heavy duty PC is for. I have a friend who's son might be interested in the GarageBand app but I don't so this doesn't really. So in short other than the kick of having the latest iPad, admittedly vain but nonetheless attractive, I can't see that there is any reason for me to upgrade from iPad 1. This doesn't mean that I think the iPad 2 isn't worth buying if you don't already have an iPad - I wouldn't be parted from my iPad as it has totally changed the way that I interact with the internet and computing generally (This is a fine example - in the past I only posted from my PC now I rarely do). It is just that there would be very little to attract me to upgrade that is, of course, until I get my hands on one! I am really sad.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Updated: Apple And The BBC To Co-Host iPad 2 Release Event?

via crunchgear.com

the last link didn't seem to want to work - hopefully this will

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Ipad 2 will be launched at the BBC - Inquirer | So Stephen Fry ... in real time | SoCelebrities

via sostephenfry.com

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

Is today iPad 2 day?

Who knows but it probably is. We'll have to see what comes out from Apple over the day - perhaps Steven Fry might be able to answer this.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous