512 Pixels

It’s hard to get worked up about something as silly as a new product when so many are suffering. Prayers for those caught in this tragedy.

Gruber:

Walt Mossberg has a 500-word section on “Drawbacks” in his review today of the iPad 2. The whole thing is a crock, an example of trying to be fair/balanced/objective by bending over backwards to find negative things to say about the device. No one is arguing that the iPad 2 is beyond criticism. But almost nothing in Mossberg’s list of drawbacks is valid.

It needed to be said, and Gruber has said it well.

This is like a normal truck wreck, on acid.

Chris Breen:

There are sour individuals among us who claim that the iPad is a tool for consumption rather than creation. GarageBand for iPad proves them wrong. This amazing tool—complete with eight-track recording, easy-does-it interface, customizable and easily played virtual instruments, on-board loops, sampler, guitar amps and effects, drum machine, and tuner—may be the most inspiring musical iOS app I’ve ever used. And at a meager $5, it’s an astonishing bargain. Musician or not, it’s a must-have app.

I want to buy an iPad just to play with this app.

I’ve never cried listening to a podcast. But as I listened to episode 14 of the Enough podcast driving home the other night, I just about lost it.

Patrick Rhone opened up about some things that are super personal, and in a way that was so honest, so sincere, I just want to give the guy a hug and thank him for his words.

But it wasn’t just Patrick’s honesty about his past that blew me away — it was my present.

On Friday, I was diagnosed as suffering from depression.

The problems — things like a loss of interest in hobbies, a lack of motivation, the inability to focus, insomnia and an all-around shitty feeling — have gotten increasingly difficult to manage on my own.

However, I’ve been hesitant to admit these issues are real. I’ve rationalized things to myself and lied to just about everyone in my life. It’s okay, I thought. You’ve been dealing with a lot.

(While the last two years of battling with our son’s cancer has been draining, looking back, I see the seeds of my current struggle in college and even high school.)

That’s true, and is a justifiable cause for my depression. But when things started interfering with my marriage, my relationships and my job, I knew it was time to reach out for help.

I’m blessed. I have a wonderful wife who is my best friend. I have some guys in my life who will pick up when I call, no matter the time of day (or night). I’ve got a killer job, live in a great city and have people who care deeply about me. I have a faith that connects me to something bigger than myself.

I don’t know what the future holds. I know I’ve got to take things one day, one hour, one moment at a time. I’ve got some medicine and am starting to meet with a therapist, as well as my pastors. I’ve got friends near and far checking in on me, and I’m trying to be honest with them. I can’t get better on my own, but I know I’m not alone. Pushing people away comes somewhat naturally to me, but doing so now is crippling.

It’s a long road from where I am to being okay. But at least I’m crawling in the right direction — I hope.

Joshua Topolsky:

It might frustrate the competition to hear this, but it needs to be said: the iPad 2 isn’t just the best tablet on the market, it feels like the only tablet on the market. As much as we’d like to say that something like the Xoom has threatened Apple’s presence in this space, it’s difficult (if not impossible) to do that. Is the iPad 2 a perfect product? Absolutely not. The cameras are severely lacking, the screen – while extremely high quality – is touting last year’s spec, and its operating system still has significant annoyances, like the aggravating pop-up notifications. At a price point of $499, and lots of options after that (like more storage and models that work on both Verizon’s and AT&T’s 3G networks), there’s little to argue about in the way of price, and in terms of usability, apps like GarageBand prove that we haven’t even scratched the surface of what the iPad can do.

The Wall Street Journal’s Brett Arends bought a Nook Color, rooted it, and is calling it a tablet:

Be aware that you perform this software hack entirely at your own risk. Barnes & Noble says it invalidates your warranty. The process ran smoothly for me, but when I read the Internet chat rooms, I found at least a few people had had problems. If it goes wrong, you’re on your own.

Of course, it’s hardly the same as an iPad or a Xoom or a Galaxy. It doesn’t have any cameras. It has a slower processor. It’s not for power users. The video support is pretty limited. A few Android programs still won’t run on it. And dedicated gamers will doubtless find it frustrating.

But as a basic tablet, it’s absolutely fine for me—and, I suspect, a lot of people. Indeed, I happen to prefer it to bigger rivals, because it actually slips into my overcoat pocket. (I hate having to carry things around.)

You get what you pay for. And you should never come to rely on something based on rooting or a jailbreak. And Brett is a moron.

[via Jim Dalrymple]

Check out what the user ratings for the official Twitter client have done after the Dickbar release:

Nameless Electronista Staff Member:

The iPad 2 has triggered a minor panic among PC and tablet makers, including a possible HP change in strategy for the future TouchPad, insiders said late Monday. A number of notebook designers, including Acer, ASUS, and HP, have reportedly looked at adding tablet features into what were going to be conventional designs. Digitimes cited the example of a 10-inch Eee Pad’s USB keyboard as an example of what sort of changes might take place.

Frantic decisions make for shitty products. Having shitty products is what got these companies in the trouble they’re in.

I sense a cycle.

Ryan Paul:

Although the Xoom has a lot to offer, the product feels very incomplete. A surprising number of promised hardware and software features are not functional at launch and will have to be enabled in future updates. The Xoom’s quality is also diminished by some of the early technical issues and limitations that we encountered in Honeycomb. Google’s nascent tablet software has a ton of potential, but it also has some feature gaps and rough edges that reflect its lack of maturity.

[…]

The Xoom’s impressive hardware specifications and ambitious feature lineup are intriguing, but the product falls short of its full potential due to a general lack of completeness. It feels like it was rushed to market and delivered to consumers prematurely. The number of headline features that are simply absent at launch is emblematic of the device’s deficiencies.

Google doesn’t seem to get that it can’t ship beta products to paying customers.

Well, these guys probably have girlfriends.

[via The Mac Observer]

Aaron Mahnke:

There are two things I remind myself of daily in regards to social media. The first is that this technology exists to create true community. It’s not a game, or a toy, or a matter to be taken lightly. When you begin interacting online, you are dipping your foot into a very special place, where true friendships can grow and impressions can be made that affect future employment or reputation with potential customers. The Internet isn’t a disposable spoon to be used when convenient and thrown away without regard. Real relationships are formed, and actual people exist behind the lovely twitter avatars we see each day. Real people. With feelings and dreams and issues and needs.

But I also remind myself daily that these tools are here to push us deeper. Community can thrive online in ways like never before. But it still has limits to its reach, and we need to push beyond them. FaceTime offers face-to-face conversation to millions of people who have never seen each other’s face before - for better or for worse, of course - but it still cannot hold a candle to good conversation over a cup of coffee. I’m ashamed to admit that my friend Dave Caolo lives only two hours away from me, but we haven’t yet met in person. But we need to. Because relationships are designed to grow, and there’s a limit to how deeply you can know someone you’ve never shaken hands with, or watched laugh, or bought a beer.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I’ve met some great guys online — dudes like Ben Brooks, Ian Hines, Joshua Schnell, Dave Caolo and more. We chat about a lot more than just Apple or tech — we talk about our families, our careers, our goals and more. It really is strange to think about the fact these relationships exist just because of the Internet.

Be sure to check out episode 13 of the Enough podcast, in which Patrick and Myke talk about this very thing.