Does anyone get it?

Remember when the iPhone had a bad camera? We know that it no longer does, but is everyone aware of that? No. I know a lot of people who aren't. The iPhone camera's reputation is damaged. Only time will heal it.

The new iPad has no camera as of now. I don't know if this is what Apple's thinking, but I think it's far better for their reputation to exclude the camera for now, until they manage to implement one that meets high expectations.

The current expected scenario is that when Apple releases the second generation iPad with a camera, even current iPad owners will want one, and Apple will get decent publicity from that.

On the other hand, let's say Apple released the iPad with a half-assed camera. When the second generation iPad arrives with a much better camera, it will be too late for it to effectively penetrate the psychological barrier against the iPad's camera.

It's more in Apple's interest than the customer's, but business is business. Jerks or not, they are geniuses.

iPad Release

The infamous iPad release is nigh. I gotta say, I find the tide of negativity that accompanies the iPad a bit disturbing. Haven't people learned already not to judge a product by its specs? I'm not saying this as a rich geek looking for an excuse to buy the coolest new things, but I can think of a 100 ways a "decent" tablet computer could make my life easier, like being able to use it on a bus, train or plane without having to "deploy" it like a laptop, or being able to hold it as a book as I read stuff. The only problem is that, until now, tablet computers have been a failure, most likely because touch-based applications were nonexistent, and because Microsoft Windows was never specifically designed for touch input.

The future of books: Harry Potter style!