I’ll probably get one. Probably sooner than I think. I’ll like it. I’ll skip gen 2, but buy gen 3. Maybe my dad will get one to finally replace his 12” PowerBook.
Alex Payne bemoans what the closed nature of the iPhone coming to a “real computer” (-lite?) means to the future of the open mindset of the desktop paradigm. “This is why I say that the iPad is a cynical thing: Apple can’t – or won’t – conceive of a future for personal computing that is both elegant and open, usable and free.”
The other way to look at this is as a parallel with cars: used to be, everybody who drove had to know at least a bit about car maintenance and repair, now we just look at the sticker Jiffy Lube put on our windshield and drive back when the date comes up, where they work around the warranty-protecting engine cover that keeps you from messing with anything. Same thing is happening with computers. While this is distressing for those of us who love to tinker with our Macs and PCs, the vast majority out there don’t even imagine that you can tinker. I know, I work with them every day. Apple didn’t announce a product that excited the geeks yesterday, because they were too busy making “the computer for the rest of us” all over again.
