

Steven F on the iPad: Old vs New World - raptrex
http://stevenf.tumblr.com/post/359224392/i-need-to-talk-to-you-about-computers-ive-been

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WesleyJohnson
_Is a stick shift better than an automatic? No. Is an automatic better than a
stick? No. This misses the point. A better question: Is a road full of drivers
not distracted by the arcane inner workings of their vehicle safer? It’s
likely._

I may stand alone on this issue, but I see this the exact opposite. In an
automatic, being able to drive along with just a foot on the gas and hand on
the wheel, I find that I actually pay _less_ attention to driving and more
attention to everything else: other cars, the radio, my passengers talking,
billboards, buildings, etc. In a manual, I'm infinitely more aware of what my
car is doing and what _I'm_ doing to mesh that hunk of metal and plastic with
the rest of traffic, and far less focused on all of life's distractions.

~~~
joeminkie
That actually makes for a better point then: not being 'infinitely aware' of
what the machine is doing allows you to pay more attention to everything else.
In the case of the iPad that means you're free to focus jus on the web, movie,
game, app, music, etc. That's a good thing. That's the point.

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NZ_Matt
Like most geeks I was underwhelmed after watching the iPad presentation and
was disappointed that it uses the iPhone OS and not a lite version of Mac OS.
But after reading this article and many others it is clear to me that using
the closed off iPhone OS is a no brainier for this tablet.

The iPad does everything that my parents currently do on their computer
without the annoyances of a PC. If you look at my parents desktop it is
covered with miscellaneous files. They don't care how anything is stored. They
only want to do simple tasks and have everything work.

The more I think about it, the more that I realise that the current user
experience on a computer is not pleasant. Especially for my parents who don't
want to have to worry about defragging and keeping virus protection up to
date. This is where the iPad will excel. As Steve says "it just works".

However the locked down aspect of the apple system and the potential for a
monopoly is worrying so I'm hopeful that that Android and Chrome OS will fit
into this New World market.

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Tichy
Is it basically all about multitasking vs not multitasking? Because it seems
to be true, without multitasking, there is no need to worry about spyware or
software breaking the system. It's a bit like giving up, though.

As for the elderly loading their iPhones with apps - my experience is that
people do that with "old school" computers too. Only then it does break their
computers.

~~~
rw140
"my experience is that people do that with "old school" computers too. Only
then it does break their computers."

So basically we're looking at a product that will function well instead of
breaking when a typical user uses it in a typical fashion? Surely that's a
good thing?

~~~
Tichy
I only wanted to make the point that it is not because it is so easy or safe
that people install apps.

It's certainly a good thing if people can not load the computers with spyware
anymore. But there is a price, so it can not be universally said that it is
worth it.

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stcredzero
_How long will it take to complete this Old World to New World shift? My
guess? The end is near when you can bootstrap a new iPad application on an
iPad. When you can comfortably do that without pining for a traditional
desktop, the days of Old World computing are officially numbered._

The bad thing about the keyboard/mouse/screen workstation is that it is
designed to efficiently soak up all of your attention, and the overhead of
entering/leaving the active use mode makes this an all-absorbing proposition.

That is a big disadvantage of the workstation interface, versus the iPad, a
Kindle, the morning Newspaper. Those can soak up your attention, but you can
also set them down pretty quickly to get up and open the door. The mode switch
isn't such a large overhead. So these interfaces blend in more harmoniously
with everyday life.

But for programming, a workstation is _great_! In fact, for any activity
requiring extended, deep concentration, a workstation is a very good
proposition. For programming? I think it's pretty fantastic.

We have cars today that might as well have the hood welded shut, or at least
with a lock open-able only by the garage. But we also have cars like the Ariel
Atom, that are so focused on function, that they even lack body panels. We
still have car modders and hippie enclaves with 3 Mercedes Diesel 240DLs in a
garage shed out back.

Hacking is not going away.

------
frankus
If I had to pick a single dichotomy between, say, a MacBook and an iPad, it
would be that the latter is optimized for consuming content in a way that the
former is not. The iPad is primarily an output device.

The fact that the keyboard is a bit of an afterthought is telling. Yes, you
can create presentations, spreadsheets, emails and documents, but there's no
denying that it's awkward in a way that reading a book or surfing the web on
the thing is not.

It's a bit like when the Walkman was introduced without a record function. It
didn't spell the end of tape recorders, but it recognized that people spend
vastly more time consuming music than producing it.

I think the fact that it's locked down the way that it is is orthogonal to the
consumption versus production question. It's as though this Walkman will only
play studio-mastered tapes. Which is why I'm rooting for some credible
competition to come along and force the issue.

------
Zak
_favors benefit to the end-user rather than the developer or other vendors_

I think Apple's current approach favors benefit to _apple_ rather than
developers or end-users.

Sometimes Apple's interests line up with those of the user, but often they
don't. I hope it hurts their sales and benefits more open platforms (probably
Android) - that may be because I'm from the old world.

I like the dreams embodied by the Lisp machines and by OLPC. The idea that
every part of the system can be easily inspected and manipulated resonates
strongly with me. The freedom to tinker with a device can and does lead to new
and amazing things the original creators never imagined. College kids playing
with iPads will never invent Multifinder, and that's sad.

~~~
stingraycharles
I think you're missing the point of the article: the point is that New World
people don't care about all that openness of their computer, just like most
people don't care about the openness of their car. They just want it to work,
and work really well; Apple's approach is one way to fulfill these
requirements, but I don't see Lisp machines and OLPC doing this.

Essentially he's repeating what everyone here probably already knows, and
connecting that to the iPad. We're the minority, and Apple's audience might
start shifting away from a niche, hip gadget-audience to an incredibly
mainstream audience.

~~~
stcredzero
_I think you're missing the point of the article: the point is that New World
people don't care about all that openness of their computer, just like most
people don't care about the openness of their car._

From over ten years ago I remember making an argument for Free/Open Source
software and using the "car with a welded hood" argument. The person just
looked at me blankly and said, "I never _want_ to look under the hood of my
car. I take it to the garage and let _them_ mess with it!"

~~~
Zak
I didn't miss the point. I'm afraid the article is right, and it makes me
concerned about the future.

The hood of a modern car isn't physically welded shut, but many cars have
become so specialized that only a dealer or specialist mechanic can afford the
tools to work on them. Any serious tweaking and tuning requires either hacking
sensors to lie to the ECU, or a custom, programmable ECU since the factory ECU
is a black box.

I want the mainstream to care just a little bit about these things, because if
they don't, I won't be able to get products without the hood welded shut.
Sure, there will always be specialty hacker-friendly devices, jailbraking and
the like, but those are big steps to take for someone just starting to
explore. There's no easy gateway drug like discovering the terminal on a Mac.

~~~
glhaynes
There's always JavaScript.

------
grimstat
I'm not sure if this division makes sense. Are Android phones "Old World" or
"New World"? They have an open development model, and yet have most of the
attributes and advantages of a New World device: applications are sandboxed,
no need for virus scanners, etc.

I think people are conflating Apple's locked-down restrictive policies with
the OS design of iPhone and Android which prevent installing a bad app from
breaking your device.

~~~
stcredzero
_I'm not sure if this division makes sense. Are Android phones "Old World" or
"New World"?_

You're barking up the wrong tree.

a) It's not a real taxonomy. He's, in effect, making a prediction about the
direction that computing is going -- towards prepackaged specific purposes
away from general purpose. Think of it as a descriptive concept.

b) Even if it was a taxonomy, most of those are going to fail boundary
conditions. Those things aren't mathematical sets. They're useful to talk
about populations, and generally fail at boundary conditions. "North America"
doesn't really exist because you can't decide if a particular Panamanian
boulder is in it or not?

Classic nerd/techy mistake. Now cut it out!

~~~
krakensden
I think it's a valid point- we have this tiresome parade of articles claiming
that the future by necessity is one in which we pay apple a toll, forever, and
that open systems are dying.

Android is a counterpoint. So is the OLPC OS, for that matter. You can have an
open, general purpose computer that's also turnkey in operation.

------
_delirium
I'm not quite sure why there's this hard line drawn. Surely Android, for
example, falls somewhere in between, with sandboxed apps and all the rest, but
not quite the same draconian closed-ness?

~~~
stcredzero
See my reply to grimstat: It's not a real taxonomy!

