You realise, of course, that this means war!

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1517361]

Comments

[andrewducker]

I may be unreasonably amused by the response of my friends list on Twitter at the moment, which seems to be overwhelmingly made of *shrug*.

[andlosers.livejournal.com]

So far I'm liking what I see, but it depends on the price point. This is way better than a netbook for my purposes.

[andrewducker]

Can you type 40 WPM on it?

[andlosers.livejournal.com]

I bet I can. But then, I can type 110 wpm on a 13" mini-keyboard, so I'm probably not the right person to ask ...

[andlosers.livejournal.com]

... It has a keyboard, as it turns out. So that's a definite yes.

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

Word.

I HAVE a netbook and I have a Kindle and I have a smartphone (not an iphone because AT&T, barf) but if this is at anything resembling an affordable pricepoint, I'll buy the 2nd or 3rd generation iteration of it and feel good about it.

[mair_in_grenderich]

want tickyboxes!

[robhu.livejournal.com]

If you view the poll on an iPad, it has them.

[henriksdal.livejournal.com]

it looks like a giant cardboard prop for an iphone like what they put in shop windows.

[guybles.livejournal.com]

You do need a "meh" option in your poll. However, something exciting still could happen, while they keep faffing around with it on stage.

[e-halmac.livejournal.com]

There should be a third option for "iWhat?" or similar ;)

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

It's kind of meh, with touches of "oh, that's quite neat"

[meltie.livejournal.com]

I'm an Apple user and I hate the limitations on my iPod Touch. I suspect it'l be the same with this.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

If it ran OSX, I'd be getting it. As it is, I doubt it.

[broin.livejournal.com]

Why would you want that?

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

Because then I could use it a) to play the dozens of little hidden object and point-and-click games I already have and b) run either Firefox (for GM) or Java (for KoLMafia) so that I could conveniently play Kingdom of Loathing on it. And then I would pretty much be able to use it for everything that I do from day to day on my laptop.

But without b, in particular, it's not much use for a large chunk of my daily online spodding, and there's little point in having it if I'm going to then have to also have my laptop with me.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

There's not an option for "Bored silly"?

[dapperscavenger.livejournal.com]

There needs to be an option for "oh, I wondered what you've been going on about for the past week." :p

[andrewducker]

hey! I've not mentioned it until now!

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

There is no option for "zzzzzzzz", so I picked the rather overstated "hate" line.

-- Steve thinks it's just an oversized iPod Touch. Very pretty screen, yes, but functionally it doesn't add anything to the computing ecosystem.

[draconid.livejournal.com]

I refuse to even read about it - I'm not a big fan of Apple and don't want to be tempted...

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

You and your only two options! I'm indifferent and I'm an Apple fangirl.

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

Having watched the short video at the end of the link, I am amazed at stress put on the fact that you can CHANGE THE DESKTOP BACKGROUND TO ANYTHING YOU WANT. It's a quantum leap in technology!

[robhu.livejournal.com]

I think the two best marketroid comments in the official Apple video are (from memory):

"This is going to change everything" and "It's like holding the internet in your hands"

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

I'm a "meh" in general but the detail of it requiring AT&T service pushes me towards blazing hatred.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Like.

But probably won't buy, as it isn't what I need while on the move. Even with the screen keyboard, I'd be craning my neck a fair bit further than with the a laptop.

[joexnz.livejournal.com]

Why would I want something that can't sit on my lap unattended?

[robhu.livejournal.com]

http://i.imgur.com/5vREa.png

[andrewducker]

No multitasking? Really? They could get away with that (for some people)in a phone, but in something that's obviously a computer?

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

Kinda struggling with this one, mostly on the grounds that I so completely cannot afford one - probably for at least a year.

it looks really nice. I can see myself using one a hell of a lot. It does [I'm guessing] pretty much everything I can see myself using such a device for.

simple truth is, as with the iPhone, we'll know when we touch it. Until then it's impossible to tell whether you truly want.

[bookzombie.livejournal.com]

I'd like an option for 'really couldn't give a toss'...

[call-waiting.livejournal.com]

The physical form factor and all that is interesting, but it doesn't do what I want from a computing device. There ought to be a term for this, but I don't know of one. It's sort of an extension of Turing Completeness. For a machine to be Turing Complete, it must be capable of computing any computable result. For a machine to be X complete, it must be possible to use the machine to write the software that will run on it. (with the possible exception of anything that needs to go in ROM!)

So until it can run its own SDK, I'm not interested.

[andrewducker]

It's clearly a computing applicance rather than a computer :->

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

This is essentially what I was going to say. The whole *point* of a computer is that it can essentially (assuming the truth of the Church-Turing conjecture for the moment) be used to perform any conceivable information-processing task. To deliberately stop a machine that is capable of this from doing so is to reduce the most awe-inspiring invention of the last century to a level lower than the abacus...

[andrewducker]

Absolutely - it's not a computer, it's a computing appliance, and thus of limited interest to me.

And while I don't mind some of the items in my home that have a processor in them not being designed in an open manner (my internet radio, for instance), I do expect something that runs apps to run whatever apps I want.

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

There should be a "Can't afford it and not bothered" option. :-)

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

There needs to be an option for "It's really big for a phone, how do you make calls on it?"

Which was a question mulled over by a group of non-techie (but iPhone owning) people in my office today.

I don't think people are going to get it.