Re: Cory Doctorow on iPad, Apple ][+

[DaveSchmenk <dschmenk@gmail.com>]

On Apr 6, 4:06 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
> DaveSchmenk wrote:
> > I have to confess that I just picked up a 32GB iPad as well.  It is
> > quite a bit more than an uber-iTouch, but much less than a laptop. The
> > form factor sold me.  Very intimate and easy to use for the few things
> > it does.  VNC is the killer app for me, along with mail and browser. I
> > like to check on email and do a little browsing in bed before dozing -
> > my iPhone is just a little too small and a laptop is just a little too
> > big (even my 12" PowerBook).
>
> So the iPad will be the enabler of the "data furnace"--the vision of
> the server in a basement closet that hosts all our personal storage
> and applications, but is never seen by polite company.  ;-)
>

Or heard - I got a free blade server from a company liquidation that
sits in my basement.  It drowns out the real furnace!  But it's nice
to VNC into it from the iPad in the living room. I think the iPad
might be the best device yet for accessing the whole "cloud computing"
paradigm. It makes for a really convenient portal. I don't mind the
lack of multitasking as it switches apps fast enough to be fairly
seamless.

> Or maybe the "personal server" will be a strongly-encrypted, cloud-
> hosted capability with capabilities equal only to our credit card
> limits.  ;-)
>
> > Typing on it feels much like the old Tandy Model 100.  If it only had
> > AppleSoft.
>
> Wow!  What would a half-generation of journalists have done without
> the Tandy 100?!
>
> That will come, I'm sure.  ;-)
>

I downloaded Pages for it try my hand at content creation. I'm
struggling with the object drawing tools, but they are there. If I
could just find the page layout that mimics the Engineers
Computational Pad I would be happy.

> -michael
>
> NadaNet and AppleCrate II: parallel computing for Apple II computers!
> Home page:http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon
>
> "The wastebasket is our most important design
> tool--and it's seriously underused."

Dave...