http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/04/apple-goes-where-the-portals-failed-its-the-hardware-stupid/
here are the coupla bits i liked. i’ll think more about it eventually and say a few words. or i’ll let them speak for themselves. why not? laissez-faire. that’s me.
this is why consuming media matters, too:
The iPhone and probably the iPad are the first devices that truly solve this fundamental problem of media convergence. Probably because of their portability and touch screen, we are just as happy to do email and web surf as we are to lean back and watch a video or a movie with handheld, touch-screen devices.
and this is an interesting idea about aggregating audiences:
Devices like the iPad and iPhone generate audience, which attracts advertisers (a business Apple just said it was plunging into), which attracts content. It doesn’t hurt that Apple has proven to be one of the few online platforms capable of charging for digital content.
and this is about technological pragmatism, which i admire in a ‘right tool for the job’ way (also because i think by having a standard for development, you ensure a certain threshold, and you make sure people meet or exceed it – and while this might be frustrating, it ensures a level of quality and consistency of experience that i appreciate. as a consumer.)
We can debate the pros and cons of Apple’s proprietary standards — as we have, and are — endlessly. As a matter of principal I don’t like them. Practically, they make things so easy that I’m not sure I care.
right, good then.