I spotted this at a nearby table in the Coffee Zone last week. I couldn’t resist interrupting the gentleman to inquire. The AlphaSmart 3000 is a word processor with a tiny LCD screen. Just 4 lines of text. You can call up other documents using the gray keys. There’s a USB port for moving your stuff to another computer.
According to the owner, a few AA batteries gives him 700 hours of hunting and pecking. I’d really like to meet and interview the person who conceived of this device.
Beginning Monday, the 123 back-lit nameplates about the lockers of Nebraska’s varsity football players will be replaced with iPads.
From the story on Huskers.com:
Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne admitted Friday that he didn’t know a lot about iPads, “but the main purpose,” he said, “is for communication, so if Bo (Pelini) or an assistant coach needs to schedule a meeting, everybody can know immediately, whether they’re in the varsity locker room or the walk-on locker room at the Hawks Championship Center.
For compliance reasons, the iPads will be mounted into each player’s locker. The football staff will have the ability to send messages to the players via their iPads. The players will be able to acknowledge and respond, but their messages will be limited to football and academic personnel only.
The new capability will enable the football staff to post events to each player’s iPad calendar, so he will know the times of each practice, conditioning session, academic meeting or position meeting, even if it’s called at the last minute.
What about the capability to access all iPads remotely so they can play the same video at once?
“Wireless can cause a slight delay, but yes, that’s the plan – to get all to play at once when the situation calls for it,” said Chad Chiesa, a Nebraska Athletic Department IT specialist. “With the assistance of a software development firm that specializes in mobile device applications, our hope is to keep everything in sync.”
I’m sure the guys in Cupertino didn’t foresee this particular use of the iPad but they knew in their hearts and smart heads that there would be no end of creative uses. Do you think they pull these down and replace them with the new RIM Blackpads? Or Microsoft’s Slate?
via Uber Husker, Todd Perry
Our local HP rep brought a new computer by the office yesterday for our IT guys to check out. It’s the HP 6000 PRO. I couldn’t resisit teasing him a little about the revolutionary design breakthrough.
“Whoa! That is so COOL! Everything built right into the monitor? No separate box?! Damn!
This is just the sort of thing that makes PC’s hate Mac fanboys like me. But I couldn’t help myself. Apple introduced the iMac G5 in 2005. 5 years is a lifetime in hardware innovation.
And then Phil dug out the HP’s power supply and I felt so bad for the rep I wanted to give him a hug. This thing is literally the size of a brick. The only good thing about the monster is you can rest your feet on it.
There’s nothing wrong with seeing a good design and emulating it. Shit, Apple does this. But if you go that right, at least try to make your design a little better than the one you are copying. And there’s the rub. Just can’t do it and keep keep the price down.
Dylan and Miles dropped in at the Coffee Zone this morning. They’re high school sophomores in Savannah, Missouri. Dylan brought his new iPad which he purchased with money from his summer job (scanning medical records).
He has a desktop computer (and a Blackberry) but no laptop. I found it interesting that he would go for the iPad instead of a laptop. But not surprising. I think we’ll see this happening more and more. For all the reasons we’ve mentioned here. Price and cool factor topping the list.
Dylan says he plans to take it to class this fall. Would like to know how that works out.
Lots of colleges are exploring ways to bring the iPad into the classroom.
A couple of observations on the iPhone antenna story:
But Steve Jobs had to respond and he did so with what Scott Adams (SGITR*) calls the High Ground Maneuver:
“Apple’s response to the iPhone 4 problem didn’t follow the public relations playbook because Jobs decided to rewrite the playbook. (I pause now to insert the necessary phrase Magnificent Bastard.) If you want to know what genius looks like, study Jobs’ words: “We’re not perfect. Phones are not perfect. We all know that. But we want to make our users happy.”
Jobs changed the entire argument with nineteen words. He was brief. He spoke indisputable truth. And later in his press conference, he offered clear fixes.
Did it work? Check out the media response. There’s lots of talk about whether other smartphones are perfect or not. There’s lots of talk about whether Jobs’ response was the right one. But the central question that was in everyone’s head before the press conference – “Is the iPhone 4 a dud” – has, well, evaporated.”
Mr. Adams predicts Jobs’ response will become the public relations standard for consumer products. Let’s revisit this in 90 days.
*Smartest Guy in the Room
UPDATE: Seems I do know at least one person with the new phone who is having problems. I either forgot or repressed that. See Phil’s comment below.