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Yesterday, Apple released its much anticipated “Magic Tablet”, deemed the “iPad” by them. The iPad was met with a lukewarm welcome all across the board, and almost every single person I’ve talked with doesn’t seem have anything good to say about it, nor do they have anything bad to say about it either. To see it in a broader view, in a current Lifehacker poll about the iPad (link), a whopping 44 percent voted it “useless”, 37 percent voted that they are in the “wait and see zone”, while only 15 percent voted being “very excited” it.

I’m not here to sway anyone’s negative opinion about the tablet, I am merely here to drop mine.

I believe that there are essentially three things Apple should have done regarding the tablet, that would honestly have required little change that would have made it a bombshell success.

1. A User Interface that is actually a little bit innovative.

OK, Apple, we know you’ve done it before. How difficult can it be to come up with an interface that isn’t just the iPhone’s with space between the icons? I know a good half of the apps are well designed. They combine the desktop interface with the iPhone interface and it looks great. The process, however, should have been done with the other half of the apps, as well as the home screens, and the lock screen. If you are going to sell something as a whole new device between the PC and the Smartphone, then why not have a UI to match the claim?

2. A Front Facing Camera (Or even back-facing, we would take that, too.)

So you know that little thing that you stuck in the new iPod Nano as something to keep the line alive? Well you could have done it with the iPad, except instead of just keeping it alive, you would have been launching it with universal praise. The machine would be absolutely perfect for video chatting or conference calls, you could hold it anywhere, anytime, as opposed to a laptop, where you are limited to where you can sit or stand. The camera mechanism is only around $5, $10 for a higher resolution, for picture taking, possibly. So it really make no sense that the tablet wouldn’t have one.

3. A Home Button that isn’t exactly like the iPhone’s.

Let’s face it, the iPad has received an incredible amount of criticism using just the phrase “Giant iPhone”, because, well, it looks like a giant iPhone. If the Home Button was a square on either side of the screen, and marketed as a landscape oriented machine, it could be something worth looking at in a new light, but this is another thing from Apple I just don’t understand. There isn’s much more to say on the subject, but maybe it will look different second time around.

Final Points

To close it off, there are two more things I would have done if I was Apple. The price point, while good, could have been lower, and there are reports that it was planned to be $399, which would have guaranteed its success. And a final thing: an accessory that combines both the stand/case and the external keyboard, in landscsape mode, so the iPad could have been easily marketed as a netbook.

I personally believe it is a good product at the moment, but I am going to wait until second generation to buy it, in hopes that Apple will be smart enough to implement the three things.

The movie started off slow, as many do, but as the plot progressed, so did the characters and overall story, ultimately developing into an excellent film. In case you didn’t know, the movie is about a man, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), who is born an old man, with a skin disease, arthritis, as well as other “old person” traits. He was the size of a baby, but had the look of an old man, essentially. While the story continues, he gets increasingly younger as other characters are thrown in stirring up some terrific relationships.

I don’t want to give anything away, but the narration is similar to Forrest Gump, and Benjamin Button’s travels share a likelihood to Big Fish. The acting was suburb, as was the directing. The only criticism I may have is the slow development, which ultimately pays off in the end.

Overall:

Acting: 4 1/2 stars

Brad Pitt can play almost anything, which really shows through in this film. Also, Cate Blanchett playing her character as an old woman was just mesmerizing.

Directing: 4 stars

David Fincher is a terrific director, but his skills didn’t totally shine through in this film.

Overall: 4 1/2 stars

One of the best film’s I have seen this year, finishing the race just seconds before The Dark Knight.

Overall, I would say that I had a good holiday, it was very busy, as there were many many family things to do, visiting and whatnot. Christmas morning was also fun, I got an iPod nano from my mother and several books, a sweater, a hoodie, and some other things. We then went to my aunt’s house a bit later on, and stayed there for the night. In the morning, my immediate family went skiing, and that was some fun. After skiing we ventured to my dads and it is there, buried in his Christmas tree that I found an iPod touch, apparently for me, we slept there and came back in the morning. Later that day we went to family holiday party, where I got to see some people that have sailed away from my mind in past months. We went home, and I read The Tales of Beetle the Bard, I was up rather late and woke up around 10:30. I have been lazily dragging myself around the house for the whole day, eating leftover Holiday cookies. I am now preparing myself for a date with Ella (after 3 months or so), our first official.

I made a Mac Mini concept this sunday, while I was stuck at home with the snow as my company. For those of you who don’t know, the last time Apple’s official “switicher” machine had a facelift was– um… uhh, never. Keeping that in mine, many people are expecting one for next year’s MacWorld Expo, which is falling around January 6th or so. For those of you who don’t know, the MacWorld Expo is usually where Apple releases their “big” stuff, the iPhone, the MacBook Air, the iMac way back when. It is home of the coveted “SteveNote”, where Steve Jobs gives  his famous Keynote, but this year some other guy “Phil Schiller”, is doing it.

Anyway, on with the sexy photo:

Mac Mini by Bram Oosten

Regardless, thanks to one or two of you who maybe voted for me, I won the iPhone concept contest, which is kind of exciting, considering some of the people who submitted things were like pros in the graphic design fields. Unfortunately, he said it would take weeks to get the stuff to me, but I’m glad they’re coming anyway. Here is proof:

UPDATE 12/22/2008: The contest is now closed. The winner is Bram Oosten, whose “iPhone Cloud” appears below. (Wired.com’s own entry has been disqualified — I mean really, how would it look if we awarded ourselves a prize?

So, yes, be happy for me.

Luckily, we have just one more day until Holiday Break, If you aren’t excited about that, then I don’t know something that would make you excited, ever!

I made this a few days before the iPhone 3G was released, it’s a kind of riciulous concept, but basically, the phone connects to any 3G or WiFi network it can find, and then the OS is beamed to it from there, so nothing is really on the phone except for a battery and 3G chip. Yes, I am very aware that it is impossible, but it is a cool idea to make a phone that thin work.

Anyway, I submitted it to a Wired Gadget Lab iPhone Concept contest, and I want to win so I can give my lil’ brother an iPod Shuffle for Christmas, and seem like a kind of nice guy to him. Regardless, all you have to do it go here, then click the green arrow on my iPhone Cloud concept, and the red arrow on the other things around it. Thanks you awesome people! And remember, only you can stop unconsented sex!

In a nutshell, that is why I hate the Dentist.

The only thing I may like is the fact that they use Apple computers

…from 1981.