lonelysandwich: Adaptation
Of course, I don’t know that and you can’t know that until we pick it up and play with it, but consider this: What if the iPad is a big iPhone? If you’re not still impressed every single time you take your iPhone from your pocket, by what the iPhone is able to achieve, then maybe you’ve just adapted too quickly.
I’m glad Gruber re-posted this, because it’s really a great piece from Adam. You should read the whole thing (again). The last line really nails it for me. Three years on, and I’m still awed by this little—almost perfect—device every time I hold it in my hand. It’s not just what it does, but what it can possibly do. As I’ve said before, I don’t think the iPad will be a “big iPhone,” but I do think that it will extend that feeling of what’s possible with technology. Not in a geeky, “but it’s a closed system and therefore evil way,” but in a real, human way. It will change how a lot of everyday people interact with, and share information. It will get out of your way when you don’t need it, but be there when you do. That’s what most people want—technology that helps them, then fades away, always to remain nearby. That’s what we saw in the movies.
The iPad is not just about the hardware, it’s about peeling away another layer that gets between people and information. Just like Wi-Fi got rid of cables, the iPad—this way of thinking—will get rid of the computer that’s between you and the world of information at your fingertips.
