Rab Boyce's Site

Ok, roughly one month in with the iPad. I must say it's an amazing device. I really think tablets will be the form factor of the next decade. The genius decision here is not to try and force a desktop operating system onto an appliance style device. Bill Gates got lots of abuse for stating 5 years ago that the tablet was the way forward, and to be fair…trying to make windows work on that format was a bad decision. The iOS is clearly a much better proposition. Steve Jobs, in an interview with Walt Mossberg recently stated that the iPhone was actually a spin off of early prototypes of the iPad…and you can totally see that now.

Is it magical? Is it revolutionary? well..no. but it IS a very nice device to have around the house.

It makes for an awesome sofa browsing experience, makes checking the newspapers on a Sunday a delight…and is even usable in the bath!

iOS 4.0 should add a much needed multitasking experience for audio, background uploads/downloads and Voip. 

Magazines work well on the device…I am currently trying to replace my magazine habit with electronic versions, but the current selection is poor to be honest.

In the UK , the ebook selection is equally poor. iBooks has relatively nothing, and the amazon kindle store seems equally sparse….

Plus points

• unbelievable battery life
• truly portable
• wow factor
• makes a great kitchen TV

Negative points

• app selection isn't great so far
• it really attracts finger prints

I don't think we have seen the best from the iPad yet. like the iPhone…its all down to the apps.

It was all a little predictable really..

Gordon Brown playing up the 'i'm a senior statesmen' vibe, Nick Clegg stating that you don't want to believe the other two..and David Cameron banging on about National Insurance and immigration.

Did the format work? yes, I think it did. None of the three are fools, none of the three are unable to think on their feet..but then, did we think any different? They didn't get where they are in British Politics without being good debaters. master debaters, one might say, if one was so inclined. This isn't America , after all.

I think they all came across quite well, until Cameron's closing statment…which felt a little too rehearsed for my liking. ( Clearly, they were all rehearsed..but you know what I mean! )

looking forward to the professional analysis and the next 2 'debates'

after 12 months using the Windows 7 Release Candidate on the kid's laptop, It was time to purchase and install the full version. So off I popped to the local Comet and paid my money.

Popped the disc in…selected clean install ( as I have done with every single Microsoft OS install in the past ).

Operating system installed. Applications now installed, documents trasnferred over.

All good so far.

Now for the 'activation'. pop the key in..it doesn't work. Apparently its an 'upgrade only' key. yes, but it was an upgrade…? so why doesn't it work? why does it allow me to select clean install on installation? why doesn't it ask me for my old key or installation disc like every other MS operating system in the past? 

not to worry, ill call up support and sort it out.

Ah..its the weekend..so I can't ( apparently one of the biggest companies in the world , assumes all its customers only install stuff monday to friday, 9 to 5 ). fine..so Ill try the phone activation. no, that didn't work either. Please stay on the line to be connected to a 'Customer' representative. 6 minutes later, call drops.

One has to wonder how this improves Microsoft's image? If its actually less hassle to get a pirated/cracked on your machine, how does this help anyone in the software industry?

Windows 7.. good operating system, incompetent and frustrating licensing model.. ( thank god, im typing this on my macbook pro! )

Update on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 8:49PM by Rab Boyce

ok. so after an hour on the phone to Microsoft while being bounced from department to department ( and one particularly aggressive CSR ) I finally got the activation resolved.

This is clearly not the way to win hearts and minds. As a Software Professional I understand the need to protect one's IPR and income stream, but the mind numbingly draconian and ill thought through MS licensing model is just infuriating.

Don't people realise that if its easier to get a cracked copy than use a legit copy…thats what people will do? Its like the media industry. A lot of people I know download movies/TV shows from newsgroups etc..becuase its just easier than going through the ridiculous hoops required on the commercial versions.

Time to wake up.

 

Ok, the much awaiting announcement finally happened. The big surprise to me is the mixed reaction in the tech community. There seems to be a large contingent who are saying 'it's just a big iphone touch'. And tell me what is wrong with that exactly?

I love my iphone, and my iphone touch. They do their jobs very well ( well, apart from answer calls ). The availability of the app store, the amazing UI, the great browsing experience. If only it was bigger....

..and now it is. A bigger , faster, ipod touch..? what on earth is not to like? Surely it fits the niche of a sofa/coffee/table device much better than a netbook or an iphone/ipod ever could..

Sure..it doesn't have a whizzy new gesture based interface, it doesn't have a camera, and it doesn't make phone calls..but then why should it do any of those things?

for me..if its an excellent browsing experience, can display PDFs and ebooks well, and play the odd movie or two..i'm sold.

I also think the availability of the app store makes it a killer device. Im sure there will be some amazing apps in due course.

Downsides? no multi tasking ( to be confirmed )...and while I understand Apple's reasoning for that..no IM in the background would seem like a bit of a downer in 2010.

A 4:3 aspect ratio? This initially seemed bizarre, as surely most movies are 16:9? but an article on macworld makes a good case for a 4:3 ratio. It isn't primarily a movie playing device...its a web browsing/book reading device, and a 4:3 ratio makes more sense.

So, The big question is how many are you going to buy?

:)

in my incessant quest to see just how much hi fi/av equipment one man can own...I purchased a DacMagic to act as a bridge between my macbook pro and my Graham Slee Novo headphone amp.

Initial impressions are somewhat mixed.

With high bit rate stuff ( 256K, 320 or losssless ) it sounds excellent. wonderfully open sound stage, tight bass and good sense of timing. The Novo is a good with percussion and vocals, as are my Grado SR60s..so it all seems to work well.

However, with anything less than that ( I still have 192 and below hanging around from when I started digitising music for low capacity Mp3 players ) then it sounds terrible...worse than the native output of the mac. It really sounds like the music is underwater...I'm guessing the gaps in the sound are just too much and the upsampling really messes up.

More investigation required...

My current settings are 41Khz 24bit out from the macbook pro over Toslink. ( USB option only supports 16 bit audio )

I haven't tried it with my Marantz 6003 as a CD transport yet..I'll guess that will be a better test of the quality of the DAC itself.

Update on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 9:21PM by Rab Boyce

ok...the DAC magic does work very well with the Marantz 6003 :) and the 192Kb stuff doesn't sound too bad. I must confess that was a mistake..the 'underwater' sound only seems to affect the 96kb stuff.

So would I recommend it...yes. I would.

Although, I wonder if my system is a little too clinical now....hmmm.