As an eReader:

Cons:
10 Hours of battery compared to 1 Week on an eReader.
No free 3G internet connection compared to free 3G on Kindle/Nook.
Missing some major book publishers like Random House.

Pros:
Color display well suited for text books.
More capable web browser than experimental/hidden Kindle browser.
Instantaneous, interactive method of manipulating content on screen.

The battery life will only get you through one day. Solution: charge it overnight. You’ll have to pay for 3G, but this isn’t exactly a device you’re gonna have in your pocket anyway, when you’re using this it will likely be at a cafe, home, hotel, friends house, or cruise – all of which have WiFi. If you’re on the road and want to look up movie times you’re probably going to use your mobile phone over this if you had both. The selection of publishing houses is limited, but so were TV and film studios as well as record labels at first in iTunes. If history repeats we’ll see Random house and others join soon after.

The double tap to zoom, drag to scroll and tap to click navigation present in the iPhone should translate well to the bigger screen. The zooming will allow pages with larger resolutions than the device feel right on the screen, in comparison to Netbooks which resort to vertical and horizontal click and hold scrolling. The color screen will finally allow text books to be represented digitally without the loss of diagrams and illustrations.

Price difference between a Kindle DX and the iPad is a mere 10 dollars. Unless you really need that long battery life and are a big proponent of eInk, there isn’t much of a compelling argument for the DX.

As a NetBook:

Cons:
No Adobe Flash in Safari.
No webcam, removable storage, or ports standard to the average Netbook.
No traditional multi-tasking support.
No traditional “desktop” operating system.

Pros:
iTunes Syncing.
iWork is only about $30.
Unlimited 3G mobile broadband for $30.
Battery life is about 4-6 hours longer than average Netbook.

Adobe has every desire to make Flash for iPhone, in fact it may exist, but the word is that Apple isn’t letting it happen. There is no arguing the fact that it doesn’t have removable storage and a webcam. The question is if it is needed. With Gmail and MobileMe it’s free/cheap to store your data in the cloud. While some people argue there is no need for a cam, there is almost no doubt it will end up in a future revision to much avail of the crowd.

Lack of multi-tasking is bewildering to people who are not used to the iPhone OS, but you can still browse the web while listening to music and keeping up to date with AIM through push notifications. It multitasks, but not the traditional way of running applications in the background. Because you can only attain apps through the App Store, you are limited to what Apple allows on the device.

Netbooks are meant to be a companion to an existing computer, because they are underpowered. However you never really feel in sync with the content at home. iTunes allows your iPad to be a companion with your Photo, Music, Video and Document libraries synced to the device, as well as Contacts, Calendars and Mail accounts.

Pages, Keynote, and Numbers will all be available on the iPad as alternatives to Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. The iWork apps are also a great deal at $9.99 each. The cheapest method of getting Office on a Netbook is $150. That raises the price of a $300 netbook to $450. Antivrus for the first year immediately brings the cost up to the price of an iPad. That said, there are free alternatives, but the average consumer in a retail store won’t opt for them.

Lastly a big advantage is cutting the price of Mobile Broadband in half. It may be unlimited compared to the 5 GB cap of an Aircard, but you also won’t be downloading 20 GB files from Bit Torrent on your iPad as you would on a Windows based computer.

Other:

Name: Yes, your puns are funny. The name is unfortunate. But so is the Wii, we got over that, so will the rest of the internet.

Bezel: Yes it looks huge, but it also seems to be about the size of a thumb vertically… you need to have your thumb off the screen and be able to hold it, it could work well.

Do I like it: I don’t know, I don’t have one. But I will definitely be considering this and digital text books instead of buying hard cover books for college.

Am I a fanboy: Probably! But I also really love Zune and Zune Marketplace, Xbox 360, am glad that Windows 7 is stable and recently built a Quad Core AMD that runs Windows. So yes, I’m a fanboy but I’m not ignorant of the other side of things.

Giant iPod Touch: Yes, it’s got all the capabilities of an iPod Touch, runs the same version of OS X, is bigger, faster, and has a better screen. So?

Gaming: It will run current App Store games, and given the raw power of the machine there will be plenty of games coming out to take better advantage of the iPad. The keyboard peripheral may help offset the issues with onscreen controls, but without a Mouse gaming will remain a secondary feature.

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 290b. A special episode of the Maccast where I am joined by Clayton Morris (ClaytonMorris.com). Clayton was actually at today’s Apple iPad announcement, so we get to chat with him and get his first hand perspective on the sexy new device. Enjoy.

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 290. A special episode of the Maccast where I am joined by Ken Ray (Mac OS Ken) to go over our thoughts, impressions, and insights on today’s Apple iPad announcement. Enjoy.

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Live blog links we’ll be following:
Ars Technica
GDGT
TWiT Live
Gizmodo
Engadget

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. A special episode of the Maccast. We invite the folks from iProng Magazine over to help us run down their top iPhone and iPod picks from the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Links
iProng Magazine
PHP Princess

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 289. Apple acquires mobile ad company for $275 million. iPhone a touch more accurate than others. Latest Mac tablet rumors. Latest iPhone 4G rumors. New concept Apple Store in Palo Alto. Has Apple finally won over Greenpeace? Small Bonjour update. iTunes 30 second previews get webified. Mac OS X 10.6.3 update goes into wider testing. Time Machine backup isn’t all that? Magic Mouse Update. Can’t buy OS X for Non-Intel Macs. More info in Get Info… Explaining the different “types” of memory in OS X. Your $0.99 addiction may be costing you big. Quick Quickview Tip

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Faronics Deep Freeze

New music, Dare To Dream by Adam Ilami

EOL: Jobs the Front (cover) Man (via TUAW)

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Original Sketch for Maccast Logo

Tonight I stumbled across this scan of the original sketch of the concept for the Maccast logo. Fun to run across a piece of history when browsing through the Finder. The created date on the file says 4/19/2005, so i guess the logo came about 4 months after the first show was posted. I can’t remember what I did for album art for those first 4 months. Guess that’s archeological research I’ll have to do another time. For now enjoy this little piece of Maccast past.

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 288. iPhone moves up as a top phone in 2009. International iPhone competition heating up. Rumors of next iPhone spinning up. Apple Store set to open in Philly. Apple updates 27″ iMac firmware. 2010 Apple Rumors all about the Tablet. Correcting an error on the Maccast anniversary. More Flash stopping software. More on Apple growth outside the US. Time Machine tips. iPhoto image location, corruption, permissions, oh my. iMovie HD no longer an option, moving on. Lock your Mac from the menubar.

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New music, Thaw You Out by Derek Clegg (iTunes)

EOL: 25 Years of Apple Mice (via Cult of Mac)

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 287. A show for Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. A special episode of the Maccast where I am joined by my friends Victor Cajiao (Typical Mac User), Ken Ray (Mac OS Ken). Enjoy.

Links:
LaLa.com
Typical Mac User
Typical Shutterbug
Victor on Twitter
Mac OS Ken
Ken on Twitter
International Mac Podcast
Friends in Tech, Christmas Promo

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See full images on Flickr

As promised. Here are the images of myself and Jeff Gamet before and after shaving for Movember. In case you missed it, during the month of November (aka. Movember) I grew a mustache to help in an international effort to raise money and awareness for the fight against prostate cancer. This year globally the effort raise more than 30 million dollars. In the US we raised almost 3 million and the US money will be split between The Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG foundation.

For our part, the Maccast community raised almost $600 ($589.97). And Jeff really helped push things forward by agreeing, on this episode of the iPhone Alley Podcast, to shave off his signature mustache and goatee if we raised at least $250.00. As you can see from the above images, we obliterated that goal. So thank you Jeff and thank you Mac Geeks.

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 286. Maccast turns 5. Thanks for a great Movember. Podcast Award voting ended. Apple Black Friday Cyber Monday numbers. Apple opens up iTunes LP spec. Mac Pro revamp in early 2010? Rumor of new iPhone in the wild. Apple accused of ordering too much NAND. Reports of some 27″ iMac issues. Pystar settles with Apple, a little. iPod Payment System might pay out. MacTablet name and rumors. Ellipses shortcut. Upgrading cable modems. Flash draining batteries. Review: TVClean. Running an iTunes DJ kiosk. One size fits all Itunes video encoding.

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Faronics Deep Freeze

New music, Walk A Thousand Miles by Matthew Ebel (Buy on iTunes)

EOL: OS Xbox Pro (via Cult of Mac)

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I knew that you Mac Geeks across the pond were used to paying a bit extra for your Apple kit, but I hadn’t realized it had gotten this bad. As I write this, picking up this Mighty Mouse would set you back approx. USD $16,000 and change. Don’t know about you, but for that price I would expect it would have a whole different kind of multi-touch. What might be more amazing than the price tag on this item though, is they seem to be going like hotcakes. “Only 1 left in stock–order soon”.

Obviously someone in the Amazon.com stockroom wasn’t minding their comma and got over excited with the zeros. Thanks to Roz for the tip-off.

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 285. New Core i7 iMac posts good numbers. Apple working on “Concierge” app. Frustrated Devs flee App Store. Is Apple getting more serious about gaming?. Updates, fixes, and hacks. Oh my! Macs rank 4th in build quality. Don’t let you Mac inhale. Free OS X virtualization. Free Office alternative from Lotus Hardware change bypasses firmware password? Piracy can also give your Mac scurvy. The ins and outs of Mini Display Port. Adding keyboard shortcuts to everything. Maccast One Minute Tip: iPhoto Places. iTunes random is random. Securing your PDFs.

It’s Movember, please donate to help fight men’s cancer.

Maccast Nominated for a Podcast Award. Vote now!

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Circus Ponies NoteBook – The Easy Way to Get Organized on the Mac. Try it FREE for 30 Days.

Faronics Deep Freeze

New music, Should Have Known Better by Rob Blackledge (Buy on iTunes)

EOL: Monkeyboy seeing Aluminum and White (via Cult of Mac)

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What is Movember?

What many people don’t know is that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18-35.

So, during Movember (the month formerly known as November) I am growing a mustache to show support. The funds raised go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG).

How to Donate

To donate to my Macstache you can either click this link to donate online now using your credit card or PayPal account

Or, write a check payable to ‘Movember Foundation’, referencing my Registration Number 353272 and mailing it to:

Movember Foundation
PO Box 2726
Venice, CA 90294-2726

All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Thanks for your support,

Adam.

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 284. Lots of interesting Apple numbers. Apple can’t get any respect. iTunes getting more polish. Mac OS X 10.6.2 Update. iPhone attacks target Jailbreakers. Mini Display Port made VESA Standard. Apple works to make Holiday shopping easier. Safari 4.0.4 Update. Apple rolls out iTunes Preview. Apple retail keeps growing up. Apple TV Issues after 3.0.1 update. More Magic Mouse feedback. Questions about a stolen Mac. New vs. unplayed in iTunes. Windows virtualization vs. Bootcamp. Thoughts on being a pirate. Maccast Nominated for a Podcast Award. Vote now!.

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New music, Chelsea by The Summer Set (iTunes)

EOL: OS X Calculator for realsies? Link (via Cult of Mac)

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. A special episode of the Maccast with Ara Derderian from the HDTV Podcast. Normally Ara and I discuss his Mac centric home theater projects, but this time around he let’s us in on his latest passion. Mac home automation. We sit down and talk all about how to use your Mac to switch on, control, watch, script, and automate your physical world.

Links
HDTV Podcast
Insteon
Mac Home Store
Prism

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a helpful listener sent me a reply with this handy Terminal command to enable it.

defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse MouseMomentumScroll -bool true

After entering the command above into the Termial and hitting enter, simply turn Bluetooth off and then back on to update the setting. After that scroll away with full momentum in Leopard.

To change things back issue the same command, but rplacing the last word ‘true’ with ‘false’ and turn off and back on Bluetooth again.

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 283. 27″ iMac issues being reported. Snow Leopard 10.6.2 with developers, hints at new Macbook Pros. Apple ‘Slate’ rumor stirred up by NYT. ZFS may never make it to OS X. Apple TV 3.0 released. Apple dumping retail Windows Mobile checkout. TimeCapsule may be covered by Applecare. Magic Mouse Feedback. Using the term ‘Directory’ vs ‘Folder’. The Macintosh TV has already been done. Keeping the Macbook batteries fresh. Review: iFrogz Earpollution Plugz. Dealing with pesky routers.

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New music, Papercut by Pistolita (Buy on iTunes)

EOL: Working iPhone Costumes (via TUAW)

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 282. Apple updates everything consumer. New iMacs. New Unibody Macbook. New Mac Minis. New Magic Mouse. New Airport Extreme and Time Capsule. New Apple Remote. Other new stuff. Levinson leaves Google board, sticks with Apple. Apple acknowledges a potential Snow Leopard data loss bug. Apple software updates. Apple edges toward 10% US market share. Apple has another record quarter. Free apps can now go paid. Apple’s live product R ‘n D. Recording Internet radio (Radioshift). Add a Trash Folder to the Desktop. Add sorting data to iTunes tracks. Get free iTunes LPs outside of iTunes. Remove “name” when copying Mail email addresses

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New music, Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade

EOL: iPhone Controlled Vehicle

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