We’ve seen the Magic Trackpad name before, and we’ve even gotten a glimpse of what the device might be — a larger, Bluetooth-enabled multitouch surface designed to bring all of the gestural and multitouch capability found on the iDevices and MacBooks to the desktop itself. Now, Engadget notes that it appears the FCC has approved testing of such a device for Apple — a “Bluetooth trackpad” that’s reportedly set for production. The testing was actually done in October of last year, but FCC filings have risen into public view, which means that Apple could finally unveil the device as soon as later this week.

Not much is known about the actual device (with the model number A1339), but presumably it would be used as a larger touch surface for Bluetooth-enabled computers. Does that mean Apps on the Mac, or, at the very least, actual multitouch testing for iPhone development? We’ll have to wait and see.

TUAWApple’s Magic Trackpad approved by FCC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The discussion went like this: I suggested that this might be how Apple would bring the iOS (or at least touch interface) to the desktop machines. To me this would make more sense than a touch interface screen, who wants to reach UP to the screen to move around, etc. (In fact, using my iPad in the dock is a little annoying for maneuvering since I have to move my hand from the keyboard area up to the screen.)

My brother asked, do we really want iOS, very limited and closed, for a desktop OS? Fair point, I thought. I certainly need more from my desktop than my iDevice.

Which led me to ask, what more do we (non-research folks, i.e., not NASA) need in a desktop OS? The most recent episode of MacBreak Weekly (#203) had a discussion about whether or not Apple would continue to develop the Mac OS. Alex Lindsay said that he thought they would not, with a convergence to the iOS or even dropping desktops all together. Andy Ihnatko disagreed and felt confident that Apple was still working on the next progression of OSX (or even OS XI).

But really, what more do we need in a desktop OS, whether it be Mac OS, Windows, Linux, whathaveyou?

I added a few more pictures to my flickr set “Desktop Images.” Some might find them suitable for their computer of iPad/iPhone/mobile device background. Just download the relevant size and enjoy! The most recent picture was of this field of yellow flowers. I think it is what they called “rapeseed” in England and is used for oil in cooking and, lately in biofuels. All I had with me was my iPhone 3GS (and frankly my injured hand wouldn’t have allowed me to use the bigger camera), but I think it turned out well.

Speaking England, I took this picture three years ago at a birds of prey show at Warwick Castle. I was simply lucky with the shot, but I think it is beautiful and use it as my iPad Home Screen wallpaper.

So enjoy the photos and feel free to use them elsewhere, but do give attribution.

Clearly a phishing scam. Apple Story buyers beware!

I have already talked about how I would use the iPad and why I think it will fit the bill for me. I came to that conclusion by doing two things in sequence. (1) I assessed my work habits and needs while on the road and (2) assessed the utility of the iPad (and the Kindle, you will recall I began by considering buying a Kindle). If 1 and 2 were fairly equivalent then I had a good fit and considerations would then begin relative to price, etc.

So let’s consider what the device is for. Tony was absolutely right that Steve J missed the mark with his comments about netbooks. The iPad should be firmly compared with the Kindle DX. So in spite of the Mighty Jobs’ reference (and with the personal conviction that for many the iPad may well be a functional replacement for a netbook), the iPad should be compared against the Kindle and other eBook readers. At the least it must be acknowledged that the iPad slots somewhere between a dedicated eBook reader and a fully functional notebook. With that in mind, and referring to my earlier post for a more detailed assessment, let me explain why I am not bothered by the lack of multitasking.

The iPad is designed and intended to allow the user focus upon a central task at any given moment. Yes, we are able to listen to iTunes while reading and replying to email (and I do believe Apple should open that up to Pandora, etc.), but if I am reading an article, watching a video, or writing a paper then I am focused upon those tasks. If  I want to switch out of Pages to check my email or Tweetie I can (and Tweetie remembers my state) and it switches very quickly on the iPhone. Word is that the iPad is even faster. (So even if we had multitasking would we really notice that much difference?) This is also a very portable device. Even at 9.7″ this is still a small screen and having multiple windows open would be awkward at best, intrusive at worst.

So it doesn’t have multitasking, do I need it? Not really. I haven’t missed it on the iPhone. We have push notifications so ESPN tells me when my teams have scored and Facebook could tell me when I receive a message, if I wanted that. And what do we find in phones that have multitasking? Interminable hangups for no discernible reason, programs slowing down to a halt, and memory issues like…I can’t remember what. (I personally experienced all of this on all my BlackBerrys, where it was nearly impossible to cleanly kill a running app and some would run no matter what you did. I had to remove the battery for a hard “reset” at least once a week, often once a day.)

Would I use multitasking if the iPhone and iPad had it? Maybe. I am not sure what more it would give me than I already have with the iPhone’s quick program launching, copy-paste (that was a HUGE omission when the iPhone first came out), and push notification.¹

I go back to what is this device created to do? Don’t blame the tool for doing the job it was designed for well, but not doing the job that you wanted it to do (but for which it was not designed). That is like saying that my wife’s high heeled shoes are useless and not worth buying because I can barely get one nail into the wall before the heel breaks off. If I want to hang nails I need to get a hammer. When I want to do real production I will use a MacBook. When I want a light, slim device that allows me to consume content and create simple content, then the iPad is just the ticket for me. Of course it may not be what you need at all (see step #1).²

Finally, I want to make a very general assertion (and therefore open to challenge) that most of us are far more efficient when we are focused upon a single task. Sure, many of us listen to music while writing, for example, but having my email dock icon bounce up to tell me of a new email or have Growl notify me that someone mentioned me in a tweet does nothing but draw me away from the task at hand. A single task, a single screen, an immersive experience. Just the sort of thing that folks espousing “Zenware” are talking about and why Merlin Mann and others champion WriteRoom, “distraction free writing.” Maybe that is what the iPad will be for me, a tool that allows me to focus on the task at hand.

1. My brother pointed out that creating a presentation from a text document requires going back and forth between apps, which is true, but you can import a doc into Keynote (something I assume the iPad version will allow) and I can trim from there.
2. And for all of these very same considerations, when I have serious research or audio/video creation to do I want to have multitasking. I need to have Accordance open so that I can reference a text while writing in another window, etc. But that is not the sort of thing I do 98% of the time that I am on the road. Different tools for different jobs.

What it does.

Everything the iPhone/iPod Touch does (aside from calls) with a bigger screen. That means reading PDFs, books (including the new “iBooks” software similar to the Amazon Kindle), and all my current iPhone software such as BibleReader from OliveTree and of course music and movies on a 9.7″ screen (that’s bigger than the original Mac’s screen).

And more. There is a “near full size” onscreen keyboard that will allow you to type with two hands and, one of my concerns, a keyboard dock allowing you to type with a real keyboard. This would be good, but incomplete with the current set of apps available…but Apple also announced newly programmed versions of the iWork apps for the iPad (at $9.99 a piece, I believe). This moves the iPad from a neat media device into a productive tool. Still no Hebrew (so far as I know) but given the ability to also project from the iPad, well that is nice! In other words, with an additional cable you can project your Keynote presentations (and presumably movies, etc.) from the iPad itself.

So why am I so enthusiastic about getting one?

It is not just that I am open about being an unapologetic Apple fan. I do not buy everything Apple makes and I don’t believe that they are always right or even headed in the right direction. As I said several weeks ago I was beginning to consider getting an Amazon Kindle DX. I have lots of PDFs to read, such as all of the articles I gathered for research, and the size makes the Kindle great for traveling, something I do quite a lot of nowadays.

The Apple iPad is now here and is the same size screen as the Kindle DX, is the same price, and yet does…oh, about 100 times more than the Kindle.¹ So not only can I browse the web in a real web browser (not an “experimental” one), but it is in full color, plays movies, email, twitter, AIM, banking, maps, iPhoto, games, you get the idea.

So for the price of the Kindle DX² I get a machine that will replace my MacBook Pro for 98% of my travels and out-of-office use.

A few negatives or  unanswered questions.

In fact, there are only two things I do regularly that it appears the iPad will not allow me to do: Accordance Bible software (far more than what BibleReader offers, but word is they too are working on an iPhone app) and writing in Hebrew/Aramaic, usually using NisusWriter Pro. That is not too shabby for a device that many were expecting to simply be a “media delivery device.”

UPDATE: Steve Caruso pointed out below that Hebrew input already exists on the iPhone! I just tried it out so assuming Pages will allow Hebrew input the iPad will do 99% of what my MBP can do.

The biggest open question in my mind is file management. The iPhone OS is locked down so when I create my document in Pages, where is my document stored? How do I move those files around, backup, etc.?

That closed OS brings me to one of the first “why the iPad will fail” posts that I have seen, thanks to a referral from my brother. Tim presents “a case against the iPad” which consists primarily of the fact that the iPad uses the iPhone OS and the iTunes store model, all closed. This, he argues, is a backwards model and is bound to fail, not to mention, goes against the Zeitgeist of openness. It seems that while this may be a case against his buying the iPad, I don’t think it is a serious case against its success. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Case closed. But if that closed system meets your budget, does everything (or enough) you want it to do, then what is the problem? There are any number of other Windows or, more open, Linux based net-books and slates, so let the market decide.³

Will the iPad transform the market? Yes, I think it will. Not by taking over the market, Apple will probably never sell more than 15% or so of the market, but their presence in the market will force other manufacturers to make better devices to keep up. And to meet the demand from people like Tim, who prefer open to well-integrated.

As for me? Well, look for my unboxing video in 60-90 days.

1. You can even get the iPad with 3G, but it is $130 more. I will not be getting that.
2. Admittedly, I will be paying more because I will get a higher end model, but the base price is still comparable.
3. He adds an addendum pointing out a “glaring flaw” which is the omission of standard ports. This, he says, is “totally unacceptable for a device that aims to largely displace my laptop.” Except that is explicitly not what Apple intends it to be. Yes, it will likely replace many MacBooks out there, but by not including ports and basing it on the iPhone OS and not the Mac OS is part of Apple’s strategy to create a new niche, between the iPhone and MacBook. Time will tell if it is successful.

I have mentioned before some of what I am looking for and what I am not interested in with a portable tablet device. This is clearly a portable device, so I want something that will replace, or at least be an “alternative” (as Andy Ihnatko phrased it on MBW), my MacBook Pro. And that has me thinking about how I travel.

I take two types of trips. For example, I will miss the big announcement next week because I will be in NYC for college business. Most of my time will be spent meeting with friends of the college, board members, and so on. When in the hotel I am usually not doing more than replying to emails and the odd blog post. In those circumstances the Tablet would likely be fine. In fact, on planes, it would be perfect. Able to read all my articles in PDF, text, ebooks, etc. Less bulk and awkwardness of a notebook and a backlight making it easier to read in low light situations. As good as a Kindle and more.

But two or three times a year I travel to conferences or libraries to do research. Without a keyboard (discerning pundits think it unlikely that Mr. Jobs will allow an external keyboard, I would say it is even money) and, more importantly, without being able to run “real” OSX apps like Accordance and NisusWriter Pro would make the Tablet next to useless for me. On those trips I need to do real work and, if rumors are correct, the Tablet will simply be running a form of the iPhone OS. OliveTree’s BibleReader 4 is tremendous and would replace much of what I use Accordance for, but not everything. And I need a serious text editor that allows right-to-left language support. Would the iPhone OS based Tablet? Probably not.

Finally, there is an emerging consensus that this device will be like the Kindle, always on network connection allowing immediate download of books, magazines, movies, music, etc. The Kindle uses “Whispernet” which is paid for (apparently, I don’t know for sure) through the cost of the content rather than with a monthly subscription. If Apple takes that route, all well and good. If, on the other hand, one has to have a separate data plan then that will be a deal breaker. (If, on the third hand, it is optional then we are no worse off than with a MacBook equipped with WiFi.)

Will I buy the Tablet? Whom am I kidding, I probably will. Although it would actually be a first for me, I usually do not buy first editions of any product, particularly Apple products. They are known to have 1st rev glitches. So maybe not.

I will say, however, I’m not sure how I feel about a device that is only going to run iPhone applications. I can do a lot with my iPhone, but if I’m going to have a device as big as a 10 inch screen I want to be able to do real work on it. Being able to connect a Bluetooth keyboard will be a must and a decent word processor whose files I can open in Microsoft Word or, better yet, NisusWriter Pro would be imperative. Also, a way to do presentations from this tablet would be important not to mention (and it should go without mentioning because it should be an assumption) the ability to take notes directly on the screen to my PDFs, presentations, websites, anything I can bring up on the screen. Obviously my expectations for tablet are far more than my expectations for an e-book reader. And I expect the price will be commensurate.

The actual speech training only took about 10 minutes. What I think will take me a little bit longer is to learn all the commands and commit them to memory. What is impressive is that I am able to actually have music on, not loud, in the background and the software is still able to discern my voice from the background noise. (Not that the music I listen to is noise, mind you, but you get the idea.) In fact, I’m writing this post using MacSpeech dictation. After about 40 minutes, however, I realized that the headset is pinching my ears and I actually didn’t need an earpiece. So, I simply plugged in one of my podcasting mics and I’m all set! It sits on my desk just below my monitor and works a treat.

My reason for getting this software is that nowadays I tend to give quite a number of speeches and I find that while writing more academic work is not a real problem in terms of composition, speeches require a different style. I have taken to using the voice memo feature and my iPhone in order to dictate my speech and then sit down and transcribe it myself. Furthermore, I have to admit I’m beginning to get some tendinitis in my wrists and shoulders and the less I have to type and use the keyboard and mouse probably the better.

It really is amazing what the software can do. The last time I tried dictation software was probably seven or eight years ago. Back then I had the headset whose color matched to the iMac of choice costs over $400 (not that I paid for it of course) and took a tremendous amount of work to train the software. In the end it was more trouble than it was worth. By this, is different. Maybe David Pogue was right after all. (And look! David Pogue’s name is even in their dictionary. Somehow I am not surprised.)

Having dictated this whole post, I have to say there aren’t many corrections. Although I still find myself modulating my voice is if you can hear my tone, pitch, and oral italics.

Below you should see a picture from the NY subway.

Over the last few moths I had heard about AT&T’s rolling out a new “MicroCell” that would allow you to plug the device into your own high speed connection to create a micro cell. Given that we do not get very good reception anywhere inside our house, this would be ideal. Trouble is, while there are various references and queries about it all over the ‘nets the one link I found to the AT&T site is dead (or locked down) and a search of their site reveals nothing.

Was it too much to hope for?