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IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

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Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#72
post #43

I don't care for microwaves, except for heating up water for tea, which it is great for, but I like breads, and microwaves cook away the water inside the gluten making bread rather rubbery. I do like my Dell Mini 9 netbook, and my XDA-found custom ROM for my Nook Color! :D

Heating up water for tea?! I recommend never suggesting this if you ever visit England.

I have a kettle, and it is just as quick, but is there a fundamental difference? Does the microwave "scorch" the water? Whatever that might be (ie, make it hotter than it needs to be, manipulate the minerals in the water in a way that affects taste?)

Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#73
post #68

Waiting ages for your computer to boot? What are you - living in the 90s? There's this thing called sleep mode, and that's how the iPad works as well. Upgrade to a real OS, and then maybe your article won't sound like retarded drivel.

In my opinion, anything more than instant now feels like waiting for ages. Sure, my netbook comes out of sleep mode within 2 seconds, but it's sure more sluggish for the first several seconds after that. Even Macs aren't fully instant on, unless you perhaps have an SSD. Sorry, I'm running fairly modern PC hardware with Windows 7 and Ubuntu, but there's just no way it's going to feel as fast to grab and check email as…

But the computer wins when you factoring in the far faster webpage loading it offers.

Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#74
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solution: Stir it. (And check it, and also microwave less; small amounts of food may require single-digit seconds, so don't just smash the minute button.) There's actually a number of ways to make your parenting life a bit easier if you dig past why you're getting certain bits of advice, then take action based on the underlying facts rather than the resulting "official advice" suitable for parents with an IQ of 90 (a…

The problem with parenting is sleep deprivation. And honestly, having a high IQ isn't sufficient for attention to detail, like stirring food. I know it sounds dumb, but I know prominent physics professor personally who had made a cake without eggs... and even when it came out looking funny served it and wasn't until people started eating it did they realize, "Wait... I didn't use the eggs on the counter!" Regarding c…

"Most doctors now recommend honey for babies (older than one) as it actually appears to be as effective. "

Here's something I don't understand. In some cultures, honey is the _first_ thing they give to a newborn. Out of the womb, into the doctor's hand, and the first thing they give the newborn is honey. I don't know why in the US they prohibit honey.

Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#76
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, anything more than instant now feels like waiting for ages. Sure, my netbook comes out of sleep mode within 2 seconds, but it's sure more sluggish for the first several seconds after that. Even Macs aren't fully instant on, unless you perhaps have an SSD. Sorry, I'm running fairly modern PC hardware with Windows 7 and Ubuntu, but there's just no way it's going to feel as fast to grab and check email as…

But the computer wins when you factoring in the far faster webpage loading it offers.

Sure. So perhaps it's not a net win or lose either way. The iPad is quicker to get up and going with, perhaps like a car with higher octane fuel. Long haul, the computer's going to win out for sure. But that initial feel of faster, and the way you can just grab it and go instead of sitting down at a desk to check email or get online, will make most consumers prefer tablet computers to full comptuers. Same as oven vs. microwave. It's much faster to bring 10 gallons of water to boil on a stove, but your cold cup of coffee would be reheated much easier in the microwave. Complementary devices, some similar use cases, but for the most part the microwave let us warm food we otherwise would have just eaten cold. The iPad brings computing in an non-intrusive manner to areas we otherwise would have not used computers.

And it's not just the iPad; Android Tablets will play a big part, and HP/Microsoft/RIM/others will as well. But for now, the iPad is the 900 lb. gorilla in the room, pushing tablet computing forward.

Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#77
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with parenting is sleep deprivation. And honestly, having a high IQ isn't sufficient for attention to detail, like stirring food. I know it sounds dumb, but I know prominent physics professor personally who had made a cake without eggs... and even when it came out looking funny served it and wasn't until people started eating it did they realize, "Wait... I didn't use the eggs on the counter!" Regarding c…

"Most doctors now recommend honey for babies (older than one) as it actually appears to be as effective. " Here's something I don't understand. In some cultures, honey is the _first_ thing they give to a newborn. Out of the womb, into the doctor's hand, and the first thing they give the newborn is honey. I don't know why in the US they prohibit honey.

I don't know why in the US they prohibit honey.

Because unpasteurized honey can contain botulism spores. It's a small enough quantity not to bother an older stomach, but infants can die from it. I guess pasteurized honey is safe, but doesn't taste very good.

My question is: why in the world would you give a newborn infant honey? I can't imagine the logic that says, "hey, a baby just popped out of a vagina, let's get some honey into that sucker, stat!"

Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#78
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize the frustration in receiving any parenting advice at all, but please bear in mind that being too strict in what germs the baby comes in contact with early on can have negative long term effects. I'm sure you know this already, just a thing to keep in mind.

Feeding the baby yogurt too early is a bad thing, too.

Product idea?

Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#79
Good analogy. To add to the analogy - I don't have an iPad and I very rarely use a microwave, because freshly prepared food tastes better then microwaved food, movies look better on the HD projector, and it is much more convenient to read and type on a macbook pro then on an iPad (with or without a wireless keyboard). And yet, at some point everyone will have an iPad, when it is cheap enough to replace the magazine basket.

Re: IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

#80

Great article. It really explains to me the success of the iPad, which from my geeky, feature-centered, cheapskate perspective made little sense. I bought a netbook one year after the iPad came out, which seemed to correspond more to my use of a lightweight computer. Incidentally, I stopped using microwaves a few years ago. I wonder what that means my future relationship with tablets will be.

I don't know how far the analogy holds up. After all, microwave is not very programmable(in the computing sense) nor so restrictive. Did the microwave only cook food that was specially labeled microwaveable(and food grocers had to pay 30% of the price of food to the microwave manufacturer to get that special label) ? Isn't that what happens with the iPad? Eg. The free Sony e-reader app was rejected, Readability was r…

I think it applies to tablets in general rather then to the iPad
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