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Comment by andrewljohnson | Hacker News Reader

Well, this is the very last iPad article I read. There has not been a single person who has had a useful comment.

Either you see the simple computer as some harbinger of the death of the PC, or you are an Apple fanboy who thinks the thing is a magic wand.

Guess what everybody. It's neither.

The iPad will have zero effect on the computing philosophy of the world. The world is no more open or closed than it used to be. And the iPad is just another (probably great, as usual) gadget from Apple.

All of you who are writing these windy pieces about the ramifications of the iPad have just been swept up in a mighty PR storm. Even those decrying the device are just helping Apple.

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Either you see the simple computer as some harbinger of the death of the PC, or you are an Apple fanboy who thinks the thing is a magic wand. Guess what everybody. It's neither.

Your blanket statement is foolish and naive. The range of opinions is far and wide. For example I appreciate Apple's innovation and marketing skills, but I'm no love-blind Apple fanboy and yet I think their mobile strategy is completely game changing.

All of you who are writing these windy pieces about the ramifications of the iPad have just been swept up in a mighty PR storm. Even those decrying the device are just helping Apple.

Largely ignored by the blogs and "PR storm" is this simple underlying fact: with the iPhone, iPod Touch and now iPad what Apple has done for the "computing philosophy" of the world is successfully present an entirely new UI metaphor. They slipped it under our noses, in a 30+ year old world of the windows metaphor, they've marketed and popularized it and now we simply take this drastically different UI as common and expected. To be so cynical about Apple's impact with its mobile line of devices is to have your back to the future of innovation itself.

[Updated based on andrewljohnson's response]

I wasn't talking about UI innovation when I said "Computing Philosophy." I was talking about open vs. closed platforms, proprietary vs. open source.

Apple is no more open or closed than before (still totally closed).

EDIT: Since I can't respond to the commenter, I'll edit a response here. The comment is silly... the iPad just came out, the iPhone has been out for years. Maybe Apple got more closed with the release of the iPhone, but the iPad is more of the same.

And actually, iPods are locked down too, so iPhones were just more of the same. Oh wait, Macs were locked down too until Apple switched to Intel processors... so even iPods were nothing new.

I can run whatever I want on my Mac. Can't on my iPhone. I think the latter is more closed.

Sure you can. You just can't load it via the App Store. Where do you think those apps were developed?

Maybe Apple got more closed with the release of the iPhone, but the iPad is more of the same.

The iPad is an attempt to replace the existing open environment of laptops and desktops. (Yes, Steve does want iPads and their successors to replace general purpose computers. It wouldn't be "the most important thing he's ever done" if it was just intended to be a super iPod touch).

Oh wait, Macs were locked down too until Apple switched to Intel processors

That isn't true for any reasonable definition of "locked down". Heck, there were more CPU upgrades available for PowerPC Macs than for Intel.

Didn't palm have pretty much the same UI metaphor before any of the iPhone UI came up? It might be the windows 95 to the current windows 7 in terms of sophistication, and replaced styluses with fingers (many applications don't really take advantage of multi-touch), but many of the same items are there.

> The iPad will have zero effect on the computing philosophy of the world.

I've seen many strong arguments made against this, including the in this article. Since you don't want to read any more opinions about it I won't re-iterate, but I will point out that you're handwaving.

Here, I got something for you: I was thinking about it earlier, and I was wondering how I'd get something to print from the iPad, being that there's no normal USB connection. And it hit me in the face: Why would I want to print? If it's something I want to give someone else, I'll send it to them through email. If it's something that I'd want to refer to later, I'd just have my iPad with me later.

The iPad kills a lot of the reason for having paper.

I print via WiFi, but if I didn't I could print via Bluetooth. I don't think its a coincidence that Apple has made Bluetooth versions of their peripherals. There are very few things that USB is required for anymore (mostly flash drives and software dongles).

I already don't print.

(uhm, except once every 2 years when I renew my apt lease).

A plane/train/bus/show ticket?

An article you want to go over, marking and adding notes (my wife does this sort of thing..)

A paper due to be submitted to someone who will mark & write notes and don't want to have to print it themselves?

Some reading material for locations where you don't want to take your $500 gadget?

Plane: e-ticket. I can't remember when last I had a paper ticket. I fly a lot.

Train: subway card; on-demand ticket dispenser at station. Even when I use the Acela I don't need to print anything.

Show: uhm, they should accept electronic display (then I'll use my iPhone - last concert was Kylie Minogue, and I got a paper ticket on the 2nd hand market)

Article: physical magazine or online reading. I never make notes on the physical article (then I'd have to have a filing system to keep it)

Paper: send it to me in PDF or some other open format; I'll send review notes back electronically.