Discussing the iPad

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to be a guest on Mitch Wagner's excellent Copper Robot podcast for a second time. On this occasion, I, along with Joe Linden (a.k.a. Joe Miller in Real Life), discussed the implications of Apple's latest announcement: the magical iPad.

Unlike most of the blogosphere, both Joe and I felt the device was going to be quite successful, if not a monstrous hit. Sure, it doesn't have this or that technical feature, but that's not what it's about. We believe the device is targeted at those who don't really use computers today, or as a secondary machine for folks with more powerful devices. The potential for interesting applications is truly huge, as it really hits an area that's not served very well today.

We puzzled over the lack of features, such as a camera, or the aspect ratio and tried to rationalize them. But in the end it's just the first version of probably a long line of more advanced devices. I spoke of the sensual feel of the device. Well, at least I suspect it has one, since I have a MacBook Air that seems similar.

There was a tiny bit of Second Life content in the podcast. Host Mitch asked Joe whether SL will show up on the iPad. Of course, Joe could not reveal any of Linden Lab's secret plans, but did indicate there are at least two existing iPhone apps which will no doubt work seamlessly on the new device.

Another very interesting tidbit from Joe spoke of new audio features in Viewer 2.0 voice: automatic echo  cancellation and automatic gain adjustment. What do those mean, you ask? Echo cancellation is the elimination of echos that come from someone who's microphone picks up sounds out of their own speakers and sends them back to everyone else. Very annoying indeed, except for the perp, who doesn't hear the echoes! Automatic gain adjustment will place the audio levels at the right amount - in other words the loud folks will be brought down and the quiet folks will be brought up a bit. These two changes should change voice in a significant and positive way.

The podcast has not yet been published, but you can watch for it at Copper Robot.

It turned out that I was the only non-metallic guest, and was sandwiched between the two robots as you can see in the image above. Who's the pretty girl? That's Callie Cline, who insisted upon getting her photograph taken with some ultra geeks.