An App or a Web site? Both, please!

Did you notice how eager we could be to go full Web when it comes to use our desktop/laptop computers? How many standalone applications do you have on your PC/Mac/Linux apart those from your core activities/business? For the (bigger and bigger) rest, we tend to only rely on our Web Browser.

On the other side, when it comes to "mobility", we are completely focused on dedicated App; whatever the OS is (iOS, Androïd, WebOS, W7Phone) and whatever the form factor (iPhone/iTouch, iPad, Galaxy S, other Smartphones, Tablets of any sort). How much Web browsing (I mean with a "generic" Web browser) do you perform on your smartphone or tablet? Most of the time, I'm pretty ready to bet my shirt that you use a dedicated App for that: Flipboard App, Twitter App, Facebook App, newspaper app, ...
The latest example that comes to my mind is from QWiki (very much acclaimed mash-up of Google search and Wikipedia). This web site is stunning (fast, accurate, interesting). It is a pure Web experience. But they just released an App (iPad only so far).


Do you have an idea why we want App for our devices and pure Web for our desktops/laptops?

iPad (le 2, of course) en instance d'arrivée...

(un petit truc pour réserver son iPad 2 en fin de billet...)

A la sortie du premier iPad, j'étais un peu sceptique, puis ai été converti (sans acheter pour autant). Je considère toujours que c'est une machine de salon pour toute la famille, toujours prête. Mais pour le coup, l'iOS de la belle bête n'est toujours pas prévu pour être multi-users, et c'est bien dommage. Comment faire pour partager cette machine si un seul compte mail, facebook, twitter, dropbox, ... n'est possible?
Bon, je n'ai toujours pas résolu ce dilemme, mais je suis dans l'attente d'acheter l'iPad2 depuis plusieurs mois déjà.
Et là, las! On dirait que l'on envie les US et leurs queues historiques devant les stores d'Apple. Alors on s'y est mis. Incroyable. J'imaginais qu'il y avait qu'aux US qu'on pouvait camper devant un magasin pour un produit Apple. Et ben non, certains ont passés la nuit devant le Store de l'Opéra (et peut-être ailleurs?).
Moi, j'ai essayé par deux moyens d'en faire venir des US par des potes, mais iPad 2 rime avec "sold out" là-bas.
Et puis, depuis le début de la semaine, j'ai craqué (suite à la remise des augmentations salariales?). Je cherche à en acheter un. Mais c'est la pénurie. Argh.

En appelant le magasin de Vélizy, on me dit de passer par le site d'Apple (dédiée à l'iPad). Ensuite, de chercher en bas "Trouver un Apple Store". Là, on demande à "réserver" (sous l'image iPad2). Ensuite, on sélectionne le magasin et ... (roulement de tambour ou sonnerie au morts). Si vous avez de la chance, un modèle qui vous intéresse ne sera pas ...
Petite astuce: j'ai appris par un vendeur les choses suivantes:

• les Stores reçoivent des iPad 2 dans la journée, mais...
• ne les mettent pas en vente (c'est garantie, si si!) - donc pas besoin de tenter sa chance sur place
• ils attendent le SOIR pour mettre à jour le stock sur le site (manip plus haut pour les consulter)
• à partir de 21h. Tout est dans le "à partir": comme ils quittent le magasin vers 22h, les stocks peuvent ne commencer à être jour que vers 22h. Et c'est à ce moment que j'ai eu du bol (bon enfin, je le voulais en noir...)
• ils n'ont rien reçu de la semaine (celle du 28/04) - sauf Ve, des 3G seulement

Voilou, bon courage à vous...

iPad and multi-users...?

As a follow-up of my previous post on the iPad, something still needs to find an answer: I am a firm believer that this device could replace the pile of magazines/newspapers we all have on our coffee tables, but when it comes to browsing, mailing or scheduling, how are we going to handle multi-users aspects of such a family machine?

Indeed it will become a family device that will live in the house: living rooms, bedrooms or kitchen (I have some doubts with the bathroom... and regarding the restroom, it's up to you ;-)

Apart the inevitable internal fights to find it back, to accuse your teens for dropping it anywhere (ok, causal business, isn't it?), we really have to address the other problem: personal vs/and family usage.

Because the iPad shares the iPhone/iTouch OS, it offers us: browsing capability (with "tabs"), email client and agenda. How those can be managed in a shared environment since it does not support (so far?) multi-users settings.

Historically, mobile devices were personal: PDA, smart phones and iPhone/iTouch. (a small exception with the netbooks which have full-fledged OS that allow for multi-users to share it thanks to multi-accounts capability).

So, I ask again: because the iPad will be shared among the family/house: how are you going to deal with your surfing tabs, mail account(s) and agenda together with the other family/house members? One simple solution Apple could propose: buy an iPad each!

iPad: a coffee table machine

The iPad has been announced for a while and is soon to be released. I just realised that I did not post any of my thoughts on that device. Here we are.
At first, I was disappointed because I expected another OS to run on it (MacOS-like for short).
Then, I let my friends and colleagues convince me that sharing the same OS as the iPhone/iTouch will be great and is visionary.
Ok, I took that for granted and moved to finding a real differentiator with the rest of the iP* family. Quickly, it appeared to me that it would be a perfect device to leave on the coffee table to replace the pile(s!) of magazines/newspapers that are cluttering the place.
Indeed, to me, it makes a great move forward for that kind of usage. But first, let me state that I'm not fond at all of eReaders of all sort: I really prefer read my books on printed paper. I do understand that travelers appreciate the eReaders for the convenience they bring to their trips: no more heavy weighted luggages (or at least no more burdened ones by printed books: the travelers/commuters I know that switched to eReaders are often hungry readers!). But my reading experience of books (still?) needs to go through a "real" (old style) book.
That stated, back to the iPad.
Reading a magazine is not the same experience (not the same "isolation" from the world, not the same dedicated reading duration, ...). And thus can really take advantage of moving to the digitalized world (which has almost already completely occurred during the past years: just look at how much the newspapers sales have dropped, and still do.)
But furthermore, it can provide a real additional benefit to the reader: you can receive update, you can go through videos, animations, dynamic graphs and other data visualizations to complement the traditional text+still image (hum hum, I guess I go a little bit too far too quickly since we do not have Flash on the iP* family... But let's guess this will be overcame thanks to dedicated Apps for reading magazines; which something we already saw with the iPhone/iTouch: eNewspapers moved from Web-dedicated-site to a dedicated-App ).
So definitely, for such an usage, I could be a potential buyer (and I must add that the "low" price greatly helps).
What still puzzles me: how much do I need the embedded 3G? Should not I stick to the WiFi for such usage? I guess so (although when I travel or I am on vacations, I could benefit from such a 3G connectivity...)