stevenf:

A lot of thoughtful people, many of whom are bloggers, look at this history and say, “Look at this march of progress! Surely the desktop + windows + mouse interface can’t be the end of the road? What’s next?”

Then “next” arrived and it was so unrecognizable to most of them (myself included) that we looked at it said, “What in the shit is this?”

This whole article should be required reading for everyone who has anything (positive or negative) to say about the iPad. As usual, Steve has a very keen analytical eye. Very good insight, here.

Reblogged from stevenf.com
Tags: iPad iPhone
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clarke

I hate that Apple is using the word “magical” in their promotional copy, and I think that’s largely because I don’t think most people would get the reference. They’re not trying to tell us this device was engineered by a dragon named Puff. They’re just saying that this thing qualifies as “sufficiently advanced technology.”

Man, I really think they’ve badly botched the messaging on this launch. It’s too bad, really. The right tone and the right presentation could have really sustained the hype that had been built up.