Who’s going to step up and be Apple? Heck, where are our Hewlett and Packard? Our Michael Dell?  Bill Gates?

I work in a space with a fair amount of startups, and being so close to Boulder I hear about a lot more of them, and of course I’m in the Silicon Valley for events a fair bit too, and of course I follow my friend Eric Norlin. So I’m not uninformed when it comes to startups.

I know there’s awesome startups out there doing cool things (like Bloom). I work in the same building as one. But in looking at them and at most other startups, I wonder, who’s solving tomorrow’s problems? Who’s working on making the next big thing? NOT the next thing for AOL or Google to acquire. It seems that most startups are starting to be bought by someone, existing more than 5 years isn’t in the plans. That certainly is the exit that makes the most financial sense for their backers, and the founders even. I wonder sometimes if our VC and Angel worlds are so wrapped up in ‘quick bucks’ and early exits, that they’re encouraging young founders to not focus on building companies that can or will be around 20 or 30 years. Let alone build companies that are focused on tomorrow’s problems. Sure messy contacts, old school comic readers, and lack of robot balls are problems worth solving, that’s not my point. My point is there should be a balance, and I don’t see it.

Looking at Techstars and Ycombinator I see awesome companies making cool things like gMail plugins and robot balls with LEDs in them, and new takes on training sites, sites about treating musicians like stock, and such. But I wonder will any of them exist in 5-10 years? I suspect not. They’ll either have folded up and moved on, or been absorbed into some other larger thing. And that’s ok in it’s own right, but where does that leave us? The Country of Dell and HP and Apple and Microsoft? I feel like it leaves us with a sad lack of innovative long term tech companies. VCs are bitching about immigration policy not letting tech founders into the country in high enough numbers. I’d argue the gov’t should be looking at these VCs and asking where the companies that will lead innovation are and why they aren’t helping build them? I’d be thrilled to let the next Bill Gates in on a Startup Visa, but not if he plans to simply build something he can sell to Microsoft for a quick buck.

I know in startup circles and no doubt in VC circles getting acquired is a win. In my book it isn’t. I remember sitting around beers with some friends talking about a company in Boulder that was bought before it even left private beta. To me that was a fail. Sure they made out like bandits, everyone got paid. But they were barely a business, they had maybe a few customers, maybe a few hundred, but they were beta testers not paying customers. I suspect that’s why I’m drawn towards brick and mortar style businesses. Conferences, coworking, etc. Because those businesses are immune or less politely often excluded from the hub bub of tech investing. Therefore for the most part they require bootstrapping which it seems so many startups can’t or won’t do. I’ve seen ideas live and die based on acceptance to Techstars. While I have no doubt Brad Feld and co. know a winner or at least a good horse when they see it, I’m sure they’d agree they can’t see all the winners (or losers) all the time.

That kinda brings this all back around for me. I’ve never asked for money or (at least yet) taken out a bank loan for 360|Conferences or Uncubed. I live and die by what I can do on my own (or with partners as the case may be). In both cases i think to myself often, are these businesses that will be around in 10 years? Can they be a legacy, can I actually do something good with them? I think both can. I don’t know if either will, but I think both can, and I’m happy to try and find out. I think both started for the right reasons. Trying to change systems that exist, for the better of the communities they exist in,  which to me is the right reason to start a business. Will I get rich? be acquired by someone? Probably not on both counts, but that’s ok because that wasn’t and isn’t my motivator. I like money don’t get me wrong :) I want to live a comfortable life, but that’s the extent of it. I don’t need to make something someone else wants to buy so I can pay back investors and retire at 35.

I wonder if startup founders go to bed at night thinking about the future. Not the future where they get bought, where tech crunch writes them up and they secure yet another round of funding. A future where they employ thousands. A future where they and their product/service are shaping lives. A future where they make a difference for more than a year. Sure payroll next month is important, press is important I’m not discounting that, but if they’re not thinking about 10 years from now, I’d say they’re doing it at least a little wrong.

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The rumor mills are going nuts over the iPhone 4s-5-superDuper, so who knows, and I’m not gonna bother speculating there.

But what about Apps for AppleTV? We know it’s running some type of iOS, why not a subset of the full app catalog for media apps? Hulu? CBS? HBO GO, etc. How awesome to integrate an app store model into the AppleTV. Heck, with a magic trackpad paired, even iOS games could be viable.

Or maybe iPod Nano Touch 2nd Gen? I love my iWatch, and I’d love even more for it to do more, though I hope a camera is not one of those things. Cameras are like netflix apps, every device has 2 or 3.

Maybe take a queue from the metawatch movement? If anyone could make it a clean user experience it’s Apple. Why not have my watch show me the SMS that just came in, or my most recent push notifications? I’d love to glance down and see where certain friends are without pulling my phone out of my pocket.

Maybe even an SDK for basic apps? watch faces? etc. That’d be awesome.

This is a bit out there, at least this year. But, SSD only laptops. No optical drive, either 2 drives used separately, boot to the SSD, store data on the HDD, or 2 SSD’s in a RAID array. I’m running the former configuration right now in my Macbook and love it. Booting into Lion…erp Rawrdacted sorry, is cake. Certain features in that OS really really benefit from having an SSD as boot drive, and with the Mac App Store, who needs DVD drives anymore? Even OS X is distributed through it, and new machines can have the OS recovery on a USB drive like the Macbook Air. So why not use that space for something else? Something better.

That’s it, pretty simple, nothing too pie int he sky. Ok maybe the iWatch part, but I can hope, everything is in the realm of the possible, maybe not this year but next or the one after.

What do you think we’ll see at WWDC in a few weeks?

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Below are the commercials for the Xoom, and the iPad. Notice anything? Motorola spends their time with spaceships, and flashy weirdness, some dude looking around the cockpit of a space pod, talking about technology specs (as a geek this appeals to me, but I’m the minority. I don’t need an ad to decide to buy something) and showing perhaps, 10 seconds of actual device screen, and most of that is a game. I get that the commercial is aimed at showing the game playability of the Xoom. Great, that commercial should be 3-4 down the line. Establish the device as usable first, then highlight game play (if you have to)

Now look at the iPad commercial.

Notice anything? It spends the entire time with nothing but the device. The hands belong to someone, but we don’t need to see him, nor do we need to see him approach the chair, look bewildered about the iPad just sitting on the chair unattended and then sit down, look around some more, be amazed at the quality of the chair’s leather, appreciate the stitching, etc, etc. We see hands using the iPad to do a number of things. Not one thing, many. Sure IMO they’re mostly stupid things I almost never do on my iPad, but the point is, they show how to use the iPad.

Motorola, fire your ad firm. Hire someone who’s at least used an iPad, and hopefully someone who’s used a Xoom. I know there isn’t a lot of apps made just for the xoom, that’s fine, the iPad commercial focuses on all built in apps. Sure later ones have focused on third party apps, but launch commercials are just the apps Apple shipped it with. Surely there’re enough built in honeycomb apps to make a 30 second commercial. Heck look at Apple. Photo viewer, video player, maps, calendar, etc. Nothing crazy, nothing flashy or “OMG THAT APP IS ON A TABLET!!!!” just everyday use apps.

I almost wonder if Motorola hired the same firm HP did with the pre commercials? I’m sure some ad wonk Don Draper wannabe will explain the ad is less about the device and more about the futuristic feel of it, or some ad wonk bullshit. That’s not what sells things in 2011. Maybe it did in the 70s and 80s when consumers (no offense mom and dad) were a bit more stupid and easily confused, but that’s not how it works now. LEARN OR DIE.

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There’s plenty of “I just use my iPhone, why would i want a watch?” people, and that’s fine, as with all things, it takes all kinds. I have a nice large watch box, full of nice analog and digital watches, and now my iWatch. I’ll probably wear watches forever, or I should say, something on my wrist.

I’ve joked with friends, but from the moment i got my first iPod Touch, I’ve been on the look out for something that would make it wearable on a wrist. iOS doesn’t really lend itself (sadly!) to landscape orientation, but android (mostly) does. I wouldn’t care that I’d invite being beaten up.

I hate talking on my phone, I dread it. I’ve thought, and still do about ditching my iPhone, getting an iPod Touch, and just having a blackberry or android phone. I really want a multi purpose computer, that’s easily accessible, always on me, etc.

A watch, or watch like device is the perfect thing. Easy to type on (though obviously not a replacement for a phone if you’re a lotsa email, texting type of person, but for firing off a quick “Im here” sms, etc.

I think the first step will be a connected watch type thing. As mentioned in the article, a watch that lets you accept/decline phone calls, shows your calendar, etc. Either from a connected device from Bluetooth, or with it’s own connection to the internet.

But I do think eventually we’ll have a device, the size of an iPhone or so, that fits comfortably on a wrist, has a camera for facetiming/skyping, etc. I’ll be glad when that time comes. I’d love to not worry about where I sat my phone down? Did I leave it at the bar, or at home? etc.

A device like this, if it’s where my watch would be, becomes less a gadget and more a part of my life, something I grab when I’m getting dressed.

Can’t wait!

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I’ve already reviewed the iPod Nano as a watch, this review is an addition to that. Primarily for the Lunatik, watch enclosure. Or “Multi touch watch” as they call it.I got in on this awesome kickstarter project very early, well before they even met their minimum funding level. You can get more info at the new site, and actually purchase this awesome kit.

This kit pretty much takes the “iPod on a watch strap” and makes it iWatch. It’s likely the iPod will never leave this enclosure except possibly if it does and needs to be replaced.

This is now a watch. Which rocks!

now if Apple would just release an SDK, so folks can create awesome watch sized content I’ll be happy.

Pros

Much safer than being clipped to a band.

More watch-like so it can be in my collection of watches

Essentially stops being an iPod and is a multimedia capable watch

Very adjustable strap

Cons

The band is very prone to getting dirty. I’m hoping that as the silicone material of the band ages a little and gets worn, it’ll stop attracting so much dirt and dust. If not I’ll be looking for an alternate strap. Maybe my previous strap, though it’s not wide enough really.

This isn’t a surprise, but it’s still a pretty bulky watch. It’s a trade off for sure, I’m less worried about my iWatch getting busted by an accidental wall bash, but now it’s a very visible part of my wrist.

All in all I really like the LunaTik, and would recommend it to anyone looking to watch-ify the iPod Nano Touch.

I will say that at the gym I’m much less worried about yanking my headphone cord now, which happened a few times, and took the iPod off the strap and sent it flying. Not sure which is better but the iWatch is definitely gym ready in all that aircraft grade aluminum.

Dear Apple,

I’d love some apps for this. Not all of course, not the full app store experience, but still. my fitness app would rock, a slim down interface for rep counting, Alternate watch faces, etc.

Without Wifi (maybe a dongle? or future version) there’s a lot that would be pointless or require a sync to accomplish but still, it’d be nice!

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Well it’d have access to hulu, Netflix, my local music and video files (On a Drobo over SMB), be able to rent content from somewhere (I don’t care whether it’s iTunes, Amazon, etc since I do this maybe 2x a year)

That’s it, nothing crazy really. Yet the two main(stream) players…. have’t gotten it.

First, AppleTV.

I totally skipped the first gen AppleTV. it wasn’t that interesting, even with the hacks. Then came the 2nd gen AppleTV. It was still VERY far from great but more promising.

1. it was iOS, meaning it’d likely get apps like hulu and Netflix, and ABC.. It still hasn’t, but I haven’t given up hope, there’s no real reason I can see why the device would ship with iOS if not to eventually let thru a few media apps.

2. it was iOS, meaning it’d be jailbroken sooner or later. Turns out it took a while, but see below.

3. it was able to home share. Home Sharing is ok, but when we get home from somewhere and want to watch something that I er.. “got online” i’d have to fire up the MacBook, load iTunes, etc then reach out thru AppleTV for it. So it’s an ok solution, but not great.

4. Airplay. This I think will be a crown jewel for Apple and the AppleTV. Admittedly it’s a bit weak right now, but current beta’s reveal the promise. The ability to send any video content on my iPhone or iPad to the AppleTV, awesome. Consider being at a friend’s house, talking about a funny youtube clip or a movie your friend hasn’t seen. If you’ve got it on an iDevice and he’s got an AppleTV, problem solved. No fussing, no transferring of files, etc. AND the iDevice can keep working while the movie is served in the background! I can’t wait to see what Developers do with it!

THEN it got jailbroken. :)

Right now the jailbreak is rudimentary at best, there’s no Cydia, etc. It’s a tethered Jailbreak, so no more “Let me just restart it”, and all the fun is through SSH. However the other day XBMC was released for the AppleTV/iPad. Running natively on the A4 processor. XBMC allows you to access files over SMB. Now I can fire up my AppleTV reach over to the drobo, and watch Iron Man 2. Well kinda…

The AppleTV is capable of handling (aka loading) a 1080p video, but only outputs 720p video. No biggy but the 1080p files get a bit buffery when playing back, I’m hopeful this is something fixable in firmware (AppleTV) or software (XBMC update). But any 720p or lower rez video file, works like a champ!

The AppleTV has a ton of promise!

OK, GoogleTV.

Like most things Google has done lately, GoogleTV is a half baked solution pushed on consumers before it was ready. Sorry Google, the truth hurts. Not everything can be a Gmail.

The Interface is a bit kludgey, tho the keyboard remote control is nice when setting things up, but then a bit over the top when you just want to fire it up and watch something… oh wait there’s not much to watch…

The HDMI network control, is absolutely BAD ASS! I was talking to a friend, and described it as “Apple Level Magic” I mean, why the heck not have the device turn on the receiver and TV, WITHOUT IR blasters? Well I know why Apple won’t do it, because in exchange for a dead simple and easy experience, you give up a slightly annoying model number hunt during setup, that in theory is a one time thing, it’s a trade off I’d rather not make, because it’s such an awesome and Apple-like feature. Advantage GoogleTV

So back to there being nothing to watch. When I sit down at night and fire up my TV, it’s not to watch youtube. Which is about all there is to watch on GoogleTV. Well you can load up video podcasts, but again, that’s not why I’m in front of my Plasma TV with surround sound. Google has managed to completely piss off every network, so that  there’s NOTHING on GoogleTV. Sure there’s Netflix, but really, EVERYTHING is a Netflix box. My Wii, my PS3, my AppleTV, etc. I don’t need another NetFlix player.

Oh yeah and the promise of connecting to your DVR so you can watch your recorded shows… Only if you’re a dish network subscriber. Google has clearly decided that while they might preach “open” they have no problem making partnerships that effectively close up their platforms. Since I won’t use Dish Network, I’m without the cool DVR functionality, because I don’t use Google’s exclusive partner.

GoogleTV has a lot of promise, the app Market (same as AppleTV, it NEEDS apps) will be a big win, I hope (In vain I’m sure) that google just doesn’t open the flood gates and the market is wide open. Please limit the apps to media apps. I don’t want Angry birds! More than the Market, Google needs to make nice with the TV networks. Figure out how to run their ads, or something, shoot, pay them off for a while until you prove your value to them, something. GoogleTV is a fun toy for many right now, but the appeal of a youtube only set top box will wear off FAST.

Oh yeah, and it’s proving very hard to jailbreak… :(

So current winner: No one, certainly not me! My set up includes a Mac Mini that runs Hulu Desktop, the AppleTV for Netflix, and XBMC, and the GoogleTV for well, nothing right now but it’s plugged in in case a ray of hope comes down the internet for it.

If someone asked me about getting the AppleTV, I’d recommend it with a few warnings. If someone asked me about the GoogleTV, I’d tell them to wait, see if it’s around in a year, and then see if there’s any actual content on it.

Current Loser: The Networks. Why? Well I might expand in another post, but let’s just leave it at, since they won’t let me watch what I want (including ads) via Hulu, I get ad free content elsewhere. Networks, I’m offering you my attention, and have offered you my money, take your head out of your ass before it’s too late!

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Overall, I had a good time. Having been to Disney World with my mom two years ago, there wasn’t much “awe” happening since in 2 years Disney hasn’t done much to the place.

Magic Kingdom

I was really bummed that the Haunted Mansion wasn’t all “nightmare Before Christmas”-ed out. Must be a CA thing? Overall the park wasn’t too crazy, crowded to be sure, but not bad. It’s funny tho, i was talking to Mike Lee about his recent trip to the Magic Kingdom and he was saying how it’s odd when you see things not go right. Disney (like Apple) tries really hard to manage the entire experience, and when something goes wrong it’s glaringly wrong. Well we definitely had the BMF experience at the Kingdom.

Apparently part of experience now when waiting in line is to have the line be less a line, and more a mob. On two, maybe three rides when the iron bound queue ended and we got into the actual ride building, Disney employees informed us that the line wasn’t single file, fill all available space. I’m guessing as a way to make the lines outside seem shorter, or something. However as in all cases with mobs, it quickly went from “happiest place on earth” to “mob rules; cut in front, elbow and kick your way into the Pirates of the Caribbean”

So that kinda sucked and really ruined the experience of the ride. Thankfully most lines weren’t too long in general, and we fast passed the popular stuff.

Christmas day, we were flying home, so after breakfast with the fam we went to epcot to walk around. To get from breakfast to Epcot/our hotel we had to go past the Magic Kingdom. Here I was thinking, “Who the hell wants to be at Disney World on Christmas day?” Turns out, a lot of people do! We asked the gal behind the counter at hour hotel about it and she said, at around noon that day they were at “level 3″ meaning only season pass holders and resort guests could get in. The park was already turning away folks who were staying elsewhere or driving in. ON CHRISTMAS DAY! She said on New Years Eve day, they’ll be at “level 4″ meaning once you leave, you can’t get back in, and even resort guests and season pass holders might not get in.

I gotta admit, I’m amazed that it’s that busy on Christmas. New Years, sure, I bet it’s a pretty fun party, but christmas?!

Oh and Space Mountain, the new music sucks. I need a fast rock track to make the ride fun, the current music is way to mellow, i found myself just sitting there waiting for the ride to end.

Epcot

My favorite part of being in Orlando is Epcot. Mostly because of the world tour part, and beer. Epcot itself is fun, the rides are cool, and the new (even new to me) Nemo ride is pretty sweet. Actually the ride is lame, but there’s an aquarium attached (you can just walk into that part, the ride exits there) that is really awesome.

It’s funny, we went to a beer/snack cart in the United Kingdom Pavilion, and i got mocked (rightfully so) for ordering a Stella.

Also, if you like trying candy we don’t get in the states, the Twinnings Tea shop has a pretty good, but small selection. SKIP the turkish Delight. This ain’t Narnia!

Thankfully, with the Magic Kingdom being so crowded on Christmas day, Epcot was not. We breezed thru the park using up the last of our meal plan snacks with hardly anyone else around. AWESOME!

Meal Plans

I dont think the meal plans are worth it. Ours was actually free with our package booking, so that was nice. I’d have been annoyed if I had paid for it. For one thing it’s very rigid. A “meal” is an entree, drink (non alcoholic) and dessert. I don’t like dessert and would often prefer an appetizer, no go cowboy! (Props to the waiter at Nine Dragons in Epcot. he hooked us up with some apps for free. Course with a party of 8 and 18% tip built in, why not make sure we’re happy. I know we added a little more tip to the bill)

The way the plan (ours at least) worked was we got 4 meals, 4 snacks, and 4 quicks. After cracking the code on what exactly each of those was, then it was a matter of scoping out the icon on the menus around the parks to see what applied and what didn’t, and then having to tell the worker, “I want a snack, what’s that entail here?” every time.

So overall it was way more effort than it was worth.

Connectivity

I understand we’re supposed to be in the park, spending money, etc, but is it that out of the question to make our time at the resorts more enjoyable?

1. wifi ain’t cheap, i know the idea (to hotels) is that if you’re paying a lot to be at a resort, $10-$20 for wifi (per DAY!!) is nothing to skoff at. Problem is, that it is. We had the mifi (crappy signal) but really, just give the wifi away, the number of guests who actually use it will never be that many. Shoot, there wasn’t even lobby wifi. Come on Disney! Don’t nickel and dime your guests!

2. AT&T sucks. I know that’s not Disney’s problem, but bears mentioning. I never had more than about 1-2 bars, and was constantly losing my data connection. Even a few times fell to EDGE, and even “Searching” I suspect that was mainly due to overload, but come on there’s plenty of places to hide some towers in the parks.

So, good time overall

Ok that’s a quick and dirty run down of my christmas (oh and along with being at Disney World on Christmas, flying on Christmas is also very popular! WTF) vacation.

All in all, a good time.

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The first thing that came to my mind during the recent Apple event around iPods was “Holy crap, the new nano touch, would make an awesome watch!” I wasn’t alone in that. My Pal Christian made this review before I got mine.

Clearly Apple at least contemplated it as a watch, since it has a built in setting for watch face on wake. Essentially when you touch the wake  up button, it comes to life as a watch. Maybe this is Apple testing the water for an honest to goodness iWatch. I certainly hope so, because as much as I like my iWatch, there’s a few things I’d like to see improved.

The Pros:

It’s an iPod. I mean really, that’s it’s main feature and like all iPods it’s good at what it does. Plug in some headphones and away ya go.

It’s a radio. That’s pretty sweet. I only listen to the radio in the car or the house if we’re cleaning. Plug in headphones (needed as an antenna) and (again) away you go.

It’s a pedometer. While I’m sure being on my wrist is less than accurate, it’s kinda cool to be able to track movement and upload it to nike for their fun little web games. Gimmicky, sure, but fun.

It’s a conversation piece. It’s easily recognizable as an iPod, I’ve had my Vet, counter people, etc all notice, and ask about it. The show-off geek in me loves it!

Changeability. Since it’s not a “real” watch, it doesn’t come with a band. As such you can pick the band(s) you like and change them frequently. I have a plain old nylon band, that Christian mentioned in his review. There’s already a small industry popping up making watch bands just for the iPod Nano Touch, there will be more still.

Covers the basics. It tells time on wake. A swipe to the right and you’re in stop watch mode, another and you’re in timer mode. Done. They covered the three basic features any watch should offer.

The Cons.

It’s an iPod (Features). Being a watch isn’t it’s main purpose in life, as such it tells time well, but if you want adv. features like chrono, multipletime zone support, etc, etc. Look elsewhere.

It’s an iPod (durability). It’s not a g-shock, or even a Citizen. It more or less CAN’T take a beating. It’s not water proof or even really water resistant. The earphone hole is right there, a drop or two of water/rain and bam, no more watch. And because it’s Apple and they don’t believe in rain, no warranty replacement. The face isn’t durable watch crystal it’s glass (as far as I know) a good whack on a corner and you’re likely to be spending another $150ish at the Apple store for a new ‘watch’.

It’s not iOS. When I saw Steve showing the device off, i hoped, really really hoped that being touch enabled, it was running iOS, even if just a subset of iOS. From what I can gather, it’s not. It’s running the more basic iPod firmware with touch added on. I was looking forward to people being able to create their own unique watch faces, or watch apps. Shoot, i’d buy ones that were well made. The other downside of the current firmware is a pretty kludgey way of getting around. Since there’s no “home” button, to get ouf apps you swipe to the left. If you’ve gone deep into the settings app, that’s a lot of swipes. :(

What would make it awesome(r)?

iOS for sure. Or at the least, an SDK. Even if it’s a stepchild SDK like the old ‘Games for Clickwheel iPod’ SDK. Let creative folks have a stab at making it a really fun device. There’s so much potential for this little square. If not iOS, or an SDK, i hope Apple will at least throw a bone or two and update the watch app. Maybe throw in multiple time zone support, or more than two watch faces. Maybe digital? Old school night stand clock? Lots of options!

Long shot, but locking the clip closed? I’m experimenting with which was the clip should face. The iWatch hasn’t fallen off, but it’s come close, and I’m not sure which way I clip it to the band will matter. Will it come off tucking my shirt in, or reaching for my keys? It’d be kind cool to have the clip latch somehow. I know this will never happen though.

User Customization. This sorta falls under the iOS section, but there’s some stuff that coulda just been in the firmware. The iPod allows me to sync photos, but those photos can’t be a background image. There’s 9 built in choices to choose from, but why stop there? Apple has finally gotten over their “users can’t select their own backgrounds” thing, so why not follow that through on the iWatch? Or let me assign an image to the watch face? Black or white are the current options. Why not a picture of my wife and I, or my dog, or a robot?

Final Thoughts.

I went into this knowing the features that existed, so if nothing ever changes and Apple never touches this device again (not unheard of) I’m still happy with it as a watch. I’d love it to do more, but hey, it’s an Apple product, i’d love them all to do a little more than what Apple allows. Maybe someone will jailbreak the iPod Nano Touch? I hope so :)

It’s a fun watch, and a lotta bit geeky. If you’re a hardcore watch person, probably not for you. I love watches, I have a dozen or more, and this iWatch is just a fun little computer on my wrist.

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Still there’s so little that would have to be done to make the iPad SO incredibly awesome for creators, and open doors left and right. I know it’s possible, iThoughtsHD (iTunes Link), a great mind mapping app has already done it!

When building a mind map, like many tools on the iPad, you can save off to the cloud somewhere, box.net, dropbox,etc. Unlike many apps, and all Apple apps. You can load from cloud.

It’s that easy. They did why didn’t/hasn’t Apple?

I caved, and paid $10 for Pages. Complete waste of money. I edit a lot of pages files. Sponsor packets,etc. All the time. I’d love to pull one up on my iPad, edit, and without having to think about plugging into iTunes, copying the files out of iTunes back to my iDisk where they live, overwriting the old one.

Pages, and most apps, come kinda close, you can access the file, pull it in locally, make edits, but then you’re stuck, the document is trapped in the iPad and iTunes.

Why not make the iPad apps (at least the Apple ones) more connected to Oh I dunno, say Apple’s own cloud services. iWork.com and mobileMe. Some of us (still) pay for mobileMe hoping it’ll mature and actually be useful. I have no idea what iWork.com is for, but it seems like it’d make perfect sense to tie the iWork iPad apps (maybe the new iLife ones too) to Apple’s own (though dropbox, et. al. would be nice too) services to extend their usefulness.

Please Apple here my plea! The iPad is great for games and consumer shit, hook those of us who create up! It can’t be hard, a third party did it! You can too!

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When I heard the announcement, my first thought was, “ok this is the final nail in Cable’s coffin for our house”

Very quickly though the coffin shrugged the nail off.

What would make hulu + the killer app for me? Not a lot above what they’re offering, but enough that I’ll be waiting before switching our family over.

1. The Archive. That’s a nice feature. Nicole decided to watch Angel, yet currently hulu only has like 1 season, or part of 1 season. So when we find programs we’d like to explore from the beginning, the archive is a good option, assuming the show is in there.

2. We watch a lot of Discovery and History channel, which don’t seem to be available on hulu. Bummer, will have to wait and see if they get that content or if there’s another avenue for it’s consumption.

3. iPad and iPhone apps are awesome (and the quality is insane!), but much like the Netflix app, when I’m in the mood to use those apps is when I’m traveling. hulu and Netflix really should allow the apps to cache content. It’s all DRM protected by the apps, etc, so caching shouldn’t be an issue. Putting in hard restrictions shouldn’t be hard either, like 3 shows, for 2 days, etc. Frankly when I’m at home wanting to watch something I have a really big TV with Netflix and hulu on it, I’m not reaching for my iPad.

Sure if I’m in a hotel room, I could stream content and watch on my iPad, and that’s a valid example and a use I’d likely engage in, but for me, and I assume a lot of other travelers, the bigger need is in the air. Unfortunately I don’t see Frontier adding in flight wifi anytime soon, and when they do it’ll be too expensive. Plus if Wil‘s experience is an indicator, as more and more people start to stream content, inflight wifi is likely to break down. I suspect it’s not that fat of a pipe to begin with.

4. This is kind of a “good to have” it sounds as if hulu plus doesn’t reduce the number of ads I have to see. Don’t get me wrong, i pay for cable, and without TiVo I’d see far more ads than on hulu, but it feels weird to move to a premium model, and not at least reduce the number of ads + users will see. Shoot, just go from 3-4 to 2-3 during a show. Something to make me feel like my $10 is buying something more than archive access.

I think the reason hulu + wasn’t a home run for me is because we’re fairly casual watchers. Access to the archive, while nice isn’t huge for us. We have a small number of shows we watch on hulu and we’re pretty good at watching them before they expire. The lack of caching content for air travel, or say, camping or other off the grid activities, makes hulu + even less interesting. I have a ton of content in the “videos” app on my iPad, it’s available whenever, whereever. hulu + didn’t come close enough to beating that for me.

I hope as they roll the service out, they add some features. I really do want to support hulu and stop paying for cable service, but that doesn’t appear to be today.

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