Topic

The Apple iPad

When

Friday, February 12th 2010, 7:30pm – 10:00pm

Who

Dennis Piermattei

Where

Room M129, Building M, ACCC Mays Landing Campus

Our feature presentation for this month’s meeting will be to focus on this new device and I hope for and expect a “lively discussion” among members about what it means for Apple, the Macintosh and computing in general. I have prepared an interesting video collage of views of the new iPad, that of Apple itself, that of the Critics, that of the Comedians to be followed, most importantly, by the views of ACAMUGERs themselves. Please come to this meeting and help us define what category of computer this is and whether it is something that will be wildly popular or not even successful.

In addition, I’ll be outlining our planning efforts for the group this year, welcoming our newly elected Board Member and Officer lineup consisting of myself as President, Stuart as Vice President, Claire as Treasurer, Bill, as Immediate Past President, Steve and Kyle as At Large Board Members. I am also pleased to announce, to serve a for the year concurrent with my term of office, the reappointment of Dave as Web Master and Gerre as Crabapple and a new appointment Judy Branin, as Educational Specialist

Our raffle items will include the assortment of items I collected from an Italian Apple Center for the winner of last month’s $1 raffle- whom I understand is Carolyn. For our February raffle I have a specially activated, guaranteed to work in the USA, iTunes card worth 15 Euros or about $20 some dollars.

Presentation topics may change so be sure to verify on the day of the meeting. Got questions you’d like to have answered? Feel free to post them as comments before the meeting so the presenters have a chance to prepare.

Well, as expected, today Apple introduced their entry in the tablet market and it’s called the iPad (the event video is now available on Apple’s web site.) Built to be better than the iPhone and MacBooks at common tasks such as web browsing, email and reading books, here’s a few quick specs:

[[via engadget]]

iPad Specs

• Officially called the iPad
• 1/2 inch thick, 9.7 inch IPS color LCD display w/LED backlight, 1.5 pounds
• Uses a custom 1GHz Apple processor (the A4)
• Storage: 16-64GB flash memory
• Wireless connectivity: 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3G cellular (on some models)
• Speaker, microphone and the ubiquitous Apple Dock connector
• Accelerometer and compass built-in, same as iPhone
• 10 hour battery life
• Eco-friendly materials

Features:

• iTunes Store fully integrated
• Plays full screen HD video
• Will run all current iPhone apps unmodified
• Developers can update their apps specifically for the iPad

The iBooks Reader

Apple’s book reader application is called iBooks (guess that’s why they changed the name of the entry level laptops to MacBook) and has an associated iBooks Store where you can buy content (hmmm, iTunes / iTunes Store, iBooks / iBooks Store.)

iWork for the iPad

They brought iWork to the iPad: Numbers, Pages and Keynote, $9.99 for each.

3G Wireless

Some models available with 3G cellular wireless reception (still through AT&T.) Two plans:

• $14.99 for 250MB/month
• $29.99 for unlimited data
• NO CONTRACT, can cancel at any time
• All 3G models are sold UNLOCKED and use the new GSM microSIMs.

iPad Pricing

WiFi only:

• 16GB for $499
• 32GB for $599
• 64GB for $699
• shipping in 60 days

WiFi + 3G:

• 16GB for $629
• 32GB for $729
• 64GB for $829
• shipping in 90 days

Accessories

• Dock
• Dock with a keyboard!
• Case

OK, so who other than Dennis (and me) are planning to buy one? Post your comments!

More details and photos available at engadget: Live from the Apple ‘latest creation’ event

UPDATE: Here is an interesting post by John Gruber at Daring Fireball regarding his hands-on experience with an iPad:

• Daring Fireball – The iPad Big Picture

And here is engadget’s round-up of all things iPad:

• engadget – Apple iPad launch day roundup: everything you need to know

And definitely read the comments on the engadget story, they’re supremely entertaining. You’ll find out all the myriad ways Apple screwed up the iPad and made it an “epic fail”. Yeah, that Steve Jobs. He just doesn’t understand what people will buy.

One more take, this time by British actor, comedian and gadget freak Stephen Fry:

• Stephen Fry – iPad About

Sample quote:

I have always thought Hans Christian Andersen should have written a companion piece to the Emperor’s New Clothes, in which everyone points at the Emperor shouting, in a Nelson from the Simpson’s voice, “Ha ha! He’s naked.” And then a lone child pipes up, ‘No. He’s actually wearing a really fine suit of clothes.” And they all clap hands to their foreheads as they realise they have been duped into something worse than the confidence trick, they have fallen for what E. M. Forster called the lack of confidence trick. How much easier it is to distrust, to doubt, to fold the arms and say “Not impressed”. I’m not advocating dumb gullibility, but it is has always amused me that those who instinctively dislike Apple for being apparently cool, trendy, design fixated and so on are the ones who are actually so damned cool and so damned sensitive to stylistic nuance that they can’t bear to celebrate or recognise obvious class, beauty and desire. The fact is that Apple users like me are the uncoolest people on earth: we salivate, dribble, coo, sigh, grin and bubble with delight.

Just a reminder that on January 27th, 2010 Apple will once again change the world-as-we-know-it forever! Or at least so says the rumor mill.

Given the flood of tablet reports from virtual every source imaginable, and the total lack of effort on Apple’s part to contradict them in any way despite the fact that at this point not announcing a tablet on the 27th would probably put a major financial hit on their stock price, it seems a safe bet that Apple will announce some sort of tablet on Wednesday. Maybe. Unless they don’t. It might be called the iSlate, iBook or Canvas. Or it might not.

Details about what is and isn’t announced will be posted on this site. In the meantime here are some random links that might or might not prepare you:

• ars techica – Days before iTablet-palooza, the rumor hits keep comin
• Gizmodo – The Apple Tablet Interface Must Be Like This
• Engadget – Apple rumor roundup: future of media edition
• Wired – What to Expect From Apple’s Tablet Unveiling
• Flurry – Apple Tablet: The Second Stage Media Booster Rocket
• DailyFinance – Hot Apple Rumor: AT&T to Lose Its iPhone Exclusive This Week

Coverage of the event:

• engadget – Live from the Apple ‘latest creation’ event
• MacRumors – January 2010 Media Event Spoiler Free Keynote Stream

But no guarantees.

Topic

Gerre’s Organizational Secrets & Some Keynote 3

When

Friday, January 8th 2010, 7:30pm – 10:00pm

Who

Gerre Heron

Where

Room M129, Building M, ACCC Mays Landing Campus

This month our resident “crabapple” Gerre Herron will be demonstrating a simple effective way of organizing information on your Mac.

In addition we will be showing some tips on how to get the most out of recent versions of Apple’s Keynote presentation software.

Following the demonstration we will also be auctioning off a mystery Mac related item that Dennis promises to bring back from his trip to Italy next month.

Presentation topics may change so be sure to verify on the day of the meeting. Got questions you’d like to have answered? Feel free to post them as comments before the meeting so the presenters have a chance to prepare.

Topic

The Annual ACAMUG Holiday Party

When

Friday, December 11th, 7:30pm – 10pm

Who

Members who sign up in advance!

Where

The Vineyard Room at Gourmet Italian Cuisine in Galloway NJ

The annual ACAMUG Holiday Party will be held on Friday December 11th 2009 from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm. The party will be held in the Vineyard Room at Gourmet Italian Cuisine in Galloway NJ. You can find out more about the restaurant by visiting their website:

• Gourmet Italian Cuisine

SEATING IS LIMITED in the Vineyard room to about 30 people so you MUST RSVP either by posting a comment on the website or sending an e-mail to president@acamug.org

Hope to see you there!

Thanks, Bill