Apple announced the iPad today. It is a hybrid of an iPod Touch, Amazon Kindle and a Mac. At long last we have our beloved Newton and a graphic tablet all rolled into one…
Early reviews are mixed with many people impressed and some pundits less than enthusiastic. The latter critical that Apple has modified and added their iWork apps to the device. Here’s a bit of office productivity and yet they would complain if there was no productivity apps.

Apple is now the “world’s largest mobile devices company in the world” – bigger than Nokia, Samsung and Sony (in the mobile devices space.) Apple introduced the world’s first modern laptop in 1991 with the introduction of the PowerBook – with a raised keyboard, palm rests, an integrated pointing device (track ball). The Newton PDA introduced in 1993 and in 2007 Apple reinvented the cell phone with the iPhone.

The iPad represents a third category, according to Apple, between the smart phone and portable laptop. They are insisting that this middle categories key tasks must be better than smart phones or laptops. The key tasks are browsing, email, photo sharing, video, music, games and ebooks. NetBooks, according to Steve Jobs, aren’t better at anything – they’re just cheaper PCs. The iPad in a magical and revolutionary device.

I have been dragging around laptops to meetings since 1991 – apologizing to attendees while waiting for the laptop to start up. Next I got a Newton and apologized while I had to reenter the cursive writing because I hadn’t learned to “write” correctly. Finally moving to a Palm Pilot as my main PDA. Since that time I have continued to use spiral bound paper note books. They’re easy to start – simply open and start writing. However searching the content means flipping physical pages and it’s difficult to email – unless you tear out the page and scan it as an image.

That all changed when the MacBook Air and iPhone came out. The Notes app, contacts, calendar and IMAP email and syncing with Mobile Me is totally productivity for me! I can leave the office and captain my whole business with my iPhone – from the back seat of a street car. I have the latest iMac on my desk, a MacBook Pro 13 in my briefcase as well as a couple of Xserves. The iPad is the device that we have all been longing for. Productivity and portability. With 3G access I can even run my business from the cottage (thanks to iPhone tethering.)

Let’s be honest the iPhone is too small to read a book on – most annoying if you wear bifocals! Too small for a crossword puzzle and now you and your loved one can enjoy a movie together. Newspapers and magazines can now concentrate on delivering content in a new media way. Gone is the static presentation of news and current affairs. I will miss the books from the sixties that say “one day man will land on the moon” but now you’ll have instant access to wikipedias take on Man’s exploration of the heavens. News will now update as quickly as your FaceBook and Twitter feeds.

We actually have 5 iPhones – my main cell, my partner Carol’s and two iPhones to “pass back” for the grandkids to play games on. I’ve had an iPhone since November 2007 (imported from San Francisco) and gladly sold my Blackberry for $25 at a garage sale. Yes, I’ve been annoyed by all of the iPhone’s short comings – What!? No copy and paste!? Hey! I used to have three Newtons so I know about patience. But at the end of the day, the iPad is a unix driven device that you can easily carry around and watch movies while you’re on break! Don’t worry Speck will make an awesome case and OtterBox will make a weather proof case for the bathtub. In the meantime use a ZipLock bag to keep it dry.

iPad Features:

• high-resolution, 9.7 inch LED-backlit, IPS display
• wide, 178° viewing angle
• Multi-Touch screen
• just 1.5 lbs and 0.5 inches thin
• 10 hour lithium polymer battery technology
• Wi-Fi, built-in 802.11n and BlueTooth + EDR
• available in an unlocked 3G model using GSM micros SIMs
• 1GHz A4 chip inside iPad was custom-designed by Apple
• choice of 16, 32 or 64GB flash storage
• 30-pin dock connector, charge or connect the Camera Connection Kit or the Keyboard Dock
• Microphone & powerful, built-in speaker produces a full, rich sound
• Accelerometer & Compass (GPS)
• iPad will run almost 140,000 apps from the App Store
• iWork productivity applications, Keynote, Numbers and Pages
• Safari, Mail, Photos, Video, YouTube, iPod, iTunes, App Store, iBooks, Maps, Notes, Calendar and Contacts
• $499 – $839 USD

Q. Ever since I upgraded to Snow Leopard I have been unable to print Adobe PDFs. I print the file but I cannot find the PDF when it is done.

A. Apple’s latest operating system, Mac OS X 10.6 aka Snow Leopard, is an upgrade for Intel based Macintosh computers that uses 64-bit processing, which allows for faster and wider data processing. As a result the computing experience is much faster and seemingly gives new life to all compatible Mac desktops and laptop computers. While the upgrade has negatively affected some printing services, the refinements in Snow Leopard make it a welcome improvement.

In the case of Adobe’s virtual printers, Adobe PDF 9.0 et al, the method used to print a PDF contravenes Apple’s security protocols. In the past when you chose to print a PDF from a program you were actually printing a PostScript file using the LaserWriter print spooler, which was then silently passed to Adobe’s Distiller application. Distiller would actually convert the PostScript into a PDF and save the file to the location you specified.

That is a simplified explanation and there are more applications under the hood involved. Apple’s CUPS or common unix printing system handles most printing tasks and there is some issues with the permissions set by software manufacturers that is prohibiting successful printing. You may see a notice in a print spooler that warns that you need to contact the manufacturer for an update.

The method to print a PDF your self involves a few simple steps. You can print your file to PostScript which will result in saving a file ending with “.ps”. Next open Adobe Distiller and drag and drop the PostScript file onto the main window. Distiller will convert the PostScript file to a PDF and save it in the same folder as the PostScript file. In most cases you would choose “Standard” but if you want a PDF ready for press you can choose “High Quality Print” or “PDF-X1a” – check with the printer’s account manager. If you want the send the PDF by email choose “Smallest File Size” to create a compressed version.

The Acrobat Team has added an Apple Automator workflow to print PDFs. From the Print dialog you can choose “Save as Adobe PDF” from the PDF menu.

If you’re printing with the regular Mac OSX Print pane:
Choose Print from the File Menu.
This will open Mac OS X print dialog.
Choose the “PDF” button and select “Save as Adobe PDF”.
Click Print.
In a few seconds Automator will open and prompt you to choose what type of PDF
Choose Standard (see above).
On the next window, you will be asked where to save the PDF.
Automator will create the PDF.

Q. How does it work when you want to acquire a domain name that is parked by someone else? I was looking into registering a domain but it looks like it’s just kind of sitting there…

A. Registering a domain name is similar to getting a deed or more accurately a lease to some actual real estate. You determine a name for your domain and contact a registrar to pay for the rights to that domain name. The domain is yours to use for as many years as you pay for it. While you hold the rights to a domain you have the exclusive use of it.

A domain is meant to be a group of computers and or services owned by a single organization. A domain can be as small as a single computer or server that hosts a website, an email server and/or an FTP site. Often a domain is named for the company that owns it such as apple.com, sun.com or Microsoft.com but often the most successful domains are named for the service or information they provide.

Unfortunately nearly every combination of English words have already be registered and parked. The owners may be speculating that someone would be willing to pay more privately for the domain and the squatter would profit from the sale. Parked pages also can be set up to advertise other services and the squatter could enjoy recurring revenues from the ads. If you really want a particular domain name you may have to offer pay extra to get it.