(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
It might be the new product with the stupidest name ever but there’s no denying just how excited all the tech geeks get about the iPad.
Sure, it sounds more like a feminine hygiene product than a grunty little piece of technological treasure but it’s taken the world by storm (both online and offline) and even I’m considering whether or not I should add one to my family of computing devices at home.
But not until Apple adds a few more features to the wee beastie, of course.
Rumours are rife online that the iPad 2, initially expected in January, will be in stores by February. I’m not sure what that will mean for Kiwi consumers, but other rumours are suggesting the next generation of Apple’s latest success story might include cameras, FaceTime video chat and a mini-USB port.
Despite the current model’s lack of features (my iPod touch does more), Apple has sold more than 7 million iPads this year.
I reckon I probably will buy an iPad when I’m ready to replace my old laptop, and by then it should represent much better value. For now, I’ll probably consider an e-reader to make holidays a whole lot easier: on my last holiday I got through eight books in seven days so an e-reader would keep the luggage weight down.
I see Mr WikiLeaks himself, Julian Assange, is now in custody but not before providing plenty of headlines and giggles. A fake @alqaeda profile on Twitter, featuring everyone’s favourite cave-dweller Osama bin Laden, tweeted earlier this week: “Came home to find a blond Australian sitting in my cave. Says he just needs a place to hide for a few days.”
And the ever-interesting Sarah Palin has taken to her Facebook page to suggest Assange should have been hunted down with the same urgency as al Qaeda and Taleban leaders.
If that had been the case, he’d have been safe for another decade or so.