Apple’s New Concept: Easy Computing

So Apple announced its long awaited tablet this week, and many have commented, analysed, cried in despair and praised the oversized iPod. One thing that I have seen yet though is a deeper look at what it means for the computer world and computer users going forward. I’ll take a stab at it.

What Aunt Edna Needs

It seems that at least half the tech world is disappointed that they won’t be able to code C# or run photoshop on their iPad. I humbly believe that this is due to a very deep misunderstanding of the concept that Apple introduced this past Wednesday. Indeed, more than just a new device, they have created a new kind of machine, that many of their competitors will try to replicate in the coming months and years:
The ”easy computer”. Or “everyday computer”, or “home computer” or “casual computer”. I chose to call it the former, but this is what it essentially boils down to: in the past 10 to 15 years, many people have begun “needing” computers to do very simple things. Email, photos, the web, etc. They never needed computers before, and the computers we know weren’t designed for them, or even to handle these simple tasks. Computers as we know them were designed for intensive, professional, serious uses. Think of your mom, your uncle, your grand parents… They do not need, nor do they really want a complicated machine to do all these tasks. How long has your aunt Edna been using a computer, and how long has she stubbornly refused to learn how to install a program, how the file system works, or the difference between Internet Explorer and Firefox. More importantly, she doesn’t care about all this. She wants to answer her email, go to that cooking website she likes, and look at the soccer practice pictures you sent her. Remember: your aunt Edna is not you. You might care, but to her these are over complicated and useless headaches.

All these “new users” (who didn’t care about computers until 10 years ago) don’t really use a computer to its fullest. They only came to computers with these uses that have been created recently. Let’s take an arbitrary number: most, if not all of the time, they use 20% of the computer’s capabilities, and the other 80% are in the way. Well, an ”easy computer” will provide them with these 20% they need, hassle free.

The Easy Computer

Here’s the best analogy I could find: a PC can do gaming. Some might argue that it’s even the best gaming platform out there. Yet the real gaming industry is on consoles. Why? They are simple. You hook them up to your TV and you start playing. Sure, some games are huge on the PC, but most games will sell more on an Xbox or a PS3. I’m talking about “real” gaming (another argument could be made here about what the Wii is, but it would actually only support the point of this article). This comes to the great despair of the same purists who will belittle the iPad for not being able to achieve the same thing as a “real” computer: “a console isn’t as cool as a PC!” they’d say. That’s not the point. It’s not supposed to be. I’d encourage you to think of the iPad as the equivalent of game consoles, but for “casual computing”.

Don’t get me wrong: it is fair to criticize the iPad itself. No webcam is a disappointment, no Flash support is annoying, no multitask is downright painful. But make no mistake: your aunt Edna won’t care. She’ll see a nice, cute, easy to use tool that will enable her to do all these things she does on her big, clunky computer. And without the fear of messing something up. And guess what: you’ll be happy too, because she won’t have to call you every other week to fix something she did because she refuses to learn how to use that big computer (most of which she doesn’t need anayway).

The Netbook argument

Many people say they wanted something more akin to a netbook. A “real” OS that they can tinker with and use “like a mini computer”. But these netbooks fail: try as they might, they are not a real computer. They are small, they lack power, and their OS isn’t designed for that form factor. Again, I’m certain that some people have a need for them, but they are in the minority.
The point is: netbooks try to do too much, and they do nothing well. An “easy computer” will do less, but it will do it well. And for most people, that “less” is all they need.

The Concept

It might not be obvious, but I’m not really talking about the iPad here. I’m talking about the idea that the iPad introduces. It’s a new idea, that seems obvious once we’ve understood it: computers don’t have to be what we think computers are. They can be more simple, more usable, less capable, and more adapted to the uses that some (most?) people have. Apple isn’t the first company to try and achieve this. In a sense, netbooks were trying this also, and I’m certain many others have tried before. But they have failed, on the large, wide consumer market sense of things. Just like others had failed at MP3 players or smartphones before Apple entered the market. Will the iPad succeed? I think it will (it’s sexy, which is what matters to most), but maybe I’m wrong. What I really don’t think I’m mistaken about though, is this idea that they have  introduced a new concept in the tech world.
Easy Computers are here to stay, and Apple won’t be the only ones to make them…

The Movielicious #19 – It’s Called “Travelling A Lot”!

On this episode, your hosts:

• Patrick Beja (notpatrick on Twitter)
• Nicole Spagnuolo (nicolespag on Twitter)
• Mark “Turpster” Turpin (the_T on Twitter)

Discuss these flicks:

• Daybreakers
• Up In The Air
• It’s Complicated
• And: Lost in Austen, Rear Window, L’Auberge Espagnole, Moon.

Enjoy the show!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

And to find out more about our wonderful hosts, go here:

• And don’t forget Nicole’s Ladies of Leet!
• The Movielicious Facebook Group

Join us for next episode: February 6th.

Patrick’s Twitter week for 2010-01-25

• [FR] Bon je vais faire comme @Korben et souhaiter un bon lundi matin à tout le monde! Alors vous avez fait quoi de beau ce w-e? #cafédumatin #
• [FR] @leolaporte parle de NoWatch dans http://twit.tv/231 avec @notpatrick, et annonce de NoWatch.fm ! /via @NoWatchTV #
• [FR] @JohnPlissken Tu as raison, quand il y a des films ou des séries bien, il vaut mieux ne pas les récompenser, juste pour surprendre! in reply to JohnPlissken #
• RT @ryan Apple event invite in my inbox this morning: "Come see our latest creation." Jan 27th. It's on. < Pic or it's still a rumor! > #
• @revision3 offers @nbcconan a job: http://ow.ly/XImQ (via @bigepaz) < Hehe basically what I said YouTube should do (after TWiT last night) > #
• [FR] Le rendez-vous Tech, c'est avec @Jeff et @yannalet, et c'est en streaming live dans ~15 minutes! http://bit.ly/19iqoe #
• RT @mashable: Ninjas Perform Most Deadly Nexus One Unboxing Of All Time [VIDEO] – http://bit.ly/6A1ipy <Ok, this is awesome.> #
• [FR] Si @Patrick et @NotPatrick se rencontrent à la conférence #leweb 2010, l'univers du web social va-t-il imploser? /via @ffauvarque #
• FR] Le "trailer" du live que feront @matthieublanco (et ses amis pour la keynote d'Apple le 27! http://bit.ly/4L2V01 #
• [FR] Le tout dernier Rendez-vous Tech, avec @yannalet & @jeff est dispo – Apple, Google, Chine et CES! http://bit.ly/6qybOv #
• World chart: broadband speed/cost. Not to be an ass but…you're so not N.1. http://tinyurl.com/ygjekwu (via @matthieublanco) #
• Hi @BillGates! Nice to hear about you foundation, but… Can you also tell us what you had for lunch? Welcome to Twitter! #
• Ah, the Japanese TV English lesson + workout combos… always big winners: http://bit.ly/7o81yx & http://bit.ly/4RsuGY #
• Apple Tablet: When journalism becomes fanfiction http://tcrn.ch/8Lq2dQ by @paulcarr <Agreed! But this is still about the tablet. Ironic…> #
• [FR] Si vous pouviez avoir UN seul pouvoir magique, ça serait quoi ? /via @matthieublanco < Savoir ce que va annoncer Steve le 27. > #
• Stuck in traffic in the bus. I hate the bus. And traffic. Oh, and did I mention that I hate the bus? Grrr. #
• but it's Paris, isn't it loaded with models and other pretty people? /via @BilltheNubbin < Yeah but we're all like that so we're jaded. > #
• RT @hotmilkgt: what's this song about? http://bit.ly/6RjW5u < Good lord what is this?! 80's horror! (she talks about relationships&games) > #
• [FR] RT @Korben / @CedricBonnet: Firefox 3.6 booste bien… je lache Chromium // Et moi Safari! < Sacrilège! Chrome 4 beta forever! > #
• @esamenoi @danetherock Well, what I can tell you for sure that I am not @Patrick. (see what I did there? in reply to esamenoi #
• [FR] RT @Korben / @adriangaudebert: Aujourd'hui nous lançons le #quadratureday, tous ensemble, sauvons @laquadrature ! http://bit.ly/7Y7psP #
• Just found this on @Veronica's blog (thanks!) & agree 100%. Male & female gamers alike should watch it! http://bit.ly/7r4Ghd #
• Apple Tablet Ru… http://bit.ly/8C6QSr by Devin Coldewey /via @TechCrunch < Excellent! "Tablet is afraid it can’t let you do that, Dave" > #
• Second Largest newspaper chain files for bankruptcy. The end is near! http://bit.ly/5sCJ33 /via @THErealDVORAK < Evolve or die I suppose. > #
• @Astro_TJ tweets from the international space station! Hi from France, how's it going up there sir? I'm waving, can you see? #
• Have you ever seen Hans Rosling speak at TED? It is one of the most brilliant things ever. Watch NOW! http://bit.ly/8hJWi8 #
• !!! I just saw there is a TEDx in Paris next week, and it's full! If *anyone* can get me in, I'll be eternally grateful. #
• [FR] Podcast "à demi mot" n°2 dispo: "Sortie [presque] définitive" – http://matthieublanco.fr #audiobook /via @matthieublanco #
• Just posted a video on how to browse safely in Internet Explorer http://bit.ly/5LTLMo /via @acedtect <can't watch, I'll guess: use firefox?> #
• Back from Ikea! I was thinking of @jonathancoulton's song all afternoon. And meatballs! http://yfrog.com/4aticgj #
• Just saw "It's Complicated". Didn't really want to see it, but I do my duty for The Movielicious podcast! Impressions on Thursday. #

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Patrick’s Twitter week for 2010-01-18

• @NikolHasler But… You said you like to pretend you're being interviewed by This American Life in the shower! You're not making any sense. in reply to NikolHasler #
• [FR] RT @matthieublanco: Les podcasts à la une de Over-Blog http://www.over-blog.com/ ! Faites tourner ! #
• Star Wars "made in France"… If that doesn't go viral, I don't know what will. They're so graceful! http://bit.ly/5eomxw #
• Sam Raimi isn't doing Spiderman 4 after all! No idea if he'll get to the WoW movie faster though… Here's to hoping! http://bit.ly/6hm5MT #
• [FR] RT @matthieublanco: Récapitulatif des 12 tablets du CES http://tinyurl.com/ya7wj8p il ne manque plus qu'Apple !! (via @tabletblog) #
• [FR] AppLoad 5 dispo! Tout sur les Google phones, le CES, et plus! Avec @cedricbonnet & @Jeromekeinborg. http://bit.ly/5Z1LAV #
• Tech story of the week, and not as clear cut as it seems: Google won't censor its Chinese site anymore. http://bit.ly/6FLsoR #
• [FR] Le site NoWatch.tv nouveau est arrivé! Bravo les gars, il est super bien foutu. A voir de suite: http://www.nowatch.tv/ #
• @extralife I have indeed been reverse hydrocuting on a regular basis, and the points of data are forming a beautiful line! in reply to extralife #
• Movielicious Best (and worst) of '09 starts in 30 min! http://bit.ly/8wGTmg – Join the fun here: http://bit.ly/19iqoe #
• @kathunter @kichelle Well ladies, I could set up a private feed… Watch me stare at a screen, eat toast, pick my nose… Fascinating stuff! in reply to kathunter #
• Ok, last tweet before bed, cause this is *completely* freaking me out: 1st person Tetris http://bit.ly/79wSY5 (via @Mashable) #
• [FR] @nk_m si démago et électoraliste sur Loppsi c'est si décevant! Une trahison. #nkmFAIL http://bit.ly/8vHZtR (via Korben) #
• [FR] RT @Warcraft_FR: L’Armurerie a été mise à jour avec une visionneuse 3D et un fil d'info. http://bit.ly/5odWPs <J'adore!> #
• My friend @m_nash's first article on Twitter sums up most of the things I've learned over the last 2 yrs… Good read. http://bit.ly/7rXNTv #
• Watching @extralife bouncing to Tupac… My eyes are hurting. http://bit.ly/7Rgtar #
• [WoW] Excellent #BlizzChat last night, had a ton of Cataclysm / 3.3 info and insight. http://bit.ly/51l0mJ (/via @Warcraft) #
• Ok, so maybe the French don't *always* have great taste (chair in the Parisian grand hotel "Meurice"). http://flic.kr/p/7wf5du #
• RT @hotmilkgt: Looking forward to seeing @notpatrick on TWiT! < Thanks bud, so am I! > #
• On TWiT now! http://live.twit.tv #

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The Movielicious #18 – Best (and worst) of ‘09

On this episode, your hosts:

• Patrick Beja (notpatrick on Twitter)
• Nicole Spagnuolo (nicolespag on Twitter)
• Mark “Turspter” Turpin (the_T on Twitter)

Discuss these flicks:

• Best and Worst of 2009
• Most anticipated movies on 2010

Enjoy the show!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

And to find out more about our wonderful hosts, go here:

• And don’t forget Nicole’s Ladies of Leet!
• The Movielicious Facebook Group

Join us for next episode: January 28th.

Patrick’s Twitter week for 2010-01-11

• [FR] @Papifly m'assure que je suis trouvable sur Akinator! Ca serait génial mais je ne me trouve pas! Je me connais pas assez bien. in reply to Papifly #
• [FR] RT @matthieublanco: Nouvelle vidéo sur mon blog : On se retrouve sur #TF1 ? http://bit.ly/6OFWES < Excellent! A voir > #
• [FR] Les apps iPhone Twitter ne fonctionnent pas depuis ce matin (chez Bouygues). Ca fait des time outs, impossible de mettre à jour. Bleh! #
• Le rendez-vous Tech dans ~10 minutes avec @matthieublanco et @Korben c'est par ici! http://bit.ly/19iqoe #
• [FR] Hadopi: A ce niveau, ça en devient comique… La CNIL retarde encore l'adoption de la loi: http://bit.ly/50a873 #
• This made me chuckle: Avatar = slightly amended Pocahontas – http://bit.ly/92a3FX (via @matthieublanco @gonzague @macsym) #
• The power of 4chan might make tomorrow a very special day for YouTube… http://bit.ly/67apBC #
• [FR] Le rendez-vous Tech 25 avec @matthieublanco & @Korben est dispo! Apple tablet, Google phone & more: http://bit.ly/87nKke #
• Prediciton: If you weren't excited "Kick-Ass" before, you will be after watching: http://bit.ly/7HI8re & http://bit.ly/7HI8re #
• The "unlike what we have seen so far" interface for the Apple tablet could be some kind of 3D thing? http://bit.ly/747XOO #
• Wow! There are ads for Google Chrome all over the Parisian subway! http://flic.kr/p/7tJqDN #
• RT @NoWatchTV: Le 1er podcast ZeLab NoWatchTV est la ! Tonight on Mars, l'actu DVD/BR dispo sur iTunes pour l'instant : http://bit.ly/5LylAf #
• [FR] Si vous n'avez pas essayé Dropbox (que j'ai recommandé sur LRDV et AppLoad), passez donc par là! http://bit.ly/5V7u2y #
• [FR] RT @NoWatchTV: #Zapcast petite carte de voeux video en attendant Zapcast#8 http://bit.ly/4ndT7u < Je décline toute responsabilité! > #

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Patrick’s Twitter week for 2010-01-04

• [Horror Movies] So Rec2 is ok, but not as good as the 1st one. Which, by the way, you *should* see! Original Spanish version of course. #
• Paris is so much nicer without all those annoying Parisians! #
• @acedtect Kinda. Most of "us" are on holiday. The tourists are super annoying too, mind you, but at least "it's a change" (not the MS kind) in reply to acedtect #
• @Gigaom on Facebook's next redesign (n°432 or so): http://bit.ly/5tHZxU – Haters: Facebook is still relevant because they adapt. Suck it up. #
• #iranelection During the holiday please don't forget the Iranian people's ongoing battle for democracy: http://bit.ly/7xurcM #
• [FR] Le nombre d'iPhones dans le métro devient inquiétant; il y en a PARTOUT! Steve Jobs dans toutes les poches. Mot d'ordre: uniformité. #
• [FR] Le coupable n'est pas Apple, mais la concurence qui n'innove pas. Et ne comparons pas a windows: chaque PC est différente. #
• [FR] Pour clarifier: j'ADORE mon iPhone! Mais j'aimerai qu'un concurent donne une alternative… Et ça n'est pas encore le cas (selon moi). #
• [FR] Dernier message sur le sujet: Android est bon mais pas encore au niveau (en particulier pour les médias). Peut-être les prochains?… #
• [WoW] 0 – 450 jewelcrafting! I'm 5000 gold lighter but my priest can now cut his own transmuted gems!… Wait, that sounded weird… #
• Le nouvel épisode d'Appload est dispo. Avec @Jeromekeinborg et moi-même: plein d'apps pour votre iPhone! http://bit.ly/7vZxz0 #
• RT @matthieublanco: Pub TV façon film Viral pour une banque ! a voir absolument http://goo.gl/etBA (via @julienboudet) < Excellent j'avoue > #
• The Movielicious starts in 10-15 min! We talk Sherlock Holmes and Avatar (with @nicolespag & @The_T): http://bit.ly/5nDS6V #
• Correct Movielicious link, sorry! http://bit.ly/19iqoe #
• @nicolespag No but I'm really sad we didn't get a poster for this show! I would have loved to see @The_T's face on a giant blue smurf… in reply to nicolespag #
• RT @guycunis: Wait, they're remaking The Karate Kid? http://bit.ly/6FaYYg < I'm super excited! Wax on wax off FTW. > #
• The Movielicious 17 is out; @nicolespag, @The_T & I talk Avatar & Sherlock Holmes! http://bit.ly/1UNFnU #
• Listening to @starmike & @alachia's World of Warcast; oh how I miss talking to everyone…I would have yelled at you two at least 4 time! #
• [FR] RT @Warcraft_FR: #WoWDebat Les représentants de #Blizzard vous souhaitent un bon réveillon et une bonne année ! #
• Bonne année !! http://flic.kr/p/7rWS7n #
• Awake. Physical status: ok. Psychological status: a bit scared, but nothing that time won't heal. And look, it's time for brunch! Happy NY! #

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