Seb's weblog

So, Apple showed the world its new world domination toy, the iPad. What do I think about it? First, the name is silly and boring. The device seems interesting with limited capabilities, but most probably due to physical and technical constraints. Sure, it can’t do multitasking and it is just an oversized iPhone, but one has to take into account that the thing is thin and that the battery is good even though the display and the faster processor would be more power-hungry than those on the iPhone/Touch.

Would I buy one? Not yet. Although I’m a good target, I think that this is still a bit expensive (not even speaking of the cash cow represented by the various storage capacities, and what about the OS updates?) for what it can do and my pocket are not that deep. I would rather keep a laptop instead, at the time being, for home usage. Hopefully, in one or two years, it will get better feature-wise. Would it get more “open” to other apps? Not sure Apple would let go.

However, I think this represents a kick in the nuts for the eReader market. Many of those compete on the features and in the end are expensive old-fashioned (b&w) devices. If I had to choose between an Apple iPad and any 10” eReader, at the same price, I think the LCD screen would win this time. I don’t know if they could compete directly with the iPad. Build a cross-over device with ePaper and touch capabilities at the same time? Not likely to win. My guess is that they would better try to go against the touch/iphone, with simple/cheap 6” devices, where they can’t be reached by glossy and battery-hungry gadgets.

(yeah, I’m late).

About a week and a half ago, I was seeing Magma in concert for the second time. The first part was filled by L’Effet Défée which provided us with a strange mix of sounds: Vocals (and samples), Harp (yes, harp!), Bass (with a bow) and noise/hardcored drums (the guy lost a cymbal and broke a stick, it can’t be much hardcore). In the end, it gave a powerful and refreshing mix, with a kind of Björk-meets-Magma result.

Next came Magma. They played a powerful set, although I was a bit disappointed because compared to the previous performance I saw, I thought that the bass and guitar were less overwhelming in their sound and presence. I think the guitar was a bit low in the mix and there was only one real solo. But I still love watching Christian Vander play the drums with ease and at the same time a lot of power (he too lost a cymbal, that wasn’t the night for the drums techs).