April 06, 2010

Cory Doctorow gives the definitive verdict on the iPad.

The way you improve your iPad isn't to figure out how it works and making it better. The way you improve the iPad is to buy iApps. Buying an iPad for your kids isn't a means of jump-starting the realization that the world is yours to take apart and reassemble; it's a way of telling your offspring that even changing the batteries is something you have to leave to the professionals.

1 comment:

John Powers said...

I liked Doctorow's post and the commentary too. Something strange though is the notion that the iPad is for people who aren't like the readers of Boing Boing. I really suck at figuring out all things computer, I want things to work right out of the box and all that. So I think I'm somewhat representative of those "other people." But I don't want an iPad. It's not just the money either there are lots of gadgets I won't buy and still moderately want.

One of the commentators remarked:

"The question is about what kind of society we'd like to have, and in particular our relationship to technology, which is becoming fantastically important in our lives." (william #106)

Yes, my opinions about th e iPad are kind of political.

Clay Shirky's recent blog post The Collapse of Complex Business Models struck a chord with me. For one thing he brings up Joseph Tainter's book called "The Collapse of Complex Societies" without my hair catching fire. Flexibility is necessary if we're to avoid civilization's collapse.

While I'm not much of a maker, the vision of maker culture really seems one of the bright spots looking forward. Doctorow's post really nails down how the iPad isn't aligned with it.