Thoughts on the Apple iPad — Suggestions for Apple

With all the rumors and hype leading up to Apple's big announcement, it's almost no surprise that for many it didn't live up to their expectations. I think overall it's a great idea and there's lots of potential for it. Here's some some suggestions for iPad 2.0 (no charge Apple!).

• ADOBE FLASH! — I think this may be the number one thing missing from the device. In my household, our MacBook Pro is used mostly for web browsing on the couch. I was hoping this could be a replacement for that but without Flash, to me it's not a viable replacement.
• GPS on WiFi only version — It looks like they have GPS on the WiFi/3G version but not on the WiFi only. This renders many location based features in apps useless.
• A camera — I really don't get why they put a camera on an iPod nano and not an iPad. There were rumors that the device would have two cameras including one front facing that could be used for face recognition to identify the user and adjust to his/her setting or maybe for video conferencing.
• Mac OS X — It's probably too late for this one now that the product is out, but I was hoping for something that could run full Mac applications. Editing video in Final Cut Pro or photos in Photoshop with a multi-touch interface could be really cool.
• A true HD display — The resolution of the screen is 1024x768. They claim it's HD but really in order to call it HD it needs should be at least 1280x720.
• "One more thing..." — With Apple there's usually that one WOW feature and this just doesn't have that. I'm not sure exactly what it would be, but we just aren't seeing anything drastically new from an iPhone/iPod Touch.
• The name! — Come on, iPad! You're just asking for the jokes. iSlate would have been much better.

All that said, I think the iPad apps will make this device rock. I love that you can read the New York Times that is laid out like the print newspaper but with color photos and embedded video! I'm not much of a baseball fan, but the MLB app with live video looks amazing and I hope to see more interactive video apps like it.

Bistro on Lincoln Park

Last Monday we ate at the recently opened Bistro on Lincoln Park. It was a cold, snowy night so the place was pretty slow, but I've seen it more crowded on the weekends. The food was great and so was the service. I had the "Steak and Frits" ($18) cooked medium and the Uptown Pinot Noir ($12). The flank steak was perfectly cooked (red on the inside, charred on the outside) and was minimally seasoned (it didn't need much!). The fries were good, but not the best in town (so far I think Lava Lounge and Parallax has the best, although I hear Lola/Lolita are the best!). I'd recommend it and I'd go back! 

http://bistroonlincolnpark.com/

99 dum-dums

Dum-Dums

What?

Catching up

Well it's been a while since I posted so I think i'll just do some bullet points to catch up...

Since last writing, we've officially terminated our contract with the builder on the condo we offered on back in January—a 6+ month headache FINALY over. Since then we had made an offer on a house that fell through. The day we got the seller's counter offer, someone else came in with a higher offer we couldn't compete with. In addition to that, there have been at least two other houses we would have liked and missed out on because they sold too quick (yeah, houses are actually selling!!). Now we are considering a loft and have scheduled a meeting with the developer tomorrow evening. We've also received a reverse offer (the seller offered us the home at a lower price) on one of the homes we looked at. I think we may get another as well. Both, however, we ruled out—one was too big, the other too small. We are excited about the loft although a bit afraid of resell value (condos in general are harder to sell). It's a very unique 2045 sq ft space in an old factory with high (14') ceilings and concrete floors in the emerging Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. 

Friday: Went on the Goodtime III happy hour cruise for a friend's birthday. We all had a blast! It was the perfect temperature, clear sky and seeing the city from the river/lake was great! Afterwards we went to Shooters in the flats for dinner. 

Saturday: Biked 12.25 miles... went to the Feast in Little Italy (my dinner was fries and tiramisu... yeah i'm weird), drank with some friends and watched Michael Phelps win gold #8.

Sunday: Biked 11.75 miles, swam 20 laps... did some work around the house. 

Mullet