Benjamin Ellis

The New Makers and the iPad Haters

I keep getting asked when I’m getting an iPad. I’m not. Part of the reason is covered in a lovely post by Cory Doctorow on Boingboing: “Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either)”

“I believe — really believe — in the stirring words of the Maker Manifesto: if you can’t open it, you don’t own it. Screws not glue. The original Apple ][+ came with schematics for the circuit boards, and birthed a generation of hardware and software hackers who upended the world for the better. If you wanted your kid to grow up to be a confident, entrepreneurial, and firmly in the camp that believes that you should forever be rearranging the world to make it better, you bought her an Apple ][+."

As it happens, my parents bought me a video Genie (a TRS-80 clone) as my first computer, but that included schematics too. It wasn't long before I was designing and building my own software and peripherals, and even making a bit of a living from some of them. Computing wasn't a passive experience, it was an active, engaging, creative one. I don't see my kids doing that as much today. Sure, they play with Scratch, but it really doesn't feel like the same thing. It has something about it of the cut and paste mentality that has become so prevalent these days [boy I'm sounding like a grumpy old man - did I mention I've noticed I have more grey hair recently?].

To me the iPad is “Infantalizing hardware” as Cory puts it. In fact, around the same time I read “The Real iPad Review“, which gives a 3 year old’s view of the iPad (via the child’s dad - Adam Kmiec ). It says this:

“Is the iPad a killer device?  Is it a game changing device?  Will you love it?  The simple answer is YES…so long as you have the mindset of a 3 year old.  Harsh?  Yes.  But, it’s the truth.”

Yes, that is harsh. I mean no disrespect to the dear friends who have rushed out and bought one, but it is slightly distressing watching them going jab-jab-point-shiny-shiny. Adam also points out the hardware short comings that kill the iPad for me:

“No USB, no camera, no replaceable battery, no ability to create content and heck no cleaning cloth.  I could deal with all of these shortcomings and flaws if the price was something like $349.99 (in line with iPod Touch), but not at $499.99 (minimum).  At $349.99 it would be a nice affordable stretch and step up from an iPod and complimentary to a laptop.  But, at $499.99 I just don’t see how a current iPhone or MacBook user will find value in a device that does less than both of those devices.”

The lack of cleaning cloth is definitely a killer. What where Apple thinking?!? More seriously, the other features are a big issue… You see, my Windows Tablet PC has all of these features, and more, and it cost me a fraction of that price. Does it have the app store? No. Can I play angry birds with a multi-touch interface? No. Can I write my own apps on it (in a multitude of development environments)? Yes. Can I create my own rich content with it? Yes. Of course some have converted the iPad into a maker’s device, but there are other cheaper iPad alternatives out there. By the end of the summer there will be a veritable ocean of touch-screen web tablets.

I love Maker things. I love Dan’s Internet catapult. I love the devices people make with Arduino kits. I love the creative ideas of the kids at Teentech. I’m not a fan of things that make us passive consumers of information. I like creating things and planning things with people. Not everyone agreed with Cory, of course, and I’m coming from a slightly different angle. I don’t think we all need to be coders and soldering-iron-wielding-pcb-making geeks, but I do hope we can be a generation that doesn’t just consume, but that engages and creates!

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Teentech – Showing What You Can Do

The ultimate cure for jetlag? Well, spending the day with 300 teenagers, obviously. On Friday I joined Maggie Philbin, the afore mentioned teenagers, and a dedicated team of grown ups at The Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire, for Teentech 2010. The number of children studying science and maths has been in decline for many years in the UK, prompting government intervention. Less that 60,000 students sat Maths ‘A’ level in the UK last year. That’s in the whole country. There are signs of improvement, but as someone who is a technologist and engineer by education, it is distressing to hear them described as “Vulnerable Subjects” in education reports. Just down the road, Reading University closed its Physics department this year. Continue Reading…

Shine is Coming off the Chrome – Week Without Google Day 2-3

Day 2 should have been easier, so should day 3. Really it should. I was mostly out and about and away from the computer, but it was still tricky to avoid Google products. Forgive me, for I have fallen slightly – I had to show someone Google Analytics. I got straight back on track afterwards, but my wonderful customer needed some stats for their website, and like many folks with a web site out there, they use it. Continue Reading…

A Week Without Google – Day 1

On my posterous blog this morning I posted a challenge:

A Week Without Google… …For me at least. This week I’m going to be going without Google in my life. It was a conversation with @monkchips that finally pushed me over the edge.

As he held up his Google branded phone to take a picture that with probably end up on a Google-powered photo site, indexed by Google search-bots, published on Google powered blogs, with Google-powered ads, viewed in Google built web browsers, maybe even on a Google built operating system, I thought of something I over heard recently:

“Big Brother won’t come in via the front door, he’ll come in via the backdoor, and pretend to be your friend.”

Now for the record, I have nothing against Google – I normally use lots of Google tools (and even paid-for Google products) – But I’ve realised that I don’t have a grip on how pervasive a part of my Internet use Google is. Continue Reading…

Tweetcamp

This Saturday I’ll be up at Tweetcamp in London. I caught up with driving force Farhan Rehman to ask him what it’s all about.

And he’s posted more about What to Expect at TweetCamp:

The aim, is to bring people together in person who know each other through Twitter, but don’t necessarily know each other well in person. Given that, of the people coming, there is the full spectrum of people who have never been to an unconference style event before, aren’t technical, and just use twitter as a social tool. There will also be hard core geeks and techies who make social platforms that use twitter, and regularly go to unconference style events. It’ll be an interesting mix of people, with one thread in common we all use twitter. Continue Reading…

Saving on Standby Power

I’ve been out buying gadgets to save on standby power. The exciting one mentioned in the video is this fellow:

It is a Standby Saver Energy Saving Unit – as seen on Dragon’s Den, apparently. As explained in the video, it shuts of the power to all of the sockets when the computer powers down. There is a version for for AV equipment too, which works off of the infrared remote control, and apparently one for use with games consoles in the works.

There was an alternative which I looked at, the Intellipanel – Desktop version, but it was a fair bit more expensive, and had things like a telephone line filter that I didn’t need.

The other device mention in the video doesn’t seem to be on-line, other than in the Maplin shop: Remote Powered Extension lead. If your plugs are more spread out, the Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit might be a better alternative.

It turns out that the standby saver has a little button to turn the computer back on, which turns out to be a bonus. The PC it is wired too is tucked away under the desk, so the standby saver button acts as a remote power switch, on the desk itself and right by the keyboard. That saves reaching under the desk to switch the PC on.

The RF remote powered extension seems to be doing sterling service so far too.