lilly:

I picked up a phrase some time ago that I think applies: “The next big thing is always beneath contempt.” Implication being that it is, of course, until it isn’t. Until it’s too big to ignore. This has happened over and over again in our society. In the middle ages, people assumed that no serious discussion could happen in anything but Latin — the so-called “vulgar” languages had no merit. And writers assumed that nothing interesting or lasting would come from this new medium of television. And, I think, people assume right now that nothing important will be created from a 10” touch screen without a keyboard (let alone a tiny 3.5” screen)….

Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.

After months of “HTML5 or die” talk, Facebook sure seems to be putting resources back into native app development…

Good.

Was back on iPad Today last week talking Apple’s earnings, WWDC, iOS 6, and other things with Sarah.

Instead, I’ll link to Marco Arment’s tweet ripping Consumer Reports for — wait for it — recommending the new iPad as the top tablet on the market. 

Yes, just a couple weeks after “WarmGate” failed to light a fire under consumers, Consumer Reports has decided it will probably look better if they recommend what will become the best-selling tablet of all time. As we saw with the iPhone 4, it doesn’t really matter what they say anymore.

I’m going to give myself a large pat on the back for this one following their initial report on March 20:

We will absolutely have a follow-up story from them tomorrow. And probably another one the next day. Then one contradicting what was previous said (which they’ve already done, of course).

The cycle is complete.

My god is this app gorgeous. One of the best-looking iPad apps ever created, and a perfect example of creativity/creation on the device. 

It’s free, but there is an in-app charge for many of the tools. Totally worth it. 

David Streitfeld and Nick Bilton:

Google’s long-awaited tablet might finally be on the way to becoming a reality. For at least two years, there have been reports that the search giant was working on something that could compete with Apple’s iPad. A Google employee briefed on the project now says it will be out later this year.

That makes it sound like Google hasn’t really been trying to compete with the iPad for the past two years. Of course they have — they’ve just failed. Miserably. 

The sole purpose of Honeycomb was to invigorate the Android tablet market. It was an OS built for tablets. It was supposed to make Android tablets competitive with the iPad. It crashed and burned. 

What they mean, of course, without specifically saying it, is a “Nexus” tablet. Not built by Google, but with Google branding. Maybe that competes better, maybe it doesn’t. At sub-$200, I fail to see how it can possibly compete with the iPad. We’ll see.

But it’s nonsense to imply that Google hasn’t been trying to compete with the iPad until now.