The Apple iPad Falls Short

I so wanted to like the iPad. I anxiously anticipated its announcement last week, only to find myself disappointed.

I love Apple products. I have an iPhone. I have a MacBook Pro. What I was hoping was that Apple would create a keyboard-less MacBook with a touchscreen. Intsead, they created a jumbo-sized iPhone. Frankly, that’s not what I want.

Thinking about it for a while, I’ve put together a list of things that the iPad needed to be to tempt me to get one.

• Native Mac OS X with the ability to run iPhone Apps. What use is a portable device that big if it doesn’t have the ability to function like a laptop first and foremost?
• Dvorak Simplified Keyboard support. As a Dvorak typist, this was probably the biggest deal-breaker of them alll. Nothing in the features or specs says anything about Dvorak keyboard support. I can’t type QWERTY anymore, and lord knows I ain’t switching back, especially for the iPad.
• Syncing capability with a primary Mac computer. The size of a tablet device limits the amount of onboard memory it can have, so why not be able to specify through iTunes, what applications you want to run on the iPad and be able to sync as required? And not only that, but sync specified folders either through iTunes or MobileMe so you can work on files on the road, but they can be updated automatically, or through sycing, back on you main computer?
• Bluetooth. I didn’t see this listed, so, nuts to that.
• Tether capabities with the iPhone, and no extra data plan required.

Is that so hard? I don’t think so. Maybe Apple will develop an actual tablet computer sometime.. but for now, the iPad is not something I need when I already have an iPhone and a MacBook Pro.

Books I Plan To Read in 2010

I get books at a much faster rate than I read them. I am hoping to play catch up  this year on books I got last year but never started, as well as start and finish new books published this year. So, here’s what’s on my list to read this year.

THE UNNAMED, Joshua Ferris – I read Ferris’s debut novel THEN WE CAME TO THE END a couple years ago and enjoyed it, and have been looking forward to reading his second, which comes out in January 2010.

THE FINANCIAL LIVES OP POETS, Jess Walter - This book is highly recommended by Nick Hornby, my favorite author, and I actually purchased it before learning about that because I was

EMPIRE FALLS, Richard Russo - My boss recommended this book, and I bought it.

PLAN B, jonathan Tropper - Last year I read three of Tropper’s novels, and have two more. This one is his debut novel (the first one I read was his new one, THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU) which I started, but didn’t finish. After this one is done, I move onto EVERYTHING CHANGES.

HOW WE ARE HUNGRY, Dave Eggers - I’ve been looking to read Dave Eggers for a while, and figure this collection of short fiction is a god place to start.

IT FEELS SO GOOD WHEN I STOP,  Joe Pernice - Another book with high marks from Nick Hornby. I plan to get a copy at some point this year and read it.

There are other books on my shelf I hope to read this year as well, but the aforementioned books are higher priority reads. Of course, there are bound to be new releases that I am not aware of that I’ll want to read and give high priority to, but for now, this is my short list of must reads for 2010… in actuality, I’ll read more.

Not on the list is James Patterson, whose novels used to be absolute must-reads, but have now became When-I-Can-Get-To-Them books. Once a devoted fan of his Alex Cross series, I’ve felt his recent books of that series to be lazy and less developed as the early books of the series. The Maximum Ride series started off great, but after the second one, they took a horrible turn for the worst. A new book of the Alex Cross series (which i haven’t read yet) came out last year and a new one of  the Women’s Murder Club series coming out this year, so I’ll probably take a chance on them.

Missing Ben Folds in Buffalo

Okay, anyone who has read this blog knows I am a fan of Nick Hornby. Hornby, as it turns out, is in the process of collaborating with Ben Folds on an album (nicknamed “The Foldsby Project”). Despite my knowledge and that Ben Folds was coming to Buffalo last week, I never even thought about getting tickets for the show.

Looks like I should have gone.

Folds also shared a pair of songs from a new album in progress, which will feature lyrics by novelist and established music geek Nick Hornby. One of these, a tale about a fictional aging rock star who had a hit in the ’70s called “Belinda” and can’t stand singing it every night for the memories it dredges up, was fantastically clever.

Oh well. I guess I’ll wait for the Folds/Hornby album to come out next year, which will hopefully be promoted in part with another tour. In the meantime, I’ll settle for listening to the Foldsby demos that hit the internet.

Regrets aside, Hornby’s collaboration with Ben Folds has brought me to rediscover Folds’ music (old and new) which will probably start occupying my iTunes Library in increasing numbers.