We deserve a big smack on the head for expecting Apple to give us everything they’ve got. Quite simply, if the iPad had a camera (front-facing) able to video chat, the world would end because it would be perfect. But see, that product with a front-facing camera is the dream product. The big iPhone 3G rumor was a front-facing camera, and it came again with the 3GS, and again with today’s iPad.

Apple never gives us everything we want. And they are probably the only company that can do that. When the iPhone came out without copy-and-paste, without 3G, without video recording, without a lot of the features that were starting to become the norm, people were upset. But see, people bought it. And to think that Apple didn’t have the iPhone 3G nearly-ready within a few months after the original phone’s launch would be dumb. Right now, sitting probably in Steve Job’s office, are the next generation iPhone running 4.0 software and an iPad with a camera capable of video chatting.

Apple’s got products they could release ready right now, but they can’t give us everything we want. Because when they come out in 8-12 months launching a new one, they have to have something killer. But the same cycle will continue, we all want something but they won’t give it to us. And the next one they’ll give us that, but not something else. And so on, and so on.

That’s Apple for ya. The iPad is a slick device and when Steve showed it off today, he proved that.

Whether or not the same Apple “don’t give them everything they want” strategy will work with the tablet, I’m not sure yet. The iPhone is pretty much a must-have device. The first one revolutionized phones and the other two were substantially better improvements.

But the iPad, we’ll have to wait and see if it’s revolutionary. As more and more apps are built for it, I think it may be… the possibilities of what this can do are endless. In the medical market, this could easily replace those crappy tablets currently in use once a medical application is built and accessories for things like blood pressure, blood sugar, heart pressure, etc, this could be big in the medical community. In the school market, this could finally be the digital medium for textbooks where students can use textbook apps interactively: reading, taking quizzes, marking key sections, e-highlighting, etc. In the magazine market, it’ll be even more incredible: as Time and Conde Naste have both made mockup apps which were designed to be placed on the iPad originally, the magazine space could reinvent itself. Picture this Mag+ idea as an app on the iPad:

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

That would be revolutionary.

And the most revolutionary aspect of them all is that this one device can do hundreds of thousands of things, it can revolutionize all of these markets at the same time.

That fact is what’s being underestimated here, and that’s why the iPad is the way of the future.

Now if only it would let me video chat… second generation iPad anyone?

the new streaming music service via the cloud (not a subscription service) followed with an announcement of the tablet (I’m fine with the name iPad, I like it more than iSlate which doesn’t roll off the tongue) and to cap it all off a demo of the iPhone 4.0 software (that’s a stretch, and possibly a look at hardware.)

ps: the tablet must have a front facing camera or that’s just lame.

when reading the APE textbook and realizing that half of the information in it was never taught to us, that’s a problem.

how are we, as students, expected to take quizzes, tests (all leading up to the AP exam) when our teacher hasn’t taught the content to us and doesn’t know how to explain things? textbooks are there to aid our studies and as an underlying basis for them, however the teacher is supposed to present the content in a way that appeals to students and makes us learn the content, not relay on the textbook to teach us (aka her job).

we can’t be expected to stand for a class that is taught by a woman that is focused on the apparent racism and sexism in society, that doesn’t know how to correctly speak the English language, and that needs to feel power and control more so than concern for students studies and education.

so to quote our infamous teacher: “peace, two fingers, ga-bye”

*APE = AP European History

Dear Apple,

Here’s what I’d like (hardware-wise) in a new iPhone:

• a new, better camera with flash

• an OLED screen with a higher resolution

• a front-facing camera (obviously implying video chat)

• 64GB of space•a new case/design that’s not the same as the 3G and 3GS.

• a slightly faster processor (because even the 3GS could be a little better)

and that’s pretty much it.

software-wise, though, is a different story:

• a new unlock screen that displays information without erasing the last notification

• a new home screen to easily get to apps

• a new notification method that doesn’t stop what i’m doing

• a unified Mail inbox that combines all accounts

• the ability to sync wireless, so instead of having to dock or plug my phone in, just getting near my computer would start a sync.

• video calls

• (a stretch) the ability to make VoIP calls — here’s my secret wish for Apple to actually buy iCall like it was rumored and allow customers to make calls over wifi and receive them over wifi. this would be awesome and huge and incredible and… it’s probably not gonna happen.

that’s all i can think of now, but i’ve easily got more things they could improve on.

cheers everyone.

as you may know, i’ve been dabbling into the dark arts lately. and when I say dark arts, i obviously mean creating projects (internet-based technological software specifically).

from what i’ve divulged in the past, i’ve obviously been working on a news publication for a *long* time. but see, the problem with projects like these is the lack of a *developer*. so, i was on the hunt for a web developer for a *long* time. but when school started up again in September, that hunt turned into a (since i can’t find a better term) less important hunt. a hunt that wasn’t really getting finished.

so, that hunt took a little break. but see, being the person i am, i began a new project. and this project, in my opinion, has the potential to be big.

while I won’t announce the name for the world, checking your resources might give you a big clue.

so, what’s the project all about? communication, with ease. for years, yes years, one thing has attracted me about the blackberry. BBM.

quite simply, the service is one of the best ways of communication out there. it’s exclusive to whomever you’d want to talk to, it’s easy to use, and it’s able to, which is undoubtedly it’s best feature, see if messages have been read or not. it’s a great application that, to use an Apple line, “just works.” (except, obviously, when the service is down.)

after mentioning my appreciation for BBM in a post a few months ago, I went on the search for iPhone apps that duplicated that function. Three apps come close: Ping!, WhatsApp, and (just released) Blipr. my use of “close” though, is the keyword. When Ping! first came out, it was it. WhatsApp received less fanfare, and Blipr, while it only launched recently, got a TechCrunch article. But here’s the problem, they don’t “just work.” using those apps, you can see the successes and the flaws of the design and, in general, you notice how it works. how these apps work shouldn’t be noticed. they should just flow as if they were there originally. as if (in the case of the iPhone) Apple had made it.

unfortunately, Apple hasn’t made it. so, after i watched the progression of “swings-and-misses”, I started a new project. from my words above, you should be able to tell what that project is.

and now, after a few months of off-and-on designing, Step 1 (the ui) is complete. Step 2, though, needs to begin. and that’s why the title of this post is “calling all teen developers”.

if you know how to code, develop, and build applications, I’m looking at you. you don’t have to be a master coder, you don’t have to be well-known.. you do, however, need to know to how to build good looking applications (specifically be well versed in the iPhone and, potentially, Android SDKs), and you do need to be younger than mid-20s. why do i say that, because I have no interest in working with some old fogey on a project that i need a stable partner for.

this isn’t a gig i can post on craigslist and say “i need a coder for two weeks, pays $$$.”

I need a developer to work with me, to build an application, to have ideas on how to improve it, and to be interested in technology and improving people’s lives.

if you think you can help, email me and let’s build something important.

—

jon@jonathanfriedman.com

spencerbee:

Alright everybody, the moment I’ve been waiting for! Time to unveil my “Best of 2009” playlist, highlighting my favorite tracks of 2009. You can download it for free! I’ve even included liner notes and custom album art by tsnsak!

Track listing:

01: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - “Zero”
02: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - “Young Adult Friction”
03: Crocodiles - “I Wanna Kill”
04: Wavves - “Gun In The Sun”
05: Peter Bjorn and John - “It Don’t Move Me”
06: Phoenix - “Rome”
07: Passion Pit - “The Reeling”
08: The xx - “Basic Space”
09: Air - “Do The Joy”
10: Depeche Mode - “Hole To Feed”
11: Animal Collective - “Summertime Clothes”
12: M. Ward - “One Hundred Million Years”
13: Emmy the Great - “The Easter Parade”
14: St. Vincent - “Actor Out Of Work”
15: Camera Obscura - “Swans”
16: Here We Go Magic - “Tunnelvision”
17: The Decemberists - “Isn’t It a Lovely Night?”
18: Grizzly Bear - “Two Weeks”
19: Atlas Sound - “Walkabout”
20: Lotus Plaza - “Red Oak Way”
21: A Grave With No Name - “Stone Setting”
22: Yo La Tengo - “Periodically Double or Triple”
23:  The Flaming Lips - “I Can Be a Frog”
24: Fanfarlo - “I’m A Pilot”
25: The Mountain Goats” - Genesis 30:3”
26: A.A. Bondy - “The Mightiest of Guns”
27: Animal Collective - “What Would I Want? Sky”
28: Dan Deacon - “Snookered”
29: Jónsi & Alex - “Boy 1904”
30: Fuck Buttons - “Surf Solar”
31: Animal Collective - “In The Flowers”

There you have it, 31 of my favorite songs that you can download for free here!

Breathtaking. By far the most incredible movie ever made.