I have made several comments about Twitter and iPads in my past blog posts. Now, I must admit, the two technologies I have been most reluctant to embrace are now potentially even better together – sort of like Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. Let me explain.
In honour of Twitter’s 5th birthday this past week, I have significantly increased the number of people I am following. The list was done much more judiciously, with a good mix of “experts” in areas that I have interest – technology, Canadian politics and woeful local Toronto sports teams (pick whichever you like). The clutter and volume (where do these guys find the time?) are still fairly overwhelming, but I do find that I’m much more on top of happenings the business and technology world, and following links has led me on some interesting new discoveries. I’ve also given up trying to follow a link on my Blackberry – 49 year old eyesight will do that to you. But on my office PC with a large monitor and the ability to follow multiple links, it’s an interesting experience. Incorporated into the workday in a structured and disciplined manner, it’s a great way to stay up to date. But it’s still pretty disorganized, pretty random and the volume is overwhelming.
That’s where the iPad comes in. With the release of Tweetmag (http://www.tweetmagapp.com/ ) I now have a convenient, portable way to view all this “stuff” in a much more organized fashion. Once again, the iPad’s utility is based completely on its form factor – and most importantly, on the fact that apps like this get done first for the iPad. So now my Angry Birds time can be cut down in favour of something slightly more intellectual.
I’m interested to see how the introduction of RIM’s Playbook and other tablets in the next few months will change the dynamic of the application development community. iPad has such a lead and such cachet, it will be interesting to see how the other companies prime the pump to get the necessary critical mass of applications – both time-wasters and “real”.