iPad 2

[lsmart]

@Kolla you are thinking of the iPad like it's a "PC" device... It isn't, the average Joe on the street really doesn't care about all that tech stuff... And that I guess is why iPads sell and other tablets don't!

Apple dropped the "Computer" not only from it´s name. It is not the "PC" as in "IBM compatible" that the iPad is different from - the iPad is no computer. Neither is the iPhone. Of course it´s got all the hardware it would need to be a computer, but the software is as locked down as in a DSLR or other apliance. Sure you can get Apps, but the user is not supposed to do arbitrary calculations, simulations or mathematical research and analysis on that machine. The user is not supposed to run a ray-tracing package or do serious processing. Apple prevents those things without even realizing it.

That´s why this device is appealing to the general public but extremely boring and frustrating for people who like computers.

[lsmart]

But I have to give them credit that I can as a bedroom coder make enough money to make ends meet because their IPhone/iPad app store...

That´s what Jobs is proud of, and you really have to give him credit for that.

However I personally can´t justify paying Apple 100EUR for a cryptographic key to store my own programs on my own device each year, because I only write about one and a half simple tools during that period. And nobody except myself is ever likely to look at my results. But I love doing that stuff, so I am not doing them on iPhone or iPad anymore.

Apples policy wouldn´t hurt me, if they allowed 3rd party programming environments (think UAE, VICE or even Flash). But unfortunately this goes against their mantra and the target market. And jailbreaking just sucks.

[lsmart]

.  Its okay for Apple to protect the 'Apple way' really it is.

Unless the new Apple way solely consists of protecting the Apple way. Kind of like governments.

I can copy files to and from my iPad quite easily, I can write code in a free IDE and run it on my iOS device.  I don't need anyones permission to do this.

In other words you did a jailbreak. Which means you practically lost some of the fabled benefits of apples walled garden.

Don´t get me wrong. I am a Mac user and have been since they bought NeXT. And I think my iPhone is a landmark in mobile history, but I none the less honestly believe that all Apple DRM sucks big time, is a major turnoff and completely antidemocratic.

[lsmart]

Got zero experience in using it, but I believe you can design/draw an interface complete with buttons, listviews, add windows etc like you would do in something like VB or AVD.  The language is C++, perhaps it supports other languages as well.

Xcode (the former Interface Builder part) has a very polished editor. If you know what you are doing you can manage hundreds of options with no problems while maintaining a good overview. The concept of nib-files (basically deep fried gadgets, menus and windows, that your software doesn´t have to configure or even instantiate again) is a great idea. The language of choice is Objective C. The C++-bridge is there, but it´s clumsy like a Sidecar. Java support is somewhat defying the purpose, because you lose the cross-platform advantage and iPhone & iPad don´t support Java at all. XCode includes an iPod/iPhone/iPad-simulator that runs native Mac-code and libraries instead of the ones of the development target, which may lead to incompatibilities.

[lsmart]

Q.  If iPad and Apple are so cool how come Steve Jobs tucks his top into his jeans ?
He's just an ordinary geek...!

A geek indeed: Steve never selects his public outfit at random. Until 1998 he was wearing expensive and highly fashionable suits at all presentations. Steve figured in order to get the "Think Different" slogan to work and to re-adapt to the rainbow colored Apple-crowd he had to choose a style that was both visually appealing and orderly, as well as clearly distinctive from the elite he was hanging out with. Not too counter-culture, not too stylish, not too business-like.

I bet he tried 500 different styles and made thrice as many photographs before settling on his trademark turtleneck, which also happens to be a style he is very comfortable wearing, since he used to be a jeans & T-shirt-guy in the late 70s.