Four Yorkshiremen and an iPad

After the introduction of the iPad last week a lot of hackers (in the Hackers and Painters sense) published a lot of blog articles bemoaning its closed nature - e.g. Tinkerers Sunset. They sound like the Four Yorkshiremen from Monty Python.

They miss the point. The argument that the iPad coming with no programming manual means that there is going to be a sudden drop in the number of engineers is totally bogus. There are enough open programmable platforms around today - far more than when I were a lad - that those that have an inkling to start tinkering have ample platforms on which to do it. It’s like arguing that a book is not a word processor therefore no one will learn how to write.

The iPad is not a game changer. It’s a new game. Interacting with things with your fingers is the most natural thing in the World. Just like the Nintendo Wii opened up gaming to whole new set of gamers, the iPad will open up the world of digital media to whole new set of consumers. Thinking about the iPad within the context of our current models of computing and interaction is like not thinking. Imagine there are no computers. Now imagine a device for accessing digital media. What does it look like?

Yes. It’s not perfect. It’s version 1.0. There’s no camera for goodness sake. But it’s a very interesting step.

I hope something like this finds its way into schools to replace both laptops and heavy outdated textbooks. Then perhaps the kids can get back to learning reading, writing and arithmetic. Rather than learning how to click on the blue underlined words.

And now here’s Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Marty Feldman performing the original Four Yorkshiremen sketch from At Last the 1948 Show.