#eventprofs Watching the launch of Apple's latest toy the iPad on UStream Live. It's amazing that the norm now is that people are streaming live video from inside the auditorium, sharing photos of the screen and slides and blogging them live - Apple haven't finished their launch presentation and Twitter and the tech blogs are alive with feedback, comments and opinion. Extraordinary.
On a positive note, the simplicity of the conference set up is brilliant - a single large projection screen against a black backdrop, simple Keynote slides on a grey (graduated) background with single images or simple text. The presenter has the run of the stage with a lectern at the side for when its needed.
Short presentations from each presenter on a single subject with swift handovers to different content specialists.
The whole thing is simple, structured and slick - I just don't get the uncontrolled live streams from the audience - couldn't Apple have set up an official stream with good bandwidth and made it available to the press and tech blogs?
Will we buy an iPad? Probably won't be able to resist (Keynote looks particularly exciting on the iPad)
COMMENT ON THE iPAD - It's difficult to say whether the iPad will be a success and change the way we work. Time will tell. Our impression is that it will be defined by the Apps that are developed for it. The iPhone in its basic form is inferior to many of its' competitors - there are better phones with better specifications, better cameras, that handle email better and so on. But once the Apps started to come, the way we use the iPhone changed and the number of things we could do with it changed - to the point that true converts would feel naked without one in their hand.
I suspect that the iPad will follow a similar route. It will be normal to have an iPad by your side on the sofa or in a meeting. There will be no need for expensive software suites, instead there will be task specific Apps, at $9.99 or similar price point and you will be able to do lots with it.
Frustrations? DRM - Apple have set out to control video, music and book content and they don't want you to share it. Where is the webcam or camera - it seems an obvious oversight.
Looking forward to getting our hands on one and seeing how it works for real.