Solipskier is a fast paced skiing game where you draw the slopes with your mouse (or your finger) and an animated skier rides along. Obstacles come whipping by and it’s up to you to guide Solipskier through safely! If you hit a red gate, a wall of snow, or just plain fall below the bottom edge, Solipskier takes a comical fall to his splatworthy death! The music is great. It is one of those addicting games, but my favorite part about it is once you get the hang of it, it is really fun!

Solipskier can be played for free on Kongregate and you can also find it on the App Store. Android fans shouldn’t fret. You’ll see it soon.

It was great working with my friends Mikengreg porting this game to iOS. Once upon a time we sailed the same ship called Intuition Games.

Given I have a full time job, it took us 3 months to port Solipskier from flash to iOS. There were some tricky parts, but nothing we couldn’t handle. It took a bunch of weekends, a trip to Florida, and lots of Skype high fives to finish, but it was a pleasant experience! My girlfriend was even cool enough to support me the whole time! She’s pretty rad.

To top off the day, Solipskier is currently a featured App in the App Store!

A free issue of the Fantastic 4 in the Marvel app

So I waited three months to make sure if I really wanted it. I researched, I read, and I drooled. I made myself forget about it for awhile. But finally, my love of comic books overcame my hatred of Apple’s wankery and I bought an iPad, the cheapest version:  16GB WIFI.

And lord almighty, this machine is a comic lover’s dream. The form factor, battery-life, and touch interface are perfect for reading comic books. Before that, I was reading the occasional issue on my laptop or desktop to try out digital comics, but you can’t lie on your side in bed while reading on those devices. The desktop stays on the desk. The laptop heats up, makes fan and hard drive noises, and is really only feasible while lying on your back. Plus, I could never find an application that I liked – they were all slow or cumbersome, even on decent machines.

It’s a whole different game on the iPad.

There are a bunch of different apps to read comics on the iPad and they all have their strengths and flaws. Eventually I decided on Comic Zeal as the ideal reader, although I still have some problems with it. But I’ve been talking to the dev on Comic Zeal’s site, trying to give some feedback in hopes of making the app better. Other than that, the other apps aren’t bad. I like getting free comics from Marvel every few weeks through the Marvel app – that’s nice.

Before I bought it, I wasn’t sure if I’d like reading comics on the device of not – I made several trips to Best Buy and the Apple store to play with it to make sure. But the real test was a few days after I bought it, when I sat down to actually read some comics. At first it was a little strange, I couldn’t get past the interface and really get into the comics. The reading experience is different than a paper comic – you scroll the page and turn the pages, instead of moving your eyes to look down the page. It took me a few issues to get used to it, but then – WHAM! I looked up, four hours and thirty issues later and realized it was time to go to bed. Holy hell, it’s powerful awesome.

Now, I love reading all types of comics, but my true love is Spider-man, which I’ve been collecting since I was a kid. I have a full run of Web of Spider-man, Spider-man, Spectacular Spider-man, Amazing Spider-man (volume 2), Spider-man Unlimited, Sensational Spider-man (Vol 1 and 2), Marvel Knights Spider-man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, and a bunch of mini-series and one-shots. I’m about 150 issues away (mostly the expensive early ones, unfortunately) from a full run of Amazing Spider-man (volume 1). I’m still waiting to find an old lady at a garage sale to fleece her out of Amazing Fantasy 15 (fingers crossed!). All told, my collection contains well over a thousand printed issues.

Too many comics

The collector in me wants to keep all those print issues forever, but the digital monk in me wants to get rid of them, as much is feasible, for the sake of digital issues. Physical issues take up space, have to be moved, sorted, and protected in plastic sleeves. They stain, get wet, get chewed up by animals and kids, and have to be handled with care. I treat my comics well, but there’s a decent amount of comic collecting that is just maintenance of their physicality. Not to mention that reading physical comics in bed annoys my girlfriend – unwrapping the plastic, reading the book, rewrapping it in plastic, shifting the mattress to reach down to the long box by our bed to get the next issue – she’s a trooper, but she still complains from time to time. All that noise and movement isn’t necessary when reading comics on the iPad. So I’d like to completely transition to digital.

Of course, most of the comics I have are only available digitally through piracy, which isn’t an option for me.  I really like Spider-man and want to pay to ensure its continued production. The Amazing Spider-man, however, especially the expensive early issues I’m missing, is available on a DVD from Marvel. So I picked it up, as an experiment. I want to see if selling my print comics is really feasible or not. I want to know how I feel about only having the issues digitally. I’m still very attached to them (I’ve had some issues since I was eight years old), but sentimentality alone is no reason to keep stuff around.

So that’s why I bought an iPad. There are tons of problems with the machine – no Flash (already bothering me – hell, even the WordPress Stats add-on uses Flash to display graphs), lack of file management (data is stored inside Apps instead of separate files), crappy file syncing, no USB ports, and all that Apple App store wankery.

But for reading comics?

Pure unadulterated awesome.

Sometimes the glow is so beautiful that I must turn away for a moment.

Well, I finally did it. The inevitable event has a occurred. Today I purchased my first iPad.

I’d like to present you with a completely fair and unbiased review of my new product, but I can’t. I’m happy to admit my limitations in this matter. Unlike most humans, I’d hate to delude myself into thinking I can be clear-minded when I am simply moonstruck my the sweet glow of my new Apple product.

It’s imbued with a fulgent technological beauty. When you touch it, it’s like being pulled into a great masterpiece of art, fully emersed

Photoshoped dramatization of the iPad experience.

within the depth of the frame, being swept away by the brushstrokes. The display is simplicity at it’s finest, perfectly in tune to the flowing feng shui underbelly of the universe.

I am an Apple addict, or applee, as we cats call them. Apple can do no wrong and I do believe that if Apple openly stated their plans to take over the world, I would offer the full and unconditional support of my army of ninja cats without hesitation.

PROS:

• cat friendly operating system, simple & convenient
• an easy to use keyboard with no fur-sticking troubles
• a screen that appears to be impervious to scratches
• research apps to appease my random curiosities (googling curiosities is far safer than learning on the streets)
• a plethora of great apps from nutrition to music (cat piano!)
  

  Ninja cats waiting for the Apple command.

I’m not the first cat fan and I certainly won’t be the last. With over 3 million iPads sold and approximately 1 billion cats in the world, that means more feline applees wanting than having an iPad of their own. I’m thinking of starting up a One iPad per Every Thousand Cats charity group. (I’d do 1 ipad per cat, but let’s be realistic.)

In conclusion, the iPad is perfect for cats of all ages, and I think the humans will like it too.

The thing about the iPad, as it stands, is that it’s a media consumption device, not an input device. However, with a Bluetooth keyboard, it can be made serviceable for input. You can prop up your iPad, wirelessly attach a Bluetooth keyboard, and type away on your next novel. Now some might say, “Yo. Why would I buy an iPad, then? I have something that does that, it’s called a laptop, and it works just fine, thanks.”

This is a damn fine point. I’m not gonna try to argue around it by saying that it’s easier to pull out an iPad and get up and running than a laptop, since, while that might be true, by the time you set up the keyboard and all that, you haven’t really saved any time (in fact, you may have lost it). However, that argument is only valid if you own a laptop. If you don’t, we’re somewhere else entirely. Here’s the vision:

As smart phones get faster (or better network access and use cloud computing to hold data and handle the heavy processing), more and more computing tasks are able to be handled on a device that doesn’t have the proper interface to support them. I can surf the internet or enter text on my phone, but the small screen and tiny onscreen keyboard isn’t ideal for doing those tasks, even though the processor and memory can easily handle them.

So to overcome this we carry multiple devices for multiple things. If I wanted to do everything I would have to bring a phone for calls and texts, a laptop for writing documents, an e-reader for reading long documents, a tablet for media consumption, a projector for presentations, and…the list goes on. Now, the thing is, each of those devices (well, maybe not the projector) is a “smart” device, which means that much of the functionality is replicated across those devices. I’ve got a decent amount of overlap there.

But what if devices used a Distributed Device Interface? What if all the data processing could be handled by one device and additional interface elements could be added as needed, like a larger screen, a mouse, speakers, a keyboard, a projector, an e-ink screen, and so on. Much like you can make the iPad into a serviceable text entry machine with the addition of a keyboard, why can’t I make my phone into a serviceable text entry machine by adding a wirelessly connected larger screen and keyboard? Once I can do that, I don’t need an iPad, as long as the phone’s processor can handle the load.

Taking this a step further, why can’t the software interface I use to interact with the device change based on what hardware add-ons I have attached to it? If it’s by itself, the screen of my phone displays just phone needs and small application functions. If I attach a larger touch screen, the software interface switches to something akin to the iPad, since now I have the interface to support it. If I next attach a keyboard and mouse, the interface switches to something akin to Windows 7 or OSX.

The advantages of this setup are many. Instead of needing many smart devices, now I only need one smart device and several “dumb” interface enhancements, like a larger screen, a keyboard, or an e-ink screen. More so, if I do not need the entire interface, I’ve no need to bring it with me. I can bring just my phone and e-ink screen to the beach – I don’t need the keyboard or larger LCD touchscreen. I can go to my buddy’s house and hook my phone up to his projector to show him a movie I downloaded from iTunes – I don’t need to bring my laptop, or worry about trying to authorize his computer with my iTunes account. I have it in my pocket (or in the cloud and accessible from the device) and can just interface the two devices. If I go to a business meeting I can just bring my phone and a projector, instead of my phone, the projector, and a laptop.

I can tailor my experience to what I intend to use the device for, but I don’t have to worry about juggling files between a bunch of devices or forgetting a file on another machine. I also don’t have to worry about replacing a laptop if the keyboard breaks. Since every piece of the interface is separate, I can upgrade or replace them separately. I only need to own one “smart” device and several “dumb” enhancements. If my data and processing is stored in the cloud, even my phone becomes a “dumb” enhancement, used only for network access. Everything is disposable and I can tailor my experience to my needs without replicating functionality across multiple devices.

This has vast implications for other appliances, too. If companies focus on making phones (or pocket-able computing devices) easily interface with multiple hardware interfaces, devices that currently don’t have user interfaces may add them. I want to be able to control my household appliances, thermostats, lights, and other things from my phone.

On another interesting front, places like coffee shops could rent screens and keyboards to customers. So customers could surf the internet while having their coffees, then return the screens when they were done and walk away with their phones. Hotels could provide dumb interfaces for people who want to only bring their phone when they travel but still get work done. This could also be used to place orders in restaurants, by linking the phone with an ordering system. Once the phone is setup to more easily interface with many peripherals, using it as an access portal should become more ubiquitous.

It seems like if anything, the iPad should teach us that the lesson we need to learn is to separate devices into multiple interface pieces, rather than replicate processing and data syncing functionality over multiple devices. Certainly, we aren’t quite there yet – my little phone can’t handle the full load of something like my laptop. Not yet, anyway. And there’s battery life to consider, too. But we’re getting there. It’s just a matter of time.

So, this Apple iPad thing was announced and demonstrated, right? Man, how exciting. How wonderful and interesting and everything. It’s like, man, you know? Or something.

And the thing is, we all wanted to be excited about this, Apple. We wanted to give you our firstborns in exchange for a small tablet-sized device that would revolutionize the way that we interacted with computers and the internet.

But we can’t be excited about what you gave us, Apple. It’s just an iPod Touch with a big screen, Apple. Why did you think that was a good idea? It’s not. Because I already have an iPhone and that has a camera and makes phone calls.

The screen size, Apple, is not the point of the thing. That’s a side effect of the form factor, and the form factor is not why people really wanted a tablet from you.
They wanted a tablet from you because they wanted a fresh round of innovation, Apple. They wanted to be inspired. They wanted to see how Steve Jobs would make an awesome, useful device if he was given an excuse to launch one.

It’s not the size, Apple. It’s the opportunity to release something new. Because you usually rise to that occasion with characteristic aplomb.

But you, you thought it was all about the size of the device. You thought we wanted it for a REASON and that REASON was the FORM-FACTOR. That’s not it at all. We wanted you to push limits, make technology improve our lives in ways we didn’t even know we needed improving. We wanted to be surprised, but we were going to settle for you listening to our suggestions.

Oh, but Apple, why did you do what you did? You didn’t surprise us. You didn’t even listen to us.

Why can’t we run background applications on the iPad, Apple? You’ve built a computer. Why can’t we use it like a computer?

Why isn’t there a camera, Apple? We wanted to finally make video chat a part of our lives on a regular basis. We can’t do that without a camera, Apple.

Why isn’t there built in handwriting recognition, Apple? Sure, we can buy a stylus and an iPhone app like WritePad to do this, but we can’t do it in Safari, or email, or anywhere else. We don’t like typing on onscreen keyboards without tactile feedback, Apple. Why can’t we write instead, with our hands, dead simple, the way we learned in first grade? You put “pad” in the name of the device and yet the device cannot be used as a note-pad.

Why did you pick AT&T again, Apple? Their data network can’t even support all the phones you made. Why don’t you give us a choice, Apple?

Why won’t you allow users to install whatever programs they want, Apple? Why do I have to ask you for permission to do what I want with my device?

Why didn’t you give us a reason to use your device, Apple? Why didn’t you make us think – wow, that’s something I’d like to do someday, as we all looked on in awe, glimpsing into the future? Why didn’t you do that?

All you did, Apple, was make it easier to watch movies on the couch. Now, I don’t mind holding my hot laptop on my chest. But now, I can hold a tablet instead. I didn’t ask for that, Apple. I don’t need that, Apple. I’m not inspired by that, Apple.

I asked to be inspired by the future and by your relentless march into it, leading ahead as a visionary, while we poor naves wandered behind, squinting at the bright light. Instead, you want to charge me 500 bucks for a laptop really big iPod Touch.

Thanks, but no thanks, Apple.