Wednesday, January 27, 2010

While Steve Jobs Announces...

I am cooking and keeping an eye on the live blogging of the much-hyped iPad. So far my favorite coverage is from The Onion: Frantic Steve Jobs Stays Up All Night Designing Apple Tablet.

From the New York Times BITS blog, I have learned that "The New iPad Looks Like a Big iPhone" and that it has crisp colors, a touch screen, and (so Jobs says) a long battery life -- BITS warns "there’s a long history of power hyperbole in all categories of gadgets."

The reporter promised: "I’m cutting out all of Mr. Jobs’s 'phenomenals' and 'amazings' and 'incredibles,' folks. Just assume they are there." So this is not as good as being there.

Simultaneously, I'm working on the food I bought at Whole Foods this morning. I scaled and oven-grilled a large salmon fillet, and covered it with mayo, lemon, and herbs for tonight's dinner. I cut up a whole chicken -- too good a deal to pass up -- and I'm simmering stock from the backbone, wing tips, and keel bone. I broke up two heads of organic garlic to fit in my garlic jar. And I cooked some baby eggplant with onion, spices, and tomatoes. (Very weird thing: the Dei Fratelli brand canned tomatoes were labeled "Whole Tomatoes" but inside the can I found sliced tomatoes with identifiable bits of celery and pepper. Note to self, buy a different brand of tomatoes next time).

I've learned that Steve Jobs looks thin. There are various apps for doing stuff like photo touch ups and lots of music. And the New York Times is reporting on the iPad app for The New York Times. “We think we captured the essence of reading a newspaper,” sums up what they've done.

Would the iPad be better for what I'm doing right now on the full-sized desktop Mac in my kitchen? I don't know, but maybe it would be easier to clean tomato sauce and other food off of it, as has to be done with this one from time to time when my food prep sloshes over the divider between the counter and the desk. I guess I better check for fish scales. I wonder what they would do to the iPad.

No scales there. I'm mainly done with washing all the pots, pans, knives, and cutting boards. Writes the BITS guy: "Seems like it is living up to the hype, or at least coming close."

"'Isn’t this awesome?' Jobs says. It is, but everything looks good on stage. Nothing ages faster than the future when you get it in your hands."

Finally, they've gotten to the Books app -- "Apple and Amazon are on a collision course." Now this could make a difference to me. I wonder if they will have cookbooks. Again, I hope it's washable. Guess I'm done.

2 comments:

Cynthia Bertelsen said...

I've heard about jokes and the name "iPad" that girls might tell in the locker room ... if girls told jokes like that in the locker room, that is.

Mae Travels said...

Cindy-- There's a lot of that going around. All Things Considered ALREADY LONG AGO had done a joke "what if we combined the iPod with those terrible feminine hygiene jokes?" and they seem to have resurrected it but I didn't have time to listen today.