Here’s how to get where I am (assuming you have a Windows 7 computer with Bluetooth…and assuming you own a $69 Magic Trackpad)

1. Pair your trackpad (no code needed) with your computer via Bluetooth. You’ll only get basic pointing functions when you do this but that’s the first step that I did.
2. Download this and open/install it. It’s Apple’s Magic Trackpad driver, extracted from one of their more recent Boot Camp updates.
3. Let Windows re-recognize your trackpad. You’ll lose the ability to point and click for several seconds, but when that ability comes back tap-to-click, two-finger-tap-to-right-click, two-finger scrolling, bottom-left-corner right-click and other features will be enabled on your aluminum-and-glass pointing masterpiece.

One big caveat: there is no way to enable/disable any of the above features (mentioned in step 3). They’re all turned on, and combined with the fact that you’re using a touchpad on what I presume is a desktop computer, you may be in for a jumpy, potentially maddening experience. I am unsure of whether Apple’s Boot Camp Windows application will install on a non-Apple piece of kit, but that’s where the settings for this device are. So if you want to turn off tap-to-click, try installing that (download Apple’s latest Boot Camp update and extract with 7-zip, then extract various files again until you find what you’re looking for).

I hope the above post inspires and enlightens others to follow where I have trod, albeit a bit more easily since a 1.77MB file is smaller than a 280MB one. Comment back if you’re able to piece together the settings part of this puzzle, or if you’ve experienced success in your endeavor at the above.

1. SIP VoIP, over 3G and WiFi, with Bluetooth and in the background
I’ve successfully run phone calls over AT&T’s HSPA network, so assuming the processor on the iPad is “all that” this shouldn’t be difficult. If I can get a SIP client that connects to a Bluetooth headset and allows other applications “up front” without killing voice quality then I’ve got a very versatile system for nformation gathering while “on the phone.” This is particularly useful when you see my other requests below:

2. Full-fledged RDP, SSH and VNC clients…and either GoToMyPC or LogMeIn if at all possible
The iPad can be an excellent remote access tool; its screen has enough resolution to run any modern OS without having to scroll around. Add in the keyboard accessory and you’ve got a lovely little remote terminal that works anywhere AT&T has service (I’m talking about the 3G version here). Or any other non-AWS GSM or 3G carrier for that matter; the device is unlocked. SSH would be a godsend for doing command line heavy lifting, though you’d need a host to SSH to in this case (not a big deal for me). Even nicer, all of the above will likely be available for the iPad as App Store apps; no jailbreaking required.

3. A high-quality PDF viewer
I want a PDF viewer that can search and copy text, preferably at least as good as Preview. Yes, Preview can be outdone with PDFs…it’s not the most compatible piece of PDF reader in the world unfortunately.

4. File download capability, preferably with an FTP/SFTP client as well as your standard HTTP access
The iPad has an accessory port, and that accessory port already allows for an SD card reader and a USB port. If you could mount that USB port or SD reader as a drive letter (possible with the OS, but probably will need to be hacked) then there’s a TON of stuff you could do with the iPad, though things start to get kludgy once you realize that you can’t hook up a keyboard and a hard disk/SD card simultaneously. Hmm, maybe the keyboard dock could have a pass-through dock connector…or have an application that would use internal memory as a cache for editing files so you could unplug the drive, edit the files with the keyboard attached, then plug back in and write the files. Heck, wile I’m at it, why not let shares on AFP and SMB be mountable to the device?

5. WiFi printing
This will likely be implemented in short order as an application, though hopefully it will be available throughout the operating system. THat way I can go to a website, grab a PDF of some sort (documentation, textbook, whatever) and send it to a networked printer. No muss, no fuss.

6. Network diagnostics, both standard and wireless (including 3G)
I’m not just talking ping/traceroute/speedtest, though those would be nice. I’m talking about field-test-level stats on wireless and 3G. Why 3G? Well, for one AT&T isn’t the only 3G carrier out there, and if network engineers on smaller carriers can troubleshoot their cellular deployments on a cheap-ish, small device then maybe there will be more field testing going on. On the WiFi side, an iStumbler-esque application would be lovely, complete with a signal strength history graph, with geotagging of signals if at all possible (though this would take a toll on battery life). Heck, add the geolocation to the 3G field test if at all possible and just for kicks port WireShark to the iPad and you’ve got one powerful network analysis device in a pound-and-a-half package.

7. Voice recorder, preferably with backgrounding
I’m guessing this will be included when the iPad ships, but it would be lovely to be able to take the iPad to a lecture or an interview and use it to record the conversation. Even cooler would be an application that would combine a text editor with the voice recorder; in “review” mode you could seek through a recording by going to a place in the text notes, and the other way around.

8. OneNote-like application
Capacitative styli are available. Make an application that allows for text notes, handwriteen notes/diagrams and even voice notes all together. Great for school and for college newspaper writers like myself

9. Access to a bash shell on-device
I’m sure this will only be available when the device is jailbroken, but it would definitely be useful. A full shell, complete with nano for text editing etc., would make the iPad a lightweight BSD workstation, and who doesn’t like lightweight *nix workstations?

Sure, I’m reaching a bit for the above things, but the hardware is all there; you just have to either open up the software or make an application. There are a few subsystems that would be nice to have,a dn they might even be available inthe upcoming iPhone OS 3.2. In all honesty, I think Apple is going to have to make this device rather hackable for enough people to buy it; they’re blazing the trail for a new category of device and if they shun the “Woz box” mentality they’ll be selling very few of these things once the fanboys and their contituents finish buying (which should take about 45 days).

Preliminary Notes

Verizon doesn’t use SIM cards. Neither does Sprint. While I think it’d be awesome to see a dual-radio network-agnostic iPhone (like the Blackberry Storm and some new HTC units) I don’t foresee that happening. As for a dual CDMA radio setup that would “bond” two networks together for fast downloads, not gonna happen. The engineering and billing logistics just don’t work out. The best that’ll realistically happen is either an LTE iPhone (I doubt it’ll come out for WiMAX unfortunately) or *possibly* an iPhone “world phone” with CDMA and GSM/HSPA a la the Blackberry Storm if Verizon gets the new exclusive.

Now that that’s off my, and Mike Rundle’s, chest…

Q: Do you think Apple would be more, or less, successful if they adopted a more open strategy (i.e. allowing other MP3 players in iTunes)?

A: At worst, they’d be just as successful. They might be forced to compete a little more on features, especially on the Mac side (where there’s no Windows Media Player and thus no simple way to sync music with a non-iTunes-supported player). However the influx of people using third-party devices on iTunes would make up for any people who might pick a $30 other-brand MP3 player over Apple’s own. Not like those people would buy an iPod in the first place…

On other fronts, they’d probably indeed be more popular by taking a more open stance on some projects (ahem, iPhone). At least blame the carriers for crippling your device rather than sitting down and letting AT&T pass the buck to you on why Google Voice has to be a (perfectly functional) web app rather than an on-phone application.

Back to the music side of things. I’ve actually owned both an iTunes-compatible non-iPod MP3 player (Creative MuVo Mix, came free with an eMusic subscription, Audible compatible) and an MP3 player (Creative Zen Vision M) and online service (Yahoo Music Unlimited To Go, now Crap…er…Rhapsody) that didn’t work so great on OS X, ostensibly through no fault of Apple’s own. Of course, if Microsoft has clandestinely offered Apple the ability to use PlaysForSure in OS X (I used VMWare + Windows XP to use the software) and Apple refused, the openness ball is back in Apple’s court. Sure, the Zen works in Mass Storage mode in OS X, but the ideal situation is in a Windows/Windows Media Player 10-or-higher environment.

That said, Apple has ported iTunes to Windows. Then again, it was an obvious business move. Who’s going to pay $1000 up front for a computer to use a $200 MP3 player, even if it is the best thing since sliced bread? Apple has shown that they have at least some brains regarding accepted standards in other avenues too; the iPhone supports Exchange now and Snow Leopard will support it when that OS comes out.

Q: Do you think Apple should face serious antitrust action?

A: For the iPod/iTunes semi-lockin, absolutely not. For the long iPhone exclusivity contract (longer than any popular phone I know of) and annoying yearly-on-a-two-year-contract upgrade schedule, yes. While product cycles in the smartphone market are about a year, Apple’s rather slow feature creep is a bit ludicrous, punishing anyone who bought the iPhone 3G by offering a rather minor upgrade halfway through people’s contracts. Granted, people can choose to buy (or not buy) the iPhone, but with the exclusivity contract thrown in, things get even dicier.

My proposition: exclusivity contracts for phones must expire after two years for a given model, or three months prior to that model’s discontinuation, whichever comes first. I won’t go so far as to say that GSM-only phones must be made available on CDMA-only networks and vice versa, but the exclusivity agreement on the iPhone has given AT&T more customers than they know what to do with (or at least more than their engineering department knows how to cope with on the 3G network side of things). Yet AT&T keeps selling iPhones, and the market failure exacerbates itself. With the exclusivity idea I suggested above, the first-gen iPhone would be available on T-Mobile, and the iPhone 3G would be available in a few more months, if not already.

Q: Do you think Apple’s dexterity and competence forgive their bad behavior?

A: Nope.

So, what do you think?

…because of this and this.

First, if Apple is going to lift a commercial from the US that states something quantifiable (twice as fast [as the original iPhone]) on their iPhone 3G commercial, which is focused on speed, they had better quantify it better than “really fast”, especially when the only quantifiable thing in the ad is the (simulared) screenhot video of the phone…going much faster than it would in real life.

For all the fanboys out there, I know that, in theory, the phone could pull down a PDF file as fast as it did on the commercial over HSDPA. In reality, however, such speed would never happen on a consumer network. Surpise: Apple is selling the iPhones to consumers on a consumer 3G network, and the ad cites the iPhone’s 3G speeds. I’ll hand it to you, WiFi may be able to download at the speeds shown for Google Maps and the attachment download, but definitely not HSDPA. The reason? HSDPA (the iPhone doesn’t have HSUPA to my knowledge) has latencies in excess of 300 ms on average, so tack that on to anything you want to download. Think of it as halfway between low-end DSL and a high-quality satellite connection. Or what you get on your normal, non-super-3G cell phone.

Honestly, WiFi on the iphone isn’t much better than the practical limits of 3G. Assuming that you have a big enough pipe coming into your WiFi network, the iPhone tests out at only about 4.5 megabits per second…and this test was made via a special speedtest app on my Comcast connection, which bursts above 20 Mbps, sometimes above 30 Mbps. Certainly above 4.5 Mbps.

Random: is it just me, or did anyone else see an earlier version of this “twice as fast” commercial where the disembodied hand was downloading a QuickTime movie? It may have just been me, but if that ad was aired, let loose all the dogs of Truth In Advertising…there’s no way a phone could download a file that fast with current technology, even over WiFi.

Back to the 3G: web browsing involves rendering of the page. The only way for the iPhone to load and render like was seen on the ad? Cacheing. Possible, but not a showcase of the phone’s 3G abiity. Strike…three?

Enough with that rant…

My second point of contention: Google had to break Apple’s software development rules in order to create what’s arguably one of the most compelling apps available on the iphone right now. When you hear a hacker whining about this it’s one thing; when Google speaks, it’s quite anotherr. Hopefully Apple doesn’t go ballistic and shoo Google’s Mobile App out of the iTunes store for their infraction, but on the other hand Google did step outside Apple’s rather obsessive little box for developers (no background processes, no turn-by-turn directions, do crossing the yellow tape), and the company tends to be rather draconian when it comes to punishment for such things. But in all seriousness this would only hurt Apple’s cause, so they probably won’t do it; Google has its own mobile platform now, and the more Apple takes, the more Google will pay attention to Android.

Lastly, a potshot at Apple smugness: their Black Friday deals were unappealing. The smattering of discounts on hardware basically said “Yeah, it’s a sale day, whaddya gonna do about it?”, nothing more. Apple fanboys were doubtless pleased, but the discounts were in most cases less than what educational buyers get 24x7x365. Keep in mind that we’re talking about the biggest shopping, biggest discount, day of the year, where 42″ HDTVs are sold for well under $800, and retailers both online and on the ground slash prices by a few dozen percent to get stocks moving. But, if I may say so, typical Apple…I’m sure their products sold well enough anyway…

That is all. Good night and good luck.