Podcast #26: New iPad Followup, App Store Upgrade Models

This is the twenty-sixth episode of the Ask Different Podcast. Your hosts this week are Kyle Cronin, Jason Salaz, Nathan Greenstein.

• We begin with more talk of the new iPad. One feature that we would have loved to see is pressure sensitivity. Apps like GarageBand are use accelerometer-based trickery to determine the pressure of a tap, but we would love to see this functionality natively integrated and made accessible to all apps. The possibilities for new gestures and states are attractive.
• We get Jason’s first impressions of the new iPad. He appreciates how much lighter it is than the original version, and loves the greatly extended battery life. The long charge time is an acceptable trade off to a battery that lasts all day. The camera is also a helpful inclusion, and Jason is looking forward to a promised update to Instatweet bringing camera integration.
• We discuss Consumer Report’s controversial claims about the temperatures that the outside of the new iPad can reach. Kyle and Jason haven’t experienced any heat issues, and the temperatures that Nathan has noticed are still nowhere near as high as they are on his plastic MacBook and iMac.
• Wil Shipley recently published an article imploring Apple to provide developers with a more robust system for app upgrades. Kyle worries that, when developers are given the option to charge for updates, every little update will begin costing money. Nathan predicts that, be it by consumer pressure or Apple restrictions, that situation could be avoided. Jason isn’t entirely decided, but agrees that the advantages of paid upgrades outweigh the potential problems.
• Kyle suggests an alternate model to App Store purchasing: leasing. Companies like Adobe are already offering this kind of ‘software-as-a-service’ arrangement. This would potentially provide a mechanism allowing users to try out an app before committing to buying it, and could fund backend services tied to apps. Jason and Nathan can see where it could be helpful, but don’t imagine it having a very wide application.

This episode was recorded on April 3rd, 2012. You can subscribe to this podcast via RSS or iTunes. We would appreciate it if you could take a second to give us a rating on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment on this post or e-mail us at podcast@askdifferent.net. Thanks for listening.

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