The latest iThing

I feel I have to write something about this because I'm such a shameless mac lover.  People tease me in the halls about my iphone and I dropped a lot of cash on my macbook pro.  But I spend such an embarrassingly large amount of time on this thing--and love it thoroughly--that it was really worth it to me.

So. About the iPad.

I've long been a little tempted by the Kindle, especially the DX, but was obviously curious about what apple was cooking up.  I thought the Kindle would be nice for times when I want to get away from things a little and just read without distractions.  For this purpose there are two things I really like about the Kindle: (1) a very long battery life and (2) the paper-like screen that is not backlit and can be easily seen outdoors.  Free and inexpensive wireless connection to books, newspapers and magazines is nice too. 

Given what I really like about the Kindle, I'm not really tempted by the iPad.  It looks very cool but if I really want to get away from things to read then I don't need the internet and email.  And if I'm working or surfing or emailing, I'll probably have my laptop anyway.

Maybe I'll change my mind when I actually see and touch one but right now I'm not tempted.  I'm just hoping competition from the iPad will push down the price of Kindles.

But I can see how people who aren't geeks like me, who don't always have their laptops with them anyway, might really like the iPad.   Which makes me wonder: for all the people and tech companies in the world, why is Apple so much better at it than everyone else?  Why aren't more CEOs like Steve Jobs?  I'm pretty sure it's not because CEOs are paid too little.  I know it's sacrilegious for an economist to suggest, but I think there may be more to this than incentives.