Andrew Melder

After the migraine I had last night and this morning had calmed down to a mild head buzz by lunch, I headed to the shops to have a close look at the new iPad (third generation). I was curious to see if the reviews about its screen will live up to the hype, and if it would make my iPad 2 now redundant.

First thing I noticed is that each store I went to was quiet and they all mentioned they still had stock, no matter what version you're looking for. I was still working in retail when the iPad 2 was released and I know that by lunch time on release day, stock was down to a handful of 16GB WiFi models only. Seems as though while the new iPad will still be a huge success eventually, people seem willing to wait this time. No matter this gave me more time to play with the device, so let me go through my thoughts of the new iPad.

The retina display is better in every way, but its not enough to justify upgrading from the iPad 2.....yet

Maybe I made the mistake of reading some reviews before I saw it for myself, some reviews like the one from The Verge even describe the display as the best display on a computing device. Yes it is a wonderful display with clear and crisp images and text, but it didn't wow me like I was expecting. Honestly, standing at the display table with both the iPad 2 and new iPad on the tables it was hard to determine which one was which.

When you get the screen closer to you however, you really start to notice the difference. There's no hint of jagged edges or view of any pixels, for a screen just under 10 inches it is a phenomenon. However, Most of the time when you have the iPad on your lap or on a table, the difference between the old screen and new one is not such a drastic improvement.

I guess the other issue is that there currently isn't many apps to take advantage of the screen resolution. The bottom line is that any owners of the iPad 2 shouldn't feel too bad as there's no need to upgrade. Of course, all it takes is one killer app to make use of the screen resolution and that will all change.

The new iPad may be getting closer to a full laptop replacement, but now it gets as hot as one too

As I said before, I couldn't tell the difference with the new iPad till I picked it up. The first thing I noticed is how hot it was from the back. Not uncomfortable type of hot, but warm like the underneath of a laptop or the back of a smartphone when the radio is using maximum power.

This isn't a deal breaker however coming from the previous iPads which were cool to touch no matter what it was doing, it's an adjustment. The heat is almost certainly coming from the new battery, which has almost doubled in capacity from the iPad 2. The display units you see are all WiFi only units, so the 3G/4G units may be susceptible to heat even more.

The downside: bigger specs = bigger back

The upgraded specs and bigger battery have another downside: a bigger device. While the specs will show only a few mm extra in width and a few extra grams in weight, anyone coming from a iPad 2 will immediately notice the difference. Granted it's no heffer like the Xoom, but it does make you appreciate how slim the iPad 2 is and how light Android competitors like Sony's Tablet S are.

Conclusion

This article may seem like the new iPad is not a great device, but don't be mistaken. It is still the best tablet in the market for now and into the foreseeable future. Even now that you have the choice of the cheaper iPad 2, if you can afford it you would be silly not to buy the new iPad. However if you do have the iPad 2 you can rest easy for now, your tablet isnt obsolete yet.

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After this year’s poor turnout for the Australia Day Skyworks, there are now questions being asked about whether the $1.5 million annual event is worth continuing http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/australia-day-fireworks-in-doubt-over-fizzer-crowd-20120127-1qla1.html.

Meanwhile, there is also a discussion about the reasons for the drop in numbers this year compared to previous years. I believe the real problem isn’t being discussed, however before I get to that let me go through the theories out there and why I believe they are wrong.

1 – The threat of anti-social behaviour

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying there isn’t anti-social behaviour at the skyshow, however the threat has always been there for as long as I remember. The reason my parents never went down to the foreshore to watch the fireworks was because they feared being innocent bystanders caught up in a violent confrontation.

As a result, the memories of the fireworks during my childhood have always been from the balcony of my grandmother’s unit. So if the threat of violence at the foreshore has always been there, the real reason for the drop in numbers must be something else.

2 – Hot weather kept people away

While this may have been a reason why some may have not gone down to the foreshore earlier, this isn’t the first time we have had a sweltering Australia Day. In 2007, the temperature hit 41.2 degrees, just shy of the 41.9 degrees this year. I remember an extremely warm easterly breeze made it feel a few degrees hotter than it was as well.

Yet while the hot weather kept people away during the day, by the time the skyworks had begun crowd numbers were back close to the average of 400,000 people. That’s compared to the estimated 250,000 people who turned up this year.

3 – Alcohol restricted to specific zones

Now were getting closer to the actual cause. Police have ruled out the alcohol zones being the reason for the low turnout and this is partially true. While this official stance is to ban any alcohol outside of these approved zones, most officers will let you be as long as your not drunk and/or disorderly.

Most people who drink at the foreshore just want to have a few relaxing drinks while hanging out with family and friends during their Australia Day, and aren’t there to cause any trouble.

What has actually caused the downturn in numbers at the skyshow in the past 3 years are the measures taken in 2010 when a total alcohol ban was applied to anyone attending the skyshow. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/skyworks-alcohol-message-you-booze-you-lose-20100112-m3zx.html

While public drinking was still an offence before 2010, it was this year that Police declared zero tolerance for anyone caught drinking alcohol on the foreshore, whether they are behaving themselves or not. This turned off many people, like my friends and I, who previously would make the trek down to the foreshore every year, have a few drinks and enjoy the skyshow.

Instead we organised our own Australia Day celebrations, and while we didn’t get to see the fireworks, we avoided many other pitfalls of taking the trip to the foreshore every year: organising transport and parking, dealing with the crowds and traffic after the show etc. We still got to spend the day celebrating with our mates, having as many drinks as we wanted in the comfort of our own or a friends place without having to worry if police would take our alcohol or not. Local councils also used this opportunity to start local Australia Day events to take advantage of people who abandoned the Perth Skyshow.

In short, 2010 made a lot of us remember we don’t need to go to a large organised event to enjoy Australia Day.

And it’s shows in the numbers. In 2010, it was estimated numbers dropped 50,000 because of the alcohol ban and in 2011 it was down to approx. 300,000 people (http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/wa-celebrates-australia-day/story-e6frg13u-1225995091173). This year. it’s dropped again to around 250,000 people.

2010 generated a large number of young people who abandoned the skyshow in favour of more relaxed, private gatherings. Free from the pitfalls of taking the trip to the foreshore and free of any future crackdowns Police might decide to have against mainly law abiding citizens.

These young people will have families of their own soon, if they haven’t already. But less of them will take their families to the foreshore, cause new Australia Day traditions have been created in place of the Skyshow. The days of 400,000 – 500,000 people lining the foreshore are behind us; and every year we will have this discussion about the validity of the event. The question would be whether to scale it down, or kill it off altogether?

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