First iPad Reviews: All Thumbs Up!

The top tech reviewers were given an iPad to fool around with days before the rest of us will have to wait in long lines to procure one. And even the most ardent Mac enthusiasts absolutely hated it.

OK, that's a lame April Fool's joke. So far, their verdicts are unanimously glowing, with the anticipated reservations about the lack of Flash support, absence of earbuds, inability to multitask or to take photos or video. All are pleasantly surprised that the battery life is actually longer than advertised.

But those are minor details compared to the collective zeitgeist-rocking hyperbole that abounds in their critiques, which are so notably asbent of criticism that one wonders if Apple even needs to invest in its own advertising campaign. (New York Times tech guru David Pogue offers a two-in-one review -- one for the notoriously cynical hardcore techies, and one for the rest of us.)

If the iPad is even half as good as they say, you'll want one -- not just for what it can do, but for what it's destined to deliver. We imagine a day in the not too distant future when journalists and visual artists will take full advantage of the iPad's multimedia potential and bring us new hybrid forms of visual storytelling that we have yet to dream of. Like the blossoming TV sets in the 1940s, it's a big fancy box waiting to be filled. Or, more accurately, a conduit for transmitting and sharing news, information, stories, visions, ideas, emotions ... in new and exciting ways.

So here's a quick roundup of professional first impressions. While you're queueing up at your local Apple Store on Saturday, you can look at these on your tiny handheld device... for the last time. (Except for those Flash videos below, which won't show up on iPods or iPads!)

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Apple iPad Review: Laptop Killer? Pretty Close
by Walter S. Mossberg (pictured)
Wall Street Journal

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Love It or Not? Looking at iPad From 2 Angles
By David Pogue
New York Times

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iPad is pure innovation - one of best computers ever
By Andy Ihnatko
Chicago Sun Times

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Apple's iPad is a touch of genius
By Xeni Jardin
BoingBoing

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Verdict is in on Apple iPad: It's a winner
By Edward C. Baig
USA Today

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"Talking Tech"
By Jefferson Graham
USAToday.com



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Apple iPad Review
By Tim Gideon
PC Magazine



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Save us a place in line!

The Next 10 Newspapers to Die?

After careful analysis, 24/7 Wall St. has created a list of the 10 major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shutter their print operations and only publish online.

The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy as did the Journal Register chain. The Rocky Mountain News closed and the Seattle Post Intelligencer, owned by Hearst, will almost certainly close or only publish online. Hearst has said it will also close The San Francisco Chronicle if it cannot make massive cuts at the paper. The most recent rumor is that the company will fire half of the editorial staff. That action still may not be enough to make the property profitable.

It is possible that eight of the fifty largest daily newspapers in the United States could cease publication in the next eighteen months.

Here's their endangered list:

1. The Philadelphia Daily News
2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune
3. The Miami Herald
4. The Detroit News
5. The Boston Globe
6. The San Francisco Chronicle
7. The Chicago Sun-Times
8. The New York Daily News
9. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Meanwhile, McClatchy announced it is cutting another 1,600 jobs at its 30 daily newspapers, in a cost-cutting spree that has clipped nearly one-third of its work force in less than a year.

The Kansas City Star is lopping 150 jobs. The flagship Sacramento Bee is trimming 128 jobs, and wringing other savings through wage cuts of up to 6 percent and possible unpaid furloughs of one week. Similar job-saving pay cuts are coming up for a vote at two other McClatchy newspapers in California, The Modesto Bee and The Fresno Bee. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas and The Sun News of Myrtle Beach, S.C. are among the other McClatchy newspapers that have already disclosed their job cuts.