Hints, Clues and Wishful Thinking from the iPad Commercial

[Paul Daniel Ash]

As we draw ever closer to the April 3 launch date, iPad prediction mania is refusing to die. The Oscar night commercial spawned a surprising number of rumors and suppositions for being a simple 30-second spot. Apple's iBooks are cheaper than Kindle e-books! Or… more expensive. Or both! And a guy saw a camera, or something!

Let's take a look at the iBookstore for starters. Several bestsellers made an appearance, from the late Teddy Kennedy’s True Compass: A Memoir to the thrilling Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World…One Child at a Time by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin. The first book was shown at $14.99 US on the iBookstore, which is less than the $19.25 the same title costs on Amazon for Kindle digital download, while the second has a $7.99 iBookstore price but goes for $7.19 on Amazon. So, a bit of a wash, with prices varying from about $8 to $15 US.

Another somewhat-interesting, somewhat-amusing tidbit was the persistence of the "My Documents" button in the iPad version of Pages. Some thought that the appearance of the archaic Windows name on Apple's sleek 21st Century tablet was just a placeholder, to be replaced with "iDocs," or at least "My Pages." But, if this high-profile commercial is any indication, it does appear that the name which was dropped from Windows 7 is being reborn as an iPad feature.

Sometimes, it's the details that count. One sharp-eyed TUAW commenter spotted the characteristic Times blackletter capital T logo at the bottom of the iBooks app at the end of the ad. If you squint really hard, it looks like this would bring up a list of New York Times best sellers. And speaking of squinting: take a look at the zoomed capture from 0:03 of the ad:


image via 9to5Mac

That look like a camera to you?

[Wolftamer]

Looks like a theater stagelight or Spotlight.

If I had to ponder, that pulls up a "Featured books" like the opening of the App Store.

Err, sorry, I mean the Times T....doesn't look like a T but a stagelight.

[politicalslug]

Obsess much?

[Skandocious]

My bet is that it's an ambient light sensor. I read that the A4 is able to achieve such low power consumption because it lacks some of needed core complexity for things like cameras and such.

[NCMacMan]

Wow! Look at the clock on the iPad too! Its always 9:41!

The iPad stops time!

[StealthBravo]

Wow! Look at the clock on the iPad too! Its always 9:41!

The iPad stops time!

941? The time on the iPad is always 9:41 and the email is from [email protected]. The chapter he is reading from is 1941.

[Cer0]

That is a strange one. Do the iPhone commercials carry the same time too?

[fearls101]

Looks like a theater stagelight or Spotlight.

If I had to ponder, that pulls up a "Featured books" like the opening of the App Store.

Err, sorry, I mean the Times T....doesn't look like a T but a stagelight.

are you looking at the right one? The second icon to the left is definitely the Ny Times logo. It has the same fatter half circle on the bottom, thinner in the middle and a fat swirly top.

BUT

I'm not convinced whats written under the logo says NY Times.

I googled what my first guess was, my Times. Take a look at the google page and the description it has. Today's paper, video news, NY Times most popular and more.

To further support my "my Times" idea. I agree it is very hard to make out what it says but you can see a T. The T is bigger than any other character. If you happen to have the NY Times app you can see on your spring board how it is formatted as NYTimes. If the Times has any thing going onto this iPad they would keep them capitalized and never nyTimes or nYTimes.

a 1080p version of the commercial is on apple's youtube channel now. I dont have the appropriate software to get a good look

[xwinger]

i definitely see a camera






nawt!

[jvoni]

Even more interesting.... if you assign letters to those numbers: 941
9 = I
4 = D
1 = A

IDA - sounds like an old woman's name... or perhaps:
(I)nternet (D)irect (A)ccess
(I)vestigative (D)ocument (A)ccess
(I)ncrediblly (D)orky (A)ssumptions

941? The time on the iPad is always 9:41 and the email is from [email protected]. The chapter he is reading from is 1941.

[StealthBravo]

Even more interesting.... if you assign letters to those numbers: 941
9 = I
4 = D
1 = A

IDA - sounds like an old woman's name... or perhaps:
(I)nternet (D)irect (A)ccess
(I)vestigative (D)ocument (A)ccess
(I)ncrediblly (D)orky (A)ssumptions

Well the email and chapter have 1941 so it would be AIDA. Aida (sometimes spelled Aïda, pronounced /ɑːˈiːdɑː/ ah-EE-dah, from Arabic: عايدة‎, pronounced [ˈʕaːjdah], an Arabic female name meaning "visitor" or "returning"

So...

[jvoni]

Haha... so this is how speculation works....

A female visitor.... hmm.... haha!!!! Like a monthly female visitor, or like a female visitor that costs lots of money... hmmm.... Such deep meaning....

[hxclos]

I have to admit, after taking a look at Microsoft's Courier 'Digital Journal', I've lost almost all interest in the iPad. At least we know for sure it will come with a camera, play flash, and allow multitasking.

[StealthBravo]

Maybe Aaren O'Connell is the returning monthly visitor.

Time to spread the rumors on twitter. lol

[TheDirtyDiddler]

I don't understand why people want to take pictures with something the size of a textbook, especially when 99% of people who own one will also have a phone with a camera.

[RockMeOn]

I don't understand why people want to take pictures with something the size of a textbook, especially when 99% of people who own one will also have a phone with a camera.

No one is talking about the rear camera, we are talking about the front camera which will be uses in video conferencing on Skype not to take a PICTURE....

We are not talking about the rear camera to take pictures, instead we are talking about the Front Camera which can be used in Video Conferencing on Skype like apps....

[lifesmymachine]

My bet is that it's an ambient light sensor. I read that the A4 is able to achieve such low power consumption because it lacks some of needed core complexity for things like cameras and such.

Definitely agree that it is an ambient light sensor. Same type of dot NEXT TO my macbooks webcam and on my iPhone.

[extremzocker]

am i the only one who doesnt see anything??

[santaf]

hahahahahah the 941 things are cracking me up especially the insane arabic stuff hahah stealth i gotta say it you say the best ranom things haha (random off topic thread) haha

and also i dont understand where this camera is supposed to be shown i dont see jack squat

[NCMacMan]

I think I have it now: 9:41 on April 19, 2001, Steve Jobs was hanging a clock above his toilet, slipped, and hit his head on the sink. When he came to, he envisioned the iPad...

Wait, isn't that a movie plot too??? Weird coincidence!