Why paper will always be around ...

If you ever needed definitive proof that paper is not dead ... here it is. Thanks to @george_dearsley for making me smile with this one.

The sans and the fury

A couple of issues have the typographical world hot under its collective collar this week. The purists are particularly upset at the poor typography on the iPad ... just four fonts in iBooks and full justification with hyphenation the only option. The fonts on the iPhone 4G, Helvetica and Arial, have also come in for a pasting with some commentators even arguing (gasp) that Microsoft is better than Apple. A huge debate has grown up from the initial posting on The Font Feed and a piece entitled Better Screen, Same typography. It's all a bit surprising that Apple should be criticised for typography, given that it was the Mac that pioneered desktop publishing and turned everyone into a potential typographers. Hopefully, given that the type types, have been doing their best to crash Twitter with their outrage, Apple will be stung into action in time for the next generation of gizmos. 

Equally alarming, though, is the Wall Street Journal's decision to use Comic Sans on a news headline this week (albeit on a story about a cartoonist). As you probably know Comic Sans is the most vilified of fonts. There is even a Ban Comic Sans campaign and, should you be minded, you can buy t-shirts declaring your hatred for the Microsoft font. The comments on Typophile about the WSJ's lapse include 'the barbarians have breached the gates and made it inside the walls of the city' and 'heads should roll'. Microsoft better than Apple? Comic Sans in the WSJ? Sounds like Armageddon to me.

The iPad and Tracy Island - same old ploy

Christmas 1992: My kids and the rare Tracy Island. Now where's my iPad lads?

Arggh! The iPad is delayed by a further month - until the end of May. Apple says it is because it can't keep up with the mad rush but I wonder if this is just that old marketing tactic - create the illusion of scarcity and accelerate demand. As a father-of-four I have been through this most Christmases - from Tracy Island, through to the Furby and on to the Wii. I am sure there were many others. What's the betting pre-orders, being taken from May 10, will now soar? Note to kids (and wife), having done my bit to search high and low to deliver Tracy Island etc, thought I would point out that the new pre-order date is just in time for my birthday.

IPad - early feedback from the US

The iPad launches in the US tomorrow - and it seems it isn't all hype. All good reviews so far. Here's the Mail and Telegraph's selection of early feedback from the US. It's due here at the end of the month.

iPad is just an embryo

Just as we were getting all excited about the iPad (SMS, March 13) here are some more down-to-earth views on its impact on print in this video by the Association of Online Publishers. The key years, they say, will be 2012 - 2013. I guess we all understand that this is just another sexy milestone along the road to who knows where. Won't stop me getting my order in for next month though. 

Print on the iPad certainly has the WOW factor

Apple has now said the iPad should be over here by the end of April. The rumoured price is £499. Exciting times ... but what will it really mean for journalists? A lot more work? Another platform that they will need to learn? It will be particularly interesting to see how the regionals respond. As Peter Preston said in The Observer: "This isn't a revolution, let alone salvation. And it will surely be more diffused – and costly – as competition ploughs along the same road." Nevertheless, it is a huge step on way to the genuinely portable newspaper. Take a look at these five iPad examples collated by The Guardian. We are particularly impressed by Sports Illustrated. Can't wait.