It's ironic what kinds of nonsense will kick loose the blogging writer's block; I've made no progress on a post on iPhone user interface for months, then a "gem" from Twitter gave me the hook:

"There are 100,000 applications on the App Store? There were also 100,000 pages on geocities." -- @azaaza at #sxsw
(as reported by @avibryant on 2010-03-13)

Actually, the number for the App Store is over 150,000, according to Apple, and continues growing. The number of pages on GeoCities was 38 MILLION.

Aza clearly meant that comparison insultingly, but he has half a point despite his hostility and innumeracy.

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

I've been catching up on my book stacks:

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

How do you compete with the iPhone? Very badly, it seems.

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

Another casualty of the iPad's release is Flash.

Adobe's Flash Evangelist Lee Brimelow posted a bunch of sites (tackily including porn site Bang Bros) as examples of how the iPad won't work without Flash.

Except, in typical incompetent Adobe fashion, he's wrong about most of the sites!

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

This is a story about software development in The Future. But first, some ancient history (AKA my youth):

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

The iPad has no visible filesystem. Neither does the iPhone.

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

So after the Apple's "magical and revolutionary" iPad announcement, how did I do on my predictions?

You know, this is the first time anything has been magical AND revolutionary. Usually magic is used in support of entrenched monarchies.

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

With less than a day to go, the mythical Apple tablet device is looking more real, and like everyone I'm succombing to the hype. So I'm going to show off how little I know of the future by predicting what it'll be like.

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

Apple has a special event on January 27, widely believed to be the release date of the mythical Apple tablet device. At this point, if there's no tablet, there will be nerd riots in the streets (if you click that, keep clicking "Next" through the story). So even as skeptical as I normally am, as everyone should be, about unannounced and unseen Apple products, I give the tablet a 90% chance of being announced in 6 days.

Whatever else the Apple tablet is or does, it will almost certainly kill the Amazon Kindle stone dead: Apple's fast color multitouch screen vs. Amazon's SLOW (1-2 seconds per page!) non-touch-sensitive grayscale e-ink display is like a hungry grizzly bear vs. a toddler. Later generations may find one of Amazon's discarded, bloody shoes, nothing else.

So Amazon's response to this is… to put apps on the slow, awful Kindle interface. Because that'll teach Apple!

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

There are a handful of films I've seen over and over, say a hundred times, that are burned into my brain so deeply they make up the basic wiring for my mind. Often I just put these on as background activity; I don't really need to pay attention, but it's comforting to see them yet again.

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Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!