If any of you own iPads, I would strongly recommend checking out Geoff Keighley's "The Final Hours of Portal 2". The famous games journalist followed the Valve team around for three years as they built and polished Portal 2. More importantly, you learn all sorts of fascinating information about Valve. For example, in August of 2007, Gabe shut down the development pipeline for a few months and basically had designers think of their own creative projects. You get to see a few of those projects, including "Two Robots, One Wrench", which inspired the co-operative play in Portal 2. Also, one of their animators used to be a Muppeteer for Fraggle Rock. She played Red Fraggle.

Somehow, all I'm going to take away from this is the memory of Fraggle Rock. Damn that show was awesome.

Fair enough. After all, if you don't have an iPad, you can't even read the article.

I don't even know what an iPad is, so I'm good.

Consequently, Peter Jackson has started a vlog about The Hobbit.

I really like that this is being done by both companies, and hopefully by more people. I get a kick out of the behind the scenes and technical stuff.

So, let me guess: I should relay on a fucking, useless toy like the iPad is just to read something about a PC game? Something isn't right here....

It's like a tablet PC but because Apple made it Apple infact invented tablet PC's and everything else is a copy. Even the ones made before the iPad are a copy of the iPad.

A bit like how the iPhone invented smartphones.

It's far from a "useless toy". I use mine to take notes, record lectures, present PowerPoint presentations with my own personal "red laser" that pops out on the screen, read the newspaper in a fantastic format, etc.

It is no PC replacement, but as a complementary device it does all sorts of wonders.

What? :) So yea, useless and expensive. ;)

I can do that on a way smaller and way more cheaper lappy. ;)

I'd love to look behind the scenes, but Gaben's ass is in my way.

Yes, I know, three more months to the HL3 delay.

Eh, it's a useless device that I love. I go where the content is, and since there are plenty of new written stories/games/shows/what have you coming exclusively to iPads, I decided I didn't want to miss out, so I got one. But really, the 10 hour battery has been a Godsend when working on projects and random bits and bobs. Plus, part of my autistic nature makes me hate interacting with physical surfaces like paper. Using a pencil physically pains me the same way hearing the tiniest scrape on a chalkboard drives me insane (No joke; if someone writes on a chalkboard for a prolonged period of time, I have to cover my ears in a way that hides my miniature freak-out session). That's why I type, and for when I need to draw a diagram, I just open Adobe Ideas and trace it out with my finger.

Talk to some Apple fanboys and they will deny any phone had functionality before the great Sir Steven of Jobs arrived to bring mobiles into the new century.

It's a pretty common misconception. I've even seen history and technology professors claim that Apple brought the smartphone to the market.

Ah, that is better. For a second there, I thought you were being serious. :D

Yep, outrageous. I would gladly pirate this content.