Apple iPad

[Azulsky]

I appreciate the looks but it looks to feeble. I cant imagine it surviving in my bookbag.

 

Look forward to other competitors coming out with their versions though

[Titleist]

Mac's crash you know, some of them I've used crash a hell of a lot more often than windows.

What? Didn't you know that?

 

I did know that, but thanks for the attitude, I wouldn't have been able to tell without the rudeness.

[mattmanic]

But again MS spends most its time trying to reign in these instabilities vs making a more streamlined interface. That's the flipside. Apple locks down it's hardware, yes often times unfairly, but the stability gained is the trade off.

 

I'm really considering Godwin'ing the argument based on that statement...

 

Would you be alright with it if the automotive companies one day decided that everyone has to have the same engine in their car? That way they would only have to spend any money on developing one thing and they only need to add a different coat of shiny every now and then for everyone to stay happy.

[Chimpy]

For me there are a few different computers I use for different things:

 

Desktop: Only get used in work, need the oomph and it's plainly more comfy to work with. Running Windows because that's our target platform.

Laptop: Home PC. Writing, interweb, movies, music, photos, e-books and fiddling with GPS tracks and the like. Doesn't really leave the house much because it's largish and reasonably heavy. Runs Ubuntu because it literally takes care of itself.

Out and about: Don't really have anything here. I love the iPhone interface but it's too small and the iPad is a larger, more powerful version. Looks like a good penciled in solution.

 

Odd thing is working in a tech company there are a plethora of Apple products all about the place. Quite a swathe of our Software Engineers use iPhones. The industry forums are abuzz with excitement over the iPad and the beta SDK is getting pretty quickly dissected. These are 'thinking' technology oriented people.

[Titleist]

I'm really considering Godwin'ing the argument based on that statement...

 

Would you be alright with it if the automotive companies one day decided that everyone has to have the same engine in their car? That way they would only have to spend any money on developing one thing and they only need to add a different coat of shiny every now and then for everyone to stay happy.

 

I never said that flipside was entirely a good thing. It's a cake situation, what you gain in hardware variety you lose in software stability trying to keep it running in a stable environment.

 

Yeesh, maybe this whole thread should be tabled till everyone can actually HOLD and USE the device and then make a completely informed opinion.

[The Medic]

I think part of the issue with the iPad is not about what it is, but about what it could have been. The expectations for this device were enormous, and while it would have been unrealistic to ask Apple to completely fulfill those expectations, it looks like they didn't innovate as people thought they would have. They played it safe on the software side, utilizing the preexisting OS 3.2, not developing multitasking for 3rd party apps, integrating Flash support, or addressing typing issues. However, the iPad does seem like a really fantastic piece of hardware, with Apple's proprietary chip, overall size/weight/thinness, and generous battery life, Apple seems to have done the best work here. I would have loved to have been able to watch Hulu on this while not at my computer, or listen to Pandora while reading a book, and maybe that functionality will come in the future, but right now it just doesn't do it for me.

 

The iPad feels like a tech demo, albeit a really nice and polished one, but an incomplete product nonetheless. I am sure Apple will have some success with early adopters, but unlike with the iPhone, this device isn't revolutionary. It attempts to take functionality from an iPhone and a laptop simultaneously, without successfully replacing either.

 

It seems like a great device for what it is, but as of now, it doesn't bring functionality that I don't already have....maybe when iPad Gen 2 hits.

 

.....And the name sucks.....its like a parody of itself.

[Chimpy]

Would you be alright with it if the automotive companies one day decided that everyone has to have the same engine in their car? That way they would only have to spend any money on developing one thing and they only need to add a different coat of shiny every now and then for everyone to stay happy.

 

Err... they do, various bits get shared and a new coat of shiny is released every year.

[Chimpy]

I think part of the issue with the iPad is not about what it is, but about what it could have been. The expectations for this device were enormous, and while it would have been unrealistic to ask Apple to completely fulfill those expectations, it looks like they didn't innovate as people thought they would have. They played it safe on the software side, utilizing the preexisting OS 3.2, not developing multitasking for 3rd party apps, integrating Flash support, or addressing typing issues. However, the iPad does seem like a really fantastic piece of hardware, with Apple's proprietary chip, overall size/weight/thinness, and generous battery life, Apple seems to have done the best work here. I would have loved to have been able to watch Hulu on this while not at my computer, or listen to Pandora while reading a book, and maybe that functionality will come in the future, but right now it just doesn't do it for me.

 

The iPad feels like a tech demo, albeit a really nice and polished one, but an incomplete product nonetheless. I am sure Apple will have some success with early adopters, but unlike with the iPhone, this device isn't revolutionary. It attempts to take functionality from an iPhone and a laptop simultaneously, without successfully replacing either.

 

It seems like a great device for what it is, but as of now, it doesn't bring functionality that I don't already have....maybe when iPad Gen 2 hits.

 

.....And the name sucks.....its like a parody of itself.

 

I'm amazed at the price point more than anything.

[The Medic]

I'm amazed at the price point more than anything.

 

Lol, that was probably the biggest surprise of the day.

[Rob15]

Are Ipod touch's not the best music player on the market?

If you can find me a similarly spec'd music player with that much of an app store backing it up, at the same price. Then i'll take one of those.

Surely if you want a music player the main requirement is being able to play music well and be easy to put music onto and remove if wanted?

 

I've never been impressed with the sound quality of iPods (or the majority of Sony products to be balanced), the headphones used to be shockingly bad imo, although an easy problem to sort out. Putting music on should not be any more than a drag and drop exercise and iTunes does not provide the ease of transfer that other MP3 players do, the store is often overpriced too with downloads costing more than actually buying the damm CD in the first place!

 

Sure iPods may be easy to use, but they are not so much easier that I would put up with iTunes.

 

 

[mattmanic]

Yeesh, maybe this whole thread should be tabled till everyone can actually HOLD and USE the device and then make a completely informed opinion.

 

The nearest Apple store is 50 miles away. There was a closer one but they closed it because no-one went there.

[-=OGGY=-]

Wow I am definatley looking forward to this! Too bad Magpul won't be making a case for it. ...or will they...

 

-OGGY

[oikoik]

i work in a 'media-oriented' industry and yes, iphones and ipod touch's are everywhere.

all our clients use blackberrys though lol

 

the amount of times i had to sit through app comparisons on iphones and demonstrations of the guinness drinking visual toy app thing was enough to make me not want one...

 

like i said though, tie windows to an ipad hardware platform and i'd be interested.

 

otherwise i'm looking at what everyone else brings out - the choices could be quite interesting.

 

i think, if apple had brought this out, say a year or two ago instead of now, then they might have blown the industry away.

as it is, the waters might become a bit muddied with everyone and their mother bringing out 10" multi-touch screen tablets.

 

2010 could indeed be the year of the [new] tablets, and iPad has a place in there, and they will sell well, but so will the competition...

 

 

 

 

[The Medic]

Wow I am definatley looking forward to this! Too bad Magpul won't be making a case for it. ...or will they...

 

-OGGY

 

Just wait for KAC to make a rail mount for it.

[galactica]

Hilarious, as usual. "my HP 4900 could

do that 6 years ago!"

 

They just don't get it.

 

What is it about the fact that Apple just make stuff that ordinary people can use and enjoy that so riles those who are obsessed with specs and features? The psychological lines couldn't

be more clearly defined. Guys, it's not for you. It's for lots of other people who wouldn't understand your devices and how to work them in a million years. If the success of the iPod and iPhone interfaces and form factors hasn't made it obvious to you why they succeed, then

there's no hope that you ever will. Leave it alone!

 

I own loads of apple products, but this one's no use to me - but lots of

people will find something it can do for them. It doesn't have to do everything though,

that is what apple realise and you don't.

[Titleist]

Wow I am definatley looking forward to this! Too bad Magpul won't be making a case for it. ...or will they...

 

-OGGY

 

*cough* I'll try to find out this weekend.

[maverick343432]

My Ipaq cost me less than an ipod touch, has more storage, built in speaker, can view photos from my DSLR, play movies, isn't tied to itunes, has wifi, bluetooth, doesn't need to be jailbreaked to install apps I want, has a wealth of applications, upgradeable OS from windows mobile 2003 to WM6.5, has loads of interfaces to choose from, makes a great ebook reader with it's big screen, SD card slot, has TomTom installed on it, browses the web (with flash).

Course it's 5 years old now.

Good for you.

It wasn't a challenge.

There can't be a "best" music player for everyone as everyone has different needs.

Sort of the point I was making.

And TBH Ipod touch over an IPAQ? Pretty sure the Touch would win. If not for the design/ function of the device but for the support from Apple in the form of the APP store.

 

As to everyone so set against Apple, why on earth are you even looking at this?

Wait until Microsoft/insertcompanynamehere releases a worse version of it then buy that.

[Rob15]

What excites me most is not the gadgets of this device, it's how we'll work with it. I'm not a laptop owner, I don't need another computer. But this will allow me to surf the web, email, organize photos, update our company internal blogs, chat, etc for 600 dollars.

Odd, my desktop cost me less than $600 with everything and funnily enough that will let me do all of those things as well as happily running resource hogging virtual CNC mill generators

[The Medic]

Odd, my desktop cost me less than $600 with everything and funnily enough that will let me do all of those things as well as happily running resource hogging virtual CNC mill generators

 

Can you put your desktop in your backpack? Does it have a 10 hour battery life?

[mattmanic]

I'm amazed at the price point more than anything.

 

In a good or bad way? £500 imo is far too much for a cut down touch screen netbook.

 

 

I think now Apple has shown people that there is demand for a tablet PC, other companies will overtake and out do the iPad in every way. About 5 years ago you could get a 10" touch screen tablet with the same power as the iPad has now. Imagine what a real computer company could do with that form factor nowadays. Windows 7 is obviously mandatory for multi touch and then you could most probably fit an Atom and an Nvidia Ion in the same sized box. Then you would have a fully fledged PC just minus a keyboard.

 

Can multi touch screens handle hand writing? I remember playing with all the features when I first got WIN 7 and I found the hand writing recognition particularly impressive.

[Chimpy]

Odd, my desktop cost me less than $600 with everything and funnily enough that will let me do all of those things as well as happily running resource hogging virtual CNC mill generators

 

It's not less than an inch thick though is it? With a multi-touch screen and a large battery life? Why compare apples to oranges?

[Rob15]

Can you put your desktop in your backpack? Does it have a 10 hour battery life?

I can't put it in my backpack but I generally get about 2 or 3 months life between powercuts and me not actually being able to use it due to lack of power for a short time while people in hard hats sort out the local area of the national grid.

 

The point I was making though is $600 to do those sort of functions is nothing special, desktops and laptops have been able to do all that for years and for sub $600.

 

EDIT : Seems people think I was basing that comment on size, since Titleist did not specify the size but only the functions and price I think my comparison is fair.

 

That said, Laptops will happily fit in my backpack and I can buy a couple of spare batteries to take the battery life over 10hours with the change from $600 and be able to carry those too.

[Triggerhappychappy]

Apple design consumer goods that look fashionable, work fairly well, and appeal to a broad spektrum of sheep people; discuss.

 

I dont compute on the go, as Im either at work or at home- home PC takes care of my needs.

I dont listen to music on the go as I dont like being ran over by that car I didnt hear coming.

I dont have a smart phone that plays music/ is a book/ has internet as a phone is for talking to people or texting them- you cant enjoy the web on a screen smaller than my *rickroll*.

I listen to music at home, on my PC via my Hi-fi, as I get better sound quality and and can control what I listen to more easily.

 

An oversized Itouchmyselfphone looks nice, but cant do everything a laptop can, plus costs more and has a fairly tiny memory- load up a few decent sized movies and suddenly its full. I dont see this gap in the market that Apple say exists- mobile computing/ media player = laptop, or a decent netbook; given the advances in proccessor/mobo size vs power & battery tech thats coming around the corner ( r/c world and electric vehicles will benefit too, yay ), we'll soon have small, powerful laptops and ntebooks that can outgun the iPad easily, for the same or less money- and they wont be a stylish & trendy Mac product either that are over priced and incompatible with so many things..

 

 

[galactica]

Why do people want it to replace their desktops, or have the same capabilities? Are they high?

[Chimpy]

In a good or bad way? £500 imo is far too much for a cut down touch screen netbook.

 

In a good way, that's pretty bloody cheap. Compare it to the OEM cost of the N900 for example.

 

Other companies will come along and copy it but that's the point. If it were so easy to make this and make it actually marketable to the general public why is it Apple that are consistently leading given that they are so terrible?