IPad, what do you think?

[John_L]

So, now that Apple has lifted the veil on the iPad, what do you think? Personally, I think it will do quite well. It was just a matter of time before the intuitive interface for the iPhone/iPod Touch worked it's way into the computer arena, and now it has (more or less) with the iPad. I think it'll be a good device to compete with the netbook market. Most netbooks are underpowered midget laptops running an outdated OS. On the other hand, the iPad is an pretty much the equivalent of an iPod Touch on steroids. I watched the keynote, and I was pretty impressed. I think they did a good job with it, and with a $499 base price, it's about the same as a high end netbook. Not everyone out there needs a full blown monster computer with all the bells and whistles, and for the low end computing, or near non-computing crowd, it's (imho) the best choice. With the same intuitive interface as the iPhone/iPod Touch, but with a larger display and a bit more power, It'll be a good choice for the computer illiterate, or near-illiterate crowd. Not only that, power users can find use for it as well. At home, I have a desktop, and no laptop, and for on the go computing, and typical things that I might do on the road (web, email, some gaming, light composing, etc), it would be nice to have even for the more power hungry.

Chime in Orbiter fans, what do ya think?

 

[tl8]

Rubbish, Just a very expensive iPod

 

[willy88]

No keyboard, no USB ports, no proper operating system, can't rest it on your lap or on a desk, and impossible to use without looking like a fool. The fact that it's called "magical and revolutionary" doesn't help either.

 

[insanity]

Worthless. It fills a niche I don't think exists.

 

[JamesG]

Unimpressed.
Not convenient enough for casual/mobile use, not capable enough to replace laptops or netbooks. To expensive to justify a third device between my iPhone and toughbook. Now is a very bad time to introduce a neat but redundant device.

What I am most annoyed about is that it was well within Apple's capabilities to build a netbook killer, but they failed because they don't want to risk canibalizing Macbook sales.

 

[Ark]

I couldn't care less about Apple and their manufactured "buzz" for whatever their newest product is. Their pathological hatred for physical, tactile buttons annoys me, and every product of theirs I've ever bought seems to have a battery failure or a hard drive failure or some other problem just in time for the next year's product.

 

[JamesG]

I am looking forward to what the other companies have put together to compete with the iPad. There was such fear of "The Tablet" that we might actually get a half way decent tablet computer from someone. Maybe.

 

[Ark]

What do tablets offer that a simple laptop doesn't? Touchscreen gimmicks? A "keyboard" that takes up half the screen so that watching what you type is difficult and awkward, and you have no tactile feedback for what you're typing? Not even USB ports, apparently? That sounds like a recipe for banging your head against the wall in frustration, and that's before Apple's legendary iProduct planned obsolescence hits in a year or two.

 

[JamesG]

Portability, touchscreen and stylus interface. Ideally a computer that is no bigger than a literal notebook than you can read and interact with (ie: write on) will be more effective. Lap tops look the way they do because of the limitiations of the technology (and they evolved from typewriters) not because they are any better.

 

[Ark]

People can type on a keyboard a lot faster than they can write, and they don't have to worry about the program being able to recognize their handwriting. Size isn't really an issue because you can get laptops in that size category already, complete with screens that can be positioned to function as a tablet PC anyway. I don't get why Apple has such an obsession with trying to push people away from physical input devices, which happen to work perfectly well. It's just style over substance, which is what Apple has been using to compete with Microsoft for ages. And that's the reason why PCs and Windows are the national standard, and Apple is a gimmick brand.

 

[JamesG]

Competition and alternatives are what free market economics are all about.

What MS did/does is a whole different topic...

 

[Ark]

Competition and alternatives are what free market economics are all about.

What MS did/does is a whole different topic...

And that's why Apple gets beat so soundly in any kind of professional computing, they put flashy visuals and gimmicks ahead of actual functionality. They still haven't figured out how to let people play current video games on their OS.

 

[insanity]

And that's why Apple gets beat so soundly in any kind of professional computing, they put flashy visuals and gimmicks ahead of actual functionality. They still haven't figured out how to let people play current video games on their OS.

They also overcharge for their products.

 

[JamesG]

Apparently there is a market for computers with slick styling, flashy visuals, and gimmicks...

 

[Ark]

Apparently there is a market for computers with slick styling, flashy visuals, and gimmicks...

Not arguing, there is a market for them, and that market is college kids who wanna fight the man by paying more for an inferior product, people who don't know anything about computers and are easily wooed by said gimmicks, or people who don't have any intention of doing serious computing beyond listening to music and typing the occasional school paper that the instructor can never open because they always save it in Mac formats.

 

[bujin]

It's an iPod for people with larger pockets.

 

[JamesG]

LOL!

Not arguing, there is a market for them, and that market is college kids who wanna fight the man by paying more for an inferior product, people who don't know anything about computers and are easily wooed by said gimmicks, or people who don't have any intention of doing serious computing beyond listening to music and typing the occasional school paper that the instructor can never open because they always save it in Mac formats.

Apparently you haven't used or even seen a Mac in long time. The quality of the hardware is very nice. The attention to detail is very high. Of much better quality than the cheap (but functional) crap of most PCs. The OS is different than Windows, for some that is enough of a distinction to make it worthwhile. Other than playing the latest games, just about any computer is effective at running most productive programs. So it comes down to personal preferance and what you want to pay for.

 

[garyw]

Looking at the ipad the other day a friend said "it's a supersized ipod touch" and that I think sums it up nicely!

I just got myself an iphone and love it. it's perfect for me and I really wouldn't want a larger version of it unless it had something else to offer. USB would be a good start.

 

[Turbinator]

This is what I think, summarized in 2 pictures;

 

[JamesG]

Harshness.