Amagod Appul event!!11

[Paws]

Fanboys rejoice! Must see tablet!

 

[T-Rexx]

The iPad!

:

http://fortunebrainstormtech.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/jobs-with-bookshelf.jpg

http://fortunebrainstormtech.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/need-for-speed.jpg

http://fortunebrainstormtech.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/forestall-compares-ipad-with-iphone.jpg

 

[Corny]

hooray it's a big iPhone .. or wait .. maybe it is microsofts tablet pc all over again?

anyway .. can you phone with it ?

 

[Paws]

You can dock a keyboard to it and use it like a common laptop or TV!

 

[Audio Tech]

I'm sold!

I've been waiting for something like this.

 

[3nipples]

Looks good to me. I imagine I'll get one, once it's available without lining up for it.

 

[andysayshi]

Disappointing to me. It's just a big iPod Touch. I was hoping they'd do something more interesting/innovative.

I'm sure it'll have lots of uses, I just think they coulda taken the idea to new ground. I'm shocked how thick it is, too. Half an inch! I was thinking iPod Touch width. I guess 10 hour batteries take space, however.

Other disappointments:

No USB port (you need an adapter, included but just a PITA and something else to lose)
No Flash support in web browser
The Dock doesn't support landscape mode
Not standalone - still requires syncing with desktop computer
No folders or app management capability. I don't want to flip through ten screens of apps to choose one game - I want a games folder!

 

[Corny]

^ i believe the kindle is thinner and lighter .. ah well it's just an ebook reader .. but this is also just an ipod

You can dock a keyboard to it and use it like a common laptop or TV!

awesome!

oh wait .. i have a laptop already .. and it can even receive tv signals.
and the display is even bigger ..

I'm sold!

I've been waiting for something like this.

for what? there is nothing new here

 

[andysayshi]

^ I think that's a bit unfair. This really is a new class of product: there's never been a really good, usable tablet device. This one will certainly fill a niche market, and maybe a larger one. Nobody does multitouch as well as Apple (yet), and that's the secret to this thing - it'll just be really easy to use. I can see my Mum using something like this, because it's not as intimidating as a keyboard and mouse to the computer illiterate.

It's just a shame they didn't make it a standalone computer, rather than just an add-on interface to other devices.

 

[andysayshi]

Here's an assessment from Stephen Fry (video) and a journalist (text).

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/...st-impressions-20100128-mzxw.html?autostart=1

Both point out that it is a very different experience to an iPod/iPhone - the interface and video rendering is apparently a big step ahead, with absolutely no lag or slow redraws.

I must confess, the geek in me wants to play with one.

 

[Corny]

Um the second generation of tablet pcs is actually pretty good.

still doesn't have a real use (as that iTampon) but the technique is good.
so we now have a tablet pc with multitouch (err .. by the way .. on my linux machine I have been using multitouch stuff with my standard synaptics touchpad for many years. the iPod was not even heard of when I started with that .. )

oh and shall i mention again that this thing is not able to multitask.
for real.

 

[andysayshi]

Um the second generation of tablet pcs is actually pretty good.

still doesn't have a real use (as that iTampon) but the technique is good.
so we now have a tablet pc with multitouch (err .. by the way .. on my linux machine I have been using multitouch stuff with my standard synaptics touchpad for many years. the iPod was not even heard of when I started with that .. )

oh and shall i mention again that this thing is not able to multitask.
for real.

But be honest - there isn't a tablet on the market like this yet. I've played with a few and they're ALL clunky - especially the touch screens. Apple have really nailed multi-touch and the touchscreen interface, better than anyone right now. I'm not sure how your Synaptics stuff works, but I'm pretty confident it's not as responsive or fast as this new box.

I gave my mother my previous Sony Ericcson phone (it had a simple touchscreen) and she hated it - couldn't find her way through anything. But she loved my iPhone, and got her head around phoning, texting and playing Tetris in about 3 minutes. That's the difference here - it's really about the interface, not the hardware.

Multitasking is a problem, I agree, but probably not huge. All the Apple-supplied apps run in the background while you use a third party app, so you can still listen to your iPod, run a timer/alarm and play a third party game simultaneously. I read in a blog somewhere that Apple did market research and found that less than 5% of their iPhone market cared about multitasking apps. I guess, from their point of view, it's better to keep the machine running fast and long, than have people running a zillion things in the background without realizing and ending up with a slow, clunky machine with a 2 hour battery life.

 

[sexsomniac]

Disappointing to me. It's just a big iPod Touch. I was hoping they'd do something more interesting/innovative.

I'm sure it'll have lots of uses, I just think they coulda taken the idea to new ground. I'm shocked how thick it is, too. Half an inch! I was thinking iPod Touch width. I guess 10 hour batteries take space, however.

Other disappointments:

No USB port (you need an adapter, included but just a PITA and something else to lose)
No Flash support in web browser
The Dock doesn't support landscape mode
Not standalone - still requires syncing with desktop computer
No folders or app management capability. I don't want to flip through ten screens of apps to choose one game - I want a games folder!

Let me add couple of things to your list -
-No mulitasking (Come on what am I suppose to do if I want to look for
something on wiki or whatever website while I chat)
-You are stuck with applestore application.

I don't understand what market segment apple is targeting this ipad. It is not as powerful as those netbooks and the price is relatively high($500 for 16gb model without 3g). So I don't think netbook users would interest in that. But ebook segment?? That's not gonna work either. I mean the whole point of eink is to be able to read without getting eyestrain. And battery life?? LCD can't compete eink in that department.

All in all, I guess this product is for hardcore fanboys.

 

[andysayshi]

Let me add couple of things to your list -
-No mulitasking (Come on what am I suppose to do if I want to look for
something on wiki or whatever website while I chat)
-You are stuck with applestore application.

I don't understand what market segment apple is targeting this ipad. It is not as powerful as those netbooks and the price is relatively high($500 for 16gb model without 3g). So I don't think netbook users would interest in that. But ebook segment?? That's not gonna work either. I mean the whole point of eink is to be able to read without getting eyestrain. And battery life?? LCD can't compete eink in that department.

All in all, I guess this product is for hardcore fanboys.

I disagree with you. This product appeals to a whole different market than a netbook. I have a friend who's been gearing up to buy a laptop lately, but allhe ever does on computer is some simple web browsing, email, save photos from his camera and email them, and watch a bit of porn. 90% of my friends are the same, with the addition of storing music as well. My friend doesn't need a fully fledged computer to do those things, and he's a bit of a technophobe. But he has an iPhone and enjoys it.

According to the US census.gov site, the top 3 reasons for using a computer at home were:

* Internet and Email: 89%
* Word Processing: 55.8%
* Games: 49%


People who "get" computers won't need one of these. Hard-core gamers, movie rippers, video editors etc won't want this device because it doesn't do those things. But most people don't do those things either.

It might even suit a lot of students over a netbook. Dock it at home, add a $50 physical keyboard and you can do your homework. Just take the tablet to school - less to carry, still got the documents you need, still can type a note or an email if you need to.

Once again, this device is designed to do simple, common tasks with a simple, easy to understand interface. It's ALMOST perfect for people like my friend, and people like my mother.

The drawback, as I said before, is that it doesn't eliminate the real computer from the house, because it's not a standalone computer, and it obviously doesn't have a ton of storage. If it could read, write and backup directly to a USB drive, it would fill a huge gap for many people I know.

 

[sexsomniac]

I disagree with you. This product appeals to a whole different market than a netbook. I have a friend who's been gearing up to buy a laptop lately, but allhe ever does on computer is some simple web browsing, email, save photos from his camera and email them, and watch a bit of porn. 90% of my friends are the same, with the addition of storing music as well. My friend doesn't need a fully fledged computer to do those things, and he's a bit of a technophobe. But he has an iPhone and enjoys it.

Well, it's not like netbooks aren't capable to do all those things and besides you can do so with ease by which I mean it comes with usb connector to connect whatever usb device you want to connect with and also, you have choice to use different software base on your familiarity. With ipad, you are stuck with applestore that censor softwares base on their own set of criteria. I'm not gonna mention about flash and format supporting here cuz you probably know what apple stance on that.

According to the US census.gov site, the top 3 reasons for using a computer at home were:

* Internet and Email: 89%
* Word Processing: 55.8%
* Games: 49%


People who "get" computers won't need one of these. Hard-core gamers, movie rippers, video editors etc won't want this device because it doesn't do those things. But most people don't do those things either.


It might even suit a lot of students over a netbook. Dock it at home, add a $50 physical keyboard and you can do your homework. Just take the tablet to school - less to carry, still got the documents you need, still can type a note or an email if you need to.

Once again, this device is designed to do simple, common tasks with a simple, easy to understand interface. It's ALMOST perfect for people like my friend, and people like my mother.

The drawback, as I said before, is that it doesn't eliminate the real computer from the house, because it's not a standalone computer, and it obviously doesn't have a ton of storage. If it could read, write and backup directly to a USB drive, it would fill a huge gap for many people I know.

Judging from the look, the whole keyboard thing looks inconvenient to me;b e it onscreen or physical. If you choose physical, you would have to set it up on hard surface like table. On the other hand, if you choose onscreen, you would either need to bend your neck close to 90 degree or bend your wrists if you are in lying position with your knees popping it up. Either way it doesn't look healthy for you wrists and neck.

 

[andysayshi]

I still think you're missing the target market. It's not FOR people who want a computer. It's for people who DON'T want one, but need to email, WP and view digital media. It's not about the hardware, it's the interface.

Those kinds of users don't usually care about restrictions or configure-ability or upgrade-ability. They just want it to reliably do what it does. And much as a computer-literate person like you or I might like to have flexibility and freedom to choose, many users prefer a system that works without ANY thought or know-how, and iTunes is pretty good at that. It comes at a price, but you want to click one button and buy a song, a TV show, a movie, and now a book? iTunes does that job reliably and easily. My Dad couldn't use Bit Torrents or Limewire to save his own life, and he doesn't like giving his credit details to websites, but he buys music all the time from iTunes, because it's easy, reliable and instant.

 

[andysayshi]

I'm sorry, but this is 2010. We can do all of those things on our smartphones. I'm not trying to be rude, but it's true. Except for reading books. But not many people actually read books anymore.

You're right, but a smartphone has a tiny screen, and a tiny keyboard. The iPad is the step between a smartphone and a netbook/laptop, for someone who needs more size convenience than a smartphone offers, but don't need or want the complexities of a real computer OS, and/or don't want to carry a hardware keyboard around when they don't need to.

(The best selling Netbook in the US last year was the Asus 1005HA, which has the same size screen as the iPad, same battery life, but weighs almost 4 times more.) But as I said, I don't think comparison's are appropriate: the iPad appeals mostly to a different market.

 

[andysayshi]

 

[Corny]

Yeah it will be totally THE device for people who just want "something" for browsing a lot.
It's not like there is quite a lot of flash .. everywhere

People who "get" computers won't need one of these. Hard-core gamers, movie rippers, video editors etc won't want this device because it doesn't do those things. But most people don't do those things either.

Sounds like you are talking about a netbook
The iRemovePaddingFromMyPurse wants to do everything .. and can't do anything. I see a market for the kindle. It mainly does one thing - but it is very good at this. Where is the iPlot very good at? In terms of that iPhone interface? Well if you want to pay that much money just for an interface on an otherwise inferior device .. and talking about that .. iTunes is still the only media player that frequently crashes on me on certain mp3s .. probably I should have bought them from the store to prevent that .. mybad .. DOH.

 

[3nipples]

Think outside of the box for a moment. It's pointless to compare it to another product, be it a book reader, phone, notebook or desktop.

Why would someone, me for instance, want to get an iPad? I already have a Mac Mini, a PC and a MacBook at home as well as an iPhone.

The answer is simple. I spend two hours on the train (with hotspot) on weekdays and use a secured Windows laptop that belongs to my company to do work while I'm in transit. Secured means it's bogged down with HD and Net encryption. I can't install anything of my choice on it and it limits the sites that I can access. The thing weighs a ton, so I'm not likely to also carry my MacBook.

Enter the iPad. I can take it with me on my commute. It doesn't weigh much more than a novel and has 10 hours of battery autonomy, so I won't need additional chargers or anything. It solves the problem of my clunky laptop.

Because it's an Apple, I get automatic and seamless synchronization of all the important stuff (for me mainly calendar and eMail) between my Mac at home and the iPhone. The cost is frankly trivial. For me it's a no-brainer.