iPad Win

[Purplebic]

OMG HOW AMAZING!!! FUCKING GENIUS!!!!! HOW COME NOBODY THOUGHT OF THIS???? ALL HAIL TO THE MIGHTY STEVE, GIVE HIM ALL YOUR $$$$


oh wait ... that's exactly how I went through college with my notebook.

Now lets not be too harsh lol. Fanboys can't conceive anything if it hasn't been thought of by Steve rimJobs first. (buy it from appstore. iThought, for the iDiot.) Heck im sure most of the guys aren't even convinced they exist if theyre not look at their own reflection off an Iwhatever.

 

[Purplebic]

Purple, the thing is, I don't think I fit the definition of a fanboy.

Yes, I like and even prefer Apple products, but I'm not a Windows hater. In fact, I use it every day at work, and while I respect its capabilities, I do think it's capable of some improvement.

On the other hand, in some respects, it works better than my eMac at home.

On a related note, Purple, do you remember our conversation about Windows geeks? You'll notice in Corny's post the same kind of condescending tone that is the hallmark of Windows experts. Corny, I don't think you realize this, but your impatience with newbies is the best advertisement that Apple could have.

I cant speak for Corny.

But im an equal opportunity hater. I dislike Apple and MS, each for their own reasons.

And though i use linux, (different distros for diferent computers and purposes), that doesn't go to say i agree with everything the developers are doing there too. (For instance, I don't like how bloated Ubuntu is becoming, its starting to remind me why i broke up with Windows many years ago).

 

[swerve]

WOW!!! This thread went way DOWN HILL FAST!!!

I think that its REALLY COOL you found such a great use for your iPad...

And...

I suspect in the NEAR future -- EVERYONE will be using one -- or a Windows based look alike...

I've been talking with Lube (he writes apps for the iPad) and I think I'm going to give it a little time before buying mine -- maybe even a year (to wait for it to do some of the things it doesn't do yet)...

Although I HATE waiting...

Thanks for posting the VERY USEFUL application of a VERY new and COOL product!!!

 

[Purplebic]

I like your spirit, Purple.

I will never allow Windows geeks to think for me, but in the same vein, I don't let Apple people think for me, either.

I've toyed around with putting YellowDogLinux on this old eMac after I buy a new puter. It'd be like starting all over, but as we've already discussed, Linux (and Apple) users will bend over backwards to help you, unlike Windows geeks who tell you to RTFM in capital letters. (Their attitude continues to amaze me; you don't shout at a kindergardener for writing his "A"s backwards, do you?)

I've even toyed with the idea of buying a new Mac, putting Mac OX on one partition (for most online uses), Windows on another (for offline), and Linux on a third (for learning purposes). (I'd have to buy a Mac, not a Wintel, to do this within my capabilities).

We'll see what happens. BTW, sorry for derailing this thread. Back to the topic at hand....

Well ultimately i think of Linux as the best of both worlds. A good, stable system, on inexpensive hardware. The platform isn't closed, like Apple, and it doesn't crash and isnt prone to viruses like MS. I just don't believe in spending hundreds of dollars on OS'es, and their upgrades. Operating systems are the means to an end, not an end in and of themselves.

But like i said. Linux isn't perfect either. One of my towers is barely 3 years old, and already, theyve dropped support for the proprietary driver of my onboard ATI card, which means im stuck using the opensource driver, and consequently, the video quality isn't as good as what i used to get on Ubuntu 8.04. Then there's this whole GnomeShell stuff that i've personally raised hell about on the Ubuntu forums, and thanks to our collective efforts, Canonical won't be implementing it as standard in the next version

 

[3nipples]

WOW!!! This thread went way DOWN HILL FAST!!!

Meh, it's just a bit of fun

 

[rotary]

I'll buy an iPad after the 2nd or 3rd version comes out. Look how long it's taken apple to get baseline features in an iphone! Their new version 4, (that's right, 4th version) finally has a flash for the camera, a 2nd camera on the front so you can actually use video call, and rumoured multitasking.

Stay away from the first release. Once features are added and specs improved, the iPad will definitely be worth the money.

 

[Purplebic]

Its the most excitement we've had in Tech Talk in quite some time

 

[MercuryJones]

Stay away from the first release. Once features are added and specs improved, the iPad will definitely be worth the money.

Generally true, depending on your attitude and tolerance. Sometimes I wait, sometimes not.

In almost every case my enjoyment was quite enough to balance the benefits I could have had by waiting. Almost.

 

[Corny]

All of your textbooks were in digital form?

with a few exceptions my professors made their notes and the important parts of the textbooks available in digital form.

If that's true, Germany is far ahead of the United States in technology. What notepads were used?

and now prepare to shit bricks .. two professors even used a tablet pc to write down their notes, sometimes directly annotating the textbooks. one professor most of the time even used a huge digital blackboard. all without some funny "apps", all without apple.
i didn't say anything about notepads, i used a notebook - and so did many other students. you know the thing where you can actually can type fast enough on to write important things down in a timely manner.

Purple, the thing is, I don't think I fit the definition of a fanboy.
[..]
On a related note, Purple, do you remember our conversation about Windows geeks? You'll notice in Corny's post the same kind of condescending tone that is the hallmark of Windows experts. Corny, I don't think you realize this, but your impatience with newbies is the best advertisement that Apple could have.

Oh if I fit into the definition of a windows geek (what the fuck? I don't even like it .. nor do I have some current windows installation anywhere) then you are more than just a fanboy, you're a zealot.
And that's the kind of people I show a certain attitude people who blindly pass judgement without seeing both sides of something. Also people who are too fucking lazy to just even try to solve something on their own.

 

[andysayshi]

Generally true, depending on your attitude and tolerance. Sometimes I wait, sometimes not.

In almost every case my enjoyment was quite enough to balance the benefits I could have had by waiting. Almost.

That's true. I got my car serviced yesterday. The electric antenna stopped working, and it cost $420 to replace it including labour. Total service cost: $790.

I'd have had a lot more fun spending that money on an iPad.

 

[andysayshi]

OMG HOW AMAZING!!! FUCKING GENIUS!!!!! HOW COME NOBODY THOUGHT OF THIS???? ALL HAIL TO THE MIGHTY STEVE, GIVE HIM ALL YOUR $$$$


oh wait ... that's exactly how I went through college with my notebook.

I pass a University on the way to work each morning, and there's a LOT of people still lugging kilograms of pulped wood around in their hands and backpacks!

Obviously digital documents and eBooks are not the invention of Apple. But if Apple succeed with their digital bookstore in the same way they have with their music store, it's reasonable to suggest that they will accelerate the uptake of digital book purchases dramatically. They have already brought many major publishers and publications to the digital domain that weren't there pre-iPad.

That's Apple's best thing: utilising technology in a way that connects with people, and sells!

 

[Corny]

^ not to mention that publishers are already quite fed up with apple. fed up enough that most of them now here in germany started to support and only support a different platform for a tablet pc that doesn't even exist yet.
apple's business modell either has to change or it will be their own end

 

[andysayshi]

Same thing happened with music companies and iTunes. They'll work it out. There's more than a million potential book customers with iPads in their hands already.

 

[Corny]

most music companies aren't exactly happy with itunes either. time will tell
one hast to say that at least for the customer itunes became better. still one of the most annoying bits of software that i ever used .. (right up there with iPhoto!)

 

[Purplebic]

i didn't say anything about notepads, i used a notebook - and so did many other students. you know the thing where you can actually can type fast enough on to write important things down in a timely manner.

That's the thing of it really. Trying to market at Ipads as productive tools, the most productive thing ive seen so far is someone emailing spreadsheets.

People like me who need to get real work done, kinda require a real keyboard.
Working on a website, ill have a dozen files of code open in gedit, the php reference manual (chm) open in xchm, AJAX tips &tricks (pdf) open in documentviewer, agave, gcolor, and chromium ontop. I need to be able to type dozens of lines of code in a matter of seconds to minutes, and i need to be able to easily switch (alt-tab) between all my open programs. (in the background i have an apache + php + sql server running, msn, deluge, etc.). And imagine, if i had to pay for every single application (right down to the clock)....

Keeping that in mind, what the fuck does one hope i would accomplish with an ipad?
It's a toy. For people who don't know much of anything about technology (which explains why they're easily impressed by any of its features).

I don't really care if i don't impress anyone with my netbook, or my towers, i didn't buy them to impress, i bought them to get work done, what will truly impress, is the kind of work i produce with these tools. (Anyone can spend money and flash with the latest gadget, how this makes people feel l33t, ill never understand).

 

[andysayshi]

^ I truly don't get your thinking here. It's like chastising someone who buys a motorbike because you need a car to carry your kids. Not everybody needs to carry the kids.

Some motorbikes cost more than some cars. But people still buy motorbikes. Motorbikes are perfect for some people. Some people buy motorbikes because they're smaller than cars. Some people buy them because they use less fuel than cars. And some people just buy them coz they look cool.

I just don't understand your anger. Nobody wants, expects or requires you to buy an iPad. Clearly you don't need or want one. Nobody has ever suggested that it would be suitable to do any of the stuff you just listed. It's not a computer. Why are you so offended by it, and by others appreciation of it?

 

[Purplebic]

^ I truly don't get your thinking here. {...}
I just don't understand your anger {...}Why are you so offended by it, and by others appreciation of it?

Then you missed the point of the whole discussion.

The thread started out as an appreciation of it's productive value, even going so far as to tout the supposed innovation of emailing documents to people. I am here, to debunk the myth that this product is anything but a toy.

Now, if you appreciate it as a toy, i can respect that as much as i respect my neighbour for buying a 69 impala to play with. The only difference is, my neighbour isn't trying to kid me or anyone else into thinking he's better off driving the impala to work every day.

I don't hate the product half as much as i hate the bullshit behind the marketing and motivations for buying it. It simply doesn't offer anything new. The fact that so many people try to justify their purchase and prove its worth says something in and of itself (convincing themselves that it was money wisely spent on a tool, when in fact, you might as well have spent the 500 at Toys'r'Us.)

 

[Corny]

oh i can totally see that the ipad is great for watching movies in bed or on a trip. i can even see that it's great for surfing without typing. but there are other, cheaper machines which do the same.
and after having looked at a kindle, i never want to read an ebook on a regular display again.

it's a jack of all trades, master of none. a nice toy with limited use. nothing against it. it's just a bit expensive for that, and not as innovative as the marketing and the fanboys make it seem to be.

also i love geek wars, so even if the tone is a bit rougher here, i hope nobody feels hurt over such silly disagreements

 

[MercuryJones]

The thread started out as an appreciation of it's productive value, even going so far as to tout the supposed innovation of emailing documents to people.

To the contrary, it was an appreciation of its utilitarian value in my worklife. That involves production to a degree, but its more about utility based on form and function.

I don't sit in my mother's basement writing code. In 80% of my time, I attend meetings, I meet people, I reference data, I read and write emails. When I do that, the iPad is far more utilitarian than anything you're touting. The iPad itself would do for the other 20% of my time, but it doesn't have to: I have a nice laptop and a big monitor.

And among professionals, the work looks more like mine than yours.

What you've failed to understand is the difference between your very narrow set of needs and everyone else. You have the opposite of empathy: instead of imagining yourself as others people, you can only imagine everyone else as you.

Or, like most people who rant in public about their gigabytes or car specs, you have a chip on your shoulder because of your midget dick.

 

[Purplebic]

i never want to read an ebook on a regular display again.

Seriously lol i read a 600 page AJAX e-book and my main thought at the end was, couldnt they make it white text on a black background instead? lol developers don't quite get that a computer screen isn't like paper, and a bright white light damages your vision.