Sure! Voiceband - for singing/scatting crude multitrack arrangements of songs I’m working on that I haven’t really charted out yet. A great way to get the “germ” down using actual instrument sounds instead of just voice before it fades away or mutates into something else. Xewton Music Studio - for doing MIDI programming on my commute or on the go. I can swap projects back and forth between Logic at home and Xewton on the go to basically reclaim my commute time for arrangement stuff that would otherwise eat up a lot of time.
PatternMusic - Truly the most innovative, “could only properly exist on the format/interface” program. The idea of this thing full-sized with both hands makes me want to make 10 records using only it.
Beatmaker - for making hip hop tracks and other sample-based stuff; it’s an MPC on the iphone.
I’m definitely interested in the iPad. I think that (aside from the early adopters and fanboys), I’m probably as close to the target audience as you can get. I foresee using it:
as a combo music player/ebook reader (I read in bed a lot, and having a high-contrast backlit screen means no booklights or glasses)
as a video player when traveling, since there’s not enough room in an airplane seat for someone 6’4" tall to put a computer on the tray table and tilt the screen up far enough to be visible
as a web browser when I’m sitting on the couch instead of at my desk. I imagine pulling up IMDB while watching a movie, for example. I generally avoid Flash-based sites if I can anyway, so that won’t affect me much.
These are all things that my notebook computer, phone, iPod, and so forth aren’t very good at.
I’m with you, Gary. Except for the comment about notebooks and couch. I use mine constantly from the couch, and may not replace that activity with the iPad.
The iPad will actually belong to my wife, who has wanted an eBook reader for some time, but I try to avoid single use devices - so we waited. It will get heavy use as a reader, will go with us on trips (no 3G though) and may replace my wife’s Daytimer (so she says).
It also will hold a lot of pictures of the grand-daughter.
I kind of think I’ll never pry it loose from my wife, so a second one may be in our future.
I always end up setting mine on a tray table because (a) it gets too warm to have on my lap and (b) I like to sit with one leg curled under me, which doesn’t leave a very stable lap. My notebook computer’s kinda big (it’s a 17" Macbook Pro), which makes it even worse.
It’s possible for the iPad to be Apple’s rare failure yet still change the landscape. There are dozens of iPad competitors waiting in the wings, some of which will have more capabilities and power, most of which will be cheaper.
In a couple of months, I will be starting graduate school and in the market for a computer or computer-like device. I have a clunky old laptop that functions fine but is non-portable. I also have an old beat up iPod touch that I’d love to replace.
I’m looking for something portable that I could take with me to class and coffee shops. Honestly, I’m hoping to restrict my Internet use and try to only do pointless web surfing away from home.
The iPad appeals to me because of it’s price and portability. I HATE carrying stuff around. If I have a heavy computer, I promise it will never, ever, ever leave the house. The iPad seems small enough that I can carry it around regularly without any problems. And the price is much better than the high-end computer I would probably splurge on.
What worries me though is that I would like to be able to compose papers on whatever device I have, and it seems like the iPad might have some severe limitations.
You are not going to want an iPad. Writing full-length papers on it will be a nightmare. Since the keyboard has to overlay onto the screen, you are now losing all that space, so that will make it much ahrder to see what you’ve written, make edits, etc…Not to mention that doing a lot of typing on a touchscreen kills your fingers. It may not seem like it, but trust me, having keys that actually depress when you touch them is a good thing. Typing on a flat, hard, surface is terrible.
I’d say just get a 10" netbook or something. It will be cheaper, will have a real, full-fledged OS (making transferring files between it and a home PC a lot easier,) a real keyboard, and things like USB ports, more upgradability, etc…
I suppose this has some cachet for some people, but the rest of you have too much income. I don’t get this device.
There’s really only one thing that I can think of that I’d like for it to do that would help me in my line of work, and I can already get that done through my BlackBerry. With that being said, I’d appreciate some streamlined way to get into the database and maybe a little more ease of use.
I don’t know your work/study habits, but I suspect for most grad students, writing is an important part of their work. That includes jotting down notes, editing their papers, writing lengthy e-mail, etc. The iPad doesn’t seem well suited to this task.
If you already have a notebook computer, the iPad might be useful as a dedicated reading device. I’m not sure if it has a decent PDF viewer, but if it does, it may be useful for reading journal articles. (Unless you like taking notes on the paper itself, in which case you’re better off using hardcopies, or a tablet computer that allows you to use a stylus.)
Actually, these days you can get a pretty decent notebook computer for that price.
True, but the iPad keyboard dock doesn’t appear to be designed for portability. It may be fine for use in a library, but it doesn’t look practical for taking notes in the classroom.
Lots of professors are moving towards a “no computers in class” rule, because they’re so incredibly distracting. That said, I like the ipad, but I couldn’t use it in a classroom setting (or any writing-intensive purpose) for exactly that reason.
Yeah, so tack on another $70 to an already overpriced (compared to alternatives, such as netbooks or mid-range laptops) product.
And it says the keyboard can function as a charging station with the AC plug…but does it have to be plugged in to be used, or can it just use the iPad’s battery? Cause that would be a HUGE disadvantage if it has to be plugged in…I suspect it can run off of battery, but sometimes Apple makes weird decisions like that.
I don’t mind Flash dying, as I think it should for anything but games (and maybe cartoons). But, based on my experience with everything else on the web, it isn’t going to die quickly, and I want to be able to access the sites I use that need it in the meantime.
Anytime I’ve ever bought anything that is missing a particular capability, it’s turned out that capability is precisely what I wanted and/or needed.
I still wonder if HTML5 and other open standards will work with the DRM that almost every video site likes to use to keep you from downloading their videos and keeping them past the time they want to show them. The people pushing open standards are often the anti-DRM people.
You don’t want an iPad. An iPad is an accessory to a computer, not a computer in and of itself. If you like Mac products, you’ll have to go with an iBook I think. A Macbook Air would be perfect, but you’ll need to sell your first born. If you don’t care about the OS, then a netbook might work. I’ll have to say though, that one of my students has a netbook and the size of the screen makes my head spin.
I do suspect that many PC based iPad type things will come out, and that they will do everything they can to incorporate every little thing that the iPad doesn’t. IMO, this will lead to a clunky product that is indistinguishable from a PC. It will also be more expensive than an iPad.
I don’t think it’s overpriced, if you have a use for it. It has a 1024x769 IPS screen; that’s larger (pixel-wise) than most netbooks, and better quality than any notebook (last I looked, I couldn’t find a single notebook computer with an IPS screen). And nothing else in this size comes with a capacitive multitouch screen, as far as I know.
On the other hand, I don’t think this device replaces anything. It can’t replace the iPhone because it’s not a phone, it can’t replace a netbook because it has no keyboard (unless you only use the netbook for web surfing), and it’s too big to be an iPod replacement. Some may consider it a workable replacement for an eBook reader, but I don’t - it’s significantly larger than the Kindle, the battery life is far worse, and it’s harder to use under bright light.
Good question… But they also have a wireless keyboard available, which runs on two AA batteries. Of course, if you use this, you also need a stand for the iPad.