I love the idea. I’m lukewarm on the execution.
I’m kinda like that, but, on the other hand, my friend absolutely waaants one.
I am seriously in need of being dragged into this century. I don’t own a smart phone, (I use the cell I have, in a contract with Rogers for phonecalls only… I hate texting) I don’t own an MP3 player (although I have loaded about 1/10th of my CDs onto my laptop). I have a 15.5 inch Toshiba Satellite that is going to die soon, (power supply issues) and I was thinking about a netbook, since I am not a power user. Then I got excited about this new product launch but I am not sure if it is what I need, or not.
Mostly I surf the net, do a bit of word processing. I dont have an ebook reader but I admit it interests me. I just got a digital camera for christmas (i had one before, but lost it in a break up) We have a laptop (boyfriends) and a desktop at home if I need to do do something that reuires more sophistication. I am not a gamer. I would like to have something I can comfortably read while hanging out watching tv.
I am interested into moving into the Apple world (mainly because Im starting to hate a lot of windows stuff and the new Word is just… not making me happy… we have it at work but I barely have to use it)
Do you think that the iPad would work for me? Or should I get a little netbook. Or some other solution?
(and mods/anyone if you think this is too big a hijack and I should start my own thread I will…)
What you are describing will work better on a netbook. Word processing will not be easy with the ipad, because if you want to use an actual keyboard, it will come as a separate attachment. It cannot multi-task, so if your word processing involves the ability to look up an address on the internet or tab between instant messenger conversations or referencing wikipedia while you’re typing, you’ll need a netbook. Macbooks are apple’s brand of laptops. You can get one which will cost about 30% more than competing windows laptops, but a lot of people think the apple software and design features are worth it. Apple does not make a netbook I am aware of.
Thanks for your response. I am trying to figure out my next move, there are plenty of computer options at home, but yeah, even when I am reading the dope, I often have another tab open to reference wikipedia or something, maybe IMDb, youtube and something else open. Messenger open so I can tell my boyfriend to bring me a cup of coffee, if he is upstairs and I am in the basement. So that might be a pain if I can’t do all those at once.
I still want to check them out when they become available though. I know for one thing I do not want something as big as my current laptop next time.
I was pretty excited about this, but I think it’s a disaster (though no doubt a beautifully elegant one).
The next-gen iPads, in a few years’ time, will no doubt be awesome, but the first incarnation: no thanks.
It seems to be the standard Macintosh (I refuse to use the name they stole from the Beatles) deal, “all sizzle and no Steak”.
Unclviny
This is probably the first time that I am more excited by an Apple launch than many of the fanboys. I’ve never really been an Apple person – I do have an iPod which I rarely use, but that’s about it. But somehow this thing has me really stoked. I just have a hunch that this purported market gap that Steve Jobs is evangelising about, the gap for something that has the no-hassle convenience of an appliance but can do proper web browsing and other things way better than a pocket device, is real and possibly huge. And just considering the laptop I am surfing with from the couch right now – if it had the option to detach the screen and use just that, I would definitely do that a lot. On screen soft keyboards are OK with me, for light use.
Jobs is right that netbooks don’t cut it, because you still lose half your lap-space to the keyboard and trackpad (and the other problems with them – poor build qulaity, full-blown desktop OS crammed into a tiny screen).
So yeah, I would bet that it’s going to be a hit. I can’t wait to try one myself.
I just sat down and watched the iPad introduction podcast (all one and a half hours of it) and now have a more favorable opinion of the iPad. I will reserve my yes/no purchase decision until I can hold and play with it - but if you are trying to figure out this device from blogs and news reports, I strongly recommend that you watch the podcast.
I can imagine having these lying around in the family room, bedroom and even one on an under-cabinet swivel mount in the kitchen. You pick it up and use it as you would a book or magazine.
For people who need ‘casual’ computing at home, this is going to be a strong contender for occasional word processing and email. Web browsing looks amazing. It will have better performance, quality and durability than many cheap netbooks. I suspect that it will do ‘Ok’ as a standalone device, but it is not a general purpose computer and will doubtless work best as an accessory to your desktop or laptop.
I say this at the risk of being labeled ‘fanboy’ (after making my living as a Windows developer for the last 20 years).
Here is my problem with the lack of Flash. Flash sucks and will soon be dead, true. The reason Apple doesn’t want Flash on his App Store delivery devices is that Flash apps compete with their App Store apps and they don’t make money off them. I am ok with that. It was a bit of a gamble when they made it but it paid off handsomely already. But “soon” HTML5 will be here and will also compete with App Store apps. Apple stands to lose some customer good will in order to stop a bullet while the missile comes crashing down on them.
Specially since the iPad is clearly a surfing machine. You could afford to miss the Flash content on a phone or a music player. Not in a web surfing device.
At any rate, Apple is big enough to Microsoft its will on the market so go for it, Steve.
If you can afford to separate your word processing needs from this purchase (and you say you have access to a desktop and a laptop, so you might), you sound like the textbook intended user for an iPad. Casual reading (and gaming) on a couch at home is exactly what this was made for.
If you need your word processing independence, then I don’t know. The keyboard thingy is the most stupid accessory I have ever seen. It is a mobility hassle if you want to go on the road and it is an ergonomics nightmare if you plan to use it at home. Why would you want a keyboard attached to this diminutive screen?. If you happen to be taller than 2’6" and your furniture reflects it, what you want is a bluetooth keyboard so you are not forced to ball yourself to see the screen.
Are you joking? The word “Apple” is so common that I feel embarassed for the Beatles whenever they get in a tiff with Apple over the use of the name. Especially since Apple Corps was effectively shut down in 1975 and Apple Computer has only grown since then. So now that Apple Computer is just Apple, it makes a lot more sense than to say they stole another company’s name that hasn’t existed in almost 35 years.
Another thought covered well by this vblog - which points out the differences between devices intended for ‘consumption’ vs ‘creation’ of digital media.
A related blog on that site contends that the iPad is not a ‘tablet computer’ and should not be compared to them. Both are interesting points worthy of consideration.
(as I watched that Flash video, the cooling fans came on and the strain on my laptop batteries spiked. IMHO, if Adobe made Flash efficient, it would not find itself excluded.)
I was thinking about this thing for a while (night shifts do that to you). This is a grandma computer. If they wise up and own up to it, this could sell like hotcakes.
Singletasking is a feature for this set. No background apps suddenly crying for attention. No wrong click to make the whole screen change to something you didn’t know/remember was there. No linty mouse ball. No viruses. This is the perfect computer for people who hate/fear computers.
A large hefty screen you can move around to the kitchen, the toilet, the sofa. Text you can blow up. A surface that is never too dark to read. This is the perfect book/magazine.
Plenty of sudokuesque games. All easy to find and use. No hassles of sitting in front of a computer. You can play in the couch with the 14 cats. Again, the large screen that’s never too dark to see. No need to find a pen that writes. Canasta with Gertrude who lives in East Wichita every afternoon, quick before Bingo with Flora who lives in Gadzookia.
A large screen with all your photos. Now the 457 photos of little Billy eating his 8th birthday cake are always in order and they won’t break your tarsus when they fall. Videos you can actually make work and watch. This is the perfect photo album and VCR (no more 12:00 12:00 12:00)
Tons of games that little Billy can play with you when he visits. Candyland, Parcheesi, Sea Battle et al just sitting there waiting for that rainy afternoon. No flattened dusty boxes, no lost dies and pieces. Also tons of games that little Billy can play while you need to do something else. The perfect nanny.
What’s missing from this is a dock where you can set it and it automatically shows a slideshow of your photos to work as a portrait frame while it charges. Also a notification that you have email (from a short list of allowed recipients, the spam can wait) that pops in a little corner of the slideshow.
Also missing (and this one I just cannot fathom why it is missing) is a webcam. What best way to video chat with someone than holding something with this form factor?
I should be a tad worried/ashamed that I resonate with all these needs and uses, I guess. Oh well.
What’s funny is that you’ve just laid out a narrative for the iPad that is 100x better than what Apple did the other day.
Shouting “it’s better than a netbook!” when a) it’s not and b) it’s just a big iTouch makes you look crazy. But pointing out how it’s the perfect lounging around the house device? That’s a hook that would bring in a lot of consumers.
But that’s not really the Apple way.
I agree with everything you said. I want the product you describe. The iPad is not that product. It will perform exactly like the pocket devices you mentioned. No multitasking is a dealbreaker. Not being able to install programs is a dealbreaker. Maximum 64gb hard drive is a dealbreaker.
This is about the fifth message I’ve seen making some sort of bizarro-world claim like this. Not multi-tasking doesn’t mean the program can’t run multiple apps and switch between them – it just means you’ve the app you’re running will not be actively running (i.e. it will be saved to memory) while you’re switched out to another one. Assuming this is at least as fast as it is on the iPhone and that Pages is smart enough to re-open the doc you were working on when it relaunches, that means that such a context switch will cost you approximately 1.5 seconds - not one of the scenarios described above is made easier (or even different) by multitasking.
The only place multi-tasking is actually important is when the background app must continue actually doing work beyond simple notifications of incoming data – something like a streaming download or playing music. And (again assuming that this is basically an iPhone engine), even playing music in the background is supported for the iPod app.
I suspect that these “no multitasking is a dealbreaker for me” people either have some very specialized need, or they’ve never used an iPhone/iPod touch. Besides, as the Android phones areably demonstrating, all that multi-tasking doesn’t come for free. This guy’s thrilled about getting 7 hours out of a screen much smaller than the iPad’s.
Thanks for answerng a question I was about to ask. Not being too familiar with iPhones et al, I was concerned that “no mutitasking” might mean that you literally had to somehow shut down apps before launching another one. If it just means that you can switch between loaded apps, but they are suspended while not in the foreground, then I’m not too bothered.
No.
But you are “shutting them down,” and not every app (hell, I’d wager most apps) don’t support save-state, so it starts fresh upon eery boot-up. Whether more apps will support save-states on the iPad remains to be seen.