I believe the primary reason why Apple doesn’t support Flash is that it frequently makes their devices crash, and Jobs is very anal about Apple customers having a good user experience. In this article published yesterday by Wired online, he is reported as saying about Adobe and Flash:
That’s the same reason I don’t put Quicktime on my PCs.
The idea of internet without a computer is still a good one. How much of internet content out there depends on the browser being run on a computer OS? It might be time to develop internet browsers, applications, and content that don’t require additional software - the idea of having to get additional plug-ins is a odd, but we are used to it so we don’t mind. Maybe we should.
Now wait a tic…I’m a little confused. There’s some posters in here who think this’ll be a good student computer or some sort of netbook replacement. But as I understand it, if you want to transfer files (video, mp3s, and such) from someplace other than the Internet/cloud, this new doohickey requires that you already have a computer, yes?
If so, that’s rather a hindrance, as I see it. Sure, lots of us have computers, so no biggie. But if customers are looking at this as a computer replacement (which it seems some are, at least, no doubt because of its constant comparison with netbooks), that’s probably a fail. Because you’re not looking at $500 for the iPad versus $1000 for a computer - you’re looking at $1500 for the iPad + computer.
I think there is a bit of disconnect between some of us here. I do not think it is an unusccessful product, what it is meant to do it does quite well, a portable media device/ereader etc. In that essence it is a very successful product in design and exectuion.
However,…
Unlike the iPhone or iPod I do not seeing it being nearly as ubiquitous. The need for this is much narrower than those products. And it is not a paradigm shifter. So its success will be more akin to the MacBook Air. it very well may dominate but a much narrower market. So I can see how some folks are like, “I gotta get me one of those, it wil make my life easier” and o tehrs are like “I don’t really need that”.
Therreason for the ngativity from so many is the way Apple and Jobs seem to be trying to sell it, as something remarkable that is going to change the way we live our lives or something like that. I don’t see that, I do see a well executed, new device that will be awesome for some, but not worht the money for most.
Well, if you don’t have a computer, then you don’t have those files you need to transfer. IF you have the files, then you have the computer.
Yabbut…Unintentionally Blank said that “this will make a stellar student computer.” Maybe. But I hope that parents don’t think that all they need to buy their college-bound kid is an iPad - when Junior needs to get his papers off the iPad to print, he could be sadly out of luck. What if the computer lab won’t allow you to connect an iPad or doesn’t have internet connectivity? (Yeah, these might be a stretch, but it could happen.)
Mona Lisa Simpson also said that she’d like to consider an iPad for what I read as a replacement for her aging and dying Toshiba Satellite. Now, in her case this doesn’t really apply as she’s got other computers available to her, but I’m certain there’s other consumers out there that are less well informed that are probably thinking the same thing. And what if they don’t have access to another computer? What if they have an mp3 player but don’t use iTunes? Or a digital camera?
I don’t think it necessarily follows that if you have digital files, then you have a computer - only that you have *access *to a computer. But maybe you can’t connect your iPad to it. I think that there’s a group of consumers out there that aren’t going to realize that a computer is required for this thing. Sure, it’s a small group, but it’s there.
It could be a stellar student computer…I’m thinking K-12. Think a Classroom kit with one teacher computer, a VGA display dongle, and 12 packs of iPads with the Keyboard stands.
Who needs to print when you’re internet connected? Sally Sixthgrader creates her book report in Pages, amd her presentation in Keynote…then emails the results by midnight the night before the presentation…she then plugs her pad in to the communal VGA adapater, and gives her presentation to the class.
Is that too progressive? Because I see that now, only it’s 1st graders, two or three macbooks per class, and oddly enough, a handful of iPod touches.
They already have iPod Touches in classrooms around here. Linky
I would think an iPad would be even better, aside from being more fragile.
Given the budgetary concerns of most schools, who is going to pay for this, including the data plan? I mean why would they spend that money on this limited device.
It’s NOT a limited device, not in the right context…and they make versions without 3G. You really should go watch the video, it explains a lot. (http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/1001q3f8hhr/event/index.html)
Ask yourself, if it’s just for web surfing and email reading, WHY does the video spend so much time talking about business productivity software and WHY does it have an available keyboard? (Unless they expect more from it.)
And to answer the budgetary concerns: presumably the budget they use for buying computers now…only it’ll buy twice the screens for the money.
Given the right software, it could be a multimedia virtual notebook.
How are you envisaging this thing being used in the classroom? It seems the wrong form factor for that - it’s essentially the shape of a piece of paper, but can’t be used like one - paper accepts rapid handwritten input, and you can lean on a piece of paper that’s laid flat on a desk, without breaking it.
Virtual keyboard input on this thing laid flat on a school desk is going to be very unergonomic. With a stand to present the screen at a better angle, and a hardware keyboard, it might be approximately as good as a laptop or desktop computer, but then, what would be the point of not just using a laptop?
I could see it working well as a replacement for a clipboard and paper (as well as reference textbooks) for data collection on field trips, but then, if you drop an ordinary clipboard in the river, it’s not a catastrophe.
I don’t mean this to come across as overly negative - I just don’t see how this could replace a conventional computer, or pen and paper, in the classroom - there’s probably a place for it, but I don’t think it has the right properties to become ubiquitous.
I would think it is better suited for a College level than for K-12. I cringe at the thought of a room of first graders with 12 of these lying around. I trust my iPod Touch to my Pre-K and K kids. One at a time. 12-20 at the same time? Yikes.
College books are perfect for the iPad, though. The ability to embed video and zoomable color photos and diagrams is just perfect. It would need some basic multitasking, though. Being able to float a calculator over the book, for example. Or a notepad.
Does the browser support tabs? That would be one way to work around some of the more trivial multitasking needs such as calculators etc.
Just reading: it’s rumoured that iPhone OS 4.0 (released this summer) will support multitasking, in which case one of the major missing features on the iPad will be implemented shortly after launch.
Listen, it is not my overriding desire to convince you guys it’s a good idea. I merely stated it was a possibility. I could see it used there. If you can’t see the potential, or that is costs too much, or that it’s not ergonomic, that’s fine. I would have KILLED for something like this while I was in college (1992)…one item instead of 4 HEAVY EXPENSIVE textbooks. A device where the study materials could be downloaded to it. Notes added to those materials using_my_finger. (yeah yeah, my finger is too thick, I couldn’t read it, I can’t learn if I don’t have physical paper to hold on to.)
It’s not my job to convince. If fact, my first reaction was meh. But on further reflection, I can see the potential for this device to succeed where others have and might fail despite it’s shortcomings.
Time will tell.
(and yes Mangetout, it has tabbed browsing, It’s gotta, the iPhone does…)
I think the Kindle could give it a run for its money, for textbooks - admittedly, the Kindle only does the one thing, but I think the display type means it does that thing better than the iPad.
I disagree. First, colors, images, animations. Secondly, Textbooks are not read cover to cover. They are consulted and referenced. I wouldn’t even joke about reading War and Peace on an iPad (while I might on a Kindle which I haven’t seen in person), but for an anatomy or engineering textbook, the iPad sounds like just the thing well over the Kindle.
Those are all good things, but paper textbooks don’t generally do them much better than the capability of the Kindle (it does support quite decent greyscale images).
Whilst the Kindle doesn’t offer the same kind of multimedia potential for upgrading textbooks as does the iPad, it fits in a jacket pocket, it’s probably less prone to accidental damage (just because it’s small and light, if not very rugged), and the battery life means it needs charging maybe once a month, as opposed to every day for the iPad.
Within the strict context of reference materials, they both offer a different set advantages over each other - so it could go either way, or both.
Time will tell, I guess, and if the iPad does turn out to be the next big thing, it won’t hurt me at all to admit my surprise at it.