That’s a pretty small market share that gets taken out to declare it a flop. Personally, I think it’s going to be huge.
This is why I think it’s Apple getting a foot in the door. Later versions will build on the platform to include more of the features people might want from a device like this.
Many people said that about the iPod, with many of the same concerns.
That said, I didn’t follow the coverage to closely but no Flash is a dealbreaker on anything larger than a phone. I was surprised to see it so cheap (by Apple debut standards). I imagine the prices will drop in the next six months, at least for the 3G version.
I’ll continue my futile quest to find a cheap used Macbook for the living room.
The form factor bother me too. With a hinged screen you can set it down and still view it. You’d either have to hold this thing all the time, or stare down at it from above.
ETA: Or buy the dock/stand, which isn’t all that convenient if you move around a lot.
Soooooooooooooooo tempted, but I wouldn’t buy this one. They’ll be cheaper in a year or two; meanwhile I could get more functionality from a mini-note.
I wouldn’t necessarily buy this one - if I had the money, I’d probably just replace my MacBook. But maybe if I had enough, I could replace the laptop with an iMac and use this as my portable device.
I think the important thing to consider here is that this is the first generation of a new product line. Looking back on the first iPod, it was $399 for a 5 gig music player. And that was all it did. But it opened up an entire new ecosystem of portable music sales that hadn’t existed before. And I think Apple will use the iPad to do the same thing with publishing. There are missing features (no camera, no Flash, no multitasking), but think about what the second- and third- and fourth-generation iPads will look like and what kind of features they’ll have.
That’s exactly how I see myself using it. My laptop is too bulky on the couch to the point that I default to the iPhone. This would simplify that. I honestly don’t know how much I’d use it for the newspaper/magazines. I read the Sunday paper, but browse news events as they happen on the internet.
Nope - there are shots of it standing upright (in landscape) in its carrying case, which looks pretty slick.
Without Flash it’s next to useless to me.
Yeah, I’d buy one if I had the bucks. I’d go for the 3G version and get one of the pay-as-you-go data plans.
Apple has jumped-the-shark. What a disappointment. An over-sized iPod touch that is neither as useful or practical as an iPhone and not any more portable than a Macbook Air.
This device does not fill a need, nor even do anything new. What a complete waste of space–it took this this long to come up with this? Wow…
I can’t see wanting one, myself. It seems to me to be a product that doesn’t have much of a market. If you want a product that surfs the internet and has lots of cool apps, there are iPhones and other smartphones, or you could get a netbook for half the cost. If you want to do serious computing with wireless networking, you have any number of similarly- or lower-priced notebooks that you can hook up to the same AT&T 3G network that the iPad will use.
The iPad looks to me like a product that combines bits and pieces of what other products–including those already made by Apple–already do, for a lot more money. Of course it’s going to be a hit, and of course I’m going to be baffled by it. But then I’m somewhat baffled at the success of the iPod and the iPhone too.
Sorry, I should have elaborated: it doesn’t look to me like it has enough functionality that someone would buy it instead of a laptop or an iPhone. And once you have those things, it doesn’t bring enough to the table that people would buy it on top of those. I think it will be something that a fair number of people wouldn’t mind having, but few will be willing to shell out money for.
That’s true, and I’ll admit I pooh-poohed the iPod too. But then when you think about it, the iPod did something nothing else did at the time: it allowed you to download digitized music onto a portable player, quickly and relatively easily. Sure, there were other MP3 players out there, but they were even more expensive or difficult to use or bulky. By Apple’s own admission, they looked out in the marketplace and saw a need for a good, small, digital music player.
But you look at the iPad and you think to yourself: does this do anything that isn’t already out there? Does this fill a market for a product that hadn’t existed previously? Well, honestly, I don’t think so…even Apple tried making a tablet in the past with the Newton. And the iPad happens to be coming out at a time when notebooks have gone from “expensive business toy” to “cost-effective alternative to the desktop”. We’ll see what happens, I suppose.
I was thinking the same thing. Laptops by design are ergonomically functional. A horizontal keyboard with a vertical display. I can place it on a table or set it on my lap.
This i-pad is 2 steps backwards from that evolution wise. 1) Your keyboard and display are on the same plane now, and 2) When using the keyboard you lose display space.
Sure you can plug in a seperate keyboard but how bulky and cumbersome is that to transport and balance on your lap?
The i-phone popularity came about because of it’s function as a pocket size handheld device that had computer like functions. Why move it into territory where there is already something better?
I’m a die-hard Apple user and I was incredibly disappointed.
It’s not even a standalone — it still needs to be linked to a normal computer and doesn’t have a Finder or file manager. There are no USB ports.
The OP has it right—it’s just a big, souped-up iPod Touch.
With an iPod Touch and a MacBook Air, I don’t see myself rushing out to buy an iPad any time soon. However, I think it would be great for people like my grandparents. Easy to navigate, relatively cheap (for Apple), and with an engaging, fun interface. It might be what finally gets my grandfather to use email.
I’m not surprised by the product in the least, but I am disappointed in the name. I think iSlate sounds much better.
Zero interest - tho reading this thread has reminded me that I was planning on looking up what “3G” was. And I guess now I can add “flash”.
I’m curious about the idea that this is intended to be a Kindle killer. With the new iBooks(?) online bookstore they are clearly trying to replicate the iTunes/iPod success.
However, one thing the Kindle and competitors tried to perfect is the text display and lighting experience. I haven’t heard or read anything today that addresses this kind of capability in the iPad. Frankly, if it just gives regular laptop type display as a reader it’s going to be an issue.