we will just carry our dongles, backpack batteries, ziplock bags and sausage styluses.
Did i forget anything?
I think the iPad will be proven to be useful,but also don’t htink it will be a proven universal model for new ways of computing. A lot of the splashback, if you will regarding the iPad is the way Jobs sells it and the most devoted Apple fanboys, as some sort of miracle machine. It is not, it is a pretty good piece of hardware, slightly ahead of its competition in some ways, behind in others.
Which is fine, there is nothing wrong with being just another device that people can use…or not.
The bluetooth keyboard and charger… but only if you are trying to make it like function like a netbook.
To me, using an iPad or not is just like choosing the correct tool for the job. If you need a phillips head screwdriver, fine - but if you would prefer a hammer because it can deal with nails AND any type of screw, then get a hammer and don’t worry about the limitations of the screwdriver.
Cloud computing is a whole other discussion, and to be honest separate from the issue of battery reliability.
While I guess in fantasy land Best Buy may not carry a replacement battery for a Lenovo ThinkPad, in the real world that has never been the case. I do agree if I was running a 5 year old notebook I’d have some trouble. However, I consider the useful life of any portable computing device to be sub 3 years, I’ve never actively used a notebook much beyond that point. I’ve never used a cellphone for longer than that.
About the only portable computing device I’ve used for longer than 3 years would be an iPod, but even in that case I’m talking about one of the first gen models that actually was mostly just an MP3 player with no other bells and whistles.
Edited to add: I’d argue you’re the one who is refusing to look at the iPad as anything other than a cool toy. If you’ve ever been involved in deploying hardware on an enterprise or even small business level, you wouldn’t take questions about ease of obtaining a battery as “a minor quibble.” When you have a large installed user base, every problem you can imagine comes up often enough to be worth considering in the planning stages.
Bob: Hey! What about batteries in these things? We can’t deploy until we solve this problem!
Sally: Not very good at the reading, are you? $100 and Apple will replace them with a new unit in a few days by mail. That’s less than we’d pay our techs to change the battery.
Bob: But…but…we’ll lose all the DATA!
Sally: Yeah, and that’s why we will have a regular backup plan for them. After all, they’re going to get lost, broken, and stolen a lot more often than the batteries are going to go dead, and we’ll lose the data on them then, too.
Bob: But we’ll be without the device for a week!
Sally: Lost, broken, and stolen? Remember? We’ll have to have a few extra in storage, just like with computers, laptops, etc. And since restoring the data is a matter of plugging it into a computer with iTunes for about three minutes, it’s easier to restore than any of our other equipment. Haven’t you done this before? We could replace you with someone with, say, a week of experience at logistics? Someone who would actually recognize that these are trivial problems?
Bob: Yeah, actually I work in the mail room, I just like tweaking you guys.
$100 bucks and weeks’ long time to change a battery? WTF?
ONLY 3 minutes to restore from Itunes? WTF?
Allowing Itunes on the Corporate Network?WTF?
Or you could I don’t know use existing solutions. Like tablets where you can switch baterries or hard drives in under 15 seconds cuz they have a little door. Have a built in stylus with handwriting recognition. also Multitouch screens with both a digitizer and resistive touchscreen. and multiple inputs.
I’m with Martin on this. It a very cool toy,but nothing else. Its use on an enterprise level ain’t gonna happen.
I’m typing this from an iPad. My dept. at work got one for testing and I took it home. It was a snap to connect to my wireless network at home. I’m getting used to the typing, and with a bit of practice I think it’ll be fine for light use. The execution of the OS and apps is really great. Fast, intuitive and easy. I’ve never had an iPod or iPhone but this thing rocks. I’ve been reading about wifi problems, but I’ve been all over my house without issue. Verdict: I have to get one.