# iPad with phone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923 "2010-02-06T15:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/1 "2010-02-06T15:18:03Z")
Why is there no phone with the iPad? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/2 "2010-02-06T15:21:28Z")
Because, it’s not designed to be a phone. What would you do. hold it up to your head like a salad plate? If you want data access, 3G is available. Apple (reasonably) didn’t expect that many people would want to use such a device as a phone. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/3 "2010-02-06T15:22:31Z")
You could get Skype and a headset. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/4 "2010-02-06T15:30:18Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Because, it’s not designed to be a phone. What would you do. hold it up to your head like a salad plate? If you want data access, 3G is available. Apple (reasonably) didn’t expect that many people would want to use such a device as a phone. I can think of a lot of occasions where I’d like to answer my phone while using the iPad! Couldn’t you use bluetooth or a headset? “What would you do. hold it up to your head like a salad plate?” Is that kind of comment what “snarky” means? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/5 "2010-02-06T15:33:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > You could get Skype and a headset. I thought about that, but wouldn’t that require a different number? I know little about this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/6 "2010-02-06T15:40:09Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I thought about that, but wouldn’t that require a different number? > I know little about this stuff. Don’t you need a separate number for each mobile phone you have? Like, if I had an iPhone and I wanted to keep my current phone, they would have different numbers. So if your iPad was a phone, I’d think it would have its own number. (I’m just guessing.) I have Skype on my PowerBook and my iPod Touch, but I’ve never used it. There’s only one person I’d want to talk to, and he only has Skype. (He’s living out of the country.) I don’t know how to initiate a call, and he’s never called me. Nothing’s come up where we would need to coordinate a call. In any case, Skype-to-Skype is free. If you want to call an actual phone, you put money into your Skype account and you can call the phone. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/7 "2010-02-06T15:57:10Z")
Yeah, that’s another beauty of the cell phone business. You can’t have more than one phone on the same number. I’ve been assured that there’s no technical reason for it. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/8 "2010-02-06T16:05:14Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > What would you do. hold it up to your head like a salad plate? Video speakerphone. Oh wait, it doesn’t have a camera either. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/9 "2010-02-06T17:13:12Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Video speakerphone. I expect that they made a prototype with those abilities, but found that: A) The pad user feels like an ass talking to a book on a table B) No matter where we put the camera, it’s angled so as it give maximum definition to the caller’s nose hair. C) Running speakers loud enough to work in that mode drains batteries like nobody’s business. No one wants an iPad you need to plug into a wall socket. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/10 "2010-02-06T17:50:50Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > I expect that they made a prototype with those abilities, but found that: > A) The pad user feels like an ass talking to a book on a table > B) No matter where we put the camera, it’s angled so as it give maximum definition to the caller’s nose hair. > C) Running speakers loud enough to work in that mode drains batteries like nobody’s business. No one wants an iPad you need to plug into a wall socket. No, forget all that. The OP wants just headset or bluetooth. You’re doing some research for something you’re writing (a paper, maybe), and you get a call from a friend who want’s to meet for lunch. ATT can do both (call and surf) at the same time. If the other person has ATT you can talk about something you’re both looking at on the internet, like the menu at (Larry) Blakes. C) The iPad already has speakers, doesn’t it? A) You look like an ass talking to noboby (bluetooth) at a table anyway. Thing is, for me, if you don’t want to use it, simply ignore it. I’m not buying an iPad, by the way. My original version iPhone’s getting old, so I’m getting a new one. BTW; they should put some sort of a disappearing prop on the thing. Working flat on a table is kinda awkward. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/11 "2010-02-06T18:02:32Z")
Having a phone might cut into their iPhone sales. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/12 "2010-02-06T18:27:49Z")
Because it’s not a phone. My dishwasher also doesn’t have a phone in it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/13 "2010-02-06T19:00:38Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Because it’s not a phone. > > My dishwasher also doesn’t have a phone in it. My car does. They have these new things now, they call them “smart phones”. They’re a lot more than phones. I’ll email you a picture of mine if you like. On my iPhone. Or you can look it up on the net, using your smart phone. Oh, that’s right. You have one of [these](http://www.boldoldphones.com/). Do you want my old iPhone after I de-activate it? 😉 **Johnny L.A.** has a phone on his PowerBook! I want a PowerBook. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/14 "2010-02-06T20:17:56Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > My car does. > They have these new things now, they call them “smart phones”. Yes. The iPad isn’t one of those. > [@](#): > > Do you want my old iPhone after I de-activate it? 😉 I have a nice 3GS, thanks. But if the offer’s genuine, I’ll happily accept - my girlfriend has been hankering after an iPhone. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/15 "2010-02-06T20:21:33Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > **Johnny L.A.** has a phone on his PowerBook! I want a PowerBook. I have Skype on my PowerBook and Touch. But I have never used it. My friend has Skype on his PC laptop, and the last time we talked (aside from in person, of course) he called my phone with it. Sounded pretty good. They don’t make the PowerBook anymore. You’ll have to get a MacBook Pro. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/16 "2010-02-06T20:28:24Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Yes. The iPad isn’t one of those. > > I have a nice 3GS, thanks. But if the offer’s genuine, I’ll happily accept - my girlfriend has been hankering after an iPhone. My car isn’t one of those either. But it does have a phone. So do some refridgerators, I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/17 "2010-02-06T21:14:53Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > My car isn’t one of those either. But it does have a phone. So do some > refridgerators, I’ve heard. Fridges with phones? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/18 "2010-02-06T21:50:36Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Fridges with phones? Yeah. Never seen one, but it calls you or your grocer. Maybe it just makes a list. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipad-with-phone/527923/19 "2010-02-06T22:07:23Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Yeah. Never seen one, but it calls you or your grocer. > Maybe it just makes a list. > Nevermind. I’ve heard of those. But it doesn’t have a phone in it - it connects to the internet and sends an e-mail. Sorta like an iPad…🙂