How many devices does one man need, before you can call him a man? Yes, and how many devices can one view, before he’s seen enough? The answer my friend is blowing in cyberspace, the answer is blowing in cyberspace…hmm, someone ought to be writing this down! 
But, seriously… how many new toys does one need to catch emails, surf the web, and/or never miss a call? Is there really a difference between all these handheld toys? What’s all the hullaballoo? 
Moved to MPSIMS from Great Debates.
Some people just gotta have the latest toys, that’s all. Hell, how many people really need to be next to a phone 24 hours a day, yet everyone carries a cell phone. I can remember (showing my age here) when there were no cell phones and no answering machines. You know what? The world did not end when you couldn’t reach someone. You just called later or the next day. And it was no big deal. Now, if someone doesn’t answer their cell phone after 5 rings, people start thinking something is wrong! :rolleyes: Ah, progress! :smack:
As many as it takes. I don’t think there is any set limit.
Is there any difference between the various toys? Sure. The iPad is a slate…sort of a computer on a pad, with a touch screen. The iPhone is, well, a phone…with benefits. It’s basically a smart phone with tons of apps you can put on it. The iPod (touch presumably) is an iPhone without the, um, phone. It’s got the ability to connect via WiFi, however, so you can surf the web if you are in range of a WAP (this is what I have, toy wise, btw…my phone is a BlackBerry Storm).
Personally, I don’t intend to buy an iPad, since it doesn’t have the features I really want. I’m looking at some new slates due to come out this year, however, since I think the slate concept is a good one (I’m looking at one of the Linux OS slates). I don’t intend to use it as a toy, however…I think it will be better going to meetings, checking email, bringing up network diagrams and connecting to our network monitoring system quickly to check status on stuff than lugging around a laptop. We’ll see when I actually have one in hand.
-XT
Some of us are open-minded enough to think that a new gadget may make you more productive, or make you life easier, or allow you to do new things, or allow you to do the same things easier and faster. It doesn’t even need to do something new. Sometimes, a different way to do the same thing can change your life.
The Kindle, for example. I know, it’s just like a paper book. But it isn’t - it’s better in a lot of little ways, enough so that I’ve been reading a lot more books since I got the Kindle.
The iPod has changed my life as well, especially with the advent of podcasts and services like Audible. Now I can find the time to keep up with current events and learn new things whine I’m driving or doing mindless tasks.
Of course, sometimes new gadgets fail to live up to expectations. But I don’t know for sure until I buy it and try it out. And if it doesn’t work out, there’s always eBay.
Personally, I think there’s enough of a gap in functionality between a cellphone, e-book reader, and a notebook computer that there will tend to be plenty of hybrids out there attempting to span the various gaps - and plenty of people who will see those hybrids as useful/necessary.
The ideal device for me would:
be able to make and receive phone calls
be small and light enough to fit comfortably (and non-noticeably) in my pocket.
have a large enough screen to be able to read decent amount of text clearly (as in reading a book)
be dash-mountable (with above large-enough screen) to use in my car for driving directions
be able to send and receive email
be able to process simple spreadsheets and write simple documents
be able to compile and test my FORTRAN programs (and I fully realize that this is just me)
have a large enough keyboard to accommodate the above functions
Unfortunately, some of these requirements are incompatible with some of the others, meaning that one device will probably never be able to comfortably handle all of them - and I suspect that even two devices may never be. That’s just the way life goes, I guess.
This is the question that (IMO) divides those who like the iPad from those who do not. Some people want a singular device that tries to do everything they could ever want - others are happy to have multiple devices that each do a subset of everything, but do those things with style, grace and efficiency.
The folks in group 1 have to cope with the fact that a jack-of-all-trades device may be the master of none.
The folks in group 2 have to cope with occasionally finding they didn’t bring the right device with them for some arising need.
Look, it’s the year 2010. We don’t have flying cars. We don’t have Mars colonies. What we have is the iPod, the iPad and the iPoop.
You take what you can get.
One could bring this entire industry to its knees by taking over the battery market, or force a vowel movement and kidnap the “i.”
I used to have a Palm Pilot with several books loaded onto it. I got a lot of reading done in the bathroom, lines, during lunch, etc. When the latest one died and I didn’t replace it, my reading productivity went way down.
My point? I don’t need a point.
Exactly. I keep my Iphone in a case with a Star Trek logo on the back. I pretend it’s a Federation communicator or tricorder or something.