The problem with a Win 7 tablet is one of bloated software on a limited device. Apple took the tactic of taking a smaller OS built for a phone - a very small and limited computer, and using that for an Instant-On platform. Sure, they took heat for it, because it doesn’t support 8 million things at once, but it isn’t meant to.
Let’s look at a couple of extremes of the same thing. I know someone with an iPhone 3G with the new iOS 4 on it. Dog slow. Because the hardware can’t support the expanded and extended OS. I had this whole conversation earlier this week with another friend who is running XP SP3 on a 7 year old laptop, and wondering why it’s almost crippled slow and crash prone. Same thing. The hardware, in it’s day, was designed to run well with the OS of it’s day. But the OS keeps getting larger and larger as functionality was added, and while it works just fine on newer hardware designed with the software in mind, it doesn’t work so well with an older computer that wasn’t made to handle it.
So yeah, they could maybe eventually come out with a touch screen tablet that supports Win 7, but likely it will be larger, heavier and just as expensive as an iPad. It will also take forever and a day to boot up. It may theoretically support all of your devices, but odds are that the combination of software and hardware isn’t going to do it all that well. Fact is, they’re going to need to make a lot of interface changes to get Win 7 to work well on a touch-screen device, whereas they may be better off coming at it the other direction (building a new, smaller OS and working up from there) like everyone else.
Ah, now that makes sense. I’m reading this thread with interest, but I’m still having a difficult time wrapping my head around how/why I’d use an iPad. And the answer is – I wouldn’t. I’m just not the target demographic for personal mobile computing platforms, and the above crystallized the issue for me.
I’m trying to work out if it’s a good thing that someone might read more books, or ineffably sad that the only thing getting them to read more is a shiny new piece of technology. Maybe it’s both.
The problem with books on a computer is that you have to sit in front of the computer to read them. You’re usually sitting upright to do this, and it can be uncomfortable in the long run.
With an iPad or similar small device, you can lay about in any comfortable position, reading something roughly the same size and heft as a hardcover book.
And if you’re distracted, you can bop out, check your mail, read this forum, and go back to reading your book.
These are just my thoughts on the matter, but I don’t think it’s the hardware itself that is revolutionary. It is, as others have said, just a tablet computer in a much nicer form factor (IMO). What seems to be revolutionary about it is that its just plain easier to use than a laptop or desktop for most common uses, which leads to a far greater use of/dependence on the product.
Before, if I wanted to browse for information on the internet, I either had to go to my computer/laptop, boot it up if it wasn’t running or was hibernating, wait for it to connect to the internet, and load up the program necessary to access my information. Very often, especially during a movie or tv show, it just wasn’t worth it. With my iPad, it’s always “on”. I can hit home, swipe, hit safari/IMDB and it almost instantly loads what I’m looking for. It takes me from limited blocks of information access here and there to almost constant access should I want it/need it.
Likewise, book reading is “easier” now. Before, with real books, I had to dig through my bookshelves to try to find the book only to realize I left it buried under a towel in my bathroom. Then I had to remember which page I left off on (since I don’t use bookmarks–I tend to lose them). And if I wanted to read something else, I had to put this book down (again trying to remember where I left off, since I also don’t fold book corners) and repeat the process of finding the other book. Now, with the iPad (and its access to both my Kindle library as well as iBooks libraries AND native PDF support), I pick it up, select the book, and it instantly jumps to where I left off without me trying to remember what chapter I had just read, and with a couple of quick taps, I can pull up a different book/document. So I read more. I will complain that neither the Kindle nor iBook libraries have all of the books I want to read in them yet (grumblestupidpublishersgrumble), but when they do, it makes my reading experience easier.
And there are hundreds of other uses for the device. AirVideo to stream media (yes, even over the internet) from my media server to the device. Logmein/Desktop Connect for quick access to my desktop computer’s screen from anywhere at home over my wifi network if I want to start a video encode from the couch, a wifi remote function for my apple TV, mappable keyboard/mouse support for a computer, various fun games which you can play for 30 seconds or hours (mmmm, Crystal Defenders HD), calendar/address book management which syncs up to my google account cloud so that if I ever lose the information on my ipad, it’s saved elsewhere and will resync without issue, note programs that let you either type or “write” with your finger for quick scribbled notes (i use this at work a ton when I need to remember something I have to do at home or the next day).
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it isn’t revolutionary in and of itself, or because Apple’s device is magical and all others aren’t, or even that something better can’t possibly take it’s place. It’s revolutionary because it’s taking information and media consumption from discrete blocks here and there to semi-constant use and doing so in incredibly simple ways.
My point was not to suggest that we should be reading books on our computers instead of our iPads; it was to suggest that, in the absence of iPads, we can still read actual, you know, books! Like the iPad, these ingenious devices also allow you to “lay about in any comfortable position.”
The person who made the original comment offered a value judgment about it. She suggested that it was good that she was reading more books as a result of having the iPad. I merely shifted the focus: if we accept that reading books is a Good Thing, why should it require a new piece of technology to get us to do something that we could already do very easily without it?
But it’s easier, and long term for me cheaper, to use an iPad. To read books, I either have to drive to a library (which I don’t, because local libraries are pitifully out of stock for the sort of books I read) or book store, which is a 20+ minute process, find a half dozen books that interest me (because it’s silly to drive out there and just get one) and then repeat the process in a week or two.
And then, i have to carry around a book, or two, at all times. I was already carrying around a laptop, or at least keeping it in the car, now I don’t take my laptop, or book, and I can read my books on my iPad or iPhone, picking up where I left off. The phone isn’t as comfortable as the iPad, but Ive only needed to use it as a reader once, when I left my iPad in the car at the doctors office.
It’s less to carry around, or just slightly more if you normally only lug a book around, but it gives you astronomically more functionality. I have three dozen books on my iPad – two dozen of which are already read and I will get are around to deleting – plus movies, music, games, email, etc. I even use it for presentations from time to time.
It’s not that the gadget makes me want to read more, it’s that it makes reading more convenient, so I’m able to do it whenever I want to.
True, but with an internet connection, I can say “I want this book RIGHT NOW” and not have to go running off to the store to buy it/hope they have it in stock or order it from Amazon and wait a week or so for it to be delivered. Of course, as mentioned, the selection is currently limited, but as other devices come on the market, this will be less of an issue.
And speaking as someone with 700+ physical books on hand, I can say that it involves less effort if I have to move, and less space taken up in my apartment.
If you wish to read an emotion in my post, color is mildly annoyed.
Tell me if this is an accurate assessment:
You say “Tell me why this is cool.” Someone offers an example (one of hundreds), and your response is ‘gee, you’re a sad individual’.
:dubious:
If it’s not for you…it’s not for you. If you think its stupid that another person likes and values the device, it says more about you than it does the individual.
I would like to play with an iPad for awhile, just to see how it works an all.
However, I think price is the biggest factor. For instance, we have hundreds of students at school and I have not see ONE with an iPad yet - granted, most of them are there on financial aid packages and have limited income, it does strike me as odd that even the Game majors don’t have one yet.
Once the price drops, or another company comes out with a cheaper (similar) version, I am looking forward to giving it a go.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age when all swimwear was 10% off, it was the age of basement cat, it was the epoch when we finally got comfy, it was the epoch when we had to get up to plug in the battery adapter, it was the season we updated our Facebook status to “reading Dickens,” it was the season of a dark and stormy night, it was the spring when we got Dickens open again, it was the winter we realized we hadn’t the foggiest idea where we left off, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
Yes, I have a smart phone, but it’s a really crappy one based on Windows Mobile 6. Funny thing is, I thought it was pretty good, and used it quite regularly, until I had a chance to borrow an iPod Touch for a vacation. It was so much more usable for everything but making phone calls that I immediately decided I had to throw out my old phone as soon as I could get out of the contract and get an iPhone.
Now, I will grant that if you have an iPhone, you can do a lot of what you can do on the iPad. But you can’t do anything as well as you can on the iPad, other than transport it easier and make phone calls. But for reading books, surfing the web, playing games, doing productivity apps, the iPad takes an experience that is just okay on the iPhone and makes it great.
And an iPad is much cheaper than an iPhone in terms of connectivity. A big plus for the iPad 3G is that the data plans are no-contract, and quite affordable. Here in Canada, the iPhone plans run from $50/mo to $70/mo, on a three year contract. My iPad is much more flexible. If I’m around the city, I’m usually within range of wi-fi, either at work or at home. So I buy the $15 250mb plan, which I found is just about right. It allows me to connect to the net wherever I am, and I just make sure I don’t download apps or do other heavy internet lifting when I’m out of range of wi-fi. But if I’m going on a business trip or a vacation, I can just call Bell and upgrade to the 5GB plan for $35, and not really worry about how much data I use.
On average, I’m guessing the iPad will cost me $20/mo for 3G, which is about a third of what I’d wind up paying for the iPhone. So my plan now is to eventually get an iPhone, but to buy it with the absolute minimum sized plan I can get. Or, if I find I always have the iPad with me, I may just get a basic phone and pay $20/mo for it.
In the meantime, my smartphone gets no use at all. In fact, I find my biggest problem now is remembering to take it with me because it’s fallen so far off my radar screen, and I have to remember to put it on the charger. I use it so little that it runs down in standby mode between uses.
If you’re using it primarily for outgoing calls, just get Skype or something similar for your iPad, and a bluetooth headset. I was pretty amazed to get a call from a guy using his iPad, about three or four days after the wifi version came out.
I’m realized at one point that it had been months since I’d successfully made a call on my iPhone without it being dropped or garbled (I live in one of AT&T’s “trouble spots”), so it was an easy decision for me: when the iPad came out, I dropped the iPhone and bought a T-Mobile $29 phone with prepaid minutes. My guess is that that phone will cost me less in a year than the iPhone cost per month, it actually makes calls, and my iPad 3G meets my data needs better than the iPhone did for less money.
I’m surprised to say it, but after having my ipad for about 6 or 8 weeks, I’ve decided that I’m probably going to sell it. It’s a very cool device, and I can actually touch-type on it, but overall it’s just not doing it for me. I used to have a 12 inch powerbook as my main computer. When it was three years old I replaced it with a 15 inch macbook pro (before the 13 inch was available) and I always missed the portability of the 12 inch.
I bought the ipad because I thought it would work well for portable email, web browsing, and ssh. It’s great for the email, but web browsing isn’t nearly as good as on my laptop, and i haven’t even tried using ssh because i think the keyboard wold be too limiting.
My plan is to replace my 15 inch macbook pro and ipad with a 13 inch macbook pro.
How much are you looking to sell it for? I was thinking about surprising my dad with one as a gift.
Before you do decide to sell it, you should wait until iOS4 is out for it, the iPad email interface is improved, moreso than the iPhone one was comparatively.
