By the way, I believe that this is incorrect. Saying that the iPad is more than a phone implies that it is a phone (plus other stuff). But it’s not a phone.
I didn’t say or imply anyone was being nasty - but thanks.
The fact remains that there are a lot of naysayers who are trying to insist the iPad is a full-on PC when it is in both form and functionality a peripheral. Some of those people are in this thread.
Yes - it is valid to say that the iPad cannot perform like a PC (i.e. be able to plug a thumbdrive or SD card into it to transfer photos/files) and therefore is not your cup of tea. But it is a fallacy to suggest that you simply can’t transfer photos/files to or from it, just because you have to use bluetooth, wifi or the cord that comes in the friggin’ box. “The iPad is a peripheral” is a fact, and that fact is the first thing that many people that come into these threads to complain about something they’ll never buy immediately throw out the window.
I’m curious by the people excited by garageband on an Ipad, lol. It’s barely functional on my Mac mini, which freezes up when you put more than four tracks on it. And with the lack USB port (which judging by Mac apologists, seems to be for our sake so we don’t have to deal with driver dilemmas :rolleyes:), you’ll never get a MIDI controller on there anyway.
I’m not dead set against an Ipad, but a Windows 7 tablet would just be an easier transition from my now dead netbook.
On the other hand, many of the people who rave about their iPad try to tell us it’s more than a peripheral. They insist it’s great for writing documents and e-mail, creating presentations, etc. Many say they don’t need to carry the laptop on trips anymore. So which is it?
Why the iPad didn’t include a miniature usb liike most tablet pcs, I don’t know. There is nothing wrong with apple products. There is something wrong with the prices. Comparing the iPad and your ordinary laptop, the laptop virtually puts the iPad to shame, on the other hand the iPad visually puts the laptop to shame. Thats all it is though, it looks good. $500 for a laptop or an iPad, logically you should get the laptop.
$500 is a lot of money (for a peripheral?) to most people. The iPad is hardly a convenience compared… and everyone makes it seem like they bought it for convenience. Don’t get me wrong, I only wish I could afford Apples products, they would be nice decoration…
Thanks for telling me what I do and do not care about by the way. I love it when random internet posters think they know more about me than I do.
Did you miss the part about it being able to use a USB port and a SD card reader if you buy the right adapter?
That’s ridiculous. I’m not complaining it doesn’t support RAW or run Photoshop. I’m complaining because there is no easy way to get photos from my camera onto a device tailor made to show off said photos. I mean, I’m not supposed to want to take this thing on vacation and look at the photos I took that day? Besides, as noted before, I can do this if I want to pay Apple 30 more bucks for an adapter and carry that around.
And no, as far as I am aware there aren’t bluetooth SD cards, and a WiFi card requires a Wifi network and intermediate computer as far as I am aware.
E-mail is a poor solution compared to handing them a USB stick or SD card. I’m not really sure how you think I should use bluetooth in this situation.
When I am traveling, I normally charge my peripherals by plugging them into my netbook. And that’s really the role I want a tablet to play. I am not asking it to be my primary computer. I want it to be a replacement for my computer when I am traveling or out and about. In other words, light internet use, consuming media, and controlling my peripherals.
Be sure to check with Hermes! They’ve got a cover for the original iPad; surely an upgrade is on the way…
According to CNET’s “Top 5 Tablets”, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab has a USB port through the PDMI connector, and is wired to only support USB OTG client mode, no host mode. Dell’s Streak 7 only offers USB through the PDMI connector also. Motorola’s Xoom has a dedicated Micro USB port but the software is set up to only support USB client mode. #5 was Barnes and Noble’s color Nook with has a MicroUSB port. I’m not sure if it supports USB Host mode but I don’t believe so.
So actually none of, at least, CNET’s top tablets have meaningfully more than iPad’s USB support.
How does that transcend “peripheral”? A peripheral is something that needs a central computer to link to, which the iPad does. It’s something that doesn’t, ultimately, stand alone - which the iPad does(n’t). People who take their iPad instead of a laptop on a trip is the perfect example - what happens when they get back? Oh - they plug their iPad into their computer/laptop and transfer everything they worked on.
I didn’t tell you anything that you do or do not care about.
Again, a bluetooth SD card into your camera solves this problem.
You should expand your base of knowledge then. Googling “bluetooth SD card” is enlightening in this regard.
YMMV. I find e-mail to be an extremely useful tool for sharing information with people. It also has the added benefit of giving the receiver of that e-mail access to it on all of their devices, including a smart phone, instead of just whatever they plug a thumbdrive or SD card into.
How do you charge your netbook?
It does all of those except the last, which I’m still unsure of what it entails (simply because there are so many varieties of peripherals, some needing very little support).
That’s a valid take on my position - I guess I’m expecting it to be more than what it really is.
I think the price is ok but not great. Not exactly an impulse buy.
I’d rather have an Android tablet that doesn’t require iTunes or other software just to move media to/from the device.
It’s not the same program, it’s a new program. And it works just fine on my mac mini, although I don’t use it frequently.
I have a windows 7 tablet, and I stopped using it even before I got the iPad. The windows 7 touch screen interface is horrible, it’s far too mouse and keyboard centric. Ubuntu’s touch screen support is way better.
It’s more than a standard peripheral, but it’s not a standalone device. It lies in an awkward middleground, but it isn’t a standalone device.
If that’s your definition of a “peripheral”, I don’t see how you can use it as an excuse for leaving out more connectivity and accessory support, like USB and SD cards.
By the way, I used to have a Windows-CE handheld computer. It was a “peripheral” by your standard, because it was designed to synchronize with a host PC. But it had a built-in PCMCIA slot and a USB port. Only the most basic devices worked on it (mouse, keyboard, flash memory, etc) but it was still a very useful feature. And it would be a very useful addition to an iPad, especially for someone who travels with only an iPad. Dismissing the desire for one on the iPad because “it’s a peripheral, not a computer” is misguided and arrogant.
The Windows-7 interface works fine with a stylus, and most Windows tablets come with one. Though I would agree that a Windows-7 slate with only a capacitive touchscreen is a bad idea.
Thanks. And that’s perfectly fine - it’s not a full-on PC, and it would be awesome if it was. But as a media consumption/e-mailer/gaming device, it performs fantastically - just not to the level that anyone truly uses their main computer for. I don’t have one, but I’d love to - there’s a lot of casual web browsing/e-mail I do while on the couch or between housework or at the coffee shop, etc. that I’d get a lot of use out of it. And I do all that right now on my laptop - which is bulky, has a terrible battery life, is heavy, and isn’t nearly as portable. My only other peripheral is my iphone, and that uses the same cord to charge from the wall.
I’m not sure I understand Apple’s obsession with thinness. Why not keep the same weight and profile and stick in a larger battery that will last, say, 20 hours? Same thing with the iPhone/iPod touch – yeah, thin is nice, but I’d rather a device that didn’t pop up a dialog saying “Battery is at 20%” after a couple of hour’s use.
There has to be a secondary market for somebody to make a “fat” back for an iPad/iPhone with a bigger battery pack.
I also don’t see why the iPad doesn’t have a USB reader – if I had one, I’d like to put photos on it directly from my card reader without having to buy yet another proprietary adapter.
That wasn’t an excuse for anything, especially not leaving out those things.
Again, I’m not dismissing anything. But the people that want a tablet that does absolutely everything their home computer does are simply going to be disappointed, because they’re trying to define it as something it isn’t. When treis complains he can’t plug an SD card into it to transfer photos, finds out he actually CAN do that with an attachment or bluetooth, and then complains about that, I don’t really have much sympathy, because it just seems to boil down to either “I hate Apple!” or “this round peg will *totally *fit into this square hole - let me keep pounding on it”.
You said I would never buy an iPad, which is just wrong
All I find are products that use the SD port to give a device bluetooth functionality. I haven’t found any that are storage+bluetooth capable, but maybe my googlefu is lacking.
Not exactly practical for anything more than a couple photos.
By plugging it into the wall. The same way my Mom chargers her iPad.
Rearranging music on my mp3 player, transferring data using usb sticks, and getting pictures off my SD card mostly.
I don’t see why you need to connect the iPad to a central computer. It is perfectly functional as a stand alone device.
Yeah… it lets you transmit all zero pictures now in the camera (after removing its regular SD card) to the iPad. :rolleyes:
Actually, one reason the iPad looks so good is the IPS screen, which has better color and view angle than the TN screen found on most laptops (and cheap tablets). This partly accounts for (and justifies) the price. Other high-end tablets also have IPS or similar screens. (This is one reason the Samsung Galaxy Tab costs a lot more than the Archos 7, for example.)
Also, miniaturization always costs money, because many components need to be custom-designed and custom-made.