iPad i couldn't resist

displaced dub

Hi All

Im sorry but the 2 links below are too good not to share... enjoy and yes im still buying one.:D:D:D:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eF0y0IfpPU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQnT0zp8Ya4&feature=related

Happy Paddys day!!

Sad Professor

That first video is why they should have called it the iSlate.

Wolflikeme

Piece of junk if you ask me.

http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad

Sad Professor

I have criticisms of it as well, but most of the reasons listed in that link are stupid. The bezel is necessary in order to hold it comfortably. And until Adobe get their act together (i.e. never), the lack of Flash is a good thing.

banquo

Completely agree with Sad Professor. The only folk with criticisms are some tech-heads, who therefore are the only people who could find criticisms.

Anyone who's ever had to set their mother up an email account will love the iPad because it means no more headaches for technophobes. You think my mother knows that it doesn't support Adobe Flash?

It's not for techies. It's actually for non-techies. Which is why it's brilliant. It screams ''Hey, look, we actually recognise you as a market.'' None of this ''Who gives a crap it people don't like it or can't use it, we've got a monopoly.''

/rant

Ham'nd'egger

banquo wrote: »

Completely agree with Sad Professor. The only folk with criticisms are some tech-heads, who therefore are the only people who could find criticisms.

Anyone who's ever had to set their mother up an email account will love the iPad because it means no more headaches for technophobes. You think my mother knows that it doesn't support Adobe Flash?

It's not for techies. It's actually for non-techies. Which is why it's brilliant. It screams ''Hey, look, we actually recognise you as a market.'' None of this ''Who gives a crap it people don't like it or can't use it, we've got a monopoly.''

/rant

In utter agreement with you. As with the iPhone, it's taking a lot of things people want from some devices and doing what Apple does best; making them work and work well for the consumer.

OctavarIan

Wolflikeme wrote: »

Piece of junk if you ask me.

http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad

Gizmodo don't have the best writers, and that article is a pretty good example of how much they suck (one of their favourite words).

That said, I agree with them in thinking that at the moment the iPad is a mongrel and not worth parting cash for.

Discodog

Anyone who buys an iPad may regret it when they see the alternatives. There are some seriously nice units on the way that will be far better especially when you consider the cost & limitations of connection with no standard sim.
We want tablets that we can control & use as we see fit. Any tablet should take any PAYG or contract sim. The opposition will be much faster out of the blocks than they were with the iphone.

nialler

The thing is dog, will the competitors rushing to market have the infrastructure in place to sell

a) Music (iTunes Store)
b) Applications (AppStore)

I think not, I personally will not be getting one until the ecosystem expands and adapts and it's well adopted as a device, nobody really knew how well the iPhone would do and there were 000s of naysayer techies out there criticising it and look at the phenomonal success of that device, all I say now is watch and wait, there have been many respected technical journalists with egg on their face after the iPhone was announced and they reviewed it.

Discodog

Anyone who buys early should remember what happened with the iphone.

banquo

True. I'd love one. However, I don't have that much disposable income, so I'll be waiting until the iPad ''3GS''.

(unless of course tempation strikes too hard... which it usually does...)

bluemachaveli

I ordered mine a few days ago. I have been looking forward to it since it was announced. My main reason for buying is to have something simple for couch browsing (iPhone is fine but the small screen wrecks my head.) and a decent video player when on the go. The books are a nice addition also! Since my other halfs laptop died, she has been using my MBP more and more. The only time I use it now is for downloading and text heavy sites that just don't work comfortably on the phone. The iPad is exactly what I was looking for.

Some of the arguments against it are pathetic.

No camera? - I don't want a camera and does every portable gadget these days really need a camera?
Doesn't run OS X? - Again no need for this. Using OS X on a 9"-10" screen with your finger? Won't work without a complete front end revamp.
No multi-tasking? - I'm fairly confident it will have by the summer. There is a lot more to the software that is being kept under wraps until iPhone 4.0 is announced.

Any way, sorry for my little rant. Any one else joining me on the count down to April 5th?

Sad Professor

I think a lot of tunes will change when people get some hands on experience with it. How many former iPhone-haters went weak at the knees after using one for 5 minutes?

The competition is a joke. Is stuffing a full version of Windows 7 onto a tablet really a good idea? What's the battery life going to be like? Are you going to have to run anti-virus? What happens if you install some buggy piece of software that wasn't designed to run on a tablet? I mean why did all previous tablets flop?

The iPad's iPhone OS may not be much now but that will change. And unlike Windows, it was designed from the ground up to be used in touch screen devices.

Creamy Goodness

won't a lot of the competitors be running modified versions of android? would be silly if they didn't in my books.

Omnipresence

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

won't a lot of the competitors be running modified versions of android? would be silly if they didn't in my books.

i'll be sticking with my iPad Nano for now... and will flip over to Android asap...

The reason i will never buy apple again and stick to Ubuntu/Android is summed up in the most excellint words of Tim Bray - (who just joined android dev team)
________________________________________________________________

The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet’s future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. It’s a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord’s pleasure and fear his anger.

I hate it.

I hate it even though the iPhone hardware and software are great, because freedom’s not just another word for anything, nor is it an optional ingredient.

The big thing about the Web isn’t the technology, it’s that it’s the first-ever platform without a vendor (credit for first pointing this out goes to Dave Winer). From that follows almost everything that matters, and it matters a lot now, to a huge number of people. It’s the only kind of platform I want to help build.

Apple apparently thinks you can have the benefits of the Internet while at the same time controlling what programs can be run and what parts of the stack can be accessed and what developers can say to each other.

I think they’re wrong and see this job as a chance to help prove it.

The tragedy is that Apple builds some great open platforms; I’ve been a happy buyer of their computing systems for some years now and, despite my current irritation, will probably go on using them.

_______________________________________________________________

projectmayhem

Wolflikeme wrote: »

Piece of junk if you ask me.

http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad

Going through it now I can't help but comment...

Big, Ugly Bezel

Yup. Horrid looking. I can't believe Ives and his team couldn't come up with a better solution then this to address how people hold the device. Sure, a bezel is the easiest way around it, but it's horrific looking.

No Multitasking

While I understand why there's no multi-tasking (to get better apps to squeeze onto the ARM one at a time) it's still a pain in the arse that simpler apps can't do multi-tasking. Why can't the system figure out that WunderRadio and Tweetie could easily work together without hogging memory and killing Mail, or whatever?

No Cameras


Ridiculous argument. Who uses cameras on small netbooks in the firstplace? The whole idea is to be on the bus, in starbucks or wherever looking smug, reading email and getting in the latest chapter of something that will eventually blind you with the back-lit lcd.

The name iPad
Yeah. Awful name. From a company who spend so much time and money into marketing brands, iPad is just a really terrible idea. I imagine Steve Jobs loved it and no one wanted to let him know how dumb it is. I understand it's recognisable to most people as a new version of "iPod" so there's cross-marketing there, but iSlate was a hell of a lot cooler.

No Flash
While I hate flash, and herald the introduction of HTML5, Flash is not dead. It's still proprietary. You can't ditch it and claim to have a full web experience. Getting rid of it is Apple simply ensuring the app store is successful over flash-based free web games.

Adapters, Adapters, Adapters
One of the number one reasons I'm not buying the first gen. If you think you can develop a computing device without USB or simple outputs to use on projectors etc., you've missed the ball. This is a hugely brilliant tool for education, but rather then adopt formats that people can use, Apple are forcing people to buy extra crap. No one wants that. Lecturers would love to have a simple, small device to plug into a projector and read files off a USB key.

A Closed App Ecosystem
Another huge issue. The App store is a success, but only because it's forced to be there. Apple need to change the app store to be more open. Sure, you get to keep proprietary control over it, but open it up more to people and let the apps flow, then give apps meaning by filtering better. iTunes music store is not a good model for app purchases. That's not how computing works.

By opening it up I mean, if I make an app that works, let me become a "partner" so I can update my apps and skip approval when I make new apps. Make a disclaimer to say the product is not tested by apple etc. if required, but let developers push apps out easier. This is the only good thing about android...

cornbb

Discodog wrote: »

Anyone who buys an iPad may regret it when they see the alternatives. There are some seriously nice units on the way that will be far better especially when you consider the cost & limitations of connection with no standard sim.
We want tablets that we can control & use as we see fit. Any tablet should take any PAYG or contract sim. The opposition will be much faster out of the blocks than they were with the iphone.

When will they? From whom will we be seeing devices? We saw "mock ups" of what a Google slate "would" look like, we saw Ballmer demoing a HP slate running an OS that was never intended to run on such a device, when is that hitting the shops? Vapourware, all of it.

Whatever criticisms you can level at Apple, at least they don't talk about stuff that they won't deliver. The opposition certainly hasn't been quick off the blocks, if they intend to seriously compete they should get their skates on pretty quick. None of the iPhone killers that have been promised over the years have been iPhone killers.

Piece of junk if you ask me.

http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-...about-the-ipad

Give it 12 months and see how many of those complaints still applies. For example, every criticism of the iPhone in this review has been addressed at some point - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118289311361649057.html

Sad Professor

Omnipresence wrote: »

i'll be sticking with my iPad Nano for now... and will flip over to Android asap...

The reason i will never buy apple again and stick to Ubuntu/Android is summed up in the most excellint words of Tim Bray - (who just joined android dev team)
________________________________________________________________

The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet’s future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. It’s a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord’s pleasure and fear his anger.

I hate it.

I hate it even though the iPhone hardware and software are great, because freedom’s not just another word for anything, nor is it an optional ingredient.

The big thing about the Web isn’t the technology, it’s that it’s the first-ever platform without a vendor (credit for first pointing this out goes to Dave Winer). From that follows almost everything that matters, and it matters a lot now, to a huge number of people. It’s the only kind of platform I want to help build.

Apple apparently thinks you can have the benefits of the Internet while at the same time controlling what programs can be run and what parts of the stack can be accessed and what developers can say to each other.

I think they’re wrong and see this job as a chance to help prove it.

The tragedy is that Apple builds some great open platforms; I’ve been a happy buyer of their computing systems for some years now and, despite my current irritation, will probably go on using them.

_______________________________________________________________

It's nice rant and there's more than a bit of truth to it, but Bray isn't really in a position to be attacking Apple given who he works for now. His first comment about there being no freedom is bs. There's a web browser, browse away. The restrictions on the apps is part of what keeps everything running smoothly. Is it too restrictive? Probably, but this is a consumer device Apple are selling here. Most people really couldn't give a s**t about the plight of software devs.

I like Android and hope it sticks around. Despite what Jobs says, competition is a good. Apple need it badly. Google are the only ones Apple have anything to fear from right now. Watching MS, HP, etc trying to respond to Apple's innovations is pitiful.

cornbb

The whole "walled garden is bad" argument re. the iPhone and App Store has some merit, but it has some strong points too. It keeps everything cohesive - Android's 'openness' has already led to a serious fragmentation of the platform. It keeps things secure. The developers complain, but the iPhone developer ecosystem is nonetheless far more fruitful than what we are seeing on other platforms. Would Android even have a popular public SDK if Apple hadn't done it first?

And anything like this coming from a Google employee should be taken with a serious dose of salt. Arguing for freedom and choice? Come off it. Google want to kill and eat the iPhone, it's what they try (and often succeed) to do to the competition in any business arena they choose to enter.

Basq

To be fair, I give out about the iPad as much as anyone but at the same time, 2 things:

- when sitting on my couch, there's nothing more convienient than pulling out my iPhone and browsing on it. It's on instantly and close to hand. Same could be true of the iPad.
- when I'm in the Apple Store in Miami in June and I see it sitting there glowing (as only the Apple Store can do), you can bet your arse I'll probably buy it!

I'm thinking of how superb it's gonna be when we get a Cydia for it - my major criticism was MP4 video files only but Cydia is bound to be ported to it, along with MPlayer.

kmick

Im not sure about it. Its too big to carry around like an iphone but its not really ever going to replace a laptop at home. I love my iPhone but Im not sure I get where I could use this device and find it more convenient/better than my iPhone/Laptop?

Basq

kmick wrote: »

Im not sure about it. Its too big to carry around like an iphone but its not really ever going to replace a laptop at home. I love my iPhone but Im not sure I get where I could use this device and find it more convenient/better than my iPhone/Laptop?

I personally don't see it as a replacement for a laptop whatsoever.

At it's inception, it's limited in what it can do.

But it can do e-mail / browsing / music / video / ebooks (remain to be seen I suppose) very well.

seamus

cornbb wrote: »

The whole "walled garden is bad" argument re. the iPhone and App Store has some merit, but it has some strong points too. It keeps everything cohesive - Android's 'openness' has already led to a serious fragmentation of the platform. It keeps things secure. The developers complain, but the iPhone developer ecosystem is nonetheless far more fruitful than what we are seeing on other platforms.

There is a lot to be said for the "standard build" argument, regardless of how restrictive one might think it is.

Think about a windows machine and the developer's nightmare of trying to develop something that will work on every machine, in every scenario. The code leak of WinXP even showed that Microsoft spend massive amounts of time and code attempting to compensate for hardware foibles and trying to create something which works everywhere, every time.

But Apple don't have that problem with the iPhone or iPad. The hardware is standard, it never varies, so the API nevers varies. This means that developers need only worry about making their application do what they want it to do, there are far less "what ifs" and variables in the equation. This means less testing, therefore faster time to market, therefore 150,000 applications in less than 2 years.

The argument here is between having low-level access to the hardware -v- making sure that your apps can't do anything bold. For devices marketed squarely at Job Bloggs endusers and not techno-geeks, stability trumps openness, every time.

kmick

basquille wrote: »

I personally don't see it as a replacement for a laptop whatsoever.

At it's inception, it's limited in what it can do.

But it can do e-mail / browsing / music / video / ebooks (remain to be seen I suppose) very well.

Brilliant in theory but are you going to carry it around with you to replace an iPhone? I just cant see me replacing my phone sized device for a 10 inch screen on the go. And I dont see it supplanting my laptop at home. I just cant see where it fits in?

Basq

kmick wrote: »

Brilliant in theory but are you going to carry it around with you to replace an iPhone? I just cant see me replacing my phone sized device for a 10 inch screen on the go. And I dont see it supplanting my laptop at home. I just cant see where it fits in?

Not at all. It won't replace my iPhone but it is a light replacement for a netbook.

My Samsung NC10 is 1.33Kg, an iPad is 0.68Kg.

I don't know about anyone else but I only use my Netbook when travelling. If I'm at home, I use my 13" MacBook or my Dell Hybrid. What do I do on my Netbook typically? Watch movies, browse the Net, check / write e-mail etc.

That's EXACTLY where it fits in for me.. it's what I use my netbook for but on a lighter sleeker scale. You could say it's limited in what it can do but let's face it, I don't wanna use a 10" netbook for Photoshop etc!

kmick

Fair enough dont like netbooks myself so maybe thats why Im befuddled. In theory I should love the iPad but its just leaving me with feelings of confusion and some small part bewilderment. Maybe Im over the hill, behind the curve and yesterdays news.

bullpost

kmick wrote: »

Brilliant in theory but are you going to carry it around with you to replace an iPhone? I just cant see me replacing my phone sized device for a 10 inch screen on the go. And I dont see it supplanting my laptop at home. I just cant see where it fits in?

It'll fit very nicely in a handbag and I think that could be where a lot of the initial uptake will be - the Sex and the city crowd

Basq

bullpost wrote: »

It'll fit very nicely in a handbag and I think that could be where a lot of the initial uptake will be - the Sex and the city crowd

That's such a Samantha-thing to say!

faceman

To me, its just an oversized iPhone without the phone. Im sure there is great potential there but in its current state, as an individual with a netbook and an iPhone, it serves no purpose in having one. And given what happened with iPhone G1, it seems a wise option to hold off purchasing for a while.

Dont get me wrong, Im a fan of Apple products. but the iPad serves no purpose for me.

Have to agree with the comments about Apple and the Appstore above. Its a bit North Korea tbh.

Theta

Only reason I would buy one was easy surfing when im not at my desktop and some other small things and Id rather buy something else for that.

http://thejoojoo.com/

Maybe this. Its more cloud based then others but at least It can be hacked and played about with.

padraig_f

faceman wrote: »

To me, its just an oversized iPhone without the phone.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

faceman

padraig_f wrote: »

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Its far more convenient to carry an iPhone around with me than an iPad.

Duck Soup

Discodog wrote: »

Anyone who buys an iPad may regret it when they see the alternatives. There are some seriously nice units on the way that will be far better especially when you consider the cost & limitations of connection with no standard sim.
We want tablets that we can control & use as we see fit. Any tablet should take any PAYG or contract sim. The opposition will be much faster out of the blocks than they were with the iphone.

The lesson of the iPhone - and iPod - is that most people don't really want something that they can customize, tweak and control, they want things that are a piece of pizz to use and have content. So an iPod gives you music + video, and it makes it a breeze to go through it. It also has the iTunes store should you feel the need.

Similarly, the iPhone (which if I remember right, the techies said would sink without trace) is user-friendly and has 100,000 apps to put on it.

Where Apple have been consistently ahead of the other tech firms is two things (a) ease of use and (b) supplying content. The iPad already has the iBook store lined up and the iPhone apps there if you want them. Until the other tech businesses get their heads around the fact that these things - to consumers - aren't 'tech devices' as such, they're entertainment and social devices, they're always going to be left behind pointing out that their device does advanced math and speaks Burmese.

People want something easy to master 5 minutes out of the box. I once read a comment on a YouTube page from someone who thought he was putting down Macs. He said "Macs are for people who don't understand computers", at which point I delightedly screamed "Yes! That's the whole bloody point!" It was like saying "Mercedes are for people who don't want to strip down engines." They don't. They just want a smooth drive.

Apple's in the entertainment/media business. In the final analysis, that's what'll make or break the iPad.

banquo

padraig_f

faceman wrote: »

Its far more convenient to carry an iPhone around with me than an iPad.

The iPad was never going to be something you could put in your pocket.

My point was that a lot of the negativity towards the iPad seems to be because of unrealistic expectations. With the amount of hype, I think people were expecting the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey to be released.

And while the release was a bit underwhelming, an iPhone-like device with a big screen will be very useful. On the list of things I use my iPhone for, talking on the phone is way down the list, but I often wish the screen was bigger.

Theta

padraig_f wrote: »

The iPad was never going to be something you could put in your pocket.

My point was that a lot of the negativity towards the iPad seems to be because of unrealistic expectations. With the amount of hype, I think people were expecting the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey to be released.

And while the release was a bit underwhelming, an iPhone-like device with a big screen will be very useful. On the list of things I use my iPhone for, talking on the phone is way down the list, but I often wish the screen was bigger.

What unrealistic expectations?

All people wanted for it to do more then one thing at once and not use the Iphone OS! How is that unrealistic? it sounds to me like alot of people just take what they are given when it comes to apple.

aidan_walsh

not use the Iphone OS

What's the alternative? The full desktop version of OS X would be horrible to use on a device like this. A modified version of OS X designed for touchscreen? Oh look, thats iPhone OS.

Theta

aidan_walsh wrote: »

What's the alternative? The full desktop version of OS X would be horrible to use on a device like this. A modified version of OS X designed for touchscreen? Oh look, thats iPhone OS.

No its not, at least a modifed version of OSX designed for touch would have multitasking. I know some people wanted a full OS X desktop and this is a stupid idea but the IPhone OS is the biggest bottleneck on this device.

People were hoping for something more functional and customisable then the Iphone OS.

aidan_walsh

The iPhoneOS does have multitasking, it couldn't work without it. There isn't a public API for third party multitasking, which is different and something that I can't imagine would be the case too much longer. Even at that, there aren't too many scenarios where the current way of doing it isn't sufficient.

Red Alert

If they were to do any sort of Mac OS X or lookalike, they'd have the problem that apps for x86 and x64 would need to be recompiled to run on ARM or else they'd have to use intel architecture. Then you'd have loads of complaints about non-running applications.

Personally if my granny was still alive now I'd have bought her an iPad, so she wouldn't be bogged down with stuff like booting up, virus scanning, disk space warnings etc, and she'd be on the internet quicker than turning on her radio.

Theta

I doubt Apple will allow access to the multitasking API. Its not there style to open up devices.

At the end of the day people expected an open device from a maker who was never going to deliver one.

seamus

Theta wrote: »

People were hoping for something more functional and customisable then the Iphone OS.

Which was probably pushing their expectations a bit high. It's very much a Joe Bloggs consumer product and aimed at that end of the market. So the ability to hack and tweak falls very much down the list.

Multitasking is a little bit of a pain in the ass when the end-user doesn't have low-level access to the OS. Even something as simple as a background process crashing or freezing could eat up battery power and stay like that for months until the owner reboots the phone. The battery issue is a big enough problem and if the end-user has no idea what multitasking it or how it operates, it could lead to very bad press for Apple and an unnecessary increase in call volumes.

For example, Joe B buys his iPad with its ten hour running time, multitasking and is very happy with it. Because he doesn't really care about what and where he installs things, he picks twenty or thirty apps and installs them. Half of them are single-use, crappy apps such as, "Find out how big your index finger is", which have for no particular reason decided to incorporate a background thread to periodically search for updates.

After six months or so of installing these apps, Joe's iPad moves like a turtle through sh*te and the battery only lasts 2.5 hours before needing to be charged. Joe storms into the Apple store complaing about how crap the iPad is and how he demands his money back. The store guy points out the background apps, removes most of them, and suddenly Joe's iPad roars back to life.
However Joe's not happy. "Apple should have warned me about this, look at how much time I've wasted trying to get this sorted".

And then this is replicated across the world by every braindead technology journo, competitor and anti-Apple activist until the iPad, despite being a perfectly functional device, becomes known as the iTurtle or the iPaperWeight, simply because its target audience were too dumb to use it correctly.

Someone in Apple had the cop-on to see this, and I'm sure they did their best to try and provide some degree of multitasking via the API, but the potential nightmare outweighed the benefits.

I do think however that they should supply (for download) a more open version of the OS that allows people with more tech-savvy to have more access to the device, on the understanding that you have no warranty or phone support until/unless you wipe the phone and reinstall the standard OS.

displaced dub

interesting review

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/technology/personaltech/01pogue.html?sudsredirect=true

projectmayhem

The reason to buy an iPad (if you've money to burn and like classic games)

Cool idea. Does give an indication as to what more adventurous devs could get up to with the device!

padraig_f

displaced dub wrote: »

interesting review

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/technology/personaltech/01pogue.html?sudsredirect=true

Man, techies are irritating, way to miss the wood for the trees.

displaced dub

padraig_f wrote: »

Man, techies are irritating, way to miss the wood for the trees.

i know even if it did everything they wanted and had cameras coming out of its ass they would still moan

FoneMaster

Some clever clogs have already set up an Ipad Repair site Link. Hope no one has to use their services too soon after they get their new toy.:D

probe

http://twit.cachefly.net/video/mbw/mbw0188/mbw0188_h264b_864x480_500.mp4

Basq

probe wrote: »

http://twit.cachefly.net/video/mbw/mbw0188/mbw0188_h264b_864x480_500.mp4

Just to warn people in advance.. it's a 300MB file! :eek:

padraig_f

PC Mag video review: http://vimeo.com/10595371?hd=1

David Pogue video: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/04/01/technology/personaltech/1247467509736/apple-ipad-town-meeting.html

probe

basquille wrote: »

Just to warn people in advance.. it's a 300MB file! :eek:

http://twit.cachefly.net/video/mbw/m...64x480_500.mp4

A 3 or 4 second download on a GbE fibre connection!

Andy Ihnatko does a thorough job of describing the product from a user's perspective and it is well worth watching if you are thinking about buying the iPad - even if you have a slow Irish DSL connection.