[Closed] APPLE iPad

I can't quite work out whether you need a PC or Mac to connect your iPad to - it seems a shame if you do, because otherwise it would be ideal for people who don't really want / need / know how to use a computer but do want to do some simple web surfing, email, sort out their photos and music (i.e., about 90% of computer users).

Bang on, this is for that 90% who want to do that with the minimum of fuss. I'm sure it will be very succesful in that (very large) segment.

No stereo speakers though! I'm very surprsied by that.

For all the Flash lovers, I hate to be the bringer of bad news but in 5 years Flash will be pretty much gone. It's about to get its ass kicked by the combination of HTML5 and h.264, aided and abetted by the fact that there is a large section of users in an (on the whole) desirable, fairly affluent demographic (i.e. iPhone users and pretty soon iPad users) who can't see Flash content and aren't going to use your website (and give you ad revenue) if it relies on it. Apple won't ever put Flash on the iPhone OS, because the Flash plugin is so crashy on OS X (they said as much at last year's WWDC). As well as that, rightly or wrongly, they have said they want to control every aspect of the technology in their devices and that means no third-party runtime environments (i.e. no Flash). That means lots of websites dropping Flash and going with HTML5. If I were Adobe I'd be quite worried right now.

[img] [/img]

I expect 'The Emporer's New Clothes' will be expurgated from any editions of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales that are sold through iTunes. Equally, I'm sure that there will be a market for big, unwieldy iPhones that won't display iPhone apps properly and that you can't make phone calls on. Admittedly the iPhone may be useful for people learning to squint given that it's ereader function hasn't got anything approaching the Kindle's digital ink.

Still, the world of commerce is no doubt grateful for the market segment allegedly identified by PT Barnum as being born every minute.

A real pity as I hoped that this would be a mould-breaking bit of kit but it's a huge step backwards, for shame.

it's ereader function hasn't got anything approaching the Kindle's digital ink.

True, but show me a digital ink ereader that can display movies. Different segment (for now at least).

I'm not the first to say this but one of these would be good for having on the coffee table to mess around on the internet during the ad breaks, or showing people photos, or watching movies in bed etc.

But if you already have a laptop which will do this (albeit in not quite such a slinky way) plus a lot more besides it's not obvious that you'd pay £500 for one.

But if you already have a laptop which will do this (albeit in not quite such a slinky way) plus a lot more besides it's not obvious that you'd pay £500 for one.

And given that most of its target punters already have a laptop which will probably be less ugly than the pad I really can't see the point of it. Sorry for beating the same drum again but I was hoping for so much more than an Everything-Lite™.

I want a see through one for version 2.

Sent from my iPad

You'll all be wanting one come Christmas! 😉

On the 'sitting on a coffee table' idea. If Apple or a 3rd party launched a universal remote app then that would add to the value. A Logitech Harmony remote are quite pricey just on their own.

Edit: Assuming it has the technology in it tho. Guess it would need infrared?

I want a see through one for version 2.

You want the moon on an iStick.

or a 3rd party launched a universal remote app

If it's a 3rd party the pad won't let you multitask. Which would be a pain.

Ach, anyway, I'm off to read a book.

given that most of its target punters already have a laptop which will probably be less ugly than the pad I really can't see the point of it.

it'll sell millions, thats a fact. never underestimate the power of the geek

Sounds like a hi tech sanitary towel to me 😳

Agree with the sentiment, but "ugly" is rarely a good description of Apple devices. The one thing they almost always do well is design, even if the functionality lacks.

It reminds me of Dom Joly's oversized mobile phone.

[i]For all the Flash lovers, I hate to be the bringer of bad news but in 5 years Flash will be pretty much gone.[/i]

Ah so in 5 years time the iPad will be more practical, that's good to hear.

Re universal remote - if you use Apple TV you can use one of these on the coffee table to control your iTunes and all the media on your Mac.

If it's a 3rd party the pad won't let you multitask. Which would be a pain.

If it is the same OS as the iPhone then jailbreaking will not be far away i imagine, and then its multi-tasking fun ahoy! Like i have on my iphone.

Battery life?

plumber ..... up to 10 hours

For all the Flash lovers, I hate to be the bringer of bad news but in 5 years Flash will be pretty much gone.

🙁

It reminds me of Dom Joly's oversized mobile phone.

Agree with the sentiment, but "ugly" is rarely a good description of Apple devices.

Normally I would agree but i think the pad hasn't been particularly well thought out on any front. And I'm not an Apple hater by any stretch of the imagination - if anything I just expect better from them.

[img] [/img]

Someone copyrighted that pic? 🙄

Anyways, it is good to see MS Paint still being used.

There seems to be a consensus that multitasking will arrive (for both iPhones and iPads) with the 4.0 release of the iPhone OS, probably around the time the iPad arrives.

Be interesting to see what the UK pricing is, £499 at $1:£1 or roughly £299 at $1:£0.62, it's a big difference.

[url= https://www.krcs.co.uk/shop/product/details/apple-ipad-16gb-with-wi-fi ]KRCS[/url] has got some estimated prices on their site for iPad pre-orders.

enduro-aid - Member

plumber ..... up to 10 hours

Providing you don't touch the thing, otherwise it'll be 3 or 4max.

[i]Drac
Ah so in 5 years time the iPad will be more practical, that's good to hear.[/i]

Well, I was actually being conservative - I think TBH it'll be less, with most of the major websites that people actually use a lot dropping it well before that. Good riddance too, the HTML5/h.264 combo is a much better way to deliver video anyway and i for one won't miss the CPU load of badly-written Flash apps.

Heathen, I think it could be great, but I'll reserve judgement until I've actually seen one: as is said [url= http://www.stephenfry.com/2010/01/28/ipad-about/ ]here[/url], it seems you really need to use one to get the full picture. It certainly has a lot of potential for the academic market and for education in general, as well as a general-purpose surf/entertainment device. Also, I think we'll see some interesting applications coming out between now and launch. Time will tell.

[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.stephenfry.com/2010/01/28/ipad-about/2/ ]Stephen Fry quite likes it.[/url]

[img] [/img]

Stephen Fry quite likes it.

Stephen fry like bumsex with men.
i think i would rather have an ipad

Every single excuse not to have one that's been put forward are just spurious. Battery life exceeds most laptops, I don't know a single person with a laptop who has it sitting in the middle of the livingroom just in case they might want to brows the net or google something. I can read books perfectly well on my phone for several hours, and sometimes a whole working day when it's a quiet period with no problems at all. It's black text on a white background, just like paper, and I can read it in a dimly lit room as well. I've looked at ebook readers, and I see no advantages at all, nothing could induce me to buy one, and they can't even reproduce colour, so useless for magazine or newspaper reading, and they cannot reproduce a convincing mono halftone image either. Waste of money. Just being able to see much larger areas of OS map on screen than I can on the phone will be a big advantage, then I can take a screengrab and print straight to my printer for a hardcopy. I can't do that with my laptop; nobody does a Mac OS X OS mapping app. My laptop spends most of its life under the tv, 'cos it's a pain having to wait while it boots up, and I have to keep it plugged in 'cos the battery will only give about two hours runtime now, and it also has an external drive attached too.
And no, I've no available space for a desktop machine that can be left permanently switched on, even my Epson printer is wifi and sits on the a/v stand under the tv along with the SkyHD and the DVD.

[url=

answer is here, maybe[/url]

I don't know a single person with a laptop who has it sitting in the middle of the livingroom just in case they might want to brows the net

Hello. Now you do.

Netbook permanently resides by the couch for surfing. (tho I do use the iPhone most of the time as I prefer the form factor)

Every single excuse not to have one that's been put forward are just spurious

Lol, I didn't realise it was going to be compulsory

CountZero - Member
Every single excuse not to have one that's been put forward are just spurious. Battery life exceeds most laptops, I don't know a single person with a laptop who has it sitting in the middle of the livingroom just in case they might want to brows the net or google something. I can read books perfectly well on my phone for several hours, and sometimes a whole working day when it's a quiet period with no problems at all. It's black text on a white background, just like paper, and I can read it in a dimly lit room as well. I've looked at ebook readers, and I see no advantages at all, nothing could induce me to buy one, and they can't even reproduce colour, so useless for magazine or newspaper reading, and they cannot reproduce a convincing mono halftone image either. Waste of money. Just being able to see much larger areas of OS map on screen than I can on the phone will be a big advantage, then I can take a screengrab and print straight to my printer for a hardcopy. I can't do that with my laptop; nobody does a Mac OS X OS mapping app. My laptop spends most of its life under the tv, 'cos it's a pain having to wait while it boots up, and I have to keep it plugged in 'cos the battery will only give about two hours runtime now, and it also has an external drive attached too.
And no, I've no available space for a desktop machine that can be left permanently switched on, even my Epson printer is wifi and sits on the a/v stand under the tv along with the SkyHD and the DVD.

*note to self: tell Count Zero about bullet points*

has anyone mentioned the enhanced likelihood of the screen being ****ted by way of it being unprotected in numerous man bags and on Philippe Stark coffee tables?

i'd rather spend about £280 on a hackintoshed mini dell with a 120gig drive and full OS

I don't know a single person with a laptop who has it sitting in the middle of the livingroom just in case they might want to brows the net or google something.

I can't do that with my laptop; nobody does a Mac OS X OS mapping app.

*note to self: tell Count Zero about bullet points*

He must rely on an app for that

He must rely on an app for that

Wow. That joke just never gets old does it?

Wow. That joke just never gets old does it?

Which is weird, as you would think it would get old REALLY fast. It just doesn't though. It really is the gift that keeps on giving.

no usb, no drag and drop, makes it a toy.

no usb

no surprise there really. Apple devices work well because they are a closed system. A USB port means you can attach anything from a [url= http://www.everythingusb.com/usb_airsoft_turret.html ]USB AirSoft Turret[/url] to a [url= http://www.everythingusb.com/solidalliance_ghostradar_usb_memory.html ]USB Ghost Detector[/url].

So USB means either Driver Hell or folk complaining that their [url= http://www.pointlessbutcool.com/gadgets/usb_fondue_set ]USB Fondue Set[/url] doesn't work on the iPad 🙂

no drag and drop

Eh? What do you mean?
There's no reason you can't do drag-and-drop on a touch screen, in fact it is arguably more intuitive.

no usb, no drag and drop, makes it a toy.

Using logmein on my iphone i can drag and drop when connected to my macbook. So i can assure you that it is easy to do on a touchscreen. It is just a double tap and keep your finger held down on the second tap and move it where you want.

Friggin' double post.

I'm can't wait for the new i-wheel...apparantly it's the next big thing and will somehow provide a means of transporting goods on a sleigh even when theres no snow!! Insiders say the i-wheel will be designed to simply attach to an existing sleigh and can be "rolled" to provide forward and backwards motion!!!!

Early prototypes can't change directionlike a conventional sleigh but the boffins at Apple are working on a "steering" mechanism, whatever that is !!!

You gotta hand it to these guys they are ace 😆 🙄 ffs

Using logmein on my iphone i can drag and drop when connected to my macbook.

so you need a laptop with you to export files easily?

its not what i was hoping for

WTF are you on about bigrich?

What does "drag-and-drop" mean to you? [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-and-drop ]To me it means a user interface interactions where you can drag interface elements around and drop them on other elements.[/url]

[img] [/img]

No?

What does that have to do with exporting files?? Exporting files to where?

Can't believe this thread has run to 6 pages already! If you don't like them, don't buy one. Sheesh.

Maybe this thread should be preserved somewhere for posterity, then in two years time half the posters can feel very smug and the other half can admit they were wrong..... oh hang on, this is STW, posters are always smug and no-one ever admits they were wrong. 🙄

i'd rather spend about £280 on a hackintoshed mini dell with a 120gig drive and full OS

Likewise... So nearly have done at many points over the last few months, but for lack of funds and "no real need" other than it'd be nice to have...

no surprise there really. Apple devices work well because they are a closed system. A USB port means you can attach anything from a USB AirSoft Turret to a USB Ghost Detector.

Whoah! I NEED that USB Airsoft Turret! That is sooooooo cool! Shame I'll have to plug it into my computer though eh! 😉

i'd rather spend about £280 on a hackintoshed mini dell with a 120gig drive and full OS

Which I'm sure makes you just the kind of buyer Apple are aiming the iPad at - not! 🙄

so you need a laptop with you to export files easily?

Eh? All i was saying was it is possible to drag and drop using a touchscreen interface.

Considering the amount of random USB stuff out there, Windows does a pretty good job of making it all work nowadays.

It does have a camera connector accessory which allows you to import photos either from an SD card or via your camera's USB connector. I wonder what would happen if you plugged other USB peripherals into the USB camera connector?

Considering the amount of random USB stuff out there, Windows does a pretty good job of making it all work nowadays.

Indeed, but it does often involve drivers etc, which means dodgy third-party code, security holes and system instability (sometimes).

People often talk about liking Apple stuff because "it just works". Limiting what you can do with it is one way they make sure that the things that it does do "just work".

I wonder what would happen if you plugged other USB peripherals into the USB camera connector?

I'm guessing it'll just say - that's not a camera, **** off.

that's not a camera, **** off.

Now there's a pop-up I'd like to see 😆

Eh? All i was saying was it is possible to drag and drop using a touchscreen interface.

so if you are eg in the states for two days, (where you pack a suit, two shirts and some pants cos its lightweight and you dont have to check baggage) instead of your pad and a usb stick, you need a laptop, pad, and stick. or a laptop and stick

i'd like a portable work/entertainment device please, not just a pad to watch star trek in low def downloaded from itunes.

Nope. Still don't know WTF you are on about bigrich, sorry.

i'd like a portable work/entertainment device please

So that'd be a laptop then.

you obviously dont have to work, yet waste time on the move then. seems its a toy. no thanks

I'm guessing it'll just say - that's not a camera, **** off.

That would be on the iRish iPad

you obviously dont have to work, yet waste time on the move then. seems its a toy. no thanks

We get the idea, you won't be buying one.

If Apple are right however, you don't represent their target demographic, LOTS of whom will buy one.

Are you going to get this cross every time you see someone using one? Maybe you have "issues" and should consider anger management classes?

not angry, just saying it doesn't fill my need. and theres lots of peeps who are in the same boat.

disappointment is not anger. why did you assume i was angry?

why did you assume i was angry?

[Robert de Niro circa Taxi Driver]You talkin' to me?[/Robert de Niro circa Taxi Driver]

If Apple are right however, you don't represent their target demographic

I don't think it's supposed to be a laptop replacement.

I own a laptop, but I can still see the attraction of having an iPad for casual surfing, games, reading and other stuff. The laptop is unwieldy, slow to boot, relatively heavy, has poor battery life and is generally overkill for that kind of casual use, the iPhone is hampered by the small size of it's screen. The iPad fits neatly in between.

Besides there is no rule that says once you have a laptop in your household you aren't allowed any other computer devices. It seems like an iPad would be an ideal casual use device (if it's cheap enough) for households with less laptops than there are users.

Lots of jumpy folk defending a flawed jumped up ipod touch, getting offended because people pointed out the short comings of a piece of kit
that doesn't multitask
is closed system
with no cameras
that isn't widescreen
and has no usb/sd/hdmi. Wasted oportunity to leap ahead of everybody with usb3 too.
This is a terribly named shiny piece of shiny that didn't really need to exist. The market is saturated with better focused tech.
[url=

Microsofts' courier seems like a usefultool[/url]

ChrisS +1

I keep describing it to people as a "digital magazine". It's something you can pick up and have a browse through while you're lying on the couch.

you obviously dont have to work, yet waste time on the move then. seems its a toy. no thanks

I still genuinely don't understand what you're on about regarding drag-and-drop, exporting files, usb sticks and needing a laptop.

But if you're saying that you were disappointed because you were hoping for a portable device with USB ports and a keyboard then I have some good news for you... 😉

[s]you cant easily work on it. therefore you need a laptop[/s] its well trendy. get one

[s]you cant easily work on it. therefore you need a laptop[/s]

FFS, how many times, [b]IT'S NOT DESIGNED FOR WORKING ON[/b], that's not it's primary purpose.

its well trendy. get one

What's the point, having ignored reasoned argument you now resort that kind of comment.

I'd forgotten just how pointless attempting to have a reasoned discussion is on this bloody forum.

I keep describing it to people as a "digital magazine". It's something you can pick up and have a browse through while you're lying on the couch.

But I have books for when I want to read a novel, why would I want a magazine?

😉

fair enough, marvelous interface , not fully utilised.

have considered anger management whatsits?

if it's cheap enough

But I have books for when I want to read a novel, why would I want a magazine?

Exactly, magazines are rubbish. Yeah sure, they're shiny, pleasant to look at and easy to hold, but most are less than 100 pages, they don't have hard covers, chapters, a proper index or long involved plots. Magazines will never catch on. 😉

from £400

Didn't think they'd announced the UK pricing yet? $499 is more like £299 at current exchange rates. Although obviously they could just do $1=£1 like so many others do....