IPAD 2: buying one?

Ok look.

Hype is annoying.

The iPad can be a handy bit of kit.

You are at liberty to choose or reject any technology you like.

Now can we have less ranting please?

Right, I’m going to flounce back to the 1990’s

Byeee!

Tend to use my iPad with a mindmapping programme for wandering about doing my ‘creative thinking’ – I could do it with a laptop (and did in the past), but the touch screen works really well for creating mind maps and moving stuff around. Of course it’s entirely possible to do it with a pen and paper, but then I have to set aside time to transfer that onto a computer so that I can build on the basic structure I’ve put together.

Using the iPad/laptop combo, I tend to literally walk about putting ideas into an app called iThoughtsHD, then when I’m finished I can transfer it as an OPML file to Omnioutliner, which I find helpful for adding more detail, developing a timeline and workplan, setting outcomes, priorities and developing a critical path.

It also gets used for reading PDFs – I have to be able to reference lots of government policy documents, so I can keep them on hand, make notes on them and so on, without having to create physical copies of them.

I also use it as a kindle reader – I tend to read for a while before I go to sleep, whereas my wife tends to like to get the light out and go straight off to sleep. I wouldn’t buy an iPad solely for this obviously, but as additional functionality it works well.

Downsides of the iPad – biggest pain in the butt is the lack of drag and drop file transfer. Can’t understand why Apple haven’t made it much easier to see it on a network in the same way as any other computer. If I had fully appreciated how much faffing around would be involved in moving a file from the iPad to the computer and back again I suspect it might have been a deal breaker for me. It’s a setup that seems to run counter to Apple’s usual philosophy of making things easy and intuitive for people.

iPads are great.

The hype around them and pretty much all gadgety stuff is pretty annoying though. Just need to separate one from the other. if you think it can do a something useful or fun for you then get one if it can’t do that for you then don’t.

We’ve got one. It gets used for streaming radio to the amp, controlling the digital music library (all CD quality), browsing, emailing, games, pretty much everything other than work. It’s the instant on-ness and form factor of the iPad that make it a worthwhile device for me.

My 80 year old mother also has one because she felt she wanted to dip a toe into the internet but found a fully fledged computer too difficult to use. She mostly uses hers for browsing, emails and as a photo library. She had complained that since she got a digital camera it was difficult to show friends photos that she had taken. now she’ll take the iPad round to the neighbours and still be able to bore them silly just like the old days.

I won’t be buying a new one though. I was open to the idea of upgrading but there is nothing in the new one that I find desperately lacking from the current model. When they eventually launch version 3 I’ll take a look at that and weigh up whether or not to get that. No pressure.

Right, I’m going to flounce back to the 1990’s

Did you moan about the internet and mobile phones in the 90s, out of interest?

Really? Or do they just offer you things that you had never considered important until the marketing hype told you how great they were?

🙄

I’m replying to you from my phone at the moment. I’m in a single office on my own. So I’m not doing it to impress anyone or be fashionable. I’m doing it because it suits me.

Later I will go home and probably sit on the couch and likewise use my phone to browse on here, check email, read Facebook, maybe play a few games. There is no one there to see me except my wife. No one I’m trying to impress. I have a perfectly good netbook, a laptop and a fairly powerful desktop that I could use. I’ll use the phone, not because of fashion or marketing, but because it suits me.

Come one seriously, since when was a portable computer with no USB or proper keyboard ever thought of as a good idea?

Around 23 years ago.

When was a portable computer that you can’t use standing up considered a good idea? 🙂

Nowt much wrong with the touchscreen keyboard for typing short Internet missives btw. In some ways it is more flexible (does your keyboard spot when you are typing a URL and offer a .com/.co.uk key? Can you easily type âcçented characters? Smilies? Chinese?) – also you can always pair a Bluetooth keyboard if you really want to bash out a novel.

When was a portable computer that you can’t use standing up considered a good idea?

Not been a massive issue for me to be fair 🙂 Don’t knock laptops, they are far more successful and useful all round than iPads! Not to denigrate iPads but they are not as catholic a product, be fair.

Did you moan about the internet and mobile phones in the 90s, out of interest?

No, I in fact I can’t do my job without access to the internet and a mobile phone. I just think the Ipad is a case of the ’emperors new clothes’. It is also nice to wind up ipad owners which this thread has proved is incredibly easy 😉

Call me a cynic but Apple have also engineered a blatant upgrade path into the Ipad and Iphone. Why else would they have missed 3g off the original version?

Truly cannot see the point, not just with things like the ipad and iphone but smartphones in general. I think I’m just a bit of a purist with technology. I prefer bits of kit that do one thing well not a mutitude of things in an fairly OK but not exceptional way.

And ditch-jockey:

an app called iThoughtsHD

Dear me…

I’m replying to you from my phone at the moment. I’m in a single office on my own. So I’m not doing it to impress anyone or be fashionable. I’m doing it because it suits me.

Maybe, but you still had to let us all know you were doing though…

Truly cannot see the point

Well take off your blinkers and have a better look – you will see that it is a nice bit of kit for certain situations. I don’t care for it, the main issue I have I think is that it runs a specialized OS.

If it ran Windows (or even MacOs for that matter) I’d perhaps be interested – perhaps.

Maybe, but you still had to let us all know you were doing though.

Yeah because it’s very relevant to the discussion. Stop trying to score points, you’re as bad as the fanbois!

give it up, he’s just trolling for the sake of it & adding nothing useful to the thread… It ain’t worth replying.

Call me a cynic but Apple have also engineered a blatant upgrade path into the Ipad and Iphone.

Oh noes, you mean as per every other tech company ever? The bastards.

Or is your IBM laptop still state of the art? latest processor? Latest graphics card? SSD? Blueray? 802.11n? USB3? DisplayPort? HDMI?

Presumably it was at least engineered to allow all these parts to be added later then and never require a new laptop?

I prefer bits of kit that do one thing well not a mutitude of things in an fairly OK but not exceptional way.

Right… Does that not rather go against your previous argument that laptops are superior because they are more flexible, have USB, a keyboard, and can do a wide variety of things that you can’t do on a tablet?

I’m certainly no Apple fanboi, but would quite like one – instant on is perfect for reading the headlines/STW/twitter while having breakfast during the week, and the form factor is ideal for lounging around on the sofa. Both are definite advantages over a normal laptop.

A laptop is also severely compromised on the ergonomic front, given the choice between a laptop and a tower+proper keyboard+well situated screen I know which one I’d choose. For work they’re fine, necessary even, but for home use? 99% of the time I’m not convinced.

Still, I won’t be getting an iPad (probably): too expensive, and no flash support.

I just think the Ipad is a case of the ’emperors new clothes’. It is also nice to wind up ipad owners which this thread has proved is incredibly easy

getting wound up? oh i dunno the haters are getting quite agitated 🙄

..the main issue I have I think is that it runs a specialized OS.
If it ran Windows (or even MacOs for that matter) I’d perhaps be interested – perhaps.

The trouble is that you couldn’t really just stick Windows 7 on it and have a usable environment for a touchscreen interface. The Windows and MacOS interfaces were designed to be used with mice (menus, right clicks, scroll bars, drag-and-drop, hovering etc) so you do really need an interface that is properly designed with a touchscreen in mind.

Plus the internals of the OS need to be tailored for these platforms (e.g. focus on low power consumption, limited storage space etc)

Which doesn’t mean it can’t be compatible with Windows to some degree though – take a look at the Windows Phone for example.

What’s very interesting from my perspective is that when iphones/ipads were first brought out there was no obvious effort to capture the enterprise market. Now it could be insanely clever marketing but it doesn’t feel like it is, it feels like even apple didn’t expect these devices to be used in enterprise environments and got caught on the back foot.

Now, every board member and his dog has got one for christmas and wants it to integrate into the corporate environment and a thousand IT teams around the world are telling them it’s just not built to do it properly. They’re insecure, it’s hard to control them once they’re lost, they don’t integrate into corporate systems very well.

We’ve just had ten delivered for our board who are all clamouring like mad to have a play with them. Now being board members at least one of them will leave it on a plane or a brothel within five minutes, no doubt still logged onto our network because they complained of having to keep logging in. The risk these things present is immense and the effort required to place controls around the access, remote kill functionality, file transfers, email etc etc is just huge and totally disproportionate to the function they provide over a laptop and blackberry.

Apple and various third parties are fighting to gain control over what is clearly an extremely rich and profitable market, it’s going to be interesting to see who comes out on top.

We’ve just had ten delivered for our board who are all clamouring like mad to have a play with them. Now being board members at least one of them will leave it on a plane or a brothel within five minutes, no doubt still logged onto our network because they complained of having to keep logging in. The risk these things present is immense and the effort required to place controls around the access, remote kill functionality, file transfers, email etc etc is just huge and totally disproportionate to the function they provide over a laptop and blackberry.

does the ‘find my iphone/mac’ thingy not work with ipads then?
you can wipe the user data remotely as long as the device is connected to the intrnet/3g

Oh noes, you mean as per every other tech company ever? The bastards.

Technology is improving all the time but lets face facts; the original iphone was released without a lot of things, like 3g and a decent camera, things that were available at the time and well established. Like I say, I’m a cynic but the original iphone was compromised through the lack of cetain industry standard features. This did however did give Apple the chance to relaunch the new and improved 3g version after building up demand and hype for it only a short time after the original model was released. Every technology provider plans for future upgrades but Apple are so much more blatant in the way they do it that I’m left cold by their products.

My battered old IBM isn’t top spec although it was once. Why does everything need to be the latest spec to do its job well? It was well specced for its day when new which means it is still more than capable today. In three years time the original ipad will probably seem like quite an inferior product by comparison.

Right… Does that not rather go against your previous argument that laptops are superior because they are more flexible, have USB, a keyboard, and can do a wide variety of things that you can’t do on a tablet?

Not at all, the ipad and its ilk are being touted as portable multimedia hubs which should mean they are technically superior but in reality they aren’t. The design limitations placed on them by the tablet format mean that they aren’t too great at a lot of things because there are too many compromises involved (not being able to run flash seems like a bit weakness in the product). A laptop, as a portable computer, is by its nature a versatile piece of kit. Its just my view is that a mid range laptop will always be far superior to a ipad or android enabled tablet.

Does your keyboard spot when you are typing a URL and offer a .com/.co.uk key? Can you easily type âcçented characters? Smilies? Chinese?

No my browser does the .com/.co.uk bit.
Yes to accented chars (on my Linux PC – dunno how on this windoze comp)
Yes to smilies.
No to Chinese, but mine has Japanese I think. Certainly cuts/pastes Chinese and Japanese too.

If it ran Windows (or even MacOs for that matter) I’d perhaps be interested – perhaps.

Something I said for iPad1. If it ran full OSX, with touchscreen overlay, and allowed me to run all my proper Mac apps (and had SD, USB, proper filesystem access), then I’d be down the store right away to buy one at its current price level. With smartphone dumbed down shiny software, it’s a £250 device with a shiny apple logo price premium, and a clever way of monetising what might otherwise have been free software.
Next MacOS look like it may get some level of convergence. I hope that’s to add touchscreen type features to MacBook, rathter than dummbing down MacBook towards iPad/iTunes, enforcing all s/w to be vetted by a non independent team.

Its just my view is that a mid range laptop will always be far superior to a ipad or android enabled tablet.

yes that’s obvious if you want a laptop not a tablet. it’s also apparent that a laptop is no substitute for a mid priced tablet, if you want a tablet.

Why does everything need to be the latest spec to do its job well?

Straw man ^^^ Most people don’t think that of course.

does the ‘find my iphone/mac’ thingy not work with ipads then?
Yeah, but that’s not a huge amount of use to us if someone is using it to read a directors emails. We want everything gone from that machine the instant they report it missing.

you can wipe the user data remotely as long as the device is connected to the intrnet/3g

There are a number of products out there that provide suitable levels of control. We’re summing them up now. The best will wait for the ipad to get in touch and then BANG! It’s clean.

Still, I won’t be getting an iPad (probably): too expensive, and no Flash support.

Look, I’m not totally against them, OK? Besides, you buy what you want. You don’t me to tell you what to do.

😉

My battered old IBM isn’t top spec although it was once. Why does everything need to be the latest spec to do its job well? It was well specced for its day when new which means it is still more than capable today. In three years time the original ipad will probably seem like quite an inferior product by comparison.

Gold star for stating the blatantly obvious about any piece of technology.

Not sure what Big Dave’s point was about iThoughtsHD – it’s a piece of software that offers the functionality I want to do a job in as transparent a way as possible. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what it’s called, and I’m not sure anyone would buy it for the name. If you look at the rave reviews it gets, they’re generally focused on the functionality, rather than the form.

My battered old IBM isn’t top spec although it was once. Why does everything need to be the latest spec to do its job well?

because faster/better computers save time and make me more money.
my 5 year old tower struggles with 2-3gb photoshop files or bulk processing raws to tiffs, it’s now retired and i use my revved up macbookpro to cut down the processing time and the time waiting for the progress bar to get from left to right, the new macbooks with the thunderbolt interface means a 3gb in/out speed for a scratch disk and back-up plus the faster processors means another increase in productivity.

i guess if you have a spreadsheet and a jazzed up word document to produce then any old computer will suffice?

No my browser does the .com/.co.uk bit.
Yes to accented chars (on my Linux PC – dunno how on this windoze comp)
Yes to smilies.
No to Chinese, but mine has Japanese I think. Certainly cuts/pastes Chinese and Japanese too.

What I mean is that a touchscreen keyboard can be changed based on context.
So buttons can magically appear when typing addresses:

If I want to type ä then I can just hold “a” and select the right accent. To type that in Windows on a UK keyboard then I’d have to type Alt+0228 (nice!).
By “smilies” I mean I have 25 keyboards full of Unicode Emoji characters to choose from.
And by Chinese, I mean I can very quickly switch between a UK keyboard and Cangjie (or Arabic, Bulgarian, Vietnamese etc etc).

Not that a touchscreen keyboard is perfect, but just to illustrate that it does offer some advantages that a physical keyboard does not.

if i wanted a shit under powered computer i would go to a carboot sale….not an apple store, apples are for suckers!

Man these threads always bring out the crappest trolls. 🙄

and no Flash support.

When Apple brought out the tablet they had something daft like 95% marketshare. Now they are saying this will come down to 30ish%. If the other 70% use Flash, and developers ‘stop’ developing Apple products because of dev costs etc. then I could see Apple climbing down on their decision to ignore Flash.

jenbe has convinced me, I’m gonna sell the iPad.

By “smilies” I mean I have 25 keyboards full of Unicode Emoji

Oh

My

GOD!

I just gotta have it! EEEeeee!!

When Apple brought out the tablet they had something daft like 95% marketshare. Now they are saying this will come down to 30ish%. If the other 70% use Flash, and developers ‘stop’ developing Apple products because of dev costs etc. then I could see Apple climbing down on their decision to ignore Flash.

That would be ideal – I can understand the motives behind not supporting flash, both commercial and technical, but if I want a family machine that my kids can also use it’s a real killer.

Oh

My

GOD!

I just gotta have it! EEEeeee!!

I actually lol’d.

Good work Mr Grips.

If I want to type ä then I can just hold “a” and select the right accent. To type that in Windows on a UK keyboard then I’d have to type Alt+0228 (nice!).

Oh on Linux I just type AltGr-{ then a for ä
On here Win XP it seems to be AltGr-q for ä
I don’t see that as being radically more long winded than holding a letter down until the character selector comes up and you choose what you want.
Can change my keyboard setting to pretty much anything with about 3 mouse clicks. No idea why I’d want to do that, and it’s not exactly a major selling point for a slab or lappy/desktop OS of any brand… for me at least.

Now… USB and/or SD slot to plug my camera (card) into… now that’d be a selling point.

When Apple brought out the tablet they had something daft like 95% marketshare. Now they are saying this will come down to 30ish%

Yep. Combined sales of Android tablets had 13% of 2010 market. iPad 1 had 84%.
2011 will see lots more droid tablets being released (some rubbish but cheap, some expensive but nice) which will directly challenge the iPad 2 and take a considerable chunk of the market.

Not sure about the Flash point though. Apart from the cited issues with stability and performance, Flash has the same problem I discussed earlier: most interactive Flash apps out there at the moment were written to played/used with a mouse. Games that involve dragging-and-dropping, hovering or constant movement will not work well on touchscreens.

No doubt adobe will address this with new libraries etc, but folk expecting to be able to play everything currently at http://www.kongregate.com on their flash-enabled tablets will quickly realise they can’t.

I think it is a good bullet point for Apple’s competitors. But as it stands at the moment it isn’t actually that useful.

Now… USB and/or SD slot to plug my camera (card) into… now that’d be a selling point.

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC531ZM/A?fnode=MTc0MjU4NjE&mco=MTc0NzE1OTE

most interactive Flash apps out there at the moment were written to played/used with a mouse

I have seen Windows PCs with touch screens that simply have the mouse pointer follow your finger and click when you press harder. Poor for usability really since touch screen OS/apps should be specifically designed for the different gesture language, but some flash game like say, Bejeweled would work like that.

As a realistic issue (not just a pointless argument) I think the 30% of sale price of content going to Apple is the biggest issue – I actually really like the platform and would love an ipad, but the brooker article from last weekend really made me think about it. That and the fact that I have no way near that much free cash at the moment!

@GrahamS… preferably built-in…. just like on my eee (and earlier posts) 😉

OK who am I meant to be bullying here?

get em boy, go on get em!

200th post (edited, as I can’t count)