Fail

3/30/2010 11:36:59 AM

Quote :

"The problem is currently they aren't allowing pen/paper style note taking with handwriting recognition, which is really the only thing I want."

But that's the thing... I don't give a fuck about pen/paper style note taking. That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. If the on-screen keyboard is responsive, then that's all I want.

3/30/2010 11:49:47 AM

that's a big if

3/30/2010 11:57:42 AM

And they have to somehow develop a worthwhile note-taking app. But so far nobody has replicated Microsoft OneNote, I'd love to see that on a thin slate device with handwriting recognition.

3/30/2010 12:00:42 PM

^ Its not nearly as good as OneNote, but Evernote will be the go-to note app on the iPad.

3/30/2010 1:53:40 PM

Quote :

"But that's the thing... I don't give a fuck about pen/paper style note taking. That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. If the on-screen keyboard is responsive, then that's all I want."

How do you plan to type on it? With it flat on the table and your neck at a 90 degree angle, holding it up with one hand and typing with the other, or some sort of odd diagonal propped-against-the-table setup with your wrists turned awkwardly?

3/30/2010 1:59:07 PM

as an Engineer, a lot of my note taking involves diagrams. Typing doesnt suffice as the only medium to take "notes"

3/30/2010 2:45:27 PM

yeah i had a long response typed up but tdub is shitting all over itself today

basically i said that typing on a keyboard with no feedback is going to be worse than just writing your notes. not to mention all the other advantages of being able to draw like ^ is talking about

3/30/2010 2:49:29 PM

I don't think this really competes in the current tablet niche at all. It doesn't do any of the same things that are unique to tablets, it just has a similar form factor. People that use tablet PCs now won't be switching to an ipad.

It's just a big ass ipod touch.

3/30/2010 3:25:57 PM

Thats pretty much how I feel. I am not an apple hater either, I love my ipod. It had a real purpose though: it *replaced* an item that I normally carried around (CD Player), as well as not requiring me to carry around a couple huge CD books with me in my car, while at the same time providing a better interface and more functionality. I also think the iphones are nice. If I was on AT&T I would have an iphone, I just dont have a need to switch carriers. It also had a real purpose though: it replaced your normal cell phone with something providing all kinds of new data and connectivity features.

With the ipad, I just feel like they are trying to force their way into creating a market rather than competing in a current market. Sometimes that is a great idea (ie with cell phones or laptops being invented there was a definite need). However, if this device isn't replacing anything I already have, its purpose should be to fill a gap in which I want access to media and data and the internet but currently don't have it. I can't think of what that gap would be.

3/30/2010 3:41:03 PM

You stated it about as perfect as possible.

Right now the gap it is filling is the Apple fanboys' desires to jizz all over another Job's project.



[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 4:06 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2010 4:06:04 PM

I disagree with that... I think the problem is people are comparing it to phones and laptops, its neither. And the bigger problem is that most of you are pretty hardcore computer people, hell, being over age 10 and under 30 alone makes you more of one than the majority of the rest of the population so you are viewing this on a spec by spec basis rather than what will joe public like... its like business people know that the blackberry is technically better for business use but a LOT of people dont base their phone choice on that and thus pick the iphone (although I think they are both good for business use).

I view it more as an entertainment/lifestyle device.

For example, I could see me using it for (current apps may or may not do these things yet upon launch, but they wont take long):

- universal remote with customizable layout (think an iphone app already does this or part of it at least but I would use and ipad more)
- sitting on my couch watching sports - look up stats, follow fantasy results, keep track of my bets
- kitchen for recipes and shit while cooking
- alarm clock
- photo album
- dvd/media cataloger

can laptops and even phones do all of that pretty much already? yes, but all of those I would rather do on an ipad than a either of those (who wants an open laptop sitting next to their bed to be used as an alarm clock or huddled around a phone looking at pics with someone?). Can other "pad" devices do those things? yes. But I like the app store, I dont mind paying for apps (when not JB ), its convenient, easy to use, etc. They just have a simple package/product that the normal public understands and likes and that pushes it ahead of technically better tablet devices IMO.

for example, I love Evernote. Is it as powerful as OneNote? no, not even close, BUT its also not as cluttered and I use it a lot more because its so basic. I use the fuck out of it.

[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 7:40 PM. Reason : d]

3/30/2010 7:37:54 PM

^The big question is whether people will invest another $500-$750 for a device that does the same as something they already have. It's a very small niche in my opinion (at the price point it's at). If we were talking about a $200 device it's a no brainer 'must have'. A luxury entertainment/lifestyle device.

3/30/2010 7:42:59 PM

I agree with that... it wont be nearly as popular as the ipod or iphone, but I dont think they are expecting it to be...

3/30/2010 7:47:06 PM

Quote :

"- universal remote with customizable layout (think an iphone app already does this or part of it at least but I would use and ipad more) - sitting on my couch watching sports - look up stats, follow fantasy results, keep track of my bets - kitchen for recipes and shit while cooking - alarm clock - photo album - dvd/media cataloger"

- Not me, I like to hold my remote in my hand and set it down to the side, not hold it on my lap.
- Side-lining sports stats is a great use for it.
- Not the kitchen, IMO, it's a messy place.
- No, it's too big for an alarm clock, my phone or an actual alarm is perfect.
- Showing photos is perfect, in fact, make it a digital picture frame when not using it.
- Media cataloging is good, but I don't know any non-technical people that actually do that.

All that said, there are definitely uses for it, and not for it ... I am just personally looking for a replacement for my yellow legal pads that I carry around, hence wanting handwriting recognition.

I'm not looking for something technical, I'm looking for something USEFUL as a note taking and time management device.


[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 7:50 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2010 7:49:40 PM

well yeah, those are personal preferences, I am just saying that for people that want to do those things with it, its a good device.

3/30/2010 7:52:38 PM

It's no more portable than my 13" MacBook Pro and not nearly as capable, so why wouldn't I just use my laptop for anything I might otherwise do on this thing?

3/30/2010 7:52:41 PM

Quote :

"It's no more portable than my 13" MacBook Pro and not nearly as capable, so why wouldn't I just use my laptop for anything I might otherwise do on this thing?"

but it is.

-battery life
-ability to use it in any orientation or easily while standing around


the fact that you have to flip open a screen makes a laptop less portable when compared to a 'pad' type device (not just the iPad).

3/30/2010 7:54:35 PM

just the nature of it being flat rather than a vertical screen with a flat keyboard makes it different, touch screen, not having to open it every time you want to use it (I know it sounds minor but it does make a difference), once again, I dont think you should compare it to a laptop, its not the same. I wouldnt buy this and get rid of my laptop.

^ exactly

[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 7:55 PM. Reason : d]

3/30/2010 7:54:57 PM

I find my gf uses her iPhone a lot more than her netbook thats sitting right next to her because of these very reasons. I'm pretty sure she'll be using it more than I

^I agree, if I was going to sit on the couch and watch TV while doing some work, in my line of work, a laptop is required. But for all those other times that I'm lugging around my 17" MBP downstairs just to stay connected will now not be needed.

[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 7:57 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2010 7:56:23 PM

is this our first step to being like the people in star trek?

and i'd really like one of these but i'd never pay the retail price at this point. i have a feeling after i actually had one and the market had matured a little more for it that i would not want to be without it.. but i dunno

[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 8:23 PM. Reason : asfd]

3/30/2010 8:22:23 PM

Quote :

"is this our first step to being like the people in star trek?"

I don't know, but when playing Mass Effect 2 i noticed that NPC's were holding 'data pads' that were iPad like...

3/30/2010 8:33:38 PM

lol..yeahhhh. the possibilities are pretty out there...

3/30/2010 8:44:40 PM

my bet, the first android pad will shake apple's very core.

it will probably be more functional than a damn netbook rather than being a uselessly large iphone without being an actual phone?

3/30/2010 8:46:28 PM

http://www.apple.com/ipad/guided-tours/

some of these videos shed some light on features and functionality that you don't get from watching the keynote or the intro vid.

example: i didn't know that there was a physical switch to lock orientation. Maybe i missed that from the keynote though, i did just read the feed from engadget and never watched the video after.

3/30/2010 8:57:23 PM

Quote :

"- Not the kitchen, IMO, it's a messy place."

This was actually one of the first ideas I had when I saw this thing. All of our recipes are either on the computer or on index cards. Index cards are nice, but suffer from being un-searchable and subject to damage from spills. The laptop is searchable but still subject to damage from spills and now crumbs and small things getting in the keyboard.

OTOH, an ipad mounted on the wall has all the bennefits of using a laptop and far far far reduced entry points for liquid and crumbs

3/30/2010 9:44:00 PM

Quote :

"^The big question is whether people will invest another $500-$750 for a device that does the same as something they already have. It's a very small niche in my opinion (at the price point it's at). If we were talking about a $200 device it's a no brainer 'must have'. A luxury entertainment/lifestyle device."

- What's wrong with being an entertainment/lifestyle device? People will save up christmas money to get something they want. People aren't automatons who eschew all luxuries before they reach an optimal level of income. Instead, they sacrifice to get a few good things in life because entertainment itself has a lot of value (as seeking it is a big part of most people's lives)

- What percentage of households don't have laptops or desktops that they use regularly? 60-70%? What percentage own a don't own a smartphone -- 80%? That's a huge fucking market. Your perception of how much technology people have and how much they use it is far out of step with the average person.

(It also helps to put success in perspective -- Apple would love to duplicate the iphone's results. About 8% of the US has iphones. Apple can easily match these results with ipad)

The small niche is the nerd (you) who wants his device to do a bunch of shit. The large niche is the user who wants to do 1-3 things very well. iPad browses the internet better than anything out there. The #1 thing people use computers for is to browse the internet.

If you make complicated technology simple, you open up new markets where people will pay for convenience.

[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 9:53 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2010 9:52:14 PM

To put things in perspective some more:

My parents have been using computers as a daily part of their jobs for 15+ years. They cannot describe what multitasking is in the nerd sense. To them, it's being able to do email and internet on the same device.

The shit nerds complain about is simply not relevant to anyone.

3/30/2010 10:01:25 PM

And how do you expect they'll take to the lack of a physical keyboard?

I still don't understand how people are expecting to do any sort of typing on this thing.

http://ergonomicedge.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/ipad-pics-more.gif

Do you really expect your parents to sit like the person in the middle of those pictures when using it if they're planning to send an e-mail?

3/30/2010 11:03:04 PM

Quote :

"my bet, the first android pad will shake apple's very core. "

I scoff at the ipad for being an overpriced underperfoming tablet, yet I'll probably buy a google chrome based tablet when one comes out.

3/30/2010 11:10:00 PM

^yep. they will and no real person will complain about it. because that's a hell of a lot better than the current alternatives:

1) Have a hot ass laptop baking your legs while you type
2) getting up and walking to the computer desk to send a 2 sentence email

. I love how, like everything, people make EVERYTHING into a black and white picture of success versus failure.

People: A product doesn't have to sell 100,000,000 units and dominate every market worldwide to be successful. Just because YOU don't need it, doesn't make it worthless. It'll sell a few million units a year to begin with, and we'll see how it affects the budget laptop and netbook markets. Regardless it's not going to FAIL, and it's not going to sell volume like an iPod.

3/30/2010 11:10:05 PM

No real person under the age of 35, I think you mean. And even then, you'd have to essentially be stretched out across the couch to even get in that position, which in most cases would orient you away from whatever the couch is designed to point at.

3/30/2010 11:14:05 PM

I think the ipad will catch on in 3rd world countries if they can manage to get the price down. the battery life on these devices will make them ideal for educational purposes in countries where electricity isn't a given, and the ability to store retarded amounts of books on these things makes them capable of serving as a virtual school library. You could take 30 of these, store 100 textbooks on each of them, and you'd have 3000 books available to the class you were teaching. If the village happened to go without power for a couple of days because the wind wasn't blowing or sun wasn't shining, you wouldn't be hindered by all of your data being on a device that doesn't run. Just sync up the ipads, load the book for the day, and get to teaching.

3/30/2010 11:17:31 PM

^ I think there's a solid chance that the ipad will do for tablet PCs what Asus did for netbooks with it's eepc, or hell what the iPhone did for the smart phone market - bring the technology mainstream, get some major manufacturers on board, generate some healthy competition that results in some awesome gadgets along the way.

I'm down on apple for their corporate policies, but there's no denying their ability to shake things up by hitting it out of the park with a groundbreaking piece of hardware once every few years.

I'd never buy an iPad, but I'll definitely consider the 2nd or third iteration of a windows or droid based competing product with support for hand-written input or at the very least support for a rapid entry app like swype.

3/30/2010 11:18:58 PM

Okay so these are old school... but appropriate for this thread:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

No I won't ever own an iPhone or a Mac, nor will I own an iPad. I would have to win one. In the split time I won one of them I would put it up on craigslist. I would rather have a HTC HD2 or a Palm Pre, or some other phone with Windows Mobile or Android OS.

I dont care what others think of this mindset either.

3/30/2010 11:45:01 PM

I want an iPad. I will eventually get one too. I am going to try and hold out for the 2nd gen if I can though.

I think its target demographic at this point is everybody who owns an iPhone. Those are the people who can appreciate the OS.

3/30/2010 11:52:09 PM

I know I'm the only one who sees this BUT i'll say it anyway...

The shit you guys give me for liking the apple products I own is nothing in comparison to most of you guys fanboy fanatic bs for google or microsoft.

3/30/2010 11:57:43 PM

Quote :

"I think its target demographic at this point is everybody who owns an iPhone. Those are the people who can appreciate the OS."

I dunno about that. I think the OS (and all of it's limitations) is probably the biggest reason why I didn't pre-order one. If it came with OSX (real OSX that is, not the stripped down version) it would be a no-brainer. Course, it probably wouldn't get 10 hours of battery life either at that point.

3/31/2010 12:06:49 AM

Quote :

"The large niche is the user who wants to do 1-3 things very well. iPad browses the internet better than anything out there. "

Really? I'm pretty sure my laptop browses the internet way better than the iPad, and at a much lower price point.

3/31/2010 12:11:32 AM

apple will sell tons of iPads... TONS

3/31/2010 12:29:25 AM

On a related note, I wonder if Nick Kroll has made a new "Rich Dicks" video lately.

3/31/2010 1:04:14 AM

Quote :

"Do you really expect your parents to sit like the person in the middle of those pictures when using it if they're planning to send an e-mail?"

Eh, my parents still hunt and peck when they type, so real keyboard or not they're typing slowly.

3/31/2010 7:56:12 AM

got this in my mailbox yesterday



http://www.newsweek.com/id/235565

3/31/2010 8:24:09 AM

Interesting article. Came off fanboyish but tried to stay objective.

Quote :

" Flurry started tracking iPad use a few months ago—these were test units inside Apple—and found the biggest use appears to be games."

w00t

3/31/2010 9:10:22 AM

ok, sorry to lock this thread mid stream, but I got qntmfred to change the original thread title to have "ipad" in it, so it'll actually show up in a search now.

3/31/2010 9:59:10 AM