Well said. My job involves dealing with the real general public in regard to the internet... they honestly don't like the OS/UI and whole complexity of the devices up til now, some are genuinely frightened of computers. They want simplicity and ease of use in a reliable package, the ipad fulfils that. OK, so they may need a pc to get the ipad up and running, but from then on, they'll have no real need to sync again.
Not even that, Steve was making a big deal out of the iPad's revealing with the fact that it can all be activated and used on the iPad itself, no PC necessary.
I might... These will be fun to have in my media room. They will be for friends/family that come over and want to browse the web, play games, look at pictures/videos on our servers etc.. We currently have a few touches that are used in that way. It gives everyone something to do when it's raining outside and we are lounging around the house. I also use one of the devices to access my server that has all of my movies and it will show the movie description with links to a trailer and then I can select what I want to watch and it will change my A/V equipment settings and load the movie of choice. Having a larger screen would be cool. However, $800.00 for just basically having a larger screen is not enough for me at this point to make a purchase when what I have now works flawlessly. I will probably get 1 for my young son, so he can play his online disney/PBS kids website games and other app store apps he loves with the bigger screen. It will make it easier to hold the device since he is only 2 yrs old.
its not ment to replace the computer. duh. i like the concept and look forward to what the ipad maybe in 8 years. I thik touch screen interface is the way to go.. the mouse well my cat can have it. heh. like dylan i can see this on my coffee table.. instead of picking up a magazine or whatnot.. they have a idevice.. chris.
i plan on using it as such. look in the app section thread is ipad adn art. i have a thread on it. what will ake it or break it for me is if i can find a decent stylus. my art will always be crappy but hey thats ok. good way to waste time chris.
Personally as a developer I see the iPad as a new opportunity for my game to be better. I already ported my game and it works great with the simulator so far Basically the iPad version will be able to play all the puzzles for the iPhone version plus some special iPad only puzzles. But that's on top of the new features I have been working for the past 6 months... I can't wait to release the new version
Not as far as the likes of myself and probably most on this site... but for a massive % of the public, it will actually accomplish all they want as far as a computer. The amount of people I know who only have a computer for web browsing and mail is huge. The reality, hard to accept for some, is that the ipad is all and probably more than most people really want or need.
I have a 13" pro but I still plan to get this because my laptop is just too heavy with my school books to be part of my daily routine. And it's a pita to take it in and put of my backpack
I wish I could scan all my school books and put it in an ipad (or laptop, but my laptop is old and big(about 2-3 years old and 19" if I'm correct). This would be a great thing for art/media studies.
We are very excited by this device here at Vetasoft. We believe that's a great device for gamers! We are working on some cool concept and already add the iPad feature on our own dev tools. A cool HD version of Paradise Monkeys is also in work and should be released few week after the launch of the device!
Problem is, even the people who don't fully understand computers would probably prefer the ability to do at least two things at once.
I am a huge multi-tasker. But this device is so fast I am not real sure that it matters much. I mean apps shut down and start up in a matter or no time at all. I will have one as soon as the 3g models come out.
That still makes it more difficult to do certain tasks. Dragging and dropping is basically out, the ability to listen to music while doing anything else, being able to watch a video and surf the web/do graphic design, comparing two separate documents etc... it's way more constricting than it should be.
You'll be able to listen to music and do other task (well you can on the iPod Touch and iPhone so it only makes sense you will too on the iPad)
Nope, it comes way down the list for those that I deal with. As I said before, it's hard for many, certainly on computer related fora such as this, to understand just how basic the needs are for so many people out there. Simplicity really is the name of the game.
Dragging and dropping is a metaphor for file management. It doesn't have much use outside of that paradigm. (Which the iPad barely even supports.) There are some legitimate cases for dragging and dropping interface elements (e.g. dragging an email from one folder to another) but those cases are contained within the application interface. What's interesting is that research has shown that users are most effective when focusing on a single task at a time. Multitasking splits their attention in such a way as to make them less effective at tasks than if they did each task serially. Of course, some tasks require a combination of programs (e.g. web browser to look up docs while programming) so the iPad won't necessarily be a good fit for those apps. But for the vast majority of apps, users won't notice the difference. As others have mentioned, that's already in the iPhone. No reason why it would go away. You're talking about tasks that computers are good at. Tablets are never going to be as good at such tasks. The interface simply isn't ideal for interacting with a desktop-type environment. Programmers will continue to have laptops/desktops for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, a vast amount of home and office use will simplify down to the types of necessities provided by devices like the iPad.
It's a metaphor for simple file management. This is very basic stuff, I can do it on my Samsung phone, the fact a tablet wouldn't even support the most basic of file management functions is a giant leap backwards. And this is why so many people are disappointed with the outcome. Lots of people in this thread are talking about how ideal the iPad is for people who basically don't have the skills to use a computer, but I don't think that's exactly what Apple was shooting for.
