iPad

I read a forum reply:

Just yesterday I was looking at my iPhone thinking "Hmmm, I wish this thing didn't fit in my pocket and couldn't make phone calls."
Then I looked over to my netbook and couldn't help but feel it would benefit from losing the keyboard and being made of 50% glass.

Finally apple gives me what I wish.


That about sums it up. No flash, no keyboard, etc I'll stick with my gaming laptop.

 

Maybe the kind of people that tune into Apple press conferences are not the people that the Apple iPad is aimed at.

 

Wow there are a lot of negative comments around the web about the iPad. From the name, to what it can't do (flash, camera, etc) there are so many people saying it's a big fail. But one thing I noticed is that all those people are not gamers, and were expecting it to be a full fledged OS like a laptop.

For gamers, the iPad could be the ultimate device. I don't see people taking it on the bus with them in fear of bumping in to someone and dropping the thing, but at home you can play games from your couch or bed and enjoy a big touchscreen right in front of you. The screen is big enough for 2 players to sit at a table and use simultaneously. Once developers make Apps to take advantage of the extra screen space it will be great. With the accelerometer and touchscreen it will be able to do things that notebooks can't.

I've also been wanting a digital picture frame but have been holding off on buying one. The iPad will serve that purpose in its stand while not in use. It also serves as an ebook reader which previously I had no interest in, but the iBookStore looks easy enough that I may buy some books to read.

Making a full fledged OS might have been TOO ambitious, so making it run the 140,000 Apps from the App Store was an easier goal to reach for Apple. As a iPhone developer who has never made native OS X apps, I like that I don't have to learn anything new to write apps for it.

It's not going to replace my MacBook Pro, but it will replace my iPhone as the preferred gaming device, and give me a digital photo frame and e-reader that I never had before. I don't really see it leaving the house except the the occasional trip to watch movies on, so 3G isn't needed. (There was no mention if we can tether from our iPhones).

There's definitely a place in my life for an iPad, and I plan on getting 2 (one for development and one for using around the house) the day they are available!

 

I totally agree with all of this. It amazes me that the impressions of the Ipad have been so negative, both in this forum and across the web, especially when almost no one has gotten a chance to hold the device in their hand and try it. We have known for months that Apple's new product was going to be a tablet-type device. What did you guys really expect this thing to do? Cure cancer? Solve world hunger? To me, this is just like all the people who complain endlessly about paying more than 99 cents for a quality game or application from the AppStore.

Just think about the original Ipods and Iphones and how many more things are available for them today, both in terms of firmware and applications, than was available at the initial launch. The same will be true for the Ipad.

While there are a few things missing from the initial roll out (the biggest one for me being multi-tasking, which can easily be addressed in a future firmware update) I am satisfied with the current set of features and look forward to getting one. If it works well for gaming, it will replace my Itouch in most circumstances. While it's not as portable, it will be great for traveling (which I do quite a bit for work) and great for mobile use around the house. The big advantage for me is 3G access. My company won't pay for or support the Iphone for cell phone use, so I had to get an Itouch. The fact that the Itouch is WiFi only is a big limitation for me.

 

I have an iPod Touch 64Gb. There is no way I am going to get the iPad.

I'll get the next ipod touch if it has a camera and gps. Otherwise, I'll wait till 2011.

 

Check out Stanza in appstore. I've already read dozens of books on iPhone with it. My eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, and I find reading long text on computer screen very uncomfortable, so I was very surprised to see how easy it is to read books on iphone despite its small screen (be sure to dim the screen a bit, though - easy to adjust in Stanza, just drag a finger down the page).

Whole library in my pocket, reading in bus and in bed... iPad may have larger screen but it is also a lot clumsier on the move.

 

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but I wonder if we'll be able to transfer game data between the iPad and an iPhone/iPod Touch. If not the iPad is just another gaming device on top of my iPod Touch and Xbox 360. But if I can play a game on the iPad when I'm home, then sync it with the iPod Touch so I can keep playing while I'm out, it would be awesome.

The main reason I probably won't buy one (at least the 1st gen model) is the lack of flash. I understand that Apple wants us spending money in the iTunes Store instead of watching shows on Hulu or playing flash games on a website, but to omit flash on a device where one of the main draws is web browsing is a big misstep in my opinion. I wonder how many casual users who buy an iPad will be pissed when they realize they can't stream video from their favorite sites.

 

I'll stick with my 1st gen. ipod touch. Much more portable and runs everything except iWork, iBook and the new store, and a handful of more advanced games.

 

you can download classics too it has a bunch of books and free for a few days.

yeah its got a negative rap already. heh..

chris.

 

Just look at the iPad SDK

it's support a digital camera... so, i believe a accessory will be available too...

 

I'll get some of these to use in my photo studios for showing clients their images from their session with music in a slideshow when on location and have some to use instead of just magazines in the lobby area while they are waiting to start their photo sessions. Personally, I would not care to get one right now. I'd rather wait for future generations that might have a camera/video option as well as more functionality and definitely more memory! I might also just get one so my 2 yr old son can have one to play with as he has mastered my touch and my wifes iphone entirely. He can have the ipad to see his games better. Using the ipad to do tethered shooting at photoshoots via bluetooth would be a use for me as well.

 

I've been a gamer for 20+ years and I have to say this thing looks dreadful to me. It's possible that once some games are released specifically for the iPad it'll look slightly more manageable, but at the moment they're only showcasing games that a) I already own and b) aren't up to date with the tech we might expect from a tablet. The whole thing just seems too weak for any serious gaming.

The one you mentioned, multitasking is the big one. It's possible they'd include it later, but I doubt they have any plans to since it would have been an obvious choice for inclusion in 1.0. It's closer to a phone then a laptop ergo multitasking apparently isn't needed. A USB port would have been nice, file management would have been nice, having a larger memory capacity than a tiny little iPhone would have been nice. There's almost nothing that sets it apart from the iPhone/iPod Touch other than the size, which is where it falls flat... it's not even middle-ground between iPhone and Macbook, it's camped firmly next to the iPhone looking like a fat older brother.

 

Hmm... I print every day from my iPhone via Wifi to my Wifi enabled Epson printer. There are a couple of third party apps for this. (I use ePrint)

So I don't think it is impossible...

 

Can anyone confirm this?

 

Confirm what, that it's possible? Yes it is, but not very likely. As soon as Apple open the doors allowing iDevices to play online Flash games they'll start to lose sales in the App Store.

It wouldn't die out altogether, but it'd lose some of it's strength. I'm not sure indie devs would like the move either since a lot of them focus on the simpler genres you find a lot with Flash games.

 

Sure, its not good for serious gaming (niether is the iphone IMHO) but it could be really cool for casual gaming. I'm excited to see the evolution of games designed for this device. I think there are a lot of interesting things you can do with it. You have to give it some time before games specifically designed for it start showing up.

 

To be honest I can see it working well for puzzle games, TD games and the like... but I don't think I'd ever attempt an FPS or racing game on the iPad, definitely nothing accelerometer based. Of course if any developers want to prove me wrong then they can feel free

 

The one you mentioned, multitasking is the big one. It's possible they'd include it later, but I doubt they have any plans to since it would have been an obvious choice for inclusion in 1.0. It's closer to a phone then a laptop ergo multitasking apparently isn't needed. A USB port would have been nice, file management would have been nice, having a larger memory capacity than a tiny little iPhone would have been nice. There's almost nothing that sets it apart from the iPhone/iPod Touch other than the size, which is where it falls flat... it's not even middle-ground between iPhone and Macbook, it's camped firmly next to the iPhone looking like a fat older brother.[/QUOTE]


I agree on the multitasking. It is a big drawback. Presumably, it would drain the battery much quicker to have multitasking capability. I disagree with you on the future plans to include it, only because they can and have done lots of things with firmware updates for the Iphone/Itouch. I see no reason why multitasking wouldn't be involved in a future update.

I had forgotten about the lack of a USB port. I agree that it would have been nice.

File management could be added in a firmware update. I have no idea why that hasn't been a part of firmware updates for the Iphone/Itouch.

I agree on the storage capacity, although that is something that will be solved in future development cycles. Just like it was for the Iphone/Itouch. They are in the business of making money after all, so they would never include everything possible in the launch version of the product. While people don't like that, it's the way these product launches always work, and not just ones done by Apple.

I do think the iPad can serve as a middle ground. For people like me, who travel a lot for work, I can bring the iPad with me on trips and leave my bulky laptop at home. Since I only need to use the iPad for checking work e-mail and accessing documents via my company's internet portal, the iPad screen is plenty big for effective web browsing.

I also think the target iPad audience is different than those of us who frequent the TA forums or the hard-core techno geeks. It is for people who are casual computer users, who want portability and an easy to use interface. People who spend 99% of their computer time surfing the web, checking e-mail, and doing things with pictures.

 

That kinda sounds right to me actually. I don't wanna point fingers at anyone here, but the iPad does seem like a good device for uh... technologically-ignorant people. My mum, for example. She doesn't need access to file systems, she doesn't need to know which background processes are running, how much RAM a certain program is taking up, etc... so an iPad could work. The iPad works very well as a "My First Computer" kind of device, you could give it to a child knowing there's no real easy way to mess it up and accidentally delete an important system file or something. Big, bright icons... press "Email" and you get email, press "Music" and you get music. Very basic, but for people who don't have a clue about computing it may appeal.

Not that I'm calling everyone who buys an iPad technologically-ignorant, I'm sure they have their own reasons... but I do think it works very well for that corner of the market.