So who's buying one?

What do we think?

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

I personally was hoping for it to be a "real" Mac. Something akin to a keyboardless, touchscreen Macbook Air. Full blown OSX (able to run Parallels, Photoshop, etc) but in a svelte tablet.

Slightly disappointed that it really is just an XL-sized iPhone|iPod Touch. It certainly looks kinda neat. Not entirely sure I need yet another device to browse our forum.

While I'm sure it'll be great for music, games, photos, and video, I'm not so sure about Steve's plans for world domination as an eBook reader. My wife has a Kindle, and the nice thing about it is that there's zero eyestrain due to the 100% reflective e-ink display. The technology fades away quickly, and you're just left to enjoy the reading material for what it is (mostly...). The iPad has an active screen, so it likely will be just like reading on a "regular" computer screen. Fine for some, not for others. Not sure if that'll be a recipe for a grand-slam of an ebook reader when it comes to eyestrain and "melt-away-ness".

We'll see!

Thoughts?

I liked it more than I was expecting to, but I'm not going to wait in line to buy it or anything. Besides, I'm sure version two will be even better.

although I understand your point about the e-ink, it's hard to bet against Apple. should be interesting to see in person. I think if I was going the spend what - $299 ? on a kindle, the price difference to step up to everything else that's in the iPad would be irresitable...

My wife is totally against Kindles. She is also against the downsizing of the local newspaper. She now calls it the daily pamphlet.

Agreed! I'll want to play with one in person. And that means going to an Apple Store. Which means I'll need to wait at least 3 months after it's released for the crowds to die down.

I have a Kindle and love it. And I'm a Apple fanboy. I think the iPad has some nice features and they priced it right. But I wouldn't run out to get it just yet, nothing vastly different from my Kindle and iPhone 3G.

My Kindle works great for reading the SF Chron and SJ Mercury News. No complaints and I can actually read the paper faster. But it's true that magazines and newspapers have to figure out a new model to make money. Printed papers are dying. The iPad has color so it can address people's concern about pictures/photos in reading material.

I do think that this could kill any company from CES trying to do an eInk reader, MID, or smartbook for $600 or more. Why buy those single use devices, even if it ran Android? The App store is already established.

But the one killer app (for me) on this will be comic books and graphic novels.

Word is that everyone in my group is getting one.

Your support group is giving out iPads?

If the group also hands out applesauce and sneakers... run.

Bren R.

So is the iPad just an iPod Touch on its period?

What the hell were they thinking?

Apple announced today that it has developed a breast implant that can store and play music. The iTit will cost from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size. This is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

I was actually waiting for this thing for quite a while, but I doubt I'll end up getting one. There are a few missing features which kill this thing for me.

1. No front facing camera(No camera at all) so can't use it with skype.
2. I wish it could stream music to airport express to control my HT.
3. No Flash support.

I'll take the model that includes subwoofers.

4. No OS X
5. No Multitasking (making this device lame!)
6. No USB Ports
7. No SD or MicroSD slot
8. Crappy battery life
9. Expensive
10. A little big for portability (not the biggest issue I have)
11. No HDMI
12. The name iPad...o.k.ok, its funny, I like it...insert joke here__________________

Reminds me of Bose... hey it looks nice and will probably be easy to use but it is missing a lot of basics, comes with a hefty price tag and will have a lot marketing behind it. Now go buy me!

I'll take whatever I can get.

Hey, no cop outs. We need actual jokes.

I'm reserving judgment until the thing ships.

You know apple always screws early adopters. Version 2 will be called MAXiPad.

Somebody probably has already photoshopped a maxi pad box with an apple logo on it....lol

Reports say you cannot even do the simple task of browsing the web and listening to music. That is just lame. They better tweak this thing before it comes to market but I doubt it. It also doesn't have an oled screen that some might prefer. Whats going to happen is Apple knows people will pay a premium for an inferior product (from what they expected) anyways because of the apple branding. Then they will come out with a version 2 a year later that will fix some of these issues.

There's already a MadTV skit for that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFNQE_TzQNI


Seriously though, it looks like a neat product but not at that price point. Seems like it's a lot to pay to surf the net. Even surfing was sluggish in the demo, likely due to the weak CPU. Not sure I'd want to do a lot of typing using the onscreen keyboard either.

I agree with the missing features list making this a serious disappointment from a company known for bringing innovation.

Unless you have vision problems, there is no reason to buy this over a regular Touch or iPhone.

True it will cost you half as much in data and contract fees over a two year period, As calculated here, but that is because it does not have a phone. If you are OK with no phone, then get an iPod touch, then you have zero costs after purchase.

Perhaps you can't listen to music from Pandora (which I think is what they're really talking about in the ones I've read), but you most certainly can listen to it with the iPod app--just like on an iPhone or an iPod Touch.

Further, OLED screens simply aren't available in that size for any reasonable amount of money.

Some find that the user interface and general experience is worth any supposed premium they're paying for the product.

Still, I'm not buying one, not because of this, but because I simply don't see a reason to drop $500 on anything like that. Or even $200.

I don't need to buy one. As far as I know of, I don't have any digital leakage. Yet.

Yeah, but what about after you press "memo pause".

Edit: Isn't this avatar annoying?

Absolutely not. I Love that avatar.

I think too many people were expecting this to be the Jesus Pad -- come done from on high to save us all from our tech deficiencies. This device is not a replacement for your much more capable laptop or desktop computer.

Look, this device is version el numero uno.
People panned the first iPod -- "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." You know what's happened since then.
People panned the first iPhone -- WHAT?! NO COPY/PASTE? You know what's happened since then.
Everyone and their geek brother is panning the iPad -- (I'll spare you the examples). Yep -- you know what's going to happen.

I am intrigued by it for sure, but I will withhold hard judgements until I've actually help it and used it myself.

IMO there is some major oversights with this device as noted above for what it is trying to accomplish. More serious than not having wifi on a MP3 player(pointless feature on that device IMO). But I know what you mean, you do not want to be an early adopter with Apple products especially with their portable devices.

I guess I have to look forward to Microsofts Courier or something else similar . Maybe MS will show some innovation and not just release a glorified and more expensive Microsoft Zune HD with a product name relating to feminine hygiene. I won't hold my breath, there no better.

What is it....Gumby with constipation?

I don't think I expected a "Jesus pad". However, for over a year now, they strategically leaked just enough information to allow public speculation to rise. Perhaps, to your point, to unfair levels.

However, in the end, speculation or not, there are two tools that it attempts to combine into one but it does neither well.

Jobs made fun of netbooks in his announcement but due to the inability to multi-task, it won't seriously replace a netbook. It also lacks certain apps that restrict it as a netbook replacement right now, but as you say, they could come later.

It does iphone apps well, perhaps even better if bling counts, but it can't replace an iphone either because it's not a phone. Also, the iphone was a revolution because it put useful apps in your pocket, not a laptop case.

For it to be more than an inconveniently sized iPad, they have to readdress the first point. That's it's gimped as a portable computing tool.

You are correct that it could "grow" to be revolutionary and that it was definately overhyped (some fault of that is thiers) but with a company with the resources that Apple has behind it, I'd personally argue that it should have been much more.

I don't think that's the case at all. Apple doesn't do leaks. At least not on purpose, which precludes any strategery.


Multitasking is more or less a fancy way of saying you can easily switch from one task to another. I agree that it's not really a netbook replacement. I've never understood the appeal of netbooks, though Maybe it's due to the size of my hands.


It was never intended to replace or compete with the iPhone. I don't understand why this is even a topic of discussion.


Again, Apple does not do leaks.


I think people really think Apple's capable of magic. The iPad, like the iPod before it (but even more so), was a monumental undertaking. I have a feeling people's minds will change about just what niche the device fills when they get the change to play around with one.

For the record, I'm far more on the "don't need it" side of the fence than the "need it" side -- at least until I'm able to play with one.

You know, I've never bought an i-anything and I'm just as fat and happy as ever.

I don't see what the big deal is, it's just a larger version of the itouch; no remarkable or ingenious achievement.

More power to you.

iPad iTaw iPud iTat!

Oh my god, an iPad joke that's approaching funny.

But you can use the Remote app to stream your itunes from a PC/Mac that is on the network.

[quote=pmbukoAgain, Apple does not do leaks.

[ [/quote]

I would say it is very possible they could be controlled leaks. I wouldn't say all, but I would be very naive to think otherwise. Not that it really matters to us consumers either way. Apple is the ones that benefit from these leaks. I am not a fan of hype it just leads to letdown.

I notice Axiom does not go the hype route with their business model like some other audio companies out there. I happen to like that.

I can guarantee if Apple does leaks, it's not about features that aren't in the product...

They're pretty anal about their leakage?

Damn Olestra...

Or is it iLestra?

Bren R.

BAHAHAHA

I don't think you can make that gurantee especially since it has been stated by an ex marketing manager at Apple that they do take part in this practice of strategic controlled leaks (irony this is being talked about with an iPad thread ) .

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how_apple_does_controlled_leaks/

Taking into context their marketing strategy against competitors (most notably MS) what would prevent them from providing disinformation to their competitor or for the purpose to generate hype. What about misinformation? They could easily decide to leak information about a product that is still in development with a certain feature set in mind but that might not be necessarily what makes it to the market.

I'm not bashing Apple here about this practice (many companies do this). I just can't rationlize the argument about Apple never leaking any information for one and if they leak something it is 100% accurate.

I just read an article with a great angle on the negative reaction the iPad has been generating among the geek crowd. The thesis: it's future-shock.

http://speirs.org/blog/2010/1/29/future-shock.html

Here's a key quote:

The leaks comment was not pointed at Apple directly but at all the manufacturers who produce parts that seem to jump at the chances to say "Hey, I'm building something for Apple and it will do this this and this.."

Yes, It's outside of Apples direct control but they don't actively discourage it either. They could insist upon nondisclosure agreements as some companies do (and yes sometimes those are a joke,) but really why would they. The speculation is good marketing and I'd find it hard to believe they don't smile just a bit every time it happens.

You are correct, it's not meant as an iphone replacement. My point in saying it is neither netbook nor iPhone was to pose the question, "exactly what kind of device is it?" It may be exactly what somebody needs.

Perhaps some context around my own situation can help to describe why myself and many are disappointed.

Personally, I've been desiring a light device that I can go into a meeting with, quickly switch between several open documents that we are reviewing without closing the other, quickly add in my own notes right on the doc and hopefully even be able to sketch a quick and dirty diagram in there with a stylus. I also need to pop up an email and open a web browser with, all without annoying the chair of my meeting with my constant clicking of a keyboard.

Thus a slate device appealed to me. The technology is really just maturing but there are solutions for the above. I held of on buying until the iPad came out because there was just enough hype to make me think I might be missing something if I didn't wait. Thus, I was disappointed. It's not a big deal. I didn't lose anything. It's certainly hasn't hurt me in any way. But since we were expressing our opinions, I was disappointed regardless of who set the expectations.

It's first celeb appearance.
Colbert pulls out Ipad for Grammys

Awesome link, Murph! No. Really. It is!

How did that happen?

Incompetence, that's how.

::Ducking, running from the snowballs that aren't even normal size 'cuz Murph got so little snow this year::

HAHHAHAHH. I have no idea how I did that. Obviously, there was incompetency no matter what excuse I come up with.

Try this one instead.

::Smiles while he packs a good snowball since we finally had seven inches of snow over the weekend. Not much but enough to build up a small arsenal.

And if I can just figure out what nation is 'not so secretly' testing missile launches just off the coast of Newfoundland, then maybe I can negotiate for a ballistic snowball delivery vehicle.

Well, I guess that just proves that I'm NOT stalking you.

Unless the "snow" comment was a trick to make you THINK that I'm not stalking you!

I like the first link better.

Apple does insist upon NDAs. I've attended multiple Apple Developer conferences, and attendance is subject to agreeing to their NDA terms. And we're talking mostly about software here.

You can bet that any vendor working on any component for the latest Apple hardware is under a strict NDA. They're highly secretive about new products. The reason that the iPad won't be available for purchase for another 50+ days is that Apple held off submitting it to the FCC for approval until the last minute -- FCC submissions are public record.

I figured they did but I recall at least 3 claims by touch screen manufactures in the last year that they were 'the chosen one' for the then unnamed iPad. If I recall right, and that's kinda iffy, I think the first couple turned out to be incorrect or they got dropped for the final vendor. Either way, it stirred up a good bit of discussion on the techie blogs and got the ball rolling on an unending bag of rumors. Not that I took them seriously.

Of course, if you are not 'really' the true manufacturer, then I guess you certainly didn't sign an NDA. So you maybe bump share prices for a bit at the expense of a possible slap on the wrist that probably won't happen because you are also being a marketing agent for your target product who benefits but maintains plausible deny-ability.

Not arguing, just expanding on my thoughts that any company benefits from the global pre-release rumor mill that the Internet has provided and this might have been even more the case for the iPad, even if it wasn't Apples direct intention. However, to your point, it might have played out into a disadvantage this time, rather than an advantage.

I don't want to dredge up an old thread, but I have something on-topic to share. No, there are no iPads here at Macworld, but I've made a screensaver Iinspired by Apple's iPad intro video. If you've seen it, you'll appreciate my inspiration for the screensaver.

This installer package will install the screensaver on your Mac. After it installs, just select Forstall's Eyes in your Screen Saver control panel to activate it.

Here's a preview:



In the screensaver, the head wobbles, the eyes look around, and Apple logos come fly out from behind Scott's head.

That's really cool!

My friend thinks I might get a cease and desist letter from Apple if the screensaver gets too popular...