The iPad

[sheep455_is_the_best]

Looks interesting... But...

Is this the way Apple is going?

[stonewall337]

If I can't play RS on it, then I don't need one. Im happy with my Ipod touch. Anytime I really need internet, I can get Wi-Fi, and the 3g wouldn't be too helpful except for RS+forums.

 

Sheep, you made me laugh.

[Severation]

Think it's pretty pointless.Nothing ground breaking. Maybe V2, or knowing Apple, V15.

[Iamdan]

Looks like a piece of crap to me.

 

It seems like the hipsters wet dream. Who needs a useful product when you can buy one that is both pretentious and over-sized?

[stonewall337]

Actually, PC world did a quick summary of the Ipad, and they said that they think the reason it doesn't have a webcam is because of the strain it would probably have on the 3g network.

 

Also WTF is with apple choosing such crap 3g networks.

[Pinkbullet3]

If I can't play RS on it, then I don't need one. Im happy with my Ipod touch.

You can't play RS on an iPod Touch; therefore, you don't need one.

 

OP: The iPad is a neat little thing, but it's nothing spectacular considering it's, as millions of others have said, just an iPod Touch/iPhone on steroids.

 

But considering Apple comes out with revolutionary products every few years, you have to give them credit for being quite an innovative company. Notice how many touchscreen phones were made and sold before the iPhone came out, and after.

[stevepole]

(e.g. can't listen to music while browsing the web)

I have my doubts on that. The picture below accurately represents the underlying system architecture on the iPhone and is quite similar with OS X. If the iPad is in anyway similar, then it would be possible to listen to music while playing applications. You see in the picture a block labeled "Media." This is the layer that allows for audio and many visual codes such as Core Animation and Open GL. Because this layer is underneath the application, you are able to run it within the the application itself. Hence why the iPhone allows you to listen to music while browsing mobile Safari or playing games that take advantage of the technologies found in the layer. It's not considered multitasking to be able to do this because you're not really running two applications.

 

 

What no multitasking means is that you cannot listen to a radio (AOL, Pandora, etc) while doodling around with Photoshop Mobile (whatever the application name is). You could, however, listen to music found in the iPod application while using Facebook.

 

Hopefully your right, I'll have to dig up the article I read and reread it about multitasking.

 

A few other tablets have popped up on the internet today, a Dell tablet popped up on a Chinese website today and it looks pretty nice besides the 5-inch screen. http://[Censored - Don't use a URL shortner]/bhETVK Also this MSI 10-inch tablet was shown at CES this year. http://[Censored - Don't use a URL shortner]/bwKgvP

[Sbrideau]

If I can't play RS on it, then I don't need one. Im happy with my Ipod touch.

You can't play RS on an iPod Touch; therefore, you don't need one.

 

OP: The iPad is a neat little thing, but it's nothing spectacular considering it's, as millions of others have said, just an iPod Touch/iPhone on steroids.

 

But considering Apple comes out with revolutionary products every few years, you have to give them credit for being quite an innovative company. Notice how many touchscreen phones were made and sold before the iPhone came out, and after.

 

You should name at least one of those revolutionary products, all I see in Apple is marketing genies.

[ClareJonsson]

Echoing some posts already, my biggest annoyances are the following:

 

1. It's apparently a bit on the heavy side :(.
   
2. No Multitasking. I will really have to use one before I know how much of an experience breaker this is. If it quickly halts one app to use another then un-halts it when getting back to the app then maybe not such a big deal for me.
   
3. The touch screen is a capacitance screen, that means you can't use pen style touch devices, this device is no good for artists which would have been an ideal use for the iPad. Plus the fact that the only way to use it is with your fingers means that you're gonna get fingerprints all over the viewing area, no way of avoiding that.
   
4. Lack of good connectivity to popular external devices.
   
5. No card slot, so you're stuck with whatever internal memory that came with the device. You would have thought a micro SD slot would be the minimum.
   
6. No built in Camera, that means you need an optional extra. You would think every portable device of this calibre would have one these days, even my little EeePC has one!
   

I know these are only little things, but I get the feeling that Apple will release an updated iPad in the future with some of these features added, it makes good business sense to release a lower spec machine first then an updated model later on as this encourages users to upgrade and spend again!

 

Additional: I wonder how long it will be before someone hacks the iPad and throws Linuix on it :rolleyes: ?

[dsavi]

Hasn't anyone noticed that the App system is the same as that for the iPhone? I.E., in order to get it on the app store Apple needs to approve it first? This is basically a computer without a physical keyboard. So Apple is regulating the applications for a computer? I find this really disturbing.

[champion]

Well I think it looks cool.

[Ouchy]

Echoing some posts already, my biggest annoyances are the following:

 

1. It's apparently a bit on the heavy side :(. Oh well, if it was too light people would complain and say it was prone to snap.
2. No Multitasking. I will really have to use one before I know how much of an experience breaker this is. If it quickly halts one app to use another then un-halts it when getting back to the app then maybe not such a big deal for me. I can guarantee that it can multi-task. The iPod Touch can Multi-Task, and the new iPad has better specs than it.
3. The touch screen is a capacitance screen, that means you can't use pen style touch devices, this device is no good for artists which would have been an ideal use for the iPad. Plus the fact that the only way to use it is with your fingers means that you're gonna get fingerprints all over the viewing area, no way of avoiding that. I don't think Apple intended it to be used as a tablet, and I believe you can buy stylus's for it...
4. Lack of good connectivity to popular external devices. It's Apple, what do you expect them to allow? Microsoft's Zune?
5. No card slot, so you're stuck with whatever internal memory that came with the device. You would have thought a micro SD slot would be the minimum. 8 GB is all that is available to consumers at the moment, as far as I am aware... The sizes of it are 16, 32, 64. Not really stuck with not enough space...
6. No built in Camera, that means you need an optional extra. You would think every portable device of this calibre would have one these days, even my little EeePC has one! They probably are saving it for the second generation, so that people will be inclined to replace there expensive iPad for the newer version, as you state below ;).

I know these are only little things, but I get the feeling that Apple will release an updated iPad in the future with some of these features added, it makes good business sense to release a lower spec machine first then an updated model later on as this encourages users to upgrade and spend again!

 

Additional: I wonder how long it will be before someone hacks the iPad and throws Linuix on it :rolleyes: ?

I'm sure someone will find an exploit in it rendering it Jailbreakable soon :D

[i_love_burritos]

Not to mention Apple has sold out yet again to greedy telcos by making the 3G use the micro SIM only.

[Salad]

TBH it's just a big iPod Touch :/

[Johannas]

I think this whole tablet thing will take off in a few years time, but now is not the time.

 

It is a niche in the market, meaning there is not many people who need one.

The only major sales will come from people who are firstly interested in the concept, and secondly from people who have some kind of loyalty/fixation to the Apple brand.

 

Something like the iPhone was a huge advancement in mobile phone technology, and i don't think i know anyone without a mobile phone - meaning there is a bigger market.

 

Sure this iPad thing is a good idea and similar products are sure to launch. I have a friend who works for RIM (the folks who make Blackberrys) and he said they have already been looking into similiar products. Apple have this whole touch screen going on though, and i can see how tablets could take off in the world. Video conferencing was the first thing i saw when i saw it, simply because more models will be introduced with cameras and what have you, they probably have their own "Flash" thing in development which will diminish the need for the flash we know today. Apple probably know exactly what the iPad v2 will be/look like, they just want to rinse as much money as they can.... So essentially it is built in obsolescence.

 

It's not for me, but it a sweet idea and a nice product.

 

That's my two cents, though.

[tripsis]

Meh I have no use for one. For me the appeal of an iPhone (or iTouch) is that you can do things like listen to music and browse the net on something SMALL. If I want something big and still portable, I have my laptop.. I don't feel the need to have something in between D:

[wingwinder]

sorry if i offend anyone.

 

 

buying an over-sized IPhone with less features any time soon?

[Dracion1]

Truth about the iPad revealed.

 

 

I doubt tablets will take off yet, there have been attempts before and they haven't worked. Give it a few more years when more versions that can multi-task are available.

[dsavi]

^Multitasking is not an impossibility now, neither has it been in the recent past. Since tablets and computers in general have been able to multitask graphically for roughly 25 years, I think that it's safe to blame Apple for that.

[Kimberly]

EDIT: Someone posted the picture before me. Damn it.

 

It's an utterly useless device compared to its previous incarnations and the only thing it sports is a bigger screen. So great, my grandpa can have iPod Touch capabilities on a screen he can read. How does that warrant such a hefty pricetag?