Apple reveals long-awaited multi-touch 'iPad' - Page 7

I agree, and disagree. I'm not ready to run out and buy one today, if ever, but the little 3.5" screen of our iPhones is a bit limiting for web browsing of any length, especially if you're in the over 40 crowd and small little screens don't focus that well any more.

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The most compelling aspect of the iPad is the eReader/iWork combination, which allows a degree of productivity not afforded by the iPhone/Touch.
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I'm shocked, as I bet everyone else is to read that from you....

I can't remember another time when Apple really failed to make a good case as to why someone would need this device, like today.

Perfect Apple product launch.

This product will absolutely revolutionize our lives, and somehow, once again, many people don't see it. That keyboard dock is the big picture, there are many, many situations where i wont need to bring my laptop at all now. Going on vacation... why bring my big expensive laptop, i can can handle all my photos from the trip, write my journals and blogs on the trip, puruse the web and watch videos.

Going to class or a meeting? Why bring your whole laptop with its limited battery when you can just take notes on this slim little puppy.

The keyboard is epic! iWork is incredible. As Brushes showed, when third party developers get some time with this, photo manipulation software on this thing is going to be tight.

My laptop is now relegated to a desktop, useful for doing work all around the house/office, but too bulky to carry with me for everyday life.

But the ipad is too big to bring everywhere and also missing an attached keyboard.

Why bring this everywhere when i can get a 9 inch tablet / netbook that has a keyboard? One that can run full pc/(hacked apple osx) programs?

Apple would have done better making a netbook/convertable tablet.

This needed a revolutionary feature that they failed to deliver.

What size monitor do you use? Why don't you use a smaller one?
What processor are you using? Why not a lesser one?
How much ram? Why not less?

These arguments make no sense at all. Why buy a laptop if a netbook can do everything a laptop can? I didn't see iWork for the iPhone announced either, and once developers get in on this there will be a slew of things the tablet can do that the iPhone and iPod touch can't due to a lack of screen real estate and processing power.

Precisely. It's essentially a larger iPod Touch with productivity capabilities. Those capabilities are really going to make themselves known with third-party apps.

I think this is a case where the world may yawn at first- but will quickly take notice as soon as the App Store rolls in with it's army of developers.

Why get this for more when i can do everything for cheaper on the tablet convertable netbooks that have built in keyboards? I can run full programs on them even run flash that this can't. Also can put osx on it if you like hacking.

This is proof that a lot of apple fans ignore existing products just because they dont have an apple logo on them.

So how long before the Dev Team jailbreaks this iPad...?

I would use this for remote desktop Mac or Windows if it runs the remote desktop iphone apps

Like the price, not so impressed with the device.


I wouldn't call it technically stuck since its unlocked, but it isn't compatible with T-Mobile's 1700mhz network and the other national carriers use CDMA.

lol....it really is lame. Ok so you get the cheapest at $500 (with ONLY 16gb!!!!) add the probably $100 dock, $30 of iWork and now it's the price of the 3G enabled one at $630, do the same exercise for the $630 3G one and you are at $760 for the "cheap" model.

Really quite a joke. I knew it would be a big ipod touch with the added "revolution" of ebooks...and so I am not disappointed in the announcement. This was completely in line with expectations for me...it was always going to be a ridiculous joke.

Where is my GOTT DANG MacBook Pro update?!

no camera? NO CAMERA? WHAT!

It should have 2 cameras...really disappointed.

We'l talk about this in a year. Convertible tablets have tried and failed so many times, the user experience just isn't there. Same with netbooks, underpowered hardware trying to run desktop programs.

No multitasking is a deal-breaker. Putting iWork on the iPad without any way to quickly bounce back and forth between different apps/sources really hamstrings it. I echo others who say this is just a big iPod Touch right now.

Well, first gen Apple products are rarely the most succesful versions of their products, here's hoping second gen will offer enough that I want to buy.

I agree. A camera and handwriting recognition - at a slightly higher price point, if needed - would have put it over the moon for me.

i'm going to wait for the iMaxiPad.

seriously though, they could have included some touch sensitive controls in that HUGE bezel - timeline scrub, volume up/down, scroll / game controls, etc.

I'm surprised with the no multitasking, but hopeful that they are waiting to introduce it with iPhone OS 4.0. This device is still two months from shipping, things could change. V2 will definitely be better though.

Well... you do need some space to put your fingers while holding it, and keeping fingers on touch-sensitive screen (while obscuring view) would be a bit impractical, to my opinion. No matter how relatively light this thing is, it is still much bigger and heavier than iPhone, thus need better support for holding it.

I don't mind size and shape, but... while it is OK product, it didn't wow me even remotely close to iPhone. It is basically bigger screen ipod touch with some new services and better iWork compatibility. Hopefully there will be MS Office-compatible application (fully featured) which would make it more useful for me, but even with that - I don't see enough differentiation to iPhone, at least not for my needs.

132DPI is pretty decent resolution for most practical purposes, but my guess is that the display resolution (as well as the size) will go up in a future revision and this is part of the reason for the large bezel. 10.1" displays with 1366x768 resolution do exist, but they are in 16:9 form factor, which is not that great for a tablet device that may be mainly used in portrait orientation (for reading books, etc.)

Ordering one.

ABout what I thought it would be.

I think the huge bezel was intended to prevent you from accidentally interacting with the touch screen.

I see this as a definite attack on the netbook front. Even the keynote slide where it shows an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook in line show that this is the area they are aiming for.

Pluses for me:
Slick UI, its where Apple always shines is on presentation.
Apple's own processor (though that is yet to be proven to be good, but I would expect such)
Price is actually somewhat reasonable.
Will have iWork apps (so some content creation) available.

Minuses:
Battery Life
Lack of camera for video chat (I could have seen that as a big thing)
Lack of multi-tasking
I highly doubt you can use other e-books other than the Apple ibook format. I would also doubt you can use the iBook format else where (prove me wrong please!)
Lots of wasted bezel space makes it look awkward.
Protective case will be extra (though at least a decent design)
iPhone OS, App Store: Means we have to play by Apple's very strict rules. Makes me curious how file organization will be done especially when it comes to attachments in mail.

Overall thoughts:
Nothing earth shattering to me. It looks nice on the outside, and probably will run really well like the other iPod/iPhone products. I don't like that its more restrictive than other netbooks, which seems to be its target audience. This is Apple's Netbook. You can even attach your bluetooth keyboard to it! Mainly, this is a media consuming device. Its meant to be the thing you grab and sit on the couch or on the plane/train ride to read, surf, watch videos, and play games... nothing that the iPhone/iPod Touch can't do right now. I was hoping for more, but expected exactly this.

Very interesting device! Lots to like, lots missing. No phone capabilities on the 3G version? No camera for iChats? No mention of multitasking. Big-ass bevel along the edge.

But, lots of new stuff: iBookstore, iWork apps, very slim design, good entry point pricing.

I'd love to have one, but, may just hold off until iPad 2.0.

[CENTER]Like I said, I'll be buying one ASAP, but...

I really do wish that the iPad at least had:

1. a modern display aspect ratio (16x9 or16x10)

2. at least a front facing camera for video conferencing.

3. a media card reader of some sort

It's not like even the lowliest of (US 250.00) netbooks is lacking these modern computing device essentials.

Oh Well... That's Apple For Ya'

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How about an Office set of apps for this, MSFT? That would be huge for the product......

That is a very good observation.

Keeping fingers away from the active area of the screen is also useful for minimizing the "dirt" on the visible part of the screen...

BOOOOO!! I expected so much more out of Apple but this is a huge disappointment!!

Get ready for a big fall in Apple Stock!

This is not a personal computer, it's an oversized iPod Touch!

Why, so you can look like a jackass trying to take pictures holding a giant 10" device?

[CENTER]In many ways, I find iWork much better to use than MS Office, especially Apple Keynote.[/CENTER]

I pretty much predicted that would happen. So, I guess it really is official now. The CEO of McGraw-Hill IS an idiot.

no multitasking sucks

i can buy a netbook for less and listen to pandora and work at the same time. i can also play a movie, resize it and work at the same time. i can resize the hulu desktop app and work at the same time.

This is an excellent point.

MS Office support, coupled with some kind of a physical interface to display presentations on a projector would make it possible for me to travel w/o my notebook, which would translate to an instant purchase. Yes, some LCD/DLP projectors have WiFi interface, but I haven't run into anyone who has actually used this, yet.

[CENTER] No... So that one might video conference at their leisure - [/CENTER]

Agreed. I really wanted a fully functional (read Mac OS X) Apple-made tablet, but I think I'll have to settle on a 8.9" Asus Eee PC T91MT convertible netbook. It has multi-touch and you can write on it. And at $484 (Amazon) it's cheaper and I can get a 3G or 4G card from my cellular vendor of choice.

Just saw that you can actually connect cameras or SD cards with an Apple accessory, as well as use Apple's Wireless Keyboard! Neat! Now it begins replacing the netbooks... if only it could do iChat.

I think Apple wants to aim it at netbooks because they'd like chunk of netbook market shoppers in Apple store, but it still looks more like Uber-Kindle to me... as in, it will primarily be device for viewing content, rather than creating it. Even with size, I can't see that onscreen keyboard being comfortable for long typing, and I feel netbooks are still easier to use on one's lap, where you can adjust angle between keyboard and screen.

Yes, you should immediately sell AAPL short! I'll give you a loan at 35% interest when you get the call to cover...