Best remark about iPad so far...

I think Apple/ Steve are very surprised by the bad feedback. I honestly think they thought everybody would love it. I also think secrecy is so in breed in Apple
that they don't know how to stop the frenzy without spilling the beans. I don't have a netbook, don't want one, and I find I use my iPhone for most tasks: e-mail and web surfing. It would be great to use a larger form factor. I can't explain why all those Apple patents for amazing stuff didn't see the light of day but maybe the answer is that the people at Apple are people and not Gods. Even Steve.

Apple didn't hype it. Everybody does that for them.

I think the iPad is a very interesting device and will really change people's perceptions of portable devices. Most people have a hard time thinking outside the box, though, so until they play with it they won't realize its power.

The first Macs were met with tremendous skepticism: why do I need a mouse? And such. A few years later, everybody had a mouse or two or three.

The iPad will change things that we can't imagine.

Asked my local shop yesterday to get me one as soon as they are available. They already had five pre-orders and Apple's Japan website hadn't been updated for the iPad yet.

The trouble with all the "revolutionary" talk was that it was a describing a device that was needlessly complex, just to be cool. Touch sensitive backs and split keyboards and complex, multifinger gestures were never, ever in the cards, because Apple was never going to make a machine that impressed geeks but left the average buyer scratching their heads.

Apple wanted to make a thing that was affordable and dead simple to use. To do so they built on their incredibly successful iPhone OS, which not incidentally allows them to leverage their incredibly successful App Store. From what I've seen, the way the OS takes advantage of the extra and screen capacity is very elegant, hardly just "a big iPod Touch" and likely to grow by leaps and bounds over the next few years. Anyone who didn't think they were going to do this was just not paying attention, IMO.

Geeks will gnash their teeth because the iPad isn't more Star Trek-y. My guess is that the average person will pick one up and experience delight.

The other thing driving a lot of these feelings I think is the overwhelming desire for Apple to make a netbook and make it better than any other one. But they didn't and I think that pisses people off. Like Apple's feelings about Flash perhaps Apple's right, but again people don't care. What your seeing is a fight between two differing ideologies. First, Microsoft/netbooks with the idea that you can scale back the desktop/laptop form factor and still be productive and still use all the same software and operating systems in a small form factor to include tablets. The second one is Apple/iPad/iPhone all touch based and running a modified system software optimized for mobile computing (as Apple sees it). I think for the most part Apple's concept for the iPhone (all touch based) has worked but people are not so sure about the iPad. Time will tell but I think Apple is mostly in the right but I don't think it will be easy to convince the masses.

I don't necessarily disagree here, I just don't think Apple was going to spring the Whole New Deal on everybody at one go.

They are looking to change what we think of as "mainstream computing", in a way that isn't hamstrung by the Wintel duopoly. In order to do that, they need mass market success with the first few iterations of this new device, which means nothing too surprising. It's almost as if the iPhone were there to break the ice and get people used to a touch screen......

If the iPad becomes ubiquitous, then they can start offering additional functionality via more complex gestures-- once everyone is comfortable with the general idea.


How? The internet hype was an ever moving target. Was Steve Jobs supposed to hold a press conference where he ticked off all the things the tablet wasn't? And then issue follow-ups saying "Nope, not that either" with each further flight of geek fantasy?

Apple isn't responsible for the hyper-ventilating of tech enthusiasts and Apple watchers. I can't think of a company, ever, that said anything like "Calm down everybody, you're speculation is getting out of hand" prior to a new product launch.

Key point here, and often overlooked. This is iPad v1, not the last, final be-all end-all version. Features, both hardware and software, can and will be added, of that we can be certain. The product as it stands seems like a relatively safe start towards judging the market for the device and encouraging Apple's partners to create content and developers to create software.

Apple doesn't do that and never will. Not so long a Jobs is in charge. The thought that McGraw-Hill not showing up in the keynote was a direct result of the CEO's gaff is not based upon nothing. It turns out, maybe, that they were never really talking, but Jobs really can be that temperamental and seemingly irrational. People need to once and for all except the fact that Apple does not play by the same rules as everybody else.They will never make a netbook, $500 tower, or anything else people endlessly ask for, but that's exactly what make them so good and difficult to copy. They make us want what we didn't even know we wanted, or needed, and 9 times out of 10 they are right. They are their own form of "crazy".

Two things, why release the specs when Jobs and company are not yet ready and two, why give the competition the heads up on what you are doing. Believe me, most companies especially tech companies are secretive about their products especially when it means they can one up the competition . That's the reason why many companies who release their first gen products never reveal them in the first place until they are ready to be sold to the market. It's good business .

Why is the sky blue? How high is up? It's useless to ask the question! Just like it's useless to pine away for a $500 dollar headless iMac or netbook from Apple. You might not like it, but that doesn't make it any less true.

You've somehow managed to work things around until Apple is responsible for the random bullshit being generated by hit-hungry tech sites and impractical internet pundits.

They're not. You're saying that anytime Apple has a new product to launch, all the competition has to do to get them to tip their hand is start claiming that they've seen a prototype and it cures cancer. Apple is to be lauded for not talking up vaporware, not floating "concept videos" to try and pull some of the oxygen out of the room and not dicking around with what they might do, someday.

And if you don't think that letting the tech press in on what they were up to wouldn't have resulted in a dozen knock-offs being shipped before they could even get the real thing out the door, then you haven't been paying attention. It doesn't have anything to do with "Jobs being concerned about his MO of secrecy", there are solid, strategic business reasons for Apple to behave this way. Other companies aren't as secretive because they don't have to be-- no one is waiting to see what netbook Asus ships next so they can clone it.

Your sense of entitlement here is overwhelming. You're pissed that Apple didn't make the machine you fantasized about and you're sure they should have let you down easy, to the point that you imagine they've inflicted a grievous wound on themselves. Good lord, man, get a grip.

Your sense that the iPad is somehow turning into a Segway fiasco is pure fantasy. You're seeing what you want to see. The fact that your bullshit strikes you as innocuous and obvious just means you're very comfortable with bullshit, not that it has any merit.


I've seen a lot of very positive reviews, limited though they may be, by people who have actually handled one. I've seen a lot more random, baseless speculation and snark from the usual channels of Apple bashing.

Again, you've apparently decided to limit yourself to whatever "bad stuff about the iPad" you can dredge up and declare it the prevailing wisdom, then come here and tell us about it. Anyone not so blinkered can see that developers are licking their chops, which tells you all you need to know.

And the end result is what?? That it's going to fail? Let me remind you sir, that the iMac before it was released in the public was called a joke and a last gasp by a dying company. The iPod was ridiculed to death and the famous quote in regards to the iPod by Cmdr Taco was viewed by many of the tech geeks as a perfect statement in regards to Apple's foolishness. Oh, btw, how about the iPhone?? EDGE, Inferior camera , does not use flash, no physical keyboard and has ATT as it's provider and many experts predicted that Apple will finally going to get it's ass kicked for very good reasons. And how did those predictions go by the way when the product was released to the general public ?? The problem with tech geeks and spec geeks is this, they assume too much on what they want on the gadgets instead of what ordinary people want or what the company have in mind. Let the market and the consumers decide, Jobs and Apple are big boys, they can handle it.

I can't say that the iPad is going to be a huge hit. I can say that claiming it's already some kind of fiasco is absolute, grade A bullshit. But, you know whatever lets you sleep at night.

I can also look at Apple's track record with devices like this and make an informed guess as to how they'll manage the roll out, how developers will take to it, what a great many apps written specifically for this device will do for its desirability, the abrupt change in tone once it gets released and people start using it, and the steady succession of OS updates that will add functionality to current owners and luster to its reputation.

But probably because 12 year old boys snigger at "iPad" it will fail utterly.

And how's the sales numbers of the iPad this past few days ?? Oh, I forgot, the actual finished and shipping product would not be released until the end of March and they are not doing pre-orders and therefore there are no sale numbers available. And yet here you are, already proclaiming it as a financial disaster for Apple and a massive flop.

Articulated Arm , those products were different than past products bullshit does not apply to Apple. It never was since the second return of Jobs. Every hardware or OS X upgrades that Apple released or rumored to release were over hyped by the media and Apple supporters and fans and it's either a hit or a miss with no middle ground to be had. Heck the reason why there is a Temporary Insanity forum in Apple Insider is because many Apple fans and Mac users checked out their brains on days when there was an Apple or Macworld event and flooded every forum with their angst , rage, anger and proclamations of Apple and Jobs screwing it's customers. What you are doing is nothing new.

Yeah. The tablet you've never seen and know just a bit about is definitely no different from some other tablets you've never seen and know nothing about.

You should try a little harder.

Quick question, have you used it in the real world ? Because unless you do, there is no point in arguing over a pre release product . Can I compare it with another tablet side by side or are we just going to argue about it's pre release tech specs ?

Articulated Arm, there's no point in innovating if you don't know what the hell you going into and second why would Apple care about your timetable, to them, the only thing that's important are theirs.

Look if you an iPad that have a 60 hexaquad of storage drive, with a form factor thinner than a piece of paper, with a camera that is a combination of still,video and 3D holographic projector , with a nano battery powerful enough to power a star ship but safe for living things and a battery life that will last for a thousand years between charges. An OLED display that can expand to 36 inches or contract to a mere 4 inches with a 6144 x 4320 hyper resolution . Multiple ports so a user can connect the device to any computer, gadget or appliance in existence. If you are not happy with that, an intelligent AI who can manifest itself through a hologram and she/he can be in a solid form when required and runs on OS X or OS XXI and cost only a hundred bucks. That to me is your dream iPad.

As for your research, you can research as long as you want comparing product A to product B to Z. But in the end , the rest of the world will buy or not buy it based on it's merits and the consumer's needs after they held the device, played with it and used it after it's release and not through some tech guy who researched the unreleased product on the web months before the product is released to the public.

You see, Articulated Arm , while I wish for all those things, as an amateur photographer, my need for an iPad with a camera dongle is to see my pictures on a large screen with my friends before I transfer them to my iMac or delete them. As a nurse , it will be useful to me as a resource, reviewing EKG strips with a much larger display or using Epocrates without squinting . I don't need Flash, I don't need a camera and I certainly don't care about multitasking . All I care about is that thing work as advertise every time I have to use it . Is that simple enough for you?

God no, please don't ask him to do that. He might break something.

Thanks Doc, I needed a laugh.

I'm experiencing "seemingly endless influx of the smirky and half-bright" fatigue.

Hi- thought I'd pop in at this point-

What does the iPad do differently than the iPhone?

It gives freedom.

Bear with me here. The included software doesn't change very much from one device to the other. What you have to take into account is that the iPhone's capability is hampered by it's size. It's basically got a lot of the MacBook's media-consumption power and a little of it's media-creation power. However the small screen restricts what it can do.

The iPad is the answer to that. It gives you the larger screen and thus more software functionality, freeing you from the confines of the PDA-style form factor. This thing is a pocket computer on steroids. You aren't going to see the real difference between the two products until the App Store comes into play.

The iPad is a new category of computer, as is pitched. I have a name for it. You know the way a laptop or a desktop is a personal computer? I call the iPad a "casual" computer.

The whole world sniggered at "Wii" before they bought one.

The amount of people who just watch YouTube, do e-mail, do Twitter, check Facebook, surf the web and play games and videos out there is astounding. Not to mention this thing also has iWork. I predict the main reason this becomes huge is not because of rich people, but because regular people see themselves getting away with this as their only computer. If you look at it as your only computer then it doesn't seem that expensive. And its functionality is only going to improve. Just look at the iPhone then and now.

Also, when text books become available this tablet has the opportunity to double as a useful tool for school. And could lighten a kids school bag to boot.

As far as I'm concerned the potential for iPad as a product--this year even--far outweighs its drawbacks, and as such it well sell very well. I'm stickling with my prediction of 15-20M units this year. Although given it won't be available worldwide properly until later in the year I could be allowed to stretch that into next summer.

It won't stop, will it?

While people bashed the MacBook Air, its users were accomplishing great things. The same for the iPhone (for example, the cover of a major magazine was created on one), and it will be the same for the iPad.

Those products are incomparable. First off $499 isn't a crazy amount of money. Secondly the iPad can change and grow as a product over time, via imaginative new third party apps and via software updates.

The segway is a slow motorbike that costs $4,000.

thing is, at the time a mouse was somehting never ever seen before by the public and completley different.

theres nothing revolutionary or innovative about the ipad1.0

by the time version 5.0 comes out, it may well satsify folks looking for productivity, but for now, apple are squarely aiming this device as an additional revenue stream for itunes..nothing more.

the ipad1.0 was all about adressing apple's needs ( ie to make itunes truley profitable ). maybe in the future steve wozniak might have a go at designing a tablet and show apple what it *could* have designed to increase productivity!

Honestly if you're still criticizing this product because it isn't a Mac With A Touchscreen that everyones grandma can afford, then you're not in the right place.

Would have been much more practical if they could have at least put a mini-usb port on it for peripherals/data sticks.

Personally, I don't think you're ever going to get it.

Oh my, now I'm a deluded Mac zealot. Please don't hurt me anymore, mister wise man.

Couldn't disagree with you more. The iPad will revolutionize how a whole new segment of average people interact with computers on a daily basis. It may not be impressive to the spec geeks, but it narrows the focus on what is important for its target market.

No, and what of it either way?

Another ridiculous statement. Do you never get tired of making them?

FWIW, the only reason I don't own an iPhone is because I can't justify tripling my wireless bill since I don't use my mobile phone that much.

Apparently, you never do get tired of making them.

Can't wait to get mine.

Likewise.

not strictly true. most stores STOPPED taking pre-orders for it MONTHS before it's launch date.

I think it's a good debate. there arn't too many people around that DON'T use a computer, either at work or home and this includes 'elderly 'people, or silver surfers as we call them here in the UK.

I do, however, think that later incarnations of the ipad could well deliver the goods tomorrow which steve jobs isn't quiet prepared to let us have today.

for now, he wants us to tip our wallets into buying media from itunes.

productivity to follow after entertainment.

Ironic, since you didn't make a point.