iPad: Verdict

i would stand in line for a 6 inch iPad.
i love my iPhone. i use it all the time for admin work via logmein ignition. i just wish the screen were a "bit" bigger. 9.7 is too much. 6 would be perfect.

i will wait and hope. of course, i will have to live with the 9.7 inch version until then.

I agree. I think there is room for an iPad mini.

Guilty.

Sure, netbooks and the iPad are roughly the same size and price... but are they really competitors?

Netbooks are standalone computers bought primarily because they are inexpensive. The iPad is an auxilary device targeted at people who generally aren't looking for the cheapest solution possible. One is a slow but full featured productivity tool. The other is a limitted functionality device not intended to be the totality of a user's computing tool set.

Netbooks and laptops are directly competing products, and to some extent, desktops as well. The iPad is off to the side, intended as an auxiliary computer to supplement the computers that people already own and will continue to use.

ipad doesnt compete with a netbook, the only thing killing netbooks are themselves.

Don't agree with this thread at all! Netbooks are really underrated IMHO and the iPad is NOT in anyway a netbook killer. Steve saying that they were "not good for much of anything" is nonsense. I have a Dell 10 inch netbook right here set up to dual boot Win 7 and OS X and I LOVE it. It's not blazing fast, but does everything I need to do on the go just fine with no noticeable slow down. I can use the net, check email, watch video (without having to convert it to the iPad format), use flash sites, ect. The iPad on the other hand doesn't do much of anything that I can't do on my iPhone. If I've already got my iPhone on me, the iPad really doesn't add much value other than a larger screen. I've been using my iPad since yesterday and think it's an amazing device, but it's in no way a replacement for a netbook or laptop. I feel the PC market gave up on tablets too easily. They need to come up with a good netbook tablet that runs the full OS when in laptop mode, and a simplified touchscreen OS when in tablet mode. Make it light, with good battery life and they'd have a winner.

So you're saying that people do actual work on Netbooks? RIIIGGHHHTTT

People buy those things to surf the web and do some emails, that's it. iPad kills netbooks.

I would actually like to see one that is a bit larger (8.5x11 at least if not bigger) for music reading purposes. As it stands now, music is practically unreadable unless you have your face plastered against it or you have the notes enlarged only showing about 2 lines per screen.

Here's to hoping for different sizes in the future.

It is too early to say what the iPad will replace. It is a new paradigm that will take a while to be sorted out. I would wager that the vast majority of iPad owners did not see the keynote and have no idea who SJ is. They do not know what the iPad is supposed to be; they only know they want, and possibly need it. The impulse to own and use this thing is visceral and hard to deny. People are inventing excuses to buy these things. Who are we to say what it will be good for.

On the last Macbreak Weekly, Leo suggested that the iPad would definitely be a notebook replacement for a certain class of user. That is the key. I'm not sure it is there yet, as I am not that class of user. Having said that, my MBP has sat plugged in on a desk ever since I unpacked my iPad on day one. Since upgrading to the 3G version, I have taken to wearing a man purse just so that it can be with me at all times. I commute to and from work everyday on the bus. Once at work, I set it up on the desk beside my phone and check in on my favorite websites throughout the day. I have a stylus, and use it to take notes throughout the day. Unlike paper notes, I can email these to myself and coworkers. When I have read all the days news, I open a chess game to play between calls. I can't believe how this thing has insinuated itself into my life.

This is month two of version one. The really good apps have not even been made for it and the bookstore is still anemic. Yet, it has already outgrown Apple's vision for it, IMO. As a sometimes musician, I even use the thing as an external DAW controller. All I am saying is that we have no idea what it will be. The revolution has begun, and the competitors are just scrambling to carve out a place for themselves in this brave new world. If Apple is not completely sure about what this thing is, you can be certain that the competitors have no idea. They just know they have to have one, or quickly fade into irrelevance.

The iPad, hardware speaking, is below a netbook on the computer scale of things.

Ergonomically speaking, tablets suck big time.

Sure Apple came out with the first, widely selling tablet device, thus claiming a premium price and all, but when the copycats get their copiers going, we will see something like a Windows 7 Lite for Tablets (finger based GUI) type tablets eventually going for about $300-$350 each once the initial hype is over. Why? No keyboard and less hardware features, less powerful processors. They will also be standalone devices most likely, something the iPad isn´t.

I predict netbooks will be bumped up to about $400-$450 instead of the $300-$350 they are at now, reason for this is their margins are pretty thin and a introduction of Win7 Pad will give a excuse to raise those margins. A netbook would look like a premium device next to a keyboard less Win 7 Pad.

Apple has a head start, as usual being innovative, taking the initiative and controlling both the hardware and the software.

The problem the PC industry faces coming out with their own Pad device right now is figuring out how to stick a hard drive in a thin form factor and the OS needed for it to work, thus waiting for Microsoft.

HP is looking like it´s going to use the Palm OS for theirs, trying to beat Microsoft to grab market share.


iPods of various types (excluding the iTouch) have a computer user adoption rate (PC and Mac) of 36% because it´s chiefly a music playback device. People consume a lot of music, often listening to it all day.

The iPod Touch has a adoption rate of only 9%, it´s chiefly a gaming device. It has less storage and a higher price than iPods. Most kids game as they have a lot of idle time on their hands.

The iPad is even higher priced than the iPod Touch and has about the same amount of storage and performance, just a larger screen.

It´s still up in the air exactly where the iPad will land as it´s chief function and it´s adoption rate, it´s predicted by Apple to be a e-reader/media consumption mainly.

The verdict?

Thrilled. 1.5 lbs of portable delight. Best monitor in my home. Web browsing experience is very nice and photos pop.

Everything if fluid and fast, initial app crashes due to 3.2 not being widely tested but stability is improving. Wifi issue seem dependent on router used. I've had problems at home but not over at friends homes.

The fun starts this fall when 4.0 hits for the iPad and more apps with custom UI are out but right now there's a lot of good stuff available.

Streaming options are insane. ABC, Netflix AirVideo.

Haven't really missed not having a camera and there's that app that let's you use your iPhone to snap some shots. That should really come in handy for iPhone 4th gen users.

I predict that in a couple of years there will be so many cool peripherals that your iPad docks into and delivers some really cool features. I also hope that there's an iPad mini for those who want something under a lb and smaller screen.

No doubt about it the iPad is a runaway success. Sure there will be cheap Android based knockoffs coming but the end game in this biz is to make money and Apple's doing that with ease.

Isn't it called an iPhone?

Isn't it called an iPhone?