iPad: 50,000 sales in 2 hours, Apple TV bumped, mysterious app icon - Page 5

the 'mystery app' pic has been removed by apple - another marketing slip?

The only reason that Microsoft maintained their marketshare among consumers was the relative familiarity the consumer had coming out of the enterprise - user experience, and the fact that Microsoft cut killer OEM deals to get it on as many computers as possible. So the consumer had little in the way of convenient choices. Most people I know don't go out and buy an upgrade of Windows - they go out and buy a new computer with the new version of Windows already installed. So you are inaccurate - price is important (especially in hard times), but it is only one aspect. Reliability, user experience and value for the dollar are other that weigh into the decision.

FWIW, a number of my friends and neighbors have come to me to announce that they are switching to Macs of one type or another, even, in some cases, where they had to save up extra cash to do the purchase. One of them is a waitress and she proudly showed me the huge wad of small bills from tips she had saved to go but her first Mac. That is user experience and value taking the front seat, not price.

It's a pure distraction argument that doesn't really merit a response, but what the hell.

Microsoft's dominance is a complete accident of history, based on events which could not be duplicated even if someone wanted to see such a thing happen again. And who would?

Microsoft had nothing directly to do with the advent of cheap commodity hardware, they were just in the perfect position to reap the benefits. They then proceeded to engage in a series of illegal, anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend that dominance. Meanwhile a lot of people who should have known better were chanting the gospel of standardization, and a whole lot of other people who didn't know any better believed it.

Yes, I know the ticker is actually AAPL and not APPL. I just slipped on the keyboard when I typed it, big deal, calm down the world isn't going to end.

I was getting ready to go to the cafe today to update my CV and do some research and it hit me. If I want to sit at a cafe and pound out some text like I do on my Macbook or can be done on a netbook, you can't really do that on an iPad. The iPad is more of a media browsing device (as everyone says, it's just a jumbo iPhone).

How can we possibly write extensive texts using the virtual iPad keyboard? Also the device needs a stand which could prove to be unstable or inconvenient.

I can't see using the iPad upright in its stand while typing on the virtual keyboard. This means that we need both a BT/WiFi keyboard and we also are forced to use a stand.

I don't know if I'm liking this new iPad

You have one already?

The problem is that people compare the Apple TV success to a flagship project like the iPhone, when really it should be compared to devices like Time Capsules and Airports. Like these other wireless devices, Apple TV won't change your life but it will make it easier, and over time you will wonder how you managed without it.

Most people I know still buy DVD's and are even looking at Blu-ray players, but there is no doubt that digital downloads will eventually replace physical formats at some point in the future. Apple TV is the Bridge between iTunes and the Lounge, so Apple are not going to kill it, they will just wait for the market to grow.

What would happen if there where no early adopters?
Apple would not sell any and the product would be discontinued.

The iPad is not trying to replace a Netbook.
A Netbook is just a cheap laptop, nothing more.
A Netbook is an underpowered. lower speced, smaller screened Laptop.
If you want a laptop buy a laptop, or if you don't have the cash a netbook.

The iPad is a different type of product, it is not a computer, it is not trying to be a computer.
It is a new type of product, something that we will just have around the house, and use when we want to access the internet, play games, etc. NOT COMPUTE, for that we will still use a computer.

It is not a computer, just like an XBox is not a computer.
It serves a purpose, that you just don't see yet.

I will have an iPad sat on the coffee table at home, and will use it for :-

- Web surfing (glad there is no flash - NO ADVERTS)
- Control iTunes
- Read books
- Play games

All with a really slick, easy to use touch interface.
I know I can do these things on a laptop / netbook, but I don;t want to use a computer, as it feels like work, and that I am using a device that is not really designed to be used while I sit on the sofa.

You really don't understand the iPad.
It is not designed for what you describe, it is NOT a laptop / netbook replacement.
If you need to use a netbook use a netbook.

Why's that do you think? When iPod and iTunes were launched, it was easy to use your existing CD music collection. When AppleTV was launched, it wasn't easy to use your existing DVD collection. iPod was a huge success, AppleTV was a huge flop. It's not exactly rocket science.

Adding a DVD or BD now is too late, Apple have missed the boat on that one. They should drop AppleTV and concentrate on the Mac Mini instead, adding HDMI, a BluRay option and beefing up FrontRow. Better yet, include a TV tuner and PVR functionality (and include a universal remote so you can control the TV as well) and turn the whole thing into a proper media center.

Connect both a DVD/BD and an AppleTV to your TV set? Sure, it's POSSIBLE (assuming your TV has enough inputs) but having to faff about with so many remotes and switching inputs isn't exactly the perfect user experience. If Apple provided a decent integrated media center solution I'd throw away my existing DVD player and PVR in a heartbeat, but the AppleTV just isn't it, sorry.

Regarding the speed, that was one of the most surprising aspects of testing the iPad on the day of Steve Jobs launch. It's blindlingly fast apparently.

Oh yes I do. If it can't do what even a tiny netbook can do then it's just a jumbo iPhone. (not that I wouldn't like one).

Considering a netbook runs a desktop OS and has a trackpad and keyboard there will be many tasks it can do that any tablet or a tablet running an idealized OS can't do. For example, I bet I can install and run Photoshop on a netbook, but that doesn't mean it would be usable, but it's technically possible. I don't think that makes it a jumbo anything when the OS and HW is has clearly been redesigned to make it ideal for the form factor.

So it won't do what you want it to do (even if you haven't tried it) and that makes it "just" a jumbo iPhone.

Hmmmmmm... well... if you... awww, forget it... it would take too long.

On April 3rd we'll start finding out what it really can and can't do.

That would be really late. According to their record on previewing iPhone OS 2 & 3 I would expect an event before the end of the month. Maybe they will wait for the iPad to be launched before introducing the new SDK, but if they wait until May, developers will only get a month and a half before the new iPhone comes out, hopefully with the new software.

The argument that the iPad is just a jumbo iPhone has been overly used. If you've read other forums and kept up on the news you would know that the iPad apps store will be separate from the iPhone-iPod Touch apps store.

There are apps being specifically written for the iPad and some of the iPhone apps will also work on the iPad according to Apple. So it is more than just a giant, jumbo, over grown iPhone. And then the tiny netbook is just an underpowered mini PC laptop too small for the lap.

What makes you think your incapable of using a virtual keyboard? If pounding out text I would use a small bluetooth keyboard but if my main goal was writing I doubt I would be using a netbook. The focus of the iPad obviously is media consumption but the device will be quite capable of producing document when you don't want to drag along a laptop.

They will get 2 months from early May to early July. This is what it will be. Just like the 2 months from no iPad to iPad. 2 months is more than enough for active iOS developers. This isn't 2008, when they had to start more than 4 months out just to get the ball rolling and have 20 Apps for sale when the 3G was released.

iOS 4.0 is not going to be unveiled at all until the iPad, BOTH models, are moving out the door. They don't want to shoot themselves in the foot and give people pause.

ie: "Wait, what's coming soon? 4 point what? Do I get that if I buy one today? think I'll wait..."

Not everyone is familiar with the release schedule, and people are easily confused. Anytime Apple puts up "Coming Soon," It slows sales in that category. How well do you think the iPhone sells in the days after announcing the next hardware gen? Not too well. But thats expected.

So, again, they are not going to announce anything new related to the iOS, specifically the next major upgrade to 4.0, until iPad sales are fully underway and all early adopters have made they move.

Hopefully when the iPad is released it will have the new OS 4G, makes more sense, otherwise you will have to upgrade the iPad to the new OS 4G when it's released.

sigh

The iPad will launch with new firmware but doubtful that they will call it version 4 of Iphone OS. Apple has called it 3.2 for a reason. They wouldn't throw a major update out without giving App developers a chance to ensure compatibility and they need to provide a method for developers to build software for both the iPhone and iPad. I would expect Apple to preview the Iphone OS SDK soon to give developers a chance to update/optimize their software.

I've seen the estimates of 50,000 in the first two hours and the 91,000 in the first 6 hours. Has anyone estimated yet how many were sold in the first 24 hours?

Also, aren't all of these estimates actually quite a bit lower than what has actually been ordered? The estimates only are based on sales through the apple store and from what I can tell don't factor in at all the ones that have been reserved for pickup at an Apple retail store on April 3rd.

We're going to put our first one into production use at our business right away. We have a specific need for a portable web browser where an iPhone touch is too small and a laptop (even a macbook air or netbook) is too clunky. The iPad should be perfect for this need - something that can be used to easily enter data while walking around.

They've only released v3.2 to devs. Apps are being rewritten and updated for v3.2. They aren't going to switch it up by having v4.0 installed. When you look at the changes between v3.1 and v3.2 it's clear there are significant changes to the iPhone OS but any v4.0 changes will have to wait until well after v4.0 is introduced in a special event and the SDK is released to devs with plenty of time for them to make changes for compatibility and to utilize the new features.

I am not sure that is totally correct when it comes to the Apps Store. I know there will be iPad only apps but I believe the goal with using SDK is to have universal apps that will run on all three devices. Which would make sense.

It wouldn't have made any sense to have a totally seperate Apps store because then the iPad wouldn't be able to take advantage of the apps already available. Not sure if thats what you were saying.

Apple may come out with some stats but it's all pretty irrelevant at this time. These are only US sales, the ones doing in-store pickup (as you said), there are many waiting for the 3G version and many more waiting to test the iPad and read reviews before committing to it.

Just one kid? I have enough AAPL to put your kid, their kids and their kids kids through private college. In fact there would still be some left over to throw some education your way which you clearly need.

Sure. Throw it my way. Put your money where your bluster is! O/w, shut up and move along with your childish nonsense.

(I am quite happy to PM you my coordinates for you to do that; please let me know).

Its also been reported that these confirmation numbers could be driven by every single apple store purchase not just iPad sales. Even if this these numbers were generate US only or worldwide or when the number system started to generate.

Have you read anything where someone reported having a iPad confirmation number of something like 000001?

I am just matching your childish nonsense. I work for one of the largest tech companies in the world and have been putting 15% in my 401k for 23 years now, getting a 50% match on 6%. I have another 20+ years if I want too until retirement and my portfolio past six zeros several years ago.

It doesn't take much to do the math and figure this out and it doesn't take much to realize when you work have worked for IBM having a good bit of Apple stock worked its way in for many years.

You're right AppleTV is not a complete media center. It never was meant to be. It was meant to be an iPod for your TV. Complaining about this isn't really fair. It's like complaining that your refrigerator doesn't also toast bread.

I agree that the ability to rip easily DVDs into iTunes like you can with CDs would have been a huge boom for AppleTV, but the studios would never allow such a thing. Still, there are free third party solutions that I use to do this. So is it really that big of a deal that the feature isn't built into iTunes?

Connecting multiple devies to your TV is not a big deal. We have been doing it for decades. In the 80's my family had a cable box, game console and VHS player. These days I have a BD player, game console and Apple TV. Not much difference.

And if you still say connecting both a BD player and an AppleTV to your TV is too much then why is it too late for Apple to add a BD player to AppleTV and cut down on the number of devices you have connected to your TV? It's like you're not happy with the way things are and you're not happy with a change either.

Personally, the AppleTV has decreased the number of devices I have connected to my TV because I would up canceling my cable service and buying shows/seasons from the iTunes Store. It forced me to think of my viewing habits differently and make some big changes. Maybe that's why it hasn't taken off. It's too different from what we're accustomed to.

their are estimates on how many sales the online apple store normally makes in a day (about 15,000 orders). These are subtracted out to calculate estimates of iPad sales. Even with that there is a significant margin for error in the estimates. Not knowing how many people ordered 1 vs 2, not knowing how many people did the reserve for pickup option, not knowing how many of the normal orders that have been factored out were from people who added an iPad to their order.

A couple of things seem clear.

Within days of launch, there will be hundreds of thousands of these being used all over the country.

With that many sales, and as a device that's built to carry with you so other people can see it, it won't take long for a second wave of sales to start from people who either wanted to see one first or the many people who haven't even heard about the iPad yet.

Wow. You work for a company that matches 50%.... (which is actually sort of sadly low for a supposedly well-performing Fortune 50 company). And that you've been investing for 23 years (like no one else has). Or six figures (like that is HUGE!). Wow.

TMI, man......Next you'll be telling us about your hemorrhoidectomy.... Please stop. You're embarrassing yourself.

(I'll stop after this; no more on this topic).

This is a big question, but would anyone be tempted to fully sell their Mac/iMac/MBP and live completely with simply two devices say an iphone for mobile and then an iPad for home use?

Could it do 95% of the Mac's tasks? I do lots of written work at home but by being clever to do more at work I really wonder if it would be possible to shrink down to just a few small sexy hardware pieces at home and that's it.

Mmm, during the keynote presentation Steve Jobs was pretty adamant about how much Netbooks suck, and then offered the iPad as the vastly superior solution between a smartphone and a laptop. So it would seem Apple's position in the matter is that the iPad is most certainly intended to be a netbook replacement. And as far as not trying to be a computer goes, they did create iPad versions of their entire iWork suite.

Fair enough. I was wondering about that as well. I just hope that my new iPhone comes at the latest at WWDC, so that my loooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg wait is finally over , as it would be stupid to purchase one now ...

You couldn't if you wanted to, because Apple has forced the iPad into being a slave device it has to be synced with a computer in order to have any kind of media on it. And you can't plug your iPhone into your iPad to sync the two together. This is one of the biggest flaws with the iPad in my mind.

That is hard to quantify, but I'd say no only because it requires a PC/Mac with iTunes to sync iTunes content and backup. Honestly, it's a moot point because of that fact. A few may want it as a PC replacement but until you can sync an iPod or iPhone to it, it has an iTunes app on it not just and iPod app, it can backup to Time Machine and you can connect other storage devices to it then it's just like any other iDevice Apple has created.

We'll see the desktop OS on tablets fall away as Android starts showing up on most tablets later this year. Hopefully by then the mental association will change.



It will surely compete for the same consumer space and if you want to delve into technicalities for a moment a netbook is running a desktop OS and therefore can technically do more but that doesn't make it a better product or option.

An off-road bike can do substantially less than a cheap sedan but if I need a vehicle for offloading a cheap sedan sucks. That is basically what we have here. Apple has designed a product ideal for its "terrain" as an alternative "vehicle" for your computing needs.