I know, he uses Apple products -- and complains about them. (I used to read his stuff in MacUser back when he was less crotchety by an order of magnitude.) The point being of course is that he's been utterly without a clue for years now, an almost perfect contrarian barometer.
There's more stuff. Even Dvorak, on Cranky Geeks said that it will sell like hotcakes.
I know that some in the PC world are not happy with this, but that's to be expected as it hits home.
I would take what they say with a grain of salt. Of course Apple is going to sell a ton of them when it first comes out, the hype has been building for 4 years. These writers have too much at stake if they give it a bad review. They'll be on Job's Sht List forever.
All I heard for the last two weeks was if this is just a big iPod Touch then the product is doomed. Those very same people are now praising it even though it's a big iPod Touch. Once people realize how many adapters, docs, etc. they have to bring with them to make it a useful product, they are going to say why didn't I just buy a new laptop?
If I had some extra money and it's been a while since I bought something with an Apple logo on it I'd probably pick one up, however it's going to take until at least hardware revision 2 before people stop wanting one of these and instead need one of these. There is a difference.
I would take what they say with a grain of salt. Of course Apple is going to sell a ton of them when it first comes out, the hype has been building for 4 years. These writers have too much at stake if they give it a bad review. They'll be on Job's Sht List forever.
All I heard for the last two weeks was if this is just a big iPod Touch then the product is doomed. Those very same people are now praising it even though it's a big iPod Touch. Once people realize how many adapters, docs, etc. they have to bring with them to make it a useful product, they are going to say why didn't I just buy a new laptop?
If I had some extra money and it's been a while since I bought something with an Apple logo on it I'd probably pick one up, however it's going to take until at least hardware revision 2 before people stop wanting one of these and instead need one of these. There is a difference.
It's because you don't want to like the product, and any writer that does, according to you, must be taken with a grain of salt. There have now been an amazing number of article coming from industry people and journalists who have actually USED the thing, and they're just about all positive. Are you taking that grain of salt when you read an article from someone who, like yourself, hasn't used it, is negative?
There's more stuff. Even Dvorak, on Cranky Geeks said that it will sell like hotcakes.
I know that some in the PC world are not happy with this, but that's to be expected as it hits home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
It's because you don't want to like the product, and any writer that does, according to you, must be taken with a grain of salt. There have now been an amazing number of article coming from industry people and journalists who have actually USED the thing, and they're just about all positive. Are you taking that grain of salt when you read an article from someone who, like yourself, hasn't used it, is negative?
Apparently, you don't know what it is.
Or is that ok?
I have used the iPad, thank you very much. I've used it for the last three years, it's what you might call an iPad Mini, but the rest of the world calls it an iPhone. I'm not ready to take the $500 leap to have less hardware features.
Now that everyone has had time to cool off from the iPod Touch Maxi announcement, it appears more and more journalists are starting to think along the same lines. This version of the iPad isn't what we were all hoping for and is a bit of a let-down. Will Apple eventually have a true industry leading device? I bet they will and when that device is released in 2-3 years I'll be the first to buy one. Until that time I'll wait, just as I am for the Apple TV to become a real product and not someone's hobby stuck in limbo.
Now that everyone has had time to cool off from the iPod Touch Maxi announcement, it appears more and more journalists are starting to think along the same lines.
What is your evidence for this? I think the only people who need to cool off are the ones who've never put their hands on an iPad but are already 100% certain that it's Product Fail.
Those that bleat the common refrain "it's a large ipod Touch" are again failing to get the picture here whether we're talking futuristically or historically.
The iPhone/iPod Touch phenomenon exists because the device excels on two axis.
1. The OS X mobile OS ushers in a lot of new UI paradigms that allow users to do basic tasks with a simple jab of the finger. The UI is fast and it makes sense to even the neophyte computer user.
2. The pocket size of the iPhone and Touch make it just small enough to "stow and go" and just larger enough to actually do web surfing or reading.
With the iPad you have forsaken the pocket sizing but now have gained more real estate to deliver even better functionality with the OS X mobile OS. It's as Apple has stated ..the device that sits between a smartphone (pocket sizing) and a laptop (definitely not pocket sized).
I keep reading the same idiotic chants.
1. No camera - Apple does not have to include every little thing. Rather than have a dinky iSight built in I'd rather 3rd party vendor deliver a camera that clips on and looks like the original barrel shaped iSight. There I could mount it on top of the iPad or on a mini tripod. I want quality if I'm going to pipe video through a videocam.
2. No ports - Did the writers forget the Macbook Air? The iPad is not a legacy device meant to hook up to your 4 year camera or your $15 55 device card reader. The answer is already there for people. Cameras with wifi (or Eyefi SD cards) sharing sights like Flickr, Picasa, MobileMe Gallery. It's really simple...the device that creates the document should interface with a network and then getting on the iPad is trivial.
3. Multitasking - Other than Pandora or other music streaming application there's really not much need for multitasking. The iPad (and iPhone for that matter) are intended to run single applications with the ability to quiesce and relaunch applications so quickly there's little penalty for unitasking. Multitasking became a productivity enhancer when applications grew large and began to launch slowly. Note that there's no app to app drag and drop and the window manager doesn't really allow you to work on two separate windows so the actual need for multitasking is diminished (so long as apps quiesce and relaunch quickly)
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that?s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that?s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
I agree, but unfortunately the market is getting pretty accustomed to the idea that Apple pulls rabbits out of hats. It's an impossible standard of course, but nothing short of a magic act every time is going to satisfy some, and for many people, even magic would not be enough to stop their grousing. The magic would have the wrong technical specs or cost too much.
The subtle reality is that Apple is trying to force a paradigm shift (sorry for the tired term, but nothing else quite fits). Will they? Can they? Should they? Those are the real big picture questions -- can Apple change what we expect from a computing device -- not whether it has a camera or multitasks.
Those that bleat the common refrain "it's a large ipod Touch" are again failing to get the picture here whether we're talking futuristically or historically.
The iPhone/iPod Touch phenomenon exists because the device excels on two axis.
1. The OS X mobile OS ushers in a lot of new UI paradigms that allow users to do basic tasks with a simple jab of the finger. The UI is fast and it makes sense to even the neophyte computer user.
2. The pocket size of the iPhone and Touch make it just small enough to "stow and go" and just larger enough to actually do web surfing or reading.
With the iPad you have forsaken the pocket sizing but now have gained more real estate to deliver even better functionality with the OS X mobile OS. It's as Apple has stated ..the device that sits between a smartphone (pocket sizing) and a laptop (definitely not pocket sized).
I keep reading the same idiotic chants.
1. No camera - Apple does not have to include every little thing. Rather than have a dinky iSight built in I'd rather 3rd party vendor deliver a camera that clips on and looks like the original barrel shaped iSight. There I could mount it on top of the iPad or on a mini tripod. I want quality if I'm going to pipe video through a videocam.
2. No ports - Did the writers forget the Macbook Air? The iPad is not a legacy device meant to hook up to your 4 year camera or your $15 55 device card reader. The answer is already there for people. Cameras with wifi (or Eyefi SD cards) sharing sights like Flickr, Picasa, MobileMe Gallery. It's really simple...the device that creates the document should interface with a network and then getting on the iPad is trivial.
3. Multitasking - Other than Pandora or other music streaming application there's really not much need for multitasking. The iPad (and iPhone for that matter) are intended to run single applications with the ability to quiesce and relaunch applications so quickly there's little penalty for unitasking. Multitasking became a productivity enhancer when applications grew large and began to launch slowly. Note that there's no app to app drag and drop and the window manager doesn't really allow you to work on two separate windows so the actual need for multitasking is diminished (so long as apps quiesce and relaunch quickly)
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that’s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
I don't know if I agree with all of that. I think the missing features of a front facing camera and multitasking are fairly big misses. Not for what they accomplish now but for what they would enable going forward.
This is an example of what I would like to see:
Open email and compose message. In order to add an attachment (picture or pages document, for example) simply open the document and then drag and drop on top of the email. This would require multitasking. But this would be a much more intuitive way of adding attachments to email messages. Even my mom and dad could do that. It does away with the need for browsing a hierarchical file system that Apple is trying to hide from the user anyway.
The same thing could be done for SMS messages or video chats. Add a picture or file by dragging and dropping on the video chat window or SMS message.
I don't think that the iPad will necessarily be a failure, but I think that Apple have failed to leverage some of the possibilities that the faster cpu and greater screen real estate make possible. Eventually I think Apple will allow at least some limited multitasking (maybe just 3 apps open at a time) and will put in a camera. It just makes too much sense not to.
Those that bleat the common refrain "it's a large ipod Touch" are again failing to get the picture here whether we're talking futuristically or historically.
The iPhone/iPod Touch phenomenon exists because the device excels on two axis.
1. The OS X mobile OS ushers in a lot of new UI paradigms that allow users to do basic tasks with a simple jab of the finger. The UI is fast and it makes sense to even the neophyte computer user.
2. The pocket size of the iPhone and Touch make it just small enough to "stow and go" and just larger enough to actually do web surfing or reading.
With the iPad you have forsaken the pocket sizing but now have gained more real estate to deliver even better functionality with the OS X mobile OS. It's as Apple has stated ..the device that sits between a smartphone (pocket sizing) and a laptop (definitely not pocket sized).
I keep reading the same idiotic chants.
1. No camera - Apple does not have to include every little thing. Rather than have a dinky iSight built in I'd rather 3rd party vendor deliver a camera that clips on and looks like the original barrel shaped iSight. There I could mount it on top of the iPad or on a mini tripod. I want quality if I'm going to pipe video through a videocam.
2. No ports - Did the writers forget the Macbook Air? The iPad is not a legacy device meant to hook up to your 4 year camera or your $15 55 device card reader. The answer is already there for people. Cameras with wifi (or Eyefi SD cards) sharing sights like Flickr, Picasa, MobileMe Gallery. It's really simple...the device that creates the document should interface with a network and then getting on the iPad is trivial.
3. Multitasking - Other than Pandora or other music streaming application there's really not much need for multitasking. The iPad (and iPhone for that matter) are intended to run single applications with the ability to quiesce and relaunch applications so quickly there's little penalty for unitasking. Multitasking became a productivity enhancer when applications grew large and began to launch slowly. Note that there's no app to app drag and drop and the window manager doesn't really allow you to work on two separate windows so the actual need for multitasking is diminished (so long as apps quiesce and relaunch quickly)
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that?s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
Seems like you're missing the elegance factor Apple has taken up until this point by not falling in to the "add-on this", "clip-on that", type of accessories. Not having a camera in this day and age is a huge mistake and people have every right to criticize Apple for the omission. I'll bet you lunch version two of the hardware has a camera in it. About the ports, someone who just spent $2,500 on a Nikon D300s might argue with your 4 year old technology argument. USB might be old school to you but the rest of the industry might beg to differ. How are you going to upload those pictures to Flickr, Picasa, or MobileMe Gallery? Wait I know, the solution is to plug in the camera adapter. Right... Have fun with all your little iPad strap-ons.
To say multitasking is not important on a device like this is just making excuses. Three years ago I accepted it wasn't on the iPhone, but common, this is 2010. Even viewing an embedded YouTube clip requires exiting Safari, loading the YouTube application, then reloading Safari and the webpage you were on. That is a terrible user experience. Here's another example, today I was using an application from my bank to locate the nearest location. I had to exit the app to see where the bank was, load the Maps application, then go back to the bank app because the branch was not in the area I was traveling to. I had to do this three times before I found a branch on my route. That was a pain in the butt
Sorry, there's no excuse not to be able to handle that function via multitasking, especially since it is proven it can be done with this current generation of hardware. And don't even get me started on not being able to view ToDo's from iCal....
My next Digicam will have an SD card slot which I'll use an Eyefi Pro 8GB card. So I'll be able to upload my pics to a multitude of websites and pull down to the iPad with relative ease.
I'd rather have a more flexible camera option than a tiny iSight camera that forces me to align my iPad in a certain way to capture what I want.
As for multitasking people tend to have different perspectives on what they call multitasking. I think you're going to see a lot of the core functionality like maps and video become embedded into 3rd party apps so that the whole switch process gets reduced significantly. That's a form of multitasking but I think Apple's approach will be different. Much like In-app purchase doesn't require loading another application future maps and video will just be embedded into the app. Apple has been taking this course (most recently with apps that play your iTunes music directly through the app) and I don't expect Apple to change this.
Since developers will be tapping into core features from Apple that have been battle tested we'll have a stable platform (because unleashing multitasking to to a wide dynamic of developers on the iPhone/iPad isn't a good idea at first blush).
I'll reserve final judgment unti SDK 4.0 hits and we see the next level of sophistication. That being said however getting pictures on my iPad or other documents are the least of my worries. It's becoming progressively easier to "cut the cables" and enable easy access to files.
There's Wifi Direct coming complement Bluetooth and Sony is adding Transferjet to many of their products. Soon hooking up a cable to transfer data will seem pretty arcane. Let's skate to where that puck is going to be.
Speaking of lunch, I see a lot of people eating crow for theirs when it turns out that video cameras and multitasking are not deal-killers for Apple's designated audience for the iPad. No, the iPad is not 100% geek compliant and clearly was not intended to be. I don't understand why so many people are convinced that Apple simply never considered any of this.
As for USB -- it's there, in the 30-pin connector. Whether any third parties get access to it for I/O is another question, the answer to which is coming soon enough.
I have used the iPad, thank you very much. I've used it for the last three years, it's what you might call an iPad Mini, but the rest of the world calls it an iPhone. I'm not ready to take the $500 leap to have less hardware features.
Now that everyone has had time to cool off from the iPod Touch Maxi announcement, it appears more and more journalists are starting to think along the same lines. This version of the iPad isn't what we were all hoping for and is a bit of a let-down. Will Apple eventually have a true industry leading device? I bet they will and when that device is released in 2-3 years I'll be the first to buy one. Until that time I'll wait, just as I am for the Apple TV to become a real product and not someone's hobby stuck in limbo.
Thats a very cute response, but the iPhone isn't a mini iPad. The iPad is something much more versatile.
I don't know if I agree with all of that. I think the missing features of a front facing camera and multitasking are fairly big misses. Not for what they accomplish now but for what they would enable going forward.
This is an example of what I would like to see:
Open email and compose message. In order to add an attachment (picture or pages document, for example) simply open the document and then drag and drop on top of the email. This would require multitasking. But this would be a much more intuitive way of adding attachments to email messages. Even my mom and dad could do that. It does away with the need for browsing a hierarchical file system that Apple is trying to hide from the user anyway.
The same thing could be done for SMS messages or video chats. Add a picture or file by dragging and dropping on the video chat window or SMS message.
I don't think that the iPad will necessarily be a failure, but I think that Apple have failed to leverage some of the possibilities that the faster cpu and greater screen real estate make possible. Eventually I think Apple will allow at least some limited multitasking (maybe just 3 apps open at a time) and will put in a camera. It just makes too much sense not to.
Who knows, we may see a camera yet, apparently, it may have room in the frame.
But this is a first gen product. It's very possible, as has been mentioned in some articles, that Apple couldn't get the camera within the budget. Jobs made the point of the price.
Next year, when part prices have fallen further, a camera may come. Apple could also be gauging reaction to the lack of same. They have responded to wanted features before; it just takes them time.
We don't know what will be the case in multitasking. Perhaps it isn't yet ready, but will be when 4.0 comes out. That could mean that sometime during the summer, multitasking will be here.
Seems like you're missing the elegance factor Apple has taken up until this point by not falling in to the "add-on this", "clip-on that", type of accessories. Not having a camera in this day and age is a huge mistake and people have every right to criticize Apple for the omission. I'll bet you lunch version two of the hardware has a camera in it. About the ports, someone who just spent $2,500 on a Nikon D300s might argue with your 4 year old technology argument. USB might be old school to you but the rest of the industry might beg to differ. How are you going to upload those pictures to Flickr, Picasa, or MobileMe Gallery? Wait I know, the solution is to plug in the camera adapter. Right... Have fun with all your little iPad strap-ons.
To say multitasking is not important on a device like this is just making excuses. Three years ago I accepted it wasn't on the iPhone, but common, this is 2010. Even viewing an embedded YouTube clip requires exiting Safari, loading the YouTube application, then reloading Safari and the webpage you were on. That is a terrible user experience. Here's another example, today I was using an application from my bank to locate the nearest location. I had to exit the app to see where the bank was, load the Maps application, then go back to the bank app because the branch was not in the area I was traveling to. I had to do this three times before I found a branch on my route. That was a pain in the butt
Sorry, there's no excuse not to be able to handle that function via multitasking, especially since it is proven it can be done with this current generation of hardware. And don't even get me started on not being able to view ToDo's from iCal....
You're making a lot of assumptions.
We know it's easy to get images into the device. With WiFi, and possibly 3G, if you buy that, why would you assume that you can't upload those pics to the sites? I sure would assume you could. We can do so now with the phone, why not with this? You make no good case why not.
We also don't know about multitasking. As I've said before, it's very possible that it's not yet ready, but will be with OS 4.0 later this summer. Jobs has stated that multitasking will come when Apple feels their products won't be compromised by it. You just have to accept that reasoning, even if you don't like it. The reviews I've seen for multitasking phones have said that they all suffer somewhat from it. Some more than others. I doubt most people would like having to manage that on their own the way the other devices make them do.
Speaking of lunch, I see a lot of people eating crow for theirs when it turns out that video cameras and multitasking are not deal-killers for Apple's designated audience for the iPad. No, the iPad is not 100% geek compliant and clearly was not intended to be. I don't understand why so many people are convinced that Apple simply never considered any of this.
As for USB -- it's there, in the 30-pin connector. Whether any third parties get access to it for I/O is another question, the answer to which is coming soon enough.
I would imagine, from statements made by Apple, that the connector can be used as it is being used on the iPhone/Touch. Which is to say, with any hardware and software designed to extend the functionality.
Can it be used for an external HDD? I don't know, but we do know that it will accept photo and video transfers at the least. We also know that the shared folder is mountable on the computer desktop for the purpose of adding and subtracting files. These are big additions.
I would imagine, from statements made by Apple, that the connector can be used as it is being used on the iPhone/Touch. Which is to say, with any hardware and software designed to extend the functionality.
Can it be used for an external HDD? I don't know, but we do know that it will accept photo and video transfers at the least. We also know that the shared folder is mountable on the computer desktop for the purpose of adding and subtracting files. These are big additions.
Right, but my point is, the 30-pin connector has USB on it (not sure what the other 25 or so pins are for). The limitations on the functionality of this connector, if any, will be in the software. If the iPad already supports a Bluetooth keyboard, I can't see any good reason why it won't also support a USB keyboard, unless the software prevents it for some reason.
Who knows, we may see a camera yet, apparently, it may have room in the frame.
But this is a first gen product. It's very possible, as has been mentioned in some articles, that Apple couldn't get the camera within the budget. Jobs made the point of the price.
Next year, when part prices have fallen further, a camera may come. Apple could also be gauging reaction to the lack of same. They have responded to wanted features before; it just takes them time.
We don't know what will be the case in multitasking. Perhaps it isn't yet ready, but will be when 4.0 comes out. That could mean that sometime during the summer, multitasking will be here.
Yeah I know. I suspect the iPad be a lot like the first iPhone which has gathered momentum with each new HW and SW release. Comparing an iPhone 3gs to the original iPhone shows how far its come. That's why I'll probably hold out until iPad rev b before taking the plunge.
Yeah I know. I suspect the iPad be a lot like the first iPhone which has gathered momentum with each new HW and SW release. Comparing an iPhone 3gs to the original iPhone shows how far its come. That's why I'll probably hold out until iPad rev b before taking the plunge.
I'm mostly am interested as a reading device for books and magazines. If I can get subscriptions to as many of my mags and journals as possible on this, esp. if I can back them up on disk, this would be great.
Later, I'll see what else it can do, though I'd like to try pages, and images from my D-SLR's.
Right, but my point is, the 30-pin connector has USB on it (not sure what the other 25 or so pins are for). The limitations on the functionality of this connector, if any, will be in the software. If the iPad already supports a Bluetooth keyboard, I can't see any good reason why it won't also support a USB keyboard, unless the software prevents it for some reason.
It's a pretty complex piece of work. We get some unsophisticated people here every so often insisting that USB does the same thing, but of course it doesn't. It would only be software. The KEXTs would be missing, as well as the APIs.
Comments
Dvorak likes it? Now I'm worried.
He also uses a Macbook Pro.
I don't agree with it, but it's better than what you said before, by a bit. But it wasn't constructive. Look up what constructive criticism means.
Actually, some of those who haven't handled it have said that, but it's interesting that those who have, have almost all said the opposite.
http://mossblog.allthingsd.com/20100...d-impressions/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358507,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358496,00.asp
There's more stuff. Even Dvorak, on Cranky Geeks said that it will sell like hotcakes.
I know that some in the PC world are not happy with this, but that's to be expected as it hits home.
I would take what they say with a grain of salt. Of course Apple is going to sell a ton of them when it first comes out, the hype has been building for 4 years. These writers have too much at stake if they give it a bad review. They'll be on Job's Sht List forever.
All I heard for the last two weeks was if this is just a big iPod Touch then the product is doomed. Those very same people are now praising it even though it's a big iPod Touch. Once people realize how many adapters, docs, etc. they have to bring with them to make it a useful product, they are going to say why didn't I just buy a new laptop?
If I had some extra money and it's been a while since I bought something with an Apple logo on it I'd probably pick one up, however it's going to take until at least hardware revision 2 before people stop wanting one of these and instead need one of these. There is a difference.
I would take what they say with a grain of salt. Of course Apple is going to sell a ton of them when it first comes out, the hype has been building for 4 years. These writers have too much at stake if they give it a bad review. They'll be on Job's Sht List forever.
All I heard for the last two weeks was if this is just a big iPod Touch then the product is doomed. Those very same people are now praising it even though it's a big iPod Touch. Once people realize how many adapters, docs, etc. they have to bring with them to make it a useful product, they are going to say why didn't I just buy a new laptop?
If I had some extra money and it's been a while since I bought something with an Apple logo on it I'd probably pick one up, however it's going to take until at least hardware revision 2 before people stop wanting one of these and instead need one of these. There is a difference.
It's because you don't want to like the product, and any writer that does, according to you, must be taken with a grain of salt. There have now been an amazing number of article coming from industry people and journalists who have actually USED the thing, and they're just about all positive. Are you taking that grain of salt when you read an article from someone who, like yourself, hasn't used it, is negative?
Apparently, you don't know what it is.
Or is that ok?
I don't agree with it, but it's better than what you said before, by a bit. But it wasn't constructive. Look up what constructive criticism means.
Actually, some of those who haven't handled it have said that, but it's interesting that those who have, have almost all said the opposite.
http://mossblog.allthingsd.com/20100...d-impressions/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358507,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358496,00.asp
There's more stuff. Even Dvorak, on Cranky Geeks said that it will sell like hotcakes.
I know that some in the PC world are not happy with this, but that's to be expected as it hits home.
It's because you don't want to like the product, and any writer that does, according to you, must be taken with a grain of salt. There have now been an amazing number of article coming from industry people and journalists who have actually USED the thing, and they're just about all positive. Are you taking that grain of salt when you read an article from someone who, like yourself, hasn't used it, is negative?
Apparently, you don't know what it is.
Or is that ok?
I have used the iPad, thank you very much. I've used it for the last three years, it's what you might call an iPad Mini, but the rest of the world calls it an iPhone. I'm not ready to take the $500 leap to have less hardware features.
Now that everyone has had time to cool off from the iPod Touch Maxi announcement, it appears more and more journalists are starting to think along the same lines. This version of the iPad isn't what we were all hoping for and is a bit of a let-down. Will Apple eventually have a true industry leading device? I bet they will and when that device is released in 2-3 years I'll be the first to buy one. Until that time I'll wait, just as I am for the Apple TV to become a real product and not someone's hobby stuck in limbo.
Now that everyone has had time to cool off from the iPod Touch Maxi announcement, it appears more and more journalists are starting to think along the same lines.
What is your evidence for this? I think the only people who need to cool off are the ones who've never put their hands on an iPad but are already 100% certain that it's Product Fail.
The iPhone/iPod Touch phenomenon exists because the device excels on two axis.
1. The OS X mobile OS ushers in a lot of new UI paradigms that allow users to do basic tasks with a simple jab of the finger. The UI is fast and it makes sense to even the neophyte computer user.
2. The pocket size of the iPhone and Touch make it just small enough to "stow and go" and just larger enough to actually do web surfing or reading.
With the iPad you have forsaken the pocket sizing but now have gained more real estate to deliver even better functionality with the OS X mobile OS. It's as Apple has stated ..the device that sits between a smartphone (pocket sizing) and a laptop (definitely not pocket sized).
I keep reading the same idiotic chants.
1. No camera - Apple does not have to include every little thing. Rather than have a dinky iSight built in I'd rather 3rd party vendor deliver a camera that clips on and looks like the original barrel shaped iSight. There I could mount it on top of the iPad or on a mini tripod. I want quality if I'm going to pipe video through a videocam.
2. No ports - Did the writers forget the Macbook Air? The iPad is not a legacy device meant to hook up to your 4 year camera or your $15 55 device card reader. The answer is already there for people. Cameras with wifi (or Eyefi SD cards) sharing sights like Flickr, Picasa, MobileMe Gallery. It's really simple...the device that creates the document should interface with a network and then getting on the iPad is trivial.
3. Multitasking - Other than Pandora or other music streaming application there's really not much need for multitasking. The iPad (and iPhone for that matter) are intended to run single applications with the ability to quiesce and relaunch applications so quickly there's little penalty for unitasking. Multitasking became a productivity enhancer when applications grew large and began to launch slowly. Note that there's no app to app drag and drop and the window manager doesn't really allow you to work on two separate windows so the actual need for multitasking is diminished (so long as apps quiesce and relaunch quickly)
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that?s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that?s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
I agree, but unfortunately the market is getting pretty accustomed to the idea that Apple pulls rabbits out of hats. It's an impossible standard of course, but nothing short of a magic act every time is going to satisfy some, and for many people, even magic would not be enough to stop their grousing. The magic would have the wrong technical specs or cost too much.
The subtle reality is that Apple is trying to force a paradigm shift (sorry for the tired term, but nothing else quite fits). Will they? Can they? Should they? Those are the real big picture questions -- can Apple change what we expect from a computing device -- not whether it has a camera or multitasks.
Those that bleat the common refrain "it's a large ipod Touch" are again failing to get the picture here whether we're talking futuristically or historically.
The iPhone/iPod Touch phenomenon exists because the device excels on two axis.
1. The OS X mobile OS ushers in a lot of new UI paradigms that allow users to do basic tasks with a simple jab of the finger. The UI is fast and it makes sense to even the neophyte computer user.
2. The pocket size of the iPhone and Touch make it just small enough to "stow and go" and just larger enough to actually do web surfing or reading.
With the iPad you have forsaken the pocket sizing but now have gained more real estate to deliver even better functionality with the OS X mobile OS. It's as Apple has stated ..the device that sits between a smartphone (pocket sizing) and a laptop (definitely not pocket sized).
I keep reading the same idiotic chants.
1. No camera - Apple does not have to include every little thing. Rather than have a dinky iSight built in I'd rather 3rd party vendor deliver a camera that clips on and looks like the original barrel shaped iSight. There I could mount it on top of the iPad or on a mini tripod. I want quality if I'm going to pipe video through a videocam.
2. No ports - Did the writers forget the Macbook Air? The iPad is not a legacy device meant to hook up to your 4 year camera or your $15 55 device card reader. The answer is already there for people. Cameras with wifi (or Eyefi SD cards) sharing sights like Flickr, Picasa, MobileMe Gallery. It's really simple...the device that creates the document should interface with a network and then getting on the iPad is trivial.
3. Multitasking - Other than Pandora or other music streaming application there's really not much need for multitasking. The iPad (and iPhone for that matter) are intended to run single applications with the ability to quiesce and relaunch applications so quickly there's little penalty for unitasking. Multitasking became a productivity enhancer when applications grew large and began to launch slowly. Note that there's no app to app drag and drop and the window manager doesn't really allow you to work on two separate windows so the actual need for multitasking is diminished (so long as apps quiesce and relaunch quickly)
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that’s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
I don't know if I agree with all of that. I think the missing features of a front facing camera and multitasking are fairly big misses. Not for what they accomplish now but for what they would enable going forward.
This is an example of what I would like to see:
Open email and compose message. In order to add an attachment (picture or pages document, for example) simply open the document and then drag and drop on top of the email. This would require multitasking. But this would be a much more intuitive way of adding attachments to email messages. Even my mom and dad could do that. It does away with the need for browsing a hierarchical file system that Apple is trying to hide from the user anyway.
The same thing could be done for SMS messages or video chats. Add a picture or file by dragging and dropping on the video chat window or SMS message.
I don't think that the iPad will necessarily be a failure, but I think that Apple have failed to leverage some of the possibilities that the faster cpu and greater screen real estate make possible. Eventually I think Apple will allow at least some limited multitasking (maybe just 3 apps open at a time) and will put in a camera. It just makes too much sense not to.
Those that bleat the common refrain "it's a large ipod Touch" are again failing to get the picture here whether we're talking futuristically or historically.
The iPhone/iPod Touch phenomenon exists because the device excels on two axis.
1. The OS X mobile OS ushers in a lot of new UI paradigms that allow users to do basic tasks with a simple jab of the finger. The UI is fast and it makes sense to even the neophyte computer user.
2. The pocket size of the iPhone and Touch make it just small enough to "stow and go" and just larger enough to actually do web surfing or reading.
With the iPad you have forsaken the pocket sizing but now have gained more real estate to deliver even better functionality with the OS X mobile OS. It's as Apple has stated ..the device that sits between a smartphone (pocket sizing) and a laptop (definitely not pocket sized).
I keep reading the same idiotic chants.
1. No camera - Apple does not have to include every little thing. Rather than have a dinky iSight built in I'd rather 3rd party vendor deliver a camera that clips on and looks like the original barrel shaped iSight. There I could mount it on top of the iPad or on a mini tripod. I want quality if I'm going to pipe video through a videocam.
2. No ports - Did the writers forget the Macbook Air? The iPad is not a legacy device meant to hook up to your 4 year camera or your $15 55 device card reader. The answer is already there for people. Cameras with wifi (or Eyefi SD cards) sharing sights like Flickr, Picasa, MobileMe Gallery. It's really simple...the device that creates the document should interface with a network and then getting on the iPad is trivial.
3. Multitasking - Other than Pandora or other music streaming application there's really not much need for multitasking. The iPad (and iPhone for that matter) are intended to run single applications with the ability to quiesce and relaunch applications so quickly there's little penalty for unitasking. Multitasking became a productivity enhancer when applications grew large and began to launch slowly. Note that there's no app to app drag and drop and the window manager doesn't really allow you to work on two separate windows so the actual need for multitasking is diminished (so long as apps quiesce and relaunch quickly)
Too many writers simply fail to understand how people are consuming information and what things are needed to deliver a successful product across the computing populace. I always read that people expect to be blown away by the newest Apple product but what they're really asking for is the "Rabbit in a Hat" magic trick. The iPad is not a rabbit in a hat it's a product that?s tailored to cover a wide dynamic range of users and tasks and do it well. That's a potential hot seller.
Seems like you're missing the elegance factor Apple has taken up until this point by not falling in to the "add-on this", "clip-on that", type of accessories. Not having a camera in this day and age is a huge mistake and people have every right to criticize Apple for the omission. I'll bet you lunch version two of the hardware has a camera in it. About the ports, someone who just spent $2,500 on a Nikon D300s might argue with your 4 year old technology argument. USB might be old school to you but the rest of the industry might beg to differ. How are you going to upload those pictures to Flickr, Picasa, or MobileMe Gallery? Wait I know, the solution is to plug in the camera adapter. Right... Have fun with all your little iPad strap-ons.
To say multitasking is not important on a device like this is just making excuses. Three years ago I accepted it wasn't on the iPhone, but common, this is 2010. Even viewing an embedded YouTube clip requires exiting Safari, loading the YouTube application, then reloading Safari and the webpage you were on. That is a terrible user experience. Here's another example, today I was using an application from my bank to locate the nearest location. I had to exit the app to see where the bank was, load the Maps application, then go back to the bank app because the branch was not in the area I was traveling to. I had to do this three times before I found a branch on my route. That was a pain in the butt
Sorry, there's no excuse not to be able to handle that function via multitasking, especially since it is proven it can be done with this current generation of hardware. And don't even get me started on not being able to view ToDo's from iCal....
My scenario will be this.
My next Digicam will have an SD card slot which I'll use an Eyefi Pro 8GB card. So I'll be able to upload my pics to a multitude of websites and pull down to the iPad with relative ease.
I'd rather have a more flexible camera option than a tiny iSight camera that forces me to align my iPad in a certain way to capture what I want.
As for multitasking people tend to have different perspectives on what they call multitasking. I think you're going to see a lot of the core functionality like maps and video become embedded into 3rd party apps so that the whole switch process gets reduced significantly. That's a form of multitasking but I think Apple's approach will be different. Much like In-app purchase doesn't require loading another application future maps and video will just be embedded into the app. Apple has been taking this course (most recently with apps that play your iTunes music directly through the app) and I don't expect Apple to change this.
Since developers will be tapping into core features from Apple that have been battle tested we'll have a stable platform (because unleashing multitasking to to a wide dynamic of developers on the iPhone/iPad isn't a good idea at first blush).
I'll reserve final judgment unti SDK 4.0 hits and we see the next level of sophistication. That being said however getting pictures on my iPad or other documents are the least of my worries. It's becoming progressively easier to "cut the cables" and enable easy access to files.
There's Wifi Direct coming complement Bluetooth and Sony is adding Transferjet to many of their products. Soon hooking up a cable to transfer data will seem pretty arcane. Let's skate to where that puck is going to be.
As for USB -- it's there, in the 30-pin connector. Whether any third parties get access to it for I/O is another question, the answer to which is coming soon enough.
I have used the iPad, thank you very much. I've used it for the last three years, it's what you might call an iPad Mini, but the rest of the world calls it an iPhone. I'm not ready to take the $500 leap to have less hardware features.
Now that everyone has had time to cool off from the iPod Touch Maxi announcement, it appears more and more journalists are starting to think along the same lines. This version of the iPad isn't what we were all hoping for and is a bit of a let-down. Will Apple eventually have a true industry leading device? I bet they will and when that device is released in 2-3 years I'll be the first to buy one. Until that time I'll wait, just as I am for the Apple TV to become a real product and not someone's hobby stuck in limbo.
Thats a very cute response, but the iPhone isn't a mini iPad. The iPad is something much more versatile.
I don't know if I agree with all of that. I think the missing features of a front facing camera and multitasking are fairly big misses. Not for what they accomplish now but for what they would enable going forward.
This is an example of what I would like to see:
Open email and compose message. In order to add an attachment (picture or pages document, for example) simply open the document and then drag and drop on top of the email. This would require multitasking. But this would be a much more intuitive way of adding attachments to email messages. Even my mom and dad could do that. It does away with the need for browsing a hierarchical file system that Apple is trying to hide from the user anyway.
The same thing could be done for SMS messages or video chats. Add a picture or file by dragging and dropping on the video chat window or SMS message.
I don't think that the iPad will necessarily be a failure, but I think that Apple have failed to leverage some of the possibilities that the faster cpu and greater screen real estate make possible. Eventually I think Apple will allow at least some limited multitasking (maybe just 3 apps open at a time) and will put in a camera. It just makes too much sense not to.
Who knows, we may see a camera yet, apparently, it may have room in the frame.
But this is a first gen product. It's very possible, as has been mentioned in some articles, that Apple couldn't get the camera within the budget. Jobs made the point of the price.
Next year, when part prices have fallen further, a camera may come. Apple could also be gauging reaction to the lack of same. They have responded to wanted features before; it just takes them time.
We don't know what will be the case in multitasking. Perhaps it isn't yet ready, but will be when 4.0 comes out. That could mean that sometime during the summer, multitasking will be here.
Seems like you're missing the elegance factor Apple has taken up until this point by not falling in to the "add-on this", "clip-on that", type of accessories. Not having a camera in this day and age is a huge mistake and people have every right to criticize Apple for the omission. I'll bet you lunch version two of the hardware has a camera in it. About the ports, someone who just spent $2,500 on a Nikon D300s might argue with your 4 year old technology argument. USB might be old school to you but the rest of the industry might beg to differ. How are you going to upload those pictures to Flickr, Picasa, or MobileMe Gallery? Wait I know, the solution is to plug in the camera adapter. Right... Have fun with all your little iPad strap-ons.
To say multitasking is not important on a device like this is just making excuses. Three years ago I accepted it wasn't on the iPhone, but common, this is 2010. Even viewing an embedded YouTube clip requires exiting Safari, loading the YouTube application, then reloading Safari and the webpage you were on. That is a terrible user experience. Here's another example, today I was using an application from my bank to locate the nearest location. I had to exit the app to see where the bank was, load the Maps application, then go back to the bank app because the branch was not in the area I was traveling to. I had to do this three times before I found a branch on my route. That was a pain in the butt
Sorry, there's no excuse not to be able to handle that function via multitasking, especially since it is proven it can be done with this current generation of hardware. And don't even get me started on not being able to view ToDo's from iCal....
You're making a lot of assumptions.
We know it's easy to get images into the device. With WiFi, and possibly 3G, if you buy that, why would you assume that you can't upload those pics to the sites? I sure would assume you could. We can do so now with the phone, why not with this? You make no good case why not.
We also don't know about multitasking. As I've said before, it's very possible that it's not yet ready, but will be with OS 4.0 later this summer. Jobs has stated that multitasking will come when Apple feels their products won't be compromised by it. You just have to accept that reasoning, even if you don't like it. The reviews I've seen for multitasking phones have said that they all suffer somewhat from it. Some more than others. I doubt most people would like having to manage that on their own the way the other devices make them do.
Speaking of lunch, I see a lot of people eating crow for theirs when it turns out that video cameras and multitasking are not deal-killers for Apple's designated audience for the iPad. No, the iPad is not 100% geek compliant and clearly was not intended to be. I don't understand why so many people are convinced that Apple simply never considered any of this.
As for USB -- it's there, in the 30-pin connector. Whether any third parties get access to it for I/O is another question, the answer to which is coming soon enough.
I would imagine, from statements made by Apple, that the connector can be used as it is being used on the iPhone/Touch. Which is to say, with any hardware and software designed to extend the functionality.
Can it be used for an external HDD? I don't know, but we do know that it will accept photo and video transfers at the least. We also know that the shared folder is mountable on the computer desktop for the purpose of adding and subtracting files. These are big additions.
I would imagine, from statements made by Apple, that the connector can be used as it is being used on the iPhone/Touch. Which is to say, with any hardware and software designed to extend the functionality.
Can it be used for an external HDD? I don't know, but we do know that it will accept photo and video transfers at the least. We also know that the shared folder is mountable on the computer desktop for the purpose of adding and subtracting files. These are big additions.
Right, but my point is, the 30-pin connector has USB on it (not sure what the other 25 or so pins are for). The limitations on the functionality of this connector, if any, will be in the software. If the iPad already supports a Bluetooth keyboard, I can't see any good reason why it won't also support a USB keyboard, unless the software prevents it for some reason.
Who knows, we may see a camera yet, apparently, it may have room in the frame.
But this is a first gen product. It's very possible, as has been mentioned in some articles, that Apple couldn't get the camera within the budget. Jobs made the point of the price.
Next year, when part prices have fallen further, a camera may come. Apple could also be gauging reaction to the lack of same. They have responded to wanted features before; it just takes them time.
We don't know what will be the case in multitasking. Perhaps it isn't yet ready, but will be when 4.0 comes out. That could mean that sometime during the summer, multitasking will be here.
Yeah I know. I suspect the iPad be a lot like the first iPhone which has gathered momentum with each new HW and SW release. Comparing an iPhone 3gs to the original iPhone shows how far its come. That's why I'll probably hold out until iPad rev b before taking the plunge.
Yeah I know. I suspect the iPad be a lot like the first iPhone which has gathered momentum with each new HW and SW release. Comparing an iPhone 3gs to the original iPhone shows how far its come. That's why I'll probably hold out until iPad rev b before taking the plunge.
I'm mostly am interested as a reading device for books and magazines. If I can get subscriptions to as many of my mags and journals as possible on this, esp. if I can back them up on disk, this would be great.
Later, I'll see what else it can do, though I'd like to try pages, and images from my D-SLR's.
Right, but my point is, the 30-pin connector has USB on it (not sure what the other 25 or so pins are for). The limitations on the functionality of this connector, if any, will be in the software. If the iPad already supports a Bluetooth keyboard, I can't see any good reason why it won't also support a USB keyboard, unless the software prevents it for some reason.
It's a pretty complex piece of work. We get some unsophisticated people here every so often insisting that USB does the same thing, but of course it doesn't. It would only be software. The KEXTs would be missing, as well as the APIs.
http://pinouts.ru/PortableDevices/ipod_pinout.shtml