I just finished it in it’s entirety, and have some good things... and some bad... to comment on.
First the bad:
1) almost every single bullet point, whether from Ballmer, Sinofsky... and especially Panos Panay the lead designer... should be attributed to Apple. Specifically how it “feels in your hands” (Steve Jobs), down to the “perfection of a chamfer” and the curves (Jony Ives).
2) the times when any of the presenters “could” have showed a performance demo, say of 30 seconds, they didn’t. In fact, Sinofsky struggled with the touch interface almost every time; as did Mike Angiula touching it as if he were afraid of the device and that it might do something strange (it did at least twice)
3) Angiula had a great opportunity to show Lightroom editing, even just a simple balance adjustment... but didn’t; while Panay could have typed something meaningful and saved it, but again... just showed responsiveness of the keys. What about the trackpad?
4) backing up to the part where Ballmer looks back at the mouse: again, attribute the awareness of a mouse to begin with, by Xerox, and then Apple actually using it as the basis for a GUI. It’s quite sickening to watch this rewriting of history.
The good:
1) the idea is interesting, and could be just the beginning as I believe Sinofsky said. It will probably “stick”, but take until Windows 9 to go critical mass. Again, I’m expecting late 2014/early 2015.
2) they did “appear” to put a lot of effort into the design for once, and it surely is something completely different than what the OEMs and/or Android tablets have offered, specifically the materials used. Calling VaporMG “Liquid Metal” though is a no-no. LM is trademarked.
The remaining questions:
1) the cost.
2) the performance, especially heat-related.
3) the battery life as opposed to true mobil devices;
4) and since this thread came down to cables, inputs, and adapters... if the battery performance is weak... what does the power brick look like and weigh.
I’m actually going to state that I think the Surface will be a success... but at a later time rather than a few months or even a year. I do think there will be some early adopters though, and as a consultant, I’m compelled to get one early to demo the good, the bad, and the differences as apposed to the iPad or MBA my clients use now.
I’m hoping that MS delivers even half of what they’re promising, then they’ll be OK as a company. These are exciting times
PS. it’s a shame and a disgrace to see all of those dedicated designer’s and engineer’s work being demoed/presented by Ballmer. Those folks really deserve more!!!!
"Surprised" could also be constructed with "pleasantly" before it. Although true be it, I'm not expecting that once we get them in our... the users... hands.
My Windows Phone Lumia 710 can boot up faster than your newest iPhone. A Windows tablet takes about 10-20 sec to boot.
I guess those things matter when you use an OS that forces you to reboot a lot. I wouldn't know though: my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air resume instantly and don't need frequent reboots. Maybe a Moto Droid user would appreciate the boot time benchmark.
For an ipad, very relevant. Except apple uses a 'camera connection kit' that allows some functionality...
and dongles are only useful if they are apple dongles?
and talking about planned obsolescence
You do NOT need a camera connection kit at all. You can use a number of services or apps to transfer your photos. Most used scenario is in the field FYI, since I work with a number of photogs... that's fact.
No... any dongle is OK, from anyone really. The idea from Apple's perspective is to keep the input connector(s) on the iPad itself to the absolute minimum. Again, why is that wrong? You do know that if there was a USB connector on the iPad, there would be more complaints of what you CAN'T connect, than what you could?
Please advice as to what you're pointing to as "planned obsolescence"... then maybe I could respond.
It brings full PC functionality to the table(t)... and still remains reasonably slim and lite. That is worthwile for a lot of home, and much more corporate users.
I can imagine why. Y took a deep breath, said wait a moment and then the list kept getting longer and longer. Describing universes of vision, taste and engineering takes a few lines.
So, what you are saying, is that you are making up statistics to support your proposition, without any evidence. And when called on it, you go off on a tangent about Obama.
Recent statistics at IDC point to ~50 million iPads have been sold to date.
I most surely will bet you that at least 1 million of those owners only have an iPad. They are the so-called "casual users" such as the elderly, tech averse, Oprah-fans, etc.
Just in my circle of colleagues/clients both private and corporate, there are over 60 that I have personally set up over the last year since iPad 2 and iOS5 came to market. In the process, those clients dumped their aging Windows PC's, both laptops and desktops equally. I've been posting updates to this phenomenon every time this subject comes up.
BTW: Tech-consulting is not my main job even, it's just a peripheral activity I am asked to assist in.
PS. (added)... sorry for the facetious statistic. It sometimes get tiring pointing out the obvious and having to back it up always to the people that can't put 2 and 2 together for themselves.
(Added again)== Ask yourself: just who is purchasing iPads... because we know the tech people hate it... the Android crowd hates it... the I want a full OSX or file system crowd hates it... WHO IS PURCHASING iPads as fast as Apple can make them???
It looks positively uncomfortable to hold, especially if that kickstand starts flapping about.
There was a reason why Apple ditched the angular edges of the iPad1 for the gently curved bevelling of the '2 and '3. My new iPad is so much nicer to hold sans-case than my first gen iPad.
I can see that Microsoft are hoping for enterprise adoption for this thing, but the problem is, the enterprise sees computers as sit-down-in-front-of work machines and laptops are for commuting or working on at home. There won't be many directly enterprise related applications for this Windows tablet that will overcome the drawbacks of buying a laptop-alike that will regularly fall apart at the seams (those keyboard cover things aren't going to stay put that well).
It's going to bomb, and it's going to bomb big time.
Well, we have exponencialy raising demand for tablets from our business users. Lots of them use desktop or even thin client in the office, or simply don't need their staff to drag 15" lappy around all the time. This Pro model could be dream-come-true for them - full understanding of AD, group policies, easy access to shares, printers, CRM, company's SharePoint. Full Office and Outlook functionality. All the things you'd have to workaround (and some of them you couldn't at all) on iPads and Androids come naturally to this, while still remaining reasonably portable tablet form factor.
It brings full PC functionality to the table(t)... and still remains reasonably slim and lite. That is worthwile for a lot of home, and much more corporate users.
However what's not useful to a lot of home users... is the question of security when using a full OS, if they only are web surfing, emailing FB-ing.
I think the kick stand stands for being targeted for business and for replacing home pcs. If you put the device on a desktop it will not fall. In all other cases, where surface is not plain and stable, it will not be useful.
For Microsoft this means a lot as current pc's can easily be replaced with this hybrid. It will have the desktop functionality and the portability. The iPad feel but can also be something else if needed.
I'm currently using a 19" monitor at my office desk. Why on earth would I switch to a puny 16:9 display? I just do not see how this will replace a laptop/desktop in the enterprise.
Same as when your macbook air decides to stop working.
I take it to the Apple Store and they help fix it, Where will i have to ship my surface for service. What county will i call for support. how many times a week will i have to install patches.
That is the classic definition of FUD. (To do it properly, you would typically announce your vaporware product within two weeks to a month of your competitor actually launching theirs, so, technically, MS is about 2 years late with this announcement.) Now, we're all supposed to stop buying iPads because MS will be releasing something better (they promise) real soon now. Nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft, did they?
Wasn't Courier the vaporware that was supposed to be the iPad (I think techies were calling it iSlate at the time) killer. That worked out well.
It looks positively uncomfortable to hold, especially if that kickstand starts flapping about.
There was a reason why Apple ditched the angular edges of the iPad1 for the gently curved bevelling of the '2 and '3. My new iPad is so much nicer to hold sans-case than my first gen iPad.
I can see that Microsoft are hoping for enterprise adoption for this thing, but the problem is, the enterprise sees computers as sit-down-in-front-of work machines and laptops are for commuting or working on at home. There won't be many directly enterprise related applications for this Windows tablet that will overcome the drawbacks of buying a laptop-alike that will regularly fall apart at the seams (those keyboard cover things aren't going to stay put that well).
It's going to bomb, and it's going to bomb big time.
And that's the difference between Apple and MS design philosophy; one company is focused on creating the best user experience possible while the other is focused on creating what the engineers think will be cool.
Another way to put it is that one stands at the intersection of technology and liberal arts while the other stands at the intersection of technology and fugly street.
What's with the hate! This is awesome. It's a tablet and a computer in one device. It's what Apple should have done with a special version of the 11" MacBook Air years ago as soon as iPad became a hit. Things like this and the ASUS PadFone are awesome.
The Win 8 UI looks interesting, I guess. Maybe not the best, then again I haven't used it in person. But the general concept of running REAL apps on a mobile touchscreen is awesome. Also, people want to have a big touchscreen. The Galaxy Note is homerun. I predict the ASUS PadFone will sell well, also. There is another reason. Up until these devices you had to pay extra for tethering. Because you had two devices, a tablet and a computer. Or a phone, tablet, and computer. If you merge all of them, you pay one data plan. Of course I'm sure US carriers will muck this up. But kudos to Microsoft for innovating, dare I say it. Kinect is awesome. This Surface product looks really awesome, too. Personally I'd rather see an something like the ASUS transformer powered by an Intel mobile chip that can run Windows and MacOS X and Android all one device: a phone that plugs into a tablet which clips onto a keyboard. How sweet would that be!? All your apps everywhere all the time with all your data. The cloud doesn't work so well for large files when you pay per megabyte.
I really wonder about battery life, though. Other than that, I think this may possibly be a dark horse that becomes successful. The x86 Surface tab in particular. I imagine businesses will greatly prefer this to having to deal with Apple and iOS.
Mate, this forum is over-saturated by Apple fanatics... that's what is with the hate
Re battery. Considering that new Zenbook Prime lasts 6 hours and half, with faster Core i7 processor and 13" full HD IPS screen... and not having more volume than this tablet, because of teardrop form and mechanical keyboard taking away some space... or the HP Folio 13 with nearly 8 hours of juice (7:50) without wedge shape (but still reasonably slim)... I think it is possible to get decent battery of this device. Of course, we'll have to wait and see. I think a lot of things were not said on purpose and will be slowly released in the following weeks and month, to keep the hype.
Well, we have exponencialy raising demand for tablets from our business users. Lots of them use desktop or even thin client in the office, or simply don't need their staff to drag 15" lappy around all the time. This Pro model could be dream-come-true for them - full understanding of AD, group policies, easy access to shares, printers, CRM, company's SharePoint. Full Office and Outlook functionality. All the things you'd have to workaround (and some of them you couldn't at all) on iPads and Androids come naturally to this, while still remaining reasonably portable tablet form factor.
That's exactly what I'm seeing as well. That's why I'm not truly "dumping" on MS and the Surface. I just hated the presentation and demo.
Yesterday I watched a full presentation from Mozilla, where they mentioned the "80/20" factor: 80% of the users use 20% of the features of any given OS or software program.
OK... I'm speculating again to a point... but I'd say that for more than 50% of Windows users, you could say it should be the "90/10" rule.
If MS can offer up the Win8RT arm version for a competitive price... with a well stocked and curated app store... again, I think they'll do well.
Correct! Microsoft have come up with this amazing keyboard cover BEFORE Apple, Samsung etc. Well done Microsoft, Apple does not have a monopoly on innovation.
Logitech and Zagg beg to differ. But, whatever version of history you like.
this is the PC...reinvented and what i suspect a lot of people will like. I see enough ipad users trying to make their ipad into this with keyboards and what not. Since the mouse doesn't work (or will if you hack it) on the ipad i think Jobs did not want the ipad to be the 'new pc' but something completely different. he succeeded. this looks to be a smart move from MS. trying to keep Windows alive and well. now when i can run ubuntu on one of these i will buy it.
However what's not useful to a lot of home users... is the question of security when using a full OS, if they only are web surfing, emailing FB-ing.
Considering how many people play FB games, it will be handy for number of FB-ers.
Outside of that, different scenarios, different needs. Personally, I have desktop, laptop and tablet. Since heavy work is being done on desktop anyway, I can replace my tablet and laptop with this amalgamation. Still have my Lightroom and Pinnacle Studio when travelling, while being able to use device for books/comics/movies in landscape and portrait mode.
In general, I think there are a lot of scenarios when one needs simple tablet for most of the time, but requires laptop power every now and then. This might be good device for such usage. Of course we'll have to wait and see how well it compromises between two worlds. It does look promising in my eyes, at least.
I think this kind of post shows that the majority of AppleInsider users are not interested in _any_ new technology. Their fanboism has blinded them and we see comments and pictures about Steve Ballmer. This is a disgrace to the whole AppleInsider and Apple community.
I own the iPad3 for example. I want progress. This product will offer more and points to weaknesses in the iOS/iPad structure. Weaknesses that will hopefully push Apple to deliver better products. I am talking about stuff like:
- Input. Giving the possibility to connect any USB device that just works on the fly delivers a lot more.
- Output. The need for purchasing a dongle to output to HDMI is just crazy.
- external memory. Gives the ability to live, long time, with a product. You can extend the memory according to your needs.
- keyboard. This keyboard seems to be the perfect combination of design and cover.
Both Apple and Microsoft needs to learn from each other and this device is really a good step in right direction.
We all want progress but not like this.
1. USB - I don't want to have to carry a USB cable around - wireless connections are the way forward. You'll be asking for a serial port next.
2. Dongle - The advantage of a standard port on the iPad is that we get a multitude of peripherals all made to work with the iPad out of the box. If you don't want a dongle just use AirPlay instead.
3. External memory - you haven't done your research coz you can already buy external memory for the iPad. Kingston and Seagate both make portable hard drives that sync wirelessly with your iPad to add extra memory.
4 Keyboard - how backward thinking is that. It's a tablet not a laptop. You're meant to use your fingers or the onscreen keyboard. There are lots of external keyboards for the iPad if you're that bothered. Personally I think if a keyboard is that important to you I would buy a MBA instead of an iPad.
Comments
OK. To be fair I think it’s only right that everyone posting... including myself... should watch the entire demo presentation here:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/19/3096420/microsoft-surface-event-video-live
I just finished it in it’s entirety, and have some good things... and some bad... to comment on.
First the bad:
1) almost every single bullet point, whether from Ballmer, Sinofsky... and especially Panos Panay the lead designer... should be attributed to Apple. Specifically how it “feels in your hands” (Steve Jobs), down to the “perfection of a chamfer” and the curves (Jony Ives).
2) the times when any of the presenters “could” have showed a performance demo, say of 30 seconds, they didn’t. In fact, Sinofsky struggled with the touch interface almost every time; as did Mike Angiula touching it as if he were afraid of the device and that it might do something strange (it did at least twice)
3) Angiula had a great opportunity to show Lightroom editing, even just a simple balance adjustment... but didn’t; while Panay could have typed something meaningful and saved it, but again... just showed responsiveness of the keys. What about the trackpad?
4) backing up to the part where Ballmer looks back at the mouse: again, attribute the awareness of a mouse to begin with, by Xerox, and then Apple actually using it as the basis for a GUI. It’s quite sickening to watch this rewriting of history.
The good:
1) the idea is interesting, and could be just the beginning as I believe Sinofsky said. It will probably “stick”, but take until Windows 9 to go critical mass. Again, I’m expecting late 2014/early 2015.
2) they did “appear” to put a lot of effort into the design for once, and it surely is something completely different than what the OEMs and/or Android tablets have offered, specifically the materials used. Calling VaporMG “Liquid Metal” though is a no-no. LM is trademarked.
The remaining questions:
1) the cost.
2) the performance, especially heat-related.
3) the battery life as opposed to true mobil devices;
4) and since this thread came down to cables, inputs, and adapters... if the battery performance is weak... what does the power brick look like and weigh.
I’m actually going to state that I think the Surface will be a success... but at a later time rather than a few months or even a year. I do think there will be some early adopters though, and as a consultant, I’m compelled to get one early to demo the good, the bad, and the differences as apposed to the iPad or MBA my clients use now.
I’m hoping that MS delivers even half of what they’re promising, then they’ll be OK as a company. These are exciting times
PS. it’s a shame and a disgrace to see all of those dedicated designer’s and engineer’s work being demoed/presented by Ballmer. Those folks really deserve more!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by qualar
Grow up!
Pardon me for being cheeky!
"Surprised" could also be constructed with "pleasantly" before it. Although true be it, I'm not expecting that once we get them in our... the users... hands.
I guess those things matter when you use an OS that forces you to reboot a lot. I wouldn't know though: my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air resume instantly and don't need frequent reboots. Maybe a Moto Droid user would appreciate the boot time benchmark.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cycomiko
For an ipad, very relevant. Except apple uses a 'camera connection kit' that allows some functionality...
and dongles are only useful if they are apple dongles?
and talking about planned obsolescence
You do NOT need a camera connection kit at all. You can use a number of services or apps to transfer your photos. Most used scenario is in the field FYI, since I work with a number of photogs... that's fact.
No... any dongle is OK, from anyone really. The idea from Apple's perspective is to keep the input connector(s) on the iPad itself to the absolute minimum. Again, why is that wrong? You do know that if there was a USB connector on the iPad, there would be more complaints of what you CAN'T connect, than what you could?
Please advice as to what you're pointing to as "planned obsolescence"... then maybe I could respond.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
It brings nothing really worthwhile to the table.
Like Windows Phone.
It brings full PC functionality to the table(t)... and still remains reasonably slim and lite. That is worthwile for a lot of home, and much more corporate users.
Nobody said anything about "hurting" MS.
You pretty much nailed it.
Do not mind the Helvetica?
I can imagine why. Y took a deep breath, said wait a moment and then the list kept getting longer and longer. Describing universes of vision, taste and engineering takes a few lines.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cycomiko
So, what you are saying, is that you are making up statistics to support your proposition, without any evidence. And when called on it, you go off on a tangent about Obama.
Recent statistics at IDC point to ~50 million iPads have been sold to date.
I most surely will bet you that at least 1 million of those owners only have an iPad. They are the so-called "casual users" such as the elderly, tech averse, Oprah-fans, etc.
Just in my circle of colleagues/clients both private and corporate, there are over 60 that I have personally set up over the last year since iPad 2 and iOS5 came to market. In the process, those clients dumped their aging Windows PC's, both laptops and desktops equally. I've been posting updates to this phenomenon every time this subject comes up.
BTW: Tech-consulting is not my main job even, it's just a peripheral activity I am asked to assist in.
PS. (added)... sorry for the facetious statistic. It sometimes get tiring pointing out the obvious and having to back it up always to the people that can't put 2 and 2 together for themselves.
(Added again)== Ask yourself: just who is purchasing iPads... because we know the tech people hate it... the Android crowd hates it... the I want a full OSX or file system crowd hates it... WHO IS PURCHASING iPads as fast as Apple can make them???
Quote:
Originally Posted by CogitoDexter
It looks positively uncomfortable to hold, especially if that kickstand starts flapping about.
There was a reason why Apple ditched the angular edges of the iPad1 for the gently curved bevelling of the '2 and '3. My new iPad is so much nicer to hold sans-case than my first gen iPad.
I can see that Microsoft are hoping for enterprise adoption for this thing, but the problem is, the enterprise sees computers as sit-down-in-front-of work machines and laptops are for commuting or working on at home. There won't be many directly enterprise related applications for this Windows tablet that will overcome the drawbacks of buying a laptop-alike that will regularly fall apart at the seams (those keyboard cover things aren't going to stay put that well).
It's going to bomb, and it's going to bomb big time.
Well, we have exponencialy raising demand for tablets from our business users. Lots of them use desktop or even thin client in the office, or simply don't need their staff to drag 15" lappy around all the time. This Pro model could be dream-come-true for them - full understanding of AD, group policies, easy access to shares, printers, CRM, company's SharePoint. Full Office and Outlook functionality. All the things you'd have to workaround (and some of them you couldn't at all) on iPads and Androids come naturally to this, while still remaining reasonably portable tablet form factor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikon133
It brings full PC functionality to the table(t)... and still remains reasonably slim and lite. That is worthwile for a lot of home, and much more corporate users.
However what's not useful to a lot of home users... is the question of security when using a full OS, if they only are web surfing, emailing FB-ing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cycomiko
Same as when your macbook air decides to stop working.
I take it to the Apple Store and they help fix it, Where will i have to ship my surface for service. What county will i call for support. how many times a week will i have to install patches.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CogitoDexter
It looks positively uncomfortable to hold, especially if that kickstand starts flapping about.
There was a reason why Apple ditched the angular edges of the iPad1 for the gently curved bevelling of the '2 and '3. My new iPad is so much nicer to hold sans-case than my first gen iPad.
I can see that Microsoft are hoping for enterprise adoption for this thing, but the problem is, the enterprise sees computers as sit-down-in-front-of work machines and laptops are for commuting or working on at home. There won't be many directly enterprise related applications for this Windows tablet that will overcome the drawbacks of buying a laptop-alike that will regularly fall apart at the seams (those keyboard cover things aren't going to stay put that well).
It's going to bomb, and it's going to bomb big time.
And that's the difference between Apple and MS design philosophy; one company is focused on creating the best user experience possible while the other is focused on creating what the engineers think will be cool.
Another way to put it is that one stands at the intersection of technology and liberal arts while the other stands at the intersection of technology and fugly street.
I'll let you guess which company is which...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquatic
What's with the hate! This is awesome. It's a tablet and a computer in one device. It's what Apple should have done with a special version of the 11" MacBook Air years ago as soon as iPad became a hit. Things like this and the ASUS PadFone are awesome.
The Win 8 UI looks interesting, I guess. Maybe not the best, then again I haven't used it in person. But the general concept of running REAL apps on a mobile touchscreen is awesome. Also, people want to have a big touchscreen. The Galaxy Note is homerun. I predict the ASUS PadFone will sell well, also. There is another reason. Up until these devices you had to pay extra for tethering. Because you had two devices, a tablet and a computer. Or a phone, tablet, and computer. If you merge all of them, you pay one data plan. Of course I'm sure US carriers will muck this up. But kudos to Microsoft for innovating, dare I say it. Kinect is awesome. This Surface product looks really awesome, too. Personally I'd rather see an something like the ASUS transformer powered by an Intel mobile chip that can run Windows and MacOS X and Android all one device: a phone that plugs into a tablet which clips onto a keyboard. How sweet would that be!? All your apps everywhere all the time with all your data. The cloud doesn't work so well for large files when you pay per megabyte.
I really wonder about battery life, though. Other than that, I think this may possibly be a dark horse that becomes successful. The x86 Surface tab in particular. I imagine businesses will greatly prefer this to having to deal with Apple and iOS.
Mate, this forum is over-saturated by Apple fanatics... that's what is with the hate
Re battery. Considering that new Zenbook Prime lasts 6 hours and half, with faster Core i7 processor and 13" full HD IPS screen... and not having more volume than this tablet, because of teardrop form and mechanical keyboard taking away some space... or the HP Folio 13 with nearly 8 hours of juice (7:50) without wedge shape (but still reasonably slim)... I think it is possible to get decent battery of this device. Of course, we'll have to wait and see. I think a lot of things were not said on purpose and will be slowly released in the following weeks and month, to keep the hype.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikon133
Well, we have exponencialy raising demand for tablets from our business users. Lots of them use desktop or even thin client in the office, or simply don't need their staff to drag 15" lappy around all the time. This Pro model could be dream-come-true for them - full understanding of AD, group policies, easy access to shares, printers, CRM, company's SharePoint. Full Office and Outlook functionality. All the things you'd have to workaround (and some of them you couldn't at all) on iPads and Androids come naturally to this, while still remaining reasonably portable tablet form factor.
That's exactly what I'm seeing as well. That's why I'm not truly "dumping" on MS and the Surface. I just hated the presentation and demo.
Yesterday I watched a full presentation from Mozilla, where they mentioned the "80/20" factor: 80% of the users use 20% of the features of any given OS or software program.
OK... I'm speculating again to a point... but I'd say that for more than 50% of Windows users, you could say it should be the "90/10" rule.
If MS can offer up the Win8RT arm version for a competitive price... with a well stocked and curated app store... again, I think they'll do well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Bart
Correct! Microsoft have come up with this amazing keyboard cover BEFORE Apple, Samsung etc. Well done Microsoft, Apple does not have a monopoly on innovation.
Logitech and Zagg beg to differ. But, whatever version of history you like.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dickprinter
What is that....netbook lite?
this is the PC...reinvented and what i suspect a lot of people will like. I see enough ipad users trying to make their ipad into this with keyboards and what not. Since the mouse doesn't work (or will if you hack it) on the ipad i think Jobs did not want the ipad to be the 'new pc' but something completely different. he succeeded. this looks to be a smart move from MS. trying to keep Windows alive and well. now when i can run ubuntu on one of these i will buy it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThePixelDoc
However what's not useful to a lot of home users... is the question of security when using a full OS, if they only are web surfing, emailing FB-ing.
Considering how many people play FB games, it will be handy for number of FB-ers.
Outside of that, different scenarios, different needs. Personally, I have desktop, laptop and tablet. Since heavy work is being done on desktop anyway, I can replace my tablet and laptop with this amalgamation. Still have my Lightroom and Pinnacle Studio when travelling, while being able to use device for books/comics/movies in landscape and portrait mode.
In general, I think there are a lot of scenarios when one needs simple tablet for most of the time, but requires laptop power every now and then. This might be good device for such usage. Of course we'll have to wait and see how well it compromises between two worlds. It does look promising in my eyes, at least.
Quote:
Originally Posted by serializer
I think this kind of post shows that the majority of AppleInsider users are not interested in _any_ new technology. Their fanboism has blinded them and we see comments and pictures about Steve Ballmer. This is a disgrace to the whole AppleInsider and Apple community.
I own the iPad3 for example. I want progress. This product will offer more and points to weaknesses in the iOS/iPad structure. Weaknesses that will hopefully push Apple to deliver better products. I am talking about stuff like:
- Input. Giving the possibility to connect any USB device that just works on the fly delivers a lot more.
- Output. The need for purchasing a dongle to output to HDMI is just crazy.
- external memory. Gives the ability to live, long time, with a product. You can extend the memory according to your needs.
- keyboard. This keyboard seems to be the perfect combination of design and cover.
Both Apple and Microsoft needs to learn from each other and this device is really a good step in right direction.
We all want progress but not like this.
1. USB - I don't want to have to carry a USB cable around - wireless connections are the way forward. You'll be asking for a serial port next.
2. Dongle - The advantage of a standard port on the iPad is that we get a multitude of peripherals all made to work with the iPad out of the box. If you don't want a dongle just use AirPlay instead.
3. External memory - you haven't done your research coz you can already buy external memory for the iPad. Kingston and Seagate both make portable hard drives that sync wirelessly with your iPad to add extra memory.
4 Keyboard - how backward thinking is that. It's a tablet not a laptop. You're meant to use your fingers or the onscreen keyboard. There are lots of external keyboards for the iPad if you're that bothered. Personally I think if a keyboard is that important to you I would buy a MBA instead of an iPad.