I must say that what Apple presented was exactly what I expetced. Not more and not less. I think this is the real risk Apple has with it operating model. Keeping new products secret until the last minute may spark a lot of rumors and brings them free advertising and PR. However, it creates such a hugh expectation that at the end even a great product earns a lot of critisism and disappointment. Lets see how it will be when we can hold one iPad in our hands. Most people here (also me) can only judge based on the blogs, pictures and the advertising video. So let's see...
BTW: Some people say it doesn't have GPS. But the tech specs says that it does have "assisted GPS". Isn't that the same??
A couple of thoughts. One is that Apple nailed the most important detail, namely price.
The basic model with 16G and no 3G will still be quite useful for many of us. That Apple got the pricing right and still will deliver a good quality, decent-sized screen, is rather impressive.
The other thought is that this device could, potentially, help bring about a resurgence in the popularity of the desktop. A desktop system in combination with the iPad makes a lot of sense. More portable than a laptop and with better battery life. By not trying to be a computer that happens to work anywhere, the device eliminates some of the trade-offs that laptops impose on us. At the same time, it is a handy product that does a lot of what people were in fact using laptops for.
Compared to a PC netbook, this thing will look good. My netbook can barely deliver two hours of battery life and it has a significantly inferior display. It's running inferior technology (no LED backlighting or IPS) and a resolution of 1024X600 compared to the iPad's 1024X768. The iPad is more money but also a higher-quality device all around. Also, longer battery life means fewer charge cycles and that means the battery will take a lot longer to wear out and require replacing. Over the long haul, that could offset the initial higher price.
This device will be very successful because Apple gets it, especially when it comes to price. As a shareholder, I'm quite pleased.
I think it's cool and it pretty amazing if you take it all in - from the screen to its abilities to its connectivity (802.11n and 3G) to the battery life (very impressive at 10 hours). I want one.
Yes I want one but would NEED one if it could run iLife (photo, video music editing ? one of the best things about a Mac). I?m surprised they chose to launch it with a reworked version of iWorks (Apple?s version of MS Office) and not iLife since the rest of the iPad is geared for casual use (music, video, photos, email, web). But that?s me trying to wrestle with getting an iPad vs Mac with iLife.
But as usual this is not a one and done product, none ever are especially for Apple. There will be software updates/upgrades and in a year an iPad 2. With those we will see more features and likely ones some think it needs now, like iLife, video camera, etc.
Don't forget that a lot of what we love about the iPhone was not included in the first version (namely the Apps Store). Maybe like it they want to get it right first for the iPad before including it.
What I find really interesting is that Apple is really changing the world. Seriously. Think about what an iPhone can do now that was not capable on smartphones before it. Many of those capabilities are now available on other smartphones because of the iPhone. I take for granted what I have access to and can do (quickly and easily mind you) that I didn?t and couldn?t before the iPhone. I?m sure the Blackberry and other users feel the same.
So what does that have to do with the iPad. Well if you?ll indulge a bit of sci-fi geekness for a bit ? you know how in nearly all sci-fi they have handheld computers everywhere? They use them to get information, share it, create it. In Avatar they pulled it with a swipe of their finger from a desktop monitor to a portable touchscreen. In Star Trek they don?t use notebooks they carry flat computers. In Star Wars they pass them around like we do printed reports. My point is what if a year or two or three from now we are significantly closer to that? What if we have a smartphone, a laptop, maybe a home desktop and a tablet pc like the iPad? And it?s commonplace. Just like it?s commonplace now to get sports updates automatically from Sportacular, or what TV through Slingplayer on your phone or have instant access do any information or play any imaginable game through 140,000 aps.
Apple?s trying to create/meet/re-create a segment here. One that is in between a smartphone (iPhone namely) and a laptop, which is what Jobs said today. It's not a phone. It's not a laptop. And there's a want there. There's a want to do all the non-phone stuff a smartphone (again namely the iPhone) can do but on a larger display. There's a want to do all the non-sit-at-your-desk, waiting-for-your-laptop-to-boot things a laptop can do but without the weight, dedicated keyboard and full OS. There?s a want to take a file with you to a meeting without losing your email and web access and have it as large as it would be on your laptop. There?s a want there just like there was a want to do more with a smartphone before the iPhone and the smartphones that have come after it. Now we need those.
One of my best friends asked why get an iPad over a laptop. I think in the not too distant future that question won?t ever be asked because that want will have become a need.
I agree with what you are saying and I think the device will be a big hit sales-wise.
What I'm saying is that it's extremely underwhelming from a technical standpoint, and it appears to not be able to do most of what I expected it to do.
I expected they would go some way towards solving the problems that have always plagued the tablet as a mobile computing device. Instead, Apple has cleverly switched the ground of the argument and solved the problems that have always plagued the tablet *selling* as a mobile computer device. All the input problems remain, but they have found a way to make people buy it by focussing on the media delivery part.
My issue with the device is that I wanted a portable *computer* that I would be able to use to actively work on, to produce content or be productive in other ways. I referred to the device as a big iPod touch, because that's what it is, a *passive* media consumption device, as opposed to a truly *productive* device like a laptop.
I think they will get there eventually, obviously this thing has *some* content creation capabilities. But I am disappointed that they didn't use *any* new technology in the thing and that they haven't done what everyone said they were going to do, which is solve the technology problems that plague tablets.
There were tablets with attached keyboards years and years ago. There were tablets with virtual keyboards years and years ago. None of the technology is new in any sense of the word, and none of the existing technology has been used in any ways that haven't been tried before.
So, yeah. Great product, probably sell rather well, but really, really, underwhelming from a technological standpoint. If this is Steve's greatest achievement maybe he should retire.
Or maybe they should tone down the hype machine a bit because revolutionary, this thing is just not.
You are right but in being so, it shows where everyone else previously was wrong. They tried to make a laptop with a tablet interface. What Apple has realized is that it is both impossible with today's technology and pointless. For most business/productivity uses, people are happy with their laptops and do them in one or 2 standard places. Apple have taken the position that tablets are much better for other things - lots of other things. Touch UI will come to the iMac, Macbooks etc. as the iPad/iPhone/iTouch really generalizes its use but it only makes sense is certain places. For the uses Apple has shown us, it makes sense almost all the time. I predict the typing will be easy enough for most uses too. Lets face it on the web, it is 99% consumer, 1% producer (see Wikipedia, forums etc.) - would you look to solve the 99% problem or the 1% problem? (even if it is 80:20)
As for the technology, Apple rarely pushes the envelope on raw tech but it is how they put it together - massive, bright, multitouch screen, 10hrs battery with the screen on all the time (video), 1.5lbs, super thing, and all the apps innovatively using the accelerometers/compass makes this an unprecedented package at a great price.
Just my opinion - but this thing will sell like hot cakes. Touching is believing apparently according the few who have already fondled one
This looks like it could be a VERY interesting consumer device.
I too was a bit underwhelmed when I first saw the specs, but the more I think about it the more convinced I am this will be HUGE and that in 3 or 4 years the iPad will be as ubiquitous as iPods are today.
I concur. Totally not interested as I watched the presentation, but the more I listen to pundits and read the comments here and other places, it's sounding much more interesting, especially in the long haul.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brit120666
You probably think the Google Nexus One is cool...
The Nexus One is cool. Really. I'm testing one right now. It beats the current iPhone 3G[s] hands down in almost every way. All it lacks is iTunes and MobileMe seamless integration. Everything else is there, and a lot of things the iPhone doesn't do, like the holy grail of multitasking that most here are panning the iPad for not having.
If you can't acknowledge that the Nexus One (and even the Droid) aren't compelling devices that at least nip at the heels, if not surpass the iPhone in its current iterations, then you seem to be either someone who's never touched one, or simply unwilling to acknowledge that anyone but Apple can make something cool.
I can "love" Apple products, and other products at the same time...kind of like I love my cat, and my dog. Just because they're different beasts doesn't mean one sucks and I have to hate it.
Now, you want to criticize Google's choice of T-Mobile as the carrier for the Nexus One, I'm right there with you. Not happy at all with T-Mobile in northern Los Angeles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
That's the second time (at least) that you've posted it. Can you explain how?
Not the one you queried about it, but you have to Jailbreak your phone. Once done, you can get either PDANet ($30) or MyWi ($10) for wifi or bluetooth tethering. I've used both. MyWi beats PDANet hands down for ease of use, but it requires even more layers of non-Apple OS extensions to install it, and that makes some nervous. PDANet just download the app and it works, but the WiFi tethering can be flakey...USB tethering works great. I'm posting this on a USB tethered laptop using my old iPhone 3G as a modem with just a simple "profile" installed.
This thing has one of the highest quality displays going - IPS. So why not include an SD card slot and make it incredibly useful for digital photographers in the field?
But I guess that would make it just so much easier to put your own non-revenue-generating content on it?
I like the concept, multitouch to the next level, but lack of ichat, flash, multi-tasking, video or camera sensor are major misses.
I was also hoping for Verizon to take on the 3G task. ATT can hardly hold the demand right now.
iPad is what is it - a great 1st gen product for people looking to see their favorite iphone apps in a bigger screen and maybe start getting use to the idea of multi-touch coming to the imac line pretty soon. Hopefully 2nd generation (next year 2011) will be better.
Also, there is no mention if current desktop apps (like photoshop) could be run in this thing. . .apparently not. .. so what is the point?
I love apple: I have an imac, a macbook pro and iphone and I have given away ipod touches as gifts. . . but i'm not sold on the idea of the ipad lacking the features mentioned
Well... you do need some space to put your fingers while holding it, and keeping fingers on touch-sensitive screen (while obscuring view) would be a bit impractical, to my opinion. ...
I think the assumption was (based on the patents Apple has received and recent products like the Magic Mouse), that the back of the device would be able to sense your fingers so the device would "know" that you were holding it in one hand and ignore the thumb on the front, or "know" that you were holding it with two hands at the bottom in portrait mode and thus set itself up for thumb-typing. At least that's the direct impression I got from reading the patents and seeing their latest designs. I'm sure I'm not alone
As a professional student and techie, here's what I think:
1. If I can't take notes onto my books and insert pages of notes INTO my books, this thing is 100% worthless to me as a student. How hard is it?
2. I'd seriously like some better voice recognition AND voice "reading." This thing should be able to read my books or notes to me while I'm exercising or reading something else. Seriously. I don't have a lot of time, med school is hard. Please make my life easier.
3. Hulu would have been nice.
4. I don't really care about lack of multitasking. If you use well designed iPhone apps you don't notice it. The only example people seem to be able to give me is Pandora + Web browsing...I can browse and listen to iTunes songs simultaneously, so who needs crappy Pandora?
5. More video support would have been nice. I've heard there's no .mkv support. True?
6. Camera-Shmamera. I have cameras. If it had one, it'd just suck like the iPhone one anyways. If I need a camera, I'll use one. Like I need to be Skyping from Starbucks while I'm trying to read, anyways...sheesh. That's what phones are for people!
7. GPS would have been nice. Maybe it'll be in the 3G enabled versions.
Until I'm able to take notes on my books, I will NOT be getting one.
I agree with what you are saying and I think the device will be a big hit sales-wise.
What I'm saying is that it's extremely underwhelming from a technical standpoint, and it appears to not be able to do most of what I expected it to do.
I expected they would go some way towards solving the problems that have always plagued the tablet as a mobile computing device. Instead, Apple has cleverly switched the ground of the argument and solved the problems that have always plagued the tablet *selling* as a mobile computer device. All the input problems remain, but they have found a way to make people buy it by focussing on the media delivery part.
My issue with the device is that I wanted a portable *computer* that I would be able to use to actively work on, to produce content or be productive in other ways. I referred to the device as a big iPod touch, because that's what it is, a *passive* media consumption device, as opposed to a truly *productive* device like a laptop.
I think they will get there eventually, obviously this thing has *some* content creation capabilities. But I am disappointed that they didn't use *any* new technology in the thing and that they haven't done what everyone said they were going to do, which is solve the technology problems that plague tablets.
There were tablets with attached keyboards years and years ago. There were tablets with virtual keyboards years and years ago. None of the technology is new in any sense of the word, and none of the existing technology has been used in any ways that haven't been tried before.
So, yeah. Great product, probably sell rather well, but really, really, underwhelming from a technological standpoint. If this is Steve's greatest achievement maybe he should retire.
Or maybe they should tone down the hype machine a bit because revolutionary, this thing is just not.
If you want a full-function computer, they make those. They're called laptops. They work rather well and people like them. There was no need for a re-imagining of that mature, well-thought out form factor.
This device will be very good for what it is designed to do. Kudos to Apple for not making the mistake of trying to get the device to awkwardly perform tasks for which it's not suited.
That's the sort of foolish path the competition has travelled on and look where it got them.
Keep in mind that price is a big factor in all of this. I'm sure Apple could have imbued this device with some very revolutionary technology but then the price would have gone north of $1,000 and absolutely no one would buy the thing. What would be the point?
I would LOVE one of these. If it was lying around the living room I guarantee it would be the most used computer in the house. I want the iPad version of NFS ASAP, PLS! I can see it sitting there on the keyboard dock. ready for action. Come to think of it, I can see that we'll need to get another pretty soon to keep the peace in the household.
That's all it appears to be good for. Super casual computing. The iWork stuff looks like it would be really frustrating as does the paint app. Phil - "the best word processor ever"??? Anything that requires a lot of precision is going to be a pain in the ass trying to accomplish on that device. Just like the iPhone is frustrating for composing long emails, cut and paste or getting the cursor where you want it. And if you are going to leave it attached to the keyboard, you might as well have a MacBook. Of course it is a bit less expensive but so is a crappy Windows PC. You get what you pay for I guess.
It's a media player/book reader with delusions of granduer.
No flash?
No Camera?
No iChat client?
No multi-tasking?
No user profiles? (if this is supposed to be shared...????)
This is not a criticism of your post, but while I was reading it I thought about what mobile computers were like 10 years ago and realized how far things have come. I guess we already expect video conferencing, and take high-speed mobile web browsing and legal media downloads for granted!
A couple of thoughts. One is that Apple nailed the most important detail, namely price.
The basic model with 16G and no 3G will still be quite useful for many of us. That Apple got the pricing right and still will deliver a good quality, decent-sized screen, is rather impressive.
The other thought is that this device could, potentially, help bring about a resurgence in the popularity of the desktop. A desktop system in combination with the iPad makes a lot of sense. More portable than a laptop and with better battery life. By not trying to be a computer that happens to work anywhere, the device eliminates some of the trade-offs that laptops impose on us. At the same time, it is a handy product that does a lot of what people were in fact using laptops for.
Compared to a PC netbook, this thing will look good. My netbook can barely deliver two hours of battery life and it has a significantly inferior display. It's running inferior technology (no LED backlighting or IPS) and a resolution of 1024X600 compared to the iPad's 1024X768. The iPad is more money but also a higher-quality device all around. Also, longer battery life means fewer charge cycles and that means the battery will take a lot longer to wear out and require replacing. Over the long haul, that could offset the initial higher price.
This device will be very successful because Apple gets it, especially when it comes to price. As a shareholder, I'm quite pleased.
All good points. I think so many people were expecting a $999 device laden with all conceivable bells and whistles that they overlook the basic fact that Apple might have hit a sweet spot for price and functionality.
Based on Jobs' comments I was expecting a little more out of this. I was hoping this product would have been a little more business friendly. Multitasking would have been very nice. I am still hoping they add a plug in camera for conferencing. It feels like a giant ipod touch. It feels like they are doing this as a proof of concept before they really bust loose with a business friendly device. The second generation, I have a feeling, will be so much more. This device with a few additions would be a great tool. Right now it's just a fun to have and that will be fine for many Maciphiles to dish out the cash.
Comments
BTW: Some people say it doesn't have GPS. But the tech specs says that it does have "assisted GPS". Isn't that the same??
Cheers from Berlin/Germany
Peter
The basic model with 16G and no 3G will still be quite useful for many of us. That Apple got the pricing right and still will deliver a good quality, decent-sized screen, is rather impressive.
The other thought is that this device could, potentially, help bring about a resurgence in the popularity of the desktop. A desktop system in combination with the iPad makes a lot of sense. More portable than a laptop and with better battery life. By not trying to be a computer that happens to work anywhere, the device eliminates some of the trade-offs that laptops impose on us. At the same time, it is a handy product that does a lot of what people were in fact using laptops for.
Compared to a PC netbook, this thing will look good. My netbook can barely deliver two hours of battery life and it has a significantly inferior display. It's running inferior technology (no LED backlighting or IPS) and a resolution of 1024X600 compared to the iPad's 1024X768. The iPad is more money but also a higher-quality device all around. Also, longer battery life means fewer charge cycles and that means the battery will take a lot longer to wear out and require replacing. Over the long haul, that could offset the initial higher price.
This device will be very successful because Apple gets it, especially when it comes to price. As a shareholder, I'm quite pleased.
So has Apple released the international pricing?
I don't think it really matters for Quadra. Or, at least, it doesn't matter for his posting
Yes I want one but would NEED one if it could run iLife (photo, video music editing ? one of the best things about a Mac). I?m surprised they chose to launch it with a reworked version of iWorks (Apple?s version of MS Office) and not iLife since the rest of the iPad is geared for casual use (music, video, photos, email, web). But that?s me trying to wrestle with getting an iPad vs Mac with iLife.
But as usual this is not a one and done product, none ever are especially for Apple. There will be software updates/upgrades and in a year an iPad 2. With those we will see more features and likely ones some think it needs now, like iLife, video camera, etc.
Don't forget that a lot of what we love about the iPhone was not included in the first version (namely the Apps Store). Maybe like it they want to get it right first for the iPad before including it.
What I find really interesting is that Apple is really changing the world. Seriously. Think about what an iPhone can do now that was not capable on smartphones before it. Many of those capabilities are now available on other smartphones because of the iPhone. I take for granted what I have access to and can do (quickly and easily mind you) that I didn?t and couldn?t before the iPhone. I?m sure the Blackberry and other users feel the same.
So what does that have to do with the iPad. Well if you?ll indulge a bit of sci-fi geekness for a bit ? you know how in nearly all sci-fi they have handheld computers everywhere? They use them to get information, share it, create it. In Avatar they pulled it with a swipe of their finger from a desktop monitor to a portable touchscreen. In Star Trek they don?t use notebooks they carry flat computers. In Star Wars they pass them around like we do printed reports. My point is what if a year or two or three from now we are significantly closer to that? What if we have a smartphone, a laptop, maybe a home desktop and a tablet pc like the iPad? And it?s commonplace. Just like it?s commonplace now to get sports updates automatically from Sportacular, or what TV through Slingplayer on your phone or have instant access do any information or play any imaginable game through 140,000 aps.
Apple?s trying to create/meet/re-create a segment here. One that is in between a smartphone (iPhone namely) and a laptop, which is what Jobs said today. It's not a phone. It's not a laptop. And there's a want there. There's a want to do all the non-phone stuff a smartphone (again namely the iPhone) can do but on a larger display. There's a want to do all the non-sit-at-your-desk, waiting-for-your-laptop-to-boot things a laptop can do but without the weight, dedicated keyboard and full OS. There?s a want to take a file with you to a meeting without losing your email and web access and have it as large as it would be on your laptop. There?s a want there just like there was a want to do more with a smartphone before the iPhone and the smartphones that have come after it. Now we need those.
One of my best friends asked why get an iPad over a laptop. I think in the not too distant future that question won?t ever be asked because that want will have become a need.
I agree with what you are saying and I think the device will be a big hit sales-wise.
What I'm saying is that it's extremely underwhelming from a technical standpoint, and it appears to not be able to do most of what I expected it to do.
I expected they would go some way towards solving the problems that have always plagued the tablet as a mobile computing device. Instead, Apple has cleverly switched the ground of the argument and solved the problems that have always plagued the tablet *selling* as a mobile computer device. All the input problems remain, but they have found a way to make people buy it by focussing on the media delivery part.
My issue with the device is that I wanted a portable *computer* that I would be able to use to actively work on, to produce content or be productive in other ways. I referred to the device as a big iPod touch, because that's what it is, a *passive* media consumption device, as opposed to a truly *productive* device like a laptop.
I think they will get there eventually, obviously this thing has *some* content creation capabilities. But I am disappointed that they didn't use *any* new technology in the thing and that they haven't done what everyone said they were going to do, which is solve the technology problems that plague tablets.
There were tablets with attached keyboards years and years ago. There were tablets with virtual keyboards years and years ago. None of the technology is new in any sense of the word, and none of the existing technology has been used in any ways that haven't been tried before.
So, yeah. Great product, probably sell rather well, but really, really, underwhelming from a technological standpoint. If this is Steve's greatest achievement maybe he should retire.
Or maybe they should tone down the hype machine a bit because revolutionary, this thing is just not.
You are right but in being so, it shows where everyone else previously was wrong. They tried to make a laptop with a tablet interface. What Apple has realized is that it is both impossible with today's technology and pointless. For most business/productivity uses, people are happy with their laptops and do them in one or 2 standard places. Apple have taken the position that tablets are much better for other things - lots of other things. Touch UI will come to the iMac, Macbooks etc. as the iPad/iPhone/iTouch really generalizes its use but it only makes sense is certain places. For the uses Apple has shown us, it makes sense almost all the time. I predict the typing will be easy enough for most uses too. Lets face it on the web, it is 99% consumer, 1% producer (see Wikipedia, forums etc.) - would you look to solve the 99% problem or the 1% problem? (even if it is 80:20)
As for the technology, Apple rarely pushes the envelope on raw tech but it is how they put it together - massive, bright, multitouch screen, 10hrs battery with the screen on all the time (video), 1.5lbs, super thing, and all the apps innovatively using the accelerometers/compass makes this an unprecedented package at a great price.
Just my opinion - but this thing will sell like hot cakes. Touching is believing apparently according the few who have already fondled one
This looks like it could be a VERY interesting consumer device.
I too was a bit underwhelmed when I first saw the specs, but the more I think about it the more convinced I am this will be HUGE and that in 3 or 4 years the iPad will be as ubiquitous as iPods are today.
I concur. Totally not interested as I watched the presentation, but the more I listen to pundits and read the comments here and other places, it's sounding much more interesting, especially in the long haul.
You probably think the Google Nexus One is cool...
The Nexus One is cool. Really. I'm testing one right now. It beats the current iPhone 3G[s] hands down in almost every way. All it lacks is iTunes and MobileMe seamless integration. Everything else is there, and a lot of things the iPhone doesn't do, like the holy grail of multitasking that most here are panning the iPad for not having.
If you can't acknowledge that the Nexus One (and even the Droid) aren't compelling devices that at least nip at the heels, if not surpass the iPhone in its current iterations, then you seem to be either someone who's never touched one, or simply unwilling to acknowledge that anyone but Apple can make something cool.
I can "love" Apple products, and other products at the same time...kind of like I love my cat, and my dog. Just because they're different beasts doesn't mean one sucks and I have to hate it.
Now, you want to criticize Google's choice of T-Mobile as the carrier for the Nexus One, I'm right there with you. Not happy at all with T-Mobile in northern Los Angeles.
That's the second time (at least) that you've posted it. Can you explain how?
Not the one you queried about it, but you have to Jailbreak your phone. Once done, you can get either PDANet ($30) or MyWi ($10) for wifi or bluetooth tethering. I've used both. MyWi beats PDANet hands down for ease of use, but it requires even more layers of non-Apple OS extensions to install it, and that makes some nervous. PDANet just download the app and it works, but the WiFi tethering can be flakey...USB tethering works great. I'm posting this on a USB tethered laptop using my old iPhone 3G as a modem with just a simple "profile" installed.
But I guess that would make it just so much easier to put your own non-revenue-generating content on it?
I was also hoping for Verizon to take on the 3G task. ATT can hardly hold the demand right now.
iPad is what is it - a great 1st gen product for people looking to see their favorite iphone apps in a bigger screen and maybe start getting use to the idea of multi-touch coming to the imac line pretty soon. Hopefully 2nd generation (next year 2011) will be better.
Also, there is no mention if current desktop apps (like photoshop) could be run in this thing. . .apparently not. .. so what is the point?
I love apple: I have an imac, a macbook pro and iphone and I have given away ipod touches as gifts. . . but i'm not sold on the idea of the ipad lacking the features mentioned
In the old days, Apple would dare debut something like this without Adobe at the demo.
How the mighty have fallen.
I would imagine Cocoa competitors like Lineform must have an edge here. Can they capitalize?
Well... you do need some space to put your fingers while holding it, and keeping fingers on touch-sensitive screen (while obscuring view) would be a bit impractical, to my opinion. ...
I think the assumption was (based on the patents Apple has received and recent products like the Magic Mouse), that the back of the device would be able to sense your fingers so the device would "know" that you were holding it in one hand and ignore the thumb on the front, or "know" that you were holding it with two hands at the bottom in portrait mode and thus set itself up for thumb-typing. At least that's the direct impression I got from reading the patents and seeing their latest designs. I'm sure I'm not alone
As a professional student and techie, here's what I think:
1. If I can't take notes onto my books and insert pages of notes INTO my books, this thing is 100% worthless to me as a student. How hard is it?
2. I'd seriously like some better voice recognition AND voice "reading." This thing should be able to read my books or notes to me while I'm exercising or reading something else. Seriously. I don't have a lot of time, med school is hard. Please make my life easier.
3. Hulu would have been nice.
4. I don't really care about lack of multitasking. If you use well designed iPhone apps you don't notice it. The only example people seem to be able to give me is Pandora + Web browsing...I can browse and listen to iTunes songs simultaneously, so who needs crappy Pandora?
5. More video support would have been nice. I've heard there's no .mkv support. True?
6. Camera-Shmamera. I have cameras. If it had one, it'd just suck like the iPhone one anyways. If I need a camera, I'll use one. Like I need to be Skyping from Starbucks while I'm trying to read, anyways...sheesh. That's what phones are for people!
7. GPS would have been nice. Maybe it'll be in the 3G enabled versions.
Until I'm able to take notes on my books, I will NOT be getting one.
The guy gets to the point.
I agree with what you are saying and I think the device will be a big hit sales-wise.
What I'm saying is that it's extremely underwhelming from a technical standpoint, and it appears to not be able to do most of what I expected it to do.
I expected they would go some way towards solving the problems that have always plagued the tablet as a mobile computing device. Instead, Apple has cleverly switched the ground of the argument and solved the problems that have always plagued the tablet *selling* as a mobile computer device. All the input problems remain, but they have found a way to make people buy it by focussing on the media delivery part.
My issue with the device is that I wanted a portable *computer* that I would be able to use to actively work on, to produce content or be productive in other ways. I referred to the device as a big iPod touch, because that's what it is, a *passive* media consumption device, as opposed to a truly *productive* device like a laptop.
I think they will get there eventually, obviously this thing has *some* content creation capabilities. But I am disappointed that they didn't use *any* new technology in the thing and that they haven't done what everyone said they were going to do, which is solve the technology problems that plague tablets.
There were tablets with attached keyboards years and years ago. There were tablets with virtual keyboards years and years ago. None of the technology is new in any sense of the word, and none of the existing technology has been used in any ways that haven't been tried before.
So, yeah. Great product, probably sell rather well, but really, really, underwhelming from a technological standpoint. If this is Steve's greatest achievement maybe he should retire.
Or maybe they should tone down the hype machine a bit because revolutionary, this thing is just not.
If you want a full-function computer, they make those. They're called laptops. They work rather well and people like them. There was no need for a re-imagining of that mature, well-thought out form factor.
This device will be very good for what it is designed to do. Kudos to Apple for not making the mistake of trying to get the device to awkwardly perform tasks for which it's not suited.
That's the sort of foolish path the competition has travelled on and look where it got them.
Keep in mind that price is a big factor in all of this. I'm sure Apple could have imbued this device with some very revolutionary technology but then the price would have gone north of $1,000 and absolutely no one would buy the thing. What would be the point?
I would LOVE one of these. If it was lying around the living room I guarantee it would be the most used computer in the house. I want the iPad version of NFS ASAP, PLS! I can see it sitting there on the keyboard dock. ready for action. Come to think of it, I can see that we'll need to get another pretty soon to keep the peace in the household.
That's all it appears to be good for. Super casual computing. The iWork stuff looks like it would be really frustrating as does the paint app. Phil - "the best word processor ever"??? Anything that requires a lot of precision is going to be a pain in the ass trying to accomplish on that device. Just like the iPhone is frustrating for composing long emails, cut and paste or getting the cursor where you want it. And if you are going to leave it attached to the keyboard, you might as well have a MacBook. Of course it is a bit less expensive but so is a crappy Windows PC. You get what you pay for I guess.
It's a media player/book reader with delusions of granduer.
No flash?
No Camera?
No iChat client?
No multi-tasking?
No user profiles? (if this is supposed to be shared...????)
This is not a criticism of your post, but while I was reading it I thought about what mobile computers were like 10 years ago and realized how far things have come. I guess we already expect video conferencing, and take high-speed mobile web browsing and legal media downloads for granted!
Like the price, not so impressed with the device.
I agree. But I bet they sell a zillion of them. It seems like the perfect device to use for casual surfing or watching a compressed video.
So the cheap price is pretty necessary considering that it is too big to replace an iPhone and too limited to really be a general purpose computer.
For a "second" device, it would be fun to own.
A couple of thoughts. One is that Apple nailed the most important detail, namely price.
The basic model with 16G and no 3G will still be quite useful for many of us. That Apple got the pricing right and still will deliver a good quality, decent-sized screen, is rather impressive.
The other thought is that this device could, potentially, help bring about a resurgence in the popularity of the desktop. A desktop system in combination with the iPad makes a lot of sense. More portable than a laptop and with better battery life. By not trying to be a computer that happens to work anywhere, the device eliminates some of the trade-offs that laptops impose on us. At the same time, it is a handy product that does a lot of what people were in fact using laptops for.
Compared to a PC netbook, this thing will look good. My netbook can barely deliver two hours of battery life and it has a significantly inferior display. It's running inferior technology (no LED backlighting or IPS) and a resolution of 1024X600 compared to the iPad's 1024X768. The iPad is more money but also a higher-quality device all around. Also, longer battery life means fewer charge cycles and that means the battery will take a lot longer to wear out and require replacing. Over the long haul, that could offset the initial higher price.
This device will be very successful because Apple gets it, especially when it comes to price. As a shareholder, I'm quite pleased.
All good points. I think so many people were expecting a $999 device laden with all conceivable bells and whistles that they overlook the basic fact that Apple might have hit a sweet spot for price and functionality.