iPad Reviews Thread!

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Please post links to iPad reviews, and comments, if you wish, on this thread. I've heard of the David Pogue review on another thread, but there was no link, so I thought it would be convenient to post links in a single place.



Also feel free to post your own review here once you receive your new toy!



(Googling the Pogue thing)



First Batch:

Stephen Fry (Time Magazine)

David Pogue

Walter Mossberg

Edward C. Baig (USA Today)

Tim Gideon (PC Mag)

Andy Ihnatko



Second Batch:

Engadget

Boingboing

Macworld

Bloomberg

Bob LeVitus



Add more as they come, and discuss, please!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    undo redoundo redo Posts: 164member
    So far the reviews are mostly glowing, with very little criticism of the iPad, which is fine for what it's worth. I kinda wonder though...these people were specially selected by Apple to be early recipients of the device. I think it's unlikely in such a case that any of them would be negative, or else they won't be "selected" next time something new comes around.



    From what I've seen so far, I think the iPad is a great thing. Not so sure it's wise to base a purchasing decision on these first reviews. I won't be an early adopter but I'm curious as anyone about all the hype. I'll probably buy an iPad within the next year or two, maybe used, to see if I'd like it and use it.
  • Reply 2 of 28
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Undo Redo View Post


    So far the reviews are mostly glowing, with very little criticism of the iPad, which is fine for what it's worth. I kinda wonder though...these people were specially selected by Apple to be early recipients of the device. I think it's unlikely in such a case that any of them would be negative, or else they won't be "selected" next time something new comes around.



    They are all the typical Mac fans - to be honest it's hard not to find a Mac fan in journalism. Apple have done well in this regard by becoming popular in the DTP industry but the chosen ones were typical Mac-heads. Mossberg, Colbert, Stephen Fry, Pogue.



    You have to be skeptical of all the reviews because magazines like Time and WSJ hope to get subscribers on the device so they're not exactly going to call the device a useless piece of junk and no one should buy one as they'd be shooting themselves in the wallet.



    The only genuine reviews will be from end-users who have nothing to gain from its popularity.
  • Reply 3 of 28
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    They are all the typical Mac fans - to be honest it's hard not to find a Mac fan in journalism. Apple have done well in this regard by becoming popular in the DTP industry but the chosen ones were typical Mac-heads. Mossberg, Colbert, Stephen Fry, Pogue.



    You have to be skeptical of all the reviews because magazines like Time and WSJ hope to get subscribers on the device so they're not exactly going to call the device a useless piece of junk and no one should buy one as they'd be shooting themselves in the wallet.



    The only genuine reviews will be from end-users who have nothing to gain from its popularity.



    Except "end users" means "people who bought one", so if we're in the "figure out how to dismiss good reviews" business, as we apparently are, it's going to be easy to deploy the old "anyone who dropped $500-$800 dollars on this thing are of course going to be trying to prove they're not suckers."



    I think the actual test (and maybe this is what you were getting at) will be word of mouth from early adopters. If the people buying one now really like it, and show it to their friends with high praise, that's going to sell a lot of iPads. Of course, early adopters are fan boys and sheep, so I guess that won't work either.



    Fuck it, Apple Is Doomed.?
  • Reply 4 of 28
    undo redoundo redo Posts: 164member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    I think the actual test (and maybe this is what you were getting at) will be word of mouth from early adopters. If the people buying one now really like it, and show it to their friends with high praise, that's going to sell a lot of iPads. Of course, early adopters are fan boys and sheep, so I guess that won't work either.



    This is true. When I first got my new iPod touch, I thought it was awesome and showed it to everyone. Now I hardly use it anymore. A regular click-wheel iPod and a laptop computer are more useful for me.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    it's going to be easy to deploy the old "anyone who dropped $500-$800 dollars on this thing are of course going to be trying to prove they're not suckers."



    I don't think people will do that because it's not something like a Mac that requires a large decision and investment. The iPad is an appliance you can casually resell on a whim. I think user reviews will be genuine if they like or dislike it.



    I don't think people will dislike it for what it does except possibly the keyboard but more for what it doesn't do. If they bought it without researching it then it's their own fault though.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    I think the actual test (and maybe this is what you were getting at) will be word of mouth from early adopters.



    Early adopters would be the same end users I mentioned.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    If the people buying one now really like it, and show it to their friends with high praise, that's going to sell a lot of iPads. Of course, early adopters are fan boys and sheep, so I guess that won't work either.



    Some will be sheep but I think most are looking for a certain type of device that makes sense and would satisfy a huge number of people. I think Apple have fallen short of the requirements to satisfy all of that audience. It's hard to tell how many people are looking for 'a big iPod Touch' as David Pogue describes it.



    If it's as many people as were looking for a regular sized one then it's a big audience.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Fuck it, Apple Is Doomed.?



    Sadly they will be eventually. Once Jobs goes, that's it, unless they can find a new, young perfectionist who has good taste.
  • Reply 6 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Undo Redo View Post


    This is true. When I first got my new iPod touch, I thought it was awesome and showed it to everyone. Now I hardly use it anymore. A regular click-wheel iPod and a laptop computer are more useful for me.



    Wow, you didn't download the apps!



    I use mine every day. I generally hate it for music (the Scosche Tapline helps a LOT, though) as I have a 160GB Classic that is better in almost every regard except size/weight for playing music -- but the apps!!!! Games. Apps that help with my job. eBuddy. Facebook.



    Especially now that I have a 3g WiFi hotspot with unlimited data (something like a MyFi).



    And I almost never bring my MacBook Pro anywhere, because it's just too big and heavy to stuff in my already full work bag.
  • Reply 7 of 28
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    It's not a "review" as such because they didn't get a test unit, but this meditation on the iPad in Wired is exactly right, IMO.



    Quote:

    That difference can be summarized in two words: It disappears.



    It?s basically a screen. There?s a home button, and some buttons on the side that you don?t pay much attention to while you?re using it.



    On the iPad, websites look pretty much the same as they do on my computer display, with one important exception: They fill the screen. Instead of living inside a box with a URL bar and a bunch of buttons alongside other boxes and applications, content takes over the device. There?s almost no noticeable interface.



    On top of that, the screen is the most responsive touchscreen display I?ve ever had my hands on. Put your finger down on a page and wiggle it around, and the page follows your finger exactly, and instantly.



    Those two facts ? the lack of interface and the instant responsiveness ? lend a psychological concreteness to whatever you?re looking at. You?re not just looking at Wired.com through a browser, you?re holding Wired.com in your hands.



    That's pretty much the first thing that struck me about the idea of the iPad, as it was presented: that the combination of hand sized, minimal hardware, extremely responsive touch UI and one app at a time presentation would make for fundamentally different kind of "computing" experience-- one where the "computer" disappeared and the device simply becomes the task at hand.



    I really do believe that this is a sufficiently compelling vision of how to go about "computing" that it is likely to take over in the way of the GUI and mouse before it.
  • Reply 8 of 28
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    That's pretty much the first thing that struck me about the idea of the iPad, as it was presented: that the combination of hand sized, minimal hardware, extremely responsive touch UI and one app at a time presentation would make for fundamentally different kind of "computing" experience



    The only thing in that description that's different from the iPod is hand-sized though.



    Not that I'm suggesting anything by that of course.



    I agree that it's a great experience, it's just not new any more, only bigger.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    -- one where the "computer" disappeared and the device simply becomes the task at hand.



    That sounds like you're trying way too hard to make up for their lack of 3rd party multi-tasking and it's also slightly contrary to the Mac philosophy. The Windows UI always did the one app full-screen thing and Mac users didn't like it. Now it's on the iPhone and it's suddenly the future of all computing.



    Sometimes when I use the iPhone, I think the full-screen thing is great most of the time but try comparing what you wrote in a text message to what you are writing in an email without copying/pasting the whole thing. Try comparing two photos you took side by side.



    I feel the ideal in computing should be that you never reach a scenario where you have to concede you can't do what you want. The iPad coerces you into thinking you shouldn't need to do those things rather than allowing you to do them. I don't like my devices and by extension Apple telling me what I should and shouldn't want to do with them.
  • Reply 9 of 28
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    The only thing in that description that's different from the iPod is hand-sized though.



    Not that I'm suggesting anything by that of course.



    I agree that it's a great experience, it's just not new any more, only bigger.



    Well, we obviously disagree on this, but I think the size makes it a different experience. Obviously Apple thinks so too, since they've redesigned all the apps to take advantage of the new form factor.



    Quote:

    That sounds like you're trying way too hard to make up for their lack of 3rd party multi-tasking and it's also slightly contrary to the Mac philosophy. The Windows UI always did the one app full-screen thing and Mac users didn't like it. Now it's on the iPhone and it's suddenly the future of all computing.



    Absolutely not. I'm not trying to "make up for" anything, I agree with the philosophy-- and BTW adding third party multitasking doesn't change the app at a time presentation. I don't think anyone thinks Apple would go to multi-window scheme, regardless if they offer multitasking at some point.



    As far as the Windows app centric thing, you did read the article, right? It's much more than just full screen, it's getting rid of all the other OS cruft that surrounds it. Windows doesn't make the system tray or start button go away, and it certainly doesn't make the computer go away, which is kinda that point.



    I cannot believe that I'm having to defend against the goddamn strawman "I thought you Mac people hated things until Apple did then you loved it" bullshit with a fucking mod on Apple Insider. It pisses me the fuck off. Ahem.



    Quote:

    Sometimes when I use the iPhone, I think the full-screen thing is great most of the time but try comparing what you wrote in a text message to what you are writing in an email without copying/pasting the whole thing. Try comparing two photos you took side by side.



    I feel the ideal in computing should be that you never reach a scenario where you have to concede you can't do what you want. The iPad coerces you into thinking you shouldn't need to do those things rather than allowing you to do them. I don't like my devices and by extension Apple telling me what I should and shouldn't want to do with them.



    Yes, there are tradeoffs. But I am no more being "coerced" to do it the iPad way than I am being coerced to manage a bunch of OS cruft on my Mac or PC. I can give up some flexibility for ease of use or give up ease of use for flexibility; I make the choice at the point of sale. You actually haven't been given a choice up till now, which is a fair sight more coercive than someone offering a different idea.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    The only thing in that description that's different from the iPod is hand-sized though.



    Not that I'm suggesting anything by that of course.



    I agree that it's a great experience, it's just not new any more, only bigger.



    It's new given that it's a multitouch slate platform that doesn't appear to suck out of the gate.



    Quote:

    That sounds like you're trying way too hard to make up for their lack of 3rd party multi-tasking and it's also slightly contrary to the Mac philosophy. The Windows UI always did the one app full-screen thing and Mac users didn't like it. Now it's on the iPhone and it's suddenly the future of all computing.



    Since when? The name of Windows is...Windows. Note the plural. Look ma...Windows 2.0







    Gee, a calculator, paint, clock, the control panel and a DOS window all open at the same time.



    Compared to MacOS circa 1984







    The mac UI paradigm has ALWAYS had a singular menu bar at the top implying a single task focus at a time. If anything, MacOS has always been much more single app/task focused than Windows or Unix.



    Quote:

    Sometimes when I use the iPhone, I think the full-screen thing is great most of the time but try comparing what you wrote in a text message to what you are writing in an email without copying/pasting the whole thing. Try comparing two photos you took side by side.



    Try doing so on the screen real estate of an iPhone. If you look at the original Mac resolution of 512x348 you can understand why the original Mac and the iPhone have a single task, full screen focus.



    The iPad has a lot more screen real estate and having two documents open for comparison is a lot more feasible. Even so, in real life, comparing two documents I'd more likely print them out on two sheets of paper vs in two columns on one page.



    So the size is still tight and still not nearly as good as my current 1920x1080 desktop...nearly double the width and much more able to view.



    Quote:

    I feel the ideal in computing should be that you never reach a scenario where you have to concede you can't do what you want. The iPad coerces you into thinking you shouldn't need to do those things rather than allowing you to do them.



    And the reality is all computing devices constrain you. Calling elegant design "coercion" because it minimizes the limits of the form factor is laughable.



    Quote:

    I don't like my devices and by extension Apple telling me what I should and shouldn't want to do with them.



    Help! Help! I'm being oppressed! Violence inherent in the system! Violence inherent in the system!



  • Reply 11 of 28
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    I'm watching Charlie Rose doing his whole show on the iPad, right now. I can't decide if I'm horrified or impressed.



    Horrified that Charlie Rose appears to have never used a computer of any description, impressed that he is not failing to demonstrate most of the iPad's features. The thing appears to be almost literally idiot proof.



    Now of course some people are concluding that that means the iPad is for idiots, but I think its functionality speaks for itself. Very impressive that Apple was able to make such a capable machine so accessible to even, well, Charlie Rose.
  • Reply 12 of 28
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    I don't think anyone thinks Apple would go to multi-window scheme, regardless if they offer multitasking at some point.



    No but the reason most people want 3rd party multi-tasking is to be able to have apps like Twitter running in the background and as a consequence of removing the UI cruft, Push Notifications throw a dialog at you instead. I'd personally prefer a persistent bar that gives me a notice I can deal with in my own time. Even if it just slides up from being invisible when I have a message.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    I can give up some flexibility for ease of use or give up ease of use for flexibility; I make the choice at the point of sale.



    You shouldn't have to choose between simplicity and functionality. iPad runs Mac OS X so the functionality is there. jailbroken iPods etc are more functional than standard ones with no compromise to simplicity.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea


    It's new given that it's a multitouch slate platform that doesn't appear to suck out of the gate.



    The iPhone is a slate too, just a smaller slate. It's an iPad nano if you prefer.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea


    Try doing so on the screen real estate of an iPhone.



    Right but we're talking about the iPad. Why apply the same restrictions when you have a big screen?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea


    The iPad has a lot more screen real estate and having two documents open for comparison is a lot more feasible. Even so, in real life, comparing two documents I'd more likely print them out on two sheets of paper vs in two columns on one page.



    The main use is for a point of reference. If a student is writing a paper, it would be nice to have a website in a split view or an iBook open or even a dictionary/thesaurus app.



    The screen size still does have its limitations so just a fast 3rd party multi-tasking implementation would likely be best instead of a persistent split pane. Although, the idea of having a full iPhone app top left, another top right and a keyboard at the bottom in portrait mode has interesting possibilities. This link was posted recently and shows what it can look like:



    http://manytricks.com/paddock/



    Even something as simple as browsing for a product and having notes open so you can compare features from different websites without jumping apps. For example see a laptop on Newegg and write down CPU, GPU, RAM, price and then go to Apple and do the same noting down the spec and price then switch to AI and copy paste the lot in a complaint about the lack of a MBP update without leaving the browser app.



    You're right that coercion probably isn't accurate as it's not a purposeful attempt at slowing people down and working a certain way, which that suggests but desktops evolved into multi-tasking, multi-app UIs to fit the user not the other way round. Computers didn't go with that workflow in order to make users more productive and efficient, the limits were holding people back. I personally can't stand having to pull back out of an app, navigate to an icon, drop into it, navigate to where I want, pull back out again, navigate back and into the original app. Just have some open and a gesture to jump between them quickly.



    To some extent it works to the device limits but the device is more capable than Apple allows it to be.
  • Reply 13 of 28
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    I feel the ideal in computing should be that you never reach a scenario where you have to concede you can't do what you want.



    For that I'd need a pocket-sized Cray XT5 with a wireless T connection to the Net.



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray_XT5

  • Reply 14 of 28
    cu10cu10 Posts: 294member
  • Reply 15 of 28
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    They are all the typical Mac fans - to be honest it's hard not to find a Mac fan in journalism. Apple have done well in this regard by becoming popular in the DTP industry but the chosen ones were typical Mac-heads. Mossberg, Colbert, Stephen Fry, Pogue.

    .



    The people that did the early reviews were all of the leading personal tech columnists from the major national newspapers - NY Times, WSJ, USA Today, and a few others. Id count Colbert more as product placement than a review. He made salsa with it.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    can anyone tell me how good netflix streams over the Ipad? just as good as watching a movie on Itunes?
  • Reply 17 of 28
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BRussell View Post


    The people that did the early reviews were all of the leading personal tech columnists from the major national newspapers - NY Times, WSJ, USA Today, and a few others. Id count Colbert more as product placement than a review. He made salsa with it.



    He also used it during that awards ceremony a while back...



    Placement. Very good placement.
  • Reply 18 of 28
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    A nice review here that was typed on an iPad using the BT keyboard from Apple:



    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-..._b_524318.html



    (Sorry if linked to earlier)
  • Reply 19 of 28
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by psylence2k View Post


    can anyone tell me how good netflix streams over the Ipad? just as good as watching a movie on Itunes?



    The video looks great, just like on a computer. The app itself is kinda finicky though. I experienced some odd bugs, but the streaming worked just fine. Of course, the selection sucks.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BRussell View Post


    The video looks great, just like on a computer. The app itself is kinda finicky though. I experienced some odd bugs, but the streaming worked just fine. Of course, the selection sucks.



    Sorry I've never used netflix before, do you mean that netflix selection in general just sucks or do they have a different selection for their Ipad app???
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