Anyone get or try one?(I haven't)

Nope

I was thinking about heading over to best buy sometime next week and playing with one.
I would never get it, it's a pretty stupid purchase IMO, but it's always fun to play with new thingies.

My brother (Nubs) just bought one so I'm sure he'll be posting his thoughts soon.

But I do know he wasn't convinced at all before entering the store. And he told me finally, when he was there, and he saw just how people were using it and what they were doing on it, he said "this works, this is gonna be huge" and decided to buy one.

I think my Grandparents will be getting one as well. They are completely sold because they can play Bookworm, Bejeweled, Spider Solitaire, and check movie times and emails without having to worry about what we consider simple things (aka moving a mouse, dealing with an OS interface, physically going to the computer etc). It's a perfect device for them.

what the hell? i didnt know nubs was buck's brother. I thought thrawnnumbarz and uberslug were the only brothers here! it boggles the mind

Hahah yes, he's my older brother (he's 24)

I didn't know there were any brothers here.

this. :downs:

Well we used to have Ubuu.

Haha, good one.

I don't really see what's so revolutionary and innovative about the iPad.

I don't particularly care, though. Tablet computers just don't seem appealing to me.

Isn't it just a large iPhone?

I think engadget did a good review of it:

...but tablet PCs have been around for a while... This isn't exactly a new message.



I disagree there. $500 will buy me a low-end laptop with better specs and far more capabilities.

You don't _get_ the ipad, man.

What do they mean by "much better?" Why is it that multi-touch is being touted as the future of HCI when most studies show it to be less efficient?

You're right...I don't. It only seems like $500 for a bad tampon joke to me.

I would never get the iPad as is.

A. Specs are only slightly better than the iPhone itself. You're buying a larger iPhone, no matter how you look at it. 1ghz version of the same CPU in the iPhone, which is apparently not significant, as my Pre overclocked to 800mhz garners the same page rendering speed. Let me make a point in saying that while that may be fast for a phone, that's not fast for the speed you would expect from such a large device. It's not fast, the UI is simply coded to seem smooth.
B. Still no multitasking. Most important failure of this: IM/etc conversations. You basically cannot use anything else while sustaining a conversation. This was also stupid on the iPhone, but since it was a small phone, it was excusable. On something as large as a tablet, you expect more. Anything that pops up an alert is large and in the way. You can't ignore it, you either acknowledge the alerts as they arrive or turn alerts off for that app. Why is this still an issue when both Android and WebOS have usable alternatives?
C. Apps cost significantly more, when most feature almost no major feature improvements, simply a higher res UI.
D. No flash. HTML5 is the future, but it's still in the future. Today's internet is not ready to jump to HTML5, and despite a few major news/entertainment media going for webkit-specific HTML5 support, that's all that is happening. You still cannot view many many flash enabled websites on the iPad. Until browsers can start agreeing on codecs and the like, we're not going to see widescale HTML5 video support, and even then it will take ages to move everything over. And of course, keep in mind that video is not the ONLY thing flash is used for.
E. It's uncomfortable to use in nearly any position. While luckily the screen in landscape does offer decent typing, you're still not going to want to crank out documents and such on it. I sure wouldn't want to take notes with it as is.
F. Complete omission of any typical storage access. SD cards? USB ports? You get neither. You only get to use iPhone's usual storage methods. Or use a camera adapter (sold separately, for $$$) if you want that functionality.
G. Scaled up iPhone apps are not 100% compatible, they use a scaled up iPhone keyboard, and although usable, it is not a good replacement for a proper iPad app.

I don't see this taking off. We'll get a lot of sales from early adopter/Apple lovers as is typical, but I don't expect to see these things everywhere. They won't become ubiquitous. Frankly, I don't see any use case for it in my life. If I'm on the go, I'm using my phone, not packing something the size of the iPad. If I'm at home, I have a PC and a laptop I can use, both of which offer vastly more functionality. If I'm on a trip, I still have my laptop.

Long story short, the iPad only does one thing different than other tablets: instead of leaning towards the range of PCs and their power level, it leaned towards the extremely limited platform of the iPhone. However, most users aren't going to be able to justify a second iPhone for the cost.

I would much rather have a tablet pc. The big iPhone just seems like it would be awkward to hold and use at the same time. And if it was laying on a flat desk I would feel like my face needs to be exactly right over top of it. I like some lean. At the same time I use computers more for just, surfing the web, listening to music, or social media sites..

1. The iPad is not a tablet PC. Tablet PCs still run a traditional OS that most people are completely fine with doing away with. The iPad is completely different. The reason why people are actually excited about the iPad, NORMAL PEOPLE, is because people are ready to do away with anything that even resembles a traditional operating system. No ****ing start menus, no control panels, no adware, littler chance of breakage due to less moving parts, no right click or left click, no moving mouses, etc. If you can touch, and slide your way to your daily browsing activities, you've hit the jackpot. In that sense, Apple succeeded clearly. When is the last time there was this much hype for even one of your Tablet PCs? They've created a device that works, and works ****ing well, and you don't even need move a mouse.

WE take things for granted because we are computer literate people. It's no wonder most of you don't want an iPad. You are all going on about processor sizes, multitasking, HTML5, etc etc etc. No ****, because we all use our computer for more than what an iPad is designed for. Yeah all of you can make fun of it for being "HUR ST00PID", but I know at least more than hundreds of thousands of people lined up to want it / pre-ordered it, so they are doing SOMETHING right. Like I said before, my Grandparents (and I mean this almost 99% seriously) could use the iPad as their laptop. Yes, I've had to go over to their house because they accidentally mix up left click and right click. They have a desktop to do taxes on, and answer emails (if they are long. I'm sure they could type out short ones on the iPad, my brother has had no trouble typing at all). ALL they do is play Spider Solitaire, Bookworm, Bejeweled, read ebooks from Amazon, and check movie times. I can already tell my grandma will go absolutely app crazy. She already wants cooking ones, news ones, etc etc. THAT is where the money is going to come in, not from the iPad hardware alone. It is said that the iPad is some niche market product and will hit Apple fanboys only, but in fact it extends probably further than most of their product, because pretty much EVERYONE can figure out how to use it. It doesn't even ship with a manual for christs sake.

However, that being said, I agree with CM about the SD/USB thing. SD Card slot would've been absolute baller, and probably pretty easy to add too :/.

I'm going to buy the 3G model. The few reservations that I had about this device a few weeks ago when we had a similar thread are gone because of everything that has come out about the device since then. I could care less about the Flash versus HTML5 debate because all of the websites that matter are switching to HTML5 or at least supporting it (e.g. Hulu, Netflix, TED, YouTube) & the rest are soon to come. I think that the "future" is closer than many of you think because this device is going to push more people than you think in to wanting their content available on the iPad & similar devices. I actually had a difficult time finding a single website that that I would ever use that isn't going to or doesn't already have HTML5 support. I was planning to buy an eReader anyways but now I have a device that works well as one & does so much more (I can even convert my existing library of over 100 eBooks to the ePub format & read those as well). I'm also excited about the games (apparently something like 60% of all of the iPad applications that are in the works are games). There are so many games that will be more fun to play on a touchscreen that's large enough to enjoy them (smart-phones are ridiculously small). I'm also opting for the 3G version so that I can enjoy the device while traveling. I don't have a GPS so the maps feature will be very handy. Why would I spend money on a laptop & a smartphone when I can get a hybrid device that does the important stuff from both of them (I can even use Skype on the iPad if I actually cared about using a phone)? As far as multi-tasking, I'm not really worried about that either because it's already rumored that the next iPhone OS (which the iPad uses) will have support for multi-tasking (technically the iPhone OS already supports multi-processes but only amongst some Apple applications.

Ironically, 95% of that is not HTML5 at all. They're dedicated applications. Hulu is nothing more than a rumor, and since all signs point to subscription, you can pretty much kill Hulu off entirely. Netflix is just streaming via an app, not HTML5. YouTube does have HTML5, but actually uses an app anyway.



As I explained, HTML5 support isn't here. YouTube's own HTML5 beta doesn't even support the world's two largest marketshare browsers: Firefox and IE. You're not going to see significantly more than what you have right now. There's no backing behind HTML5 because it's a moving target. Only the insane and the rich would dedicate significant resources to a standard that doesn't even standardize the video everyone wants.



eInk is the #1 reason to get anything other than the iPad. iPad doesn't change anything in that regard.

Also, I don't forsee anymore games being developed for the iPad that you don't already see on the iPhone. It's not big enough to be used as a full gameboard as some wanted, it's too big to be used for most of the typical iPhone games (touchscreen), etc. You have to remember, you ONLY have touch and the accelerometer to work with. And since you can't easily thumb it like you can the iPhone, you lose most touch control.



It's been rumored for ages, doesn't mean its happening.

Also, there's numerous reasons why you'd get a laptop and a smartphone, not an iPad:

A. Portability. Frankly, I just can't find a pocket that will fit the iPad. Maybe your clothes has one?
B. Content Creation. Frankly, I just can't imagine sitting upright with the iPad flat typing on an onscreen keyboard writing my novel or doing HTML editing when I'm away from home. Sure, I could buy the extra $$$ keyboard dock, but that's increasing the amount of crap I have to carry as well. And the iPad still won't have anywhere near the sort of gold-standard applications you have on a PC/Mac for content creation.
C. Speed. The iPad, despite its specs, is only ~10% faster than the iPhone itself. A laptop would run circles around that. Very useful when browsing the web for research, or working on websites, etc.
D. Skype isn't free if you actually want to use it as a proper phone, not just PC to PC conversations.
E. It's on AT&T. Don't count on using that 3G anywhere reliably.



This would make sense if, well, that was reality. It's not completely different. For the 3rd time, it's an enlarged iPhone. It's running the same OS, it's using the same UI concepts. This is a traditional operating system, it just uses touch instead of a mouse. There are many non-obvious interactions, including scrolling menus, click & hold, dragging selections, etc. This is stuff that your average old person who confuses left and right will NOT understand. And worse off, if they haven't been using an iPhone for the past 10 years, its something completely new they have to learn.



You're telling me most hardware does ship with manuals? Unless its installation, they don't. The number of sales thus far for the iPad is surprisingly not that high. The lines were not crazy like the iPhone was. And frankly, you're assuming too much of the normal person. The normal person is going to look at it and think "why do I need this?" That is what is going to stop most people from buying it.

I hope this means Jnco's are coming back. Those ****ers had some huge pockets.

+2 Internets. I lol'd

I had a pair in Jr. High. Those were awesome. Anyway, I'll stick with my droid and PC.

I've never bought apple products..does the screen turn into a smudge fest after a days use?

JNCOs were skirts for boys.

Yes as does any touch device. My Droid is currently smeared. Humans have oily fingers and that's just part-and-parcel of owning a touch device. Microfiber towels FTW.

RE iPad: I'm in the CM camp. I can't find any justification for purchasing one other than I might have $500 to blow (I don't).

Not unless you have a butter obsession.

CM, I believe the numbers out are predicting 700k sold in one day (including lines and first round of pre-orders). I'm unsure of how those are bad sales, considering that BLOWS away both iPhones and most of their other launches. Hell the iPhone couldn't sell that much on its first weekend, let alone its first day. 700k at 500 bucks a pop MINIMUM = 350 million dollars (obviously now subtract costs and we all know that Apple grossly overprices many of their products). I'd hardly call that dissapointing or "surprisingly not high".

How many other gadgets do you know get 700k orders in a day?

Also, I take your words with a grain of salt when you talk about Apple products.



You said that a couple years back. Obviously people (millions of them) HAVE shelled out that money for an iPhone, and they damn well will shell out money for an iPad too (especially if it is an ENLARGED IPHONE HUR). If anything, I think you are the one assuming that people are much more rational than reality. If you understood the "normal" person better than my understanding, my thinking is you wouldn't of said that quote years ago.

hehe... awesome wallpapers for the ipad

http://gizmodo.com/5507623/8-cruel-but-completely-justified-ipad-wallpaper-pranks?skyline=true&s=i

You're right about the HTML5 portion. I didn't bother to read about the types of technologies behind each service. However, like most of the people that'll be using these devices, we really don't care about the technology that's behind it, we simply want it to work & it appears that many of the major players are jumping on board. Also, I was technically 50% incorrect, not 95% as you stated because both YouTube & TED are using HTML5 (at least according to ArsTechnica but I'm no expert on the subject so I could easily be wrong & again I don't really think it matters). You can also add Flickr & CBS to that list (according to the same article). ABC, Hulu & Netflix may not be using HTML5 yet, if ever, but they will be supporting the iPad. Hulu may only be a rumor but it's a realistic & probably reliable one considering the wealth of insider information given on various reputable websites (not to mention their connection to CBS). I personally think that a Hulu subscription service has the potential to go over quite well. Streaming is becoming increasingly important as people begin to migrate from cable & satellite to internet content. It would be really stupid not to support the iPhone OS because of their market share & I don't think that many companies are going to be willing to make such a mistake (especially now that there are several devices using the same OS).


HTML5 or proprietary applications, it doesn't really make any difference. I hardly consider any of the companies that are adding or have already added HTML5 support or their own applications to support these devices as insane. They may be taking a risk but as of late not betting on Apple is probably just a much of a risk due to their success. Many of these companies, such as magazines & newspapers, are already on their last leg & if they don't take a chance & embrace something that their competitor is embracing, they may find themselves out of business even faster. Competition is already driving some of this.



eInk is great but those devices also do very little other than allow you to read eBooks. eBook readers will continue to do well because the prices will drop significantly & people will start to buy more of them. They'll have to because people will begin to realize that the options are a nice display versus a decent display w/ far more functionality. Why would I want 2-4 different devices to do what I can do on 1? Those devices may shine in their specific areas but the iPad does a little of what they all do & it does it decently enough to compete.


I personally hope that you'll be able to play the same game on both devices. I don't see much of a reason to do otherwise. However, I disagree w/ you on how well one will be able to play games on the iPad. There are a lot of games where you'll be able to hold the device w/ one hand while pressing the screen w/ the other. There could also be games where you could lie the device down on a table & play against your friends (e.g. Checkers or Chess). Also, for the few games that won't be ideal, as you suggested, there's always the iPad Case & the iPad Dock.


A male purse would work rather well. However, I agree that it's not as portable as an iPhone or similar device but I don't really think that it needs to be.



I agree that for some types of content creation it may not be as ideal as using my iMac or a similar device but I don't think that many people are arguing that (this is why they created a Dock). However, it'll do a decent enough job while you're on the move (better than w/ the iPhone or similar devices), as you said you'll still have the Dock option & there are some applications where it'll be better (e.g. Brushes). I think that a lot of people are going to be focused on what can be done w/ a device like this instead of what can't. I think it's a bit early for either of us to know what types of productivity applications that a device like this might bring.


I like laptops, I have one & used to repair them for a living. However, they don't have touch-screens, they have a keyboard (it's about time that we ditch the stone-age concept of a physical keyboard), they're bulkier & they're not as portable. I would never recommend an iPad to anyone that already has a smart phone & a laptop. That just wouldn't make much sense to me & would be throwing away your money. However, for someone like me who doesn't have a smart phone or a laptop, I can buy this hybrid device & gain much of the functionality of both of these devices for much less than buying both of them. My laptop is actually slower than an iPad.


For me & I think a growing amount of other people, the concept of a phone is as stone-age as the concept of a physical keyboard. I never use the phone. I have one & I don't even know why. I guess I keep it around for emergencies but 911 is accessible even if you don't pay a monthly fee. It's unfortunate that Skype isn't free but it's nice to have that as an option if one actually still uses a phone. I personally use email & instant messaging for 99% of my communication w/ people that aren't in my apartment. I invite my family & friends to dinner using a calendar application, etc. I would love to not even get the 3G version but unfortunately wireless isn't available in 100% of the locations that I'll find myself over the next few years. However, it may eventually be & at that time none of us will have a use for phones anymore.


I won't be using 3G unless I'm on the road or something & that'll be just to use a map application or to check/send a few emails. I don't really need a fast connection for those types of things. I had dial-up until a few years ago & my father's AT&T cellphone service is less than 3G in his area but it's still a lot faster than the alternative. The iPad will zoom at home on my 802.11n network & we're hoping to have a similar network in our restaurant once that gets off the ground.

In the end, I agree that someone like you may not have a use for an iPad. However, not everyone is like you.


They're already approaching 1 million iPads sold. I think that's impressive. iSuppli projects over 7 million iPads sold by the end of the year.

I am going to go ahead and throw out that I think the iPad is going to be a success at least in the context of its stated goal of defining a new category of devices between laptops and smartphones -- that is, I think that in 3 years this category will definitely be in the growth stage and in 3-5 years will hit its early mature stage. I think that there will be nearly as many slate PC devices modeled after the iPad (there have been many slate and tablet PCs in the past decade, but I think that forthcoming ones will tend towards an iPhone OS-style model, though perhaps not as closed so as to target different segments, rather than a desktop OS-style model). I also think that this iteration and subsequent iterations of the iPad will remain mostly the same -- with the exception of multitasking, the addition of a camera and MAYBE a USB port, although I personally don't think, given Apple's positioning and strategy with the iPad, it would make sense to them (i.e. their strategy would have to evolve for it to make sense). I don't think Flash will ever be supported.

I am not going to provide any analysis or justification for my magical (el oh el) prediction, however, as that would take too long and I don't feel like arguing -- so feel free to ignore / dismiss what I just said as baseless speculation

On a personal level, I like the iPad as it is, since I actually like Apple's closed software model and their focus on polish rather than on meeting a broad set of needs / their philosophy of dictating how a product should be rather than putting out a more general product that can be tweaked by individual users. The ONLY thing that I am not satisfied with is the lack of a camera, but I have a guess as to why they did it (I think that they wanted to put it in this one but couldn't do it in the exact way they / Steve Jobs wanted it to be -- again, that idea of dictating how a product should be) and am convinced that it will be in future revisions, so I am not getting an iPad now but probably will within 2 or 3 years.

Bring on the cheap x86 knockoffs!

It does make a big difference. Not everyone has tons of funds to dedicate towards re-encoding and hosting multiple versions of their videos just for one device. The major networks + Netflix do for obvious reasons, that's why they exist. But most other smaller sites aren't going to dedicate the time or money to do so, because it's unrealistic. Abandoning Flash entirely is a stupid decision currently.

Keep in mind that Android and WebOS both will support Flash this year. Combine that with near-100% market penetration on Windows PCs, Macs, and even Linux, and it's going to quickly become one of the only devices capable of Flash that DOESN'T. Hell, there's even talks of Flash on Windows Mobile 7, after release.


Mostly because eInk is that much better to read on.



FYI that program's a joke. It's basically paint with a few extra features, using your finger. It's horribly hard to use, and unless you're already a really really good painter, you're not going to make anything look good with it. It's like those online videos of people making good looking art using their mouse and Paint. Sure it's possible, but WHY.



I would bet significant amounts of money that, assuming your laptop was made in the past ~7 years, it is faster than the iPad. 1GHZ is not a direct correlation to PC CPUs with the same speed.



Then if you're going to do instant messaging, really consider the fact that it does not multitask. If you haven't used the iPhone before, this means that if you're in another app (such as Mail), and you get an IM, you will get a big alert that covers the screen, which you must acknowledge. You must then go into the IM app to respond, quitting Mail. Once you've replied, you quit out of the IM app, and open Mail again. Rinse and repeat. God help you if you talk to multiple people or if you have friends who can't complete a single thought in one message (lots of alerts).




I predict that all the iPads sold over the weekend will constitute the vast majority of all iPad sales you will see over its entire lifetime. Everyone who wants one will have bought one; generally everyone who thought the iPhone was amazing and that the iPad can only be that much better.

I just can't see a use case for /most/ people. Not just myself.

where in this iPad is the hole for my penis?

The ipad does not support flash because Apple does not want flash to compete with the app store.

That's reason enough not to buy it.

Nowhere, but once a year Steve Jobs comes to your house and sticks his in your butt.

See that little tiny hole on the top? Right there