Other The iFail- wait sorry, iPad, is officially out

WePad does 1080P output through HDMI ... uh oh ... now I'm confused what to get.

 

Interesting article here, saying what I've said all along.

 

Saw this on Engadget. I swear I'd turn into a Top Chef overnight if I did this.


(click for more pictures)

 

Just a thought on the article, I found it a little odd that they claim it should not have any connectivity through mediums such as USB, claim that it should not run a "full desktop OS" thereby stating that a mobile OS is indeed a reduced version compared to a PC and furthermore claim that it "should be thought of as a big cellphone". This is all generally acceptable, until we get to the claim that tablets "will be most people’s main computing tool". This is where I scratch my head and say wut? It is admittedly a device who's utility is limited by design and it's supposed to be my main computing tool? I'm going to assume that they've got a different idea of what main means. Most commonly used for some, yes, but I see people going back to their PCs and laptops to get real work and play done for some time to come. The only way to make it a "main computing tool" is emulation of laptops and desktops in a smaller, touch sensitive design.

 

They don't mean your main computing tool, they mean their main computing tool. You know, those people outside, the ones who think Nvidia is a Nigerian video rental store and water-cooling is something you do to a car engine during the summer.

 

My needs are not strikingly different than any other person. My interest in technology does not mean I am the only one writing up 15 page essays for college then printing it out or wanting to watch HD movies on my 24" screen, or store all of my music and movies and pictures, or make a Powerpoint slideshow or an Excel spreadsheet because I took some work home. Don't even get me started on gaming, that's just getting more and more popular, even on PC/Mac.

 

I know people who now use Google Docs exclusively for all their document writing needs. Plug in a keyboard and off you go.

As for "watching HD movies on your 24inch screen", dude that's not something the 'normals' like to do or know how to do. The vast majority of people have happy watching 420p on an 11inch screen.

All of your pictures, music and movies? The storage space is sufficient for most reasonably sized legal collections.

Slide-shows or spreadsheets? All taken care of.

Anything else?

Look, I'm not saying I would do any of the above (just try parting me from Windows 7 and my 27" screen), but a lot of people would.

 

I know answering ones own posts is a sign of madness .. but I don't care and mostly I am. I had a debate with my other half about my problem not knowing whether to get one of these iPads for myself, wait for the next gen which will likely provide 1080P, or a subsequent gen providing 1080P, or buy a different tablet. The solution as provided by the other half is to get an iPad now and when the next gen arrives put the 1st one up on eBay and then get the next one. As she pointed out I've taken many hits over the years with PC equipment and if the next gen is worthy of upgrading then I just do it as and when. No more stressing then.

Some friends spent thousands on a home automation kit a couple of years ago and each screen added a few hundred to the total bill. If only they had waited ...

I'm sure we've had the USB debate already ... maybe not. Anyways, last time I checked it comes with a USB adapter. So it's an Apple connection to USB convert. That is how data flows between Mac/PC and iPad. Or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

 

My post is not about the iPad, it's about Nexxo's article which said tablets should not have USB connections due to people's desire to use them for thing such as printers which the devices cannot fully support. I think you're on the wrong end of the stick.

 

I figured as much, apologies!!

That's a point I never considered needing to print photos or documents through the iPad ...

 

No problemo! I was probably somewhat in those USB discussions anywho

I'd assume that with the iPad specifically you can transfer files to your laptop/desktop and print from there if you really had to. Possible, but still a little cumbersome for me to feel comfortable with anyone calling it a "main" device.

A thought coming to mind, setting up a small home file/print server to wirelessly transfer files to and print from could indeed help address the issues of a tablet. Docking stations with keyboards or larger monitors are also not a bad thing as I may have made them sound in response to NuTech, the problem is the delusion that docking a tablet on a keyboard and monitor then networking with a server and sitting at your desk to use it is any different than using a desktop.

 

Totally agree with the cumbersome transferring.

I've just remembered my Epson SX600FW has Bonjour, that is an Apple networking thing isn't it? So surely they would inc that into the iPad features? I shall be back after seeing what the US guys are saying.

 

I think I speak for a lot of the so-called "normal folks" who can very easily see the benefits of a tablet-like device such as the iPad.

And yes, this includes the device not having a USB port. Although the article suggests that the tablet device would become the main computing tool, I like to think of it as a secondary tool for casual computing on the go.

I don't really need it to hold my entire media collection, or create PowerPoint slideshows, or write dissertations. That's what my work and home PCs are for. Instead, I can use a tablet to carry limited selections of my media collection while traveling about. When I have lunch, I can jump on the free wifi (if available - 3G if not) to browse a few websites and check my e-mail. I can even pay a few bills during my morning cup of coffee without waiting for the main computer to boot up. And before you ask, no, I do not leave my machine on 24/7. I have electric bills to pay.

Can I do all of that with a laptop? Yes. The laptop also would not have the same battery life, would be bigger, and would not have the same portability nor ease of use. A netbook offers some competition, but it's still trying to run a desktop OS on limited hardware.

As for the 1080p debate, we "normies" are happy to watch TV on our TVs. We use Blu-ray players or certain consoles to play our movies, not media hubs. Though, I have recently seen a few ads for laptop/TV/media hub combinations that come pre-configured to work out of the box.

For what it's worth, my experience in the media industry is that the general public can't really tell the difference between 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. A case in point is the recent Hubble Imax movie. Most film goers have no clue that a lot of the movie was shot with a prosumer Canon G1 camcorder, in addition to large format Imax film. To them, it's all pretty pictures. Some recent industry polls show that although the number of HDTV sets in households is increasing, a lot of those households still use an SD source (May 2009 Nielsen HDTV Report. It's a year old, but while the overall numbers have increased, the HDTV/source difference still remains). Furthermore, although satellite services may offer some channels with 1080p content, most cable sources and all the over the air broadcasts from the major networks are limited to 720p60 or 1080i60 due to bandwidth limitations. Given that, I don't think anyone is truly going to miss 1080p output on a tablet device.

This all goes back to what Nexxo and the article have been saying this whole time: geeks on a technology forum demand more from their technology, but the other 99% of the general public don't care. Some of my colleagues can't understand why anyone would want to capture video using 4:2:0 chroma subsampling when 4:4:4 is obviously preferred. I suggest that content trumps format.

 

supermonkey I don't know if you were meaning my mentions of 1080P but I mean 1080P output to a TV. We know the iPad has VGA output already to projectors and TVs but somewhere down the line I would like to be able to hook up my iPad to a 1080P picture on my TV. It's non-essential at the beginning I guess, but I definitely want it later.

Added: Interesting update to iPhone OS4, various changes, and a sort of file sharing addition ... mmm I hope I can put PDFs on the iPad and read those, I have tonnes of manuals and books in PDF format.

 

Don't feel like quoting the whole post, so this is in reply to supermonkey:

I think you're completely right on it being a secondary tool, at least for the present or in the way the article describes. You may use it quite often and in that regard it may be your 'main' device. Just not practical to purposefully limit a device for ease of use, then expect it to do everything at the same time. The future may hold more powerful tablets more akin to laptops with touchscreens (and shorter battery lives), but I feel it must be said that being lightweight and easy to use is mutually exclusive with being all-capable. Both have their good sides and obviously being lightweight like the iPad works for a lot of people, but to say something of that nature will be a person's primary computing device is... lofty.

You mention how a laptop could do such task as well, but with less battery life, have to agree there too: if tablets really take off I doubt there will be too many laptops anymore. Tablet+PC at home seems to cover most bases for the average user whereas tablet+laptop seems generally pointless unless you know you will need to be typing/mousing heavily on the go (such as mobile gaming). That said, having just a laptop can cover most bases as well.

For 1080p/multimedia, perhaps I put too much emphasis on the quality of the picture. The size is really the main factor, the quality somewhat of a derivative of that. It's hard to find a modern household (the kind which, even if they aren't too savvy with technology, would get a tablet) in which the largest TV is under 25". When given the choice of "here, I downloaded a movie on my iPad, let's watch it on the 9.7" screen!" or "Let's plug it into the 42" TV!" I think we all know the answer. For a device which is attempting to be one's main computing device, I think a decent quality video output is required.

 

iPad UK pricing, pre-ordering and launch dates:

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/07/apple-announces-international-ipad-availability-for-may-28th/

http://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2010/05/07ipad.html

 

Ouch, a bit higher than what I was hoping, but that's the UK for you.

Also, Orange has announced their iPad data plans. Quite a lot of flexibility there.

 

A bit higher than I was expecting too. I was going to go for the 16 GB 3G, but will now probably just go for the WiFi one.

 

Pre-ordered - 64GB plain wifi, camera connection, VGA connection (has been rubbished by all the user reviews ... I live in hope Apple implement it better) and keyboard dock.

 

Pre-ordered as well. I went with my original plan of the 16GB 3G, no accessories. I wanted an O2 SIM but it looked like it would hold the order up so I'll get it separately later.

I want to get a case too, some nice ones here: http://www.griffintechnology.com/device_types/ipad