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

Original Article

 

Man that was a good write up and I nearly washed my monitor with my early morning tea when I got to the bit about prison visits!

 

He he...... I have to agree with most of that.

The annoying thing is I have actually discovered a use for the damned thing... (digital portfolio for touting around to clients) but that that price, it makes no sense. It's intuitive, self rotating, draggable interface would make this a brilliant little tool. If it was £150 cheaper, I may consider it.

As it is though... apart from that one use... I can't think of any others. I'd still rather use a laptop for sofa browsing, as it's easier to type due to both keyboard and screen being at separate, and ideal angles.

I prefer books to e-books.

I really think Apple have over-estimated themselves this time.

 

As was previously stated: a complete cool-kids toy.
Sadly, that's wht i was afraid of... and that browser of theirs sounds slightly more useful than bin with a camera...
either way. I'm sure there'll be a load of people that will be "ZOMGing" about it for the next year, before it's re-released... and yes, I DO in fact own a brand new MacBookPro...which i love. I Also own a PC... I (sadly) fail to see this affect my life, and as Pookeyhead said, the price is all wrong for what it COULD be used for.

 

That, and the 4:3 screen. I don't see how this is an ideal movie device when half of it will be black.

 

Because the ideal movie screen isn't really suited to a tablet? Would you want to read a book on a 16:9 or 21:9 screen?

4:3 is more book / writing pad shaped, and is therefore a more natural fit.

 

actually going by my admittedly rough estimations (i am tired), paperbacks are about 10:16 in ratio, so a wider screen would be ideal.

going by these figures; i used size A for my quick and dirty estimate:
A Format paperbacks are 110 mm x 178mm (4.33" x 7.01")in size,
B Format paperbacks are 130 mm x 198mm (5.12" x 7.8"),
C Format (trade paperbacks) are 135 mm x 216mm (5.32" x 8.51")

 

Which is fair enough, and the right choice I think, but Apple shouldn't be touting it as an amazing HD movie player.

 

The more I read this thread, yes I really have that little to do, I'm wondering why the iPad haters are still here, and why the iPad fans haven't stripped naked and rubbed pictures of the device on themselves, and both parties ignored each other. I mean, no one's holding a gun to your head and demanding you pleasure yourself to pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow using only an iPad, are they?

I don't see the point in an iPod with gigantism, and my solution is not to buy one. Looks pretty, but what Apple product doesn't, but for me? Ultimately useless.

If you believe it will change your life, have fun buying some glass and aluminium that, in my experience, will not survive a fall. I dropped an iPhone, perhaps a foot, from a pocket onto a concrete floor. It landed on its side and completely shattered the screen. Yes, my fault for not securing the device properly, and ultimately replaced under insurance, but honestly not what I would call "drop resilient". I doubt making the screen larger will change that

I suppose it takes a few months for the status quo to return to normal, though, after an Apple product launch.

 

YAYYYYY

Saw on giz earlier today that someones put windows 7 on an ipad at last something useful
**** your locked down os apple, steve jobs can go suck a fat cock.

 

that's a terminal service, like remote desktop. it's entirely not what you think. it will be awful.

also watch the language, dude. this is a family friendly forum.

 

I like the design. I like the iphone's OS - never before has a phone given me such information at my sweeping fingertips. The iPad looks to me, to be as intuitive to use.

With it's pretty much gauranteed success will it initiate armageddon on printed literature? I can only hope not. But then look at vinyl and cd's. Vinyl that you put on a spindle, you feed it the needle, you look at the revolving disc, you can even read the label as it spins round.. it's tactile. A cd you bung in a tray and never see again, apart from digital information on the front of the player. Which are more popular, these days? I'd even suggest that most people rip the cd and listen to it on their mp3 player - music has become nearly passive? faceless? since it had the need to become digital.

 

An interesting point - But I don't see the same happening to books, if only because of the amount of effort you have to put in.

To listen to music, most people just have to push play. To read a book, well, you have to sit down and pick the damn thing up, be it ebook or proper book, and then focus on the words. Focusing on music is far rarer, as most music these days has about all the message of a micro-post it note.

 

Isn't that normal for a Macworld keynote speech? I don't know, I just imagine it'd be hard for Steve Jobs to talk about something like the iPad for more than a minute. Then an awkward silence...

 

I think the music comparison doesn't really work. I love CD's, couldn't give a **** about vinyl, but yet I'll also never go completely digital. I love having the CD, the cover art, the booklet, and knowing that no matter what happens to the shop I bought the CD from, I'll always have the CD. I know it's unlikely, but if iTunes were to go under, a lot of people would effectively loose the music they paid for.

Back to my point, the reason I think CDs have surpassed vinyl is they offer many improvements, they're smaller and more portable, easier to play, you can skip tracks, program, repeat, random etc. And the quality IS better, I'm sure some people will now argue about 'warmth', but at the end of the day, I don't want the hiss or percussive noise you get as the stylus bounces on a warped record.

E-readers don't offer so much of an advantage, sure you can have all you books in one small device, but there are disadvantages, such as battery life, screen readability (although e-ink screens are impressive) and having to re-buy your book collection.

I'm not saying for sure that e-readers wont replace books, but I'm saying that just because CDs/Mp3s have mostly replaced vinyl, doesn't mean it will happen

 

You really aren't getting what I'm saying are you. Reliability has naff all to do with clumsy users.

I could design a fantastic case for a computer that protects it from everything a user throws at it and makes it nigh on indestructible from external forces, but if the hardware I place inside said case has problems with reliability then all the research and development I put into designing the case is money down the drain.

 

Research says: HARDWARE PROBLEMS IN LAPTOPS ARE CAUSED BY POOR CASE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. There. Clear now?

 

Seconds away, round two. Ding Ding!

In other news - looks as if the iPad was supposed to have a camera, and might just have one before it ships. Evidence is certainly pointing that way.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/apple-ipad-may-ship-with-webcam/

 

Mine and some buds listen to their entire music collections via MP3. I have my music collection on a media server, this can be accessed by any device in the house. I have an iPod in the car with iPod connector.

All my CDs get ripped and put in storage away from sight. I never wanted CDs to kill off vinyl and cassette but it happened. I now regard myself as 'with-it' and can't say I'd ever go back to having truckloads of clutter around the house and in view. People will end up moving on, it's happened with generations of anything, we always improve and move on. Whether it's the iPad that will win the looming tablet wars we'll have to wait and see. I'm a firm believer that the majority want simplicity and function over complications and diversity.

The little bit you put in about iTunes going under ... although it's never going to happen ... you can record your iTunes purchases to a CD to be played normally ... did you know that?

If anyone could ever combine a future version of a tablet with e-ink ... winner.

 

So yeah. That would make it good for...

Zilch.