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That is pretty funny!
There was a hilarious article on MSNBC where the journalist mentioned it didn’t support flash which he characterized as a good thing since everyone will have at least one of these and that would suck up too much bandwidth. Seriously. Likewise he brought up that it had no USB. Which is good, because the istore is easier to use. And presumeably he paid by msnbc to write this, not just apple.
To me, no USB sounds incredibly stupid. But then again, Apple came out with a computer that had no floppy drive and that was stupid. Until floppy drives went totally away.
So I’m holding judgment on that.
The iPad is one of the worst products to come out of Apple in a while. I love my iPod touch (used in combination with my cheap cell plan.. wouldn’t want to pay the huge data fees for the iPhone!) but only for its compact size.
A huge iPod Touch means it’s to be used inside, all the time… is it a tv? No, can’t do that… is it a laptop? No, no flash or USB… is it a music player? No, not intended for that… sounds like a jack of all trades and master of none.
And it can’t be easily balanced to watch movies or such on it.. meaning watching movies is a task which must be performed solo, at least with any ease.
I’m not going to be a purchaser.
No USB is bad enough, but they could have at least thrown a card reader in there… I don’t think it will be successful, it just doesn’t do anything new. And if MS actually mass produces its Courier concept, then it’s good as dead (http://tinyurl.com/l4j72a ).
Yeah? Well, people said that about the iStone when it first came out, but now everybody has one.
Apple probably figures it doesn’t need to release the next market-killing product every year, as long as it keeps itself in the front of people’s minds. The iPad is just a giant iPhone, but if it sells more iPhones, iPods, MacBooks, etc, then it’ll have done its job, as far as they’re concerned.
As far as the closed-environment for software, that’s where I draw the line. Apple is evil, and always has been, but I am willing to buy their computers because they make good computers (unlike some other evil empires I could name), and the software I rely on is almost entirely FOSS (firefox, la/tex, bash, various software tools, emacs).
Being unable to download software from anywhere but the iTunes store is just plain creepy though.
(And it really wouldn’t have killed them to put in a memory card slot and a usb port. Geeze).
It is not a giant iPhone. No microphone. The default lower-end version does not have 3g connection (only wifi)
None of which affects your point. I just think the idea of people walking around with dictionary sized cell phones and talking on them is funny!
It is a giant touch.
Is it just me, or does “a giant touch” sound wrong somehow?
I’ve used touch screens a lot over the past 15 years or so; they do have their uses but they sure get scratched up with use. The protector case that Apple will be selling will probably cost more than the iPad. Does it work as a phone as well? That would just be hilarious. (Then again I once had a modified laptop with a voice/data wireless modem so I could plug in a headset and use it as a rather ridiculous looking phone.)
I find it interesting the level of shortsightedness here and on the web. Shortsightedness of the potential.
There are few ways to try to convey that. For example:
– the iPad is NOT a giant iPod touch. It’s the iPod touch that’s a miniature iPad.
or:
– The iPad is to the iPod touch what the Mac Plus was to the Mac 128K.
The point is double:
1) Yes the iPad has limitations. Big limitations. But they don’t matter because:
2) Size (and speed) changes everything.
The iPod touch is a gimmick.
The iPad is disruptive.
So perhaps the flaws will prevent the disruption from happening.
My money is that they won’t
The iPad is 95% of what 95% of people need and want in a computer.
Actually “computer” fails it totally as a word. We almost never buy or use a computer to “compute”.
People can now stop buying a machine designed to compute only to use it for anything but computing.
And they will.
We only had hammers, so everything looked like a nail.
Now we have a new tool.
This changes everything.
Meh, there’s also a collection of “slate” styled netbooks coming out between now and then. Those seem like much better options.
It’s a well done form factor, but they screwed up on the rest:
*non x86, non operating system
*non support for standard internet protocols
*no reasonable way to get things to and from it (yes it has wireless. Is that going to talk to my linux machines or windows machines properly, or just to an itunes service on a local mac?).
To start anyway. There are plenty of reasons I probably won’t be getting one. I’m sure there are people out there who can find some use for it. I’m also sure there are plenty of people who will buy one as a status symbol.
I do want a keyboardless “tablet” (not those silly flippy screen laptops with the keyboard underneath), but I want it to be a whole computer. Not just a fancy iphone unphone thingy. I might just buy an hp 5102 with the capacitive touch screen when it comes out if the price is right, and rebuild it into a nice case without the keyboard and touchpad.
Does it work as a phone as well? That would just be hilarious
I had the same thought. No it doesn’t, unless you rig it up like you rigged up your laptop. maybe (Not sure if it has a mike input of any kind offhand)
Oddly enough, back in the 19th century, they actually marketed stone writing tablets using some of the same methods that they use for computers today.
I may be wrong but the stone looks like Rosetta’s Stone, which certainly is not from 40.000 BC, not even 4000 BC.
Eddie, that is the Rosetta Stone, but I’m not sure why you say it is not from 4K or 40K. It isn’t, but did someone say it was? What did I miss?
In very light gray text under “Stone” it says “(40,000 BC)”. It is very small and light and almost looks like compression artifacts.
I think you will be able to use USB but it will require a cable with a dock connector. Then again, I’m pretty sure Apple would very much prefer people to do everything over Bluetooth or WiFi. I have to admit to having mixed feelings about that — it certainly saves on infrastructure and cables, but there are also security concerns. (For example, I run an unsecured AP. I have to — of the three wifi cards in the house, two are WiFi-B, and we all know WEP is worthless.)
My main concern is that the iPad is a nice little piece of work with a lot of potential, but if Apple is dead insistent on tying it to the iTunes App Store, a lot of that potential (particularly the benefits of an ultralight touchscreen in hobby and industrial projects) will go wasted.
@Jean-Denis,
While your passion is praiseworthy, I think you’ve actually got the situation reversed. The iPad is portable, but so is my laptop. I own an iTouch, and many people own various smart phones, and I can attest that I actually carry mine around all day—and use it happily to send email, read the news, etc. when I’m out and about.
There is no way in hell that I would drag an iPad to the bar.
There is a change in the way we use computers happening, but it’s not a replacement of the desktop-at-home: that’s here to stay for a while yet, for when people need to type up a book, or a place to store their photos and music, or to play higher-end games.
The change is that pocket-sized computers like the blackberry, touch, or the android phones, or other smart phones are injecting casual computer use into casual settings, away from the main computer at the office/home. Form factor is everything, and anything bigger and heavier than a wallet isn’t going to do it.
Also, the iPad might be 90% of what 95% people need in a computer, but that last 10% can be an awfully painful compromise.
Spiv:
How exactly is non-x86 a point against? ARM is just as much an industry standard for portable gear as x86 is for desktop.
The Rosetta Stone is NOT 40,000 years old!!!!!!! Damn it.
@21
I define my years to be 20 days long, don’t you?
MPL: “Also, the iPad might be 90% of what 95% people need in a computer, but that last 10% can be an awfully painful compromise.”
I understand that. I feel the same. But the point is elsewhere. The disruption is that this thing, whatever limited it is (and it is), has the potential to attract many new users. Not you. Not me. The fact you have so many “devices” says it all . And so do I.
It’s the rest of them. Not the rest of us.
“them” are all around me. From my children to my parents. From my colleagues to my friends. So many of them, who don’t care much about computers, turn to me (as the recognized expert around here), and ask “would that iPad be nice for me?”.
Yep I may be wrong. But I recognize a potential.
Time will tell.
I think iRock sounds better than iStone
@Rob- I think it is supposed to sound like iPhone, but I may be wrong.
I saw some comments On youtube on a video where people were like “I’m watchin this is 387 B.C. on my iStone 4s!”
Also, “iRock” is a think, trademarked, I think. I used to own one. It was a mp3 player.