Apple's iPad Megathread

[photon]

http://gizmodo.com/5462344/77-ipad-u...se-the-critics

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by photon

http://gizmodo.com/5462344/77-ipad-u...se-the-critics

but now there"s no room for the solar panels!

[calculoso]

I like this one myself....

[calculoso]

Another...

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by calculoso

I like this one myself....

This would be baller.

[Barnes]

There was a laptop shown at CES that does this. Windows 7 laptop and when you detach the screen, it's a linux tablet.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Barnes

There was a laptop shown at CES that does this. Windows 7 laptop and when you detach the screen, it's a linux tablet.

Windows 7 -> Linux just by detaching it?

[Phaneuf3]

A flowchart to help you determine if you should buy an iPad:
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/...d_i_buy_an.php

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Windows 7 -> Linux just by detaching it?

Yeah. I'll try to find a link.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/05/l...d-impressions/

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Yeah. I'll try to find a link.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/05/l...d-impressions/

A resistive touch screen that has a roughly 45 degree viewing angle, per the article...good grief...

One interesting thing about this Lenovo is that the base can continue to run when the tablet/screen is detached. I can't, though, for the life of me, understand the benefit of leaving your data on the base when you detach the tablet (nevermind the fact you end up in a completely different OS with a different set of apps)

[kermitology]

iTampon I mean Pad.. iBook store will use ePub format: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/31/all-a...es-ibookstore/

[RyZ]

The Apple defence force is strong in the last few pages of this thread. It makes a guy that isn't head over heels in love with Apple and their products not want to post an opinion in here.

[You Need a Thneed]

My dad thinks (and I agree), the iPad is going to be an essential tool for our construction superintendents to have. Most of what they do is communicate with email, write POs, enter timecards, stuff like that. A laptop is really overkill for this purpose.

I think my dad plans on getting an iPad as soon as they come out for this purpose, at least to try it out, then if it works well, we'll probably buy more.

A lot of our database is created in Filemaker, so we'll have to figure out the best way to interact with that from the iPad.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by RyZ

The Apple defence force is strong in the last few pages of this thread. It makes a guy that isn't head over heels in love with Apple and their products not want to post an opinion in here.

Yes, because this thread has been allll about making Apple users feel welcome.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

My dad thinks (and I agree), the iPad is going to be an essential tool for our construction superintendents to have. Most of what they do is communicate with email, write POs, enter timecards, stuff like that. A laptop is really overkill for this purpose.

I think my dad plans on getting an iPad as soon as they come out for this purpose, at least to try it out, then if it works well, we'll probably buy more.

A lot of our database is created in Filemaker, so we'll have to figure out the best way to interact with that from the iPad.

If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure there's a Filemaker app for the iPhone/iPad. At the very least, one that interfaces with a Filemaker db anyway.

Edit: Here's something to look at, though I have no opinion or info usability, reliability etc. http://www.fmtouch.com

[photon]

I've talked to a number of people who have mobile employees (not just mobile as in out of the office, even just mobile within an office, or mobile into an environment like an operating room) that currently have PCs setup in specific places for people to do things like that, write POs, enter timecards, all kinds of simple data entry that works best if done right when the employee is doing whatever it is they do.

They all seem interested in the iPad for that reason.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure there's a Filemaker app for the iPhone/iPad. At the very least, one that interfaces with a Filemaker db anyway.

Edit: Here's something to look at, though I have no opinion or info usability, reliability etc. http://www.fmtouch.com

Yeah, I've seen that app, haven't tried it yet. There is an actual Bento app for iPhone, I wonder if, whether Filemaker will put out a full (or at least fuller) version of Filemaker out for the iPad.

We might just end up having guys logging in to our filemaker server over the web though, that might be the easiest.

[You Need a Thneed]

Filemaker on iPhone.

Not an app, but loads your database through Safari.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

My dad thinks (and I agree), the iPad is going to be an essential tool for our construction superintendents to have. Most of what they do is communicate with email, write POs, enter timecards, stuff like that. A laptop is really overkill for this purpose.

Sounds like a job for a $250 netbook? I'm thinking of the practicalities here. While I can't speak for your supers, they way some of the ones I've dealt with would mangle a glass faced $500 iPad in about a week.

[QuadCityImages]

I'd say it sounds like a job for neither of those things. Apple doesn't exactly make rough-and-tumble outdoorsy, industrial type devices, and netbooks are too cheap to survive in any kind of public real world use. I hear all these people talking about contractors or factory workers using the iPad, and just think back to my days working in a machine shop. Metal shavings and dirty hands are a fast way to a scratched glass screen, or ruined netbook.

Here's something a lot more realistic, although probably a lot more expensive.