I don't need another stand-alone device and, unless I'm missing something, that's what this is.
I want a light, flashy, media-rich touch screen tablet that will act as a bridge between my home and work networks. I don't want something that has a nice calendar and contacts list, I want something that will sync with my existing calendar and contacts list, allow me to easily transfer files in and out while at home or work and watch movies, listen to music, read, etc. in between.
I want a light, flashy, media-rich touch screen tablet that will act as a bridge between my home and work networks. I don't want something that has a nice calendar and contacts list, I want something that will sync with my existing calendar and contacts list, allow me to easily transfer files in and out while at home or work and watch movies, listen to music, read, etc. in between.
This sounds like exactly what the iPad is. For file transfers, by the way, I have read that it basically exposes a portion of the iPads onboard storage as a regular flash drive - that's how you get docs on and off the thing when working with iWork on the iPad, for example. I have heard rumors about wireless printing and print to PDF being built right in too.
For contacts, calendars, and email, if you use Exchange at work, you are absolutely set, complete with push notification and updates. If you don't use Exchange, there's MobileMe, Google's stuff, etc, that all provide fairly decent synching.
So I think it might be closer to what you want than you think. We'll know for sure in 60 days.
This sounds like exactly what the iPad is. For file transfers, by the way, I have read that it basically exposes a portion of the iPads onboard storage as a regular flash drive - that's how you get docs on and off the thing when working with iWork on the iPad, for example. I have heard rumors about wireless printing and print to PDF being built right in too.
For contacts, calendars, and email, if you use Exchange at work, you are absolutely set, complete with push notification and updates. If you don't use Exchange, there's MobileMe, Google's stuff, etc, that all provide fairly decent synching.
So I think it might be closer to what you want than you think. We'll know for sure in 60 days.
Really? In Jobs intro it sounded like it had a proprietary address book and calendar.
And will it recognize mp4, wmv, avi, and mkv files, all of which I use daily? If I'm working on a word doc on my couch and need some info off of a doc on my pc, can I get it through my wireless home network?
The way I see it: one of the things that makes the iPod Touch and iPhone great is the app store. It's an ecosystem where developers with a cool idea can create it and be discovered (the last part is important) and be profitable as well.
the iPad only extends this. Developers now have more screen real estate to work with and more processing power. We're going to see some cool innovations, I'm sure of it.
Also, the thing is half-a-freakin' inch thick, weighs 1.5 pounds and starts at $500. Who can complain about that? Let's be realistic, these things are going to sell like crazy. (personally, I'll be waiting for second gen b/c I learned my lesson with the iPod touch, but they're still freakin' sweet and if I wasn't a broke student (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpost.php?p=2290111&postcount=52) I would be all over this.
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There are an awful lot of people of the "non-reading" variety who don't seem to get that this thing wasn't built for them.
I will be buying one, and I can't wait until the day when the Calgary Herald offers an online digital subscription through iTunes (like the NY Times). I'm seriously looking forward to the day I can get my text books on it, and I'm already making a mental list of all the mags I miss having a print subscription for. I canceled my mag subs because I was tired of issues piling up, and I quit reading newspapers years ago because of the ink.
All the other stuff is just gravy for me. Videos, music, photos, internet, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, applications, WiFi, Bluetooth keyboard, etc etc.
The Kindle version of the herald (and other papers) rocks! No more going out in the cold or hoping that the paperboy hit the doorstep. No more waking up early and waiting for the paper...just a flick of the switch. The iPad will be the same in that regard and although I was skeptical at first, its a glorious gadget for newspaper subscribers!
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Why does everyone want to have sexual relations with e-ink? The iPad has a 133ppi screen and if anyone knows how to antialias a font, its Apple. You don't get eyestrain from high contrast, sharp text that can be displayed on a panel of this quality. This isn't a 65Hz CRT.
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The Kindle version of the herald (and other papers) rocks! No more going out in the cold or hoping that the paperboy hit the doorstep. No more waking up early and waiting for the paper...just a flick of the switch. The iPad will be the same in that regard and although I was skeptical at first, its a glorious gadget for newspaper subscribers!
So I've thought getting an iPad for this reason, but isn't just walking over to your already purchased computer / laptop and surfing over to your already free Herald online the same damn thing? The newspaper industry has tried going to an online subscription model and rebelled against it as ad revenues dropped faster than subscription revenue. I don't see that changing anytime soon, as much as those in the business would like it to.
I then thought about how great it would be to be able to read newspapers / magazines anywhere outside of a wifi connection like on a bus. Then I realized I can do that already, on my smartphone. Again, I can read magazines for free too - since most are free to read online currently. Time has a great Blackberry App BTW for doing this. Or there's just the good ole' browser.
I agree for students that this could be great if you didn't want to lug around a big backpack of books. Will the publishers put the small market canadian editions of textbooks on the digital market place? Maybe, hopefully the publishing industry isn't as intent on screwing Canadians as the telcos are....
Bottom line, it seems I can already do most of the things the iPad with existing technology I have, and access content that's already free.
Why pay twice for this?
Last edited by I-Hate-Hulse; 01-27-2010 at 10:31 PM.
"It's hard to see how something so simple, so thin and so light could possibly be so capable"
... good thing it's really thin, because it can't even multitask!
"The iPad is the best web surfing experience, the best email experience, the best photo and movie watching experience."
... no qualifiers? Then it better be able to beat my PC.
Lets see:
PC: 24" monitor 1920x1200, or if I feel like it, 61" TV 1920x1080
iPad: 9.7" screen 1024x768, to be fair it's IPS and my monitor isn't, but that's something I could easily change if I cared enough
PC: has Flash
iPad: doesn't
Forgot to mention, if it's "the best web surfing experience, the best email experience, the best photo and movie watching experience" why would anyone buy a MacBook or an iMac or an AppleTV? It's funny how ridiculous that statement is.
Really? In Jobs intro it sounded like it had a proprietary address book and calendar.
And will it recognize mp4, wmv, avi, and mkv files, all of which I use daily? If I'm working on a word doc on my couch and need some info off of a doc on my pc, can I get it through my wireless home network?
The calendar/contact/mail triumverate should be the same as on the iPhone and iPod Touch, which means it should have good integration with Exchange and other cloud PIM setups (like MobileMe and Google). It would be a jaw-droppingly bad decision to leave that out when it works so well on the other iP* devices.
Wireless access to shared docs - you've got to start thinking about the cloud, that's where this device is designed to play. You've got iWork.com, which I'm certain they will integrate with, MobileMe's iDisk, and the other cloud players like Dropbox will surely be able to play in this space too, since Dropbox can already use the native viewer apps on the iPod Touch/iPhone to view the contents of your Dropbox. I would hope Apple also works in TimeCapsule and/or shared folder support on Macs.
MP4's only for vids, there's little to no chance we are ever going to see other file formats supported - and one of the reasons for that is that MP4 decode support is in hardware, which is why their handheld devices get decent battery life during video playback.
I think the iPad will have rough edges to start, no different than the very earliest iPod Touches and pre-OS 3.0 iPhones, but the App Store definitely makes them pretty compelling from the get-go in my opinion.
It's going to be interesting to watch how the device fits into people's workflows, that's for sure. I think the biggest hurdle the iPad will face is people trying to use it as a laptop replacement, which I don't think it is.
"It's hard to see how something so simple, so thin and so light could possibly be so capable"
... good thing it's really thin, because it can't even multitask!
"The iPad is the best web surfing experience, the best email experience, the best photo and movie watching experience."
... no qualifiers? Then it better be able to beat my PC.
Lets see:
PC: 24" monitor 1920x1200, or if I feel like it, 61" TV 1920x1080
iPad: 9.7" screen 1024x768, to be fair it's IPS and my monitor isn't, but that's something I could easily change if I cared enough
PC: has Flash
iPad: doesn't
Think my PC wins already.
Bam.
You're right. Your desktop PC running Adobe Flash, connected to a 61" TV, is definitely the single greatest mobile web-browsing device on the market today.
I don't know how Apple thought they could compete with that.
"It's hard to see how something so simple, so thin and so light could possibly be so capable"
... good thing it's really thin, because it can't even multitask!
"The iPad iPad is the best web surfing experience, the best email experience, the best photo and movie watching experience."
... no qualifiers? Then it better be able to beat my PC.
Lets see:
PC: 24" monitor 1920x1200, or if I feel like it, 61" TV 1920x1080
iPad: 9.7" screen 1024x768, to be fair it's IPS and my monitor isn't, but that's something I could easily change if I cared enough
PC: has Flash
iPad: doesn't
Think my PC wins already.
Bam.
You so completely missed the point. Just because your stove can bake a cake better than your dishwasher doesn't mean your dishwasher sucks and serves no purpose. This is not a computer or smart phone replacement. It's a new type of device.
And for the last time, FLASH IS DEAD. No one cares about it. Seriously no one. The only good thing about sites that use Flash is all the hours web designers will get to bill out to replace it with <video> and <canvas> tags.
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