Apple's iPad Megathread

[Temporary_User]

Can someone correct me, I can't link my network data together can I?
I assume that I would mostly use an ipad over wifi, but since I already have 3g with my cellphone (which I also barely use any data for), could I use my data for both devices or do I have to have 2 separate accounts?

Having 2 separate accounts would really suck and probably be the deal breaker for me.
Is 3g only available through cell phone companies?

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

Can someone correct me, I can't link my network data together can I?
I assume that I would mostly use an ipad over wifi, but since I already have 3g with my cellphone (which I also barely use any data for), could I use my data for both devices or do I have to have 2 separate accounts?

Having 2 separate accounts would really suck and probably be the deal breaker for me.
Is 3g only available through cell phone companies?

That actually has been answered. Three times. In this thread.

The only means of using your 3G from your cell phone to access the internet on the iPad is jailbreak the iPhone and use it as a wifi hotspot. Which is exactly what I plan on doing. I'm not giving Rogers another dime. I hate Rogers.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Russic

My favorite Twitter message through all of this: "The people who love the iPad they haven't used yet actually have a lot in common with the people who hate the iPad they haven't used yet."

if there's one theme I've read in all reviews (gushing and not), it's that you do really need to try it to make a final opinion. Sure you still may find it's not the device for you, but the impression I get from actual users is that you find that it isn't what you thought it was.

If we're going to compare ipads and netbooks, I'd be more interested in customer satisfaction after a year. Let's not forget when the iPod debuted it was quite a bit weaker than many comparable products. Many of these faults exist to this day. Still doesn't really matter though because the driving force behind the iPod is how it feels to work with. I get the same vibe from people who have used the ipad. Sure it's missing x, y, and z, but there's something in how it feels.

I need to figure out someone who will let me use their iPad, take it to school for a week and take notes etc with it. That's the thing I am not convinced it would do for me that I need.

Anyone know of good note taking apps for the iPad? Can you add drawings and stuff easily?

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Why do people continue to type it IPod and IPhone and IPad? its iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Some people arent conned by Apple marketing and will spell it in an internet forum the way they want.

More importantly, why does it bother you so much?

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Some people arent conned by Apple marketing and will spell it in an internet forum the way they want.

More importantly, why does it bother you so much?

Does Jerome Iginla bother you?

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Does Jarmoe Iginal bother you?

fixed.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

(Yes, I know the Gemini will run Android and have a USB port, but have fun accessing all your data on that super-slow 32GB SD card, while iPad users speed through everything with their 64GB of flash memory.)

I agree with your point where 64 GB is more than enough storage for a device like the iPad but I don't get your criticism of the speed of non built in storage. What kind of high powered, high performance data crunching are you going to be doing on your iPad where a USB drive is going to be performing too slowly? I have an external USB drive I keep around at home to house a library of movies and tunes so I can just plug it into whatever computer I'm currently working on and have my entertainment with me while I'm working and I've never noticed any performance issues.

Ok... their choice of only putting in 4GB is a bit of a head scratcher but for everything else, I think their specs look pretty good.

[Pastiche]

The file sharing is a joke on this. Through iTunes? It's damning that the best software to use to share documents is Google docs.

That's why I will never own Apple products. I want to use a computer how I want to use it, not how Apple wants me to use it. If Apple ever gets a strong foothold it will mean even more closed computing.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Pastiche

The file sharing is a joke on this. Through iTunes? It's damning that the best software to use to share documents is Google docs.

That's why I will never own Apple products. I want to use a computer how I want to use it, not how Apple wants me to use it. If Apple ever gets a strong foothold it will mean even more closed computing.

This

is

not

a

computer.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

I agree with your point where 64 GB is more than enough storage for a device like the iPad but I don't get your criticism of the speed of non built in storage. What kind of high powered, high performance data crunching are you going to be doing on your iPad where a USB drive is going to be performing too slowly? I have an external USB drive I keep around at home to house a library of movies and tunes so I can just plug it into whatever computer I'm currently working on and have my entertainment with me while I'm working and I've never noticed any performance issues.

Ok... their choice of only putting in 4GB is a bit of a head scratcher but for everything else, I think their specs look pretty good.

The point of that sentence wasn't that storage on the iPad is fast, it was that working off of an SD card is very slow. You're reading it backwards.

Edit: Also, while 16-64GB is acceptable for a device like this... 4GB is not. So it really doesn't matter what the restof the specs are. It can have 17 USB ports for all I care. If they're expecting me to plug it into external storge in order to use it, than they're missing the point. It's like that guy in the begining of this thread who was trying to tell me that a 90min battery would be more than enough for a device like this, if only it would just multitask like a real laptop.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by Barnes

This

is

not

a

computer.

What is it then?

First line on wikipedia:

The iPad is a tablet computer developed by Apple Inc.

From apple.com:

... has the potential to change portable computing profoundly...

...rewriting the rulebook for mainstream computing...

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Apple+iPad+computer+hits+shelves/2762099/story.html?id=2762

Apple's iPad computer hits shelves

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8483654.stm

It is not the first touchscreen tablet computer...

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...-computer.html

Apple unveils iPad tablet computer

Then again, the official site says its 'magical' so who knows - maybe it isn't a computer at all and is instead some sort of sorcery.

[Pastiche]

Maybe barnes is right: http://www.slate.com/id/2249872/pagenum/all

Now in 2010, the iPad takes the same ideas to their logical extreme. It is a beautiful and nearly perfect machine. It is also Jobs' final triumph, the final step in Apple's evolution away from Wozniak and toward a closed model. The main, and most important, concession to openness is the App Store, a creation that shows Jobs learned something from Apple's bitter defeat by Microsoft in the 1990s. You cannot run software Apple does not distribute itself. You cannot access the file system unless you hack the machine. You cannot open the hood; indeed, the machine lacks any screws. I compared my iPad to various appliances around the home—coffee machines, toaster, cameras—and the only thing comparably sealed was, well, an iPod. The iPad has no slots; its only interface is an Apple-specific plug. Oddly enough, this all means that the iPad is not a machine that Apple's founders, in the 1970s, would have ever considered buying.


But this may not matter for many people, for the iPad is handy tool for getting well-produced content from the industries that make it. And even if it doesn't do everything a computer does, it still does most things. Still, it is meant for consumers not users, and as such has far more in common with the television than the personal computer. It is not meant for the Homebrew Computer Club—for tinkerers, hobbyists, or for that matter, creators.


Steve Wozniak has said that he pre-ordered three iPads, two for himself and one for a friend. This is a testament to his incredible good nature and his loyalty both to the firm that marginalized him in the 1980s and to a friend, Jobs, who refused to write a foreword for his memoirs. Yet somewhere, deep inside, Wozniak must realize what the release of the iPad signifies: The company he once built now, officially, no longer exists.

Outlines exactly why I wont be getting one. I am afraid of the movement in computing that Apple symbolizes, closed platform, dominated by content producers and hardware/software manufacturers.



The article describes the two competing streams of computing today, one of openness and one of closed environments.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

The point of that sentence wasn't that storage on the iPad is fast, it was that working off of an SD card is very slow. You're reading it backwards.

My point is how fast do you need it to be? Ok, if you're running a benchmark test, it might be faster than USB/SD storage. In actual practice, for what these devices are doing, USB storage (and perhaps SD - I haven't tried it for this type of application) vs the type that the iPad is using are going to have no perceptible difference in speed or performance.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

What is it then?

First line on wikipedia:


From apple.com:




http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Apple+iPad+computer+hits+shelves/2762099/story.html?id=2762


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8483654.stm


http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...-computer.html




Then again, the official site says its 'magical' so who knows - maybe it isn't a computer at all and is instead some sort of sorcery.

Of course it is a 'computing device', but calling it isn't a traditional computer at all.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Of course it is a 'computing device', but calling it isn't a traditional computer at all.

So it's a tablet computer that they're trying to restrict you from using as a computer... would that be a fair compromise between the two viewpoints?

I'm not trying to troll here. I've actually learned a fair bit about this device - not sure what to call it and not offend someone - from this thread and asking people that are following it a lot more closely than I am.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

My point is how fast do you need it to be? Ok, if you're running a benchmark test, it might be faster than USB/SD storage. In actual practice, for what these devices are doing, USB storage (and perhaps SD - I haven't tried it for this type of application) vs the type that the iPad is using are going to have no perceptible difference in speed or performance.

You've quite clearly never tried to use an SD card as system storage before. You're arguing just for the sake of arguing here.

[Pastiche]

It's essentially a content distribution device to deliver music, books, videos and games from content producers through Apple's stores to your hands.

The lack of basic computing functionality in the creation software like file sharing limits its usefulness for anything other than consuming content.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

You've quite clearly never tried to use an SD card as system storage before. You're arguing just for the sake of arguing here.

I'll concede that point because I haven't used an SD card to store and run media off of. I can't prove you wrong so lets just assume you're right here.
However, it does have USB capability and I HAVE done plenty of work off and watched media off of those types of devices with great results. So why ignore that part of the discussion which is the actual point I'm making?


edit: An SD card is fast enough for your camera to store pictures to, it must be fast enough to work with documents, spreadsheets, etc. Probably fast enough to listen to a couple mp3s from. Movies? Ok... maybe not... but I'd guess it's far from useless. In any case, it wouldn't be my expandable media of choice anyway.

[SebC]

Fine, it's not a computer. It's a console. Happy?

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

So it's a tablet computer that they're trying to restrict you from using as a computer... would that be a fair compromise between the two viewpoints?

I'm not trying to troll here. I've actually learned a fair bit about this device - not sure what to call it and not offend someone - from this thread and asking people that are following it a lot more closely than I am.

How is it trying to restrict you form using your desktop? Your desktop is how you can back up your content that you obtain wirelessly.