Apple's iPad Megathread

[Keeko_ca]

Originally Posted by octothorp

It'll ultimately be the apps that drive this. They were the thing that made the iphone really take off over its competitors, and this is looking pretty strong even just with the Apple apps. If developers start producing full-featured versions of their iphone apps for this, it will give them a huge edge over competing products.

So is that it for today then? Nothing about the new iphone OS?

I already has the FULL backlog of iPhone apps to start from, and no, nothing about iPhone 4.0...which would have been nice. Expect a silent outing near the time of the retail launch of the iPad.

[Kipper is King]

If I did not already have an ipod touch, I would be excited about this. It really is just an ipod/iphone on steroids, which I am sure would be cool to use for reading and gaming. It's just not $500+ cool in my opinion.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Basically with the lower price point Apple is hoping to not only get in on the netbook market but also the eReader market. Thus doing in one device, what the other two do separately. A singular product that can be used as both, and is a 'better' option.

to go OT a bit, how is the e-reader market? seems like such a dumb concept to me for how much the hardware costs. then again i think ugg boots are stupid and they make oodles of money. so i just thought i would ask you guys!

and do you think that the price point is low enough to really hit the netbook market? to me, being down in the 300-400 range for netbooks is one of the main reasons they are used. obviously size and battery life are better compared to normal laptops, but i think their lower price point is a huge thing. while 500 seems pretty darn good for apple, is it low enough to capture more of the market than just the apple folks that buy anything apple?

[Keeko_ca]

Originally Posted by Kipper is King

If I did not already have an ipod touch, I would be excited about this. It really is just an ipod/iphone on steroids, which I am sure would be cool to use for reading and gaming. It's just not $500+ cool in my opinion.

I kinda sit where you are as well, although, do take note that this is iPad 1.0. I think I'll bite when the 2nd Gen comes out.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by octothorp

It'll ultimately be the apps that drive this. They were the thing that made the iphone really take off over its competitors, and this is looking pretty strong even just with the Apple apps. If developers start producing full-featured versions of their iphone apps for this, it will give them a huge edge over competing products.

And with the quality of apps for the iPhone, we know that there are going to be lots of great apps for the iPad too.

the iPad is easily the best "netbook", easily the best eReader, a great lightweight laptop (especially when more full featured apps come out), a great portable game player, etc.

I guess we'll have to wait until version 2.0 for a webcam.

People were talking about the possiblity of this being a textbook reader. If you could sell e-textbooks at half the price of printed ones, the amount of money one would save buying textbooks would easily bay for one of these iPads.

[Keeko_ca]

Originally Posted by dobbles

and do you think that the price point is low enough to really hit the netbook market? to me, being down in the 300-400 range for netbooks is one of the main reasons they are used. obviously size and battery life are better compared to normal laptops, but i think their lower price point is a huge thing. while 500 seems pretty darn good for apple, is it low enough to capture more of the market than just the apple folks that buy anything apple?

I think Netbooks main focus is portability. I don't think Apple has to worry about non-Apple people anymore...judging on how many millions out there are using iPhones...

Apple has never been a market-share focused company, they're more focused on profit-share.

[Keeko_ca]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

I guess we'll have to wait until version 2.0 for a webcam.

Think iPod touch 1.0....

I say wait until iPad 2.0 before taking the plunge.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by dobbles

to go OT a bit, how is the e-reader market? seems like such a dumb concept to me for how much the hardware costs. then again i think ugg boots are stupid and they make oodles of money. so i just thought i would ask you guys!

and do you think that the price point is low enough to really hit the netbook market? to me, being down in the 300-400 range for netbooks is one of the main reasons they are used. obviously size and battery life are better compared to normal laptops, but i think their lower price point is a huge thing. while 500 seems pretty darn good for apple, is it low enough to capture more of the market than just the apple folks that buy anything apple?

If you have an e reader the bonus at least for my book nerd friend who has one is that it has crazy long battery life, and its so integrated with amazon.

I dont think this replaces the e reader if that and a powerbook is all you have.

[octothorp]

The 10 hours of video playback that Jobs was talking about seems pretty incredible. I'd be surprised if the device lived up to that in testing, but even if it gets two thirds of that, it's better than my expectations.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

I think the idea is that you won't have to carry around your macbook.

Keyboarding one the screen should work just fine, unless you can type really fast.

I disagree. Think ergonomically. Keyboards should be flat and screens should be tilted up so you can look at them straight on. You can't have both with the keyboard on the screen like this.

If you want to type comfortably you either have to look at the screen from pretty steep angle. If you want to look at the screen comfortably you have to bend your wrists way back to type in a terribly unnatural position. Just picture it.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by dobbles

to go OT a bit, how is the e-reader market? seems like such a dumb concept to me for how much the hardware costs. then again i think ugg boots are stupid and they make oodles of money. so i just thought i would ask you guys!

and do you think that the price point is low enough to really hit the netbook market? to me, being down in the 300-400 range for netbooks is one of the main reasons they are used. obviously size and battery life are better compared to normal laptops, but i think their lower price point is a huge thing. while 500 seems pretty darn good for apple, is it low enough to capture more of the market than just the apple folks that buy anything apple?

People who have ebook readers seem to absolutely adore them. Can you imagine if you could go to university or college and have all your textbooks on one device? Same thing if you were a big reader ... books are in the 1-2 mb range (and pirateable ... which I don't condone) ... can you imagine how many books you could hold on it?

The thing about netbooks is that many people who own netbooks don't love them. perhaps that fact has changed (i know cp has some loyalists), but the last i checked people don't like them. This is the kind of product that people would rave about.

I still don't know if it's for me though. I'll have to think for a while about this.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I disagree. Think ergonomically. Keyboards should be flat and screens should be tilted up so you can look at them straight on. You can't have both with the keyboard on the screen like this.

If you want to type comfortably you either have to look at the screen from pretty steep angle. If you want to look at the screen comfortably you have to bend your wrists way back to type in a terribly unnatural position. Just picture it.

If you do a lot of typing, a laptop would still probably be a better idea, yes.

[Keeko_ca]

I just think it's an amazing device really. Like most new things that Apple brings out, it's very difficult to find things to nitpick about. It looks slick, it works perfectly, and has an insane amount of support right out of the gates.

Yes, there are many tablet PCs out there, but I think the key difference with the iPad is the interface. It's not just a touch screen computer with Windows 7 or Mac OS X thrown in.

If you're more of a Netbook person, they did come out with the keyboard device. Not a normally Apple-like move, but certainly smart.

...and that price. Very, very nice. It goes up quickly with the more space you throw in it, but I think the base model is perfect for the vast majority out there.

I'm impressed!

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by octothorp

It'll ultimately be the apps that drive this. They were the thing that made the iphone really take off over its competitors, and this is looking pretty strong even just with the Apple apps. If developers start producing full-featured versions of their iphone apps for this, it will give them a huge edge over competing products.

So is that it for today then? Nothing about the new iphone OS?

For sure, but in that case we're talking about a market driven at its core by the need to carry around a cell phone. They killed that market by making an awesomely fun cell phone.

I just don't see a market for a big unergonomic portable computer with no keyboard. Everyone's just going to carry around their laptops and iphones, as both are true functional need driven devices. This thing is just a toy.

They could have revolutionized the laptop industry by making this thing a true laptop/tablet combo that captures their amazing apps, state of the art touch screen technology, and overall Mac appeal. They seriously dropped the ball here.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

If you do a lot of typing, a laptop would still probably be a better idea, yes.

That's where I'm going here. Imagine if this thing could open up into a traditional laptop, then swivel and close into this iPad tablet thing. That would be siiiiiiick. I'd line up to buy one.

[BlackEleven]

I like that its unlocked 3G and it's a decent price. But to me its missing a certain wow factor like the iPhone and iPods had when they were first introduced. I can't see any really compelling reason to own one. Sure, there are a few things that would be nice, but nothing really that exciting.

[Keeko_ca]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

They could have revolutionized the laptop industry by making this thing a true laptop/tablet combo that captures their amazing apps, state of the art touch screen technology, and overall Mac appeal. They seriously dropped the ball here.

Why? Just why would they put their popular MacBook line out in the cold? Perhaps they'll eventually merge the tech into all their products, but certainly would have been a poor business decision out of the gates.

EDIT: Just thinking of mounting an iPad in the dash of my car....

[The Ditch]

So let's take guesses on the 3G pricing, with a 3 year contract for a Rogers wireless stick, 3 gigs is $65 a month, 1 gig is $35 a month.

[GrrlGoalie33]

I'm on the fence. I'm going to see what kind of apps are released for it in the next few months before I make any decision.

[Pastiche]

Cool device if you want to get locked into Apple's way of doing things and Apple's software. From a geek perspective this is not very enticing.