Did you miss the memo where Mac OS X is an *nix flavor under the hood and that it runs pretty much everything Linux does (short of their inferior desktop managers?) Thought so.

I'm not some granny who doesn't know any better. I got into Linux when Slackware was considered 1337 and like some on here, I've hacked drivers for an x86 shitbox cobbled together from $300 bucks and a trip to Fry's. Eventually, you get to a stage in your life where you just want stuff to flippin' work without all the hassle because there's better things to spend one's time on than downloading source for yet another "almost works" driver and patching someone else's shitcode.

Most people just want a machine that does their dozen or so apps well and don't really give a shit about the OS, provided it doesn't make them curse their miserable lives to use. We've even had a thread on here about the whole apps thing.

I'm pretty much the same and still think my CL550 analogy is apt--in effect you're criticizing my car because it doesn't haul flagstone like a cheap-ass truck, off-road like a Subaru, or be as customizable as a '72 Nova, but I'd say just buy a truck, Subaru, or Nova if that's what you want to do. I have gaming systems for games. I have an entertainment system for watching DVDs. I don't need or want to use a computer for it. My computer is for computer stuff (and listen to iTunes as I do, since I'm not allowed an iPod at work). Most of my time at work is spent in xterm windows anyway (unless I'm writing LaTeX, in which case I'll break out Emacs), and white text on black looks pretty much the same no matter what OS is serving it to me.

Yeah, I'm disappointed in what I've read of the iPad, as I think I mentioned. I was holding off getting a Netbook in the hope that the iPad would do what I wanted at a comparable price and with enough goodies to make it worth it. I've yet to test drive one, obviously, but I suspect I'll just end up buying a throwaway Netbook and just wait to replace it until the second generation iPad or that Microsoft tablet thing that Blaise pointed to that started the thread.

 

Maybe I should get you a CRYpod.

Lol seriously though, I know you're critical of Apple, and wanted your opinion. Good for discussion and all that rot.

I agree that the lack of tethering was a bad move on their part. There was no way that 3G data (to the extent it would function on something like an iPad) would be free, but they should've done something for current iPhone users. Or made 3G free when buying books (similar to the Kindle). As it is, I don't know what it is about 3G hardware that makes it $130 more expensive...

No way, man. Kindle DX vs. iPad 16GB: as long as the Kindle is still $500, I'm getting the iPad every day of the week. The advantages of battery life and 3G are pretty much lost when one considers the areas that an iPad would see use. Free WiFi at all AT&T hotspots, and most places have a power supply nearby. The only disadvantage would be on the road, and even then only to people who are so mercurial that they absolutely have to be able to download new books/media while on the go.

A portable format like the iPad (or the HP slate, or any other sort of tablet) shouldn't be able to tie together billions and trillions of hardware and software. They should be highly focused to have any sort of benefit over carrying around a laptop or netbook, or making due with a smartphone.

The actual product did shit all to deliver, but the concept of streamlining a tablets operating parameters is one of the only things Jobs has said that I really agree with. It's probably why I think e-readers were such a good idea, despite being sort of a step back.

I see what you did there.

 

The keyboard thing is the big fail. If I want to bring a device to class to take notes, I'd rather bring my laptop or netbook. I gain the ability to type out on a real fucking keyboard and since the screen stands up, it doesn't take up that much space.

Can you imagine the sorts of cunts that will be walking around with an ipad under their arm? They're the sorts of cunts that won't buy the protective casing because it takes away from the smooth, sleek design. They're the sorts of cunts that will let their ipad slip out of thier grasp and watch as it falls to the earth in slow motion. They'll cry, kneeling on the street and holding the wreckage in their hands.

I'll be the cunt walking by with my laptop in a bag and a smug grin. Fuck 'em.

 

If apple allows flash one any iOS and it crashes like crazy or becomes generally unstable who will the masses point the finger at? Surely apple. This seems more of cover you own ass than any thing else put up flash and get a bad rep for a lousy product because every body wanted it?

---------- Post automerged at 09:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 AM ----------

I also believe that there should be a discount or something for the iPad service if I already pay for iphone service. As for the battery life it should be expected @ about 10 hrs of use maybe more with that new processor. Apple has been getting really good with the batteries lately. With the iPad squeezing out 10 hours I can assume that the iPhone 4g will have a simular battery and that will be my impetus to up grade right there.

All the naysayers should hold judgement until they get to play with one at an apple store.

 

Actually, you can make your iPhone broadcast wifi signals through a jailbreak app called MyWi, essentially a portal wireless network. Works great, speeds are as good as your 3G connection, too bad in Canada we don't get unlimited data plans. The only bad thing about it is that tethering eats up battery life like mad.

 

What kind of iPhone do you have? Cuz mine has to have a usb to AC adapter in order to charge. A solution to this would be carrying a backup battery which is pretty cheap from mono price, ($10 bux will charge your iphone twice).

 

You can't charge your iPhone through the USB port on your computer? That's unusual - or whatever port you're using isn't mean for charging any device (which is the case on my old iMac's keyboard).

 

Well, I'm pretty sure this is standard because i have the iPhone 3GS.

 

Lol, so do I. I suggest you get to an Apple store and see what's going on with your phone.

(EDIT: Or not XD)

On topic: Notion Ink's Adam tablet had their people come out with a nice update on their machine: double the battery life of the iPad, roughly 20 hours. If they come in at the $500 price point, it'll absolutely kill the Kindle. Still, it's vaporware until they announce a price and manufacturer, which they're taking their sweet-ass time doing.

And speaking of Amazon's toy, they recently acquired a company that specializes in multi-touch platforms, and are in search of color screen techs - all of which heavily hint at a touchscreen Kindle (with annotation ?). Seems like a misuse of funds (better put towards making the screen respond and load like a normal fucking LCD), and unless they're developing something similar to PixelQi, they'll have simply made another product that will stop people from buying a Kindle/Kindle DX - which the iPad did.

It's like every company is determined to half-step towards the tablet sector, in fear of making regular desktops/laptops obsolete.

 

Wow holy fuck i fail, i was using this convenient 4-Port USB hub, but i just tried plugging it manually to one of the main ones and it works -.- /facepalm.

 

Err no man its not, mine seems to charge just fine from my computer, you should get that looked at.

Edit: Lol nevermind.

 

...What a dumb fucking comparison. Why did you bump the thread for that? Conspicuously absent from the list:

- Run apps
- View digital media
- Browse the internet
- Not bore a person
- Have articles written about it
- Does more than 5 relevant tasks in a person's day-to-day

Anyways, on topic-ish: since multi-tasking is (belatedly) coming to the iPad in the fall, the thing has started to look less and less sucky. I checked it out last weekend in the store, and pretty much all of the main points about it are true: it's fairly heavier than one would expect, and definitely won't surpass a Kindle in terms of extended use comfort. I have no doubt that it'll probably heat up a fair bit after intense use, and the lack of a camera and stylus are still two pieces of mindfuckery that I can't get around. That being said, even before they announced multitouch support, I almost got it based on a few of the app offerings already out:

- The Sketchbook app from AutoDesk, which is normally $100 or so for PC/Mac, is $8 for the iPad - and it's pretty damn slick. Will it ever replace a computer/Wacom tablet set-up ? Probably not, but it's damn close for a first try app lacking a stylus and pressure sensitivity. There are a couple of other sketching apps as well, but none look as legit as Sketchbook Pro. I'm hoping that AutoDesk creates a similarly watered-down version of AutoCAD for the iPad, and that ArtRage, Google SketchUp, Comic Life, and even Manga Studio port their apps to the iPad as well.

A pipedream would be Wacom comes out with a (most likely powered) high-sensitivity stylus that works with capacitive touchscreens. There are other such screens coming out besides the iPad's, and not everyone wants to drop change on a Wacom Cintiq 21ux (even though it's fucking gorgeous...).

- The photo-editing suites are pretty phenomenal-looking as well. Like SketchBook Pro, a lot of theme feature Photoshop-style layers, and with the ability to upload photos from SD cards (yet another boon, for offloading my camera's memory card during shooting), one could edit their photos really nicely and fairly quickly - no matter where they are.

- eTude, the sheetmusic reader. While I could easily get away with just using any pdf reader app, this one apparently has a metronome and page-turning feature as well, plus access to scores of sheets for free. Other apps in this same vein include Gibson's and Ultimate Guitar's tab apps - which are still better suited to the iPhone/iTouch (clamped on near the tuning keys of the neck lol), but no less appealing on a larger screen.

Another potential use I see for the iPad, with its screen real estate and processing speed (the thing is quite quick), is to act as "brain" for other digital instruments: with the wave of MIDI guitars following in Matt Bellamy's footsteps, the Eigenharp, digital drumsets, and MPC synth and drum controllers out there, the guy or company that can rig a quick app & connector interface to jack these instruments into the iPad will create yet another appealing aspect to creating music that the laptop provided all those years ago.

Between the music and portable drawing aspects alone, I could completely give up laptops in favor of an iPad. The fact that I'll be able to run Pandora and Gchat in the background are features that I could've lived without, but are now a nice bonus. I still don't think it can touch the productivity-intense Courier in it's current iteration, but the gap has already narrowed significantly in only a month after it's release - who knows what will happen by the time v.2 comes out (most likely before Christmas) ?

And speaking of the Courier: a pretty cool write-up about how the Courier signals a new era for how Microsoft thinks about UI.

 

I ended up picking up an iPad. Quickie review follows:

The touchpad isn't great for touch-typing at my speeds I type. Using it for this function is painful and will probably take some getting used to. I will probably only use it on airplane flights, where bluetooth isn't an option.

Wireless keyboard + iPad + Pages (which has had the interface completely redone for the iPad) makes a slick little platform for fiction writing, which is my primary use for it so far. (I still haven't quite made enough off my short fiction sales to cover the cost of the iPad, but whatever). I expect to get enough use out of it in this vein to make it a worthwhile purchase.

Battery life seems like it goes on forever, even bluetoothing the keyboard. The book reader is decent--Kindle beats it in some aspects, it beats Kindle in others (color, ability to read in the dark, e.g.). Nobody who has read as much fanfiction as we have has room to bitch about eyestrain from staring at a screen for too long--this aspect of the comparison has been overdone in the media. Also, contrary to popular opinion, I've never felt mine get hot and I'm at altitude (7500 feet), where air cooling of electronics is only about 75% as effective as at sea level.

Wolfram Alpha. Killer app is killer. $2 for the app and it connects you to a cloud supercomputer to do the kind of things I do with Mathematica on my desktop/laptop (for like 2 grand). Fuck, it rocks.

I don't carry my iPod with me anymore, save for when I work out, since my CD collection is all on the iPad anyway and it auto-synchs with my desktop iTunes. (My iPod now serves semi-permanent duty in the sound system in my truck). Sure, I could do the same with a linux netbook too, but I like not having to waste time setting it up.

Downsides: No usable emacs (that I've seen, anyway). Getting data to/from the iPad is sometimes a pain--often, I end up just emailing myself stuff rather than screw with the file xfer. Copy/pasting text isn't natural to me yet. Also, even on its highest setting, beating its Scrabble computer isn't much of a challenge.

 

This is a bad point to make because I have and will play with bluetac for hours on end.

 

NO I DON'T WANNA AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME D8

(I swear I'm not gay...)

 

The iPad is starting to grow on me, I must say.

I can't ever see it being used as a typing device, though Pers definitely has a good idea with a bluetooth wireless keyboard. However, when it comes to the tasks I usually use a laptop for, ie, reading, checking email, web browsing, making comments on forums and so on, I could see this actually working out quite well.

I do think that the second gen iPad is really going to shine however, if they add the obvious things that are missing. Front facing camera etc. I don't however like the different versions they offer in terms of 3G, how hard would it be to give them all 3G, but only use it if wanted?