Apple iPad is here

[Crouton]

http://www.engadget.com/


Looks like a great gadget to me.

Can't wait to see one in action in real life.

[cliosguy]

TBH i was expecting a little more from the SO department; ill see how it develops but right now im not impressed

[Whoey]

apple is late with this one 
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[donvito]

Not impressed either, my netbook can do a lot more for half the price. Add an ebook reader and you got a better package for less if not the same price 

[Pacu]

We are building an Apple setup in one of our Houston flagship stores in a couple of weeks. Maybe the Apple team will let me play with one before they put it on display.

[cliosguy]

apple is late with this one 
[youtube]
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[Chako]

From what I have read...sounds horribly crippled to me.

My netbook is a far better device.

Now on the iPad video. 

[John]

I'm sticking with my Nokia 3210 thank you! 

[flapjackboy]

Somehow, I think the marketing bod who came up with the name iPad is going to be looking for alternative employment fairly soon. WTF were they thinking?

[nuphoria]

Meh

[Mr. Whippy]

If you can use a regular keyboard with it, that would help. The fact that it doesn't have handwriting recognition software is a disappointment.  It sounds like a large version of the itouch.

BTW namewise:  Islate would have been awesome.

[Abstraction]

I've got to say, this looks like a terribly thought out product.  They seem to have invented a computer without a keyboard, which is too big to hold while typing on the touchscreen and which can’t be angled.  They’ve released a tablet with poor battery life and without the benefit of being flickerless (to avoid eye strain) like all it’s competitors.  It’s a media player which can’t fit in your pocket, has no HD capabilities and is 4:3, and they’re even claiming it’s the ultimate web browsing tool despite the fact it can’t even handle flash!
 
On top of that it’s twice the price as the average netbook or phone - I can’t see a single thing which makes this worth buying.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'll bet it fits nice in the iRack:



Def

[prime77]

I am a huge fan of my IPod Touch. Movies, email, photos, games, web surfing, TV shows. I have been able to do everything with it. The touch interface makes surfing the web so easy on such a small screen.  If the IPad is only just a larger version of the Touch I would be happy. If it does more that's even better. I for one want one.

[Whoey]

I'll bet it fits nice in the iRack:



Def

nice double meaning there...

[Magnus]

meh, it is bloody over hyped tablet PC.  Just like the Iphone is just a over hyped smartphone.

(no, I am not an apple hater, I am typing this on a macbook pro)

[Styerman]

Me want !

Chris

[Zack]

I like it, just not $500 like it.

[Sazabi]

Eh, it has major shortcomings for me, and definitely not worth $500 to me... one reason why I don't have an iPod Touch is that it doesn't support Flash, either.  I'd much rather spring for a good netbook and an Amazon Kindle for less money than the iPad I would look at getting, anyway. 

[Woz]

I´m not sure. I hoped for more, but after all the iPad is a pretty good product. I guess the hype and rumors before the release made people expect more than what was realistic. I do not understand people who claim that "it does not even have a telephone function" - dudes, does anyone really want to hold a thing that big like a cell???

I see the iPad as an addition to my iPhone and Macbook, something I use when I wait for the bus, have a coffee at Starbucks or sit on my couch in the evening. A lightweight, fun to use device.

Still, I´m not sure if I´ll get one. I like the concept and I love Apple, but I miss some things. I´d LOVE to have the choice to use my iPhone as an iPad modem, so I would not have to pay 2 data plans to use both devices. The iPad supports the dock connector, so it would be easy to link the two devices and use the 3G module in the phone on the pad. If this was possible iPhone users could go for the cheaper WLAN only versions and non-iPhone users could use the 3G models. If this in NOT possible I could pay two data plans, OR get a different, cheaper, phone OR just use my iPhone and get a netbook for I can use my iPhone as a modem on any WIN-based netbook...

So Apple, I guess it is just a software issue. Include the option to use the iPhone as a modem and I promise I´ll get an iPad.

[jim guy]

I got excited when i heard about these. The more I find out about them the more let down I am. Same thing happened with the iphone though. I got a nokia e71x and never looked back.

[AHB]

I heard that it can't multitask, so you can't stream music while surfing ect. Major turnoff.. 

[DaveK]

I heard that it can't multitask, so you can't stream music while surfing ect. Major turnoff.. 

That can't be right can it?

[Crouton]

I heard that it can't multitask, so you can't stream music while surfing ect. Major turnoff.. 

That can't be right can it?

It could be viewed as a feature on a device if you are trying to make battery life a priority.  If you can limit background apps at the OS level you can greatly increase battery life.  For iPhones thats a big deal since they have relatively short battery life compared to some other smart phones.  The expected batteyr life on the iPad is 10 hours, which would be greatly decreased if background apps were causing the processor to work harder.  This device after all isn't billed as a Laptop replacement nor even a netbook replacement, but it's supposed to be a new class of device.

I prefer a multitasking OS, and it wouldn't be difficult to open up multi-tasking on the iPad/iPhone OS as they are OSX based which has excellent multi-tasking.

For whatever reason Apple has chosen to limit multitasking, but I have heard rumors of increased ability to multi-task with future updates.

I think the iPad will be a very nice gadget, and I also think it Apple will sell a ton of them.  Sales will be slow at first but I'm thinking the Nintendo DS crowd will snap these up, these will be decent gaming rigs, and Apples Appstore makes content delivery insanely easy.

[kieMac]

To be clear, you can do important multitasking things like listen to music, receive e-mail and other notifications etc. while browsing the web our using other apps. You can't, however, open two games at once and switch between them without closing each one. Personally, I haven't found it to be a hindrance on my iPhone, and I find it ridiculous that the same people that complain about poor smartphone battery life and speed also want multitasking. I ideally want my iPhone to split wood, but I'm also not some unrealistic blogger who hasn't seen the horrendous drawbacks of multitasking. The best example is the BlackBerry Storm, which is basically unusable by owner accounts and from what I've seen. My uncle's phone kept telling him his memory was low. He told me this and I assumed he meant he was out of flash storage, but then I realized that the truth was much worse: you actually have to open a program manager to quit individual applications to free up RAM- it's a mess. There are probably ways to make it feasible to run background apps, but none that are worth the clunkiness of the UI, speed, battery, and stability drawbacks.

I see the iPad as being a success, but not some Jesus product because it was never meant to be. A lot of people don't seem to understand that it's not a device meant for EVERYONE anymore than a MacBook Air, iPod shuffle, or iMac are meant for EVERYONE. Apple is, and has always been, all about the quality of the user experience and providing a range of solutions to meet peoples' desires. I think that gadget nerds that talk about how X Phone is better than iPhone because of specifications find themselves looking silly when Apple wins over masses of users not just by marketing but by providing a very pleasant experience. It's just like the Mac platform- Macs are nowhere near being the most highly-speced computers on the market, but they become faster and easier to use because of how stable and intuitive they are to use. It's all in the details with Apple - multitouch trackpads, automatic brightness adjustments, magnetic latchets. There's so many tiny, silly things that add up to make the products a blast to use. If you want an 8-core notebook or a phone with a 10 megapixel camera (which, by the way, is complete BS and they often take worse pictures because of their lenses and sensors), then there are some very good products out there for you. I just get so annoyed seeing the Gizmodo, Engadget and even Apple forum posters getting worked up when every product isn't the best thing for them on paper. Give it a chance, and you'll see that this is another market Apple will be leading for years.

Apple is to Victorinox as Dell is to Leatherman in many, many ways. There's nothing wrong with either of them, but to some people, myself included, I'd rather use a tool that feels like an extension of me (ergonomic, outside-accessible tools, practically-ground knife blades and thought-out tools) than a tool that simply looks better on paper (OH locking blades, bit drivers etc. etc.) Please don't take this as me saying Leatherman is inferior. There are people whose uses for a multi-tool mean they need some of those features on a Leatherman and fit, finish, and interface take a back seat to that, just as I don't think every home and business should try running on a Mac. There's plenty of room for everybody!

/RANT!

[Magnus]

funny, my android phone multi-tasks properly and works fine.

[Whoey]

 

[kieMac]

Android phones can multi-task, just not without a few trade-offs: you need to remember to go back and manually close out of other programs otherwise you will be using memory, battery life, and processor cycles when you don't realize it/need to. Of course, the biggest drawback is battery life:
"On the downside: all this hardware bling is an energy hog. The screen will self adjust brightness and Google is smart about turning down the processor when it’s not being used. But I’ve found battery life to be woefully brief, even by iPhone standards." - Tech Crunch review

Again, if it's a trade-off you want to make, then great. But it's not like there's not a reason why multi-tasking of 3rd party apps would not be enabled on the iPhone, or why some people would prefer not have it enabled on something that is, first and foremost, a phone and not a toy.

As for the picture, I admire the guy's guts  even if the arguments made are ridiculous and by no means exclusive to any one company.

[Whoey]

 

[NutSAK]

But it's not like there's not a reason why multi-tasking of 3rd party apps would not be enabled on the iPhone, or why some people would prefer not have it enabled on something that is, first and foremost, a phone and not a toy.

How many "nots" is that?