Apple iPad announced

[Steve]

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01567/Apple1_1567400c.jpg

 

Tech specs: -

 

9.7 inch- (25cm-) multi-touch display

1 GHz Apple processor

16-64 GB of flash memory

0.5in- (1.25cm) thick

Weighs 1.5lbs (0.7kgs)

Wi-fi and 3G connectivity

 

Prices start at $500, presumably for the 16 GB version. Battery life is up to 10 hours. There's no word on whether you can expand the storage yet and there's no multi-tasking. It's basically like a big iPod Touch. Looks cool though.

[doppelkorn]

I reckon it is beyond toss.

 

Who would buy this? What does it offer? I have never owned any Apple products and I'm not going to start based on this. It's obviously not a serious work unit, and there are tons of fun units that do what it does better!! The only thing I can see it offering that's remotely useful is watching films but it doesn't even have a disc drive.

 

It's no more postable than a laptop and has much less power.

 

I really hope this bankrupts that fucking company.

[Gizmo]

I really do like the look of it and could see me replacing my Macbook Pro for a filthy great iMac and an iPad. But...

 

The lack of multitasking really sucks hard. I want to use the iPad like a laptop - typing in a review on the sofa while skyping and listening to music. In that respect, it's a non-starter for me.

 

V2 for me maybe. But the opportunities for publishing are interesting.

[Dan]

what's the fucking point? it's just an over sized touch, anyone that's got an iphone/touch or a laptop doesn't need one, no matter what apple says it's not as good as a net book, I can't see why anybody would want one of these at all, and i can't imagine typing a long document on it either. pointless really

[dextrous]

and there are tons of fun units that do what it does better!!

 

Like what?

 

I've no need for one of these but it's pretty much unique in the market.

 

At the end of the day it's a netbook and without getting fanboy about it (because apple do do a lot of things really shittily) macs are just way better to surf the net on than any other commonplace system. Once you've used gestures etc to navigate around, using a mouse and pointing and clicking seems ridiculously clunky.

[doppelkorn]

and there are tons of fun units that do what it does better!!

 

Like what?

 

I've no need for one of these but it's pretty much unique in the market.

 

At the end of the day it's a netbook and without getting fanboy about it (because apple do do a lot of things really shittily) macs are just way better to surf the net on than any other commonplace system. Once you've used gestures etc to navigate around, using a mouse and pointing and clicking seems ridiculously clunky.

 

OK so how would you use it? Hold it with one hand then tap with the other or put it on the tabletop and stare down at it or have it on your lap and stare down at it? Or you could prop it up and type away at it at a funny angle...

 

It's not at all unique on the market there are plenty of others but no-one's heard of them because they're pointless. Tablet are good for some stuff like field workers but this hasn't got the seriousness to be used in real life.

 

Also why are Macs better for surfing the net?

[dextrous]

 

OK so how would you use it? Hold it with one hand then tap with the other or put it on the tabletop and stare down at it or have it on your lap and stare down at it? Or you could prop it up and type away at it at a funny angle...

 

Well I don't find books or magazines too much trouble, and you don't need to turn the pages on this.

 

 

It's not at all unique on the market there are plenty of others but no-one's heard of them because they're pointless. Tablet are good for some stuff like field workers but this hasn't got the seriousness to be used in real life.

 

Again like what? I don't dispute there are other tablet or touch screen gizmos around but I'm almost certain there is nothing like this. Thats not to say that means it's great, it might be utter toss, but it is unique.

 

Also why are Macs better for surfing the net?

 

Use one and you'll see. Lots of things but gestures basically.

 

On a macbook using one finger moves the cursor, using two fingers scrolls around the screen. Three fingers swiped backwards goes back a page, three fingers forward a page. Four fingers up exposes the desktop, four fingers down tiles all open windows. For fingers sideways switches between open apps. Using multiclutch I can use a three finger up swipe to open a new tap, down to close active tab. The list goes on and you can pretty much customise it how you want. Once you've used one everything else seems stupid. Even if you're a keyboard shortcut wizard it still doesn't compare.

 

I'm not a fanboy, some things apple do are shit, but I recognise what they do well and no current platform is better for surfing the web than apple imo.

[Bubba]

Now I'm not going to go onto a I'm a mac fan...but seriously doppelkorn and tdo...I think you're just fucking with mac because it's a mainstream product.

 

Look I had this discussion today. I'm a civilised computer user. I use my laptop for music (serato), surfing the net, composing emails, budgeting, writing documents and so on. Nothing spectalur. For music prodution I'm still using my 8ghz dell desktop simply because I'm producing on fruity loops. If I'd have the money for logic pro, I'd prolly be using the mac. Anyways, I used pc's for fucking ages and I was in the bios changing shit round, installing soundcards, graphic cards and god knows what. After two years each laptop was worth shit. Full of crappy program trash evethough I maintained it, hijacked my logs for steve tons of times, put in new ram cubes and god knows what. So finally I said fuck it and bought a macbook pro. Now I don't say this often, but it's changed my life. NO ISSUES. It just works. After that I bought a ipod touch. Fucking fun piece of equipment and the BEST way to listen to music. I regret not owning an iphone after having bought a htc hero which supposedly is the BEST ALTERNATIVE as you said to an iphone. It runs on android google's symstem (btw I'm a huge fan of google) but it's utter SHIT. Now look if you need your windows based laptops because of business etc - fine yes it's better. but fuck it for personal use at home (btw oyu can install parallels which works perfectly) you've got everything you need from a laptop.

 

Now having gone on a i'm a mac fan rampage in any case - my views on the ipad: Yes its a pity that it's not replacing a proper laptop. But i gather that won't take long. However for people like my gf who needs her laptop for browsing, web, photos, dvds this piece of equipment for 500 bucks is a serious alternative. However that it doesn't have a disc drive kind of sucks, but then again we'll soon be renting movies to watch through youtube anyways. Just wait. So I'd say your pretty out of line when saying it's useless. There's a HUGE customer base that's been waiting for this. And i gather it's gonna do great. All they have to do is find out how they can use this technology to replace laptops and then they're fucking don!

 

I just don't get the apple hatred. I think they're are very few who've used the new macbook's properly and therfore can speak on both systems...and most people just like to fuck with mac because they're so mainstream. Fuck it, they just keep on coming up with shit that works!

 

BTW: Dextrous has said it pretty nicely as well. once you've used one, everything else seems kind of stupid...

 

Oh and by the way regarding on how to place it whilst having it on a desk etc - just look at the pictures:

 

http://www.apple.com/ipad/design/

 

pee.z

[Dan]

Now I'm not going to go onto a I'm a mac fan...but seriously doppelkorn and tdo...I think you're just fucking with mac because it's a mainstream product.

 

Not at all, i love my ipod and think itunes is great and as soon as the iphone gets a better camera and more storage i'll be buying one, i just think the ipad is pointless

[djfoly]

After that I bought a ipod touch. Fucking fun piece of equipment and the BEST way to listen to music

 

 

Erm...I dont know what to say mate! I cannot believe you are saying that of an ipod!!!! I have genearally kept out of the whole digital music thing coz I was boring folk....but this is truly mental to me. each to their own but WOW! I prefer Vinyl!

[Steve]

I wouldn't say that this is unique in the market. I dunno if any of you followed the Consumer Electronics Show, but most big computer manufacturers showed off tablets/slates just like this. There were even devices where you flipped the screen round on a netbook and it turned into a tablet. In terms of innovation, there's nothing new here at all. It may well be one of the most desirable out of these kind of products though.

 

On a macbook using one finger moves the cursor, using two fingers scrolls around the screen. Three fingers swiped backwards goes back a page, three fingers forward a page. Four fingers up exposes the desktop, four fingers down tiles all open windows. For fingers sideways switches between open apps. Using multiclutch I can use a three finger up swipe to open a new tap, down to close active tab. The list goes on and you can pretty much customise it how you want. Once you've used one everything else seems stupid. Even if you're a keyboard shortcut wizard it still doesn't compare.

That kind of functionality has been built into Opera for a long time. Before I started using Opera, I used Avant Browser because it had features like that built into it. There isn't the multi-finger thing, but you can do a quick up-left swipe to go back, up-right to go forward and you can open new tabs etc. and customise it.

 

Desirability aside, what would you actually use this for that can't be done better by something else? It's not pocket sized. You're gonna have to baby it if you take it out of the house as there's no fold down lid like a netbook, and it's really thin. If you need to type even a modest amount, even the shittiest netbook betters it. There's gonna be a plug in keyboard for it from what I've read, but why the fuck would you buy this over a 10 inch notebook if you needed a proper keyboard? Can you imagine using this on your lap with a plug in keyboard? A Kindle is better for reading ebooks, because even though it's ugly and not very feature rich, the E-Ink screen that looks just like paper is what sells it. You can't install Windows, OS X, Linux or whatever like you can on a notebook or a netbook so you can't use the huge number of apps and programs available for those operating systems. You can't multi-task, which to me is a major downfall. No Flash support either. No card readers. No USB support without buying a special adapter. 4:3 aspect ratio screen so it's gonna suck balls for watching films. Tell me you still want one after reading this! lol.

 

To me, it (and all the other devices like it) are pointless. Touch screen on a phone works because the device is small and there's not a lot of room to fit real buttons on there. You can change the function of buttons on a touch screen and have them clearly labelled, which you can't really do with tactile buttons. Pinch zoom is also useful on a small device, but not on one of this size - not for web browsing anyway. I think it'll be like the Macbook Air - many defenders, but hardly any of those defenders will actually cough up the cash for one.

[doppelkorn]

^ seconded!

 

It's a commercial nightmare. Regardless of the fact you could defend it, whay purpose does it have?

 

I would also ask this: why does no company use Macs for their IT? In business people are ALWAYS willing to spend a bit more if something "just works" so why don't we all use Macs at work?

[djnumnuts]

[djfoly]

 

Bollox!

[Dan]

I would also ask this: why does no company use Macs for their IT? In business people are ALWAYS willing to spend a bit more if something "just works" so why don't we all use Macs at work?

 

because they cost too much!

[doppelkorn]

But do they really? Professionals always pay more for quality equipment:

 

Studio equipment is more expensive than home audio equipment and better quality

 

Professional tools are more expensive than DIY ones and better quality

 

If Macs are better quality (and they're certainly more expensive) then why do businesses not use them in their IT infrastrcutres?

 

Answer: BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT BETTER QUALITY!

 

If they provided good return on investment then they would definately be used in business but they clearly don't.

[doppelkorn]

http://i.gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad

[Bubba]

If Macs are better quality (and they're certainly more expensive) then why do businesses not use them in their IT infrastrcutres?

 

It's not that the problem is that most business software has only been built for windows. My brother worked in bank IT and said that was the main issue.

 

@ foly: Sorry, I may have mistyped that - I mean the best way to listen to portable music. From a quality standpoint I'd say vinyl wins hands down and most cds do too.

 

@steve: I guess your arguments make sense...but still I think it's a question of application...however the comparison to the macbook air isn't such a bad one...prolly will end up being the same thing.

 

pee.z

[djdiggla]

 

Use one and you'll see. Lots of things but gestures basically.

 

On a macbook using one finger moves the cursor, using two fingers scrolls around the screen. Three fingers swiped backwards goes back a page, three fingers forward a page. Four fingers up exposes the desktop, four fingers down tiles all open windows. For fingers sideways switches between open apps. Using multiclutch I can use a three finger up swipe to open a new tap, down to close active tab. The list goes on and you can pretty much customise it how you want. Once you've used one everything else seems stupid. Even if you're a keyboard shortcut wizard it still doesn't compare.

 

I'm not a fanboy, some things apple do are shit, but I recognise what they do well and no current platform is better for surfing the web than apple imo.

 

I am a big fan of gestures, and yes, it is like moving back in evolution to have to use a computer w/o gestures... but is that really work a 25% markup? My opinion of mac has always been that they are GREAT... But not for the price. And this is another example. Do you use Safari? I think Safari sux. I use FF on my mac... just wondered, cause it seems to be a flaw in your argument--mac is so great for browsing... just don't use their browser-haha. Also, steve is right on about opera--mac lifted all these things from them!

 

 

 

 

Look I had this discussion today. I'm a civilised computer user. I use my laptop for music (serato), surfing the net, composing emails, budgeting, writing documents and so on. Nothing spectalur. For music prodution I'm still using my 8ghz dell desktop simply because I'm producing on fruity loops. If I'd have the money for logic pro, I'd prolly be using the mac. Anyways, I used pc's for fucking ages and I was in the bios changing shit round, installing soundcards, graphic cards and god knows what. After two years each laptop was worth shit. Full of crappy program trash evethough I maintained it, hijacked my logs for steve tons of times, put in new ram cubes and god knows what. So finally I said fuck it and bought a macbook pro. Now I don't say this often, but it's changed my life. NO ISSUES. It just works. After that I bought a ipod touch. Fucking fun piece of equipment and the BEST way to listen to music. I regret not owning an iphone after having bought a htc hero which supposedly is the BEST ALTERNATIVE as you said to an iphone. It runs on android google's symstem (btw I'm a huge fan of google) but it's utter SHIT. Now look if you need your windows based laptops because of business etc - fine yes it's better. but fuck it for personal use at home (btw oyu can install parallels which works perfectly) you've got everything you need from a laptop.

I've never understood why people try and tweak a laptop. Just buy a good one like a Precision or a mac and be done with it! If you want something to fiddle with, buy a PC desktop.

 

 

I just don't get the apple hatred. I think they're are very few who've used the new macbook's properly and therfore can speak on both systems...and most people just like to fuck with mac because they're so mainstream. Fuck it, they just keep on coming up with shit that works!

I have always liked Apple for laptops (but a Dell Precision is just as good IMO) and PCs for desktops. Mac isn't mainstream--they r hipster mainstream. ...That's why people fuck with them.

 

However for people like my gf who needs her laptop for browsing, web, photos, dvds this piece of equipment for 500 bucks is a serious alternative.

I seriously don't see how this thing would be a "serious" alternative.... seems like a pricey gimmick to me. Your GF just lost 1 of her 4 needs by switching to this--no DVD. Also $500 is retarded. For the same price or a tad more you could get an actual laptop and not be hindered. If this was priced between $100-200 then it would be revolutionary, but just like all mac products, it's too expensive.

 

There's a HUGE customer base that's been waiting for this. And i gather it's gonna do great.

Yes there is. Rich hipsters. Mac has always catered to them b/c they are willing to pay to look cool. In the end it's gonna be nerds and mommy and daddy buying these... and they will... by the truckload.

 

What I do see this being very good for is hospitals..

[djfoly]

If Macs are better quality (and they're certainly more expensive) then why do businesses not use them in their IT infrastrcutres?

 

It's not that the problem is that most business software has only been built for windows. My brother worked in bank IT and said that was the main issue.

 

@ foly: Sorry, I may have mistyped that - I mean the best way to listen to portable music. From a quality standpoint I'd say vinyl wins hands down and most cds do too.

 

@steve: I guess your arguments make sense...but still I think it's a question of application...however the comparison to the macbook air isn't such a bad one...prolly will end up being the same thing.

 

pee.z

 

 

portably shuffle is the way forward not the new one the old one. there like £31 now! I dont need to see a wee picture of what i'm listening to I recognise it with my ears!

[djdiggla]

^^lol

[d00ban]

 

That kind of functionality has been built into Opera for a long time. Before I started using Opera, I used Avant Browser because it had features like that built into it. There isn't the multi-finger thing, but you can do a quick up-left swipe to go back, up-right to go forward and you can open new tabs etc. and customise it.

 

 

 

what do you use to set that up man?

 

 

EDIT:

 

 

checked it all out... doesnt seem to work too well with my laptops touch pad though

[djfoly]

opera ios king even if you dont user gestures (which I dont) its really cool and easy to use and there is laods of cool skinz and stuff. I have my internet settings looking like something from aliens!

[Wax On]

portably shuffle is the way forward not the new one the old one. there like £31 now! I dont need to see a wee picture of what i'm listening to I recognise it with my ears!

 

I think you've forgotten about a little something called AUTO REVERSE - try finding an iPod with that feature!