tenuous iPad link

[Harbo]

I have 2 bits of technology which have been put away for posterity - a Delkin Picture Pad (for storing photos) and a Franklin eBook.
Both bought for good reasons but ahead of their time and capabilities.

I now tend to wait and let things run?

The BBC Click, in summing up the iPad, said most users will probably buy the optional keyboard - then it becomes a Netbook?

Rod

 

[Smudger]

I think it becomes a better email terminal.

 

[StevieB]

The BBC Click, in summing up the iPad, said most users will probably buy the optional keyboard - then it becomes a Netbook?

And therein lies my gripe with the iPad. Is it a mini laptop with touch screen functionality or is it a glorified media viewer - capable of displaying stuff but not processing stuff. If I have to buy an optional keyboard, mouse, storage drive etc etc then it loses its portability and a laptop is better.

I can well see the hope on the part of Apple that apps drive sales of the iPad, and they may well do, but the fact this has worked so well for the iPhone is because of its portability and the fact it can do things other smart phones cannot (at the time of release at least - now everyone has an apps store). With the iPad, its not quite a laptop and its not even a phone - currently its a glorified media viewer (without flash compatibility). There must be some very nervous people at Apple waiting for the killer app to be developed to give the iPad that much needed cachet of a must have gadget!

Steve

 

[petermillard]

And therein lies my gripe with the iPad. Is it a mini laptop with touch screen functionality or is it a glorified media viewer

Well, putting aside the vexed question of how BBC Click can speak for 'most buyers' regarding a product that's two months away from going on sale, I think it's probably going to be whatever you want it to be, be that a media viewer/large iPod, eBook reader, notebook, photo frame, email terminal, etc.. etc...

Anybody who's looked in earnest at tablet/slate devices with a view to using one for work or pleasure (i.e. not as a hobby that in itself consumes your time and money) will attest to the paucity of offerings by other companies. Simply throwing netbook components into a tablet form-factor doesn't work well either - see the just-announced ExoPC here for a nice-looking device getting on for twice the thickness of an iPad, but with less than half the battery life... But hey, who cares - it has multi-tasking & USB ports, right??

Obviously, if you loathe 'closed' systems want to run a 'full' OS and have the skills and technical ability to deal with issues as they arrive, then the iPad won't be for you; ditto those for whom the middle ground between smartphone and laptop isn't significant enough to get excited about, either.

But for a lot of people it could be all they need for checking email (or forums) whilst watching TV, or as a modern-day 'network PC' (remember them?) for folks who want a robust, simple device for lightweight use at a reasonable price. Whether that's a big enough market, I don't know.

As I said, I'm planning on getting one; there's a lot we still don't know about it yet, but I'm prepared to invest a bit of time and money to find out more. Keep you posted

Cheers, Pete.

 

[bob321]

i hate apple cant beat a normal pc, lappy or a notebook.

a notebook is the equilevent to the ipad, but it can surf the web, muti-task, has flash player, usb ports, etc

 

[RogerS]

......
Roger, I suspect you've never really taken an eBook reader for a test drive I suggest you give it a go as you might quite like it. ....
.

I was in Waterstones yesterday and saw that they had a couple of eReaders and so thought I should give them a try.

I tried to approach them with an open mind.

If I had to wait as long as the ones on demo for the page to refresh after turning the page then I'd give up on reading and take up knitting.

Holding it seemed unnatural. Too small for two hands but fatiguing I suspect after a time using just one.

Font size far too large (which I'm sure you could change)

Would I buy one? No way. Ghastly things. Satan's abomination.

 

[CNC Paul]

Apart from looking pretty, the iPad has a major flaw in its' lack of multitasking. It's irritating enough on the iPhone, but on a 'proper' computer it's unforgivable in the modern age.....

You can count my £499 out......

Adam

Adam,

My son is testing the latest OS for the iphone...... It has multitasking, the ability to create folders and the choice of having two exchange accounts.
I imagine this will also work on the iPad.

 

[dicktimber]

I was reading an article about them going on sale in the US, and was surprized to find that the geeks who sat up all night to buy one were taking them home to strip them down to see how they work..... :roll: :roll:

I suppose the plus side is that there are at least three British guys who designed the main components and from what I read a couple of companies in the UK, one in Wales? are manufacturing parts (chips?) for it.....
So if that is the case I hope it sells billions of units...

Ps Not being a youngster, like you lot, I stand to be corrected but you get my drift?

 

[andycktm]

jean-luc Picard has had one for years Infact William Shatner was using one.....

 

[cambournepete]

My son is testing the latest OS for the iphone...

Does he happen to know when it's coming out?

 

[CNC Paul]

My son is testing the latest OS for the iphone...

Does he happen to know when it's coming out?

It will probable to be out in the summer for the iphone and latter itouch's and the autumn for the ipad.