iPad

[magicofdisney]

I'm so excited about this new product. I love Apple. We still compute on PCs but I hope to transition at some point.

I first learned on a Mac, but when my husband and I got ready to have our first computer in home, we were young and poor.

Just one of the things I love about Apple is that everything is integrated. Everything I have on my iPod touch will automatically load to the iPad, when I get one. :)

I'm sure there's much more to discuss but I'm only halfway through the presentation right now.

[vicster]

It looks really cool - too bad I just got a Sony e-reader. I wonder if you use the i-Pad as your only computer if you can hook it up to a printer???

They should've chosen a different name as it sounds like a "feminine" product.

[Iluvpooh]

Funny my hubby asked if it had wings or not. I'm going to do a little digging, but since i'm still a PC person, I may have to have a PC and a tablet. We'll see. Right now it seems to be an ipod touch that you can't put in your pocket.

[DizneyRox]

That's pretty much exactly what it is, a big iTouch/iPhone. I'm a little dissapointed in it actually.

And for anyone keeping score, it's still exclusive to AT&T (I'll assume the 3G connected models).

[Scar]

:sleepin:

[JPL]

Very underwhelming if you ask me I really don't see much point to it. It really doesn't have too many great features and has 4:3 screen resoulution which is pointless in a HD world. To use an old TV sitcom term I think Apple really "Jumped the shark" with this one.

[DakotaDisney]

I agree, it looks like a bigger Ipod, which is fine if that's what you want, but I have never seen what the big deal is about the touch screen part etc. of the ipod.
I am not a Mac or ipod/itouch/iphone person. I don't hate them I just have always been a pc person. I think the software and touch screen are cool, but I have had a couple different handheld pc for years that have always had a touch screen and I have had an HP touchsmart desktop and a touchscreen laptop for a few years and I like them. Plus from what I read the iPad is not a full computer, where as my HP touchsmart is and looks to be about the same size.
If you are an ipod or ipad person, great, it's just not for me.

[SteveL]

Loved Pee Wee Herman's spoof of the iPad. He ends up using it as a serving tray.

[fupresti]

As an owner of an iPad, this thing is greatly exceeding my expectations. With the upcoming OS 4.0, it adds in the few features I actually miss, mainly multitasking.

Paired with a bluetooth keyboard, this device can really replace my laptop. Its snappy quick and the battery life is as advertised.

I don't worry so much about AT&T for 3G. I have a Sprint Overdrive so I have a 4G iPad where available

[magicofdisney]

I'm hoping to get one for Mother's Day! :)

[Ed]

:sleepin:

Exactly.

:down:

[caryrae]

I wonder if you use the i-Pad as your only computer if you can hook it up to a printer??

I have an iPhone and can print stuff from my phone with a printer app. I have a wifi printer which makes it very easy.

[SurferStitch]

We just picked up our first iPad on Friday night. We got the 64G, and it's awesome. I really love that thing. We'll probably get another one down the road so we each have one, but for now we share.

:thumbsup:

[vicster]

Can you hook up the Ipad to your printer?

[DizneyRox]

I don't own one, but it's very similar to the iPhone.

I don't beleive they can be hooked up directly, it's a driver issue mostly. Every printer needs a driver (or some driver) and the iPad doesn't work that way.

Now, for the iPhone, there are apps that allow you to print to a computer on your network that would in turn print to your printer. Kindof defeats one of the purposes of the iPad however when you have to have another computer on in the house. Maybe the airport solves that, not sure...

I too would like to know for sure, but it won't change my mind about getting one. More a person knowledge thing.

[Ian]

I dunno ... I have an iPhone and I love it, but I'm just not getting what I would use an iPad for.

How can people consider having it replace a PC when it doesn't actually do anything? You can't create spreadsheets or Word documents on it, you can't have fully functional email (in a managing attachments sense), etc. It's really more like a big iPhone.

I want to want one ... I really do ... I just can't see what niche it would fill for me. It would never replace the need to bring my laptop with me when I travel, so what's the point?

[DizneyRox]

I have an app called Documents to Go on my iPhone that allows me to create/edit/view Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

It works, but as far as usefulness, that remains to be seen. If I were able to print them out easier, it would be a much better solution.

It will sync with your desktop computer so that you can work on documents on the go.

And you nailed it, it's NOT a computer, it doesn't do all that much really. It's definitely not a laptop replacement... Nifty? Sure, but not $400+ nifty!

[princessgirls]

I'm still AMAZED at all my 9 year old's I Pod Touch can do...

She sent me a text over the weekend with it (I was away on a shopping fun weekend with friends), and my husband and I had agreed that our girls weren't to get phones for at least another year, as I don't see the need for them to have it, so I call him prepared to do battle with him over it, and he tells me I just downloaded an app for her from I-tunes and she can send a few texts from her touch.

The Pad is just the latest and greatest and although I don't think it can do much more than the other products true apple junkies are excited.

Julie:mickey:

[vicster]

And you nailed it, it's NOT a computer, it doesn't do all that much really. It's definitely not a laptop replacement... Nifty? Sure, but not $400+ nifty!

That was my thought exactly.

[Ian]

Nifty? Sure, but not $400+ nifty!I'm not even sure it qualifies as nifty if you get the $400 version.

The guys I work with here each got the 64gb version and, with very modest accessories, the price was actually closer to twice that much.

[TinksDH]

I do not have one (yet), but here is what it can do in the context of other devices that are already sold:

e-reader - compare it to the Kindle or Nook. You can purchase iBooks, or read your Kindle books on it with the Kindle for iPad App; also read all sorts of content from various news outlets.

iPod touch - run apps that run on the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as apps designed specifically for the iPad. Watch movies, listen to music, play games

Netbook - browse the internet, consume digital content, write blogs, etc.

Edit documents/presentations/spreadsheets - Apple has ported their Pages/Keynote/Numbers apps to the iPad. I happen to prefer them over their Windows counterparts, but use both regularly as I am in a dual-platform household and job. You can save Apple documents in Windows format to share cross-platform.

Digital picture frame - place it in its stand-up dock and use it as a digital picture frame, although its LED-backlit display is much better than typical digital picture frames

Portable movie/TV player and stream content from your home computer - if you have a home media center you can stream live TV (over the air as well as cable if you have the correct adapter) to the iPad by using various streaming apps. Also play back DVR'd content from your home computer to this device.

That's what you can do now. Wait a few months to see what you can do then. If you add up the costs of those separate devices, you quickly exceed the cost of even the 64GB 3G iPad...

I typically find it comical what most of the public and online "experts" say about new Apple devices. As an example, here it what the Mac community thought of the iPod back in 2001:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=500



And here is what that soothsayer Steve Ballmer said about the iPhone back in 2007:

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/13459/

Most folks too often can't see what these devices can do until they've been out there a while, and then they see just how indispensable they have become. The same will happen to the iPad over time...

[caryrae]

Do the iPads use Adobe Flash for websites that use it? I sure hope they would. I know the iPhones don't.

[DizneyRox]

Do the iPads use Adobe Flash for websites that use it? I sure hope they would. I know the iPhones don't.
No there is an ongoing feud between Adobe and Apple. The iPad/iTouch/iPhone DO NOT/WILL NOT offically support Flash. Although, the jailbreak community has also created a plugin for displaying flash movies.

I read a discussion today saying the only way Adobe is going to get flash on the iPhone/iPad will be to stop development of the Photoshop Suite for Macs. Sounds like a plan! ANd I wouldn't be surprised if Goolge took away the h264 encoded streams from Youtube as well. Now that would anger a lot of folks in the Apple community as well.

[Ian]

I do not have one (yet), but here is what it can do in the context of other devices that are already sold:

e-reader - compare it to the Kindle or Nook. You can purchase iBooks, or read your Kindle books on it with the Kindle for iPad App; also read all sorts of content from various news outlets.

iPod touch - run apps that run on the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as apps designed specifically for the iPad. Watch movies, listen to music, play games

Netbook - browse the internet, consume digital content, write blogs, etc.

Edit documents/presentations/spreadsheets - Apple has ported their Pages/Keynote/Numbers apps to the iPad. I happen to prefer them over their Windows counterparts, but use both regularly as I am in a dual-platform household and job. You can save Apple documents in Windows format to share cross-platform.

Digital picture frame - place it in its stand-up dock and use it as a digital picture frame, although its LED-backlit display is much better than typical digital picture frames

Portable movie/TV player and stream content from your home computer - if you have a home media center you can stream live TV (over the air as well as cable if you have the correct adapter) to the iPad by using various streaming apps. Also play back DVR'd content from your home computer to this device.

That's what you can do now. Wait a few months to see what you can do then. If you add up the costs of those separate devices, you quickly exceed the cost of even the 64GB 3G iPad...

I typically find it comical what most of the public and online "experts" say about new Apple devices. As an example, here it what the Mac community thought of the iPod back in 2001:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=500



And here is what that soothsayer Steve Ballmer said about the iPhone back in 2007:

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/13459/

Most folks too often can't see what these devices can do until they've been out there a while, and then they see just how indispensable they have become. The same will happen to the iPad over time...A couple points ... number one, the tasks you list that the iPad is capable of are great and everything, but they're also things that my laptop already does. So while it may, in fact, potentially replace a host of varied electronic gadgets, for me it wouldn't perform any tasks that my laptop doesn't already do.

Secondly, in regards to the late adoption of Apple products, I agree to an extent, but I see the iPad as being different. The iPod and the iPhone were brand new, groundbreaking devices. The iPad is nothing more than a big ole iPhone. It's nothing new and innovative, really.

[TinksDH]

A couple points ... number one, the tasks you list that the iPad is capable of are great and everything, but they're also things that my laptop already does. So while it may, in fact, potentially replace a host of varied electronic gadgets, for me it wouldn't perform any tasks that my laptop doesn't already do.

Secondly, in regards to the late adoption of Apple products, I agree to an extent, but I see the iPad as being different. The iPod and the iPhone were brand new, groundbreaking devices. The iPad is nothing more than a big ole iPhone. It's nothing new and innovative, really.

That may be true, but you won't have that laptop forever, and neither will a lot of folks. When it comes time to replace theirs, I imagine that those folks may look at an iPad now as well. Similarly, anyone looking at a netbook or Kindle/Nook will undoubtedly now look at an iPad too.

When the iPod came out, it was just another mp3 player; as a matter of fact, it was even worse due to iTunes DRM and Apple-specific (at the time) file format. Now it's the standard.

Ditto the iPhone. Smartphones had been around a while (BlackBerry), as had organizers (remember the Palm Pilot - those guys that just put themselves up for sale?). I remember folks getting in shouting matches online about "who in their right mind would want to combine their phone with their mp3 player and their organizer...". I guess that question has been answered.

In many cases, Apple is rarely the first one to market with new hardware. They usually come to market with a piece of hardware and some system that drives people nuts (closed software like OSX, Apple-specific apps on the iPhone/iPod/iPad, control over what is allowed to run (i.e. Flash, etc.)). Eventually it's that closed system that is the strength of the offering; the applications are more robust, the hardware less diverse, usually the hardware and software more integrated, etc.

I'm not trying to convince you that you need an iPad, nor should you replace all of your devices. I'm just trying to provide a counter-point to the oft-heard (and wildly inaccurate) statement that "the iPad is just a bigger iPhone/iPad and that it does nothing new". :)

[Ian]

I'm just trying to provide a counter-point to the oft-heard (and wildly inaccurate) statement that "the iPad is just a bigger iPhone/iPad and that it does nothing new". :)I guess I'm still waiting for that, though, because even the list you provided above ... my iPhone does all of that.

[DizneyRox]

I guess I'm still waiting for that, though, because even the list you provided above ... my iPhone does all of that.
But it's not as big as an iPad!

[alex61821]

But it's not as big as an iPad!
That seems like a winning point for the iphone not the ipad, you can and will carry it at all times whereas the ipad you will leave on your desk.

[vicster]

If the iPad could totally replace my computer it might be worth it. Maybe in the future something will change and that will happen.

[TinksDH]

I guess I'm still waiting for that, though, because even the list you provided above ... my iPhone does all of that.

Really? Hardly. Some of it, maybe, and not very well. All of it? C'mon, you can do better than that!

Your iPhone may have an e-reader app, but try reading from it for more than 5 minutes, like on a plane ride. I use my iPod for that and the experience is BAD. I also watch video podcasts on it and it is also bad - try learning new image editing techniques while watching a podcast on a 2-1/2" screen for an hour.

Your iPhone may be able to browse content online, but again, try doing that for more than 5 minutes AND actually interacting with the web versus just pulling down info (quickly updating a blog for instance; watching YouTube videos, perusing a forum or website). You CAN do it with the iPhone touchscreen, but again, the experience is poor as it's very small. Great for a phone, poor for a tablet. You may not need to interact with the web that way, but apparently lots of people do (look at all the netbooks out there).

I didn't realize that you routinely create Pages, Keynote and Numbers documents on your iPhone. I didn't know there was an iPhone app for that (there isn't by the way). Regardless of whether you NEED or WANT to do that, you CAN'T create and work on iWork documents on your iPhone.

If you use your iPhone as a digital picture frame, how can you see it from across the room? And how can you watch streaming content on it while it's sitting on your kitchen counter and your walking around the kitchen?

You don't DO that you say? Or you don't NEED that functionality? No problem; I'm just pointing out (again) the differences. I am amazed that you won't acknowledge that there are differences, regardless of whether you use them or have value for them.

Why would I want to spend all that money on in-door plumbing in my house when a hole in my backyard does the same thing? I don't see what a hole can't do that my toilet can. As a matter of fact, it's cheaper. I can wash my hands from some water I keep in a bucket by the hole. The user experience may be poor, but the functionality is the same - why change? ;)

[magicofdisney]

My laptop has basically become my PC and now I see the iPad becoming my new laptop. I'm looking forward to the lightweight, ease of use. As wonderful as laptops are, they're still cumbersome (at least the one I have is). I love the idea of the touchscreen with the iPad (not needing a mouse-I LOATHE the mousepad on the laptop).

[SurferStitch]

We have a Mac Book Pro, and love it, but the iPad is a great way to surf the web and such without cracking out the laptop. Is an iPad necessary for the average Joe? Probably not, but for us it is. And, while our iPhones do everything, it is much nicer surfing on the iPad. MUCH nicer.

We are web developers and do a lot of websites for clients. Showing up at a client meeting pitching a new website is a common thing, and being able to whip out the iPad and show them that their site works not only on a regular computer, but is also formatted for the new iPad (which is the new toy on the block) further helps to solidify getting a contract to do said website. Is it a little showy? Sure, but one web job acquired because of it pays for the iPad and around 6 or 7 more (on average). We already got that website job because of it, so it has already paid for itself.

New iPad friendly websites are already popping up. Just look for them. It's the new "it" thing, so we are jumping on the proverbial bandwagon.

[caryrae]

iPad may look kinda funny clipped to my belt. lol

I can see people walking around the Disney Parks texting and looking at maps of the Parks. Just kidding

[Scar]

In case my first post went unnoticed...

:sleepin: :sleepin: :sleepin: :sleepin:

I'm sorry, but I can't for the life of me understand why this is relevant. :confused:

[caryrae]

I here there is an iTV in the works? Like the iPad, only 50+ inches and 3D Hi Def.:)

[TinksDH]

In case my first post went unnoticed...

:sleepin: :sleepin: :sleepin: :sleepin:

I'm sorry, but I can't for the life of me understand why this is relevant. :confused:

No less relevant than discussions about cats, grass-fed beef, karma, in-ground pools, sleeping, Facebook, pet pigs, and any other current topic on the Water Cooler....

[fupresti]

You can't create spreadsheets or Word documents on it, you can't have fully functional email (in a managing attachments sense), etc. It's really more like a big iPhone.


There are apps created for the iPad that allow for this. Apple has versions of Pages (Word), NUmbers (Excel) and Keynote (Powerpoint) that are incredibly robust and would meet the needs you speak of.

That said, the screen alone is gorgeous. Anyone who has used it would not compare it to an iPod Touch or an iPhone.

[Scar]

No less relevant than discussions about cats, grass-fed beef, karma, in-ground pools, sleeping, Facebook, pet pigs, and any other current topic on the Water Cooler....Come on now... are you trying to tell me that pet pigs aren't more important than technology? ;)

Seriously, I guess my point is that I just don't see why there is any hype about something that is just a bigger iPhone (mine goes to 11.)

Of course, this opinion is coming from someone who hates cell phones and leaves his in the car

[TinksDH]

Come on now... are you trying to tell me that pet pigs aren't more important than technology? ;)

Seriously, I guess my point is that I just don't see why there is any hype about something that is just a bigger iPhone (mine goes to 11.)

Of course, this opinion is coming from someone who hates cell phones and leaves his in the car

Point taken and understood!