The iPad

[Shorty]

We were talking about this at work and all laughing, watching the funny videos and talking about how it was a big iPhone that can't phone people. Then our designer came on the mic on skype and said "have you seen that iPad? It's amazing, it's going to change everything, I really want one".

 

Of course, he has a Mac whilst we all have PCs

 

Before anyone gets defensive, I'm just telling a story as it happened.

 

I do however want to defend some ridiculous claims that netbooks are crappy old machines running 10 year old OS. I have a netbook, it runs Windows 7 faster than it ran XP or Vista. It boots faster than the quad core I have at work (although not as fast as my i7... obv) and it can run OSX quite easily too.

[flameboy]

We were talking about this at work and all laughing, watching the funny videos and talking about how it was a big iPhone that can't phone people. Then our designer came on the mic on skype and said "have you seen that iPad? It's amazing, it's going to change everything, I really want one".

 

Of course, he has a Mac whilst we all have PCs

 

Before anyone gets defensive, I'm just telling a story as it happened.

 

I do however want to defend some ridiculous claims that netbooks are crappy old machines running 10 year old OS. I have a netbook, it runs Windows 7 faster than it ran XP or Vista. It boots faster than the quad core I have at work (although not as fast as my i7... obv) and it can run OSX quite easily too.

 

well he won't be doing any voice chat skype on the ipad lol!

 

I agree with about netbooks. Mine runs as silky fast as it did day I got it just over a year ago.

 

EDIT:

 

Dunno if this has been posted:

 

Orange steals march on UK deal for iPad

Apple kick off negotiations with UK network operators, with 3G versions of the device available as early as April

 

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7006146.ece

Edited January 28, 2010 by flameboy

[dazzybee]

It's aaaaaaaaaall about the apps....

[Daft]

EDIT:

 

Dunno if this has been posted:

 

Orange steals march on UK deal for iPad

Apple kick off negotiations with UK network operators, with 3G versions of the device available as early as April

 

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7006146.ece

 

It won't be on contract. Apple had no interest having the iPad (iPad, lol) subsidised by phone companies and they don't want users tied down with a contract.

[dazzybee]

Yeah I thought it was unlocked and you could whack any sim in it?! If so, it would be nice if providers were nice enough to give you two sims on the same contract.... I'm an optimist if nothing else!

[Nintendohnut]

I'm not even going to get involved in the main discussion here but I will make one point that I think is important...

 

A lot of people have come in here and said, quite fairly and stating their own opinion, 'it looks a bit shit and it's not that revolutionary'... which is fair enough I suppose. Some people have gone further and started making comments about the company as a whole, to which others have said 'well you just don't like Apple, so you will never like their new products'

 

I would like to just make the point that replying to a post such as this with 'Well excuse me but I have an iPod/iPhone/Mac so clearly I don't hate apple' doesn't really prove anything. It doesn't show that you don't hate apple, it just shows that you have bought the most popular MP3 player/3G phone of the last few years. It certainly doesn't show that you love apple, and it doesn't mean that people cannot say 'you don't like apple'.

 

I genuinely don't want to be involved in the rest of the discussion, but having seen people criticise the company as a whole, then claim that they own some products made by them as a defense (I remember Daft's post especially) I thought I would make this point.

[McPhee]

Yeah I thought it was unlocked and you could whack any sim in it?! If so, it would be nice if providers were nice enough to give you two sims on the same contract.... I'm an optimist if nothing else!

 

Correction, you can whack any microSIM in it. You won't be able to use just any SIM card, it simply won't work. Likewise, you won't be able to use the SIM out of the iPad in anything else (until and unless other devices start using microSIMs).

[ReZourceman]

I'm not even going to get involved in the main discussion here but I will make one point that I think is important...

 

A lot of people have come in here and said, quite fairly and stating their own opinion, 'it looks a bit shit and it's not that revolutionary'... which is fair enough I suppose. Some people have gone further and started making comments about the company as a whole, to which others have said 'well you just don't like Apple, so you will never like their new products'

 

I would like to just make the point that replying to a post such as this with 'Well excuse me but I have an iPod/iPhone/Mac so clearly I don't hate apple' doesn't really prove anything. It doesn't show that you don't hate apple, it just shows that you have bought the most popular MP3 player/3G phone of the last few years. It certainly doesn't show that you love apple, and it doesn't mean that people cannot say 'you don't like apple'.

 

I genuinely don't want to be involved in the rest of the discussion, but having seen people criticise the company as a whole, then claim that they own some products made by them as a defense (I remember Daft's post especially) I thought I would make this point.

 

Whereas I really am an Apple hater.

 

No right click? I'm sorry but thats just not for me.

[flameboy]

I don't get why it even uses a SIM card?! Thought it was meant to be a tablet to rival netbooks and other tablets not a phone.

[ReZourceman]

I don't get why it even uses a SIM card?! Thought it was meant to be a tablet to rival netbooks and other tablets not a phone.

 

Well they actually just used a reverse shrinking ray (enlargening ray...they exist, I've used one) on an actual iPhone. Obviously Apple never do anything revolutionary because they have an actual "tech" department, so they don't know how to remove the SIM card bit.

 

Lololololololololololololol.

[SPAMBOT4000]

Flamey, the SIM isn't for phonecalls, you can't actually make any calls on it. It's an optional extra if you want to get a 3G data only plan so you can access the net while you're not around a wifi signal.

[Shorty]

Well they actually just used a reverse shrinking ray

"Unshrink you? Well that would require some sort of a Rebigulator which is a concept so ridiculous it makes me want to laugh out loud and chortle..."

[Ashley]

I would like to just make the point that replying to a post such as this with 'Well excuse me but I have an iPod/iPhone/Mac so clearly I don't hate apple' doesn't really prove anything. It doesn't show that you don't hate apple, it just shows that you have bought the most popular MP3 player/3G phone of the last few years. It certainly doesn't show that you love apple, and it doesn't mean that people cannot say 'you don't like apple'.

 

I genuinely don't want to be involved in the rest of the discussion, but having seen people criticise the company as a whole, then claim that they own some products made by them as a defense (I remember Daft's post especially) I thought I would make this point.

 

I beg to differ. As I see it (being someone who is rather apathetic to this device but owning other apple products) I myself, and presume others, were simply arguing "I am judging the iPad as a product, not a product of Apple, and as a product it does not impress." I am impressed and pleased with my macbook and ipod, they do what I want and they do it fairly well (my ipod pisses me off at times) and I am impressed with the customer service and whatnot of apple (plus, im impressed with apple's business/marketing strategies, even if I don't always agree with them). Along similar lines I have chosen to not buy the iPhone because I don't agree with that as a product.

 

Just my two cents. You don't have to response (as you said you don't plan to) but wanted to try my hand at clearing my name as it were :p

[dazzybee]

 

Whereas I really am an Apple hater.

 

No right click? I'm sorry but thats just not for me.

 

You need to clue yourself up, because there IS right click!! They changed that YEARS ago!!

[flameboy]

Flamey, the SIM isn't for phonecalls, you can't actually make any calls on it. It's an optional extra if you want to get a 3G data only plan so you can access the net while you're not around a wifi signal.

 

Do the likes of kindles (or does that not have 3G?) and nokia 3G netbook have sim cards?

[Daft]

I remember Daft's post especially.

 

Well thanks but I don't do brand loyalty (Loyalty to a company? Absurd, utterly absurd). I have product loyalty. I love my PS3 a lot, don't really care about the rest of Sony's products. I don't go anywhere without my iPod Touch, which I got even though I had a perfectly good nano - because I think the Touch is a great product. I think OSX craps on Windows from a great height - I still use both, though. I honestly do not give two shits who made it, and why should I? The whole idea I would just hate a company like that is just stupid.

 

People (I thinking of a few people here) should stop thinking apple is like Marmite. I don't love or hate them, I just love or hate (or am indifferent to) their products - and the iPad deserves the hate.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Daft

[dazzybee]

How can it deserve hate. If it is just a giant ipod touch, then how can that not be a great thing? It's not that much more expensive than one. It's not what most people wanted it to be. But it's pretty cheap for what it is.

[Shorty]

How can it deserve hate. If it is just a giant ipod touch, then how can that not be a great thing?

Because people had higher expectations than that, and there were many possibilities that have not been realised. The iPod Touch is a great device, but compared to a lot of similar devices, it's actually showing its age. A tablet computer in 2010, especially one with this price tag, should be capable of much more.

 

Edit: In fact, if you wiped the OS off an iPad and put Windows 7 on it, it would be able to do everything that the iPad can do and much more. (Except running iPhone apps, but there would no doubt be a Windows equivalent for most of those apps. Only an AR app would probably be the exception and that's irrelevant because it doesn't have a camera.)

Edited January 29, 2010 by Shorty

[Ashley]

Yeah as Shorty said, we weren't after a giant iPod Touch for £300 more.

[Daft]

How can it deserve hate. If it is just a giant ipod touch, then how can that not be a great thing? It's not that much more expensive than one. It's not what most people wanted it to be. But it's pretty cheap for what it is.

 

Just because something is physically bigger doesn't mean it's better. The Touch's size serves it purpose perfectly.

 

For what it is it's not cheap. There are a whole host of netbooks that do more than the iPad for that price and less.

[dazzybee]

But again you're comparing it to something it ISN'T, that would be double the price (which I would personally take). But the bigger size in some peoples eyes could be an amazing thing - people who want to watch films more importantly than listen to music. People who want to play games. All the new apps that will be created for the iPad. people who want to read books and computing documents. people who want to do basic work on it.

[Daft]

But again you're comparing it to something it ISN'T, that would be double the price (which I would personally take). But the bigger size in some peoples eyes could be an amazing thing - people who want to watch films more importantly than listen to music. People who want to play games. All the new apps that will be created for the iPad. people who want to read books and computing documents. people who want to do basic work on it.

 

Well this is where my problems come in.

 

Watch films or listen to music:

 

Both of these mean you have to go through iTunes, which is a now bloated piece of software. More than once I've had it wipe all the music off my iPod and innumerous times has it crashed on me and my iPod while syncing.

 

My netbook? So much more flexable (it's got USB ports for starters and WiFi/Blue Tooth), with a screen I can angle. What do I do with an iPad? Hold it for two hours? It's not a problem with my Touch because it fits in my palm. Prop it on my lap and have my neck start to ace?

 

Games:

 

It doesn't have flash so that's already removed a large amount of flash games. It doesn't have buttons so controls are limited. Yeah, there are apps but what about the past 30 years of PC gaming? That didn't go anywhere and you can play a lot of them on a netbook.

 

Read books:

 

Reading off a screen is awful. It literally means staring into a lamp. There are plenty of E-readers that do a much better job with E-ink. I was looking at one of the Sony's ones (not that I want one, I'm much happier with real pages for now) and it can read LRF, PDF, TXT, RTF, ePub. and a lot more (and play music and has a memory card reader).

 

The argument that the iPad is great for films goes against the argument that it is great from books because the type of screen needed for either one is very different.

 

Basic work:

 

Yeah, I guess. But you're going to have to prop it on you lap because the back of the iPad is not flat.

 

 

I actually don't have a problem with the lack of keyboard. I type quickly with my index fingers.

 

Then you've got the closed off app store which apple control completely.

 

 

Essentially, what it IS is a jack of all trades, master of none.

 

People can call me a hater all they want but I loved my MacBook when it was working and I love my iPods and my Mac desktop because they just worked so well. Totally stress free computing for the most part. There are big legitimate problems here and between Jobs having a go at Netbooks and the media and layman going nuts for it because it has a piece of fruit branded on it's back, it's not acceptable that there should be so many issues with it.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Daft

[Shorty]

people who want to read books and computing documents. people who want to do basic work on it.

You won't be able to do any real work without a keyboard... honestly. Try and picture it, you'd have to put it flat to type on it with both hands, then you can't see what you're doing. If you sit with your knees up and the pad on your lap, it will tuck down to your midriff and be awkward to type on. The only easy way would be to put it on a table and face straight down, which would strain your neck and still be worse than a laptop. The iphone keyboard works because you hold it with both hands and use your thumbs.

[Cube]

The argument that the iPad is great for films goes against the argument that it is great from books because the type of screen needed for either one is very different.

 

The screen is the wrong type for eBooks, and the wrong ratio for films.

 

The only easy way would be to put it on a table and face straight down, which would strain your neck and still be worse than a laptop.

 

The only easy way is to buy the keyboard attachment.

 

Anyway I don't hate Apple. I just hate the iPod, iPhone and now the iPad. I have nothing against OSX and Macs (except that you need to buy a new mouse for the utterly basic and very important right click function).

[Caris]

No you don't, seriously Cube get your facts right before you post.