The Apple iPad

[Cricketman]

Apple launched a new product today - The iPad.

It's a tablet PC.

Apple - iPad - The best way to experience the web, email, & photos

 

[aussie1st]

Don't know if that will catch on, basically a bigger itouch. Those that want portability would stick with the laptop due to USB availability and an actual keyboard. And the casual people probably don't want to carry a massive thing like that around.

 

[MattW]

What a completely useless and rubbish device. One app at a time, no physical keyboard, no stylus (which you would need for everything tablets are currently used for), paying a huge amount extra for 3G, tiny disk space (they needed to do one with a proper hard drive, like the one out of the iPod Classic) and no real use for anyone (there's a reason tablets didn't catch on).

Just get a netbook, you get more flexibility, it will be about the same size and you won't be laughed at for buying something useless just for the apple logo.

If it ran OSX proper, yes, it might make sense, but it will be so limited by being basically just a jumbo iPod Touch (considering even the 3G version won't make calls, it isn't even above the iPhone in features) that I can't see any practical need for it.

Not having a eInk screen would make the other use as a kindle replacement a non-starter. Ever tried to read an eBook on a computer monitor?

Best way to experience the Web? No, it doesn't even do flash, and has the cut down iPhone version of safari. Email? Anywhere you can stop and look at that tablet, you could have got out a netbook, or any phone that has a web browser (the Gmail app on my E63 does as much email on the move as I need). Photos? only if you have plenty of time to pull it out of a bag rather than your phone out of your pocket.

This thing is full of fail.

 

[King Pietersen]

Very, very pointless. It could have been awesome, if it was a proper tablet PC, which ran OSX, had a decent HDD, could be used with a stylus, would have been perfect for graphic designers. But nope, it's just a massive iPod Touch, brilliant. Sure it'll sell bucket loads though, because it looks damn pretty and it's got an Apple badge on it. I sure as hell won't be buying one though, I've got a Macbook Pro and an iPhone, both of those look equally as pretty and basically do everything that the iPad does. Mega fail from Apple.

 

[SaiSrini]

100% not even thinking of buying it. If I want to, I will buy some other tablet PC from either Lenovo or HP. I have the iTouch and I am pretty soon planning for an iPhone.

No thanks, to Apple!

 

[Cricketman]

This is supposedly the thing Apple has been working on since the 80s, and the biggest project Jobs has worked on.

It could have had tons of potential. It doesn't even have to run full on OSX, perhaps a stripped down version, but running the iPhone OS fails.

They have a 1GHZ processor but no multitasking? Give me a break.

As for the stylus thing, Apple has been against those things since the getgo so I'm not surprised about that. As for 3G, at least you aren't locked to a contract.

Cricketman added 3 Minutes and 9 Seconds later...

Best way to experience the Web? No, it doesn't even do flash, and has the cut down iPhone version of safari. Email? Anywhere you can stop and look at that tablet, you could have got out a netbook, or any phone that has a web browser (the Gmail app on my E63 does as much email on the move as I need). Photos? only if you have plenty of time to pull it out of a bag rather than your phone out of your pocket.

I think it is a pretty nifty way of browsing the internet. I agree with the rest though. Don't see the point of this for iPhone/Smartphone users at all.

I can see it having some success in the netbook market though. Those who want to browse the net on the go but don't want to be limited to the small screen on their phones. Movies and such would be good too. Price is pretty reasonable.

No way am I springing for one, though...

 

[King Pietersen]

That's a fair point. If I was looking at buying a Netbook I'd definitely consider the iPad, mainly for the looks and the nice large screen. Maybe it's not quite as universally useless as I thought, but for me personally, it's as good as useless. Though I have to admit, I love the styling, if it was say ?200 I'd definitely consider buying one, it won't be though. I probably wouldn't buy one, but I'd consider it.

 

[barmyarmy]

No multi-tasking, no webcam, no USB, no Flash. Oops. Also is it sanitary?

 

[sohum]

Haha, this is a useless product put up by Apple. I'll be interested to see how their stock trades tomorrow. :laugh

Everyone else has pretty much summed it up. This is not a tablet. A tablet is something you can write on... this you can't write on, unless you sharpen your fingers or something.

Will this challenge the netbook? Nope. The largest segment of netbook users are corporate users who are embracing cloud computing. A netbook is light so it's easy to carry around, they have a small HDD so you need to store your data online, and they have the requisite ports (display output, USB for mouse and keyboard) so you can run presentations from them. With this piece of junk, you can do nothing.

This product is like the Macbook Air--all hype and extremely gimmicky but only someone with a ton of disposable income to throw away (and of course, the barrage of Apple junkies) will end up buying this. At least the Air was phenomenally thin and ran a real OS.

I'm disappointed... I was hoping for at least an iPhone software update or maybe details about the iPhone 4G.

sohum added 1 Minutes and 51 Seconds later...

As for 3G, at least you aren't locked to a contract.

Actually, I think you can even insert your own GSM card and use it... so that's a positive. However, the no-contract with AT&T makes me wary about whether AT&T is indeed moving forward on their agenda to cap unlimited plans. No contract means they wouldn't need to break their contracts to implement that cap.

Another positive is the decreased price point. This is either a reflection that Apple realizes this product is crap or (hopefully) a general tendency towards more suitably priced products for the market.

 

[Cricketman]

Will this challenge the netbook? Nope. The largest segment of netbook users are corporate users who are embracing cloud computing. A netbook is light so it's easy to carry around, they have a small HDD so you need to store your data online, and they have the requisite ports (display output, USB for mouse and keyboard) so you can run presentations from them. With this piece of junk, you can do nothing.

I wouldn't say that. I do think this is a failed product, especially after all the hype, but it does have some netbook potential. The 16GB base model is enough for a computer of that kind. I was looking at a netbook a few months ago and was shoked to see how many had only like 4GB of storage space. It's fairly light so it shouldn't be a hassle to lug around. It also has something that makes it easier to attach to projectors, or something. Apps of the iWork suite are very reasonable in price, too, at just 9.99$/app. I couldn't imagine ever writing a paper on this thing, but you never know when it might come in handy.

There's that terrible looking keyboard-dock thing that is an option too.

Maybe Apple is trying to redefine the netbook. Kind of like they did with the Smartphone - how only business executives who were heavy on e-mail had them and now every other person has some fancy type of phone.

But whatever they are trying to do, it doesn't look good for them so far...

 

[sohum]

I wouldn't say that. I do think this is a failed product, especially after all the hype, but it does have some netbook potential. The 16GB base model is enough for a computer of that kind.

Except it is not a computer. It is a glorified iPod Touch. While smartphone UI is making leaps, it is still nowhere close to the refined UI available in a commercial OS.

I was looking at a netbook a few months ago and was shoked to see how many had only like 4GB of storage space.

Just the other day at Best Buy I was looking at Netbooks and the lowest hard drive space they seemed to have was about 120 GB. I was surprised, because I thought there was a 128 GB limitation on those hard drives, but apparently they're stocking them with different HDD's now. Same weight, same form factor. They can run Windows 7, too. I very much doubt that a Netbook with a 4GB HDD can be found today, given that just a clean install of XP takes up a couple of gigs.

It's fairly light so it shouldn't be a hassle to lug around. It also has something that makes it easier to attach to projectors, or something. Apps of the iWork suite are very reasonable in price, too, at just 9.99$/app. I couldn't imagine ever writing a paper on this thing, but you never know when it might come in handy.

The fact that it has that same single Apple proprietary port is insane. Just a way to try to make money, IMO.

Maybe Apple is trying to redefine the netbook. Kind of like they did with the Smartphone - how only business executives who were heavy on e-mail had them and now every other person has some fancy type of phone.

I don't see what use anyone would have with this device, though. It's just a bigger screen for an iPhone/iPod Touch.

 

[RoboRocks]

It was meant apparently to be a new way of storing and reading books. The problem with that is looking into a bright screen that size, for a long while, will put serious strain in your eyes.

The reviewers will find out and it won't catch on.

 

[sohum]

Just the other day at Best Buy I was looking at Netbooks and the lowest hard drive space they seemed to have was about 120 GB. I was surprised, because I thought there was a 128 GB limitation on those hard drives, but apparently they're stocking them with different HDD's now. Same weight, same form factor. They can run Windows 7, too. I very much doubt that a Netbook with a 4GB HDD can be found today, given that just a clean install of XP takes up a couple of gigs.

Just did a bit more research. Most Netbooks today can run SATA hard disk drives. The solid-state drive editions are a bit more expensive and less capacity (multiples of 8GB). The iPad will probably feature an SSD.

 

[Cricketman]

Apple iPad first hands-on! (update: video!) -- Engadget

Engadget has a new hands on video. Must say, it does the stuff it can do really well.

 

[barmyarmy]

Apparently it's 1080p full HD. Apple might yet have confounded everyone again.