The iPad

[cprice12]

Will you buy one?

Does it really find a hidden niche?

Is it just an oversized iPod?

Thoughts?

[abc789987]

No.

No.

Yes.

Do I get a penny?

[Guppy]

No
No
Yes

[WaukeeBlues]

The what?

[stlbluz]

Oversized Maxi

[philco_3]

FRANK Apple and all their stupid products.

[kodos]

No

Yes

Yes

Tech nerds don't really seem to see the what the big deal about the iPad is. It's a computer, but it's an idiot proof computer. It's not for us. It's for people who don't like fiddling with things, but want something to surf the web with, check email on and use for Facebook. It is just an iPod Touch, but it's also large enough that it can be used as a computer for everything that 90% of the world uses a computer for. It's a completely closed computer, which is both somewhat frightening and somewhat interesting. Like it or not, I think this is the direction much of the industry will be moving in the next decade. Less open, more secure, almost impossible to f*** up.

I have no use for one, but it will be a big hit.

[cprice12]

We've had a lot of discussions, some heated, in our IT department about the iPad. We have some Mac fans in our office who love the iPad and we have some guys who think it will flop.

Here's how I think the iPad will go...

They will sell a LOT of them right away. The Apple fan boys will buy them up as soon as they go on the shelves because they will buy anything with an Apple logo on it and claim it is the best thing ever. After a few months or so, sales will slow down, level off, and then dip pretty low.

I think even the Apple fan boys that buy the iPad will find themselves firing up their laptop quite often to do things that they can't do on the iPad. And eventually, the iPad will stay on the shelf and give way to the laptop or netbook full time because who wants to go back and forth between an iPad and a laptop when a laptop can do anything you want it to do and an iPad can't?

The 3G iPad is $600...600 friggin' dollars, PLUS $30 a month for the 3G service (but it does have WIFI, which is free, if you have a wireless network to tap into)...that's pretty steep considering you can get a decent laptop at that price that can do 10 times as many things as an iPad and also has a full blown OS...and if you don't "need" all of that functionality, a netbook is a less powerful laptop, and it only costs $200-$300...so why spend twice as much for a device that can only do half as much?

I don't get it. But Apple has been selling a lot of macbooks...and they cost twice as much as a comparable PC, and can't do as much as a PC can (unless you utilize Boot Camp...but then you might as well own a PC...they're cheaper)...so Apple is doing something right.

I'm sure the iPad will be an extremely well built piece of hardware, like all Apple products. It will look sharp and it will feel solid...and it will do what it does quite well. That's a given.

I've had people tell me that one of the few things the iPad has going for it, is that it can be used to read ebooks. But with that glossy screen, it won't be a joy to read like Amazon's Kindle. So I doubt ebooks become hugely popular on the iPad. Those who want an ebook device, will buy a Kindle or the Sony ebook thing...which are quite nice to read.

I've also heard that there will be a stand that will be available for the iPad so it can be propped up, kind of like...A LAPTOP. They are also selling add-on mini-keyboards, which resemble a cell phone keypad where there are three letters on each key. How horrible would that be to write emails with?

No USB ports...no multi-tasking...no ethernet port...no flash support...no video out...no widescreen option for watching movies (WTF?)...no phone...no camera...no OSX (pretty much the iPhone OS without the phone)...high price tag.

A laptop can give you all of those things at a cheaper (or about the same) price and it will also do everything that the iPad can do. So I am not sure who this is intended to entice. It's like if Apple were to announce they are going to sell a television without sound...and they say it's for that niche of people who don't need sound on a television. Well who the hell would that be? ...and why would they want that?

If the iPad were to cost $300, I could understand. A simple device that does less and costs less. That makes sense. Or if it had USB ports and all of the things I mentioned above, then go ahead and charge $600 for it...I could understand that, in that it would be a netbook killer in no time. But it doesn't have those things and I doubt it will be killing anything...I'm not sure how it could.

I think the iPad, after initial good sales, will flop and go the way of Apple TV. Just my two cents.

[big d note]

Tech nerds don't really seem to see the what the big deal about the iPad is. It's a computer, but it's an idiot proof computer. It's not for us. It's for people who don't like fiddling with things, but want something to surf the web with, check email on and use for Facebook. It is just an iPod Touch, but it's also large enough that it can be used as a computer for everything that 90% of the world uses a computer for. It's a completely closed computer, which is both somewhat frightening and somewhat interesting. Like it or not, I think this is the direction much of the industry will be moving in the next decade. Less open, more secure, almost impossible to f*** up.

I have no use for one, but it will be a big hit.

Will it ever support flash though? The main thing my wife does on Facebook is play Farmville and other games. You can't even watch youtube videos on it. Why would I want this instead of a cheap netbook?

http://theflashblog.com/?p=1703 (can't embed the image because it's too tall)

[kodos]

Your still just not getting it. It's not a normal computer. It's a computing appliance. It's not for you. It's not for me. It's for people who want to surf the web and check email and not worry about the rest.

And yes it costs twice as much as a netbook. Every Apple product costs twice as much as the competition. This should not come as a surprise. (and the $30 a month for 3G is a pretty standard fee. You'll pay this much or more for any 3G netbook) You either find the Apple experience to be worth the extra money or you don't. No one is forcing anyone to do anything.

10 years from now 75% of the world will be using devices like the iPad. Not necessarily a touch pad, but rather computing in a very closed and controlled environment. People who are tech nerds and own open computers will be like people who drive a stick.

I agree that the iPad has a lot of big omissions and costs a lot for what you get. It needs flash, it needs some form of multitasking, it needs to be able to print, it needs a forward facing camera for videoconferencing... and it needs a more compelling software selection. These things will all come eventually.

The Apple TV has also been a consistent seller. I don't think it's as big of a flop as you think it is. It's not even one of their core products. They don't run commercials for it or make it a big deal, ever... it's just them dipping their toe in the water.

[SIU LAW]

This thing has potential in musician circles.

[WaukeeBlues]

The what?

[kodos]

They are also selling add-on mini-keyboards, which resemble a cell phone keypad where there are three letters on each key. How horrible would that be to write emails with?

No USB ports...no multi-tasking...no ethernet port...no flash support...no video out...no widescreen option for watching movies (WTF?)...no phone...no camera...no OSX (pretty much the iPhone OS without the phone)...high price tag.

No such keyboard exists. They are selling a standard querty keyboard/dock or you can use any bluetooth keyboard. It has video out (via iPod dock connector) and the while the screen is 4:3, you can watch your movies letterboxed in widescreen.

[abc789987]

Pee Wee got one. I'm contemplating now.

[cprice12]

From Engadget:

Adobe on Flash and the iPad: 'Apple is continuing to impose restrictions on their devices'
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/adobe-on-flash-and-the-ipad-apple-is-continuing-to-impose-rest/

Adobe's been trying to get Flash on the iPhone with zero success since Steve Jobs first held the thing in the air in 2007, and it looks like the tension is only going to grow as the iPhone OS moves onto the iPad. We noticed that the iPad doesn't have Flash support almost immediately when Jobs was demoing the browser, and the Adobe Flash Platform blog picked right up on it, saying:

It looks like Apple is continuing to impose restrictions on their devices that limit both content publishers and consumers. Unlike many other ebook readers using the ePub file format, consumers will not be able to access ePub content with Apple's DRM technology on devices made by other manufacturers. And without Flash support, iPad users will not be able to access the full range of web content, including over 70% of games and 75% of video on the web.

If I want to use the iPad to connect to Disney, Hulu, Miniclip, Farmville, ESPN, Kongregate, or JibJab -- not to mention the millions of other sites on the web -- I'll be out of luck.

Yep, that sounds about right -- and Adobe goes on to point out that the Open Screen Project is bringing Flash to all sorts of other devices. Considering the Nokia N900 runs Flash 9 extremely well on a 600MHz ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP 3 processor (and the Palm Pre, which uses the same chip, will be able to run Flash 10.1 when webOS 1.4 comes out) we don't see any reason other than politics that the iPad can't do it on that fancy new 1GHz dual-core Cortex A9-based A4 chip. Turns out people might think "the best way to experience the web" might involve a little Hulu, you know?