Apple iPad announced

[rob]

So it seems like one emerging theory is that Apple considers the iPad a consumer device. That is, a device that "just works" and doesn't let you mess around much with it. That's why the Apple app store is so stringent (except for the inexplicable apps that don't pass because of supposed adult content, or even just the ability to view adult content without actually containing adult content). It's so locked down that consumers can't mess it up, but that in turn makes us power users mad.

[Antoha-spb]

Another haute couture geek toy by Apple. Agree to what is said followig the Dan's links (a comment and a short review).


edit:

PS: (somewhat explicit content http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFNQE_Tz ... r_embedded

[IcantRead]

The one thing that i am interested in with all of these new products is that the hardware they are using is getting cheaper. You can go on ebay and buy a iphone 3 mega pixel camera for like $6, and a screen from a ipod for $10. What is this going to do for the backyard tinker? I often think how can i take all of these things and make my own hardware that fits my needs. I'm thinking that we are going to see a lot of little companies that start out making there prototypes from Frankensteined hardware.

[daniel_reetz]

"Who Needs A Computer When You Can Have A Shopping Mall"

I read a blog about art in NYC called Art Fag City, and they pretty much nail as far as creativity goes. They also link to another writeup, called "Why The iPad is Crap Futurism" which actually discusses some alternatives instead of just criticizing Apple's new tablet.

[StevePoling]

I was seriously considering the iPad to use as a dining room table computer. i'd use it to surf the web and skype with my daughter at Oxford. Only trouble is that it has no built-in camera. Add a built-in camera and that little gizmo can be my George-Jetson-view-phone.

The "future of publishing" business is just wishful thinking by moribund magazine/newspaper companies. Apple said nothing about it so that they can play coy with publishers. That said, multi-touch i/o may be a very good paradigm for things like word processing and stuff. I won't say more until I see one and it'll be about 60 days until one arrives in Grand Rapids, MI.

[rob]

Dan, I think that article you linked to nailed it, too. They call the iPad a television and a shopping mall. It's for people who consume, not who produce.

[jradi]

I've been away from the forums for quite some time, mostly scanning and reading. I ended up pre-ordering an iPad and I've been putting my content on it for the past few days. I have to say, it's on of the best ebook readers I've ever owned. The screen and processor make for an amazing combination. It can handle huge pdf's of the original page scans (no reason to bother ocr'ing), and the software readers are pretty great. If anyone has any questions about the ipad, post them and I'll try to get to them...

[rob]

Have you experienced any of the Wi-Fi dropouts?

[jradi]

It definitely has its share of bugs. I wouldn't classify it as wifi drop outs, more like problems connecting to a wifi hotspot, even if it's a wifi spot I use all the time (like my home or work router). It's so new though that there aren't a lot of discussion groups on it, not a lot of community troubleshooting.

Still, it isn't as much of a problem as you'd think. My routers use a hidden SSID, so it usually involves just typing in the name of the SSID and the ipad jumps on the signal in a few seconds.

This past weekend I went away to Vegas, over 12 hours of travel in each direction, and I put the ipad through its paces. As a book reader, it did wonderfully. I was very happy on the plane rides to not have to rely on overhead light. The adjustable font size made reading very easy, particularly with it propped on the tray table. I like that it's so multi-purpose, I have an RSS Reader and a News Reader installed, which each download hundreds of articles, so could bounce back and forth when I started to get bored with the book.

The hardest part was using it outdoors by the pool. I put the brightness on full and generally sat right on the edge of the shade (which took a LOT of moving around), and I managed to read throughout the day, but I wish I had brought my kindle for outdoor reading.

So far, I've only read books that I purchased through the kindle store. I have yet to import any of my own books, and I want to see what a pdf/epub full of page scans (the actual images, non-ocr'd) will look like. I have a few programs on the ipad that will handle very large pdf's gracefully, and I'm pretty hopeful about the experience. So far, reading comics has been very enjoyable (which I guess is the same thing as what I'm trying to do, so I'm fairly sure it will work, except comics are typically only 20 scanned pages each).

[intermediatic]

Yes, I've heard that it's just for people who consume. Absolutely, I totally agree.

I consume books by the truckload for my job, which is teaching at a big university. So I loaded up my iPad with 500 books synced via an app called Papers. The interface is still wonky: it doesn't allow highlighting or decent annotating, but I don't carry books with me to work anymore. Joy!

When I have a Powerpoint up for my students (I teach in architecture theory, so typically I will have a Powerpoint up with images, never text…and a lot of the time I will be recording the video and audio via an onboard program…so there's no option for pdf reading on my laptop), I pull out the iPad and follow along with the students in the texts I've downloaded. The device is AWESOME for that. I'm sick of carrying printouts, photocopies and books. DONE!

Plus I can take notes during lectures in Evernote and its much less obtrusive than a laptop.

With jailbreak (probably out after the 3G comes out) and multitasking on the way, this will be even easier. Goodbye Moleskine. I stopped using it the day I got the iPad.

I'm not sure why I bother to carry a pen anymore. That crutch may go next.

So don't underrate consumption! I mean I thank all the good people who are out there scanning books (and I've seen my own scanned, thank you!) for us, but some of us really need to read books too!