I Pad

[Foggy]

(JaiDee @ Jan. 29 2010,16:23) give me a phone I can chat on, a PC I can get on twice a day to do my mail and some work, and an MP3 player for my tunes and I am happy; and I watch very little TV and have never been into 'gaming'.  Just being outdoors is the key; lying in a hammock with a good book, or walking/biking/beaching/swimming is the way to go, and they are all basically FREE.

Amen to that... each to his own though....

[azza33]

As I predicted - a piece of junk!! stick with the mini notebooks -I love mine and easy to travel with in Los

[deepthroat]

Why the iPad Is So Revolutionary
By Joe Hewitt   02/03/10

Most of the iPad reactions I've read have been negative, but I have been completely satisfied with what Apple(AAPL Quote) announced.

iPad is exactly the product I've been wishing for ever since I wrapped my mind around the iPhone and its constraints. Although the rumor mill was churning with all kinds of crazy possibilities for the Apple tablet, I mostly rolled my eyes, because I felt strongly that all Apple needed to do to revolutionize computing was simply to make an iPhone with a large screen.
Anyone who feels underwhelmed by that doesn't understand how much of the iPhone's operating system's potential is still untapped.

I spent a year and a half attempting to reduce a massive, complex social networking Web site into a handheld, touch-screen form factor. My initial goal was just to make a mobile companion for the Facebook mothership, but once I got comfortable with the platform I became convinced it was possible to create a version of Facebook that was actually better than the Web site!

Of all the platforms I've developed on in my career, from the desktop to the Web, iPhone's OS gave me the greatest sense of empowerment, and had the highest ceiling for raising the art of user-interface design. Except there was one thing keeping me from reaching that ceiling: The screen was too small.

At some point I came to the conclusion that Facebook on the iPhone OS could not truly exceed the Web site until I could adapt it to a screen size closer to a laptop. It needed to support more than one column of information at a time. I couldn't fit enough tools on the screen to support any kind of advanced creative work. Photos were too small to show off to my farsighted parents. The Web required too much panning and zooming to enjoy reading.

Beyond Facebook, most of the apps I used most on my iPhone -- such as Google(GOOG Quote) Reader, Instapaper and all image, video, and text-editing tools -- also suffered from these limitations.

The bottom line is that many apps which were cute toys on iPhone can become full-featured power tools on the iPad, making you forget about their desktop/laptop predecessors. We just have to invent them.

Opportunity

The iPad is an incredible opportunity for developers to reimagine every single category of desktop and Web software there is. Seriously, if you're a developer and you're not thinking about how your app could work better on the iPad and its descendants, you deserve to get left behind.
True, iPad 1.0 has a lot of limitations that make it difficult to compare to a laptop today. We're not there yet, people, but does it really take that much imagination to see how we will get there? Apple clearly wants to increase its investment in iPhone OS and reduce its investment in Mac OS X.

At some point in the near future, Apple will adapt the iPhone OS to even larger screens, add multi-tasking, and release something like a laptop or an iMac with the iPhone OS. When that happens, it will make perfect sense, because by then there will be orders of magnitude more iPhone/iPad apps on the App Store than there ever were for Mac OS X and Windows.

A Closed Platform?
Given my concerns about the way Apple runs the App Store, you might expect me to jump on the bandwagon screaming about how Apple is evil and how iPad is the death of open computing. Nonsense. My only problem with Apple is the fact that they insist on preapproving every app on the App Store. The store may not be open in this sense, but the iPhone/iPad platform itself could hardly be more open to tinkerers of all ages.

The one thing that makes an iPhone/iPad app "closed" is that it lives in a sandbox, which means it can't just read and write willy-nilly to the file system, access hardware or interfere with other apps.

In my mind, this is one of the best features of the OS. It makes native apps more like Web apps, which are similarly sandboxed, and therefore much more secure. On Macs and PCs, you have to reinstall the OS every couple of years or so just to undo the damage done by apps, but iPhone OS is completely immune to this.

Opportunity

The iPad is an incredible opportunity for developers to reimagine every single category of desktop and Web software there is. Seriously, if you're a developer and you're not thinking about how your app could work better on the iPad and its descendants, you deserve to get left behind.

True, iPad 1.0 has a lot of limitations that make it difficult to compare to a laptop today. We're not there yet, people, but does it really take that much imagination to see how we will get there? Apple clearly wants to increase its investment in iPhone OS and reduce its investment in Mac OS X.

At some point in the near future, Apple will adapt the iPhone OS to even larger screens, add multi-tasking, and release something like a laptop or an iMac with the iPhone OS. When that happens, it will make perfect sense, because by then there will be orders of magnitude more iPhone/iPad apps on the App Store than there ever were for Mac OS X and Windows.

A Closed Platform?
Given my concerns about the way Apple runs the App Store, you might expect me to jump on the bandwagon screaming about how Apple is evil and how iPad is the death of open computing. Nonsense. My only problem with Apple is the fact that they insist on preapproving every app on the App Store. The store may not be open in this sense, but the iPhone/iPad platform itself could hardly be more open to tinkerers of all ages.

The one thing that makes an iPhone/iPad app "closed" is that it lives in a sandbox, which means it can't just read and write willy-nilly to the file system, access hardware or interfere with other apps.

In my mind, this is one of the best features of the OS. It makes native apps more like Web apps, which are similarly sandboxed, and therefore much more secure. On Macs and PCs, you have to reinstall the OS every couple of years or so just to undo the damage done by apps, but iPhone OS is completely immune to this.

As a developer, it's a bit sad losing the ability to come up with crazy plugins and daemons and system-level utilities, but I believe it's a trade-off worth making.

What people are overlooking is that the Internet is an integral part of the iPhone OS, and it is the part of the OS you can tinker with to your heart's delight.
If you want to invent a new scripting language or background service or something, you're still totally free to do that, but you're going to have to run it on a Web server.

If you want total freedom on the client side, then write a Web app. You're simply no longer going to be able to tempt users into installing software that corrupts their computer.

So, in the end, what it comes down to is that iPad offers new metaphors that will let users engage with their computers with dramatically less friction. That gives me, as a developer, a sense of power and potency and creativity like no other. It makes the software market feel wide open again, like no one's hegemony

[JaiDee]

Drama??

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-390058.html

even though it's likely just shite, the lawyers alone will cost Apple a ton just to defend this nonsense.

[bunnytv]

im happy with my android

keybord nice display can play divx movies 3g wireless b g n

and is 100% open so no you cant make that app bull shit apply give its devs

[Torurot]

Jetstar to trial iPads for IFE
http://australianaviation.com.au/jet...ipads-for-ife/
Item by australianaviation.com.au on June 1, 2010 3:27 pm    

Jetstar's iPad trial will being later this month. (Jetstar)

Jetstar has announced that it will trial hiring out Apple iPads for onboard entertainment on some domestic services.

The trial will make Jetstar the first carrier in the world to offer iPad hire onboard when they come on offer from late June. The iPads will be available to rent for $10, and will provide inflight entertainment with movies, TV programs, eBooks, music videos, games and music.

"Based on demand for the iPads as part of the trial, we'll be looking to roll out the devices across our entire domestic and international network later in the year," said Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan.

The iPads are being trialled in conjunction with Bluebox Avionics and Stella Inflight. Bluebox is understood to have developed customised apps for the iPad, while Stella is a provider of movie and TV content for airlines worldwide.

[Bumpa STIKKA]

(pacman @ Jan. 30 2010,19:32) I don't see how something with a small screen in a folding lid could be more comfortable or preferable to holding a nicely weighted, tactile flat "tablet"

There's a new range of netbooks coming that have you covered, Paccers...

I'm personally waiting for this one. A touch screen netbook, photo frame, i-pad, reader, surfer... all in one...

And all the 'apps' come with it or you can download for free! Plus you can choose between regular keyboard or virtual... PLUS you can plug in a larger monitor and/or full ize keyboard... Also has camera, USB, card port, etc...

Like someone already mentioned... These iPads are gonna look a bit gaudy very quickly.

[rxpharm]

Looks interesting, but something old is new again!

Tablet laptops were introduced back in 2001, but never really caught on. Here's a photo of a Compaq tablet laptop - something old becomes new again!

[Snick]

Got my iPad and its great, go ahead and trash it if you like, Jobs will be laughing all the way to the Bank.

I'm interested in seeing all the new tablets/pads/slates that will come out in the next 18 months, but they will be fighting for scraps. With 2 million iPads sold already, and a zillion apps no one will be able to catch up.

I wanted the iPad for its book reading, movies playing and internet capabilities...and I am happy in every respect. I've already read 3 books on it.

[Bumpa STIKKA]

...including Rupert The Bear?

[Snick]

I started with this,
http://godxiliary.com/alienvspooh/Large/

[azza33]

(Snick @ Jun. 05 2010,17:33) Got my iPad and its great, go ahead and trash it if you like, Jobs will be laughing all the way to the Bank.

I'm interested in seeing all the new tablets/pads/slates that will come out in the next 18 months, but they will be fighting for scraps. With 2 million iPads sold already, and a zillion apps no one will be able to catch up.

I wanted the iPad for its book reading, movies playing and internet capabilities...and I am happy in every respect. I've already read 3 books on it.

What a piece of junk!!

Why did u bother??

You paid top dollar for a product that is inferior to what you currently own

Now that's 10/10 for apple marketing

Do you really enjoy cleaning fingerprints from the screen all day long?

It does look nice tho - i'll give it that

BTW i cant stand ebooks.... not sure why but i prefer the real thing

[manarak]

(Snick @ Jun. 05 2010,17:55) I started with this,
http://godxiliary.com/alienvspooh/Large/

Thanks!

I guess that explains the Ipad!

I'll just stick with my newly acquired netbook.

[Jake_Sully]

I really don't get the need for it..

I mean I have a laptop, I have a cp (although I need a new smart phone shortly), I'm no book worm and I prefer watching movies on my 46" sony bravia HDtv.

Don't really see a need for the ipad.

[hulahvn]

In my opinion Mac just isn't the icon it use to be. I'm moving to Taipei this year and thought since I have had soooooooo many problems with Dell I'd switch to an exceptional, dependable, company like Mac. I purchased the 27" iMac with goobs of memory. Beautiful! 10 days later it developed a hot spot in the back of the unit and burned out. Local distributor wouldn't replace but would fix...whatever...a month 3 weeks later not fixed. O.K., call Mac and it was pretty easy to talk to someone. The supervisor listened and ended up saying they'd replace. 3 weeks later no computer...call up and they say we have one at another store on another island (I live Hawaii)...I can fly over and get it...yea right! Then they say we can't ship out from the store...yea right!...finally they listen to reason and ship out. 12 hours after receiving it too develops a hot spot and crashes...2 in a row...not good...but sir, your the first instance we've heard like this. Another supervisor and we're so sorry! We'll ship directly off the factory line from Singapore or somewhere? 2 weeks later it arrives!!! Yes...this is such a bitchin machine...great screen and graphics! Less than 2 weeks later I put my first CD in the slot and what the heck, it sounds like a kids bike with baseball cards in the spokes...this is not good...blue screen of death and it crashes...but sir, there is no way this could happen...3 in a row...we'll send a new one out right away! No thank you, I'd like my money back please. But we can't do that...we'll there is a process that takes about 2 months to review and then most folks don't win their case. How about a replacement? No thanks, money please. Well let me see what I can do sir....a week later no calls. So I take out a web site called "Tell On Apple.Net" and call Mac back up and I tell them that I'm going to start this site on the world wide web and thank you very much. Next day they call and say a check is in the mail...Seems that all is not right with Apple also...have since had a custom gamers computer made with parts that have names...who knows, maybe this one will last a bit longer than a Dell or any other assembly unit???