The iPad

I wont be buying an iPad. I really dont see the point in a big iPod Touch...which is essentially what it is.

I have a 32 gig 3g model ordered, and I couldn't be more excited. Initially, I ordered it on spec: it wasn't immediately apparent what it's use would be, but I had a lot of faith that the app store developers would make it great. I recognize that it's not the brightest decision, but I'm an early adopter.

However, having seen some of the app walkthroughs that have been posted on Engadget and Gizmodo over the last week, I'm starting to get ecstatic. Brushes, Kayak, some of the twitter apps...it's already become a really, really intriguing device.

If it was cheaper I'd consider getting it. As it stands, it costs as much as a laptop and does half as much. It also does about the same thing as most smart phones but can't fit in your pocket. Oh, and it's tiny amount of memory can't even allow it to replace the iPod I bought 3 years ago for less than half the money.

At some point these devices are going to have to start consolidating to get me to purchase them. If it isn't replacing or combining some of the shit I already own it better cost very little. That's where I stand.

I think that people who are saying it's just a large-scale ipod touch are reflecting a concern that was valid when the device was first announced. Having seen what's been shown, the screen real-estate is making all the difference. The applications shown so far are really, really robust.

I was really impressed by this video demo of Twitepad. It's got a stupid name, but once you get the hang of what is happening in this video, it's pretty damn impressive.

I'll be buying one of these in a year or so. Early adopting Apple products is a mistake.

Yeah, more or less true.

True, but that will be a year of me getting twip that is passing you by.

Once they announce a date for the 3G model, I'll make my pre-order (I don't like paying without a delivery date). I do want to play with the iBook feature to see how much I'd like reading magazines and books on the thing.

But I'm pretty psyched for it.

And when there is a better one (in a year, as Devin points out), I'll donate this one within the family and upgrade.

I want to get one, but my iphone is showing real signs of age (and I can't upgrade until June). I can't justify buying a new iPhone and iPad, within 8 weeks. On the other hand, I'm pretty much over my Dell 9 netbook. Would gladly sell that to anyone and us the money for an iPad.

Maybe holidays, but probably next year.

iPad with Skype. Obviously.

Yeah, I'd love to see me try to call my wife, while carrying my daughter in the grocery store on that thing.

Don't get me wrong, maybe with your gigantor hands it's doable, but with my normal sized body, not going to happen.

ETA: I love you pulled out a N-Gage pic.

Huh. I was just thinking of starting this thread.

My neighbour was heading across the border to Buffalo for a day of shopping anyways, and so he reserved two at the store at Walden Galeria. I'll be grabbing the 32gig version.

I agree wholeheartedly with LG. It's a big iPod Touch. And that isn't a bad thing- the screen real-estate is the point. It allows for a lot more functionality, and developers will create the software that will make it a success [EDIT- I don't think success is the right word, I think it comes with most of the functionality most people will use]. The iPod had only basic applications when it was released. The iPad is being launched on the back of a massive library of available software, but it's the software built specifically for the iPad which will really show what it can do. It comes with a good amount basic functionality, but it's really a blank canvas waiting to be filled with great ideas.

Personally, I'm imagining the wife and I will use it as a home appliance. I plan for it to replace our clock radio, showing weather and news info in the morning. A mobile reading appliance throughout the house for books, magazines and the internet. A picture frame when it's idle. A remote [that's not my phone] for the AppleTV. But that's all without laying a hand on it.

There's no question that the device will mature if you're willing to wait a year or two. The iPhone OS4.0 will be out in a couple of months, possibly bringing more multitasking functionality and a host of other features. And if the thing sells well, Apple will be able to leverage volume sales to bring the price down and/or bump up the capacity. As primarily an information consumption device, Apple is highly motivated to get this into as many hands as possible. Jobs shocked just about everyone with the $499 entry price, but I'm willing to bet that we could see the base price drop to as low as $299 in a couple of years, by when there will have been hardware revisions and a mature iPad app catalogue.

But a couple of things I don't think anyone should hold out hope for-

1. Flash- Apple has made a stand and already key sites are moving to adopt to iPad friendly HTML5. I give any significant dominance of flash 2 years. It will still be around for porn sites and flash games, but I could care less.

2. Camera- an iChat camera I can get behind, but the iPad makes for an unwieldily happy snaps camera, and if you want good photos you shouldn't be using any phone camera anyway. If they do pop an iChat camera in next year I'll sell this one to my brother or parents and bump up- they won't care not having it!

3. Integrated USB. Apple likes slim and simple, so I'd say there's near zero chance you'll see integrated USB or simcard slots on this thing. Personally I don't mind. Most people would never use them anyways, so $30 bucks for an external connector is the better option.

For me, the thing just isn't practical. It's too big to fit in your pocket which means you'll have to carry it around in a padded satchel and if you're going that route, you might as well have a laptop that has more storage space and better battery usage and the option of carrying replacement batteries.

Not to mention the screen is like the iPhone \ iPod and that means you're going to need to have one of those screen protectors to prevent scratches and scuffs and in the 6 years I've been using screen protectors for devices (Treo before iPhone) I have yet to get it perfect and prevent airbubbles or being slightly shifted and not 100% aligned. Also, bigger screen means quicker to replace those things and better chance of dust scratches on the real screen.

Also it appears to have the same speakers as the iPhone \ iPod and they suck *assumption that they suck on the iPad*. Sure I have headphones (bluetooth as well as wired) but it's just more shit to carry in your satchel, vs. a laptop which can have good speakers.

That's just my opinion anyways.

I'm not sure there are many laptops have have better battery life. I've heard of one or two netbooks that have 11 or 12 hour batteries, but those often seem to have extra cells projecting outside the body of the computer.

I will carry mine around in the standard, bookcover-esque case. It's protected my Kindle quite well so far.

@ Snaieke

I agree that the usability area between the iPad and a Macbook can be a bit grey. I guess the question is, can you assume everyone needs the extra storage and functionality that a laptop provides? I honestly don't think most people do. And if that functionality spread is reasonably wide now, it's only going to narrow in the next 3-5 years.

The form in this case is part of the function, you don't have to open it, which makes it much more useful on a bus or sitting on a park bench if you're reading.

I don't think the iPad is the perfect solution for all scenarios and tasks, but honestly I don't even think Apple knows with any certainty where this thing is headed. What drives the iPhone now [the appStore] didn't exist at launch. There's all sort of issues around ergonomics and usability that will only get sorted out once the device is in people's hands and Apple starts getting feedback. The point is that they've provided the product from which that conversation can start.

The laptop certainly can't be the pinnacle of computing at which point all innovation ends...

I said better battery usage. I'm sure much like the iPhone the iPad will consume more energy if you have wifi on, bluetooth on, push updates configured, and various other config. options and remember all of these things are on even when in a pseudo standby state. One dentist or doctors waiting area and I need to charge my iPhone in the car on the way to the next place or I might be in trouble*.

The problem I have with the bookcover-esque case is it doesn't seem practical. Let's say you bring it in your car, you have to carefully put it down, make sure it can't be jarred around and if you happen to take a turn too fast.. you might freak out more than you should. Then at your destination your stuck holding it in your hand or putting it down someplace that someone might bump it over or sit on it or whatever. The $499 price tag coupled with what it will carry (photos, emails, songs, apps, etc..) means I will want it close to me and a carrying case just seems more practical.

I'm not trying to be a 'hater', I just have a hard time wraping my head around these aspects. I'm sure after it's out and I see some people with it I'll get a better idea but the perceived impracticality of the whole thing just makes me shy away from it at this stage.

* I have a battery extender case, so I really won't be in trouble

I'm more interested in seeing the other tablets such as the HP Slate since they actually offer a more complete web browsing experience unlike the iPad.

I'm glad Apple is attacking the ludicrous Netbook market. Netbooks are crap and I love competition. I really hope this thing takes off...because I want HP, Msoft, Google and others to follow suit.

The iPAD is awesome, but the lack of key features is a killer. I can live without flash but no USB ports, no multiple apps and not true HD 16x9 ratio is ridiculous. If they fix those limitations and let the next 1-2 models work out the early kinks I'll probably seriously consider one.

I cannot say for sure, but I'm not certain you could get proper USB ports into the slim design Apple has come up with, and if they had used micro-USB as the did in the Air, you'd need an adaptor anyway. As someone else has noted- if you're carrying this thing around, you're going to need a case of some sort, so having the small USB adaptor for the few times you need it doesn't seem like a huge inconvenience. The USB and SD card reader for $29 bucks isn't expensive.

As for the resolution. I don't quite get why people are so adamant it needs to be 16x9. This is not a video only device. It's one aspect of a larger package. The iPhone's form factor [a phone] dictated a longer rectangular shape, so a 16:9 aspect made more sense. With the iPad, I think two things drove them to a squarer shape. 1- I don't think they could justify sacrificing optimum aspect for most of the other applications [books, internet, photos magazines] just for the sake of video; and 2- a narrower, taller iPad might lead to more hand stress if you're holding it for longer periods of time.

Though I won't be holding one in my hands until Sunday, I'd wager a lot of people's derision of the iPad might soften once it's in their hands.

Not everyone though, I've come to realize in the last few years as Apple's market-share has gone up, that Apple's own worst enemy is the perception of Apple. They're openly hostile of people who are wiling to pay a bit more, not for specs, but for overall quality and user experience.

Though I've generally found that once people OWN Apple products, they don't go back.

I think i'd use this constantly, but I *have* to wait it out, if only to see what the microsoft courier ends up being. THAT i might buy day one.

I have nothing against anyone else buying one of these but it's pointless for my life. When I'm mobile and casual, I don't want to have to worry about or think about consuming media, communicating, or browsing on anything other than a smartphone that stays in my pocket until I need it. The screen real estate of the latest crop of smartphones (3.7-inches and up) is more than enough.

If I'm mobile and I need dedicated work (e.g. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, music editing) done, why on Earth would I want a virtual keyboard and a non-widescreen 9-inch screen? And why do I have to pay extra and attach a ...ugh...dongle for the inputs and outputs to take that work elsewhere?

I mean, I could take shots at it all day, but the ultimate proof of the "magical" experience Apple offers is in the iPod Touch we bought two Christmases ago. To this day, its only use is as a media/audiobook player for my wife at work. We never even updated it to 3.0 software and haven't touched an app besides the iPod app in probably 8-9 months.

But I could definitely see this being desirable for lots of other people. Hell, maybe myself 10 years ago.

For me, I see no reason to buy a converged device, then have to buy a bunch of physical clip-on accessories to make it truly useful. Defeats the point.

I think gaming and video watching should be primary uses, otherwise...you'd be better off with a Kindle or Nook or whatever. And if they are important, widescreen should be important.

Absolutely possible, but I don't know how many more shots I need to give them. I've played with the computers in Apple stores, bought an iPod Touch, and there is little that compels me to "convert" to their experience.

What's the killer app I'm missing?

For me, and I'm not an Apple fanatic, the value in the iPad is that it provides a very convenient content hub. I recognize the tyranny of Apple's pipelines (iBooks, iTunes, etc), but they do manage to make up for a lot of that.

I don't think this is a killer app, but this is a key step on that path. It will give me mobile surfing (and if you believe Edward Tufte, and both I and the administration do), screen size is the mark of seriousness - you know how serious someone is about presentation when you determine how much real estate they dedicate to it), as well as a mobile receptacle for my favorite books, music, movies, videos, and photos. I love my iPhone (and it will still probably get more use than this), but this allows actual surfing and interaction with the net. I do think it shifts the paradigm.

All of this is predicated on what content is available, and by who. But I think that will sort itself out.

The Apps are the icing on the cake for me. This is the perfect travel companion.

The true killer app (not App) will be smaller than the iPhone (portability), with a screen size of 17" (presentation). How that happens, I don't know. But it will eventually happen.

I cannot possibly sound more old-fashioned than this, but because I spend all day at work in front of a monitor and a fair amount of time doing leisure activities on it when I get home (not to mention browsing, messaging, and everything else with my phone inbetween), I consider friends and family to be the ultimate travel companions. There seems to be little appeal in unplugging anymore.

Beyond that, I'm curious as to how the iPad allows surfing and interaction with the Net that the iPhone or Droid or Pre or whatever smartphone you use does not.

But...it's bigger, Micah. Bigger!

And you might be waiting 3 years for it, if it ever comes out at all in the form which had been presented. Right now it's a flashy demo with no context. No expectation of a timeline. It's vapourware, and I have no confidence in Microsofts ability to bring it to market.

I'll have an iPad in my hands this weekend, 60 days after it was first unveiled.

Not sure what phone you use. I have no such problems save for sites like CHUD, and that's only on the forums. The main site is very readable with one double-tap. Gizmodo is plenty readable with one double tap in any WebKit browser. Google News is by default. Engadget has an app on every WebKit browser OS (WebOS, iPhone, Android). Most other sites are one double-tap away from readability.

Yeah, the problem with courier is that, although there have been some suggestions that it's a product that will go to market someday, Ballmer seems less that interested in it and it's not really on a development timeline. Still, it's one HELL of a demo.

As to the screen size thing, that seems like a bizarre argument. Try browsing Deadspin on your phone. Or, even worse, using an RSS reader properly. It just doesn't work well. Screen size is vital, as has been shown by the sophistication of the applications and websites already demonstrated on the iPad.

Have no idea what Deadspin is, nor do I use an RSS reader in any capacity. But there are RSS reading apps that format any feed you want for your device. WebOS has 'em, iPhone has 'em, and so does Android.

Screen size is only vital if the text is poorly formatted for columns. If it isn't, any Webkit browser should display it quite legibly with a double-tap.

I'd also be curious to see these iPad demonstrations that are so sophisticated. Haven't seen one yet, and I've watched a couple of Apple's already.

I'm not sure why not having USB doesn't make it truly useful. Files can be transferred over WiFi or Bluetooth. The only immediately apparent use for USB is camera connection, which I'd be hard pressed to believe that more than 15% of the people who by an iPad will use.


I don't think anything is "Primary" in terms of use for the iPad. If I was primarily interested in watching movies or playing video games I'd be watching movies or playing PS3 on my huge TV. I think they looked at the whole context of use and came up with a screen dimension that was the best compromise for all of them.


The killer app for the iPad is going to be the same one that's driving the iPhone/iPod Touch. The appStore. Now, to quantify that, I think that for 50% of the market, what comes on the iPad is all that they'll require and, like you, they may never download an app; the device itself is the killer app because it's a computer for people who don't use computers. But for those looking for expanded functionality- those who want to see where the limits in this form factor bump up to, or overlap, or supersede that of a laptop, the software will be there to test those boundaries.

But since you've never downloaded an app for your iPod Touch, I'm not sure that aspect of it holds any use for you.

Yeah I don't get the way people dismiss it as "a big iPhone" and such. For a dedicated internet browsing device the screen size isn't a minor thing! And whatever the issues there might be with this particular model I find it hard to believe casual computing as a whole isn't going to be heading this direction in a big way.

And for all the talk of how practical these things are as mobile devices I think people are underestimating the potential appeal of the iPad just as an internet browser for using around the house. I have a reasonably compact laptop but even moving that around often feels like more trouble than it's worth. I can't really justify splashing out on one of these any time soon but I can definitely see the attraction of having a comfortable lightweight machine like this that I can just pick up, lounge around with, pass around etc.

This comes down to personal preference. I find any reading on my iPhone to be convenience over comfort. It's there, I'll read on it, but I'd never think about reading a full book that way, and it's not how my wife and I are going to search for strollers on a website together.

Yeah, but you've been using an iPod Touch for a while. That was part of Apple's pitch, it's a method of interacting with a device you're already comfortable with. I'm not sure they're selling this on sophistication- it's almost the opposite. They want you to not even think about how you're interacting with it. It's an OS built especially for touch that's intuitive and natural. Anyone who wanted full OSX on this thing was crazy crackers. What's the point?

If I say "I don't get why you'd want to watch movies on a 10 inch screen when you could do it on a 3 inch screen", does this start to make more sense to you? It's apparent that you don't like the iPad, and that's fine. But you're just being contrarian about some of this stuff. I am well aware that the iphone and android have RSS apps: I use them. They are woefully inadequate, specifically because of screen size.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of screen size (which is why I mentioned Tufte). Of course, the value of that varies from person to person. But I appreciate Apple's decisionmaking when it comes to compromises (as mentioned above). These are all curves (between too big and too small), and Apple (among many other content providers) is trying to find the sweet spot (the "knee") among a variety of activities (reading, surfing, movies, photos - each of those has a "normal" size, so the curves are all different).

In the end, the iPad will never be as convenient as a smartphone. It's not intended to be. It is supposed to be a middle ground between a pocket screen and a 17" monitor and a 32" TV and a 11" magazine.

I consider that fertile territory for content delivery, expecially sharing a computer and TV with my wife.

As for travel companion, I specifically meant business trips where I travel alone. This allows me to shrink the size of my carry on, and still get magazines, books, movies, and music with me (to fit my mood), as well as whatever other treats the App store brings.

But to many, the screen size is the differentiator. It works for you or it doesn't. I can't wait to see what I can use this thing for.

I'm including USB, the keyboard (come on...virtual keys for extended text entry and editing? No thanks), the camera connector, and God knows what else. To me, it's a modular laptop with half the storage and software capabilities. Aside from browsing, playing music, and playing games, the number one thing I use a computer (mobile or desktop) for is music creation and mixdown. I most certainly do need USB for that.

File transfer over Wifi or Bluetooth is dependent on you simply moving stuff between your machines. Once you have to take files to other people, you need USB.

Worst of all worlds for me. But that's just me. Only thing worse than watching movies, games and TV shows on a tiny screen is watching them with black bars on a tiny screen.

Well, let me be clear. On my Palm Pre, I have many apps installed. But that is my phone, and it does almost everything I need to do mobile, including playing my music, Slacker, Pandora, etc. I even have a movie or two loaded. Unfortunately, the only time I have two hours to be left alone and do what I want is when I'm at home where my TiVO and regular TVs are anyway.

But as for mobile apps, all the biggies are pretty much cross-platform, as is the concept of a ondevice app store. Just nothing unique about streaming radio or Shazam or Twitter apps or Facebook apps anymore. Same goes for restaurant recommendations, nav, etc. None of that stuff would benefit from 6 more inches of screen space, and the usefulness of the hardware would certainly diminish. Hell, I don't even like taking my work laptop anywhere.

But for all of the talk of expanded functionality and iPad pushing the limits, I have yet to see an iPad app demonstrate this. I already flick through photos. I already easily answer email and message people. I already play music and accelerometer games. Now, it's bigger?

I'm not being contrarian. The first thing I said about this device is that it doesn't have value for "my life". I can understand how some people would enjoy it, but I don't see the added value it provides. It's not a matter of me liking it or not liking it. I'm trying to assess use cases in which this provides a value that pre-existing products do not.

Take your example above: Why watch movies on a 10-inch screen when you can do it on a 3-inch screen? Well, I don't like either option frankly. I have a movie or two loaded on my phone strictly as emergency entertainment. But I drive in my commute, watch dual monitors at my desk at work, and have TVs at home with plenty of content collecting dust on my TiVO.

If I was a road warrior who needed mobile video content, I'd still rather have a laptop. Widescreen with higher resolution so you can watch the films as they're meant to be seen. Options for both electronic AND physical media so you have more flexibility. The form factor is made to sit in your lap at the viewing angle of your choice already instead of you holding it for two hours. No black bars except for super widescreen material. Blu-Ray availability. You aren't limited to video streaming that isn't Flash-based. More storage. I can easily switch to the true Web at will without limitations.

And so on and so on and so on. Oh, and the hardware is cheaper too. But I can't touch the screen or read a book? Hmmm, lemme weigh that against the advantages....

That's why I'm waiting for a use case or app demo to show where the value is.

Well, I think your point about virtual keys is a mute one. If it had a keyboard it would be a laptop. If you want to do some extended typing you can use their keyboard dock or a bluetooth keyboard. Honestly I think younger people don't have this bias about virtual keyboards, and we'll get passed by in the years ahead. Though the "responsive feedback" thing that keeps getting hinted at might change things.

I would say that right now Apple is primarily interested in pushing this as a media ingestion device. Media creation is something they're trying out with the iWork apps, and developers will test it's limits in that regard. I think this would be a great device for music creation, allowing for multiple faders and knobs, and I think there's already a DJ app that's hinting at this. But if USB is only needed for final delivery of final files to clients, then again you're talking about a very slim niche of use for the device, so why would apple put USB plugs on this thing, add to the cost, have to make it thicker to accommodate them, when the need for one is so narrow? Is having to have something about the size of a pack of matches for those rare occasions SO inconvenient?

Dude, I understand. I really do. Very valid cases in which such a device would be great. I'd rather have a laptop so that I could also get real work and creative content done and usable in a form that works on my PC too, but if those weren't important to me...hell yes.

Again, if I flew regularly and alone, I could see the appeal. But then I would also want to do other stuff this thing will not have. If it's about capabilities, possibilities, and convenience, this device is too limited for me to get the most of those for the money.

Definitely a shift there, and I don't have a bias against virtual keyboards. My next smartphone will almost certainly have no physical QWERTY, and I've already used an HTC Hero that didn't have it (and it wasn't a problem). But I do not desire at any point to change the workhorse devices (business or personal) I use to nothing but touchscreen input. Keyboards take screen real estate, which means the usefulness of the device diminishes the longer and more intensely you use it. If I wanna work with 40 paragraphs of text and graphics, why would I want to do it one at a time (if that) on a device with a onscreen virtual keyboard? Even the best ones use half the screen. That leaves 4.8 inches, which almost pushes it back down to smartphone-caliber device.

Dedicated music creation needs lots of screen real estate for you to be able to modify long passages of MIDI notes, arrange loops, and load up VSTs onscreen to make more tracks with. 9.7-inches and a 1024 resolution aint gonna cut it. Neither is trying to load this stuff to be immediately responsive with the A4 processor and 512MB of RAM. And using an onscreen MIDI keyboard? You'd probably need to take up about 2/3rds screen space, and then you could only go an octave at a time. Unless you just want a grid of pads like an MPC3000 to cut up beats and samples with (such apps already exist on iPhone), it's a nonstarter.

I'm just going to stop here- this is all horrible procrastination for me before getting to work.

My final thought for now is that I don't think ANYONE knows what the endgame for this thing is yet. Certainly not Apple. It's going to be a work-in-progress in terms of areas of functionality and usability. I know how I THINK I'm going to use it, but I won't know how I WILL use it until I get it.

A lot of people are coming at it from the perspective of what it won't do, but Apple's not selling it as a computer replacement. In the not to far term, it may grow beyond it's current state. The great thing is that it can do much of that growing within it's current form- it will all be software based. Hardware may change marginally in the years to come, but the basic conceit of what this thing is on the outside [a big screen] won't, and it will be up to developers [Apple included] to find it's boundaries and limitations within that hardware model.

I think it's really exciting because I've been saying ever since the iPhone came out that I can't wait for the multi-touch technology to reach the desktop. I want a screen interface for video and audio editing that changes with what I'm doing, and isn't restricted by the typewriter keyboard model. The iPad is a step towards that and it has me intrigued.

Ok. Two quick points and then I'm gone.

Which is again why I think THIS PARTICULAR iPad is not primarily suited for content creation, in it's most intense form, but even a laptop is a compromise from a full studio machine. And to be clear, my suggestion above about a touch interface for desktops is a separate device. You'd still have a monitor, but then you'd have a second screen AS the keyboard. One is for input, the other is for viewing. So a keyboard is still there when you need it, but the interface changes based on what you're doing.

OK. TO WORK!!