Anyone get an iPAd yet?

[hazydave]

at the price point of the 3g model, you can buy a powerful netbook that can do anything the ipad can + anything an entry level laptop would.

Actually, for the price of the entry-level model ($499), you can buy an entry level full fledged laptop. While there are certainly some tricked out laptops around (I paid $1280 for mine, some years back, and it's, well, even better today), the average price paid for non-netbooks laptops in the USA last year was $550. You can get a netbook that's more powerful than the iPad for about $300.

Or less.. any netbook is going to be more powerful. The basic 1.6GHz Atom processor is simply faster than the 1GHz ARM Corex A8 that Apple's put in their custom "A4" SOC. The entry-level netbooks also generally use the Intel GM500 graphics core, which is very weak by PC standards. It's licensed from PowerVR, and it's actually the fastest GPU that PowerVR offers. The iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid, and Palm Pre all use somewhat lesser PowerVR GPUs. The iPad itself is still a bit of a debate, GPU-wise (some say PowerVR, some say its using a new design from ARM themselves).

If you like the tablet idea but don't care about Windows (or iPhoneOS), wait for the various tablets using the nVidia Tegra 2 chipset. These will at least offer netbook-or-better performance, and still get you that 10+ hours of full AVC HD playback. I kinda-sorta like the idea of the long-battery-life tablet, but it needs to have USB so I can connect my cameras.

 

[hazydave]

and maybe even stream it over the net/wifi to another location or pc. That could be interesting.

Video streaming over wifi is certainly very possible... there are solutions already. I worked on a project in 2008 along these lines. We built a video server, an 8-core Core2 system in a 1U rack, that could aggregate various kind of SD video, including analog NTSC and digital MJPEG over Wifi. Apparently, MJPEG over Wifi is something of a standard for expensive ($100,000+) robots.

They claim that it has 30io pins to enable lots of new hardware so maybe you can get a good video in via those pins.

That 30-pin connector is very similar to the 30-pin connector on every iPod and iPhone. They seem to have hacked a VGA output into that, which takes at least three pins (six, if you include proper ground returns), but otherwise, it's even compatible. So the only obvious I/O on the connector is USB 2.0, which is not fast enough for uncompressed video of any kind. And at that, it's only useful with plenty of buffering... USB is no Firewire.

So a video display on the iPad -- absolutely possible. But likely to be expensive... probably more expensive than just buying a monitor, even if you already have the iPad, particularly if you want something moderately HD. And there's going to be latency.

 

[hazydave]

Whoa..... Now THAT is bad a$$!.... I don't get the ipad.... It's a gadget that a true techie won't like because it's underpowered and limiting. I guess the main buyers will be those that just want it 'cause it's a MAC?

Yeah, that's the one I'm waiting to see, the Notion Ink Adam. The CPU in that is still ARM, but two of them, and Cortex A9s... about 2.5x the CPU power of the iPad, and even better in the graphics department. Not that everyone's going to be gaming on these, but 16hours of 1080p video, and HDMI output, that's useful.

But this has two big wins for me: USB ports and daylight screen. If I want this to be a video/photo viewer in the field (what else are you gonna due with a 10" screen), it needs USB ports. Built-in. That lets me transfer photos and video directly the tablet, and dump from the tablet to a USB drive for additional backup.

Second... if it's serving me as an eBook reader, it's GOT to work outdoors.

I don't think the iPad will fail... it's just very much a device for neophytes, not techies. Like the iPhone. My sister Kathy loves her iPhone ('cept for all the dropped calls), and she's a genius (PhD from Stanford)... but also not a gadget freak (or hardware engineer) like me. The reception the iPad is getting on much of the web is "it doesn't do this"... but really, much of the web is not populated by the iPad's target audience.

The iPad will succeed specifically because it's from Apple. There is no company better at selling on hype, regardless of the product. They've been doing this since the 1970s... this is no recent talent. You're going to see the iPad on prominent displays, in endless TV ads, etc.

The Adam... well, the techies may be lining up for that one, but unless they hook up with some major PR money, it's not going to be well known by the general public. But at least many if not most Android apps already support higher-resolution screens.

 

[hazydave]

The things the iPad "lacks" in features are things I would use a laptop for... a device the iPad has never been purposed to replace.

Yeah, I keep hearing that now. And that seems to be a long-term problem, if they're claiming the iPad is a new device (even though it is, in reality, just a big fat iPod Touch -- same OS, same interface, but yeah, big screen) that I didn't previously know I needed.

That's because the iPhone wasn't that, not even close. The brilliance of the iPhone in small detail was the touch interface -- worked so much better than a pen interface trying to work in desktop metaphores. But the real brilliance was "smartphone for consumers"... no one had really done that.

And what's a smartphone? It's one device that replaces a bunch of devices I already knew I needed. And the list grows as the software develops. I have a Droid, not an iPhone, but the same idea. It replaces my phone and my MP3/PMP device. It's also an "always has" pocket camera and video camera... better than the D70 or HMC40 left at home in my camera bag. It's a notepad, an email reader, an always-has web browser. It's a full turn-by-turn GPS, it does all the old PDA stuff I did on the various Palms I've owned in the past. It's a guitar tuner, contact manager, calendar, eBook reader, etc.

Even the phone thing... we still say "phone", but a voice-only phone today isn't useful to many people. Fifty years ago, that was the primary form of individual commuications. Today, there are dozens: phone, Skype, SMS, IM, Facebook, Twitter, internet forums like this one. The smartphone incorporates all new forms of communications, and will contine to as they evolve. I can get Skype calls just like phone calls, twitter, facebook, or Yahoo IM beeps if I choose, exactly like I get SMS notification on any old phone. There's no going back.

And yeah, it does some PC-like things, though not as well as a PC... but the PC's at home.

Other people may have other ideas, but I look on the idea of a tablet computer doing much the same thing in a larger format. It needs to properly replace what I'd use in that format, and extend it to other things. So video... there goes the portable DVD player. If I can dock my camera, there's the desire for an Epson P4000-type photo vault. If it's a proper eBook reader, no need for a Kindle or nook.

But the consumer smart phone (iPhone or Android phone) doesn't just do this stuff, it does it better than the thing it replaces, in enough cases to make it a no-brainer. And always in the pocket.

I don't see tablets being more than a cool toy until they start actualy replacing and extending functionality in the same kind of ways. The iPad isn't remotely the first tablet, but it is the first one specifically for consumers, not a business niche thing. We'll see if there's real lingering value, but not for a few years.

 

[Postmaster]

Amen!

 

[Stephen Mick]

Is the iPad working with Youtube at all?
I thought it´s impossible to run Flash stuff on a iPad (which rules out at least 50% of all Internet sites)

And than there is this:

Apple shrugs to iPad Wi-Fi problems
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/07/ipad_wi_fi/

iPad and heat don't mix
http://dougstephan.com/blog?action=viewBlog&blogID=938425908885164025

I´m just saying..

The YouTube app works perfectly on the iPad. I watched about ten epiosdes of Project: Rant! with my iPad yesterday and had no problems at all. Vimeo also works perfectly from within Safari on the iPad.

I've also had no problems with wi-fi, usb charging or heat.

 

[Dick Campbell]

Yes, I paid more for my iPad than I did for my wife's laptop, but for me the convenience of a very mobile access to my synced calendar and e-mail, plus Internet w/o having start up a laptop, or worry about battery, is working well for me.

I should say my situation is somewhat unique, I work on a campus with wifi everywhere. I also like the iBook/ kindle apps, much better than a laptop.

Remember Deep Space 9? Crew walking around with a pad with access to the station mainframe (now called cloud computing) , it's like that.

(sent from my iPad)

 

[ZazaCast]

Yes, I paid more for my iPad than I did for my wife's laptop, but for me the convenience of a very mobile access to my synced calendar and e-mail, plus Internet w/o having start up a laptop, or worry about battery, is working well for me.

I do the same with my Touch....and listen to a lot of music too!:laugh:

 

[ATL Media Group]

Yeah, that's the one I'm waiting to see, the Notion Ink Adam. The CPU in that is still ARM, but two of them, and Cortex A9s... about 2.5x the CPU power of the iPad, and even better in the graphics department. Not that everyone's going to be gaming on these, but 16hours of 1080p video, and HDMI output, that's useful.

But this has two big wins for me: USB ports and daylight screen. If I want this to be a video/photo viewer in the field (what else are you gonna due with a 10" screen), it needs USB ports. Built-in. That lets me transfer photos and video directly the tablet, and dump from the tablet to a USB drive for additional backup.

Second... if it's serving me as an eBook reader, it's GOT to work outdoors.

I don't think the iPad will fail... it's just very much a device for neophytes, not techies. Like the iPhone. My sister Kathy loves her iPhone ('cept for all the dropped calls), and she's a genius (PhD from Stanford)... but also not a gadget freak (or hardware engineer) like me. The reception the iPad is getting on much of the web is "it doesn't do this"... but really, much of the web is not populated by the iPad's target audience.

The iPad will succeed specifically because it's from Apple. There is no company better at selling on hype, regardless of the product. They've been doing this since the 1970s... this is no recent talent. You're going to see the iPad on prominent displays, in endless TV ads, etc.

The Adam... well, the techies may be lining up for that one, but unless they hook up with some major PR money, it's not going to be well known by the general public. But at least many if not most Android apps already support higher-resolution screens.

+1

That's kinda what I intended to say. I didn't intend to offend iPad or MAC users.

 

[Postmaster]

Y..the convenience of a very mobile access to my synced calendar and e-mail, plus Internet w/o having start up a laptop, or worry about battery

Wait a minute, you are not mobile e-mail and Internet, you are depend on a free hotspot and why don`t you have to worry about batteries? Does your iPad run on free energy?

When you would have a laptop (even one with a twistable touch screen) you really can go online everywhere and wouldn't be so restricted.
Same goes for batteries. If one runs out of power just drop the next one in. Again less restriction.

Frank

 

[Mark Harris]

Yeah, I keep hearing that now. And that seems to be a long-term problem, if they're claiming the iPad is a new device...

The primary purpose of the iPad in particular is to fight media piracy. It's the hope of the media companies that they can get everyone forced back into getting media through very controlled channels. So if they can get everyone hooked on this "app" model, they hope people a generation from now will have no use for the web as a whole.

Of course this is ridiculous and they will fail.

I too am waiting to see the next pads that come down. The notion looks nice. I love the change in paradigm in how you interact with a computer, but hate the insidious nature of Apple's humoring of the print and media industries.

 

[ChipG]

I'm gladly paying twice the price of a laptop for an iPad (64g 3G) just for the convenience / mobility factor. GLADLY!

 

[Postmaster]

I'm gladly paying twice the price of a laptop for an iPad (64g 3G) just for the convenience / mobility factor. GLADLY!

Gladly(!) paying twice the price to get less?

Once again, I don´t get it. Must be some sort of religion.

What convenience? Typing on a screen keyboard that pops up and obscures the screen? No USB, no card slots? What kind of convenience is that?

Mobility? A notebook with a swappable battery and a cell phone card is mobile.
The iPad runs out of "mobility" when you leave a hotspot.

In my book it is convenient to use a keyboard and have any sort of media, connectivity. Also it is convenient not to worry about battery live, cause I can drop in an other one any time. Also being able to go online everywhere not only in reach of a free hotspot.

I understand the iPhone cause it can do a lot and replace a lot other devices, but I don´t get the hype of that iPodTouch with the big screen.

Frank

 

[ChipG]

Gladly(!) paying twice the price to get less?

But Frank it's more because it's less. It will allow me to get more done through my day where a laptop is to big to lug around then I have to find a table for it and a plug in if I use it for more than 2 hours.

I'm always on the the go, traveling, in the car for many hours a day etc.

Less is more, and in this case a LOT more for me so i'll GLADLY pay $829 for the 64g 3G version, the iPone is to small, my eyes hurt after 5 min of looking at it.

 

[ChipG]

And Frank,

For $29 you can buy the SD card adapter that plugs into the port, no one said the iPad can't read SD cards, it just doesn't have it's own slot. $29 fixes that.

 

[Amr Rahmy]

The primary purpose of the iPad in particular is to fight media piracy. It's the hope of the media companies that they can get everyone forced back into getting media through very controlled channels. So if they can get everyone hooked on this "app" model, they hope people a generation from now will have no use for the web as a whole.

Of course this is ridiculous and they will fail.

I too am waiting to see the next pads that come down. The notion looks nice. I love the change in paradigm in how you interact with a computer, but hate the insidious nature of Apple's humoring of the print and media industries.

sorry if this has nothing to do with the op questions,

i think for news, comics, and books, an ipad or a kindle like device is a great choice for having digital content if it was made at a decent price, i don't think books would fit in that category, but maybe news and comics can, if a company offers a deal similar to something like netflix(pay that much a month and have access to that content deal).

maybe something similar can be had when the time comes and these devices can support the "best video experience", movies and tv shows distributed online in a similar way can be had.
i'm not familiar with the quality and the bitrate of netlix streaming, and only to the quality and price of itunes when they first started the hd kind of wave, i remember it not being too cheap if itunes were to replace the regular tv viewing. also the quality was not as good as one would expect from the price.

 

[Captain Pierce]

Mobility? A notebook with a swappable battery and a cell phone card is mobile.
The iPad runs out of "mobility" when you leave a hotspot.

The wi-fi only version, yes. The "3G" model has a built in ability to access AT&T's 3G cell network. Not that AT&T's 3G network is all that widespread...

 

[Luis Caffesse]

When you play with my iPad (sounds gross), you will want.

Okay - so I had the opportunity to play around with the iPad last night (thanks to Stephen) and I have to say... he was right.

I could absolutely see having and using one of these.
It is not a replacement for a laptop, but I could see it taking the place of my laptop for at least 90% of the time.

Reminds me of the discussions I've had with people about gear before... take the VanceJib that I use for example. The VanceJib is "limited" to a 8 foot reach. On the other hand it is compact and simple enough that I can use it by myself and set it up in under 5 minutes. It can do what I need from a jib 90% of the time extremely well. The times that I might need a longer reach, I will rent a jib for a shoot - but most of the time the VanceJib does exactly what i need. So while it may not do everything I need, it does everything I need most of the time very very well and in a much smaller and more convenient package. The iPad struck me as very similar.

This goes back to what Chip was saying - it is less, and for that very reason it has value. I wouldn't think twice about carrying it with me most places, whereas my laptop usually stays at home (unless I'm travelling).

Does this mean I'll buy one?
Probably not, not any time soon - I need a new desktop first... I need a lot of things.
If I had all my other tech bases covered though, I would absolutely get one. But no, it's definitely not a necessity. I dont' think anyone has been arguing that it is.

It's funny - before using it I was one of the ones thinking "it's not like it can do anything the iphone can't do, why not just get an iphone?" As soon as you surf the web, read an ebook, or watch a video on that screen you really can't appreciate how much better it is than a tiny iphone screen - both in the way it looks, and the way the touch screen responds.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

There are huge advantages that the iPad has over laptops. There are also disadvantages.
It just depends on what works best for you.

I plan to get one eventually, sooner rather than later.

It won't replace my laptop but it was never meant to.


MAH

 

[ChipG]

Ok,

It's official. The new OS 4.0 runs 12 apps at the same time on an iPhone now, it'll be avaliable for the iPad this fall and since the processor is faster than the iPhone i'd bet the iPad can run 20 apps at the same time.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20001876-37.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1