Anyone get an iPAd yet?

Starting out with a fairly novel product, maintaining close control over it, and promoting a sense of community and identity among those who use it.

Or do it the old-fashioned way: hallucinogens in the drinking water.
 
why not launch his own Google? Why not have an Apple-run, always in the cloud, search engine?

From my understanding the money isn't really in search. It's in advertising. That's where Google makes all of it's money, the advertising imbedded within it's search (those littls ads that pop up on the side of your search results; google sells those spots. Oh, and the ads that look for key phrases in your email, etc.). Enter Apple's recently announced iAd - integrated ads in apps. 200,000 of them. And with 85 million people using the devices that these apps run on, that's a lot of advertising. People aren't searching the web via google nearly as much on mobile iDevices, they are using apps - and so Apple is on the road to becoming the premiere Ad Delivery for Apps. Brilliant.

And Google isn't about search as much as it is cloud computing. Search is one component; Google now has Google Docs, Calendar, Mail, Video, Bookstore in the works, music in the works, photos (they own Picasa), etc. etc. They goal is to be an operating system.

Our Web Browsers are very much operating systems today. Most people turn on their computers to get to the web, and the browser runs these web apps (docs, mail, calendar, videos, social networking, etc.). Doesn't that just make the browser an operating system within an operating system? Indeed. Enter Google Chrome, AKA Chronium OS to launch this fall.

And of course, Apple's response: MobileMe and iWork.com .... with rumors swirling that MobileMe will become a free service for Apple users in the coming years and is currently being used to fund the construction of massive server farms.

Search is just a means to an end. Apps serve much of that function in the iWorld, and Apple has that covered with iAd. The big deal is the cloud computing services - AKA software as a service, not a product.

Google and Apple are WAY more similiar than you might think... they are becoming incredibly similiar and will be even more so in the coming years. Google is the new Microsoft in that it represents the "open" philosophy. That worked for Microsoft very well in the past.

We'll see how it goes this time. I think it will be a much closer "battle" as computers have matured to the point where the benefits of a more closed platform can be hugely beneficial.

In reality, Google and Apple will be the two big players, not Microsoft and Apple, and so the question will be: are you a Google Guy or an Apple Guy?

I am a big fan of both! Which means good things for consumers :)
 
Bad news for early adopters.
The German Supreme Court just banned free WLAN Hotspots.
There goes the mobility.

Now they have to buy a 3G version or they are tied to your sofa.

Frank
 
Bad news for early adopters.
The German Supreme Court just banned free WLAN Hotspots.
There goes the mobility.

Now they have to buy a 3G version or they are tied to your sofa.

Frank

Seeing as how it hasn't launched in Germany yet, I don't think many German early adopters will be affected by this without prior knowledge. This will certainly affect laptop users as well... this making a device like the 3G iPad even more viable.
 
I have the 3G Wi-Fi version and I have to say that I absolutely love it!

Since I've had it, my laptop has been gathering dust. It's either the iPad or my iMac for more serious work.
Mostly, it's just the iPad.

I was lucky enough to get this through work and it has already proven quite invaluable.
PS - Dropbox is one rockin' app!

MAH
 
But, I think it's not just brilliance that explains his success. It's lack of competition. He's never had a company challenge him. Which explains his prices. But, in spite of that, they've remained innovative, interesting and at the forefront of technology.

So, I still don't understand why they don't just launch an iSearch or something ruther....

WEl lthey certainly have that competition now.... Between all the tablet computers, and Android, apple has alot to compete with now. Should be good for us!
 
THis is the internet ugufan.... if youre not ready to die for a brand youre nobody......
 
I have the 3G Wi-Fi version and I have to say that I absolutely love it!

Since I've had it, my laptop has been gathering dust. It's either the iPad or my iMac for more serious work.
Mostly, it's just the iPad.

I was lucky enough to get this through work and it has already proven quite invaluable.
PS - Dropbox is one rockin' app!

MAH

Michael,

I can't tell you how much I love my iPad 3G, you wouldn't believe all the stuff I get done. The new skype 2.0 lets you turn it into a phone (from 3G cell service not internet wifi like everyone else so yea, it's like a cell phone now), the gps is amazing, way better than the iPhone, I love my Dropbox for transfering files in the morning to read & Numbers for spreadsheets, weather radar for tornado chasing, all the SPC data I can handle, police / NOAA scanners (that run in the background, yep, in the background with other programs running (5-0 HD for iPad)) AIM, Email, the world wide web, movies, I stream the latest tv shows for free that I missed earlier that night and I do it with 10+ hours of battery life and NO WIRES.. This is one of the few times I'm on my laptop right now because I'm running Avid for a video project, my iPad is good for 90%+ of my needs.

Put it this way, I like it SO much I started a development company based around the iPad and I have been a PC guy my whole life.

Sorry for starting this thread and not reporting back sooner how much I like it, I have been busy!
 
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Oh yea, the new operating system will be out soon that lets you run up to 20ish programs at once on it, when that happens it'll require 5x more bandwidth and I'm curious to see if the AT&T towers will bend over.
 
Another program I use a lot lets me put my SD dvd movies in my PC (yes, store bought dvd movies), it rips them, converts them to the iPad resolution and syncs them automatically. It's pretty slick and they look great on the iPAd, I guess it up rez'z them to the hi def iPad screen, not sure how it works put it's easy, fast and looks awesome. They have a setting for AVCHD stuff but I have not used it yet.
 
Another program I use a lot lets me put my SD dvd movies in my PC (yes, store bought dvd movies), it rips them, converts them to the iPad resolution and syncs them automatically. It's pretty slick and they look great on the iPAd, I guess it up rez'z them to the hi def iPad screen, not sure how it works put it's easy, fast and looks awesome. They have a setting for AVCHD stuff but I have not used it yet.

The newest Itunes can do that. (EXCEPT rip the dvd)

Select a video file in the itunes browser, go to advanced, and select 'create Ipad version'
 
so what to you guys think about at&t dropping the unlimited plan for the ipad and replacing it with a plan capped at 2gb per month?
 
Downloading 2GB a month using a 3G network seems to be a stretch.

What would you be downloading?

Not that I'm a fan of ATT, especially with its idiotic tethering charge
 
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