Apple IPAD

[outlawal2]

You know I find it interesting that here is a single threaded, 1 gigahertz machine that is designed to fill a niche... NOT really designed to compete with PC's or MACs... Does not have memory protection... To fill a niche somewhere in between.. Sound familiar?

A machine that requires applications to be written specifically for it.. (Obviously not PC, MAC or Linux compatible), runs on proprietary hardware... (And I believe it is a Power architecture)

Am I the only one that thinks this sounds AMAZINGLY close to the description of what the new Amiga COULD have been? Does no one see the parallels here?

Here is a prime example of Apple brilliance.. Not the machine itself, but the background infrastructure that has allowed this machine to be feasible in the first place. (Itunes marketplace and the apps that are being written daily.)

Like the IPAD or not, like Itunes or not, the folks that masterminded the whole thing are friggin brilliant.. Given the same infrastructure and backing, the X1000 could be a huge success... Without it though, it will struggle to even reach hobbyist status...

[Demon Cleaner]

I saw that yesterday, looks nice, but is quite heavy for a device that shouldn't be ;)

[Bloodwych]

Captain Picard had one of those!!!! They must have nabbed it from the 1980's sets!

Seriously, these touch screen things have been around in Sci-Fi for decades - we've just been waiting for the technology to catch up.

It's basically a tablet PC using recent advancements. Or a scaled up iphone or ipod.

Apple these days are better than Microsoft at remarketing old ideas - I'm sure they will be remembered for pioneering this device, even though it's just a tablet PC with Apples software and brand slapped on.

All the best to them - they have a strong marketing brand that people trust as a reliable technology partner, and indeed this could very well have been Commodore had they had the same 'umph' behind them.

[Harrison]

Apple have done their usual great job of making it look really nice, and the software looks and acts in a slick way similar to the iPhone. The photo gallery, image viewer etc all look great and move smoothly in the familiar touch screen interface.

However it is restrictive and locked into an Apple only world, which isn't good. No multitasking is mad in this day and age. For such a device I would want to be able to have more than one application open and running at the same time. My phone can do it, so this definitely should! It cripples the device for anything serious. It means you couldn't even have some music downloading to the device while you write an email!

And what about the software for it? All locked into Apple and the partners they have signed up for the iPad. Want to read a book on the device? You have to pay Apple to download it in the format they wish, from the publishing partners they allow. Same for music, applications, video etc...

I hate such restricted devices, locked into a single service provider. I want a device you can put whatever you want onto and play around with.

OK, you could argue it is fool proof. Everything is already installed on it and ready to go. You don't need, and can't have anything else. And all media is accessible to pay for and download at the click of a button. Great idea. Poorly implemented.

As Bloodwych said, its been around a very long time. Apple have just repackaged the idea, polished up the interface, cut down the hardware, and stuck a higher price tag on it. Usual story.

[Buleste]

I wonder who will be first to make an LCARS theme for it?

[Cammy]

Here's an interesting article on the iPad - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1246801/Apple-iPad-met-derision-laughter-web-users.html

Personally, as soon as I heard the name I thought of feminine hygene products. I agree with all of Harrison's points. The device has no appeal to me as a developer/tinkerer/hobbyist/hacker/thinker but without a doubt Apple will convince the world that they need it and can't live without it.

[Harrison]

I don't know if that is true. Existing Apple Fanboi's are split over it being the next best thing, or saying it is pointless and just an oversized iPod Touch, which is actually able to do pretty much the same things as the iPad.

The feminine hygiene products reference seems to be one a lot of people have instantly thought of, which can't be good for Apple's marketing. Wait till M$ pick up on that idea and run with it, or the spoof Apple vs PC ads. Should be fun. ;)

[J T]

If it was more of a full computer it'd be great, but it's too limited. It's a great web browser an media player I'm sure, but it's expensive for what it does, which seems to be little more than my iphone but bigger and maybe slightly more comfortable to read text heavy sites.

I can see the potential for sure, but at the moment it doesn't really appeal to me that much. Maybe in a fe years, if apple can run with it and all the competitors follow suit and get everyone to up their game....

As it is, I think the ipad is a little bit crap.

[Harrison]

The problem with all tablet PCs to date, including the iPad, is that it has been a device that doesn't really fit into an existing market and users don't actually need or require. On the move they want something small and portable, so a smart phone or PDA of a similar size will always be preferred. And for anything more serious on the move users want the features of a full notebook with keyboard for working on the move.

So tablet PCs just don't really fit the requirements for anyone.

The way they are portrayed in fiction makes much more sense. Reference to Star Trek has already been made, in in that universe their portable tablets are used to read books, and to transfer data onto for checking between areas. Also in recent films, such as Avatar, they show tablet style PCs being used, with the data from the main computer screens being dragged onto the tablets, making it portable.

All these show the tablet as being used as an extension of the main larger computer, being able to move data between the 2 when you need portability. Once they make this work seamlessly tablet PCs will have a much more obvious practical use. In Hospitals for example, a doctor being able to drag a patients records and xrays onto a tablet ready for the consultation, or an engineer being able to drag data and schematics.

I think Apples idea of aiming for the same entertainment markets as the iPod and iPhone for the iPad is where the problem lies.

[outlawal2]

And I am just looking at this as an interim step... The real appeal to this unit is the interface and the large display.. I think other manufacturers will follow suit with full fledged PC's utilizing this type of interface, large screen with no keyboard and it won't be long before ALL mobile PC's will be like this. I think the "Laptop" as we know it will soon be a thing of the past...

Hey Harrison, did you get my PM from last week?

[Submeg]

I have both PC and Mac, and this thing is just a really expensive paperweight at best. It doesn't make much sense at all...

[Stephen Coates]

For me, it doesn't seem like it will do anything that my PC, laptop or Newton doesn't already do. If I wanted a tablet pc I would probably just get a PC type.

I still don't really see the appeal of things like iPhones, but that is partly down to the small screen. I don't really see how you are supposed to be able to do things like web browsing with such a tiny screen. The iPad of course, is a lot bigger and would be much easier to read.

[Buleste]

http://www.funpic.hu/files/pics/00038/00038141.jpg

[Phantom]

iLOL..... :tease:

[Demon Cleaner]

Great :lol:

[paulpeter]

Hello All,
Apple Ipad was really great gadget to have but i would like to say something about it's screen is gorgeous, tilting is responsive, and the thing is super thin. Still, if you've used the iPhone before -- and you

[Submeg]

LOL too good!

[Buleste]

A news story today.


Some owners of the newly-available iPad have reported problems with connecting their devices to wi-fi.

Hundreds have complained about weak signals on the tablet computer.

Apple acknowledged on its support page that "under certain conditions, iPad may not automatically rejoin a known wi-fi network".

It offered a fix, but suggested that it was a router issue, despite some users saying that other devices worked fine on the same wi-fi connection.

Typical comments on the Apple support page included Dr JB who wrote: "Wi-fi reception seems weak with slow downloads."

prb44t replied: "I'm having the same issues. Weak signal on the iPad, same spot iPhone works great. Very frustrating."

But others reported that they had no problems.

Some speculated that the problem might be related to the position of the wi-fi antenna on the device, while others said it could be a software bug.

Apple said that the problem could be caused by dual-band routers and suggested users created a separate network name for each band.

But this will not solve the problem for everyone, pointed out Adam Leach, principle analyst at research firm Ovum.

"If you are using public wi-fi, then you are not going to be able to make changes to router settings," he said.

If the bug proves to be software-related, it will be easily solved, but if it turns out to be a problem for the device, it could be more of a headache for Apple.

"If the wi-fi problem is hardware-related, it will force a number of returns, which will be costly for Apple and ruin the experience for the first adopters," he said.

Other reported glitches with the new device include some complaints about charging it and uploading applications.

The iPad went on sale in the US on 3 April and sold more than 300,000 units on its first day.

Apple said that one million applications and more than 250,000 e-books were downloaded on the same day.

A model offering both wi-fi and 3G connectivity will go on sale in the US and the UK later this month.

I wouldn't have thought there would be many return because most the people who would have bought one are vaccuous bastards who would only care how it looks not how you actually use the damn thing.

[Buleste]

This is more for the iPhone but you know it'll be appearing on the iPad.

Apple has shown off some of the 100 new features to be included in the iPhone operating system later this year.

The update includes a mobile advertising platform called iAd that will be used to place adverts in applications made by third parties.

Apple founder Steve Jobs also showcased a long-awaited multi-tasking feature, which will allow users run more than one program at a time.

The feature is already included in many other smartphones.

iAd marks Apple's first foray into a potentially lucrative new market, and pits it directly against Google's search engine advertising model.

Apple will allow external developers to pocket 60% of ad revenue from iAd.

The Apple boss said the iPhone OS 4.0 update will be released first for the iPhone and iPod touch, and then the iPad, later this year.

'Ad-sense'

Apple boss Steve Jobs gave a demonstration of the multi-tasking feature showed the online radio station Pandora running in the background playing music while a user could either read news online or deal with email.

"We weren't the first to this party but we're going to be the best," he said.

Some of the other features unveiled at the presentation at Apple's headquarters in California include being able to create specific folders to store third party applications downloaded from iTunes, enhanced mail, which will gather e-mail from multiple accounts into one "unified" inbox and iBooks, which is already on the iPad.

Mr Jobs said mobile users spend more time inside applications than searching the internet.

Therefore it made sense to have adverts within the applications - or apps as they are commonly known.

"It's very clear that [Mr] Jobs believes that ads in the context of apps makes more sense than generic mobile search," said Tim Bajarin at consulting company Creative Strategies.

So there you are trying to do your work when up comes an ad for ***** enlargement or p0rn sites. Great way to improve productivity.

[Harrison]

It was going to happen at some point soon. The market share in software sales is continuing to drop, so the only way to generate continued revenue is through advertising costs. It is a model used in all media formats right from news papers, through to radio and TV, and most recently the internet. Selling space for advertising is the one revenue generating stream that works across all types of media and guarantees some return to aid the continued development of whatever media format it is being used for.

However, I do object to advertising being at the centre of commercial products themselves. It isn't the same as a media format. You don't expect to buy a TV and during a DVD the TV downloads some adverts and sticks them at the top of the film you are watching. This is basically what Apple are going to be doing. This is obtrusive and not how most marketing advertisements work in other media types.

One thing I hadn't realised until reading that quotes article is that the iPhone isn't currently multitasking. I thought it was. So currently you couldn't be listening to music and look through your emails or compose a text at the same time? I've been able to do that with my Nokia for a long time.

Although I'm not surprised. Look at the Apple Mac. That didn't get multitasking until OSX!

[outlawal2]

One thing I hadn't realised until reading that quotes article is that the iPhone isn't currently multitasking. I thought it was. So currently you couldn't be listening to music and look through your emails or compose a text at the same time? I've been able to do that with my Nokia for a long time.

Although I'm not surprised. Look at the Apple Mac. That didn't get multitasking until OSX!

This isn't entirely true.. The Iphone DOES in fact multi-task, but only with SELECTED apps that are built-in and provided by Apple... You can't multi-task with ANY purchased apps at this point. The reasoning for this has been that multitasking eats up a lot of resources... namely the battery, so Apple restricted it to only their own apps until they figured out a way to include multitasking without draining the battery too quickly.

According to some articles I have read online, Iphone OS4 will be released this summer and multitasking is supposed to be included. Apple has stated that they were finally able to provide multitasking in a manner that does not impede battery life. We shall just have to wait and see...