Apple's I-Pad lunch, whats your view.

[null1024]

I'd want one, simply because I've always wanted my tech big. I hate dealing with tiny-as-fuck screens. 9 in isn't too bad.

Unfortunately, this thing doesn't run desktop OSX, so I'm totally not going to get one.

[Mills]

I'm struggling to see how Apple's CEO Steve Jobs, seriously thinks he can compete in the Netbook market with this thing. Maybe he feels that people will eventually warm to it with the amount of apps that are already in support.

[grobda]

i think its a crap idea, tablets are niche and apples usual style over content and double the price tactics wont work for them this time. mind you im a netbook fanboy.

[s3rris]

iPad: really big iPhone, without phone part.

That's what I think of it.

[chempop]

This is the most futurists piece of technology I have ever used, once you try it I think you will agree - this is the beginning of a whole new era. My god, I don't know what else to say about it but I love it!

[spl]

Too much bullet hell causes blindness? Honestly though, I was a iPod hater when they first arrived nearly ten years ago, $500 was absurd in my eyes and I put my money behind minidisc due to it's live recording features and because I loved accumulating a shelf full of discs... which are now sadly all boxed away

I think the same applies to the iPad - it might not be the end all godsend at launch, but I do believe products like it could indeed have the same influence that the iPod has had over the years. And iPod wasn't even the first mp3 player, but it was the arguably the best.

iPod was FAR from the first mp3 player and nowhere near the best in any way shape of form. I hated these things since they first came out - the only reason they are selling these and MacBooks now is due to the incredibly superficial Gen Y kids who are buying these things up because they are "cool" and "trendy".

Apple products are always - Overhyped and overpriced.

It's horrible being confined to iTunes to copy music onto your iPod. It should be as simple as drag and drop.

In terms of this pad and time efficiency and management. Well I'd like to see anyone type a long email faster on this than they could on a conventional keyboard with a notebook. It sort of fails in the things that actually matter.. it's perfect for showing off and playing videos and the like however if that's your thing.

I mean if people actually require a touchpad/tablet type interface then sure, but I'm pretty certain less than 10% of iPad users will have this requirement.

[Mills]

Any westerners here attended who the launch in New York? ive been watching highlights of the queues via bbc news, looks crazy.

[Ex-Cyber]

the only reason they are selling these and MacBooks now is due to the incredibly superficial Gen Y kids who are buying these things up because they are "cool" and "trendy".

I think that's more of a stereotype than anything else. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 people I know who particularly like Apple products. One of those people could be fairly described as a "kid". Four of them are educated in electrical engineering and/or computer science. One of them (the one who can analyze analog circuits fast enough to make your head spin) is very excited about his new iPad. Okay, the sample size sucks, but I think the underlying point is valid.

[spl]

the only reason they are selling these and MacBooks now is due to the incredibly superficial Gen Y kids who are buying these things up because they are "cool" and "trendy".

I think that's more of a stereotype than anything else. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 people I know who particularly like Apple products. One of those people could be fairly described as a "kid". Four of them are educated in electrical engineering and/or computer science. One of them (the one who can analyze analog circuits fast enough to make your head spin) is very excited about his new iPad. Okay, the sample size sucks, but I think the underlying point is valid.

Yeah, like I said, some people will use it for it's full power and capability and some people will wave it around like a flashy oversized iPhone. I'd say the friends you described would be the former. I don't have anything against the products per say - I just hate the whole fashion trend scene it has created.

[KBZ]

why would anyone get this for reading books where there are plenty of better and WAY less expensive e-book readers out there?

[nimitz]

This is the most futurists piece of technology I have ever used

This guy works for apple

[angrycoder]

why would anyone get this for reading books where there are plenty of better and WAY less expensive e-book readers out there?

Like i said, eInk readers are great for fiction but are lousy for PDFs of technical manuals, text books, programming books, etc. Unless you get a kindle DX, which is only 30 bucks cheaper than an ipad.

[brentsg]

I watch a ton of video on my iPod Classic and it would be a lot better on an iPad so I'll buy one soon.

A few magazine subs, reading older comics and such in PDF format, and web surfing will be icing on the cake. If I happen to read a few e-books, then I guess that's sprinkles on the icing.

[oli_lar]

Has anyone been looking into making music with ipad yet? I see the pickings are understandably slim atm, mostly sequencers and beat box type offerings, but iElectribe has been released by Korg recently. And its only £6!

I'll be interested to see if the DAW makers release control apps or if a app offering midi control emerges...

[ROBOTRON]

um.....Techy? Got mad loot? Bored? Must have every new gadget? Electronic bookworm?

well, get one!!!


Myself? ah....I don't need it...it can wait. I'm saving all my money for overpriced, import shmups!

[captpain]

Captain Pain's Super Cool Opinion

"It Stinks!"

Thanks for reading!

[worstplayer]

it's perfect for showing off

This pretty much sums it up.

[jonny5]

not nearly as powerful or versatile as a net book....twice the price....where do i sign up?

this will sell great with people who buy anything 'apple'....the informed buyer....not so much

and these will be the same mac-o-philes who buy it again in a year or so when they release the 'ipad plus' which might have all the features this should have had from the beginning

[iatneH]

Can it play Starcraft? No, thanks.

If it had a proper CPU and a real OS and I could install whatever the Hell I wanted on it, I could see an infinitesimally slim possibility I would want one.

Another killer for me is a lack of a physical keyboard. I've owned a slate before, and it was unbelievably inconvenient. Currently I'm steady on an Acer 1810T which is the same price as an iPad but is way awesome and runs circles around anything Atom-based. Want faster startup? Just keep it in sleep mode during the day, the battery lasts forever anyway.

Personally, if I had a ton of money to spend on a more stylish product, I'd buy a Vaio.

This is all coming from an iPad vs. notebook perspective though, and the pricing does overlap. Somebody with lower expectations in mind might have fewer reasons for hating it...

[jonny5]

i think my main issue with it is its essentially just 'cell phone/pda features' at 'netbook/low end laptop' price point

[emphatic]

I'll wait for the first YouTube video of it running ESPGALUDA II for iPhone before I have a say.

[jonny5]

I'll wait for the first YouTube video of it running ESPGALUDA II for iPhone before I have a say.

who cares how it runs if you have to control it with a friggin touch screen?

[Vexorg]

In spite of years as a confirmed Apple skeptic, I actually bought one of these this weekend. I'll have more to say about it on my Blog later on, but although I bought it mostly for app development\testing purposes, so far I've found it to be quite nice for a semi-portable (in places with ready access to Wi-fi) web browsing device, although it definitely has its limitations (there's no reason besides Steve Jobs' ego why the thing shouldn't have Flash on it,) it works quite well for that. Beyond that, it does basically nothing besides some basic PDA and media player functions though until you add apps, which so far I've found to be somewhat lacking.

[Specineff]

^^^ Given the state of the apps, all I see here is a "razor and disposable blades" scheme, with the only difference that the razor is freaking expensive, cumbersome and less efficient than the competitors'.

I hope someone can hack it and break it open, just to spite Jobs.

Also, I can't wait for an article/video in The Onion, spoofing Apple-tards (Trademark on Apple-Tards pending by the Specineff Corp.) trying to find ways to justify their expensive purchase, given that cheaper devices do more. The Apple Newton/Pippin of the 21st Century? Nothing against Apple (other than their restrictive policies and excessive prices for hardware that is not essentially better than other manufacturers'), but I want to see this cumbersome attempt to shove another underpowered and overpriced device down people's throats fail.

[captpain]

I'll wait for the first YouTube video of it running ESPGALUDA II for iPhone before I have a say.

who cares how it runs if you have to control it with a friggin touch screen?

If I could drag my finger around a full-sized screen to control shmups, I'd be a lot better at them. It'd be like cheating!

[jonny5]

I'll wait for the first YouTube video of it running ESPGALUDA II for iPhone before I have a say.

who cares how it runs if you have to control it with a friggin touch screen?

If I could drag my finger around a full-sized screen to control shmups, I'd be a lot better at them. It'd be like cheating!

ya...but i doubt that is how it will control...it will most likely have a visible/invisible? dpad/button layout on part of the screen....

either of those options would suck hard

[Mills]

I'll wait for the first YouTube video of it running ESPGALUDA II for iPhone before I have a say.

When is that due to appear?

[emphatic]

I'll wait for the first YouTube video of it running ESPGALUDA II for iPhone before I have a say.

When is that due to appear?

The game is released Saturday. But you'll need a 3GS to run it sadly, so no ESPGALUDA II for us with the old iPhones. I'm just assuming it'll run on the iPad, as it's a very recent product.

[Vexorg]

I'll wait for the first YouTube video of it running ESPGALUDA II for iPhone before I have a say.

When is that due to appear?

The game is released Saturday. But you'll need a 3GS to run it sadly, so no ESPGALUDA II for us with the old iPhones. I'm just assuming it'll run on the iPad, as it's a very recent product.

The iPad actually seems to run a fair bit faster than the 3GS, so it should be just fine. I believe the most recent iPod Touches should be OK to play it as well.

[Ex-Cyber]

there's no reason besides Steve Jobs' ego why the thing shouldn't have Flash on it

That may well be the main reason, but there are legitimate reasons to want to get rid of Flash. It's basically a throwback to the attitude of 1995, when the requirement of a plugin for any sort of "active" content on the web was a no-brainer, the Internet could only be viewed on desktop machines, and people rarely had more than two web pages open at a time. It's one of those things that got first-mover advantage years ago and now stays popular primarily through the good old "installed base" cycle (I'd better build my cool widget for X because everyone has it <-> all the cool widgets are built for X so I'd better get it).