MBP Refresh + Ipad

[SoulPlay]

Hello!

What did people think of the new iPad? I wasn't that impressed. I feel there's potential yes, but it's still missing some features that I'd like to see like flash support, multi-tasking, native usb ports, widescreen resolution, among other things.

Also, am I the only one bummed out about the total lack of informatin on the MacBook Pro refresh. Those things are seriously outdated! I need a new core i5m macbook pro!!

[blank slate]

Honestly, the iPad didn't impress me at all. It's nothing more than a large ipod touch, which is a shame. If they would have put MAC OS on the device, THEN I would be a hell of a lot more interested.

Looks like a semi-complete project from Apple. Version 2 will probably be a hell of a lot better and cheaper, just like with the iPhone.

[Kyletherealninja]

Didn't impress me either, and I never even heard the buzz surrounding it. It wouldn't be so bad if Steve Jobs wasn't hyping it into the stratosphere.

[stsparky]

It isn't what I need it to be. I wanted it to have i/o up the butt and be a low cost Cintiq - but it's not that. No i/o is another caving in to some special interest. Multitasking is not needed.
http://www.gearcrave.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/wacom-cintiq-12wx.jpg http://thinkorthwim.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/02aug-sw7s-cintiq.jpg
Small 12wx or the bigger one. My wife is intrigued by it though as an alternative to a Hackintosh Netbook. This sparked her interest.

http://images.apple.com/ipad/specs/images/keyboard_dock_1_20100127.jpg

[Digital Masta]

Hello!

What did people think of the new iPad? I wasn't that impressed. I feel there's potential yes, but it's still missing some features that I'd like to see like flash support, multi-tasking, native usb ports, widescreen resolution, among other things.

Also, am I the only one bummed out about the total lack of informatin on the MacBook Pro refresh. Those things are seriously outdated! I need a new core i5m macbook pro!!


Yeah I looked @ it and I was like..."Umm...so?"

[Nights_into_dreams]

No stylus?

Seriously?

Fail.

[stsparky]

No stylus? Seriously? Fail.
There are Pogo Sticks... but this isn't the cintiq replacement I want. But you don't need styli - really.

[Nights_into_dreams]

A stylus would make it a substitute for taking notes or for a drawing program or two (app or officially supported).

There is no real reason to NOT include one, outside of sheer stupidity.

[mugen]

But don't you see guys? It's magical!

Really Apple? Magical? You're going with magical? *facepalm

To be honest, I can definitely see myself use something like this to pass the two hours I spend in the train everyday. Using my notebook in the train has never been really comfortable, and I never get any work done anyway, so why the hell not? I can see the appeal of reading a book on a tablet instead of a physical book, I already have a digital subscribtion to a newspaper that's also available in as an iPhone app, etc etc.
That said, I don't like being an early adopter and the only douchebag on the train with an iPad, so I probably won't get one.

[whispering]

But don't you see guys? It's magical!

Really Apple? Magical? You're going with magical? *facepalm

To be honest, I can definitely see myself use something like this to pass the two hours I spend in the train everyday. Using my notebook in the train has never been really comfortable, and I never get any work done anyway, so why the hell not? I can see the appeal of reading a book on a tablet instead of a physical book, I already have a digital subscribtion to a newspaper that's also available in as an iPhone app, etc etc.
That said, I don't like being an early adopter and the only douchebag on the train with an iPad, so I probably won't get one.


The Lenovo U1 has a touchpad (Linux) and once you dock it, its a "proper" laptop (Windows 7):
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/01/04/lenovos-u1-is-a-netbook-with-removable-tablet/

[ミュー]

Apparently Steve Jobs thinks Adobe and Google are bullshit...

I think his iPad is bullshit. I'd rather pay $1000 for a device that actually works like a proper tablet and has a proper OS than some $500 corner-cutting App store business model-based 10 inch slab of overcooked iPhone.

Apple used to be about good products for good money. Now they're trying to copy the cell phone providers by suckering people into a subscription scheme.

The idea of any company has to and should be to make profit, but I can't believe that they're going to try and pimp a subscription and pay-based device in the era of Google Books and free everything.

[stsparky]

A stylus would make it a substitute for taking notes or for a drawing program or two (app or officially supported). There is no real reason to NOT include one, outside of sheer stupidity.
There's no need for a stylus period. This is not a product for you. You want something else like me.
If this was a tablet notebook - you'd be accurate in your whiney bitchfest, the iPad was always intended to be a giant iPod Touch. So I'll be converting the wife's old white MacBook into a ModBook with a Wacom "pen" to use as a mobile studio notebook. She'll get the iPad instead of a MacBook Air.

[Roxie]

Mac's iPad = Maxipad.
Seriously, are there no women at Apple they could've run this by? Peggy Oslen would've never let this happen.

[stsparky]

@Roxie perhaps Steve Jobs is thinking of trying the mildly oafish Clark Kent tack here. Memo pad has been along awhile ... who knows maybe this will mainstream the way America looks at periods.

[archdukezeb]

Is that Apple's business strategy? Release a product and then just focus on making it bigger/smaller without actually improving it?

There biggest rip off ever is there ipod shuffle. 80 bucks for a 4 gig mp3 player with no screen? When every other company sells 4 gig mp3 players with screens for 30 dollars?

[Digital Masta]

Mac's iPad = Maxipad.
Seriously, are there no women at Apple they could've run this by? Peggy Oslen would've never let this happen.

Perhaps it has a hidden feature.


From what little I've seen of it, the HP Slate looks much more impressive. Hell that actually runs Windows 7.

[stsparky]

Again - the product isn't aimed at you. Not me either. But — Dan Lyons aka FAKE STEVE JOBS (http://www.fakesteve.net/) says

In iPad We Trust (http://www.newsweek.com/id/232723):

... The thing about any new platform, including the iPhone and now the iPad, is that its real power is never apparent on day one. What Apple delivered last week is a simple product that does a few things very well. And whatever disappointment we might have felt says more about us than about Apple.

Going Vertical (http://www.newsweek.com/id/188706):

... Apple's top-to-bottom control over the iPad is already freaking some people out. Free-software advocates, who believe even regular Macs and Windows PCs are too locked down, were picketing like crazy outside the Apple iPad event in San Francisco. They think it's wrong for computer makers to put copy restrictions on movies and music so that those files can only be played one kind of computer and can't be copied and shared freely; and they claim devices like the iPad are just a trap, a way to draw you into a closed world where you can be exploited by Apple. Will regular folks be spooked? I doubt it. Most people are happy to trade some freedom for the convenience of a device that works seamlessly, like the iPhone. ...
http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/photo/apple-ipad-tablet-steve-jobsjpg-fd9049ca2d6b3208_large.jpg

[Roxie]

@Roxie perhaps Steve Jobs is thinking of trying the mildly oafish Clark Kent tack here. Memo pad has been along awhile ... who knows maybe this will mainstream the way America looks at periods.
except that 'memo pad' actually means something. it even makes linguistic sense. the same cannot be said for iPad.

Also, I completely disagree with that quoted portion of "Going Vertical".. I much prefer my freedom. I've never had so many problems with a product that I felt I'd be better served being locked into an isystem. It's just not right for me and is one of the HUGE reasons I won't ever go apple

[mugen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs

Considering that video is atleast two years old, yeah.....

[stsparky]

... except that 'memo pad' actually means something. it even makes linguistic sense. the same cannot be said for iPad.

I thought it was a deliberately chosen awkward wording with male groupthink aiming for a launchpad mindset. Google 'pad' via shopping and I bet you'd get more stationary items than hygiene ones ... though "Game Pad" and its brethren seems to be more popular.

Pad (Computing) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pad):

* A graphics pad, another term for a graphics tablet.
* Word-processing programs such as Notepad and WordPad
* Mousepad, a pad/mat used in computing for a mouse
* Pad field, in networking, part of the ethernet frame that fills in the data field (if necessary) to ensure that it meets the minimum length (64 bytes)

As to maxi-pads with wings - the other half of the world that uses English calls them "towels" to our "sanitary napkins" ... so we're not Beevis or Butthead adolescents giggling at the potential naughty word.

Shame my writer friend Peter Alan David aka Padguy can't sue either ...

... Also, I completely disagree with that quoted portion of "Going Vertical".. I much prefer my freedom. I've never had so many problems with a product that I felt I'd be better served being locked into an isystem. It's just not right for me and is one of the HUGE reasons I won't ever go apple
No one is going to force you to go Apple my dear. You're free to pursue a bad software experience. And it's funny you think you'd be 'free' if you chose not to go Mac. Or are you all GNU/Linux with free applications like OpenOffice?

The brilliance of using an iPod/iPad is that no media vendor is going to sue you for being a pirate consumer. We're still seeing individuals being arrested and taken to trial for theft.

Stephen Fry said people must actually use the iPad to truly appreciate its purpose and quality and commented that common of the criticisms of the device fall away after use. Fry noted the iPad's speed, responsiveness, smooth glide, richness and detail of the display, heft in his hand, and rightness of the user actions and gestures.

[Swede]

Nuff said. (http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1928558)

[stsparky]

Some are scared:

... Senior Editor of Playboy’s Technology and Lifestyle sections, Scott Alexander, to www.digitaltrends.com “Everyone should be a little wary of Apple. Steve Jobs is a shark and an incredible businessman -- what he did with the music industry is genius, but in a way that should make people a little uncomfortable.” ...

[Mastiker]

I'll just leave this here...

http://cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/1/ipad1.jpg
http://cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/1/ipad2.jpg
http://cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/1/ipad3.jpg

[stsparky]

Awesome if that's a skinny you!

[Mastiker]

Naw he just said what I think

edit: And it seems MadTV thought of it first.

http://www.maniacworld.com/mad-tv-predicted-the-ipad.html

[stsparky]

Comic Books Will Look Incredible on the iPad (http://gizmodo.com/5463681/comic-books-will-look-incredible-on-the-ipad)
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_pftop.jpg

I'd buy an iPad just to read comic books. Think I'm nuts? I probably am, but see how you feel after this first look at what Panelfly, maker of a popular comic book iPhone app, is building for the iPad.

Instead of simply scaling up the existing iPhone app, the folks from Panelfly put their heads together with the Sugarcube dev team and brainstormed. With all the talk of the iPad and how it could restore comic books to their former glory, they realized that they needed to revamp the app and make a version specifically for the iPad. This way they could take full advantage of the device's screen size and provide a new way of purchasing and interacting with the content.

The way the Panelfly iPhone app works is that you download the app for free from the app store and then add comics to your library through in-app purchases. Stephen Lynch, CTO and designer at Panelfly, hinted that the company is currently exploring several different purchase models for the iPad version, but was unfortunately unable to elaborate even when I tried to coax out whether there'd be a subscription option.

As far as reading and navigating content on the new iPad app goes, let's just say it'll blow us all away. From what Stephen was able to share with me, Panelfly "didn't want to stray too far from the native Apple UI elements, [they] wanted to create something that was [theirs] as well as a platform that gave the content the respect it deserves." And from the looks and sound of it? They've succeeded.
http://cache-01.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/pf1.jpg

http://cache-01.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/pf2.jpg

http://cache-01.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/pf3.jpg

http://cache-05.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/pf4.jpg

Call me a geeky comic book lover, but apps like this one are what I'm looking forward to when it comes to the iPad. The gadget won't replace my computer, it won't replace my TV, and it won't replace any other device I've got around the house. But it will be what I sit down with when I want to catch up on some comics, magazines, journal articles, and what will be formerly known as "print" media.

----
Just sharing. Maybe we'll get two.

[stsparky]

Another link - http://manga.about.com/b/2010/02/01/manga-publishers-comics-creators-react-to-the-apple-ipad.htm

The damn thing is better than a netbook with a crap screen for reading more than comics. And I've seen netbooks. I've seen Tablet PCs. There are reasons I don't own them. It isn't better than a comic book by itself. But it is better than 30,000 comic books cluttering up the house.

I'm warming up to the idea. Maybe the iPad will save Newspapers.

[whispering]

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/chinese-ipad-maker-threatens-to-sue-apple-for-plagiarism/:rofl:

[stsparky]

Gadget Lab Hardware News and Reviews
What the iPad Means for the Future of Computing (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/ipad-future/#ixzz0egkexWu9)
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2010/02/_u3c0344_1.jpg
When I picked up my iPhone over the weekend, I had an epiphany. I was using the LinkedIn app to confirm an invitation to connect, and it hit me: This is the future of mobile computing, the mobile web — the mobile experience.

No, I’m not saying the LinkedIn app is the future per se (that’d be silly), but rather the overall concept of it. The LinkedIn iPhone app is, in my opinion, better than the actual LinkedIn.com website. Same goes for the Facebook app compared to Facebook.com.

Gone are their busy, tab-infested UIs. In their stead are beautiful bubbly icons screaming “Touch me!” We no longer have to squint or click around in search of the feature we’re trying to access: The button is right there in that simple interface for us to tap.

The Facebook and Linkedin apps are two key examples of popular services whose iPhone apps outdid the websites they were trying to “port.” They’re two gems glistening brightly for the future of mobile.

Now that we can have experiences like these on a bigger touchscreen, with the iPad and the horde of tablets that will follow it, we can expect computing to become much easier than what we’re accustomed to today.

That’s not to say everything will have to be an iPad app. iPad owners aren’t going to be the only ones to benefit from Apple’s invention.

The iPad opens a path for an improved web experience for everyone. As soon as the iPad and its competing slates are in people’s hands, we’ll see a host of websites tailoring their content for touchscreen tablet browsing, and it’s going to be far more pleasant than the web experience we’re used to today.

Have you seen Flickr’s mobile website lately? Or YouTube’s? They’re both far friendlier, simpler and to-the-point than their original websites, and they’re plenty functional.

I’m awfully jaded about monotonous browser tabs, puny headlines and boring boxes all over the place, aren’t you? The iPhone and the iPad give web developers an excuse to break free from traditional user interfaces.

As a side effect it’s also pushing developers to ditch old, outdated web standards, such as Adobe Flash, and embrace newer ones like HTML5. Thank goodness, because we’ve been needing a change.

Cleaner, friendlier, intimate UI may sound like a step backward, but it’s not. There are huge implications.

We all learn how to touch with our fingers before we figure out how to type or click a mouse. Often when we think about computing we overlook children and the elderly, and the iPad is going to be the first computer to eliminate the social divide.

The iPhone was the first phone that a Luddite could figure out in seconds and a hacker could tinker around with for endless hours. In an analogous way the iPad is going to be the computer a toddler can play games with and learn, and the same computer your grandma uses to send e-mails, browse the web and edit photos.

If you think about how a computer like this will impact people sociologically, suddenly the iPad is far more than a larger iPod Touch, as many have described it. It’s the computer for everyone: an idea Apple has been working toward for years.

That doesn’t mean the iPad will be the only computer for everyone and destroy every PC on the market, because that’s not even remotely likely. But it will introduce a significant new category.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/images/2008/11/03/dynabook_2.jpg

For anyone plugged in to tech history, the idea of the child-friendly, super-lightweight computer is actually reminiscent of Xerox pioneer Alan Kay’s 40-year-old concept of the Dynabook (pictured in sketch above). I’ve been chatting with Kay about the iPad, but he’s waiting to provide his official comment on the device until he’s had a chance to try it out.

Tablet naysayers have anticipated Apple’s tablet would be a failure because of form factor, ergonomics and UI. But they missed out on the bigger problem: Nobody has cared to create content (be it web or native applications) for tablets — until now.

Say what you will about Apple, but Steve Jobs’ company is a market shaper, and the iPad is the only tablet that could shove the computing world in a new direction.

Apple has shipped over 75 million iPhones, and the iPhone OS continues to dominate mobile web traffic. Meanwhile, the App Store has served 3 billion downloads and claimed 99.4 percent of the mobile-software market.
=====
Bet that in less than 3 years - your folks will be getting iPads and finally abandoning AOL.

Content developers need to see these kinds of numbers to have faith in investing in a new platform. At this rate, we’re all heading with Apple into the future of computing, and it’s looking quite bright.

[whispering]

[B]
Apple has shipped over 75 million iPhones, and the iPhone OS continues to dominate mobile web traffic.

This (among other things) is why i hate Apple. Symbian dominates mobile traffic, 45% of all smart phones use Symbian.



http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6135/ipadf.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/6643/appleevolutiony.jpg