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[Keylime]

You know, right about now I would want to reply by saying thats a very pessimistic view to have, and consumers are much more savvy than you think; but this morning I saw a statistic that most Americans believe NASA uses 25% of the Federal Budget. With that in mind, forget multi tasking and memory usage; I guess im' more surprised people don't chew on their iPhones.

People on here give "average people" way too much credit.

 

[SnakeXs]

if this fails apple can just blame the economy, not the ipad's lack of usb ports, 3g, price point, multitasking, flash support, expandable memory etc.

Lack of 3G?

Anyways, if it fails they can blame themselves for not truly making people feel they need an in between device. USB ports, expandable memory, and flash aren't going to be the game breakers. I guarantee that.

 

[SmokyDave]

I just wish this thing was released so I can just impulse buy the fucker and not have to justify why I actually need one.

This is the correct approach. Thumbs up!

 

[Mr. Dobalina]

@Snake

I guess we agree to disagree. I don't see it doing most of them better, even than a netbook-- it does them worse. General computers need keyboards, and media tablets/book readers ought not cost this much. Browsers ought to have flash and be able to download files.

I think I'm done-- I've made my prediction, stated my reasons why I think this won't have mass-market appeal without a significant price drop, and why it won't ever be the revolution some say it will.

I'm really interested to see how the market shakes out. Since Apple has been in Best Buy for a while now, I think the netbook market could tank when people who are shopping for a second, more portable computing device are able to look at a netbook and get their hands on an iPad side-by-side.

 

[DodgerSan]

I think a lot of the cynicism comes from the familiarity we already have with the iphone/ipod.

The guy who runs my local comic shop shop knows NOTHING about technology (never seen an iohone). He was asking me what this 'ipad thingy' is.

So I showed him my iphone and a handful of apps. He was LITERALLY blown away. To him it was nothing short of magic. I said "Imagine that with a much bigger screen, that's pretty much ipad". Now he wants one for his living room.

That's the target audience.

 

[teruterubozu]

All it takes is a mind-bending TV commercial and itprintsmoney.gif.

 

[Mr. Dobalina]

People on here give "average people" way too much credit.

:lol

Exactly. One of the best lines I ever heard (usually around election time) is to think of what you perceive as the knowledge of the "average" person. 1/2 of the population is dumber than that.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Asking users to manually manage resources by closing unneeded applications is completely undesirable and leads to a bad user experience.

I think a lot of that management can be handled automatically. I think it's a little naive to assume even the most inexperienced of users could multi-task.

People on here give "average people" way too much credit.

Come on now.

 

[Keylime]

Lack of 3G?

Anyways, if it fails they can blame themselves for not truly making people feel they need an in between device. USB ports, expandable memory, and flash aren't going to be the game breakers. I guarantee that.

I think the biggest reason I'm disappointed is that I'm disappointed in Steve Jobs/Apple.

Apparently the concept of this in-between type device had come up in the past and he rejected it, stating that he doesn't see the need for an inbetween device and that it'd ultimately just be a bathroom computer. When this thing was close to being announced, I think we all put a lot more faith in them to create something that really showed us why a middle-of-the-road device had a place in the market and in our homes.

What we were shown didn't really do a phenomenal job at showing us why it needs to exist. We all agreed (and thought Steve did, too) that just creating a smaller, more portable computer wasn't really something we needed. When we were shown something that ultimately gets reduced to "a large iPod Touch", naturally we were all disappointed.

We were expecting some kind of marvelous invention and what we got was something very familiar.

I don't think this device doesn't have a place in the market. I assure you that a lot of people who own or were thinking of owning an eBook reader are now second guessing themselves (myself included).

I think a lot of that management can be handled automatically. I think it's a little naive to assume even the most inexperienced of users could multi-task.

I'd argue that any kind of multi-tasking the requires either the system or the user to keep track of open programs is not an elegant one.

If it's automatic, does that mean it's closing applications that it thinks you don't need anymore? Is it prompting the user to close some applications because it's running out of memory? Does it bring up a window with a bunch of applications and says "tap the ones that you want to close in order to keep running your phone"?

These are all awful. I don't think "automatic" and "application management" can ever be in the same sentence realistically.

 

[marc^o^]

It still amazes me how much people can lack vision and not foresee how awesome this device will be.

...

It feels so good to be me

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

What we were shown didn't really do a phenomenal job at showing us why it needs to exist. We all agreed (and thought Steve did, too) that just creating a smaller, more portable computer wasn't really something we needed.

I don't think we all agreed. I think a more-portable Mac OS X computer is a great, great idea.

Obviously, this was never going to be that (now that we know what they've been designing).

 

[Keylime]

I don't think we all agreed. I think a more-portable Mac OS X computer is a great, great idea.

Obviously, this was never going to be that (now that we know what they've been designing).

If this thing ran full-blown OSX, it'd have to be a beefier in the spec department and I'd imagine be a bit beefier in size.

It still wouldn't have a keyboard...which is going to be a deal breaker regardless for a lot of people. Want to add a keyboard? Now we're talking even thicker.

Just buy a 13" Macbook if this is what you want. It's crazy portable and does everything you could want.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

It still amazes me how much people can lack vision and not foresee how awesome this device will be.

...

It feels so good to be me

Yeah, a magical and revolutionary way to access the web... except the bajillions of pieces of flash content. You know, I can buy that on a phone: small battery, power hungry flash... bad.

But on this? Jobs gets to play cold war with Adobe, consumers suffer for it.

 

[Garcia]

It still amazes me how much people can lack vision and not foresee how awesome this device will be.

For many, many of us, it is the exact opposite.

 

[Keylime]

Yeah, a magical and revolutionary way to access the web... except the bajillions of pieces of flash content. You know, I can buy that on a phone: small battery, power hungry flash... bad.

But on this? Jobs gets to play cold war with Adobe, consumers suffer for it.

You put way too much stock in Flash.

Sure, it's used in a lot of places...but most places that matter are either switching to HTML5 compliant video or have developed an iPhone app that gets you the same functionality.

Most people will hardly notice.

 

[SnakeXs]

I think the biggest reason I'm disappointed is that I'm disappointed in Steve Jobs/Apple.

Apparently the concept of this in-between type device had come up in the past and he rejected it, stating that he doesn't see the need for an inbetween device and that it'd ultimately just be a bathroom computer. When this thing was close to being announced, I think we all put a lot more faith in them to create something that really showed us why a middle-of-the-road device had a place in the market and in our homes.

What we were shown didn't really do a phenomenal job at showing us why it needs to exist. We all agreed (and thought Steve did, too) that just creating a smaller, more portable computer wasn't really something we needed. When we were shown something that ultimately gets reduced to "a large iPod Touch", naturally we were all disappointed.

We were expecting some kind of marvelous invention and what we got was something very familiar.

I don't think this device doesn't have a place in the market. I assure you that a lot of people who own or were thinking of owning an eBook reader are now second guessing themselves (myself included).

I agree 100%. I was in that camp for sure. The initial effect of the device was absolutely underwhelming

But as time passed, and I saw it in motion, I realized what it's trying to do, and all that that means.

Beyond the fact that it's drawing a line between consumption and creation of content, and trying to do its half of the equation better, it's also the first push into getting people used to using multitouch based operating systems. Obviously the iPhone was the real start but this is obviously different. I see this as a launching point for touch features in OS X, and computing in general.

On top of that, one thing people got excited about was the prerelease, fake videos showing a tablet. The Ikea/furniture one, and the Bonnier one. Nothing is stopping those from becoming real. Nothing. The sky is the absolute limit for apps here, and I accept the OS for what it is because I see it as an App platform. Naive, possibly, optimistic for sure, but I have faith in the app store and developers to do some wonderful things.

We'll see. I just find it very exciting the more I think about it, even if Gen 1 isn't directly aimed at or ideal for me (although, as I've said before, a few things to suite my needs like camera tethering or a selection of photography eBooks I care about that would be unsuited to a dedicated eInk reader) and I'd be far more interested.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I don't think "automatic" and "application management" can ever be in the same sentence realistically.

A simple last used timer could be implemented, if an application hasn't been accessed within say five minutes then that application is closed automatically. The number of open applications could also be limited. All of this can be done without the user even knowing, no notifications would be required.

 

[SnakeXs]

Yeah, a magical and revolutionary way to access the web... except the bajillions of pieces of flash content. You know, I can buy that on a phone: small battery, power hungry flash... bad.

But on this? Jobs gets to play cold war with Adobe, consumers suffer for it.

Suffer? Short term, maybe, but the average viewing habits of said consumer is covered by apps.

Long term? We should all be wildly thankful if Flash fades away even 1% faster.

 

[cvxfreak]

Just saw the accessory prices on macworld.com and I'm glad they're not too bad. The $69 keyboard dock is a decent deal considering regular wireless Apple keyboards cost that much.

I'm pretty sure I'll have an iPad eventually. It probably won't be until the second or even third generation, though.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

For what it's worth, and I know this is purely anecdotal, the iPad is getting lots of buzz amongst my non-techy friends. They think it looks great, and they're intrigued by the possibilities that it can open up. I was even shocked to hear one person say that they were going to get it in the 3G model rather than buy an iPhone. The family and friends that I've talked to since the announcement are all positive and excited about it to varying degrees.

On the other hand, most of my techie friends are luke warm. Some think it's great, others don't see the point. It's an interesting dichotomy.

 

[kaching]

People on here give "average people" way too much credit.

Actually, GAFer people always seem to give average people just enough credit to get what the GAFer wants to peddle at the time. Convenient, eh?

I mean, I never quite understand what's going to make all these supposedly dumb-as-a-post grandmas (bless their souls) that are anecdotally referenced all the time somehow just "get" the particular product that one faction or another at GAF wants to peddle.

In this case, what makes the iPad just gettable? It's a device that needs an infrastructure to work to its intended potential (PC/Mac to sync with, wifi network to get to the Internet) and since when is Grandma particularly good at managing those?

How is Grandma going to "just get" her most precious photos onto the iPad? How is Grandma going to "just get" an app she wants when she has to sort through more than 140000 apps on the App Store where the ratings are all over the place and the descriptions spend more time on testimonials and review quotes than a straight-up description of what the app actually does? How does Grandma just print? Etc.

It's all just part of the conceit of anecdotal G6P.

 

[Keylime]

On top of that, one thing people got excited about was the prerelease, fake videos showing a tablet. The Ikea/furniture one, and the Bonnier one. Nothing is stopping those from becoming real. Nothing. The sky is the absolute limit for apps here, and I accept the OS for what it is because I see it as an App platform. Naive, possibly, optimistic for sure, but I have faith in the app store and developers to do some wonderful things.

We'll see. I just find it very exciting the more I think about it, even if Gen 1 isn't directly aimed at or ideal for me (although, as I've said before, a few things to suite my needs like camera tethering or a selection of photography eBooks I care about that would be unsuited to a dedicated eInk reader) and I'd be far more interested.

I think the biggest hurdle is going to be adoption rate. If people aren't flocking to the store to buy these things, and the general perception is that they aren't that amazing...there's no motivation for people to treat it seriously with app development, as the install-base would be so insignificant.

If people don't buy these things like mad day 1, I think we're going to have another AppleTV on our hands.

That I can on one hand the number of people say they intend to purchase one of these on our boards is not a good indicator.

Actually, GAFer people always seem to give average people just enough credit to get what the GAFer wants to peddle at the time. Convenient, eh?

I assure you that you won't find me ever speaking highly of the average person in pretty much any respects...and if you don't understand how the iPhone and the iPad are insanely easier to understand than a full-blown computer or other CE handset, than a conversation isn't going to convince you otherwise.

 

[OneEightZero]

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

If this thing ran full-blown OSX, it'd have to be a beefier in the spec department and I'd imagine be a bit beefier in size.

It still wouldn't have a keyboard...which is going to be a deal breaker regardless for a lot of people. Want to add a keyboard? Now we're talking even thicker.

Just buy a 13" Macbook if this is what you want. It's crazy portable and does everything you could want.

I have a 13" Macbook. Do you read my posts? I would love to have a lighter, smaller, on-the-go computer as well, and I would love to have a tablet or convertable Mac. As I have stated, I have a PC Tablet that I was starting to go down the Hackintosh route but stopped when the announcement was imminent. And if that goes well, I could see getting a cheap Netbook and doing the same with that.

I love OS X. I think it's a great operating system. Both a netbook option and a tablet option appeal to me greaatly.

I have an iPod Touch as well, and I have *never* wished it were bigger.

Anyway, as I have said, they were clearly not planning such a thing, butif they'd done the work to make a Mac OS X tablet with some creative means to deal with the lack of keyboard *or* made this higher functioning than it is, I'd be impressed. With the iPhone and the conversion to Intel they've shown that they can put some real, serious effort into such a project, but this one they just phoned in. Only the design shows any inspiration.

 

[Totakeke]

For what it's worth, and I know this is purely anecdotal, the iPad is getting lots of buzz amongst my non-techy friends. They think it looks great, and they're intrigued by the possibilities that it can open up. I was even shocked to hear one person say that they were going to get it in the 3G model rather than buy an iPhone. The family and friends that I've talked to since the announcement are all positive and excited about it to varying degrees.

On the other hand, most of my techie friends are luke warm. Some think it's great, others don't see the point. It's an interesting dichotomy.

Keeping in mind that this is Apple. They have an excellent track record. Take away that brand, and how many people will feel the same way? There's a lot of things that can wow people yet people won't think of buying it because they never heard of the company behind it.

Yes, those comments will maybe make this a mass market success, but seriously? I don't even know what to say, yay for the dumb media and masses?

I assure you that you won't find me ever speaking highly of the average person in pretty much any respects...and if you don't understand how the iPhone and the iPad are insanely easier to understand than a full-blown computer or other CE handset, than a conversation isn't going to convince you otherwise.

I know this will end up being stupid anyway, but I'd like you to give examples of why iPad is significantly better than current OS like Windows 7 and OSX in terms of how easy is it to understand using it.

 

[Keylime]

I have a 13" Macbook. Do you read my posts? I would love to have a lighter, smaller, on-the-go computer as well, and I would love to have a tablet or convertable Mac. As I have stated, I have a PC Tablet that I was starting to go down the Hackintosh route but stopped when the announcement was imminent. And if that goes well, I could see getting a cheap Netbook and doing the same with that.

I love OS X. I think it's a great operating system. Both a netbook option and a tablet option appeal to me greaatly.

I have an iPod Touch as well, and I have *never* wished it were bigger.

You have to understand that this device was never intended for you, and your desire for something that sits somewhere in your computing ecosystem is insane.

You have a Macbook. You have a tablet. You have an iPod Touch.

It sounds like what you want them to release is an 8-10" MacBook...and really how does that get us or you anywhere?

 

[kaching]

It still amazes me how much people can lack vision and not foresee how awesome this device will be.

What vision is there to miss here? Don't mistake lack of interest/lack of excitement with lack of vision. The iPad is pretty pedestrian vision of what a device like this could be, as it stands in its current iteration.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

You have to understand that this device was never intended for you, and your desire for something that sits somewhere in your computing ecosystem is insane.

You have a Macbook. You have a tablet. You have an iPod Touch.

It sounds like what you want them to release is an 8-10" MacBook...and really how does that get us or you anywhere?

By the same token, how does the iPad?

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

You put way too much stock in Flash.

Sure, it's used in a lot of places...but most places that matter are either switching to HTML5 compliant video or have developed an iPhone app that gets you the same functionality.

Most people will hardly notice.

Eh, no. "Places that matter" is a silly argument, because "places that matter" are the websites I want to visit not youtube, vimeo or whatever. What matters to the user is what they wanna do, and if the website they are interested on is on Flash, they will be greeted with a lego block. Maybe 10 years from now, flash will be gone. But right now, it's everywhere. And this time there are no technical reasons like a hummingbird battery not to have it, it's just Jobs whimsical decision.

And most people will notice it, because chances are very high anyone is a regular on a flash-powered website. Because flash is almost everywhere on the internet.

That's the equivalent of the iPod blocking instruments from songs. No one wll notice it except those who listen to music featuring that insturment. And flash is the equivalent of the piano or the guitar.

 

[SnakeXs]

By the same token, how does the iPad?

Makes internet consumption easier and more enjoyable for a huge group of people. Brings multitouch computing to another level.

 

[Mr. Dobalina]

I think the biggest hurdle is going to be adoption rate. If people aren't flocking to the store to buy these things, and the general perception is that they aren't that amazing...there's no motivation for people to treat it seriously with app development, as the install-base would be so insignificant.

If people don't buy these things like mad day 1, I think we're going to have another AppleTV on our hands.

The difference is going to be getting people touching and trying the iPad in Apple stores and Best Buys - once that starts to happen, I think adoption will accelerate. I don'tthink the Apple TV analogy is applicable because before Apple TV I could download shows or movies and watch them on my PC - being able to do that on my TV isn't any sort of game changer - if I didn't really do it on my PC, doing it on my TV isn't a huge allure.

Being priced at $499 is putting the iPad just at that impulse buy price point (I think $399 would be better, but maybe in Rev 2) where people will pick it up in the store, play with it, and maybe take it with them.

Apple is looking to push 4M units this year, so we'll see how that plays out. I'm interested to see if it cannibalizes the low end Mac books - but like Apple said with previous products, "If anyone is going to eat away market share of our products, it might as well be us."

 

[captive]

"Crazy ones... can't ignore them", etc.

Even if the iPad sells zero units, if the narrative moves towards more and more abstract usage paradigms for computers for the VAST VAST MEGA HUGE majority of people (and it will), then iPad will be remembered as seminal.

That will not be true of Courier or HP's we-called-it-slate-because-we-thought-apple-might-name-it-iSlate. Seriously. Even if the Slate's remembered it will be because they named it something based on a rumor that Apple was using the term. That's how influential Apple is.

No i'm not going to take your stupid bet, and i'm not even going to argue with you, just reading your post its making me laugh. You sound like one of the "no smartphones existed until the iphone" apple fanboys.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Makes internet consumption easier and more enjoyable for a huge group of people. Brings multitouch computing to another level.

Point one is compromised by a number of things. The limitations of the browser, the the cost of the device versus the utility, the definition of "huge."

Point two doesn't really mean anything.

My statement was as compared to a netbook, which "doesn't really get us anything" and yet is also make internet consumption easier and more enjoyable, and cheaper, for a lot of people.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Keeping in mind that this is Apple. They have an excellent track record. Take away that brand, and how many people will feel the same way? There's a lot of things that can wow people yet people won't think of buying it because they never heard of the company behind it.

Yes, those comments will maybe make this a mass market success, but seriously? I don't even know what to say, yay for the dumb media and masses?

Sure, the Apple brand has something to do with it, but you can't just discount that out right. Apple has tended to deliver mass market devices that have appealed to a wide audience in the past, and the tablet may be one of them once again. If it fits the needs for people who are buying them, then how are they being dumb?

I haven't seen a poll on the number of people interested in the device yet, and as I said, my experience has been purely anecdotal. But there is a buzz for the product amongst the mainstream. Just because you don't want it doesn't mean it doesn't have appeal, or have an audience that it is right for. My day job is in IT. I'm not tech savvy, I'm way beyond that and I want an iPad for a variety of reasons. I wouldn't consider myself the "masses", but I guess I'm dumb too because I see this product addressing specific needs that will be of benefit to me.

Oh, and as for the "dumb media", it isn't like the iPad is getting glowing praise. I've seen remarks that run the gamut, and they are far from giving the thing universal praise.

 

[blu]

In this case, what makes the iPad just gettable? It's a device that needs an infrastructure to work to its intended potential (PC/Mac to sync with, wifi network to get to the Internet) and since when is Grandma particularly good at managing those?

factually untrue.

How is Grandma going to "just get" her most precious photos onto the iPad?

over a usb connection to tha camera? over a flash card adapter? over the wifi network of her grandkids?

How is Grandma going to "just get" an app she wants when she has to sort through more than 140000 apps on the App Store where the ratings are all over the place and the descriptions spend more time on testimonials and review quotes than a straight-up description of what the app actually does?

grandma will use the browser and email programs 99.99999% of the time. grandma does not even need to know about the existence of appstore. if grandma accidentailly learned about the appstore, chances are the people who told her about it also told her about this precious little app X all other grandmas have been raving about.

How does Grandma just print? Etc.

grandma doesn't. she has a fuckin tablet in her hands.

 

[Vennt]

Eh, no. "Places that matter" is a silly argument, because "places that matter" are the websites I want to visit not youtube, vimeo or whatever. What matters to the user is what they wanna do, and if the website they are interested on is on Flash, they will be greeted with a lego block. Maybe 10 years from now, flash will be gone. But right now, it's everywhere. And this time there are no technical reasons like a hummingbird battery not to have it, it's just Jobs whimsical decision.

And most people will notice it, because chances are very high anyone is a regular on a flash-powered website. Because flash is almost everywhere on the internet.

That's the equivalent of the iPod blocking instruments from songs. No one wll notice it except those who listen to music featuring that insturment. And flash is the equivalent of the piano or the guitar.

You've just gone from one extreme to the other though, it's not everywhere, just as it isn't 'unimportant'.

I just went through my bookmarks, out of 30 sites I regularly visit, only 6 use flash, all of those for embedding videos, and 4 of those 6 usually show "Video not available in your country" for the embedded item, so evidently my web experience, and your web experience vastly differ.

But I'm not going to try and extrapolate my web use to another person, and for me the iPad is ideal, asking that someone realise that will be the case for many isn't too much to ask, just the same as asking some to realise the iPad will fill no need for others isn't too much to ask, one side trying to "win" the argument is daft, and will just lead to exaggerations and trolling that'll lead to bans.

 

[Sriffat]

LOL, Kevin Rose

wow didnt know Kevin Rose is that stupid. e-ink costs ALOT more than IPS/LED/LCD display

 

[Totakeke]

Sure, the Apple brand has something to do with it, but you can't just discount that out right. Apple has tended to deliver mass market devices that have appealed to a wide audience in the past, and the tablet may be one of them once again. If it fits the needs for people who are buying them, then how are they being dumb?

I'd say the Apple brand is far wayy too strong to discount it. I am so sick of hearing Steve Jobs quotes and praises for Apple even in my engineering classes as if there's no one else in the world to quote from.

They are being dumb because, just maybe, that they simply want it because it's Apple and not because they know what they want to do with it. But screw talking about what other people want, it could be anything and all this talk about some unknown group of people is getting nauseating to me.

 

[Mr. Dobalina]

Sure, the Apple brand has something to do with it, but you can't just discount that out right. Apple has tended to deliver mass market devices that have appealed to a wide audience in the past, and the tablet may be one of them once again. If it fits the needs for people who are buying them, then how are they being dumb?

I haven't seen a poll on the number of people interested in the device yet, and as I said, my experience has been purely anecdotal. But there is a buzz for the product amongst the mainstream. Just because you don't want it doesn't mean it doesn't have appeal, or have an audience that it is right for. My day job is in IT. I'm not tech savvy, I'm way beyond that and I want an iPad for a variety of reasons. I wouldn't consider myself the "masses", but I guess I'm dumb too because I see this product addressing specific needs that will be of benefit to me.

Oh, and as for the "dumb media", it isn't like the iPad is getting glowing praise. I've seen remarks that run the gamut, and they are far from giving the thing universal praise.

Additionally, Apple's differentiator in their media consumption devices (e.g. iPod/iPhone, now iPad) is that they deliver a complete system from buying to viewing content on a singular device. Coupling their hardware with iTunes is the big differentiator and they will never let iTunes work as well with PC tablets as they will integrated with their own devices.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I'd say the Apple brand is far wayy too strong to discount it. I am so sick of hearing Steve Jobs quotes and praises for Apple even in my engineering classes as if there's no one else in the world to quote from.

They are being dumb because, just maybe, that they simply want it because it's Apple and not because they know what they want to do with it. But screw talking about what other people want, it could be anything and all this talk about some unknown group of people is getting nauseating to me.

And by the same token, perhaps you're discounting their needs and the product itself, because it doesn't conform to what you want out of a tablet device. That's fine, I've said multiple times in this thread, I completely understand why it's not the product for everyone, but get over it. It's not for you. Move on to the "Official HP Slate Thread" or whatever product most fits what you're looking for. You don't see the appeal, and I think we all get that, and I would never try to convince you to change your mind, nor call you dumb because it's not something you want or need.

 

[Mr. Dobalina]

wow didnt know Kevin Rose is that stupid. e-ink costs ALOT more than IPS/LED/LCD display

e-Ink is definitely better for a pure reading device (and I'm curious what the iPad looks like in the sun - probably shit).

 

[otake]

You put way too much stock in Flash.

Sure, it's used in a lot of places...but most places that matter are either switching to HTML5 compliant video or have developed an iPhone app that gets you the same functionality.

Most people will hardly notice.

This is very very wrong. You don't know other peoples' web browsing habits. You're also relying on a prediction that HTML5 will take over flash. Lack of Flash is a serious problem.

 

[Totakeke]

And by the same token, perhaps you're discounting their needs and the product itself, because it doesn't conform to what you want out of a tablet device. That's fine, I've said multiple times in this thread, I completely understand why it's not the product for everyone, but get over it. It's not for you. Move on to the "Official HP Slate Thread" or whatever product most fits what you're looking for. You don't see the appeal, and I think we all get that, and I would never try to convince you to change your mind, nor call you dumb because it's not something you want or need.

I am suggesting that you see the dichotomy of interests between the non-techy and the techy is because the former group doesn't really understand why they want it. That makes sense, no? The tech group would definitely consider the ins and outs of such a device before buying them because... they know what functions exists and what they want.

Then it is not so far stretched out to assume, that the non-tech people who normally don't even need these functions anyway, merely see that there is a new Apple product and they automatically assume that whatever it does will suit them. Would this conform to their needs? Yes it might because, maybe, they don't know what other stuffs are out there that can do things better, so whatever exists on the iPad works for them! Just because that's what they will only know!

If the word dumb offends you greatly that I apologize and take that back. How about let's just say... uninformed?

 

[Sriffat]

e-Ink is definitely better for a pure reading device (and I'm curious what the iPad looks like in the sun - probably shit).

If iPad had e-Ink it would cost 1000 minimum, while if Kindle DX had e-IPS display it would cost 299 maximum

 

[jts]

e-Ink is definitely better for a pure reading device (and I'm curious what the iPad looks like in the sun - probably shit).

No more shit than your cell phone or iPod, etc. Being an IPS panel ensures high levels of brightness and contrast and the best outdoor readability out of all LCDs and OLEDs etc.

It could only be better if it had a matte finish instead of glossy.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I am suggesting that you see the dichotomy of interests between the non-techy and the techy is because the former group doesn't really understand why they want it. That makes sense, no? The tech group would definitely consider the ins and outs of such a device before buying them because... they know what functions exists and what they want.

Then it is not so far stretched out to assume, that the non-tech people who normally don't even need these functions anyway, merely see that there is a new Apple product and they automatically assume that whatever it does will suit them. Would this conform to their needs? Yes it might because, maybe, they don't know what other stuffs are out there that can do things better, so whatever exists on the iPad works for them! Just because that's what they will only know!

If the word dumb offends you greatly that I apologize and take that back. How about let's just say... uninformed?

I like uninformed much better, thank you.

As for the techie vs. non-techie argument, I'd say it has much more to do with their needs. Techies have always been power users when it comes to computer gear, and thus they demand features that the average user doesn't even know exist or care about. I think that is more of what is going on here. Tech nerds look at the tablet and see what is missing, non-techies are looking at it for what it can add to their experience through ease of use and a unified ecosystem.

Regardless, we can go around about this forever, and as I said, we're not going to change each others mind. You have your point of view, and I have mine.

 

[Sriffat]

No more shit than your cell phone or iPod, etc. Being an IPS panel ensures high levels of brightness and contrast and the best outdoor readability out of all LCDs and OLEDs etc.

It could only be better if it had a matte finish instead of glossy.

that is the issue with iPad I think when it compares with Kindle's e-INK. If it is highly bright, it strains the eyes, if it is low, it hurts the focus perception. This is why e-Ink is perfect, it is just like a book without the extra high or extra low brightness in ANY lighting condition

 

[gcubed]

that is the issue with iPad I think when it compares with Kindle's e-INK. If it is highly bright, it strains the eyes, if it is low, it hurts the focus perception. This is why e-Ink is perfect, it is just like a book without the extra high or extra low brightness in ANY lighting condition

if the notion ink makes it to market and delivers on the specs, it is going to be the best of both worlds with the Pixel QI. The only wary thing is that it is a new company

 

[otake]

This product makes so little sense I wouldn't be surprised if apple isn't really backing it. Like the Apple TV, they introduced something new because the expectation is there, heck this may have been some crazy scheme to raise the stock, sell before it falls, I don't know.

I just can't believe apple has come out with this POS.

 

[jts]

that is the issue with iPad I think when it compares with Kindle's e-INK. If it is highly bright, it strains the eyes, if it is low, it hurts the focus perception. This is why e-Ink is perfect, it is just like a book without the extra high or extra low brightness in ANY lighting condition

I agree that e-ink is perfect for reading.

But for a multimedia device IPS panels are the current all-around best option. Including readability in sunlight.