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Taking notes with capacitive touch and your fingers isn't anything close to gravy. Even with a capacitive friendly stylus, the experience is far shy of an EMR pen due to likelihood of vectoring with parts of your hands. EMR pen is the only sure fire input method sans vectoring.

I dunno, I'll wait and see on the typing though I think some people are overstating the problem.

It's got bluetooth anyway, so can't you just bring your own keyboard if you think it's terribly important to be able to watch a man in a tie talk?

 

[Toby]

Why does the 3G model cost more? Is it because a 3G modem actually costs $130 to include? Or is this some fee that the cell phone people are requiring Apple charge? It would seem it costs that much for the modem itself since it's static $130 across the board.

This is what I am wondering. I really don't think it costs an extra $130 to include 3G, but I could be wrong. The only real thing that has me impressed about this is the unlimited 3G for $30. That and I want to know more about that G4 processor in the thing.

 

[Stencil]

At first I was really hyped for this thing... But now I'm having a hard time figuring out why I should care.

 

[Mik2121]

Taking notes with capacitive touch and your fingers isn't anything close to gravy. Even with a capacitive friendly stylus, the experience is far shy of an EMR pen due to likelihood of vectoring with parts of your hands. EMR pen is the only sure fire input method sans vectoring.


Bulkier than a textbook? And you can lay them on your desk you know.

iPad is stupidly light and thin because of the ARM CPU that's usually reserved for devices with screen less than 5". And that's also why you don't get Flash support nor multitasking.

Bulkier than a notebook, yes. I don't use textbooks.

Honestly I only want them to sketch (I'm an "artist" ) and maybe check internet and some videos and photos, that's about it. The iPad looked pretty much PERFECT for what I wanted. I love the UI and the tablet itself seemed to be pretty much the ideal size for on-the-go sketching (if I want to paint at home, I have my computer with Photoshop and a big Wacom tablet). So it would have been perfect to hold the iPad with one hand and paint with the other. But seems like I could destroy my wrist if I hold one of those for too long.

Either way, seems like some people around here gets all angry when I mention the pressure sensitivity thing, so I'll just shut up

 

[Shogmaster]

Bulkier than a notebook, yes. I don't use textbooks.

Honestly I only want them to sketch (I'm an "artist" ) and maybe check internet and some videos and photos, that's about it. The iPad looked pretty much PERFECT for what I wanted. I love the UI and the tablet itself seemed to be pretty much the ideal size for on-the-go sketching (if I want to paint at home, I have my computer with Photoshop and a big Wacom tablet). So it would have been perfect to hold the iPad with one hand and paint with the other. But seems like I could destroy my wrist if I hold one of those for too long.

Either way, seems like some people around here gets all angry when I mention the pressure sensitivity thing, so I'll just shut up

If anyone here can help you, it's me.

I dunno, I'll wait and see on the typing though I think some people are overstating the problem.

It's got bluetooth anyway, so can't you just bring your own keyboard if you think it's terribly important to be able to watch a man in a tie talk?

Typing sucks when your notes require graphs, diagrams, formulas, etc..

 

[border]

no doubt it would be, but it would be a small minority of students who would have the luxury of owning both, plus an iPod and whatever gadgets their social cliques demand of them.

Perhaps this is venturing too much into the realm of the hypothetical, but if the iPad really holds up as an eReader and you are getting your textbooks at a 20-30% discount, it becomes a pretty financially viable proposition. Whatever premium you pay for the product gets offset by the cheaper books.

 

[sc0la]

I just watched the Keynote. It has me more curious about it now actually, but I still probably won't need it.

Why does the 3G model cost more? Is it because a 3G modem actually costs $130 to include? Or is this some fee that the cell phone people are requiring Apple charge? It would seem it costs that much for the modem itself since it's static $130 across the board.

The gsm chip apple uses in the iPhone costs 13 dollars. That is a 10x marginwhich is ridiculous even for them.

My guess? They are kicking a bit to AT&T as a one time fee on all the 3G pads and that is part of the agreement for the pricing on connectivity AND more importantly lack of contract. It's like reverse subsidizing. I doubt that would ever get confirmed even if that was the case.

 

[SuperPac]

The only tech less interesting than this is 3d tvs, and motion controls in video games (all three companies). Will probably succeed due to brand though /smh

Yeah I'm not interested in 3DTVs at all either.

I just read something at Macworld that the iPad doesn't have Exchange support for email. Which doesn't make much sense to me since the iPhone does but maybe that's misinformation. Also, if what they report is true and enterprise IT isn't gonna want to support it because they can't lock/erase a device if it gets lost, that pretty much makes its usefulness at work ZERO.

 

[Scalemail Ted]

Perhaps this is venturing too much into the realm of the hypothetical, but if the iPad really holds up as an eReader and you are getting your textbooks at a 20-30% discount, it becomes a pretty financially viable proposition. Whatever premium you pay for the product gets offset by the cheaper books.

I usually get my textbooks used from amazon market place at a much cheaper rate than that.

 

[SephCast]

Is it possible that some 3rd party developer will make a browser + IM client app? Or will Apple not allow that...

 

[Sriffat]

Is it possible that some 3rd party developer will make a browser + IM client app? Or will Apple not allow that...

Browsers are not allowed but IM's are

 

[MilesWebber]

Browsers are not allowed but IM's are

Really? I've downloaded 3 browsers from the official App store. I like Perfect Browser.

 

[Mik2121]

If anyone here can help you, it's me.

Heh.. you think? I was checking this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4-Y2WYUF2Y

Supposedly the HP TouchSmart tm2, but the comments say it's the 2730p. Anyway, it seems like everybody painting on it was, on purpose, not touching the screen with their hands. I paint with my hand on top of the surface so I guess I would be affecting the screen too?.

I just tried with a small actual notebook and I can paint using just the border of it to rest my hand, but still..

What would be your best suggestion for an actual tablet or smartbook or whatever the hell they are called, for artists? (something that's portable, I mean. As I said, at home I'd rather use my actual Wacom tablet).

Man, if only the Cintiq tablets were portable...

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

The price is half what we thought it would be and you use that to troll it? :lol

You guys are ridiculous.

So is the pricing though. Charging $100 for an extra 16 GB of storage? What year is this?

 

[mrkgoo]

Is it possible that some 3rd party developer will make a browser + IM client app? Or will Apple not allow that...

Interesting. What if developers get together to bring combined versions of their apps?

Kind of stupid to resort to that, but you never know.

 

[sportzhead]

I think once people start seeing these things in the wild, they will sell like Avatar tickets, well maybe not that well. But once people see others using the iPad to just have fun and do cool stuff, they will want one. The iPad seems to be much more than just a netbook/tablet like device. Some examples of how this thing will get people to want it:

You see a group of people at a restaurant having a good time playing checkers/chess/pong while waiting for their food. Someone on a plane is watching a movie on its large screen and the person sitting next to them can also watch it. You see somebody drawling a picture of their friend. You visit family and they hand you the iPad with a slid show running. In the waiting room you see a person reading the New York Times and watching the embedded videos. And with every example above the person that sees the iPad for the first time will see how people are just using the device to be productive/have fun without it looking anything like a computer. And if the person ask to see it because they are fascinated by it, the thing is so easy to navigate and impressive to just play around with.

 

[border]

I usually get my textbooks used from amazon market place at a much cheaper rate than that.

You could say the same about pricing on the Kindle versus used books, but it hasn't stopped that device from becoming a success.

Not to mention that your used books come with none of the advantages of digital format (Easy highlighting, copy/paste, more convenient annotations, books do not weigh 10 pounds each, etc).

 

[Sriffat]

Really? I've downloaded 3 browsers from the official App store. I like Perfect Browser.

Isnt it emulating the safari webkit SDK?

that is why i assumed we didnt have firefox or opera on iPhone

 

[SephCast]

Interesting. What if developers get together to bring combined versions of their apps?

Kind of stupid to resort to that, but you never know.

So someone could make an app like iPad's mail app:

So there'd be IMs on the left, then browser to the right. SOMEONE DO IT. PLEASE. DO IT.

 

[MilesWebber]

Isnt it emulating the safari webkit SDK?

No, It has way more functionality. Custom homepages, anon browsing, fullscreen. Some do but I think Perfect Browser is built from the ground up. It's REALLY fast on the 3G, too.

 

[Tobor]

The gsm chip apple uses in the iPhone costs 13 dollars. That is a 10x marginwhich is ridiculous even for them.

My guess? They are kicking a bit to AT&T as a one time fee on all the 3G pads and that is part of the agreement for the pricing on connectivity AND more importantly lack of contract. It's like reverse subsidizing. I doubt that would ever get confirmed even if that was the case.

Good theory. I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what it is.

 

[sc0la]

Is it possible that some 3rd party developer will make a browser + IM client app? Or will Apple not allow that...

Facebook app has a built in browser off the top of my head. A few others do too like some audio steaming apps or something. So it wouldn't surprise me. Especially with the notifications "solution" off the table.

unless those push over wifi

*shrug*

 

[DarkJC]

No, It has way more functionality. Custom homepages, anon browsing, fullscreen. Some do but I think Perfect Browser is built from the ground up. It's REALLY fast on the 3G, too.

It uses the exact same rendering engine as Safari, which is WebKit. It can't use anything else. That being said, you can implement your own features surrounding the engine, like Perfect Browser has obviously done.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

At first I was really hyped for this thing... But now I'm having a hard time figuring out why I should care.

I'm trying to talk myself into it but there's really no reason to ditch my Macbook Pro for this. They just didn't deliver on that key gotta-have-it function. No cool e-reading screen, no cool sci-fi tactile surface, no cool virtual touch-pencil thing, the viewing area doesn't come out to the edge of the device.

It's messed up because you know they debated and worked and worked on this thing, but it really feels like nothing. It literally is just a big iPod Touch with a few fairly minor tweaks and nothing more.

(I reserve the right to crack and buy it as an overpriced e-reader on launch day anyway).

 

[Scalemail Ted]

You could say the same about pricing on the Kindle versus used books, but it hasn't stopped that device from becoming a success.

Not to mention that your used books come with none of the advantages of digital format (Easy highlighting, copy/paste, more convenient annotations, books do not weigh 10 pounds each, etc).

Depends on your definition of "success"... I don't see many kindles around.

And barring a true tablet running one note there is no device that replaces annotations than a classic pen/pencil.

 

[DarkJC]

Good theory. I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what it is.

I seriously can't see this because the iPad with 3G will be sold worldwide. Why would Apple make an agreement to kickback a sale of every 3G version specifically to a US carrier, no matter where the tablet is going?

 

[NinjaFromTheFuture]

Why don't you judge for yourself?

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

Thanks. Guess I'll try looking around for a Penabled slate. I'm sure more than a few really nice ones should be popping up in the coming months.

 

[Shogmaster]

Heh.. you think? I was checking this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4-Y2WYUF2Y

Supposedly the HP TouchSmart tm2, but the comments say it's the 2730p.

I think I made that comment on that video. They are using the same TPC as mine: 2730p. It's an EXCELLENT unit. Probably my fav thus far. With the standard battery, less than 4lbs. Fast. Gorgeous screen.

Anyway, it seems like everybody painting on it was, on purpose, not touching the screen with their hands. I paint with my hand on top of the surface so I guess I would be affecting the screen too?.

I just tried with a small actual notebook and I can paint using just the border of it to rest my hand, but still..

No. Your hands have no way of affecting the EMR sensor board. Those people had no clue what they were doing, and frankly, made some hideous sketches. :lol

What would be your best suggestion for an actual tablet or smartbook or whatever the hell they are called, for artists? (something that's portable, I mean. As I said, at home I'd rather use my actual Wacom tablet).

Man, if only the Cintiq tablets were portable...

If Cintiqs are portable, you still would need to stick it on a computer! Tablet PC is essentially a laptop + Cintiq.

I do think that the 2730p is the best model out right now (combination of portability and power). But it's expensive. I got a refurb from HP for $1200. This model goes for $2000+ usually.

 

[Foreign Jackass]

Why must the future be touch-controlled? I fucking hate it. I hate having my fingers over the display. I'd hate watching a movie on a fucking screen that's full of finger spots. Fingers are greasy. I will not live without a keyboard.

 

[Tobor]

So is the pricing though. Charging $100 for an extra 16 GB of storage? What year is this?

The exact same as they charge for iPod Touchs. No one gave a shit about that, either.

 

[BowieZ]

OK I followed the liveblogs and I watched some (not all) of the conference tonight with my fiancee. And it was kinda funny. We were both thoroughly unimpressed while Steve was showing off tasks that you can already do on the iPhone. Like email. Web. Photos. Calendar (though that looks cool). Video. Music. iTunes Store. He'd do something like scroll, pinch, double-tap to zoom. And while these were exceedingly impressive things to me three years ago, they are like expecting people to go WOW over using a mouse now. My fiancee was actually pretty bored by the whole thing, and I gotta admit... I was too. Because we weren't being shown anything actually new. We were shown iPhone/iPod Touch functionality on a bigger screen. It was literally painful to hear the deafening silence as he went through it. Unlike most Steve Jobs keynotes, there was not a whole lot of clapping or cheering, certainly far less than the iPhone introduction. Probably more akin to the original iPod introduction. I don't think there was much clapping during that either.

I hate the iTunes interface in this. Or rather, the one they showed. I hope to Christ they just have a list mode because I do not view my music or podcasts or what have you by album art. I just don't. I never use coverflow. Never. Partially because a lot of the MP3s I have in my library don't have album art or they have the wrong album art. (Which will be a project some day...)

Also, the whole "it runs all the Apps" thing. Impressive to say, but... unimpressive in practice. The first thing they showed off I think was Facebook and some motocross game. And it was like they were expecting people to go "WOW THAT IS AWESOME." But really, it was no different than something like the Game Boy Player or the Super Game Boy. It's nice functionality, but ultimately... you're not going to wow over those visuals. Also, something I think they could take from the Super Game Boy/Game Boy Player are custom frames around those games. I'm sure the games that take advantage of the large screen will be awesome (and by that I mean Words With Friends and Bejeweled and Pac-Man Championship Edition), but...the back compat is "meh."

Oh, the New York Times app. No thanks. It honestly looked less convenient in the app than to just read the web page in Safari, which they also showed. One of the things I was really hoping for this device was for apple to make a sort of iTunes/iPod app for printed content so I didn't have to download separate apps from the App Store to read 4 different magazines/newspapers but I guess that's gonna be the case. Hugely disappointing IMO. I would love to get gaming mags and Entertainment Weekly or maybe an occasional Wired electronically in one app.

Then we got to Books. That's some impressive stuff. And that's actually the kind of app I wanted for not just books but magazines, newspapers and RSS feeds. However, I wish they had shown off some more graphically impressive book content. Like something with color pictures or color pages. Maybe a comic book or two. But they didn't. :\ At least my fiancee and I were both impressed by the books stuff.

The iWork stuff... again, disappointing and it seemed like they expected people to cheer/clap over things like swiping. Boredom set in quickly.

The price, especially on the low end, is nice. And pretty un-Apple. And of course I want to buy one. Though, I'm not as impressed as I'd hoped/thought I would be. Certainly not as impressed as I was after the initial iPhone introduction. So, I will likely still get one. Maybe the low-end or mid-model with 3G. Don't think it'll have to be Day 1. Maybe Day 4-5, and if I can order it online I'll go that route. Definitely not standing in line to get one like I did for the 3 models of iPhone that've come out so far. Because at least on day one, I already have a device in my pocket that can do all of this stuff.

I was so bored reading this I thought you were gonna sell me something for between $499-829.

 

[Raistlin]

Why must the future be touch-controlled? I fucking hate it. I hate having my fingers over the display. I'd hate watching a movie on a fucking screen that's full of finger spots. Fingers are greasy. I will not live without a keyboard.

wash your hands

 

[border]

And barring a true tablet running one note there is no device that replaces annotations than a classic pen/pencil.

I'm talking about reading/accessing in-text annotations and footnotes.....not really creating them. Especially for something like Shakespeare that has a footnote for every 10th word. Touch a highlighted word and the annotation pops up -- way better than shifting your eyes down to the bottom of the page or flipping to the back of the chapter.

 

[sportzhead]

Why does the 3G model cost more? Is it because a 3G modem actually costs $130 to include? Or is this some fee that the cell phone people are requiring Apple charge? It would seem it costs that much for the modem itself since it's static $130 across the board.

$130 for 3G seems like a rip, but to be fair that's what Dell charges too.

Seems like it's the standard rate.

 

[superbank]

Some artist is gonna use a painter app and everyone will be like "Wooooow amazing its so revolutionary." It needs a pen.

I don't see the point to this thing. People will use apps surf the web and read books. Nothing too exciting. My dad will probably buy one though. He loves his gadgets.

So is the pricing though. Charging $100 for an extra 16 GB of storage? What year is this?

2010. People are still uninformed on what it takes to get "more gigabytes" in their machines. Sad I know. Its always one of the first bullet points when someone talks about tech stuff.

 

[Mik2121]

I think I made that comment on that video. They are using the same TPC as mine: 2730p. It's an EXCELLENT unit. Probably my fav thus far. With the standard battery, less than 4lbs. Fast. Gorgeous screen.



No. Your hands have no way of affecting the EMR sensor board. Those people had no clue what they were doing, and frankly, made some hideous sketches. :lol



If Cintiqs are portable, you still would need to stick it on a computer! Tablet PC is essentially a laptop + Cintiq.

I do think that the 2730p is the best model out right now (combination of portability and power). But it's expensive. I got a refurb from HP for $1200. This model goes for $2000+ usually.

Holy crap! I definitely can't afford that now, but I guess I will pay attention and see if I can find something cheaper in the future.
I'm just 'scared' about all the companies going the Apple way and just ignoring 'penabled' screens with pressure sensitivity I wouldn't mind if Apple charged me $130 for that kind of screen+pen combo instead of the 3G thing but then again an actual Wacom costs much more than that, so yeah, I guess that would be impossible.

 

[civilstrife]

This product is sexy, no doubt.

But I'm growing tired of the usual Apple routine of shipping a clearly incomplete initial product just to give users a reason to upgrade to the next one.

No camera? Really? Video chat is such a no-brainer on this thing, it has to be intentional.
Stylus? Hello?

I predict we'll see both in the revision in a year or so.

Cheaper too.

 

[Tater Tot]

shit is cool but i'll wait a year later where they cut the price by half

 

[Mik2121]

This product is sexy, no doubt.

But I'm growing tired of the usual Apple routine of shipping a clearly incomplete initial product just to give users a reason to upgrade to the next one.

No camera? Really? Video chat is such a no-brainer on this thing, it has to be intentional.
Stylus? Hello?

I predict we'll see both in the revision in a year or so.

Cheaper too.

If only. Then I would pay whatever they asked me! :_)

Now I will just seriously stop with the stylus talk

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

The exact same as they charge for iPod Touchs. No one gave a shit about that, either.

Not quite, the pricing model for that goes:

8GB $199
32GB $299
64GB $399

And it's a bit less usurious because it's not up in the $6-700 range.

shit is cool but i'll wait a year later where they cut the price by half

Apple never, ever, drops the price on anything. They just replace it with something else.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

If only. Then I would pay whatever they asked me! :_)

Now I will just seriously stop with the stylus talk

 

[Hellsing321]

I will not live without a keyboard.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Apple never, ever, drops the price on anything. They just replace it with something else.

They never drastically drop the price. They slowly lower it while upping the specs. Just look at the iPod classic models now. Or the nanos.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Sorry if old

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/iphone-sdk-calls-out-nonexistent-ipad-cam-confirms-split-views/


In other news, running the updated iPhone simulator in iPad mode gives you the option to take photos, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense considering that it doesn't have a camera. There are plenty of plausible explanations for the muck-up, but our guess is that Apple's left the vestigial capability on-board since the framework's already in place for the iPhone and there could very well be iPads down the road that have a cam (or two). Follow the break for a shot of the iPad's Address Book imploring you to take a photo -- and savor it, since it's probably the closest you'll actually get to snapping a shot on the device any time soon.

 

[MilesWebber]

It uses the exact same rendering engine as Safari, which is WebKit. It can't use anything else. That being said, you can implement your own features surrounding the engine, like Perfect Browser has obviously done.

 

[Scalemail Ted]

I'm talking about reading/accessing in-text annotations and footnotes.....not really creating them. Especially for something like Shakespeare that has a footnote for every 10th word.

True that some binary search option can index in-text footnotes quicker in digital formats with a key word search...

But honestly as a student, I'd rather be able to annotate my own notes relevant for the course alongside my text. Its so close to what I want from an e-reader.... but doesn't offer the same flexibilities a true textbook does as I would have to cross index my own notes on an external source. I want to see what Microsoft courier brings to the table in this regard

 

[CurlySaysX]

sounds like a female sanitary product.

 

[Blackface]

Some artist is gonna use a painter app and everyone will be like "Wooooow amazing its so revolutionary." It needs a pen.

I don't see the point to this thing. People will use apps surf the web and read books. Nothing too exciting. My dad will probably buy one though. He loves his gadgets.


2010. People are still uninformed on what it takes to get "more gigabytes" in their machines. Sad I know. Its always one of the first bullet points when someone talks about tech stuff.

$829 for the 3G version with 64gb of space is essentially bending the customer over and committing prison rape.

 

[Tobor]

Not quite, the pricing model for that goes:

8GB $199
32GB $299
64GB $399

And it's a bit less usurious because it's not up in the $6-700 range.




Apple never, ever, drops the price on anything. They just replace it with something else.

You're nit picking. They charge $100 for storage bumps on both.

 

[Chris R]

edit: bah my response was beaten by lots of other posters :lol

When is the earliest this might see a hw rev? Or can mulitasking work via an OS upgrade (to 4.0 or whatever) I'd buy then, even without a camera, even though it would be nice.