gofreak said:
The media fawning over this is incredible. Front page of the The Telegraph here, nearly a whole page dedicated to it (on the page facing you immediately when you open the paper) in the Irish Times. Waxing lyrical about breaking open 'several new markets' etc. etc.
I think like a lot of you, I just don't get what's so amazing about it. It is very much like a iPod Touch with a bigger screen. I fail to see what it's doing that's so amazing compared to other tablets announced at CES for example.
The attention Apple commands among journos, literally the spell they can cast over the media, is something money can't buy. I'd say a lot of other companies are very despondent at the heralding Apple's stuff gets. A magical device indeed.
From my point of view it makes me quite cynical about the media and the tech media though - it just seems like there's a huge herd mentality there when it comes to Apple stuff about who can write the most gushing praise or given the most column inches. It's sort of a sad state of affairs.
Just to report on the so-called 'fawning':
Engadget:
"...for the vast majority of consumers, I think the case for the iPad has yet to be made."
"For me, in a nutshell, the iPad is a larger screen iPhone with fewer capabilities."
"I can only judge it as a larger iPhone and, well... it's larger"
"...but all this instant negative reaction to the iPad ..."
"If you step out of that context, though, and look at the iPad in a vacuum, does it make sense?
The jury's going to be out for a couple months, but my early feel is that it doesn't."
"That's why I'm disappointed in the product as it stands for my own use."
MacWorld:
"However, there are two show stoppers on the above list that mean I wont be purchasing the first-generation iPad. Without those two things at least, I will be reaching for the laptop more often than not."
Gizmodo:
"The iPad's Onscreen Typing Solution Isn't a Solution At All"
"And Fox Business isn't too impressed with the interface. Brian Sullivan, who is "larger than the average man," complains about not being able to type on the iPad properly because of his big fat thumbs"
Ars technica:
"After a decade of waiting, the Apple tablet is finally here, and reactions across the Internet are mixed, to say the least."
"there's always a bit of widespread deflation after a launch with so much hype behind it; nonetheless, the range of attitudes towards the iPad goes from "it's a great tablet, but I'll have to wait and see about the 'revolution' part," to "I'm so disappointed that it's just a giant iPod touch."
"Missing is the near-universal "Apple has changed the game" sentiment that followed the launch of the iPhone."
" it's hard to see how the iPad is really the no-brainer upgrade over everything else in the world the way that the iPhone was when it was announced."
Hardly fawning, I 'd say.
erformance ratio? Is that all this is to you? If that's all that matters ever, Apple better just stop now. R&D costs money, better never improve anything, better never make anything new. New costs money. Better not make new designs, designs cost money. Better not make new OS, just make faster cheaper hardware.
