thoughts on the ipad

[Pugwash]

I have a simple idea to improve the iPad, or at least to make a product line that gives consumers more than one option (besides 3G / no 3G). They really ought to make a larger one that is the size of a standard sheet of paper. And they can call it the iMaxipad.

Thoughts?

The feminine hygiene jokes are already old hat. I mean come on, the most popular console out there is called a Wii.

[Pugwash]

Is that a part of the marketing campaign? "Trust us. You won't miss having 30-40% of the web come up blank when you use it."

The amount of sites that are unusable on the iPhone/iPad is incredibly small and it's shrinking daily.

Seriously, it's significantly less than 30% that don't work on the iPhone/iPad.

[Pugwash]

I'm simply wondering how someone would use it to replace a Windows PC. The typical Windows user wants to fire up Word or Excel and get stuff done. Most peeps won't want to use Office apps with a crappy on-screen keyboard, and apple didn't provide a USB port on this thing. Even if they had, though, I suppose that would have defeated the purpose of relative portability and simplicity. Anyhow, don't get me wrong, I can definitely see it being a fun toy for watching movies, surfing 60% of the web, and playing games (that you have to pay for). And I certainly can appreciate the simplicity of this device. But beyond that.... it just doesn't do enough. And that's not the future to me.

Ok, let's say Apple had thought of this and included Exchange support for the enterprise and ... wait, what's that? They did?

Ok, let's imagine you needed a Spreadsheet but the iPad ... hang on, Apple has the Excel compatible Numbers available?

Right, how are you going to run that without a USB port for a ... oh, bluetooth keyboards work? As does the dock keyboard?

Well, ok, so I can run email, a word processor, a presentation tool and a spreadsheet with a keyboard on day one of the v1.0 release, but ... I got nothing.

It's not designed as a Windows PC replacement, but you'll be surprised how much it can do.

[HauteHippie]

Good rant by Jobs...

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/googles-dont-be-evil-mantra-is-[censored]-adobe-is-lazy-apples-steve-jobs

I agree with Jobs on this, and I *hope* they're successful in killing off Flash. It's a huge POS.

They've just got a marketing problem on their hands at the moment. New standards don't evolve and proliferate overnight, and the average user has no idea why his new iPad doesn't work with 30-40% of the web. They just know it doesn't and aren't going to be happy about it. On an iPhone, it's somewhat forgivable because it's a pocket gadget.

[HauteHippie]

The amount of sites that are unusable on the iPhone/iPad is incredibly small and it's shrinking daily.

Seriously, it's significantly less than 30% that don't work on the iPhone/iPad.

It's less than 30% of the sites you browse, I can believe. In my case, it's probably less than 1%. But it is not less than 30% of the overall web.

[Pugwash]

It's less than 30% of the sites you browse, I can believe. In my case, it's probably less than 1%. But it is not less than 30% of the overall web.

Most Flash-heavy sites offer iPhone versions without Flash. Give me some URLs you need flash for - some of your 30% - and I'll show you.

[lanikai]

So you can read periodicals .. the monthly server cost .. seems like more gimmick tech than anything else.. redundancy

[HauteHippie]

Ok, let's say Apple had thought of this and included Exchange support for the enterprise and ... wait, what's that? They did?

Ok, let's imagine you needed a Spreadsheet but the iPad ... hang on, Apple has the Excel compatible Numbers available?

Right, how are you going to run that without a USB port for a ... oh, bluetooth keyboards work? As does the dock keyboard?

Well, ok, so I can run email, a word processor, a presentation tool and a spreadsheet with a keyboard on day one of the v1.0 release, but ... I got nothing.

It's not designed as a Windows PC replacement, but you'll be surprised how much it can do.

Ok, didn't know it had a dock and bluetooth. Good. And I'm not bashing the product; I'm honestly still trying to "get it". I'm trying to figure out how this can be a big seller. What market segment does it go after if it isn't a useful device for the typical Windows user? Why is this less versatile device better than, say, a Macbook? It's not. It's a simple device for people who find the normal PC or Mac too complicated.... Perhaps it's the next generation device for the typical WebTV user. And it's a cute gadget for Apple fanboys everywhere as well, of course. I guess we'll just see how that translates in to longer term sales. I could easily be wrong about it.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

well you CAN dual boot windows on mac, by that same token you can dual boot mac OS on PC, so why pay the premium for the same hardware in a prettier box(that also costs more to upgrade...if you can expand it)? Yeah i'd agree flash isnt as prevalent as it used to be (but vb is and the browser cant seem to handle that properly on the iphone), but there are still some sites I have to wait to get to a "real browser" to be able to view (mostly richly interactive sites, but a good site will have both flash and non flash choices), even some security protocols wont log out properly or get rendered properly.

[HauteHippie]

Most Flash-heavy sites offer iPhone versions without Flash. Give me some URLs you need flash for - some of your 30% - and I'll show you.

I can't think of many because they're not the types of websites I browse. But what happens at legos.com on an iPhone? On the computer you have Flash containers on most pages that allow you to interact with the site, e.g. browse all the kits in rotatable 3D among other things. Maybe the non-flash version has simple jpg replacements, etc? I suspect there would be quite a bit of missing content on the simpler version of the site, though. And it is not the same experience. But I guess it's still better than what I get with my browsers that (intentionally) don't have Flash loaded: An empty box on the page and a note to download flash.

[Pugwash]

well you CAN dual boot windows on mac, by that same token you can dual boot mac OS on PC,

Um ... Not easily.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

Um ... Not easily.

easily enough, but probably out of reach of the typical user. If you have enough interest in running Linux you can get OSX going. but then again, if you are at that level of user you'd probably be running linux exclusively anyways

[Pugwash]

easily enough, but probably out of reach of the typical user. If you have enough interest in running Linux you can get OSX going. but then again, if you are at that level of user you'd probably be running linux exclusively anyways

Or you'd own a Mac already.

Making Linux sit up and beg is my day job. When I get home, I want a computer that doesn't get between me and my tasks, and for me that's a MacBook. Games? PS3 on a 42" HD TV, so no need for a PC there, either.

The more I think of it, the more an iPad will suit 95% of my home computer use, which is web, email, Twitter and SSH. When I do the other 5%, photography, I need a bigger screen than my MacBook anyway, so I could trade that in for an iMac.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

im sure thats what apples banking on. I agree consoles are the way to go for games, it just makes sense. Have you found good results with mac (LG luckygoldstar lifes good) lcds? I havnt made the jump to lcd for photography because lcd has too many color shifts when viewed from even minutely different angles, I still use a trinitron CRT for its faithful color reproduction. Graphic design lcd panels cost more than the PC usually. The apple ones look great but their use of am economic TN panel discourages me with regards to accuracy of color... and the use of a glossy screen filter sure DOESNT help with respect to color accuracy.

[Pugwash]

Have you found good results with mac (LG luckygoldstar lifes good) lcds? I havnt made the jump to lcd for photography because lcd has too many color shifts when viewed from even minutely different angles, I still use a trinitron CRT for its faithful color reproduction. Graphic design lcd panels cost more than the PC usually. The apple ones look great but their use of am economic TN panel discourages me with regards to accuracy of color... and the use of a glossy screen filter sure DOESNT help with respect to color accuracy.

Good enough for me. I don't do pre-press any more, so I know my photos just need to be 'close enough'. People looking at my photos won't have calibrated screens so there's no need to go over the top with my colour settings.

Having said that, at work, I have two calibrated 24" Apple monitors and they do the job nicely.

[HauteHippie]

im sure thats what apples banking on. I agree consoles are the way to go for games, it just makes sense. Have you found good results with mac (LG luckygoldstar lifes good) lcds? I havnt made the jump to lcd for photography because lcd has too many color shifts when viewed from even minutely different angles, I still use a trinitron CRT for its faithful color reproduction. Graphic design lcd panels cost more than the PC usually. The apple ones look great but their use of am economic TN panel discourages me with regards to accuracy of color... and the use of a glossy screen filter sure DOESNT help with respect to color accuracy.

NEC 2490 WUXi It's great. Love mine. Got it for a steal too.

[Ronin]

A couple thoughts from above:

1.) Building a Hackintosh. Been there done that, but at the end of the day, some update is going to break it. -or buy the time you invest in the new EFI dongle, and all your hardware, you are only a few hundred $ away from a "Gen" . More work that its worth.

2.) @Cheif - I agree about the still trying to figure it out. Hell, if they had simply reduced the price of a MacBook "Air" to Sub-$1000 they would probably fly off the shelves. Imagine a MacBook Air "convertible tablet! The MacBook Air will probably be my/wifes next "around the house" device after seeing the iPad.

3.) The Wired article and Jobs calling others lazy! (Below comments stolen from another blog)

"About Adobe: They are lazy, Jobs says. They have all this potential to do interesting things but they just refuse to do it.".

This is coming from a company who refuse to :

1. Do multitasking.

2. Include google voice.

3. Have an open app store.

4. Allow FireFox.

5. Allow flash just so i-pone and soon i-pad users can do the interesting things that android user will do soon...

(the list could go on and on).

Who is it that is hypocritical?

Steve can't call Adobe lazy.

It took Apple 2 years to add copy and paste to the iPhone

It took Apple 3 months to fix the wifi bug in iPhone OS 3.0

It took Apple 2 months to fix the text message exploit in iPhone OS 3.0

It takes Apple 1 month to submit an app or app update to the appstore

---

I am just playing Devils Advocate here. It is that this is the first time, in a long time, that people are really coming out AGAINST Apple.

I am still going to stand my tin-foil hat theory that Flash simply cuts into the Apple $$$ making machine, and could kill AT&T 3g networks via things like Hulu. I am sure if Steve, Apple and Adobe got into a room, this could have been resolved long ago.

Steve going off like this reminds of the NBC confrontation a few years ago. So now if Steve burns the Adobe bridge, they could say Fsck You Apple, and concentrate on the PC/Win7 leaving the end user/consumers the ones who suffer. Image if all the "Creative Types" that use Apple are forced to move to the PC world for the next Adobe Suite, etc. (I am exaggerating here to make a point, most creative types would not leave Apple because Apple is still 'hip'.)

With the success of Windows 7, now is not the time for Apple to be burning bridges with Adobe, Google, et al.

[gran]

me like iPad

[Pugwash]

Image if all the "Creative Types" that use Apple are forced to move to the PC world for the next Adobe Suite, etc. (I am exaggerating here to make a point, most creative types would not leave Apple because Apple is still 'hip'.)

Let's end that one here and now.

"Creative types" don't use Macs because they're hip. They use Macs because in the 80s, the creative revolution happened on Macs and underpinned the entire Mac ethos. Proportional fonts, colour balancing at an OS level, Postscript ... these were all things that only happened on the Mac until Windows 95, and even then proper colour synchronisation doesn;t fully exist on Windows.

Creative types, the ones that can afford the expensive stuff, buy the best tools in the business. For most of the history of modern computing, the best return on investment for a creative has been a Mac. You buy the tools that make you the most money, plain and simple.

Apple stopped being "Hip", in the way I think you mean, around 2005 or so when they really focussed on making a computer for homes. Education looks aren't "hip" and neither are family computers. The computer Mum uses in the kitchen is, as far as I understand it, as far away from "Hip" as it gets, and that's where Apple was focussing their marketing. The "I'm a Mac" adverts are designed to make a huge split between "Work is spreadsheets" and "Home is fun". Not Hip.

Creatives use macs because they offer them the least speedbumps and roadblocks between them and their work, in spite of the fact that they're using 'domestic' computers.

As for the iPhone, they may have been hip, but Fart Apps? Now they're mainstream.

At what point does something stop being "elitist"? How many sales do they need before people realise almost everyone wants an iPhone, regardless of their major. Charlie Brooker, the man who single-handedly brought the shoreditch elitist [censored] you'd associate with being a hip-apple-guy - Nathan Barley, is finally getting a Mac because he's fed up of having to deal with his computer instead of the work he wants to do. That's what Macs do now.

So can we please put the stupid outmoded "people only buy Macs because they're hip" [censored] to rest? It's time.

[Pugwash]

ps. Adobe make so much money off Mac users that it'd be commercial suicide to remove their support from OSX. Read what Adobe are saying about it. John Nack keeps stressing how necessary Mac users are to Adobe. They're getting scared they're losing Flash, but they know they've got Photoshop for quite some time now.

[Ronin]

Pug, I was just making an exaggerated point based on the burning bridges comment and common stereotypes. I was being a smart arse. And to the point, in the metro area I live in, using an Apple product in the coffee shop is still like flashing your Rolex, and many of the hipster Apple users I encounter in my neck of the woods still look down their noses at the guy with the Dell/Zune. YMMV.

On the flip side, Steve summed up the iPad nicely during the keynote:

[Pugwash]

On the flip side, Steve summed up the iPad nicely during the keynote:

It's the same as the iPhone, and that's why it'll be a huge success.

[Ronin]

Touche'

I have that $20 set aside.

[fakemaster]

Flash will never die.

[Ronin]

Are you buying... Marketing at its best.

The iPad Keynote Condensed version...