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kitewithfishFirst of all, let's get one thing straight. The name kind of sucks. iPad sounds like a really high tech menstrual product, and if they had had a single woman on the project, they would have caught that pretty early on.
But, let's get to the bottom line: I don't think I want this. Which really is kind of a first for me- most of my life has been defined by a running theme of "Oooh, shiney" and base lust for Apple's newest products. It started with iPod and only grew stronger as the iPod grew smaller and more powerful. The iPod Touch nearly killed me. The iPhone is still a source of drool, even if I would have to work around the rather stupid calling plan. The drive to purchase the shiney new toy has been strong, if curbed strongly by my need to buy food, pay rent, and clothe myself.
I have just watched the Apple video introduction to the iPad (snort) and the wonders of its touch screen, the way you can move it, the LED lighting (okay, that I want, but who doesn't?), and honestly? I don't think I want this.
Issues:
1. Cumbersome: I like my laptop because I can sit with it on a table or my lap without any special tools and use the computer. I can type, operate the mouse, and still shift my position around- the keyboard provides a stable base for the screen, which can then be tilted for ease of sight. The iPad has no base, and the position that the model in the video assumed to keep the display tilted right looked incredibly uncomfortable. You can't lay it flat on a table easily and still use it without leaning over it. At 1.5 pounds, it's too heavy to hold one-handed for long.
2. Dependent: This thing has no optical, DVD, or BlueRay drive. You need an entire nother computer to use this thing. I ranted about this with the MacBook Air. Lack of a self-sufficient system makes it a big shiney toy, and quite frankly, I would rather a toy that did the same thing and was more portable, like the iPhone. There's a reason the things are designed to fit in a pocket.
Now, on the plus side, this thing is not priced like a laptop, so that means that fairly rich people will be able to play with this sucker without too much ado. It may turn out to be a better creature than I expected, but I am skeptical.
What I really want? Is for the touchscreen technology to work its way into the next generation of the MacBook family. I like touchscreens, but I want a computer that works like a real computer, not just a toy and I'm not willing to pay for both. I'm willing to wait a while.
But, let's get to the bottom line: I don't think I want this. Which really is kind of a first for me- most of my life has been defined by a running theme of "Oooh, shiney" and base lust for Apple's newest products. It started with iPod and only grew stronger as the iPod grew smaller and more powerful. The iPod Touch nearly killed me. The iPhone is still a source of drool, even if I would have to work around the rather stupid calling plan. The drive to purchase the shiney new toy has been strong, if curbed strongly by my need to buy food, pay rent, and clothe myself.
I have just watched the Apple video introduction to the iPad (snort) and the wonders of its touch screen, the way you can move it, the LED lighting (okay, that I want, but who doesn't?), and honestly? I don't think I want this.
Issues:
1. Cumbersome: I like my laptop because I can sit with it on a table or my lap without any special tools and use the computer. I can type, operate the mouse, and still shift my position around- the keyboard provides a stable base for the screen, which can then be tilted for ease of sight. The iPad has no base, and the position that the model in the video assumed to keep the display tilted right looked incredibly uncomfortable. You can't lay it flat on a table easily and still use it without leaning over it. At 1.5 pounds, it's too heavy to hold one-handed for long.
2. Dependent: This thing has no optical, DVD, or BlueRay drive. You need an entire nother computer to use this thing. I ranted about this with the MacBook Air. Lack of a self-sufficient system makes it a big shiney toy, and quite frankly, I would rather a toy that did the same thing and was more portable, like the iPhone. There's a reason the things are designed to fit in a pocket.
Now, on the plus side, this thing is not priced like a laptop, so that means that fairly rich people will be able to play with this sucker without too much ado. It may turn out to be a better creature than I expected, but I am skeptical.
What I really want? Is for the touchscreen technology to work its way into the next generation of the MacBook family. I like touchscreens, but I want a computer that works like a real computer, not just a toy and I'm not willing to pay for both. I'm willing to wait a while.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 09:36 pm (UTC)I was already thinking the iPad might be good instead, but between the dependency aspect and the fact that it won't support frickin' Flash, maybe not.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-01-28 07:33 am (UTC)AFAICT the only advantages it has over a less-expensive netbook is that it has a little more screen real estate and it has a better form factor for interstitial use. If it were priced competitively with the Kindle it might catch on, but I don't see that happening.
I don't really see this catching on, though I've been wrong before.
2. Dependent: This thing has no optical, DVD, or BlueRay drive. You need an entire nother computer to use this thing. I ranted about this with the MacBook Air. Lack of a self-sufficient system makes it a big shiney toy, and quite frankly, I would rather a toy that did the same thing and was more portable, like the iPhone. There's a reason the things are designed to fit in a pocket.
My experience with my netbook have made me question this. The only times I've used the optical drive on my MacBook has been to upgrade the OS (once), rip a mix CD a friend sent me (once, and she could have just sent me mp3's), and to watch a single movie on a plane (once, which I could have downloaded beforehand or gone without). Optical drives just aren't that useful to a lot of people anymore.
Still making up my mind.
From:The pad that is i
Date: 2010-02-09 04:43 am (UTC)I think it is merely too expensive for what it is. That is my first and last reason why I dislike it. $500 for a large iPod touch is a smite ridiculous. Waitwait had a joke that it is basically iPod for seniors, with extra large buttons and bigger letters.
For what it is, it is seriously priced like a netbook. Which is strange, since it is really hard to get good programs for it, or write on it, or browse the internet effectively. I think that eventually we shall kick our habit of using proxies for interacting with information (keyboard and mouse), and use touchscreens exclusively, but I don't see the iPad being the shift. Then again, none expected the iPod to take off, and look at it now.
However, your argument for the optical disk, I think that is kind of pointless. I see the world moving towards an era without physical copies of material. You can still own a right to a multimedia item, but it doesn't have to be stored on your local computer. Cloud computing is becoming so cheap that soon enough we shall have no reason to even have hard-drives, which would be wonderful as the hard drive is usually the slowest and warmest piece of any computer. Maybe just a tiny bit of flash memory to store the basic OS files.
So, I don't think you need a whole other system to work it, it is merely badly designed to be standalone. It assumes you have a home computer. But it is the first generation. When the first iPod came out, touchscreens were cumbersome, slow and stupid things none really used. Look at it now. So, it is too early to render such judgment.
As far as your argument that it should fit in a pocket, well... that depends on the device. Is it a toy you like enough to carry around with you even if cumbersome, or is it just a novelty to which the size is a determining issue. I guess what I am trying to say is that if the size is such a factor, you are probably not that attracted to the device.
In closing, it is an expensive, fancy toy with shininess, just like everything new apple kicks out. Time will tell if it matures into a useful product or fades as just another device that wasn't exactly what the market wanted.