Apple unveils the iPad

[Fozzy Fozborne]

I remember when the eee 8" came out and people were all like "Why would I want that? It's 400 bucks and only has a 700MHz processor and half a gig of ram." And now, two or three years later we have the netbook market.

 

I am more than slightly disappointed with the announcement. I figured it would be at least something cool that would be worthy of even looking at what people thought of it. To me it seems like a more powerful and less portable iPod Touch/iPhone that will never take off nearly as well.

 

Seriously, did you guys watch the Cnet showing of the press release? Brief synopsis: It's VERY thin. OMG you can change the home screen background! What it does is extraordinary, you can browse the web (oh my goodness!). It's phenomenal and you can see the whole website in front of you. It's an incredible experience. It even has iTunes!

 

Come on, this is the most blatant "This product is really rather uninteresting and I'm trying to hype it as much as possible." speech I've ever seen. And off what planet is Apple getting their memory prices? $500 for the base is fine, but two hundred more dollars for effectively 48 more gigs of memory? One of the more expensive and speedy 16GB flash drives goes for $70 and a similar 64GB one goes for $130. Yes, I know that the iPad uses SSDs rather than having a straight USB drive stuffed in there, but a mid-ranged 16GB SSD is $150 vs a similar 64GB SSD which is $205. Why does apple feel the need to charge 4 times the price for memory?

 

Here's a link to the video I'm talking about.

 

I do like this:

 

Ugh, end of rant.

[oc student]

Yeah ^^

 

Of the tiny bit of the video I did watch, the Apple "Genuis" repeated how it could automatically turn acoording to the orientation about 100 billion times while introducing it. Yeah yeah we saw that feature about 50 years ago, anything else you guys can pull of out your butt?

[Pico]

I didn't watch the reveal, but I read a blog that did an update every coupe of minutes on it.

 

The only thing that I saw from it was the pretty sweet 3G deal with AT&T. That is actually a decent, reasonable price. However, you tack on another $130 or so for 3G in the device, negating any real benefit from the "cheap" 3G access.

 

Really, this thing is probably going to flop. I doubt they'll sell a significant amount and they'll have to release the version they're holding back with a camera, the newer 4G OS (not wireless signal, the OS verson) and all the benefits that come with that (multitasking, flash, etc, assuming Apple actually wants to compete in the phone OS territory anymore), and if they're smart at a true USB or SD slot. More likely SD, as it'll be still based on a phone OS so it'll probably like SD cards more than USB sticks.

[Democrab]

 

This thing is a gigantic piece of sh*t, there are far better tablet PCs and Steve said its to "replace the netbook", my netbook 1) is faster, 2) Can do more (For example, this won't have Flash support, so bye bye 50% of the internet), 3) has a good keyboard (Onscreen keyboards just plain suck, I tried using the onscreen one on my G1 and its near impossible to use.)

 

I had an entire list of other reasons, but I cbf digging it off the other forum I posted it on.

 

Now, I'm not against apple products (Saving up for an iPod touch, actually), but this is just stupid and an obvious cash in.

1) No, your netbook isn't faster. It might have a higher clock rate (probably 1.6ghz atom) but i'm willing to bet this new A4 ARM chip can outpace it, or atleast match it. clock for clock my old acorn achemedes beat a pc of the same year in raw processing power. When ARM was in the same market as x86, they dominated.

 

Also, the iPhone OS, and it's software is stripped the hell down underneath. Right here, on my desk is a 1993 commodore amiga 1200. it boots, loads a web browser, opens msn, and starts playing an mp3 before my monitor turns on. In actual, real world usage, your netbook gets spanked by something seen as outdated when mortal kombat II came out. It's all about the software. (to be fair, watching a youtube video is a terrible experiance that involves downloading it and running it in low res, low colour mode, but that's where the CPU comes in.)

 

2) Alright, flash support. Not apple's fault. the iPhone flash player adobe made sucked ass, and required the phone's cpu run full tilt constantly, destroying battery life. Apple told them to actually make a good peice of software, adobe spat ther dummy out. And flash is only the sh*tty parts of the internet. No flash? No adverts. Youtube, the only flash video website anyone ever uses, works on iPhone OS. No loss. Flash versions of sites made me want to kill myself.

 

3) The G1 keyboard doesn't compare to a tablet keyboard. On this one, the keys are actually the size of normal keys. Not to mention you'd type with your fingers, like on a computer, rather than with your thumb, like on a phone. Much quicker to get used to.

 

 

Will I buy one? Give it a couple of years. By then cheaper models will be out, iPhone os 4 will be out, with multittasking, apparently, and I can get one second hand. I can see this machine exploding with drawing, painting, CAD, etc apps, as well as being the best eBook reader in the world. I mean, really, kindles? a big ass tablet just to read a book and nothing else? I can save the $$$ and buy real books instead.

My dual core atom can decode 1080p content at full speed, this can't, that proves my Netbook is faster... I do know that ARM is better than x86 and that clock speed doesn't really matter in terms of different CPU makes.

 

Yeah, its stripped down so much that it can't do enough to really class it as something that will replace the netbook... My netbook is pretty fast, it has an SSD and boots up, loads Word, MSN, Foobar2k and Firefox in about a minute which is usually the same time it takes to plug in the network cable, power cable and fish my USB stick out of the bag for school anyway... That's not including that half the time I don;'t shut down, but put it in hibernate.

 

Flash support is Apples fault, this thing has a 1Ghz CPU, it can handle Flash quite easily, my 200Mhz Pentium MMX can, they can make Adobe code it, etc.

Oh and Hulu and Newgrounds aren't sh*tty, they both use flash too, plus there's all the sites that require flash that people might need to go to, for example sites where they get drivers from, they might be annoying but you can't use that as a reason for Flash not being included.

 

Yes, but onscreen keyboards lack feedback too, you can't tell if you've pressed the wrong key unless you're staring at the screen when typing (I know I don't need to on my G1.)

 

There are far better tablets, at least with the iPod and iPhone apple started it, then fell behind, this time they're starting behind everyone by using a heavily limited OS and crappy hardware. (How much RAM does it have?)

 

Edit: To put the nail in its coffin...

 

Edited January 29, 2010 by Joe.

[oc student]

Well that looks like a K.O to me. Variety is the spice of life...too bad the iPad is stuck with boring old Apple, well at least until it gets hacked.

[Pico]

Very nice pic there Joe

 

@oc student, if they do hack it, I hope some one puts Android on it!

Then it'll be a little more useful... lol.

[james227uk]

Nice picture Joe,

 

That's just K.O'd the iPad in one. I'd love to see the iPad's sales if that picture spread everywhere

[Slamman]

Fujitsu has their lawyers looking into suing over the name iPad.

Earlier I mentioned the laptop with removable screen, not much different. Price is high based on touch screen tech, which was always costly to manufacture. It existed in Control Data systems back in the early 1980s, for educational purposes. Now we see it on camcorders and phones, everywhere. Still, far above my cost limits

[Shaunr]

is that tablet multitouch though?i don't think so. and doesn't make sense that the headphone output on the ipad is mono. it isn't for the ipod touch or iphone.

[ChanandlerBong]

is that tablet multitouch though?i don't think so. and doesn't make sense that the headphone output on the ipad is mono. it isn't for the ipod touch or iphone.

Multi-touch isn't as great as the hype says. WOO pinch to zoom and other gimmicky stuff. I still like it on my iPod touch but I could live without it.

 

It's funny, all my friends in school who are hardly interested in tech at all know all about the iPad. But the general consensus is it's too big to carry and pointless for having at home. Nobody seems to want one unlike the iPhone.

[Tornado Rex]

Why does Apple hype multi-touch so much? It's not that great of a thing imo. I guess it's a little more convenient but I wouldn't use it as a selling point like everyone does.

[Democrab]

Fujitsu has their lawyers looking into suing over the name iPad.

Earlier I mentioned the laptop with removable screen, not much different. Price is high based on touch screen tech, which was always costly to manufacture. It existed in Control Data systems back in the early 1980s, for educational purposes. Now we see it on camcorders and phones, everywhere. Still, far above my cost limits

Touch screens are not expensive..? It costs AU$80 for a kit to convert my netbook to a touchscreen one, and that also has a controller, USB thing, etc.

[Slamman]

They were for a good number of years, I remember the price. Apple still charges a premium, but their loyal fans penny up. I'd go for that Hewlett Packard spec wise, but you could compare costs now and then.

 

Mono audio does seem suspect, that would be REAL budgetary cutting in the electronics

Edited January 30, 2010 by Slamman

[Grand Theft Auto Dude]

Really underwhelming. I wasn't hyped up for it, but I still expected something better than a giant iPhone with a few better apps.

 

And what the hell was wrong with the 'iSlate' name?

[Slamman]

The iPad jokes have come Fast and Furious ever since Jobs debuted it. One show called Steve Jobs the Thomas Edison of the modern age, yet no props for THE WOZ!! That's why I hate Apple still. I used to promote the Hell out of them, I still have an Apple sticker from the 1980s, and several floppy caddies.

 

It does sound like a nice electronic toy, If I could have one, I wouldn't shun it.

[Garfield 2]

I actually have a TC1100 - No one knew about it until the iPad got released lol, I feel so special now!

[Ats.]

I'm thinking of buying the iPad when it comes out in march. I just hope that the price will not increase much in Estonia. It would be excellent thing for me.

[Slamman]

\.posted a new amusing Jobs article in the iThread, I moved the full link there so as to avoid the OT here. All these announcements and interest have been spurred by the iPad release though. They covered it on the news to ask some insiders why it's always such a big deal when Jobs shows off some new tech, as compared to other companies. It could have been a good story, but they merely scratched the surface of it.

 

Edited January 31, 2010 by Slamman

[NickRad]

I have the iPad mini heres a pic http://www.devicemag.com/wp-content/upload.../ipod-touch.jpg

 

[Otter]

Why does Apple hype multi-touch so much? It's not that great of a thing imo. I guess it's a little more convenient but I wouldn't use it as a selling point like everyone does.

Like the joker above me, I've got an ipod touch, and multi-touch is incredible. Think about it this way - it's a single additional way to interface with the machine that results in exponentially larger possibilities. It's most definitely a selling point.

[Pico]

I wouldn't say it's that great. I've got multi-touch on my G1 and I hardly use it. I can pinch and spread my fingers to control zoom... not that helpful. Double taps work much easier, imo.

[Otter]

Say you're playing a game - how do you run and jump at the same time? Or in a graphics app, how do you zoom in and out? You'd prefer double tapping to a direct control over in and out? It has plenty of applications if the app's designers keep it in mind.

 

It really kind of baffles me that anyone would see it as superfluous. It's as integral to me now as the right mouse button on the PC. It just makes everything simpler.

Edited February 13, 2010 by Otter

[poopskin]

My opinion's changed a bit, i can't tell if i like it or hate it. on one hand, no flash, on the other hand, it would be kickass for movies and sh*t...

[lordjubblydave]

Apologies for the bump.

 

You probably have seen the "Hitler reacts to" videos before, but this one made me chuckle.

 

 

[LCstuntman]

The art teacher at our school said they are buying these for next year for students to use. It could work, but I think it's a waste of money - those things will get broken in less than 10 days.

[DEP]

i want one, but would be a waste of money, considering i could buy something more useful

[james227uk]

The art teacher at our school said they are buying these for next year for students to use. It could work, but I think it's a waste of money - those things will get broken in less than 10 days.

They would do much better with the HP touchsmart Joe posted a picture of some pages back.

 

Some kids these days will break anything. One thing you cannot do is trust teenagers with electronic equipment. I found my cousin taking the keys out of a school keyboard before

[lordjubblydave]

Ipads for schools ? PAH you kids have it so easy these days, when i was at school we had this:

 

It used to get wheeled around to classrooms on a trolley and was padlocked to a radiator,

i only used it twice in all my time at primary school.

 

Check out the Awesome Specs

 

Technical Specifications (Model B)

RAM: 32K (expandable to 128K)

ROM: 32K as standard, expandable to 272K with paged ROMs

CPU: MOS Technology 6502A at 2MHz, second processors (Z80, ARM, 68000, 80186) could be attached over the Acorn Tube® interface.

Graphics: Up to 8 physical colours, 16 logical colours (8 flashing), resolution up to 640x256 pixels. Additional Teletext mode with anti-aliased fonts.

Sound: 3 tone channels, 1 noise channel, SN76489 chip.

Data storage: Tape or floppy disk as standard, hard disk drive with additional ADFS ROM.

Interfaces: Serial (RS-423), Parallel (Centronics), floppy disk, tape, RGB video, RF video, 1MHz bus (for third party expansion hardware), "User" port (general purpose digital I/O), Analogue Interface (analogue joysticks, mouse, light pen), The Tube (second processor support), Econet (network support).

 

My watch is more powerful, although i was quite surprised to read it had networking capabilities

[Cursed]

One thing you cannot do is trust teenagers with electronic equipment. I found my cousin taking the keys out of a school keyboard before

Definetly not. You should see the state of the laptops at my school. Most have keys missing and they're all scratched up. Everything that can be removed is stolen. Ahem, not that I would know anything about that

 

As for the iPad. It's not something I would be interested in, or ever even consider buying. My laptop works find for when I'm moving about.