Apple iPad

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_appletablet1.jpg

 

Looks like Apple dropped the ball on this one. Basically, it's a 10-inch iPhone that can't make calls. It has a terrible aspect ratio (why they didn't go widescreen is beyond me) and a giant bezel. It doesn't appear to have multitasking or even Flash support (these haven't been confirmed as not present but they haven't been demoed either. UPDATE: No multitasking confirmed. Flash support still questionable. UPDATE 2: No Flash confirmed.) and really doesn't seem to be able to do much more than the standard iPhone, or even the iPod touch.

 

As far as actual features goes, it has a 9.7 inch screen, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+, an accelerometer, compass, speaker, and mic. It's rated at a 10 hour battery life (which is about the only really good thing so far) and has a 1 GHz "Apple processor" and 16GB-64GB of flash storage.

 

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_appletablet4.jpg

 

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_appletablet5.jpg

 

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_appletabletb2.jpg

 

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_appletablet6_01.jpg

 

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_appletablet7.jpg

 

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/appletablet/appletabletb279.jpg

 

-Images from Gizmodo

 

Keep in mind, though, that the Apple event is still occurring and new features are still being demoed. For instance, as I was typing this, Jobs revealed that the tablet will run a version of iWork. Tune in to one of these liveblogs to stay up-to-date. UPDATE: Live event is over. Head over to your favorite gadget blog for full coverage, or ask me here.

 

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/appletablet/appletabletb543.jpg

 

3G is either $15 a month for 250MB of data or $30 for unlimited which isn't bad but the price you pay for 3G capability is. 3G adds $130 to whatever version you want to get. Plus, it's AT&T so you're stuck with their network which has proven spotty to iPhone owners. There's no contract for the 3G coverage though and can be activated/deactivated at any time through the iPad, so that's a plus.

 

Wi-fi models shipping in late March. 3G models to ship in April.

 

Those were my original thoughts on the iPad when it was first announced about a month ago. Given time I've begrudgingly found myself wanting one even though I can't justify its purchase at all. My laptop is super portable and can do everything this can besides access the app store and browse over 3G. I probably won't get it until the inevitable 2.0 update to the hardware (camera, processor, memory, etc.) but what about the rest of you? Any of you thinking about getting it? If so, why? What niche does it fill in your life?

[Mom]

Maybe.

 

With the purchase of my i7 27 inch iMac, I finally have a true desktop computer with desktop components and huge ass screen. I might get the cheapest iPad to perfectly complement my needs for basic tasking, browsing and playing games while away from my desktop.

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

I can understand that.

 

The only reasoning I can come up with for my desire beyond gadget lust is that it's sometimes a pain to have to unplug/plug-in all the peripherals that I use with my laptop (external HD, printers, etc.) and the iPad I could just grab and go. The mic could be used for recording lectures in class since the onscreen keyboard probably wouldn't be able to keep up with speech. I could then replay them at home while reading the text/powerpoint/whatever.

 

Still shaky though.

[Tsuranga]

I'm pretty sure it has almost NONE of the capabilities of even a smartphone :S. The thing won't run word for notes, won't have an organizer, won't even have a damn pen. All it will do is play music, web browsing, watch movies, and read books only available on itunes. Also it only does ONE thing at once, so you can't play music and go ion the internets at the same time. If you did a bit of research you would see it's a major case of iPhail.

So... I'm gunna stick with my slate tablet, something that actually DOES stuff, like painting in cs3, real notes, real anything. While still being able to do anything the ipad does. But with BETTER games like KOTOR~!!!!!!!. Only downside is battery life and weight :S

[Mom]

Considering it has the same operating system as the iPhone-- which is a smartphone, and has a processor with tenfold the power, I'm sure it has the capabilities of other smartphones.

 

Actually it can play iTunes while browsing the web. Simple multitasks like that it can do. Having a full-fledged operating system with multiple apps running in different windows (minimized or on screen at same time) it can't.

 

It will be able to run the whole iWorks suite, which includes a word processor, power point creator and spreadsheet.

 

Steve Jobs publicly stated one of the big reasons why he kept Flash out of the iPad was because of battery life. He quoted something like 10 hours without flash, and only 2 hours with flash.

 

I still find it hard to like the iPad though.

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

Didn't your tablet cost like ~$1000? Does it have the ability to browse the internet anywhere over a 3G network without signing up for a contract? Can it run any of the thousands and thousands of apps in the app store?

 

iCal is an organizer/scheduler and in addition to the iWork suite there's Notes that lets you jot down things like to-do lists.

 

You seem to be missing the point of this device. It's not meant to replace a computer for things like photoshop and stuff. This is for people who 90% of their computer experience is sending emails, watching ut00b, and social networking sites. This isn't for the graphic designer or the hardcore gamer. It's for someone who wants to do the stuff in my previous sentence while they're on a bus, on a plane, in a waiting room, in a coffee shop, in class, or in the park but they don't want to bring a heavier laptop with them or they don't want to spend an exorbitant amount of money for the portability that today's tablets offer.

[Mom]

No if I remember right his tablet cost a little over 2000. I have a decent recollection of its price because for the longest time, that's all he would talk about in chat.

[Harakiri Tiger]

I don't think Apps in the Apple App Store compare to full applications available on the net for regular PC's/Mac's.

 

Also, 3G isn't something magical. It's far poorer in application over using a standard net connection or wireless hotspot. It's kinda like a... if I go up on a mountain that's still inside of a 3G broadcasters signal, I'll still have fast internet. Otherwise, you really won't be maxing even a 2G connection. If you can't utilize the abilities of the network, it's useless. Where else are you going to be sitting around for so long that you plan on downloading applications or using the internet at over 100KB/sec that doesn't have a Wi-Fi hotspot? I have yet to see a single 3G smart phone hit over 150KB/sec download and 3G, theoretically, can download at around 1,750KB/sec. There's a huge discrepancy there.

 

WiFi+3G @ 64GB SSD for $850? Plus, you still have to pay $30 a month for that 3G access to be unlimited? That's $360 every year. You'll need unlimited if you're actually using your 3G connection too. Regular 3G connection users max out their bandwidth limits within a few days if they're not paying for unlimited access.

 

Anyway, I don't know if that's even remotely a good idea. It seems like a trinket you buy just to show off your income. There are laptops that are slightly larger and fully outperform the iPad and all its features for $700. You should visit NewEgg and TigerDirect more often, if you don't believe me.

 

I, for one, won't be buying an iPad. I have much better things to spend my money on. I need to buy a functioning laptop so I don't have to carry my PC around. Seriously, why should I pay nearly $1,000 for this thing? What could I even use it for? It can't edit a website, is there an App for using an FTP or monitoring an SQL database? Is there an App that will run SC2 or Fallout3? Do you really wanna type your reports for school up on a screen like that? Imagine typing a 2,000 word document on that thing, in your school library. Just imagine it. Laying down your iPad on the table next to all your friends netbooks. Then you start typing and you can't even see the words you're typing over your fingers without leaning over your iPad, thanks to your onscreen keyboard eating up half the screen and requiring you to put your hands in the way. Classy.

 

I mean, really? I'm supposed to pay roughly $1,000 so that I can have an MP3 player + PDA? Wtf. My entire God damn PC cost me barely $1,200. Why should I limit myself to something that can't even access half of the web and doesn't have the capability to run Diablo I for the same price?

 

Not. Happening.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

You seem to be missing the point of this device. It's not meant to replace a computer for things like photoshop and stuff. This is for people who 90% of their computer experience is sending emails, watching ut00b, and social networking sites. [...] It's for someone who wants to do the stuff in my previous sentence while they're on a bus, on a plane, in a waiting room, in a coffee shop, in class, or in the park but they don't want to bring a heavier laptop with them or they don't want to spend an exorbitant amount of money for the portability that today's tablets offer.

 

So me, basically. I dunno though this thing seems pointless to me. An iPhone would do all the same stuff I'd want this thing to do except watch movies...but I don't mind waiting til I get home for that.

 

I don't like this iPad thing. I like the idea behind it, but then I remembered that the iPhone is that anyways and I was like nah I'll get an iPhone. Then I saw how much they cost to own and upkeep and I was like nah I'll just stick to this shitty phone my mom bought me the other day.

 

Shitty phone ftw!

 

It seems like a trinket you buy just to show off your income.

 

This is actually exactly what I thought when I saw this thing.

[Mom]

You guys have different purposes and needs tho so wouldn't benefit at all from it.

 

Take me. I have a powerful desktop at home. I don't have an iPhone, nor would I want a laptop to do any serious computing on the road. I liked having a psp to play games on while places, but it lacks in a lot of stuff the iPad could provide. I'd most likely get the 499 version of the iPad, and only use wireless hotspots/ play games/watch movies while on the road. A cheap netbook wouldn't quite have the portability factor of the iPad, nor would it have the full-fledged support of apple's app-store, which sold its 10 millionth/billionth app this past month I believe. Or was that iTunes, I dunno.

 

So yes, it's all rather you fit in the niche to have this device. I dunno why you would make an argument against the thing when you want a portable computer that you can do full-fledged site editing on-- that's not really a fare argument.

 

Also, this thing just came out. In about half a year it'll probably be way cheaper and have much more support from 3rd parties. Remember the iPhone? It cost 500 usd when it first came out. Now you can get it for 99 usd with a contract.

 

Granted I still probably wont get one.

[Harakiri Tiger]

iPad Features - Key Details

• 1/2" thin and only 1 1/2 lbs
  
• 9.7" IPS display with multi-touch sensors
  
• 1GHz Apple A4 chip.
  
• Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
  
• Supports 16 to 64 GB Flash Storage
  
• Accelerometer
  
• Compass
  
• Speaker
  
• Microphone
  
• 30-pin connector
  
• 10 hours of battery life, 1 month standby
  
• Environmentally friendly being Arsenic-free, BRF-free, Mercury-free, PVC-free and is highly recyclable.
  
• Runs all iPhone apps, and can run them full screen by doubling the pixels.
  

It has a beautiful display capable of showing great HD-quality video and is designed to browse the web, read email, listen to music, browse photo albums, watch videos and read eBooks.

 

Compare that to this Toshiba Netbook from NewEgg for the same price as the lowest price iPad. $499.

 

Click this link and visit the specifications tab: >Toshiba Satelite

 

Obviously, we don't have reference stats for everything so that it's easy to match-up. But we can match some stats. Size, Power, Storage, Net Connectivity, Battery Life, Software.

 

It has the clear advantage in Size, Net Connectivity, and Battery Life and a clear disadvantage in Power and Storage. So it definitely fits the concepts of a portable computer, at least. As to whether the trade-offs between the stats are worthwhile or not... that's up to the software it can use.

 

Software. So what can the iPad do, as far as confirmed major purposes? That first quote says a few things at the bottom. Sounds good, too.

 

It's web browsing is limited due to lack of Flash, though. Many sites don't just use Flash as part of their site, but as their entire site or as key navigation features. Most online classes for large accredited universities use Flash as part of their online classroom tools. That's not a good thing. This can be fixed if they add an "Enable Flash" feature into the OS. No really big deal, there. Does it outclass the netbook in any way when browsing the web? No. It's underclassed when it comes to browsing the WWW, though partially remediable.

 

I'm fairly certain they're 100% even at reading e-mails.

 

Listening to music from the iTunes store sounds perfectly fine to me. It does cut into listening to much non-iTunes music, though. How many codecs can this thing play? Hopefully, more than just a few. Otherwise, you may have to rebuy all your music through iTunes if you aren't currently an iTunes customer. Luckily, many people who listen to portable music are iTunes customers.

 

I'm fairly certain it will be able to browse all the same photo's as the netbook.

 

Watching videos, though. That brings us back to the music codec problem. Will it be able to play anyone's downloaded/ripped DVD's? If not, and with no DVD drive, that means we have to re-buy all our DVD's from Apple just to watch them on the thing. It doesn't help that the SSD is only 64GB, max. That's not much video storage. I don't want to have to pick and choose my DVD's and then erase what's on my iPad and then download what I want on there before a trip or short excursion to the cafe. Also, I don't want to have to store all my iTunes downloaded videos on an external HDD with their duplicate non-iTunes versions, but I don't want to have to re-download them every time I want to watch them, either. I find it to be a highly dubious claim that the iPad will play normal ripped video, though.

 

Anyway, that leaves e-books. Whatever e-books end up on the iBook store, will probably be on the Amazon/Borders stores and availabe as online e-books for their own e-book readers. So no major advantage or disadvantage there. What the iPad gets in e-books is the form factor and page handling. It's much easier to read on such an object than it is to read on a netbook. It's just a matter of angles and turning pages. iPad would just be much more easier.

 

So this leaves all your other stuff? Do you plan on using it for something else? In almost every other scenario it'll be outdone by a netbook, though. The only thing that it has over a netbook is access to the App Store. The trade-off? Access to the WWW's installable applications. Whatever the custom application count on the App Store, I can gaurantee that the application count on the net is far, far more vast. We do have another trade-off for that, though. Viruses/Malware and other false software.

 

So yah. Idk. To me, this seems like a complete waste of money so that you can buy an oversized Kindle reader. When the price goes down it'll be much more considerable as a portable computer option. Until then, though, it's just a toy.

 

-----

 

Here are some generic numbers I found that may be useful for future discussion.

 

Spoiler! --Click Here to View!--

What were the numbers behind today's Apple Tablet Live event in San Francisco?

• 284: The number of retail stores Apple currently has throughout the world
  
• 250 Million: The number of visitors to those stores in the last holiday quarter alone
  
• 140,000: The number of apps in Apple's app store as of today
  
• 3 Billion: The number of app downloads from those 140k apps
  
• 34: The number of years since Apple was founded in 1976
  
• 15.6 Billion: Apple's revenue in the last holiday quarter alone
  
• 9.7: The size, in inches, of the Apple iPad hardware's full capacitive multi-touch display
  
• 1.5: The weight of the Apple iPad Tablet, in pounds
  
• 64: The total size in GB of flash storage available for the Apple iPad
  
• $14.99: The price of a sample book in Apple's new ebook store, Apple iBook
  
• $9.99: The price for the iWork app for the Apple iPad
  
• $14.99: The price for an Apple iPad data plan, per month, up to 250MB
  
• $29.99: The price for an unlimited data plan for the iPad
  
• $499.99: The starting price for an Apple iPad
  
• $130: The additional price for a model with 3G connectivity
  
• $0: The monthly fees for 3G service
  
• 60: The number of days until the Apple iPad officially ships to retail
  
• 0: The number of iPads Verizon will sell, contrary to rumors before the event.

-----

 

Links:

-

Toshiba Satelite (NewEgg)

-

Toshiba Satelite (Toshiba Official Site)

-

Apple iPad Features

-

Apple Tablet Live in Numbers

 

 

 

EDIT: Copy/Pasting stat info caused my text to use a funny font. Oh well.

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

So Niji and I argued for two hours in chat about this thing and neither one of us swayed in our opinions. I guess we'll see how it does when it comes out!

[Adonael]

My opinion is it's a cheep way for apple to make money. Anyone can take a product an blow it up to a bigger size. Plus that hard drive for basic is just crap. Just wait. Droid and all the other competitors will probably follow in their footsteps and start making super sized phones.

 

It's a complete waste of money. I don't need to delve any further into it because everyone else pretty much covered everything.

[Mom]

My opinion is it's a cheep way for apple to make money. Anyone can take a product an blow it up to a bigger size.

 

Not really.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=868471

 

lus that hard drive for basic is just crap

 

It's not a harddrive tho, it's a solid state-- way superior performance but way higher price tag. Did you honestly think you could fit an hdd into something that's only half an inch thick at its thickest part?

Edited February 25, 2010 by TMRaven

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

Also, it's not just a bigger iphone. The better processor means it can open/switch apps faster as well as allowing for more powerful apps to be created.

[Harakiri Tiger]

But the actual storage space and processor power are very tiny compared to computing standards. 16GB of space is not ideal for much at all, especially if you plan on watching movies. The processing power of an ARM chip is minuscule compared to the power of a standard mobile specific processor.

 

There's zero benefit to the speed of an SSD in a system that can house the entire OS and application data in it's RAM and there's no reason for an object of that size and that cost not to have 2GB of 800MHz RAM, at the very least. You're not running 4GB installation games on this thing, you're running stuff under 300MB almost exclusively. Point me to the nearest App you plan on installing that's over 300MB. If it's not over 300MB, you won't really benefit from the SSD's speed. You might get a loading time of 1-2 seconds faster. Occasionally, when heavily fragmented up to 2-4 seconds faster for large applications. A 5400RPM drive can load about 60MB of data in a second. That means 120MB in 2 seconds, 180MB in 3 seconds, 240MB in 4 seconds and 300MB in 5 seconds. An SSD's speed is good for large applications with large file counts. You could potentially load 300MB in around 2 seconds on an SSD.

 

What you get from the SSD is low power consumption and great shock absorption. All so that an iPod can trump your storage capacity and you can pay 4x the price of an HDD with 4-5x the storage space. That low power consumption and shock absorption are what they need, though. My advice is to wait till they release much larger SSD models, though.

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

iPad 2 announced today. Available March 11 in the US.

 

Faster processor, faster graphics, HDMI Full HD output, the 720p HD camera on the back, frontal VGA camera.

 

• Dual-core 1GHz A5 processor, 2x faster.
  
• GPU 9x faster.
  
• Thinner than the iPhone 4 and 33% thinner than the current iPad.
  
• The weight down from 1.5 pounds to 1.3 pounds.
  
• Same battery life and price as last-gen model.
  

 

Same display resolution.

[Shirtless Crackhead]

There will probably be another before Christmas.

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

Those are some of the rumors, yeah. They're saying iPad 2 was released just to keep up with the yearly product release that Apple sticks to but they'll release another later this year and move the release schedule to every fall so the iPad doesn't lose Christmas revenue by being a 9 month old product.

[Mom]

So much for the iPad not being successful tho. Weren't the numbers like 10 million sold last year. This update is every bit of what I expected, as in Apple needed to update it so it had same capabilities as iPhone 4 and iPod touch.

 

Would be cool to see that rumored retina display for iPad that might be coming out near christmas or early next year though. I really want oled display too. Frankly I'm tired of the limitations of LCDs and their backlights.

 

I already got the iPod touch tho so fk it. iPod touch's screen is beautiful spare not being IPS.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

Did anyone say it wouldn't be successful though? I didn't know anyone who did and I haven't read this thread too carefully yet. I mean, it's a new iProduct. Those things always sell well. Whether its from Apple fanboys or hipsters, they'll get theirs.

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

If iPad 3 is going to be released out of cycle then it'll definitely be later this year. I really doubt they'd wait a year and a half and miss out on another holiday shopping season. I see it coming in the fall with the next wave of iPods. As it is, iPad is in a weird spot. Laptops tend to get updated together. Desktops get updated together. iPods, which iPad is most similar to, get updated together. iPhone gets an exception since Apple doesn't want anything, even their own products, to take any attention away from iPhone releases.

[Mom]

Oh, probably not in this thread no, but in other forums or places ya. Lots of people flat out hate Apple, just like lots of people flat out obsess over Apple.

 

There was a big argument about it not cutting into netbook sales, but various charts showed that it did.

 

Apple used to hold media events for their computer releases, but now everything gets updated silently and only iPhone/iPad get events. Sadface.

Edited March 2, 2011 by TMRaven

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

What's a netbook? Sorry if that's something basic.

 

EDIT: and anyone who said it wouldn't sell well was probably being a dumb faggot.

Edited March 2, 2011 by Penguin Deus

[Mom]

Netbooks are small and cheap laptops basically. There are some expensive netbooks that run very low clocked core2duos or amd athlons and whatnot, but most run off intel atom. The price range is usually around 300.