Yeah, they should at least announce multi-tasking; the rumored Expose style would be great. Hopefully with multi-tasking also comes a better notification system than the current pop-up. Android's notification bar is awesome, so either that something like that or something similar to OSX's Growl.
I hate the whole multitasking argument. It's a design decision by Apple. A design decision that they'll stick to until they can come out with an implementation for multitasking that they are pleased with. We're talking about the company that refused to ship anything more than a one-button mouse for decades until they invented the "no-button" mouse. It's not something that is going to really hurt their sales at all. The geeky friends that I have that fell for the "multitasking" critique bought alternative smartphones that they now realize have other issues way more severe than a lack of multitasking, or they do what I did and just jailbreak their iPhones. More than one friend has bought an iPhone to replace a so-called competitor because the iPhone just freaking works. Show me a tablet computer with multitasking that just freaking works as well as the iPad, and maybe I'll be interested. But probably not, because I'll just buy an iPad and jailbreak it and get the best of both worlds.
No, the iPad isnt missing the point...its not setting out to replace a notebook. Again, I will state why I have the iPad (not directed towards you, YallMean, but rather, anyone that is curious as to why I would spend 500+ on it). 1) I want an e-reader. I could spend a few hundred on the kindle (w/ the bad ass e-ink, as mentioned), but my preference is to add a couple hundred more to it and have something with more functionality. This right here, eliminates every single notebook for me. I have a notebook, I hate reading on it. I want something I can hold in my hand like a book or magazine. 2) I travel a ton. I like movies, tv shows, games, and reading. I can occupy my time on flights by having something that is perfectly designed to keep me happy on a plane. 3) The App store is awesome. I thoroughly enjoy having the ability to run to the store and get something to keep me entertained for hours. If you have ADD, then you probably love this too. 4) Its sleek, simple, and easy to use. 5) The screen and resolution are awesome. 6) I like to sit back and watch a lot of tv. Id much rather browse the internet with a 1.5 lb object in my lap than a heavier laptop. Just makes life more simplified. Also, probably the thing that makes my decision the easiest...I have been single for a couple months now and I have excess cash to spend. 1 weekend with my ex-girlfriend equals the price of the iPad. Its a no brainer for me.
The ipad is too big to hold in a bus or train for e-reading, IMO. The travel entertainment, trust me, the best entertainment on a plane is a nice pillow and good nap. A full blown xbox aint going to entertain on that sucker. Also what's wrong w/ in flight movie or in-flight TV. The TV, movie fetish is just ain't going to justify the existence of ipad. PDA browsers are pretty nice already for quick news read. Well, if you like it, good for you.
If Im not horizontal, I cant sleep, but sleeping on planes is impossible for me. I wish I could, that would be great. In flight movies...you have to watch what they show on the plane...you usually have a bad angle at the tv. The tv is small and not in good definition. In other words, I'd rather provide my own entertainment. Im not necessarily saying for someone to get an iPad to watch tv or movies, but it is something positive that it does for me. There really isnt anything else out there that is as portable as an iPad, can be an e-reader, provide you with great quality video, games, etc... Yes, I can walk on a plane with a kindle, game boy, Men's Health mag, hard cover book, and portable DVD player...or I can roll all of that up into a 1.5 lb, half an inch thick iPad. I can understand why someone wouldnt want one...but I think it can also suit the desires of many.
It's not going to justify its existence to you... you should say. There's a reason why they are selling... if there were so many flaws to it like you're saying, people would just return it.
And what's the obsession with email? Why can't people just write letters to each other anymore. And don't get me started about color televisions. In flight entertainment sucks. American shows 30% ads now.
LOL -- At least I can always count on DoD to actually understand what I'm trying to communicate. That really is the bottom line -- it simply doesn't have a "killer feature" that makes it worthy of a premium. It is riding purely on Apple's marketing and goodwill right now, the way I see it. Perhaps that will change like it did for the iPhone with the app store, but right now it really just an expensive gadget with no significant purpose. You've also hinted on something else that was on my mind -- competition. Apple is great at cornering these markets and snagging most of the available mind share before worthy competition is able to come in and make formidable opposition, and their customers end up being the losers. They won't see it that way because as far as they're concerned, they 1) are getting a great product and 2) they're satisfied with it. The problem is that they could be getting more, but they're content to live without more and happily accept when Cupertino tells them they don't need more, and when somebody else bursts on to the scene actually offering them more for less, it is extremely difficult for them to gain market share due to sheer brand loyalty. They'll even fall over themselves trying to explain to you why they don't need more (case in point: myriad ridiculous arguments about why multitasking on a smartphone and even a tablet device is "unnecessary"). Of course, this is basic capitalism at work, but for tech enthusiasts like me it does get quite annoying. The tragedy in the end is that innovation gets stifled -- see Apple's recent ridiculous proxy patent lawsuit against HTC. There is some hope that this round will be different. The competition this time around isn't as slow out of the gate as it was with MP3 players and smartphones -- Courier, Slate, Gemini, JooJoo. Maybe at least one of these companies will execute right and the iPad will have enough worthy competition that Steve Jobs won't be able to just stand up there and tell all of his faithful followers that they don't need Flash so that he can protect his app catalog revenues. It's nothing more than a glimmer of hope though. Google has by far had the best chance of challenging the Apple hegemony, but to be honest their execution on Android has been a little less than stellar. Too much fragmentation, for starters. An Android tablet with videoconferencing, magnetometer, HD video capability, real multitasking, wireless syncing, FM radio and expandable USB storage would be a nice start. But it probably won't sell because it will simply suffocate under the relentless waves of Apple marketing. Google and Microsoft are probably the only two companies with the financial strength to counter it, but they don't do it effectively (Microsoft particularly suffering from historical bad reputation). It could be worse, though -- see how Tamara Hope and a little company called Modernista killed Palm.
Can you even plug a usb stick or usb external drive to this? Nice screen for movies but all my movies are huge. HOw much space does this thing have to devote to my movies? Would be nice if some of the tablets that came out allowed you to hook another PC or console to it to use as a video screen.
my problem with this thing is..it's like a watered down laptop in an oversized iphone format. how can i carry this around all the time? i would have to plan on taking this somewhere. i wont use it at home because theres a nice desktop and laptop here. on the road i want something that's portable that i can put away easily in my pocket or something. reminds me of those phones with the BIGGG buttons for old people.
You guys really want to HOLD something for an hour or two while watching TV or sitting on a plane? Personally, I rather have a laptop next to me and surf the web when I need to. I got to play with one for a bit and to me it is nothing more than a niche product. It certainly is "hip" looking. If you are a student who carries a laptop for class, why would you want to add more weight by carrying the iPAD? If you are a home user who has a laptop sitting on the coffee table next to you, whats the use?
Don't feel bad JeopardE, I got what you were asking as I have the same concerns myself. I LOVE gadgets and other tech toys, but I don't have a ton of money to throw around so I have to be judicious in what I buy. I could see buying something that does what this does, but not in it's current state and not at it's current price point, just way too much for what it does. btw....you will have to excuse certain Apple fans, they almost always see a criticism of apple as an attack....it stems from the old Mac/PC flame wars. FWIW, I never read JeopardE's posts as a Apple attack.
I'm with R2K on this: The price point is just way too high for me for what it does. Plus I'm trying to declutter, rather then accumulate more 'stuff.' But I'm starting to see its attraction. Rez: What's the screen like? Are you concerned it will break easily? Especially jammed into a knapsack or briefcase? Or scratch up?
Pointing out something Apple did has nothing to do with MS. Please don't revert this to a nerd fight.
On numerous occasions in this forum I've taken shots at apple. I've been an apple hater for years, but recently I've been warming up to their side of things. Heck, I almost got my mom a mac recently. With that said, I don't think I was ever as disappointed in a new piece of technology as I was in the iPad. When Gizmodo started talking about the apple tablet I was excited. The notion of bringing a unix based OS, to the tablet market (that isn't a linux distro) is awesome in concept. For years Gates and Co. struggled making a decent tablet OS. Tablets in general do not have the hardware to run windows correctly. Mac OS needs a little less horsepower to run fluently, so the notion of an apple tablet is intriguing. The thing is, what the tablet market needs most is the viewpoint of someone else. The same garbage is made year after year by different manufacturers and every year the same problems arise. The tablet market needed ingenuity, and Apple is a great company in that regard, Apple is astounding at reinventing the wheel. Heck, the iPhone revolutionized the phone market; OS X is the reason Windows 7 is so great. Apple has a way of stimulating the market enough such that its competitors have to get off their fat asses and actually design something new. Unfortunately, we did not get an apple tablet, we got the "iPad". The iPad takes all the latest and greatest technology of 1999 and packages it together in a sleek looking iPhone on steroids box. Without flash, microsoft word (which yes, it will come to the iPad soon), and an decent level of multitasking we have Windows 98 retooled to look nice. The iPad is great for those with disposable incomes, money to waste. I'm a college student, of course I waste my money, but even I won't buy an iPad unless some pretty big changes are made. The HP slate provides a glimmer of hope to the tablet market. With flash support, a streamlined Windows 7 experience, dual cameras for video chat, and full USB AND media card support the slate "seems" to make up for what the 'pad lacks. The issue is, until arm processors can fully catch up to the x86 procs we have a problem. There will always be this Sophie's choice of battery life or speed. Even moreso, the tablet market is getting more graphics intensive. If there aren't great reforms in graphics processing, the tablet market will hit a wall. Ultimately the Apple iPad fails for one reason: it is another piece of garbage in the tablet market, and wait for it... wait for it... it isn't really even a tablet. I'm not about to say that the HP Slate will pick up where apple left off, far from it. In fact, I think the Slate and the iPad will be like fraternal twins, they will look similar, be like night and day in the differences of experience, but at the end of it all what one lacks the other has. Buying either product only gives you half of what you want. The tablet market desperately needs new ideas, otherwise, it will end up killing itself.
