I had an iPad moment last night.
I was watching Steve Jobs and company do the roll out for the iPad on my Dell Laptop last night. It looked pretty cool. Then my dog came up to me an insisted on some quality time. I had to go into the living room and sit on the couch with him. We don’t call him Psycho Pup for nothing.
So I unplugged the laptop and carried it into the living room. The movie kept playing without a hitch. Ah the wonders of wireless. But it was sort of inconvenient walking around with an open laptop – hard not to accidentally put fingers on keys, heavy and awkward to carry, particularly with the open lid. I put it down on the end table, then sat down and gave the dog his due.
After quite a while coddling the pup I decided to go into the kitchen for a snack. The iPad movie was quite long and still playing, so I took the laptop with me. It was just as awkward on that little trip. That’s when I had my iPad moment. I realized how much nicer it would be carrying a 1.5 pound device with the form factor of The Ladies’s Home Journal around from room to room while never missing a beat. With pricing starting at $499 I think this thing just might be the killer Apple hopes it is.
No, I’m not going to buy one right now. But when it comes time to replace my old Dell laptop, I’ll be getting an iPad.
~jon
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Eh, dunno. I watched the roll-out, too (and did you catch the twitter feed?). Anyhoo, $499 is for the basic model, it’ll go up for 3g and wifi. Data plans will cost extra. For ‘full’ laptop functionality, you’ll need to attach the accessory keyboard (which costs extra) and I betcha that’ll drain the 10-hour battery real quick. And you can’t easily go power-walking to the music with 1.5 pounds strapped to your waistband.
I have a kindle dx. I’ve barely used it, mostly because so many novels I want aren’t available in the format (like — small press, midlist older novels, etc). The itunes bookstore will also be limited.
But I do like the full-color capacity. Tres cool…
BTW, I left you something on my blog. Please, go fetch it ;^)
Peace, Linda
Oh, and what an unfortunate name – ipad. Girls, you know what I mean… Peace, Linda
The unfortunate name was not lost on me.
~jon
Also consider this: when you set your laptop down you can move the screen to a comfortable angle. The iPad you would have to place flat on the table or hold. [Maybe there will be an iEasel accessory available to prop it up.] That may not be a deal breaker, but it is something to consider in ease and comfort of use.
You can get a cover for it, which doubles as a two-way stand, nearly upright as an easel for reading or viewing videos, or slightly elevated, for typing. It looks like they pretty well thought it through.
~jon
Most technological progress seems geared to letting us multitask better (patting dogs, watching videos and snacking), which is NOT making life simpler, IMHO.
Stick with your Dell, hit pause, and save yourself 5 Benjamins (or more).
–John
Oh, I intend to stick with my Dell until it dies. But my replacement very well may be an iPad, or something very similar. Actually, it is almost exactly like the computers I describe in my science fiction novels, which might explain my affinity for it. Very much like I imagine a computer should be.
~jon
Hi Jon, I’ve had an iPhone for 7 months and simply cannot not live without it. It does everything. I waited and watched for the iPad announcement and even though it doesn’t do as much as I wanted it to,I still think it’s FANTASTIC! I don’t need one at this point. I, too, have a Dell laptop, an Asus netbook and my iPhone. But boy oh boy, do I WANT one!!!
I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself when they come out! Want to wait in line together?? ~ Olivia
It will be hard, but I will resist. Of course, if the Dell just happens to fall off the desk…
~jon
I’m excited about the iPad. I use a computer for real work, and I use an iPod Touch for casual web, story reading, email, etc. The large screen will be great.
This is the future for simple casual use with enough power to do something interesting in a pinch. This is what many casual users should have instead of a super-powered laptop that never sees much action.
There wasn’t anything about it I didn’t like. Even the productivity apps – $9.95 each? From Apple? I was stunned at the low price of those. I think Steve Jobs finally realizes that selling billions of units at low prices makes a lot more money than selling millions of units at inflated prices. The iTunes store must have been a real eye opener for him. Apple makes most of its money now selling content, not hardware. This simply accelerates that trend. I hope to provide some of that content. I think it’s awesome.
~jon
(Please excuse the size of this reply, but I’m offering some background to my opinion.)
There was no doubting that the first iPhone wasn’t a great. The thing that made it special was the touch screen; or more importantly the fact that you didn’t need a keyboard because the onscreen one was good enough for basic typing.
Other manufactures /have/ learnt from this, but at the same time Apple has learnt from everyone else and added things to the iPhone that were missing (MMS, copy and paste).
With the iPad, what Apple is really doing is making computing for the masses simple, in the same way that they did with MP3 players. Before the iPod came along there were plenty of MP3 players, but there was no integration. Now when Joe Blogs buys one, he can install iTunes and just has to feed his CDs in (or buy music online). Even today the music software you get with other portable players (and phones) is put to shame by iTunes. It’s not the best music software (I also use WinAmp), but it’s the best for the general public.
The iPad is much the same thing. Many have tried with a tablet, but all the models have been too difficult to use for the normal person who just wants to press a button and see a web page. The main problem has been Windows, which is far too complicated for what is needed.
Most people just want to browse the web, check emails via MSN and look at cool things they’re friends have sent them on Facebook or Youtube. The iPad does this (barring Youtube at the moment) and it does it with (more or less) instant on and a simple interface. They don’t want to run a major graphics package, write a novel, or edit a movie. They want to check cinema times and read the newspaper.
This doesn’t escape the fact that the iPad is not as good as it could be. A front facing camera would have been cool; but then how many people make video calls? A couple of rear facing ones would have been fun; but who plays with augmented reality at the moment? Loads more storage is needed; but only for those of us with massive music and movie collections.
The iPad is much like your average fridge or a washing machine: it does what the majority want to do the majority of the time. I’d like to think it’ll kick Sony et al up the behind, but sadly, unless Apple license their OS or someone does something really good with a version of Linux, everything else that is released will be a pale imitation that’s too complicated.
I suspect a lot of people will buy the iPad and in a year Apple will bring out a new, and improved version.
From a personal perspective my current phone (Nokia E71) is never off and effectively does everything I want from a computer (except play MMOGs) but the screen isn’t ideal for reading books, web pages and newspapers (nor is the one of the iPhone for that matter) and while I can write blogs and stories on the word processor and QWERTY keypad it’s not the perfect experience. Something I can use while on a train or in an airport lounge that’s bigger but just as easy to carry around would be great (and I don’t mind paying the extra for a real keyboard). Plus at $499 (not much more than a Kindle) it’s a good price.
Apple’s a company I’ve enjoyed for some time, they produce technology that is visually gorgeous while working like a charm. I can’t say that about alot of companies, it’s usually one or the other. Tech businesses don’t usually take aesthetics seriously like Apple. With that said I’ve got to say that I’m very excited about the upcoming Tablet. One thing I question though, is it too soon? I think that this product may be ahead of its time. What do you think?
Tasks and company understandably plan on containing early productions from papers, magazine publishing houses, TV networks and Hollywood movie studios as the iPad bowls out. Merely there wasn?t much talk about any of those media merchandises during the launch effect.