OT: Apple Tablet Tomorrow - Mgraw-Hill CEO soon to be dead

[Sport73]

Anyone use it in the bathroom yet?

Of course, that's one of the iPas's raision d'être, and if you must know it makes surfing while doing your business sublime.

[sportdan30]

For me, it's definitely more of a want than a need at the moment. My Macbook suits me exceptionally well (going on four years and this baby still runs like new). However, I like the idea of the portability of the Ipad. Browsing internet sites, checking email, photos, using the e-reader functionality, watching videos while on the road, etc. In addition, living in a two story house, taking it up and down the stairs would be a little easier than lugging the Mabook around. I just wish the dang thing had a video camera....

[wco81]

Maybe the processor, the amount of RAM and the GPU aren't quite up to making a good video chat experience.

There are indications that a video camera was in some of the prototypes but the teardowns indicate 256 or 512 MB of RAM. Despite reports of the speed of the interface, it may not have the power to capture and render video smoothly.

iChat had different resolutions depending on the speed of the processor, amount of RAM and speed of connection.

[XXXIV]

Anyone use it in the bathroom yet?

Of course, that's one of the iPas's raision d'être, and if you must know it makes surfing while doing your business sublime.

...Ummm...which business? #1, #2 or an #800

[Sport73]

Anyone use it in the bathroom yet?

Of course, that's one of the iPas's raision d'être, and if you must know it makes surfing while doing your business sublime.

...Ummm...which business? #1, #2 or an #800

Only #2 and #800 are suitable iPad experiences. #1 is iPhone.

[MizzouRah]

Would the base $499 model be a bad purchase? 16 GB seems fine now, but I'm not so sure later on...

I'm also thinking I might like the one that also has 3G built in, which might come in handy on trips.

[macsomjrr]

Picked up the 32gb today. Love it!

K back to messing around with it:)

[MizzouRah]

I want to hear more!

[sportdan30]

I want to hear more!

As do I. I've been reading a ton of impressions over at macrumors.com. Of course, the large majority is going to be positive.

[JRod]

Well I'll be happy to answer questions...I'll do my best not to get to lemming like!

So far it's a great device that does what was promised.

[wco81]

Would the base $499 model be a bad purchase? 16 GB seems fine now, but I'm not so sure later on...

I'm also thinking I might like the one that also has 3G built in, which might come in handy on trips.

Videos, photos and music take up most of the space. eBooks shouldn't take up much space. But there are people interested in loading big PDFs, like some big manuals or something.

Apps. until now have been very small but there may be book apps. (as opposed to eBooks on iBooks) which takes up more space than typical apps.

There could be people flipping their Wifi models for the 3G models when they come out later. You also presume that if and when you sell a 3G model, they will fetch close to $130 more than the used Wifi models.

iPhones fetch good money on the used market. But they're not sold unsubsidized. iPads are unsubsidized so they may not hold as much relative value.

[Sport73]

Would the base $499 model be a bad purchase? 16 GB seems fine now, but I'm not so sure later on...

I'm also thinking I might like the one that also has 3G built in, which might come in handy on trips.

If you don't travel a ton or plan to use the iPad for office documents, the 16GB is plenty. I say that because you may want the extra space for multiple movies when traveling, or for large Pages/Word files or presentations. For general use, the 16 is enough; Apple will be offering cloud services for iTunes relegating local storage less necessary soon anyway (rumor).

[JRod]

Would the base $499 model be a bad purchase? 16 GB seems fine now, but I'm not so sure later on...

I'm also thinking I might like the one that also has 3G built in, which might come in handy on trips.

If you don't travel a ton or plan to use the iPad for office documents, the 16GB is plenty. I say that because you may want the extra space for multiple movies when traveling, or for large Pages/Word files or presentations. For general use, the 16 is enough; Apple will be offering cloud services for iTunes relegating local storage less necessary soon anyway (rumor).

I think it all comes down to how much stuff you usually put on your devices. But at the apple store they were saying that downloaded movies are in the 4gb range. If you are a hoarder than 16 gb is going to be too limited. If you have a large iTunes library and want that on the iPad, then that could be a factor. If you just use it browse and use apps and clear out things you don't want than 16 gb might be enough. It's hard to tell how much space you need and don't need. I got the 32 gb version as a good middle ground. I figure there's no way I'm going to fill it until the iPad v2 comes out.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks!

Interesting article.. although I would think apple would have the most apps/support.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/ysho ... mpetitors/

If I ever did buy an ipad, I think a wifi+3G would be a must for me - 32 GB would be my first choice too.

[wco81]

Heard the JooJoo got all of 90 orders. Geeks were enthusiastic about the freedom and features but in the end, they didn't buy.

These startups don't have any retail channel, just Internet ordering.

You want to stay with a big company, which can support the product and attract developers, market the product, etc.

It'll have to be something like HP or MS, not these startups.

[Diablo25]

Thanks!

Interesting article.. although I would think apple would have the most apps/support.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/ysho ... mpetitors/

If I ever did buy an ipad, I think a wifi+3G would be a must for me - 32 GB would be my first choice too.

That is what I am leaning towards...IF I get one.

[JRod]

Thanks!

Interesting article.. although I would think apple would have the most apps/support.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/ysho ... mpetitors/

If I ever did buy an ipad, I think a wifi+3G would be a must for me - 32 GB would be my first choice too.

That is what I am leaning towards...IF I get one.

I'm probably going to sell this one and get a 3G version. But 3G is 130 more and something like 20 bucks for 250 mb transfer and 30 for unlimited. So I'll have some time to see how much I would use mine out in the wild.

[JRod]

If there's one thing that stands out above all else with the iPad is that iPad geared content is fantastic. Take just the USA today app and you see the potential for a new way of expiriencing news and media. The fact that's it's so easy and natural stands out.

I know that we have become so used to websites and how they work that I think tablets, not just ipads, will change the Internet. The fact that artistry may show up rather than clever style sheets or some flash animation. I say this because last night I downloaded this app called cool hunting. It put things in a way that simply would not work on a web page.

As I was thinking about my purchase last night and figuring out what exactly is an iPad it occurred to me that the iPad, and slates in general will change the Internet and how we access data. It will be done without the web page form and into the form the creator wants.

As for the iPad, it occurred to me that it is a medium device allowing for art, news, form, information to be passed to the user. It's as if the personal computer allows for a portal to the information. But the iPad is simply the vehicle. The reason why it's hard to see the value of the iPad is that we see in the same way as we do a PC. I'm excited to see what content they can make for the iPad because when you see iPad content it's a new experience.

[Badgun]

Well I'll be happy to answer questions...I'll do my best not to get to lemming like!

So far it's a great device that does what was promised.

Ok so I have a 32 gig Ipod touch that I rarely use. I have an 8 gig Iphone that I use all the time. My son keeps telling me that the Ipad is nothing but a big Ipod touch and if I don't use the Ipod touch, I wouldn't use the Ipad.

What functionality does the ipad have that the ipod touch doesn't have? I guessing the book reader is the big thing, which I might use, but is this thing a viable gaming machine? I have a PSP, PSP GO, and I just got a DSI XL. So tell me...do I need an Ipad?

[JRod]

Some thoughts on storage size...

I got the 32 because I thought it was a good middle ground. The OS and other things take about 3 GBs. So I think before I fired up my iPad I was already at 29 and some change. i I have no music imported into my iPad yet. And I have about 30 apps. After 1 day, I'm to 28. Any picture heavy app (many games) are going to take up more space. Just some iPhone games were around 75 MB to 150 MB. iBooks comes in around 40 MB. Books with pictures can get up up 15 MB whereas ones that are just text fall under 1 MB. I downloaded through the Looking Glass by Carroll (free download) and it is a mere 330 MB. Apple's apps like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (don't have that one downloaded yet) are around 40.

I think with 16 MB you are going to have space problems even if you don't horde. I have about 1000 songs in playlists that I will put on the iPad at some point so that's around 6 GB. I may just keep them on my iPhone and use that as iPod/phone/maps/only as necessary web lookup. And keep my iPad as a browser/pictures/apps device. I figure if I'm going to a public place with my iPad, I'll always have my iPhone.

I read some people are putting their digital lives (music, pictures, a lot of apps) on the iPad, if this is you, I would get nothing less than the 32 and even then in will be tight.

Like the 4GB first iPhone, the 16 GB just seems to limited even though it's priced attractively. I think that's for people that mostly surf the web, read e-books, and are mostly "Kindle" people.

[JRod]

Well I'll be happy to answer questions...I'll do my best not to get to lemming like!

So far it's a great device that does what was promised.

Ok so I have a 32 gig Ipod touch that I rarely use. I have an 8 gig Iphone that I use all the time. My son keeps telling me that the Ipad is nothing but a big Ipod touch and if I don't use the Ipod touch, I wouldn't use the Ipad.

What functionality does the ipad have that the ipod touch doesn't have? I guessing the book reader is the big thing, which I might use, but is this thing a viable gaming machine? I have a PSP, PSP GO, and I just got a DSI XL. So tell me...do I need an Ipad?

The Touch is really an iPod/game device. And those games compared with Nintendo or Sony aren't that sophisticated. A lot of time-killer games, in my opinion. I think of it like the PS3 to the PSP. In what situations would I want to play an inferior game if I have something better in the PS3 or 360.

I would ask these questions...

1) Do you want to do web surfing on the sofa not at your computer desk or carry around a laptop?

1a) Do you use a lot of flash sites, outside of youtube or apps that may appear on the iPad?

2) How do you surf the web? (Personally I read a lot of newspapers and some magazines.) I would read more but I don't want to spend 50-100 a month getting everything from Newsweek to Four-Four-Two to Wired. (I've always felt "far away" from text on websites. Meaning that it felt small and hard to read.)

3) Do you need a desktop lite to do quick document editing, or fire off emails where a laptop is too cumbersome and you want something more comfortable then doing them on a Blackberry or something?

4) Do you travel a lot and need a time-killer device?

5) How important is screen real estate to you?

I'm sure others can think of more questions but that's what I think of on day 2. As for a gaming platform, it may get there but I think the games on the iPad will be different. There's a lot of screen real estate compared with the iPhone/tough just falling short of the 13" mac book. So visualize playing games with just the screen of a 13" macbook or like a netbook. I think it's slightly too large to be as comfortable as the PSP or DS. That's just my opinion and why I said iPad games will be different.

[10spro]

Personally, I put a lot of airmiles in the friendly skies. Just for that fact alone, I've been telling myself to get the 3G version. But for some reason I don't have that urge to jump in line as I did for the iPhone.

One big trend that's apparent in iTunes: The big media and entertainment companies are doing very well in top free apps, but are barely present in top paid apps, whether by number of apps downloaded, or by the gross revenues from their apps.

I am also a big newspaper reader along my favorites magazines but reading what the 'WSJ' charges a month for their newspaper subscription. I am afraid that most people may just go the free route, even though they may not find all the contents.

I understand Amazon has made an apps for people to browse through their large library and is key to Apples' success in the i-reader department.

Second generation along a camera and some multitasking is what I'd like to see. I am pretty sure that I'll see a lot of ipad users on my flights and from what I am reading surprised at the long battery life. Anytime you can squeeze two movies in a long flight is darn good in my books.

Quick question. How's the music playback? Does it have a speaker?

[MizzouRah]

I've read the built in speaker is actually pretty good.

I already told myself if I did get one, it would be the 64 GB wifi+3g - now I have to convince my wife $827 really isn't that much.

[JRod]

Personally, I put a lot of airmiles in the friendly skies. Just for that fact alone, I've been telling myself to get the 3G version. But for some reason I don't have that urge to jump in line as I did for the iPhone.

One big trend that's apparent in iTunes: The big media and entertainment companies are doing very well in top free apps, but are barely present in top paid apps, whether by number of apps downloaded, or by the gross revenues from their apps.

I am also a big newspaper reader along my favorites magazines but reading what the 'WSJ' charges a month for their newspaper subscription. I am afraid that most people may just go the free route, even though they may not find all the contents.

I understand Amazon has made an apps for people to browse through their large library and is key to Apples' success in the i-reader department.

Second generation along a camera and some multitasking is what I'd like to see. I am pretty sure that I'll see a lot of ipad users on my flights and from what I am reading surprised at the long battery life. Anytime you can squeeze two movies in a long flight is darn good in my books.

Quick question. How's the music playback? Does it have a speaker?

I know the camera is a big drawback but personally I just don't get it. Maybe we'll all be video chatting or taking pictures with it, but I don't see it as anywhere close to a killer app. I think people told themselves computers should come with cameras and therefore this device has to have it. I may be wrong but I think video chatting and video use will be for only a small portion of users.

Now how apple does multi-tasking will be important. I think we'll probably see multi-tasking through a software update maybe in the 4.X OS update. And the think is that they are close to doing this. As it stands now some apps will let you have a browser and something else on the screen. I even screwed around with the dev software for the iPhone so I know that there's some infrastructure to do this. They could even run it in a similar way to the current "ballon" windows in apps. Where in pages a safari pop-up allows you to view a webpage, on top of the current doc, in one click instead of clicking home, clicking another app, clicking home, then returning to the first app.

[Danimal]

I really have yet to see someone convince me what use the iPad will give me. I'm addressing Jrod's post because at least he isn't saying anyone who doesn't drop and give Jobs a job is a "hater who doesn't get it"

I would ask these questions...

1) Do you want to do web surfing on the sofa not at your computer desk or carry around a laptop?

Yes I do that with my Macbook and lucky for me I am not forced to use Safari and have no flash support.

3) Do you need a desktop lite to do quick document editing, or fire off emails where a laptop is too cumbersome and you want something more comfortable then doing them on a Blackberry or something?

I can fire off quick emails on my iPhone if i am out an about, I don't see myself lugging an iPad around. If I am at home or at the office their is no advantage to using and iPad for this purpose.

As for document editing, I really don't need to spend the money on this for that, I have ample devices to do that so not a selling point for me.

4) Do you travel a lot and need a time-killer device?

Isn't that what my iPhone is used for? Use apps..check, Watch videos..check, play games...check, listen to music....check.

The screen being bigger is the only selling point for me with the above. But I wouldn't carry my iPad around with me all the time, so sure long flights or family trips it comes in handy. But waiting rooms etc it doesn't.

I really don't have a need to buy this yet, there is nothing about this device that stand out from a usability stand point other then having the coolest new thing from Apple.