[adam42381]

Engadget doesn't seem real high on it. The fact that you cannot multitask is a killer.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/appl ... -hands-on/

meanwhile gizmodo is acting like how dick vitale is during a duke game haha

let's just call it what it is, it's a big iPod Touch with 3G and a few other more minor bells and whistles (keyboard connectivity, camera kit).

They must have changed their minds based on the lead article on their website: 8 Things That Suck About The iPad.

http://i.gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-t ... t-the-ipad

[El Scorcho]

I don't have a lot of time to post about it right now, so I'll say what I said on twitter:

iPad: Really cool, decent price and I really don't need one. At all. Total luxury item.

More later.

[LUconn]

Shuck's been hating on it since before it was released so I'm not surprised he still doesn't like it. I think it's pretty neat. I would enjoy surfing on my touch screen phone moreso than my laptop if it weren't for the size. This makes up for it.

[El Scorcho]

I would enjoy surfing on my touch screen phone moreso than my laptop if it weren't for the size. This makes up for it.

I agree. I think that I'd really like sitting around the house with this as my casual computer. I think the hands-on interaction with what has traditionally been print media is really awesome. I really like this thing and would totally pick it over a PC netbook.

I just don't need one. Yes, I'd rather sit in bed with this and surf than with my 17-inch laptop or my 3.5 -inch phone. But everything is pretty well covered between the two so this seems like a luxury more than a necessity. The other two I couldn't live with out. This I can. Hope that makes sense. I do think it's very cool and I think it will only improve with time. I think about where the iPhone started versus where it is now. Apple will only improve it from here.

The battery life, the 3G being optional, the price and the insistence on it being "really good" at some specific things are all things they got right out of the gate.

I do think some of the cons I've heard mentioned are valid, though. The lack of application multitasking almost makes this a no deal prospect. I love surfing the web casually at home, but I almost always have an IM client and a twitter client open while I do it. I assume it has push notifications like the iPhone, but that's not a complete substitute. It works fine on the iPhone, but it wouldn't on this. I also don't like the way they're handling the scaling of iPhone apps, but that will probably become a non-issue as developers proceed with the iPad in mind. The name is terrible.

But mainly, I just don't need one. My mom would love one. She has no laptop, loves to read and has been looking at netbook for months. The $499 model is perfect for her. But me? Nope. I'd like one, but it's just not the necessity that my laptop and phone are.

[flamesbball84]

Shuck's been hating on it since before it was released so I'm not surprised he still doesn't like it. I think it's pretty neat. I would enjoy surfing on my touch screen phone moreso than my laptop if it weren't for the size. This makes up for it.

I never hated on it before it was released. I simply said it will disappoint due to all the rumors and speculations floating around about it's awesomeness. It didn't live up the the rumors and speculation. It's a bigger iPod Touch, that's not really what most people wanted.

[adam42381]

I hate the name. Here's what I think of:

[adam42381]

There is an old MadTV sketch about the iPad that is making its rounds now but I won't post it because it could be considered NSFW.

[LUconn]

I'm wondering if it's possible to change the name before it actually gets released. If it is, I bet they do it. It's pretty much been a huge joke since the name was announced.

[TDDance234]

iTampon has been a #1 trending topic since the reveal. Gross.

[ALUmnus]

It's only a big joke because people are such perverts. But in marketing, that's something you have to take into account, this generation will take everything and pervert it into something sexual. And that's tough, because we've basically done that to every word or phrase imaginable. (hyperbole alert!)

[phoenix]

The price will save it. I didn't think they'd go that low, even for a 16 GB version.

And in a couple of years, when the iPad gen 3 comes out, I may even get one. But I don't see this thing doing anything that my laptop doesn't do (anything that I need or want, that is), and the laptop was $50 cheaper. For people looking at the higher end e-readers or netbooks, though, this could change their minds.

[LUconn]

I don't know that I'd call call that joke sexually perverse. And they really couldn't have made it much easier for them to make.

[ALUmnus]

I don't know that I'd call call that joke sexually perverse. And they really couldn't have made it much easier for them to make.

I guess even you don't realize how far you've fallen.

[RubberMallet]

if find this oversized itouch absolutely hilarious. without multitasking, its pretty much unusable to me.

its probably going to sell like mad though.

[adam42381]

It's only a big joke because people are such perverts. But in marketing, that's something you have to take into account, this generation will take everything and pervert it into something sexual. And that's tough, because we've basically done that to every word or phrase imaginable. (hyperbole alert!)

I don't think it is a perverse leap for people's minds to think of something that is a common name for a feminine hygeine product when the product is called iPad. The fact that nobody at Apple was aware of the MadTV sketch from a couple years ago that featured a product called the iPad doesn't say much about the research that went into naming it.

[adam42381]

I assume that the name for the new dual orbital mini PC cameras that are due out soon, Microsoft Balls, isn't funny either, right?

[SumItUp]

My wife has an Iphone and my daughter has the ITouch. I like them but I would not give my Blackberry for the Iphone or use the ITouch (even for occasional use) over my laptop due to screen size. I do like the wide range of applications available though. I would purchase the IPad except that I have no desire to pay $500 for a device and not be able to multitask.

[RubberMallet]

my brother talked his employer into getting rid of his iphone solely on the multitasking alone. he said it was miserable. there is no way to listen to music and browse at the same time at all.

[Hold My Own]

As much as I want every new gadget out this is one I'm holding off on. It's not a computer if you cant multi task....I'll stick with the Dell mini that is just as portable but actually a computer as well.

[olldflame]

I'm with HMO on this. Touch screens are cool and all, but for almost 200 dollars less I just ordered an Asus netbook that is about the same size as the Ipad and will do so many more things there is no comparison.

[TDDance234]

Great product but too small of a market. This would be great for people who were thinking for something more entertainment focused...it certainly would be helpful for travel.

[El Scorcho]

there is no way to listen to music and browse at the same time at all.

That's simply untrue. All of the Apple native applications on the iPhone run in the background. I almost always have music playing on the iPod app while doing something else.

As for the iPad and full multitasking... I'm 99% certain it's coming. Everything on the web points to some form of multitasking in the next iPhone OS update (4.0). It'll probably only be supported on the 3GS and iPad, but it seems like it's going to happen. A big part of that will depend on how much RAM is in the iPad, which they haven't stated yet. Not even on the tech specs page on their site. The original iPhone and iPhone 3G only had 128MB of RAM. The 3GS steps up to 256MB and I'd guess the iPad is probably at 512MB or 1GB. At least I'd hope. That'll be key to multitasking. Apple won't do anything that makes the user feel like the thing is slow and if it doesn't have enough memory to background a couple of apps and keep that user experience, they won't do it. I think it's going to happen, though.

...and will do so many more things there is no comparison.

So many more things...like? And Jobs had a point about netbooks during his keynote. They're not very good at anything. That's the thing. People aren't actually doing anything with them that the iPad doesn't do. I'm not out and out defending it. I'm not going to buy one (or a netbook) but I don't get saying that netbooks are hands down better. They're not. They're weak. They run terrible software that isn't optimized for the hardware it's being used on. They have small screens. There are a lot of disadvantages to netbooks versus a tablet.

Does everyone thing tablets are a completely dead market? Because there sure are a whole lot more of them coming. The Dell Mini 5 running Android seems to be the next big one, and this one from MSI is another one: http://bit.ly/aAj8oq That MSI tablet has half the screen real estate at the same price as the iPad. Again, I'm not planning to buy any of them. So, for me, the answer to my own question just might be yes. I'm asking the rest of you what you think.

[RubberMallet]

That's simply untrue. All of the Apple native applications on the iPhone run in the background. I almost always have music playing on the iPod app while doing something else.

hes a big pandora and last.fm junky...he says its absolute fail. either on the iphone side or the his side i guess.

it's coming.

lol. spoken like an apple fan.

most of the iphone users at work here (50% of our office are iphone users) are starting to move to a "its never coming" stage....

i will have a jailbroke one here in a month or so. (no data plan, basically using it as a itouch with phone capabilities on verizon). and it will be free so i won't complain.

[flamesbball84]

"Apple won't do anything that makes the user feel like the thing is slow"
Never try loading a PDF on an iPod Touch or iPhone then.

"They have small screens."
So the iPad is better because it has a 9.7" screen that is "bigger" than the Dell Mini's 10.1" screen? You can't possibly base any of your argument on screen size when the iPad's is smaller and not even true widescreen at that.

For $503, I can get a dell mini 10 with a 10.1" screen with built in webcam, 1.66 GHz processor, XP SP3, 1GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, microsoft office 2007, and AT&T/Sprint/Verizon built in mobile broadband with GPS.

I can run multiple apps at the same time, I can pick and choose what types of basic software I want (like browser, music player, ebook reader), i can run other software on it that is simply not available for the iPad and never will be, I get 10 times as much storage space as the cheapest iPad, and I get the built-in broadband. All that for just three dollars more than the cheapest iPad. For me at least, I wouldn't even need to buy microsoft office 2007 as I already have it. That would shave off $99, so I could get all that for $404. Only thing the iPad will have on that dell is battery life, it will be smaller (not like the Dell Mini 10 is some big heavy beast anyways though), and the apps will be optimized for it (something that really is not that big of a deal when you have 1GB of ram and a 1.66 GHz processor on an XP system). I got to borrow of the Dell 8.9" ones briefly (like a couple days) before they stopped selling them, and it was a fabulous travel business computer.

the iPad has real potential, but it's a shell of a netbook, which I'm guessing is what apple has in mind as the major competitor for the iPad.

[El Scorcho]

hes a big pandora and last.fm junky...he says its absolute fail. either on the iphone side or the his side i guess.

Ah, but that's not what you said. You said music. I don't really use either. That's what my iPod is for. Now it makes more sense.

it's coming.

lol. spoken like an apple fan.

most of the iphone users at work here (50% of our office are iphone users) are starting to move to a "its never coming" stage.....

I said I was 99% sure it was coming. That's all. It seems likely. I'm not a fanboy in the sense that I can't be critical of the thing. I have been in this thread and I will continue to be. I just don't expect the multitasking criticism to be one that lasts. But if you'll look back, it's one of my own criticisms of the thing in it's current form.