I confess: I bought an iPad (and so far I love it)

By ilev
in Hardware Hangout

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Grand Master

Hell-In-A-Handbasket

Posted
Posted

1. no adobe-flash support .... 60% of video on the Internet is still flash

2. no multitasking support in the OS ... I know it coming later this fall .

3. no camera, micro SD, usb ports ... all these are a most before I get a iPad ..

4. support for other web browsers ... Firefox, Opera, Seamonkey ... even IE8 :whistle:

5. The price is too high for what you are getting .. it should be $150 less ... An don't say .. they spent tons on R&D ... thats total BS ..

1. Haven't noticed that one

2. True comming later but even then not true multitasking sonly supports up to 4 apps

3. MicoSD and USB can somewhat be taken care of off the record with the camera kit, but true it would be better with those if one needs it, camera I'm soso on

4. There're are ALOT of different web browsers that can be run on it, including FireFox and Opera, they are currently in the app store, but for iPhone/iPod touch which runs on the iPad, but not native display which i wish they would, all the others do

5. Agreed that the price should be lower

Neowinian

Wanyal

Posted
Posted

4. There're are ALOT of different web browsers that can be run on it, including FireFox and Opera, they are currently in the app store, but for iPhone/iPod touch which runs on the iPad, but not native display which i wish they would, all the others do

Opera Mini is only useful on 3G, otherwise it's slower (and anyway has page rendering issues).

Firefox is not on the app store at all. You're thinking of Firefox Home which is not a web browser.

If you do a search on the app store for web browser, all the results are basically Safari with no option to view history, or Safari with full screen, and aren't different web browsers at all (because they all use Safari APIs).

Community Regular

christb

Posted
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Mary Jo Foley : I confess: I bought an iPad (and so far I love it)

So why did I succumb to the charms of the iPad? Quite simply, I have not been able to find a PC that offered what an iPad does. Windows laptops are powerful, versatile and relatively inexpensive compared to Apple?s counter-offerings. You can get portable netbooks (with so-so performance), great big-screen gaming rigs and thin-and-light models (like the Asus UL30A that is my current workhorse). But none of these has the amazing battery life, fast on/off, ultra-handy form factor, a made-for-touch interface (rather than touch bolted on to a keyboard/mouse-centric interface) or a built-in app store.

this is my answer

Grand Master

Hell-In-A-Handbasket

Posted
Posted

Opera Mini is only useful on 3G, otherwise it's slower (and anyway has page rendering issues).

Firefox is not on the app store at all. You're thinking of Firefox Home which is not a web browser.

If you do a search on the app store for web browser, all the results are basically Safari with no option to view history, or Safari with full screen, and aren't different web browsers at all (because they all use Safari APIs).

Yea it's firefox home, but i was under the understanding that it was about the same but with sync ability, so the app wont open web pages?

I used Opera on my iPod touch and it did seem faster, but because it's using their servers for pages (like a passthrough or proxy server) that's where the speed comes from.

As far as all safari API, a webkit browser is a webkit browser in my opinion, i thought they were all different though.

Grand Master

Hell-In-A-Handbasket

Posted
Posted

this is my answer

Ill pass, the windows 7 part is using the hardware in the keyboard and just operating in a remote session, getting that cause he said it was using 7 on an intel processor, yet the tablet runs snapdragon.

And it seemed kind of slow when he was using it in tablet form, but hopefully cause it's using Linux, it can be changed to something the tablet can handle as from what he was doing with it, it seemed underpowered, and slow.

I still have high hopes for the slate in a consumer form, not enterprise that it was changed to.

Veteran

DomZ

Posted
Posted

Congrats, you win stupid quote of the month for that one.

I can tell you now, my Acer Ferrari One netbook although ?300+ is still half the price of an iPad, has more than TWICE the power, RAM and Storage.

I have true Multitasking

I have GPS

I have a webcam

I have a card reader

I have USB ports

I have HD output & true HD capability

I have a true 16:9 display

I can view flash (80% of the top 100 web sites use flash)

The iPad has none of that, but I agree the iPad has it's place and is handy for many people, but please don't try and tell us it's a netbook beater like Steve Jobs lies to you, it's a PR stunt, nothing more.

I seriously considered an iPad, but don't do "sofa surfing" which is really where the iPad would excel.

Otherwise, most netbooks (or smaller laptops) obviously are far better.

The thing is most people use a netbook for surfing the net, checking email, browsing youtube and going on social websites - all those other features you've mentioned the majority of people don't need for what they would use a netbook for. They don't need twice the power of an iPad to do this. The iPad is better at browsing the net than a netbook with the exception of flash (I used to have a netbook about 2 years ago, sold it after about 2 months and I now have an iPad and I wont be selling it). So the iPad is a netbook killer in the sense that it is better at doing the things most people use a netbook for. It's not a netbook killer in pure hardware and features.

It's like saying a smartphone is a laptop killer. They are both for mobile computing, but they target different needs and use scenarios. Because a netbook has so many features it has several use scenarios from full on coding and designing to simply browsing the net. Your netbook use scenario is the extreme and the iPad isn't better but for the majority of "sofa surfers" it is.

The iPad has GPS by the way, but again most people aren't going to be using this.

  • 2 weeks later...
Mentor

Hot

Posted
Posted

I don't have a hard-on for iPads myself but it is pretty standard that the only people who knock Apple products are the people who haven't seriously tried using them. I used PCs, sold PCs, fixed PCs and talked about PCs on TV and radio for nearly a decade. Then I got a job at a company that used Macs. Needless to say, I have a MacBook Pro now and laugh any time somebody tells me PCs can do anything Macs can.

Grand Master

Boz

Posted
Posted

I don't like flash, so I don't care.

LOL.. responses like is what really gets me laughing.. How do you "not like Flash".. Technology that brought us ubiquity on the interent, unified videos and brought us free stuff.. It seems people forgot what web looked like prior to Flash?

The only reason a person can say a thing like "I don't like Flash" or "It needs to die", is the one who believes stupid Steve Jobs crap. But again, not really surprised people do.

When you shell out $500-$800 and you can't see 70% of the internet you start making justifications and believe stupid sh**.

But no worries, those will soon be over just like the thing with iPhone was.. Real Slate computers are coming.. with support for Android, TV, Flash, camera etc etc.. and they will be cheaper, have better performance and be actually open so I can put whatever I want on it and not just stuff Apple tells me I can.

Grand Master

Southern Patriot

Posted
Posted

Rubbish. An iPad is nothing like a netbook.

How so? The intent of a netbook is that it is a small, portable device to be used for e-mail, web browsing, and other network tasks. How does that NOT describe the iPad as well?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook

Grand Master

Axel

Posted
Posted

I'd like to think what would've happened if Apple introduced a simpler and less powerful version of Mac OSX for the iPad instead of using iOS.

I honestly don't think it would have worked as well.

I still stand by the opinion that a desktop OS is not entirely appropriate for a Tablet or Slate type touchscreen device. The best user experience is surely acheived from an operating system designed around touch input, and not the other way around (adapting the operating system for touch input) as has been done with Windows 7 (although I don't doubt that people run Windows 7 quite happily on tablets - before I get jumped on! :p )

Already liking the look of the newest lot of tablet/netbook OS's; Google Chrome OS, Jolicloud, Meego etc.

I just hope iOS builds on a lot of the weaknesses and lacking features that presently exist in iOS of the iPad - Only then might I consider purchasing one to compliment my iPhone!

Proficient

Petvas

Posted
Posted

LOL.. responses like is what really gets me laughing.. How do you "not like Flash".. Technology that brought us ubiquity on the interent, unified videos and brought us free stuff.. It seems people forgot what web looked like prior to Flash?

The only reason a person can say a thing like "I don't like Flash" or "It needs to die", is the one who believes stupid Steve Jobs crap. But again, not really surprised people do.

When you shell out $500-$800 and you can't see 70% of the internet you start making justifications and believe stupid sh**.

But no worries, those will soon be over just like the thing with iPhone was.. Real Slate computers are coming.. with support for Android, TV, Flash, camera etc etc.. and they will be cheaper, have better performance and be actually open so I can put whatever I want on it and not just stuff Apple tells me I can.

You can laugh as much as you want to. The sites I visit work great on my ipad and Flash as a technology was always bad. It is slow, written for input devices like a mouse (and not for Touch interfaces), and is the source of 99% of all annoying ads on the Internet. I don't like saying it as I am no Apple fanboy, but Steve Jobs is right this time.

The slates you mention wont do the trick also, because they are not optimized for touch interfaces. Google doesn't even officially support Android on tablets (yet). Microsoft on the other hand is insisting on telling us that Windows 7 is the OS for tablets...

How so? The intent of a netbook is that it is a small, portable device to be used for e-mail, web browsing, and other network tasks. How does that NOT describe the iPad as well?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook

The ipad is a tablet device, not a netbook. They might share some functionality (as all computer devices do), but the form factor is different.

Grand Master

Boz

Posted
Posted

It is slow, written for input devices like a mouse (and not for Touch interfaces), and is the source of 99% of all annoying ads on the Internet.

LOL.. god why do I even argue when people have no clue.

No technology out there is written for "touch interfaces". HTML5 is not native touch, no other technology is.. actually Flash is the CLOSEST thing to supporting touch without changing a lot of code. You can run code and they react to touch as if it was mouse. So please don't discuss something that you have no idea about.

Second, 99% of all annoying ads are served through flash because it gives analytics and can run optimized videos and stuff through them. Do you think that you won't get ads with HTML5? LOL.. you are just so naive..

Apple will serve you ads wherever they can.. The whole point is that they don't want Flash because they want to monetize those same ads. Not because Flash is annoying.. and btw, you won't be able to block HTML5 ads like you can Flash. If you think that getting rid of Flash will get rid of ads, you are delusional.

So much for that..

I wish people wouldn't just blindly repeat stupid sh*t from Apple as if it was some noble thing when in fact the lying sacks of crap just want the same thing but to work for them.

Wake up.

The slates you mention wont do the trick also, because they are not optimized for touch interfaces.

What the hell are you even talking about.

Grand Master

AJerman

Posted
Posted

LOL.. god why do I even argue when people have no clue.

No technology out there is written for "touch interfaces". HTML5 is not native touch, no other technology is.. actually Flash is the CLOSEST thing to supporting touch without changing a lot of code. You can run code and they react to touch as if it was mouse. So please don't discuss something that you have no idea about.

Second, 99% of all annoying ads are served through flash because it gives analytics and can run optimized videos and stuff through them. Do you think that you won't get ads with HTML5? LOL.. you are just so naive..

Apple will serve you ads wherever they can.. The whole point is that they don't want Flash because they want to monetize those same ads. Not because Flash is annoying.. and btw, you won't be able to block HTML5 ads like you can Flash. If you think that getting rid of Flash will get rid of ads, you are delusional.

So much for that..

I wish people wouldn't just blindly repeat stupid sh*t from Apple as if it was some noble thing when in fact the lying sacks of crap just want the same thing but to work for them.

Wake up.

I'm not a fan of Flash either, and also think it's pointless on a mobile device. Lets go over a few things here... First, he never mentioned he'd rather HTML5 as an alternative. He simply said that Flash is annoying and not very useful on mobile devices. You're entire response is about how HTML5 is no better than flash, and yet, no one mentioned HTML5. Let's get back to the issue with Flash on a mobile device instead. First off, Flash IS slow. Windows is the only thing Flash runs halfway decent on, and even then it's not that great. The large majority of Flash IS written for input devices like a mouse, Petvas's point. Not that HTML5 would be better, but that Flash isn't very useful because so much of the Flash out there can't be properly used on a touch screen, unless it's just a movie player. Also, Flash IS the source of MANY ads, meaning, it has limited usefulness in other aspects, but what it can offer is a lot more ads. Without it, less ads, and not much missed out on.

Furthermore, Flash has ALWAYS been VERY buggy. If my web browser ever crashes, you can almost be guaranteed it's because of Flash. So here's my opinion. Most applications of Flash on the web are useless on a phone, except for movie players. I'm not a fan of Flash as a movie player, because I don't see why you wouldn't use something native like HTML5 that doesn't require a third party plugin. The video tag is interpreted by your browser as a block of space to send native H264 (or other) media to your browser, and have your browser play it. Why add Flash in the middle when it's not needed?

So, going back to the HTML5 vs Flash thing, yes, you can code all the Flash on the web to work better with Flash, but you can also do all the same natively with HTML5, which every browser supports now. I understand that Flash is capable, I don't understand what the point in a "middle-man" plugin when the same things can be done natively now. Yes, I'm sure Flash still has it's applications alongside HTML5, but again, the web as it is today, which is all that matters, makes Flash somewhat pointless on your phone. Regardless of what it can do or is capable of, it's, for the most part, not used for that right now. And btw, you CAN block HTML5 in exactly the same way you block Flash, by blocking a specific tag or it's parent container.

Now, while I don't think Flash is anywhere near as useful as it used to be, I don't pick sides and have tech wars over a certain technology, I think that's silly. So in Flash's defense, while it is less useful on a mobile phone, something like the iPad probably should have it. Just like I said earlier, the web as it is today is what really matters, and a lot of sites still use Flash in ways that make a device that's main point is as a web tablet need it at times. There are a lot of sites with video players that use Flash, and regardless of if Flash is or isn't the best solution for something like that, not having it means you miss out on most video sites on the web today. So I understand the reasoning for wanting Flash, especially on more of a tablet type device that you're going to use to browse the web a lot, but I entirely agree that Flash needs to start being phased out for a lot of it's applications that it's simply not necessary anymore for when there's native ways of doing the same thing.

Grand Master

TheElite

Posted
Posted

How so? The intent of a netbook is that it is a small, portable device to be used for e-mail, web browsing, and other network tasks. How does that NOT describe the iPad as well?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook

I don't know who you see using a netbook, but people use it for a lot more than the tasks a crippled iPad can handle.

If it's just for email and web browsing, I'll take my Galaxy S phone anyday rather than lay out £600 for an inferior version of a Macbook.

Veteran

NeoTrunks

Posted
Posted

Whenever I do some late night browsing, I use my iPad for the portability. I also play games on it as well as chat. For personal use, it's pretty much a toy, and you can do everything it does with a standard computer. But the size and battery life definitely add a level of convienience that is hard to get at the same time in other devices.

When I am at work, I use it for discrete tasks like assisting me in focusing cameras (think of having a mini monitor with you wherever you go) and remoting into different machines around the world, without staying tied down to a desk.

I can certainly say that it fits my needs and that I use it every single day. Am I telling anyone else to get one? No, it's not for everyone. Conversely, it's foolish to say that no one out there has a need for one and that those that buy them are simply throwing money away.

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