Steve Jobs!!!! Has done it again... Apple IPAD

[indeedproceed]

Can I even like use audio/video programs? anything?

Well, I mean there is a transition, don't let anyone tell you different.

There are certain websites that saavy people go to in order to watch lengthy divx videos. If you don't get computers on a basic level (I'm not talking programming or anything...just the kind of knowledge you get from growing up in the 90's/2000's and wanting to solve computer/setup issues yourself without calling a 1-800 number), you can usually wade through it. There are millions of mac users out there, and chances are if you have a question, or some software you need for Mac but Mac doesn't make it, there is a free alternative online. Great example, GIMP compared to Photoshop.

Also almost everything is Mac compatible now.

I'm not a tech wiz by any stretch of the imagination, but I couldn't imagine trying to run Sony Vegas with my finger tips. Or Audacity. Virtual DJ might be fun to run on an iPad, but I have real turntables and real mixers. I'm a big gamer, too (Mostly Xbox but I'll Counter-Strike it up with my brother and his fiance on occasion) things like that just aren't fun on Macs. At least not for me.

Games are one place they really lag on. It's gonna come down to a supply/demand issue. It's kind of ironic...Mac users arent big computer gamers, so they don't care, and big computer gamers don't buy Macs, so the developers don't make their games compatible. If the games aren't compatible, gamers won't buy macs, and so on...

it's a vicious cycle.

[crownsy]

I was very excited about this product until they unveiled it today.

It's a bigger Ipod touch. weee. It's processor and hardware are comparable to some of the smart phones coming onto the market.

I'm just not impressed, it doesn't even have 3G. I could be convinced to buy one if the price is low, around 300$ or so, but if they stick with the expected 500$ dollar price point, im all set on a bigger version of the ipod touch.

[indeedproceed]

I was very excited about this product until they unveiled it today.

It's a bigger Ipod touch. weee. It's processor and hardware are comparable to some of the smart phones coming onto the market.

I'm just not impressed, it doesn't even have 3G. I could be convinced to buy one if the price is low, around 300$ or so, but if they stick with the expected 500$ dollar price point, im all set on a bigger version of the ipod touch.

It's not even 3g? That's ridiculous. It's a glorified touchscreen netbook.

Actually that does sound pretty cool.

I can't wait for the iLife. They literally let you live and do whatever you want. You think it...and magically your body and arms respond. Extremely intuitive.

[crownsy]

I was very excited about this product until they unveiled it today.

It's a bigger Ipod touch. weee. It's processor and hardware are comparable to some of the smart phones coming onto the market.

I'm just not impressed, it doesn't even have 3G. I could be convinced to buy one if the price is low, around 300$ or so, but if they stick with the expected 500$ dollar price point, im all set on a bigger version of the ipod touch.

It's not even 3g? That's ridiculous. It's a glorified touchscreen netbook.

Actually that does sound pretty cool.

I can't wait for the iLife. They literally let you live and do whatever you want. You think it...and magically your body and arms respond. Extremely intuitive.

The  biggest killer for me is actually the fact that it CANNOT multitask. at all.

Your telling me from your hype parade that this thing is supposed to replace laptops and it netbooks and it can't even run two programs at once? I can't have IM open with email? Can't listen to pandora while typing? ect? Epic fail apple.

I'm actually going to be in the market for a netbook this coming fall for school, and was hyped for this but the minute i saw it couldn't multitask i was like "wow, how useless. I can't even have a second program open with the word processor???"

Running a close second: no flash capability? have you seen the internet lately apple? Flash is kinda a big deal to me, lack of it approaches a deal breaker as well.

[Who]

So it's a laptop?

A lighter laptop, a touch screen laptop, without lots of wires and things like keyboards?

[byennie]

FYI, it does have 3G. There is a Wifi only model, and a 3G one. You can get an unlimited data plan for it for for $30 / month, or $15 / month for 250 MB.

I'm not really sold on it myself (and I own an iPhone and am typing this on a MacBook). With that said, some of the major complaints may end up being a bit off the mark. For example...

"No multitasking" isn't quite true. Even the iPhone can multitask, but Apple has created an OS that will not run two 3rd party apps at once. I would be willing to bet that with Apple providing major apps like email, browser and iWork suite, app switching will not be that bad. Although certainly worth keeping an eye on, just realize that the whole multitasking thing is an Apple design thing, not a limitation of the machine.

Although there is no Flash browser plugin, Adobe has already created a packager that builds apps for the iPhone. So many Flash games will be appearing on iPhone / iPad, they just won't be in your browser. Also since iPad only runs Safari, that means it will be supporting the latest browser technologies such as SVG and HTML 5 sooner than later.

It's pretty funny how the ridiculous amount of hype for this thing has flopped back the other way when it didn't instantly bring world peace. I bet it ends up somewhere in between =)

[LarBrd33]

Can I even like use audio/video programs? anything?

Well, I mean there is a transition, don't let anyone tell you different.

There are certain websites that saavy people go to in order to watch lengthy divx videos. If you don't get computers on a basic level (I'm not talking programming or anything...just the kind of knowledge you get from growing up in the 90's/2000's and wanting to solve computer/setup issues yourself without calling a 1-800 number), you can usually wade through it. There are millions of mac users out there, and chances are if you have a question, or some software you need for Mac but Mac doesn't make it, there is a free alternative online. Great example, GIMP compared to Photoshop.

Also almost everything is Mac compatible now.

I'm not a tech wiz by any stretch of the imagination, but I couldn't imagine trying to run Sony Vegas with my finger tips. Or Audacity. Virtual DJ might be fun to run on an iPad, but I have real turntables and real mixers. I'm a big gamer, too (Mostly Xbox but I'll Counter-Strike it up with my brother and his fiance on occasion) things like that just aren't fun on Macs. At least not for me.

It's not for that.  It's not a replacement for a computer.  I don't think anyone is insinuating that this is a device that will replace a computer.   It's apple's netbook.  A netbook wouldn't be for you either.   They are simply little lightweight tiny portable mini-laptops that are used for surfing the web, sending emails... watching movies... very minimalistic.   You can get a brand new netbook for around $300 bucks.  It's popular with a lot of people.  Personally, I have zero use for a netbook.  But I can definitely see the appeal of a touchscreen netbook.  And I can certainly see the appeal of apple's touchscreen netbook (I still think the iphone is the best touchscreen phone on the market).  You're not going to use this thing to edit videos or anything.  That's not the purpose of it.

I kind of feel like the target audience for netbooks in general is people who travel a lot and want something "cheap" to play with in the airport terminal and something to watch movies with on a plane.

And for people who say, "Yeah, but I already have an iphone... what would I use that for?".   This is true.  But I also own a 17 inch macbook pro (for video editing) and when I'm sitting on a plane for 6 hours, I whip that monstrous thing out to watch movies on and play games.  If all I had was that tiny iphone screen to look at for the entire trip, I'd probably go blind. 

[PosImpos]

I was very excited about this product until they unveiled it today.

It's a bigger Ipod touch. weee. It's processor and hardware are comparable to some of the smart phones coming onto the market.

I'm just not impressed, it doesn't even have 3G. I could be convinced to buy one if the price is low, around 300$ or so, but if they stick with the expected 500$ dollar price point, im all set on a bigger version of the ipod touch.

 

I can't wait for the iLife. They literally let you live and do whatever you want. You think it...and magically your body and arms respond. Extremely intuitive.

I'm convinced we're eventually going to have chips installed in our brains that allow us to access the internet just by thinking about it.

[LarBrd33]

Can I even like use audio/video programs? anything?

Well, I mean there is a transition, don't let anyone tell you different.

There are certain websites that saavy people go to in order to watch lengthy divx videos. If you don't get computers on a basic level (I'm not talking programming or anything...just the kind of knowledge you get from growing up in the 90's/2000's and wanting to solve computer/setup issues yourself without calling a 1-800 number), you can usually wade through it. There are millions of mac users out there, and chances are if you have a question, or some software you need for Mac but Mac doesn't make it, there is a free alternative online. Great example, GIMP compared to Photoshop.

Also almost everything is Mac compatible now.

I'm not a tech wiz by any stretch of the imagination, but I couldn't imagine trying to run Sony Vegas with my finger tips. Or Audacity. Virtual DJ might be fun to run on an iPad, but I have real turntables and real mixers. I'm a big gamer, too (Mostly Xbox but I'll Counter-Strike it up with my brother and his fiance on occasion) things like that just aren't fun on Macs. At least not for me.

Games are one place they really lag on. It's gonna come down to a supply/demand issue. It's kind of ironic...Mac users arent big computer gamers, so they don't care, and big computer gamers don't buy Macs, so the developers don't make their games compatible. If the games aren't compatible, gamers won't buy macs, and so on...

it's a vicious cycle.

Gaming was one of the things I worried about when I bought my macbook pro...   But I have it set up as a dual boot so I can log into Windows if I want.   I had no trouble installing Batman Arkham Asylum and playing it on there.   

one more note about games/mac.  I just bought GTA - Chinatown Wars for my iphone for $10.   Extremely impressed.  I'm not a massive GTA fan, but this game reminds me of the first couple PC games (with the overhead view)... except that the graphics are better and it incorporates a lot of the elements of the newer games.  I was kind of shocked by how massive the world was and how smooth the graphics were.   After seeing how that game ran on the iphone, I spent an hour arguing with a friend about whether or not a RPG could be massively popular on an iphone.   I'm convinced that it would be a huge seller... whereas he believes nobody would want an elaborate RPG on their mobile device (they'd more likely want very quick games they can play in 1-2 minute sittings).   I'm also totally convinced that in a few years there will be some massive multiplayer World Of Warcraft type game released on the iphone and friends everywhere will be playing it with each other in the middle of school lectures and office meetings...  and we will probably have the first "driving-while-warcrafting" related death shortly after.   

[eddietours]

Fail:
1.) Locked into App Store
2.) Reading eBooks on a Glossy bright display, I think not.
3.) Can't install Firefox
4.) Flash???
5.) No Micro$haft Office (As much as I am not a fan, you need this support)
6.) No Voice/Cam (skype, etc)
7.) AT&T
8.) no Audio Jack!!!!

[Dybdal]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather not be "cool" by tech standards and use anything made by Apple. I don't really care if 90 percent of their products are glossy white.. They're all overpriced pieces of gargabe to me.

I don't think I'll be checking this out.

I used to be one of you, one of the uncool ones. The secret organization I joined when I bought my MacBook last year has changed my life. We call ourselves the "iPeople" (we call you 'the old ones', or 'the ones from the before time').

Each year I must sacrifice a PC product to the Apple god and his voice on Earth, Steve Jobs. My poor poor Dell Inspiron 700m. She was loyal, although the years of frequent use and haphazard internet browsing had left her susceptible to crashes and disease ridden, I had lost no love for her.

Some nights, I can still see the glimmer from her display, and I was there...I stayed to watch the little green LED light fade into the darkness, and at the last moment..it's as if she were saying "I forgive you."

But yeah..looks like an oversized iphone. I love my MacBook (help.they'rewatchingmeevennow.throughthe'icam'), but I really need a keyboard if I'm going to actually use a computer as well...a computer. But, Steve Jobs wants what Steve Jobs wants. Hail Steve Jobs, or you will all be enslaved for giving us yet another revolutionary piece of equipment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UdmYInXplY

Yeah.. Steve Jobs isnt a computing god nor has any of the recent products from apple been revolutionary in any way. its all been done before.

What he' is, is a marketing/branding machine.. a very very good one at that.

[jdpapa3]

I don't have any use for this device. 500 bones and you have to pay monthly for 3g? HUH?

[CoachCowens]

I don't have any use for this device. 500 bones and you have to pay monthly for 3g? HUH?

you pay more for 3G. $500 is WiFi price.

For $500 you get the bare bones machine with 16GB of flash memory. It goes up $100 every time you double the size from 16 to 32 to 64GB.  Then you have to pay for all those accessories. 

[Chris]

Looks kind of like an evolutionary kindle.  It seems like it could be interesting, and could eventually be very good, but right now it is too expensive and too new.  I figure within 2-3 years, they will have worked out the kinks, and brought down the price a bit to make it more palatable.

[PLamb]

I don't have any use for this device. 500 bones and you have to pay monthly for 3g? HUH?

you pay more for 3G. $500 is WiFi price.

For $500 you get the bare bones machine with 16GB of flash memory. It goes up $100 every time you double the size from 16 to 32 to 64GB.  Then you have to pay for all those accessories. 

Adding 3G is another $130