iPad...failure? Or just the beginning of an era?

[AndroidVageta]

Now right off the bat, let me say that I in no way am biased towards any one company or anything...I know flaming will happen, as is the nature of these sort of things on ATOT, but please just hear me out and actually READ the thread instead of the usual "Apple hater! Don't read your crap!". Of course, none of what Ive written here so far is ever going to happen.

Well...what do all of you think? Is the iPad for all intended purposes a failure? I own a iPod Touch and a iPhone, not to say much about me, but I, unlike most, do not see Apple as an evil company or anything...but is the iPad the one Apple product that no one asked for? Or is it simply a slow and humble beginning to a new era of portable computing?

There have been many things throughout more recent history that were looked at as unneeded, some being the automobile and even the personal computer...so does the iPad just fall in this catorgory? Or is it really an waste?

I mean, I can see applications in which the iPad could be useful...some being business, some being personal, such as school. But where exactly does the usefullness of the iPad succeed where other computing device fail? Such as a netbook or laptop, PDA's, hell, even smart phones for that matter with WIFI, not using them as actual phones but just beefed up PDAs so to speak. I know Ive used smart phones in the past just as a mobile internet browser.

And what about all the things that iPhone users have wanted since its release that the iPad never touched up on or even attempted to make better? I mean, lets face it...it has no camera, no multitasking (to me the biggest mistake about the i-anything), no proprietary inputs (such as USB, HDMI, or card reader), no 3rd party applications (i.e. apps that AREN'T on the Apple Store), wide screen, FLASH (something that Jobs himself said is a bad idea, he's waiting on HTML5...which will be...when?)...I mean, besides being bigger and slightly more powerful...the iPad almost seems like a good step back from the devices Apple already has such as the iPod Touch and iPhone.

Now granted there are those that even on here will say "well, YOU don't have to buy one" or "if you want a portable computer so bad get a laptop"...arguments that granted, are valid, but if you don't want one, or you don't want a portable computer (whether it be laptop, PDA, or UMPC) then WHY the hell would you want a iPad if, all things considered, is grossly underwhelming and kinda useless?

Again, I'm not bashing Apple here, nor am I a "hater"...but I just fail to see the importance of this thing or why, not just myself, but anyone would seriously consider getting one.

I feel that I'm not alone either considering that NO store around me, be it mall, Best Buy, what have you, has even sold out on any model available...the iPod Touch and iPhone wouldn't stay on shelf's more than a couple hours when released.

Just felt like I needed to get some thoughts out, and just wanted to see what other (preferably non-biased people) think about the iPad looking at outside of Apples media and advertising.

Fail or just a slow start?

 

[nutxo]

To early to tell I think.

That being said Id love a beefed up windows 7 version at a reasonable price point.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

I'd say it's the beginning... Conceptually, the iPad is interesting to me although it's way too limited to make me consider giving up my laptop. If all I did was nef here and hang out on Facebook then maybe... But for what they're asking for the tricked out version I bought a kick-ass laptop that is 1000x more capable than the iPad. Right now it just looks like a really expensive, oversized iPod. Basically it's a toy.

I see more practical, powerful versions of this genre being released over the next year.

 

[DaveSimmons]

WHY the hell would you want a iPad if, all things considered, is grossly underwhelming and kinda useless?

I see it as a much better choice for a "couch puter" than a laptop.

Reasons why I might buy an iPad:
- e-books and perhaps e-comics (I'm curious to see what I've missed in the last 20 years of Marvel / DC)
- Netflix streaming, along with ABC, CBS, maybe Hulu though that may not be free -- while on my Lifecycle
- music streaming from my server
- IMDB lookup and shopping while watching TV
- Gamefaqs reader while playing console games

Will I buy one? That's still a maybe, and I might wait for a Windows tablet, but the idea doesn't seem useless to me at all.

 

[AndroidVageta]

I see it as a much better choice for a "couch puter" than a laptop.

Reasons why I might buy an iPad:
- e-books and perhaps e-comics (I'm curious to see what I've missed in the last 20 years of Marvel / DC)
- Netflix streaming, along with ABC, CBS, maybe Hulu though that may not be free -- while on my Lifecycle
- music streaming from my server
- IMDB lookup and shopping while watching TV
- Gamefaqs reader while playing console games

Will I buy one? That's still a maybe, and I might wait for a Windows tablet, but the idea doesn't seem useless to me at all.

Well, thats why I said, kinda useless.

I can see the reasoning behind why you would use one...but for $499 just for the barebones lowest version, you could buy a netbook and trick it out to the max...or hell, maybe even a good used tablet or convertible laptop with touch screen.

I mean, is having a tiny netbook while sitting on the couch THAT much more inconvenient than a iPad...to me it seems MORE so than anything...you dont have to worry at that point of whether or not that website you are going to visit will be fully usable or if you have to type an email or post something here it isnt going to take you 10x as long due to the poorly optimized touch screen keyboard.

Again, not arguing as your points are valid (especially as a comic book reader...still dont know about e-books, eyes strain)...but we already have devices that do everything you said...laptops...

 

[0roo0roo]

fiddling with a netbooks touchpad on the couch...oh yea thats a load of joy
netbook on the couch is like a laptop on the couch..but far worse. yay crampies. if you are going to go with laptop form factor for couch use a regular bigger laptop is better, smaller only makes it worse.

 

[AndroidVageta]

fiddling with a netbooks touchpad on the couch...oh yea thats a load of joy

I can understand that, but a physical keyboard, to me at least, is the good payoff. Not to mention that the netbook can do just about everything a iPad can't.

 

[speg]

It's a small step towards simple computing. An easy and painfree way for you to do most of your daily rounds online without having to be tied to a desk or carry around a laptop.

In terms of measurable success, we will have to find out. Hopefully it will be more than just a "hobby" ala the Apple TV. I don't think it's going to get the same numbers as the iPhone or iPod though, at least not yet. Maybe 2-3 years down the road as they build on it. Baby steps.

 

[TheWart]

I guess you need to define a failure. Apple TV has sold a few million units and most would call that a weak product. Forrester estimates the Kindle has sold about 2.5 million units...do you think that is a failure? Is anything less than an ipod/iphone blockbuster a failure?

 

[AndroidVageta]

I guess you need to define a failure. Apple TV has sold a few million units and most would call that a weak product. Forrester estimates the Kindle has sold about 2.5 million units...do you think that is a failure? Is anything less than an ipod/iphone blockbuster a failure?

Considering the bar that Apple has set for itself, and how "revolutionary" Apple considers the iPad along with the number of current sales and excitement of the general public. Yes, as of right now, I, personally, would consider it a failure. Maybe not a MAJOR failure (ie Windows ME) but overall, its not looking too good.

 

[TheWart]

Considering the bar that Apple has set for itself, and how "revolutionary" Apple considers the iPad along with the number of current sales and excitement of the general public. Yes, as of right now, I, personally, would consider it a failure. Maybe not a MAJOR failure (ie Windows ME) but overall, its not looking too good.

lol, based on what? I mean we dont even have firm pre-sale numbers, much less launch day (and those only for wifi versions).

The bar is indeed set high, but it is way too early to call it a success or failure, whether it sold 10,000 or 500,000 today. One day a product's success does not make.

edit: hahah just to make my point, Gene munster claims that Apple has sold 600-700,000 so far (incl. preorders), which would be pretty huge...but once again I think my point still stands about how it is way too early to say.

 

[KeypoX]

not a failure, certainly not a beginning of a era. As with the mp3 player apple didnt start touch screen devices. And its not a tablet, its a freaking umm, hmmm touch-screen-computer doohickey

 

[KeypoX]

edit: hahah just to make my point, Gene munster claims that Apple has sold 600-700,000 so far (incl. preorders), which would be pretty huge...but once again I think my point still stands about how it is way too early to say.

600k the first day is considered a success. Not like much R&D went into it, I dont think at least.

 

[TheWart]

600k the first day is considered a success. Not like much R&D went into it, I dont think at least.

lol, I think 600,000 in the first week would be a huge success. The benchmark to beat is 1,000,000 in ~70 days, whatever the iphone/droid were battling for. Two-thirds of that in 7 days would be monstrous, but I am not sure about Gene's guestimate.

 

[0roo0roo]

no wonder the joojoo rapes its battery....
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/joojoo-ships-to-actual-consumers-gets-dissected-for-good-measur/
it even has a fan

 

[Fingolfin269]

600k the first day is considered a success. Not like much R&D went into it, I dont think at least.

That's true but I'm sure that guy was also including pre-orders. Speaking of which, anyone have an idea of how many were pre-ordered? To be honest, I think even with pre-orders a 600-700k haul is awesome for Apple.

 

[mmntech]

I can see tablets like the iPad eventually replacing netbooks. People don't need high powered systems anymore. The big problem is the lack of focus on content creation, which will change as more apps develop. I can't justify spending $499 on it though, not right now. I'd like something a little more flexible. One of my big sticking points is the lack of expandable storage on these things. 16gb isn't a lot.

 

[BD2003]

I guess I'm the only one that actually bought one today.

It's quite a wonderful device, but there's no need to overstate its usefulness. For me its exactly what one poster said - a couch-puter. And it's by far the best I've ever used.

I have a 15 inch Dell studio - it's huge, hot and heavy, but it's got a real keyboard. But I hardly ever type anything when I'm surfing on the web.
I have an iPhone, but the screen is just too small.
I once had an 11 inch netbook, but the screen, keyboard and touchpad was just too damn small, and it was a pain in the ass to use, slow and small.
I've used a tablet pc in the past, hoping for the perfect couchputer but it was an EPIC fail - it was way too heavy to be comfortable, and windows is hardly a touchscreen OS.

I've been playing around with it all day...I love this ipad. Its simply the best web browsing device I've ever used. I'd never want to write a paper on it, or write much of anything serious on it, but the keyboard is just fine as long as you prop it up. I've certainly had no problem typing this whole post out.

So, no its not a failure. And no, its not the beginning of an era. Like every other computing device, it has its strengths and weaknesses. The reason why this tablet actually works where every other one has and will fail is that apple thinks everything through from start to finish. It may be missing some features, but everything that's in there is as polished as can be. It's incredibly responsive, and the interface is always beautiful, and its designed to be touched and only touched, not a hack on top of a desktop OS.

 

[BD2003]

And yes, I'm aware that the iPad has a smaller screen than many netbooks, but it feels different when your holding it in front of you rather than having it sit on your lap a few feet away. It feels large...almost too large, honestly.

This battery feels almost infinite too...I've been playing with it basically non stop since I got it around 2, haven't charged it since, and it's still at 44%. Even a netbook will struggle to achieve that.

 

[enwar3]

The iPad is going to be pretty big.

Bigger than I think it deserves. I don't think it's very obvious to us techies at first why it will be popular. But remember that the vast majority of Americans aren't very computer-savvy - and nor do they need much computer power. Most people (parents, baby boomers) just want to be able to surf the web and send email. Maybe even listen to music or stream some video. They don't want to worry about file systems, upgrading firmware, antivirus, etc. Most people aren't and don't want to be power users, and the iPad makes it easy for such users to do what they want to do without having to deal with all the confusing computing power and customization that comes with a laptop or a netbook.

Put simply, lots of people in America don't want to or need to put in the effort to learn how to use a complex operating system like what comes on laptops and netbooks, and the iPad gives them the functionality they need. Yes I know that windows is not THAT complicated. But if all you want to do is surf and email, it is undeniably harder to do that on a windows machine than on an iPad.

Again though, I think we should all just suck it up and become tech literate.

 

[0roo0roo]

how computer literate do you need to say open up some recipes while you are in the kitchen
theres no need to over complicate many tasks

 

[BD2003]

One thing that really bothers me about it is that its basically made to be used by only one person. On any pc you can have separate users with separate data, and such a thing is a non-issue for a smartphone, but I'd really like to have user accounts on this thing.

I guess it's a good thing my fiance is always hogging the laptop, and has no interest in using the iPad...part of the reason why I bought it in the first place.

 

[Emulex]

dell mini-9 with osx is basically the same thing - use the touchpad- couch-puter.

can't wait till they root one of these.

 

[BD2003]

dell mini-9 with osx is basically the same thing - use the touchpad- couch-puter.

can't wait till they root one of these.

Except that it'll be running an OS not really built to use touchscreens...Im not even sure if OSX even natively supports touchscreens at all, since no macs have one yet.

 

[randomlinh]

dell mini-9 with osx is basically the same thing - use the touchpad- couch-puter.

can't wait till they root one of these.

it's not basically the same thing. I'd almost rather type on the ipad than the dell mini 9. the iPad/tablet is very much a consumption device (though, there were some ideas for music mixing and such that were pretty convincing). And the iPhoneOS does it VERY well.

The issue for me is that I'm not willing to spend $500 on the bathroom reader (which is where this thing really shines IMO =P). So I will wait to see what the competition brings, and if the $500 ends up being worth it after all.