iPad: is it worth it?

[GhanBuriGhan]

To be honest the lack of flash support is one of the few annoying things (with my iPhone experience). Sure, flash may usually be used for useless website bloat, but it IS used. Also the majority of non-youtube video streaming formats seem to require flash and are not natively supported, as youtube is. And in both cases that means I simply can't see the content, period. Labeling that "enhancing the user experience" really is an euphemism. The second thing I dislike with the iPhone is the poor support for bluetooth and in general file-exchange (use as a "flashdrive" only through wlan or itunes (except for photo folder). Is this better with the iPad?

 

[txa1265]

The second thing I dislike with the iPhone is the poor support for bluetooth and in general file-exchange (use as a "flashdrive" only through wlan or itunes (except for photo folder). Is this better with the iPad?

Nope ... but again, given the strong support for things like DropBox, WebDAV, iDisk and so on, it is IMO a moot point.

The thing is, Apple has had a tendency to predict the future very well (USB, Floppy, etc) and REALLY tick people off in the short term. As someone said, Flash might be 'dead' in general, but it is still alive now, so pretending otherwise is annoying.

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

Nope … but again, given the strong support for things like DropBox, WebDAV, iDisk and so on, it is IMO a moot point.

Not quite... first off, I am sometimes dealing with large files, so cloud/internet based file access can be annoyingly slow, especially on the go over 3G. All wireless based file transfer requires access to the local network first, which is no problem at the office, but has frequently been a problem at target computers at other institutions. Secondly given the data volumes I work with, it means getting a payed account, which I am not so keen about (especially since much of it would be work-related, but payed by me privately). Thirdly my company policy actually explicitly forbids me to put documents on such services. A simple file synchronization via USB (or for small stuff, bluetooth) would be a much better solution for me. In addition, I often get data from colleagues/customers on USB sticks - not being able to access that data directly would be annoying.
So I guess its gonna be a netbook, for me.

 

[GothicGothicness]

So I guess its gonna be a netbook, for me.

Rest assured you made the right choice.

 

[Pladio]

http://gizmodo.com/5607678/install-flash-on-an-iphone-4

 

[Thrasher]

My personal experience with Flash (and possibly Shockwave as well) is that Safari on the Mac chokes on it, nearly freezes, and sometimes crashes. While on my PC, I have few to no problems at all using IE.

It is not an update issue, as far as I can tell. The Mac becomes progressively more unreliable (even within only a week after the latest update), while the PC is pretty much unaffected until major changes. Even then, it never crashes.

Based on my experience, it seems that flash is just not very compatible with Safari on the Mac.

 

[Lucky Day]

Pladio, in the comments on the phone hack someone said you have to jailbreak the phone to get it to work?

As for comments on Apple thinking longterm I have first hand knowledge that removing the floppy from the iMac was completely premature.

I worked one line over from where they assembled those. I worked on the Build to Order line and the machines these people wanted - nearly everyone of them had a floppy drive built in.

The floppy removal was premature, just as they blew it on that stupid mouse. Jobs has made wrongheaded moves before and I don't believe that Flash is dead - it has excellent compression for example. Flash is not realaudio,

This is just a game that Apple is playing and knowing something of Adobe's business strategies to charge through the nose I believe both companies are at fault.

 

[Pladio]

I don't know much about it but yeah, from what i could tell you do need to jailbreak it first.

 

[txa1265]

So I guess its gonna be a netbook, for me.

Apparently I mis-spoke ... there are plenty of utilities that allow you to use the USB interface (add-on) for USB file transfer as well as the intended camera transfer.

But again, for the purpose you are using it for, a 'real computer' would be a better choice. Though I am not sure a netbook would be my recommendation. At least not a classic definition netbook ... something like one of the 11" screen things would be great.

Personally I love my Alienware m11x ... netbook size, Crysis-running hardware

 

[txa1265]

Rest assured you made the right choice.

*for his application*

Oh, imagine that ... you taking another 'iPad sucks' pot shot, who would have thought?

But. I am hoping that even you can admit that there are two possible reasons why recent reports show the iPad taking away up to 50% of former netbook sales (1) people are f*cking idiots or (2) there are legitimate use cases for the iPad for which it is superior to the netbook.

iTunes is one of the worst pieces of software I've ever used - but since I'm not interested in jailbreaking the thing - I guess I have to live with it?

I don't understand the issue with iTunes. Sure there are some things I would like to see - compartmentalization and web-based access amongst them. But the bloatware thing has been thoroughly debunked in terms of memory and resources. The Zune software is no better, nor is Sony's Media Go software ... oh, well.

 

[GothicGothicness]

But. I am hoping that even you can admit that there are two possible reasons why recent reports show the iPad taking away up to 50% of former netbook sales (1) people are f*cking idiots or (2) there are legitimate use cases for the iPad for which it is superior to the netbook.

I know that apple product sell, you can sell anything with good marketing, and slick design. (3) people buy it as a luxury on top of other devices.

Also on a forum like this we tend to forget that most people who buy products don't know that much about technology.

 

[txa1265]

I know that apple product sell, you can sell anything with good marketing, and slick design. (3) people buy it as a luxury on top of other devices.

Also on a forum like this we tend to forget that most people who buy products don't know that much about technology.

So reading between the lines: anyone who buys an iPad is ignorant about technology and the sort of person who will buy stuff based on slick advertising?

I would say that you just confirmed what I have already been saying regarding your opinions. You cannot see a legitimate use-case for the iPad.

I posted a nearly page long list of things that are very useful, and even a video showing that the iPad is *3X* faster than the latest and greatest netbook at the #1 and #2 tasks they are used for ... and you have never acknowledged either - probably because they mess with your closed-minded preconceived notions about the product and those who buy them.

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

And now, can we all hug and be friends again?

 

[zakhal]

So reading between the lines: anyone who buys an iPad is ignorant about technology and the sort of person who will buy stuff based on slick advertising?

I posted a nearly page long list of things that are very useful, and even a video showing that the iPad is *3X* faster than the latest and greatest netbook at the #1 and #2 tasks they are used for … and you have never acknowledged either - probably because they mess with your closed-minded preconceived notions about the product and those who buy them.

I didnt see that much difference in the video but I doubt that general user of iPad is going to buy the device just to save few seconds when he opens email/browser.

As for people not been generally stupid Ill use my favorite churchill quote: "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

Personally I might buy iPad to read color magazines/newspapers. But still Im not sure Im ready to pay 500€-840€ (pricerange mentioned for finland in one article) for it.

 

[txa1265]

I didnt see that much difference in the video but I doubt that general user of iPad is going to buy the device just to save few seconds when he opens email/browser.

There was a 3x time difference. Whether or not it matters to anyone is a personal preference ... but people had said 'iPad is underpowered and slow and ANY netbook is MUCH more powerful'. I countered, was asked for proof, and provided it.

As for people not been generally stupid Ill use my favorite churchill quote: "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

I am not arguing THAT. There was a singling out of Apple product buyers as technologically clueless and easily malleable (i.e. stupid). That was my sticking point ...

Personally I might buy iPad to read color magazines/newspapers. But still Im not sure Im ready to pay 500€-840€ (pricerange mentioned for finland in one article) for it.

That is a steep price for an eReader. We bought my wife a Barnes & Noble nook (similar to Kindle if you don't know) for $140. She has already saved nearly that much on the lower price of ebooks, and she doesn't need anything else - an iPad would be a complete waste for her.

For me ... when I look back, I see it as a bargain!

 

[GothicGothicness]

I posted a nearly page long list of things that are very useful, and even a video showing that the iPad is *3X* faster than the latest and greatest netbook at the #1 and #2 tasks they are used for … and you have never acknowledged either - probably because they mess with your closed-minded preconceived notions about the product and those who buy them.

I don't give much for your video firefox is known to be notoriously slow starting, do the same test with chrome or opera which are fast browsers. As for checking email.. same thing depends on which software you install on the PC. I can take a video of firefox starting 4 times slower than chrome on my PC too... what would that prove?

There also linux distributions which start really fast, like ubuntu netbook edition, or other even faster linux distrubtion.... with a netbook you can choose what you want... and that's one of the points. If you want heavy weight windows 7 and firefox you can do that... for example firefox starts flash plugin and other stuff by defualt... it doesn't just sit idle when starting up.

I would say that you just confirmed what I have already been saying regarding your opinions. You cannot see a legitimate use-case for the iPad.

I already wrote about several legitimate work cases... such as for younger people, and it is very easy to use and they can just tap on the screen, or nurses that want to look at the patient while taping in options with their fingers on the ipad... and so on. These are however things which has been possible for a long time.... but a big plus for apple for making people realise what technology can do.... that's also what they did with iphone.

 

[Lucky Day]

well there's a fourth reason to buy a popular product.

The Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, even the Mac were all better products than the IBM PC. When there's enough of a product out there there's better support. We are now seeing people buying half-baked consoles now and we've lost software support on our PC Games.

I now realize I made a mistake in buying a Creative MP3 instead of paying the premium on an iPod back in the day. I didn't make that mistake when I bought a BB over a Samsung BB clone.

There's a reason people bought iPods and buy iPhones and its the same spillover market going to the iPad - its a well built product with a lot of support and features.

 

[zakhal]

That is a steep price for an eReader. We bought my wife a Barnes & Noble nook (similar to Kindle if you don't know) for $140. She has already saved nearly that much on the lower price of ebooks, and she doesn't need anything else - an iPad would be a complete waste for her.

Indeed it is. I bought eslick e-ink reader for like 200€. Its great for books but too small for newspapers&magz and it doesnt display any colors. The only e-ink reader that does isnt sold outside japan yet. Currently I use netbook to read them. You can get it new for just 300€ though.

 

[txa1265]

Indeed it is. I bought eslick e-ink reader for like 200€. Its great for books but too small for newspapers&magz and it doesnt display any colors. The only e-ink reader that does isnt sold outside japan yet. Currently I use netbook to read them. You can get it new for just 300€ though.

Barnes & Noble just introduced the color nook.

 

[txa1265]

I don't give much for your video firefox is known to be notoriously slow starting, do the same test with chrome or opera which are fast browsers. As for checking email.. same thing depends on which software you install on the PC. I can take a video of firefox starting 4 times slower than chrome on my PC too… what would that prove?

There are also much faster browsers on iPad than Safari. (Safari is actually better on the iPad than the craptastic Mac and abysmal PC version). Sure there are loads of variables, but what I did was use the basic process that someone would use. Sure I could have used Chrome, and I use it on my other netbooks.

However, speed tests show that while memory usage, etc favor Chrome, FireFox has a faster 'cold start' time ... and that is how I used it. So I used the fastest starting 'mainstream'* browser. So if you could show FireFox starting slower than Chrome from a cold start, it would mean you had overloaded it. I haven't, so my config is faster than Chrome. Open more than a couple of tabs, however ...

And think about it - all FireFox had to do was open a tab. The iPad had to suspend one app, launch another and then render the page ... much more work.

Also, this is a brand new PC, and I haven't even loaded Office on it yet. It has FireFox and a few default programs. Not even Flash yet! Certainly no other add-ons. Again, it is much more lean than any *real* test.

If anything, the iPad was at the disadvantage - it is 6 months old and used daily, has > 100 apps installed on it, thousands of songs and a bunch of movies ... but the HP was brand new and uncluttered. Also, the iPad has some amount of multitasking (Apple stuff only) and since I made no effort to hard reset the iPad I have no idea what was cluttering up memory.

There also linux distributions which start really fast, like ubuntu netbook edition, or other even faster linux distrubtion…. with a netbook you can choose what you want… and that's one of the points. If you want heavy weight windows 7 and firefox you can do that… for example firefox starts flash plugin and other stuff by defualt… it doesn't just sit idle when starting up.

Linux is non-mainstream and has failed as a non-techie OS miserably. Once tech-users bought up some of the first ASUS netbooks, we got the mainstream response - unprecedented levels of returns of specifically Linux netbooks. Now finding a Linux netbook is harder than ever ... the standard is now Windows 7 starter. Because Linux has been shown to be an OS for people who give a crap about the OS ... sort of like a car for those who like to tinker with engines. 99.9% of the population does NOT fall into that category.

with a netbook you can choose what you want… and that's one of the points..

That is absolutely true ... but there has to be a purpose. For the longest time Linux was just really cool for techies, and I was there installing it on PDA's in the mid-90's. But ultimately people want stuff to work.

On my netbook I have utilities to tune the memory, the processor, the graphics, and also others to keep things running well. That is abnormal and indicated a system unfit for the purposes I'm trying to use it for. I have laptops that are >10 years old that run faster than my 2nd gen Lenovo s10 netbook.