Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueAbyss
I played with one years ago, I liked the interface and it's applications. I didn't, however, like the screen on any of the PDAs of the day. I found them all to be difficult to read, and the lack of a light exacerbated the problem.
What I was referring to is exactly that, the possibility that the public won't 'get' the product and it will be pushed aside by the marketplace. I think the iPad might be a winner... though if I personally bought one, I'd have to buy a keyboard to go with it.
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Absolutely. Screen technology has come a long way from the poorly backlit monochrome LCDs of those days. It was the best available for a handheld device then.
I also think the market may get the iPad more easily now given the success of the iPhone and iPod Touch to lead the way. People will know how to use it and have some idea what it can do from those devices. It will be the newer functionality which will sell the device. I am pretty certain that when it comes time to replace my current laptop I will buy an iPad and a desktop instead. The iPad is far more portable and will do everything I need it to do on the road (surf the net, check email, take notes, show slide presentations etc.) and I can have a more powerful desktop such as an iMac at home/office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crytone
Ok, those videos definitely made me laugh. Both were great and worth a look/laugh.
Here's a funny picture I found the other day also.
Someone commented to me a few pages back about my not wanting to an iPad since it wouldn't be good for myself for school. I'll comment back saying that, according to current know specs of the iPad, it will NOT work for me. Speculating the iPad will have a stylus is more excessive than me speculating it won't since Apple hasn't announced that feature yet, and it's less than a month away from being released (you think if they were going for that demographic of user they'd have announced that spec if it was included). Now I believe a version 2 iPad may likely include this feature but not version 1 as it is currently known. Using a 'sausage' or any makeshift stylus will not offer enough dexterity I feel also.
As for the textbooks, I stand by my stance that many will not be released for the iPad, and if they are it won't be an iPad only version (likely some kind of format that can be placed on any kindle, iPad, laptop, Courier, etc..). Limiting themselves to a single platform would likely be too costly for the amount gained. Many companies will wait and see how well the iPad is adopted and by that time I'll have graduated and have no need for new textbooks anymore. Students are cheap too, why would they pay $100 for a digital format book when they can buy a used textbook for $40? Saving $60 to buy beer with! The other problem is if I drop my iPad and break it, I'd lose my textbooks until I got a new iPad or got it repaired, with a book I drop it I maybe crease a few pages but otherwise have a usable book still to finish my assignment due the next day.
Just my thoughts. |
Nice, Steve Jobs playing Break Dance Revolution on the iMat
As for a stylus, there are already companies making iPhone compatible styluses (styli?) so it is not inconceivable that if Apple itself does not release a stylus/note taking app some third party (or parties) will make note taking apps. It is an obvious application for the iPad so somebody will do it.
As for textbooks, that will come sooner than later. You can come up with plenty of reasons and rationale as to why it won't happen but I suspect you will be wrong. I think the idea of carrying around a 1.5 pound device instead of 40 or 50 pounds of textbooks will appeal to many people and the textbooks for iPad will be more interactive and have features paper textbooks will not have. They may very well release versions for other devices such as the Courier (if and when it shows up and if it is any good) or other slate computers. The current Kindle,and similar eReaders, are to limited to offer the type of interactivity and media richness the iPad etc. will offer. However, I do think devices such as the iPad, Kindle, other slates etc. will spell the end of paper books eventually. It won't happen next year but will probably take a decade. Look how CD sales have dropped off over the last years because of services like iTunes. If the publishing industry have any brains they will use the example of the music industry and try to change and evolve rather than fight it like the record companies did. Didn't do the music industry any good to fight it.
Plenty of pundits crapped on the iPod and iPhone when they was announced. Harped on what they couldn't do and what they were missing blah blah blah instead of trying to see the potential in the device and imagine what it can do. We've seen how the iPod/iTunes ecosystem changed the way we consume music. Apple and all the developers who created 100,000 plus apps have shown what the iPhone/iPod Touch can do. Whatever you or others think, the iPad is more than a big iPod Touch. The larger screen itself opens it up to greater possibilities than are practical with the smaller devices. The future keeps approaching my friends. Embrace it and enjoy the possibilities
