Russ:

AutoDesk Sketchbook Pro

That was outstanding! Thanks!

beaker:

As the Ipad is now out in the US I thought I would ask what they actually are. Why do you need one. What does it do that an Iphone can't. I know it has a bigger screen but it has no camera or phone so what is its use apart from being a big heavy thing to cart around.

The iPad is something between an iPhone and a laptop.

When steve Jobs introduced it he said Apple would only release a product in that gap if that product could be better at some tasks than the iPhone or a Laptop.

The iPhone is cool, it is internet + music in your pocket with a great interface, but its screen is small.

Laptop has a big screen, is very versatile, but can still be a bit big and the interface is more complex than the iPhone.

The iPad is not the device you'll carry everywhere (unless you use it professionaly), it will probably stay near your sofa and will shine in tasks like internet browsing, viewing photos, and to read books/magazines. The experience is more immersive, and more social than using a laptop for the same tasks.

I am an Apple fanboy...

At home, I have several Apple products running constantly, but I have found over the years that I have slowly moved from desktops to laptops to my Touch.

My take on the iPad is that it will be a better Touch. Convenient, capable, and with a nice BIG screen.

While my only thoughts have swirled around in home use, I am being more and more swayed that this may just be an outstanding personal companion for business/roadtrips.

Though I have not ordered one yet... It WILL replace my laptop when the time comes (she won't die).

I think I will wait until GEN2 to see if they do anything with an inbuilt camera (better be d@mn good!), either on the front, the rear, or both. For now, having to tether w/ a "camera kit" is a bit clumsy, but perhaps it is not such a bad idea for the sake of better shots.

With that said, I'll probably give in!

I'll probably give in too. I like to have the ABC and Netflix app, I like the form factor. 

I like to get videos onto it without going trough itunes but tend to believe that this is possible through apps.

jk1002:

I'll probably give in too. I like to have the ABC and Netflix app, I like the form factor. 

I like to get videos onto it without going trough itunes but tend to believe that this is possible through apps.

 

The Netflix app is amazing.  I think that ultimately videos may be distributed outside of iTunes but the iTunes videos especially those in HD look great.  The Amazon Kindle app lets you buy books through the Kindle store outside of iTunes.  Other apps surely will do the same.  Some of the apps are expensive for no apparent reason.  One issue of Time magazine is $5.  There are others.

I purchased my iPad at the Michigan avenue store in Chicago at about 6:30 pm.  I went at that time figuring the store wouldn't be too crowded.   How wrong I was!  I didn't have to wait too long to buy an iPad but judging by the pace of sales, you would think they were giving them away.  The purchase took about 3 minutes.

They apparently broke the iPhone's DAY1 sales...

But, as Pounch mentioned... the news is mounting on bad WIFI reception.

burantek:

They apparently broke the iPhone's DAY1 sales...

But, as Pounch mentioned... the news is mounting on bad WIFI reception.

I'm also hearing of charging issues when charging from USB ports - the load is too high for some PC's/mac's and you have to use the mains charger (supplied).

Puncher:

I'm also hearing of charging issues when charging from USB ports - the load is too high for some PC's/mac's and you have to use the mains charger (supplied).

Correct.

Early word is that while "awake" ...only USB2.0 High Power sockets will work. Apparently when "asleep" ...lesser sockets work. Though, is that unusual? I have devices that are very "fidgety" w/ regards to USB... especially on legacy machines.

What has been the experience w/ you early adopters?

burantek:

Puncher:

I'm also hearing of charging issues when charging from USB ports - the load is too high for some PC's/mac's and you have to use the mains charger (supplied).

Correct.

Early word is that while "awake" ...only USB2.0 High Power sockets will work. Apparently when "asleep" ...lesser sockets work. Though, is that unusual? I have devices that are very "fidgety" w/ regards to USB... especially on legacy machines.

What has been the experience w/ you early adopters?

I haven't had any WiFi or charging problems.  My iMac has USB 2.  I did have a problem with the iPad Ebay app.  While I was checking for B&O products, the iPad became unresponsive and I had to power reset.  Maybe there is a message there. 

linder:

While I was checking for B&O products, the iPad became unresponsive and I had to power reset.  Maybe there is a message there. 

You beat me to the punchline!

beaker:

Why do you need one. What does it do that an Iphone can't.

When Kindle for iPhone came out, I bought and read two books on my iPhone.

When Kindle for Macintosh came out, I bought six more books, of which I read 5 1/2 on my Mac and 1/4 on my iPhone.

I anticipate I will be reading a whole lot more books on the iPad, be these on Kindle or on the iPad book application.  But unlike our original and now replaced original iPhones, which we bought on day 1 in 2007, we haven't bought an iPad yet.  There just does not seem to be a pressing need.

It's not that I neccessarily share the point of view of this rather harsh comparison's creator ... just think it's funny what people come up with.

That list ignores instant messaging, where the stone may also have a slight advantage.  

I thought this was pretty funny:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/only-ipad-review-you-need-read

Stan

Great article.  I agree with FakeSteve: the iPad is a product one might not need right away; this is why we haven't bought ours yet.  Sort of the way one does not need a BeoVision.

We'll get ours, eventually, when we feel we want them.

Chitika Labs is now estimating over 540,000 iPads sold thru 4/7 based on hits on their network.  I have one and I have not had any of the problems others report.  After a few days of using it I really feel it is a game changing product and the best apps are yet to come.  I have watched TV shows from ABC and they are very personal on the iPad  I also watched part of a movie and was amazed at the sound considering the speaker placement.  A great deal of the early use seems to be games based on lower than expected web access and over 1/3 of the app's for sale are games.  If I was an audio video or game device maker I would be very worried for the future.  

Isn't it for sitting on the couch and enjoying flicking through beoworld.org? 

It has no use for me, but i can still see one sitting on my kitchen bench , or even mounted on my dining room wall :-0

It may be easier to use to browse forums like this on your lap on the couch.  

could not resist

http://www.oxfordeyehospital.nhs.uk/documents/leaflets/eyepadapp.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGIn9bpALo#

haha I think this sums it up...

I have had mine on order for over 2 months now, I guess, I ordered it right after the "iPad keynote".

I'm not overly convinced about it, but most reviews and user experiences are promising!

I wasn't too impressed by it but then I found that there are apps that let me connect to my nas and copy files from there to the device, the ABC app plus Netflix and the safari browser experience rocks and that all converted me after playing 10 minutes with it in the store.

What amazes me the most is, that they let ABC and Netflix have their apps. That clearly clearly cuts into their Itunes revenue stream. Netflix has very current movies and TV, same for ABC and essentially it is either dirt cheap (netflix) or free (ABC).

That too me is really a huge surprise, I expected that Apple themselves would get into the streaming game and with Netflix beeing 9$ a month plus unlimited rentals with a single DVD out at the time is very hard to beat.

Only thing bad is, you will miss multi tasking and even though I have an Airport Extreme the Wifi strenght is flickering - it doesnt bother me for browsing though.

JK

jk1002:

What amazes me the most is, that they let ABC and Netflix have their apps. That clearly clearly cuts into their Itunes revenue stream. Netflix has very current movies and TV, same for ABC and essentially it is either dirt cheap (netflix) or free (ABC).

I wonder if this is a sign that Apple is paving the way to a proper full blown branded TV set in a few years?

jk1002:

Only thing bad is, you will miss multi tasking

I believe that the iPad will fall under the umbrella of the mobile OS update that is rolling out... it is to include multitasking.

burantek:

jk1002:

What amazes me the most is, that they let ABC and Netflix have their apps. That clearly clearly cuts into their Itunes revenue stream. Netflix has very current movies and TV, same for ABC and essentially it is either dirt cheap (netflix) or free (ABC).

I wonder if this is a sign that Apple is paving the way to a proper full blown branded TV set in a few years?

jk1002:

Only thing bad is, you will miss multi tasking

I believe that the iPad will fall under the umbrella of the mobile OS update that is rolling out... it is to include multitasking.

indeed ...multitasking will be available for ipad some time after the summer. Looks really good on the iphone and I hope it's as effective on the ipad.

They said Autumn for Ipad OS 4.0 in the keynote.

For the TV, to me this is a sign that they have given up on providing streaming services through the Itunes Universe.

I was expecting them to become a competitor to the cable companies which now to me is off the table since they let have content provider like ABC and Netflix have their own apps.

That clearly takes out a large chunk of Itunes revenue which I always felt they were over protective off making it inconvenient to add my own content when it comes to video for example.

I could have started a new thread called "Dad's bragging rights" :-) but appended to this one instead.

Why bragging rights ?

Well two of my sons have been slaving with a friend/business-partner to produce their first iPad/iPhone game.  Actually I could include my third son, daughter-in-law, girlfriend and mom and dad (that's me again) since we were all involved in extensive testing.

So here it is ... the trailer makes it seem easy ... lucky they did not film me playing it

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beans-quest/id449069244?ls=1&mt=8

http://www.kumobius.com/

And the other bragging rights belong to Steve Job's I think ... the last post talked about iOS 4 on iPad 1 as we now know it, and here we are no with iPad 2 and the new iOS 5 on the horizon (to say nothing of Lion), and according to Fortune Magazine this week, Apple have only now caught up with the demand from the launch of iPad 2 ... must be time to launch iPad 3

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/16/apple-finally-catches-up-with-ipad-2-demand/

Of course it may just have been a clogged supply chain caused by the earthquake/tsunami in Japan and the fire in the Chinese factory.

Anyway, this week we will see Apple's financial announcements and we will get an idea of how "useful" the iPad 1 & 2 has been to the world in the past 12 months.