Topic: The Apple iPad is finally official

http://gear.ign.com/articles/106/1064047p1.html

Not sure how this will work, but whatever.

Your thoughts?

Stupid name, and it's unfortunate that it will sell better than the Amazon Kindle (it's essentially aimed at the ebook market), because the Kindle is a better product in almost every way that counts.

But hey, it's Apple, so it's overpriced, but people will buy it and love it.

That said, the App store part will be good.

Yeah, it has terrible name and is overpriced, but it really does look to "bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops."
Weird news.

I'd actually pre-order the device if it weren't for the insane price-point. I can get all the necessary parts to build a modern PC (including an added bonus of a Terabyte hard drive) for under a thousand! Why would I want an easy-to-break machine that has 16 Gigabyte hard drive for $400? Just because it has a touch screen? I guess I don't get the logic of people...

looks interesting. im not sure what i does yet, but all i know is that i am not getting something like that for triple the price of a wii

I think I'll stick with my Macbook Pro. I can just as easily carry it around.

Because it's portable? It's not designed to be a PC. It's designed to be a portable, easy to use and app rich product. Comparing it to a PC is ridiculous - it's better to compare it to other roughly equivilent products - such as the Kindle.

I think I'll stick with my Macbook Pro. I can just as easily carry it around.

Yeah, if I got one I wouldn't be using it for computing. The Apps are the interesting point, and the deals with book publishers means the iPad is clearly designed as a e-reader to take on Kindle, not a portable computer as such.

The problem is, the iPad uses a computer screen. The Kindle uses e-Ink. e-Ink is closer to a printed-on-paper page than a computer screen, and it's the only way it's usable for long sustainable periods.

I hope hope hope book publishers don't abandon Amazon for this.

I'll stick with my iTouch

The Apps are the interesting point, and the deals with book publishers means the iPad is clearly designed as a e-reader to take on Kindle, not a portable computer as such.

Actually, I do believe they're going for something closer to a complete computing experience. More accurately, it seems that they're striving to bridge the gap between mobile devices like the iPhone and full "traditional" laptops. The e-Reader part is certainly in the mix as well, but after glancing over all its specs and announcement details, I believe it's clear that they only expect that to be one possible draw out of many. That actually disappoints me a bit, since I was wanting to see what Apple might do with an e-Reader. However, I still find this device fascinating, for I do believe that the lines between laptops and smaller mobile devices will be all but unrecognizable very soon.

Tablets fail. They have been for awhile now. Slapppiing an Apple symbol on one and introducingg it as "new" isn't going make them great all of a sudden.

The iBookshop is a major selling point for this - and Jobs himself basically admitted they were going after the Kindle with the iPad.

The problem is, in trying to be more than an e-reader, they've killed its potential as a e-reader, IMO. An e-reader really does need eInk technology to work properly. Extended reading sessions on a computer screen, no matter what the quality, is simply not possible for myself and many others. You have to see a Kindle in action to understand - eInk is brilliant and necessary for e-books.

So, in trying to do too much, I think the iPad kinda falls short of everything.

Tablets fail. They have been for awhile now. Slapppiing an Apple symbol on one and introducingg it as "new" isn't going make them great all of a sudden.

It's not that simple. Tablets have failed because touch screen technology and processing power for ultra-portable computing has been limited. Both problems have been resolved, and on top of that, Tablets have only really ever 'failed' in the consumer space. In business they are widely used.

If iBooks gets a lot of support, I'll be interested. Ereaders are pointless on their own, but packaged with other basic media functions -- music, movies, games -- and web browsing makes a nicely rounded package with Apple's usual quality and style. I'm not sure why $500 is so much. I'm hoping Google's rumored tablet running Chrome OS will be even cheaper, though.

I strongly disagree with this, and I strongly disagree with the notion that e-readers become more useful when packages with other functions - those functions would mean the e-reader could no longer be using eInk technology, which renders the device useless as an e-reader.

For basic functions, you can get a netbook cheaper than this iPad, and those are fine at running movies, music etc etc.

Books aren't exactly expensive or difficult to carry around. I don't see how a device that does nothing but displays books is useful. It doesn't help that you're then limited to whatever books are carried in electronic format, either. You spend a lot for little gain. I'd only be interested personally if the e-reader offered other applications.

my MacBook Pro works just fine for me. @15" it's slightly bigger than the touchscreen monster, but has way more functionality for what i do; can't run Logic on the iPad.

I'm torn on this one. I agree, WaltzElf, that something like the Kindle is better as far as its display and overall optimization for the task of reading (battery life, etc). However, I also agree with Adam that there is something appealing about a sleek device that will function reasonably well as an eReader while also providing a smooth way to take care of a whole host of unrelated tasks. Cheap netbooks, if you ask me, are just that: cheap, and horribly inefficient compared to an interface as streamlined as that of Apple's iPod Touch / iPhone OS.

Man i still don't even have an Ipod touch yet. I wanted a Kindle but this seems a little better for me as it does more. My only problem is making A wi-Fi only model and another model with 3G plus Wi-fi. The 3G isn't tied to a contract and is pay as you go so the point of having 2 models for that is pretty useless.

Looks pretty dumb, IMO.

It's supposed to be 10 hours. I can't see reading for that long in one go. And if I would, I imagine I'd be near an outlet. Or is there something I'm missing? I have only barely looked into this little thingamajiggy yet.

Ok, carrying more than one or two books does become difficult - books take up a remarkable amount of space and weigh a remarkable amount to move around (fill a box with books, and fill a box with game boxes/ DVDs, then lift both if you want to test this).

Books are quite expensive - a typical paperback costs between $15 and $25 Australian. Furthermore, if you like keeping your books in good condition, you cannot carry them around. My books stay on the bookshelf, undamaged.

As for price - yes, the initial cost of an e-reader seems high, at $250 for the standard Kindle. However, once you have that, the books are cheaper. I haven't paid over $10 for a book yet (and these are popular books), and I've purchased around 25 of them in the past four months since I bought the Kindle. Already I've saved $125 on books, and that's not taking into account the newspapers and magazines I get sent to the Kindle, which are much less expensive and timely than importing the Post or Times to Australia.

The ability to make clippings, make and save notes and hook up to Wikipedia for free are all extra bonuses and help when studying or analysing a text. The ability to share a single Amazon Kindle Account amongst five Kindles means you can set up a "book club" of sorts with friends and family, and share the costs of buying books amongst five people.

I do far more reading now than I did when I didn't have a Kindle, as I travel a lot, and I never found books convenient to travel with.