iPad?

[fos]

Does anyone have the iPad yet? I still haven't seen one first hand but the reviews are generally positive.

I'm very attached to my Kindle. The iPad display would have to be extraordinary to beat out the Kindle's "digital ink" system.

Jeff

[fos]

I played with a demo iPad at BestBuy this afternoon.

It is very nice. It actually seems like a very small iMac. The case is the same aluminum and the screen fills most of the face. In function, it is very similar to an iPhone on steroids. It is certainly the same user interface.

I was most interested in the book reading function. It was loaded with the iBook application which comes with one book... "Winnie The Pooh". It isn't my type of reading material but demonstrates the functions nicely. In landscape view it shows two pages side by side as you would see in an open book. The display is white with a very nice font. It is as clear as any digital monitor I have seen. The font can be enlarged and shrunk at will. The font can be enlarged much further than the Kindle which is very nice. Color is supported in both text and the images included with the book. As you would expect, the images are much nicer than the gray scale images on the Kindle.

In short, it was a pleasing experience. I expect to buy one someday. I will at least wait until the 3G version is available, maybe longer.

Would I buy one today instead of the Kindle? I'm not sure. The iPad is roughly twice the cost of the Kindle. The iPad is more versatile. However, the Kindle is designed to read books and I can do that on the Kindle as long as I can read a real book. (At least when I can find one with print big enough to see.) I'm not sure I would be able to read the iPads display for the length of time I can read the Kindle.

Jeff

[danieldk]

The platform is a bit too closed. I'll wait and see what the competition comes up with :).

[danieldk]

Indeed, my iPad suspicions are confirmed:
http://www.taoeffect.com/blog/2010/04/dear-apple-the-iphone-deserves-a-better-sdk/

[fos]

I read a similar thread on Slashdot. I have always thought that Apple keeps things too close to the vest. It is a shame. The iPad appears to be a great piece of hardware. I post 1 week review in our local newspaper reports a 14 hour battery life. The reporter used it for the entire week instead of his laptop and found it to be a complete replacement. He intends to change over completely once the 3G version is available which will give him total coverage rather than being tied to a a Wifi hot spot.

[danieldk]

I think it is detrimental to this and future generations of children discovering technology. Cory Doctorow made the point very well:

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/04/02/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either.html

[fos]

I like the quip about Rupert Murdoch... He can take his fraction of a fraction of a fraction of content off Google and no one will miss it.

I also kept thinking that the Apple founders were once the outside geeks and now they are the ones controlling the drawbridge....

[danieldk]

Well, Woz is long gone. He was the geek.

[jml]

That's right, Daniel. Woz was the geek, Jobs was the marketing genius, and has a great talent for industrial design. The stuff he designs, people just want.

And I agree with Jeff. If all you want to do is read, there is nothing as good as the Kindle in my opinion. The electronic paper is easy on the eyes, and the ability to download books untethered from your computer is a really killer feature. Plus the battery life is much longer needing fewer recharges. 14 hour battery life is impressive compared to a laptop but not to the Kindle. Once the iPads battery reaches end of life, it has to be sent back to Apple for replacement. Just like the iPhone.

Still, it does seem to be more functional than my netbook. It's amazing how many nice toys seem to just keep asking for our money. ;-)

Joe

[bluesdog]

While I'm not particularly enamoured with the iPad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkIP7ec3O8

[fos]

454 thousand views! Apple sure knows how to make an impact.

Jeff

[lurch]

While I'm not particularly enamoured with the iPad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkIP7ec3O8

Clever marketing, or will it alienate the youth market? Maybe even inspire the purchase of youth to parent gifts.

[danieldk]

I tried my brother's iPad, and it is amazing. Very smooth graphics, seamless HD streaming from HTML5 websites (you just pinch the in-page video, and it becomes fullscreen). Also very nice as an eBook reader.

[danieldk]

I have one since Sunday, and absolutely love it!

[lurch]

http://www.macworld.com.au/

[danieldk]

Welcome to the future! Let's hope Android tablets will arrive soon to heaten up the competition.

[fos]

I played with one at BestBuy. They are very well thought out. I never thought I would use the iPhone near as much as I do. Now, I would be lost without it. I'm technology poor right now so it will have to wait awhile.

Keep us posted.....

[danieldk]

After a few months, I still have to say it's a fantastic device! Especially checking e-mail or news feeds (per Flipboard) on the couch is great. I also have the VGA connection kit, and used it to give a presentation, which is ok (but not perfect).

The battery time is amazing. I charge it maybe twice per month.

Here's my iPad in action ;):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iswrong/5086220660/

[fos]

I attended an educational seminar recently. The focus was smart phones and the ipad in education. The future is here. Kids are already connected, we just have to utilize their social nature to best effect.

Even my wife was convinced. She now wants an iPhone and an iPad!