The Apple Tablet Event?

[marguerite]

I don't know, guys: $499-$699 for WiFi version, plus iWork ($30 tops) and a keyboard dock. Throw in Storyist and I might choose it over the Macbook.

M

[thealtruismsociety]

I don't know, guys: $499-$699 for WiFi version, plus iWork ($30 tops) and a keyboard dock. Throw in Storyist and I might choose it over the Macbook.

M

 

I am thinking this myself and I was in the market for a new macbook too. All I do is surf listen to music and write. This could fit the bill nicely. 10 hours of video I wonder how long I'd get just typing away at the coffee house.

[thealtruismsociety]

http://www.apple.com/

 

Video and info is up.

[orrenm]

Clearly (well, it's clear to me) the iPad has just made the netbook obsolete. At least, my clunky EeePC feels 500 years old compared to this. At $499, even if the keyboard dock costs an extra $50, that's still about what a decent Windows netbook would cost—all the iPad is missing is the webcam and microphone. I guess that's for version 2.0?

 

iBooks look neat—very "book like" in experience from screen caps of the presentation. And I'm glad they brought back the name! I've always loved that name. OTOH, "iPad" still sounds to my ears like "iTampax." I'm sure after living with the name "iPad" for a while I'll grow out of it, but hey, I do most of the grocery shopping so I end up buying the wife's feminine products...

 

Marguerite, you wanted a standard—with the the iTunes (iBook) store adoption of ePub, I think that just made it the de facto eBook standard. Considering every device capable of connecting to iTunes will now be iBook compatible, that means far more adoption than Kindle right out of the starting gate.

 

Storyist on iPad might be nice, but how about an "export to ePub" for the Mac version first?

 

Orren

[orrenm]

BTW it's now live: http://www.apple.com/ipad/

 

Orren

[thealtruismsociety]

Clearly (well, it's clear to me) the iPad has just made the netbook obsolete. At least, my clunky EeePC feels 500 years old compared to this. At $499, even if the keyboard dock costs an extra $50, that's still about what a decent Windows netbook would cost—all the iPad is missing is the webcam and microphone. I guess that's for version 2.0?

 

iBooks look neat—very "book like" in experience from screen caps of the presentation. And I'm glad they brought back the name! I've always loved that name. OTOH, "iPad" still sounds to my ears like "iTampax." I'm sure after living with the name "iPad" for a while I'll grow out of it, but hey, I do most of the grocery shopping so I end up buying the wife's feminine products...

 

Marguerite, you wanted a standard—with the the iTunes (iBook) store adoption of ePub, I think that just made it the de facto eBook standard. Considering every device capable of connecting to iTunes will now be iBook compatible, that means far more adoption than Kindle right out of the starting gate.

 

Storyist on iPad might be nice, but how about an "export to ePub" for the Mac version first?

 

Orren

 

Yeah poor Amazon, ePub just became the standard.

[marguerite]

Yep, you're right. It did. Seems a safe bet that Kindle 3 will read ePub files, too, but if it does all that other stuff it will be an iPad. And it's not even announced yet.

 

I guess one big question is whether the iBooks are DRM-protected. If not, the Kindle can read them through a simple file conversion, although many readers won't realize that. Can't imagine that Steve J. and his boys would let that one get past them, though. From what I heard, the books in the iBookstore will be pricier than Amazon.com ($12.99-14.99 for bestsellers, with some at $9.99). Be interesting to see how that plays out.

 

Now, will Apple do what it did with the original iPhone and put out a new edition in six months that does twice as much for half the price? Can I wait that long for a good panini sandwich?

Best,

M

[Steve E]

After watching Apple's video I find it hard to work up their level of enthusiasm. A 3am TV pichman on meth couldn't work up their level of enthusiasm. (ShamWow anyone?)

 

Now, will Apple do what it did with the original iPhone and put out a new edition in six months that does twice as much for half the price?

I'd say that's almost a sure bet, M. The specs (on Apple.com) say it already has a microphone but we'll need video-camera to do proper teleconferencing. And it still can't toast a decent panini sandwich.

 

It's okay but not "insanely great" (as Steve J. likes to say).

- Thoth.

 

BTW: Wow! 58 posts on this topic. I'm surprised.

[orrenm]

After watching Apple's video I find it hard to work up their level of enthusiasm.

 

But...it's magical, didn't you get that? This isn't just a tablet iPhone/Mac, this is magical!

 

The specs (on Apple.com) say it already has a microphone but we'll need video-camera to do proper teleconferencing. And it still can't toast a decent panini sandwich.

 

I missed the microphone, thanks for alerting me to that! They will of course keep updating this as they update all their devices. I am not sure about "6 months" however. iPhones are on a unique development cycle (a sort of "cellular industry mandated 12 month cycle) because the cell companies need their suppliers to keep delivering new phones to re-hook those who's subscriptions have run out. The iPad is not tied to any subscription (even April's 3G version is pay-as-you-go) so they have more freedom. I also expect a webcam version, continual hardware updates, etc. but I think we'll end up seeing more of a Mac-like upgrade cycle, not an iPhone-like hardware upgrade cycle.

 

BTW—I fully expect some enterprising 3rd party to develop a 30-pin webcam iPad accessory.

 

It's okay but not "amazingly great" (as Steve J. likes to say).

 

The hype on this thing was so over the top that no matter what it was, it was bound to not live up to all of it.

 

Orren

[Steve E]

But...it's magical, didn't you get that? This isn't just a tablet iPhone/Mac, this is magical!

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. — Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)

When something exceeds your ability to understand how it works it sort of becomes magical. And that's exactly what the iPad is. — Jony Ive, Senior VP, Apple Design, iPad promotion, Jan. 27, 2010

The thing is, it's not beyond my (and I suspect your) ability to understand it, hence it's not magical. Phantasmagoric, perhaps, but not magical.

 

BTW—I fully expect some enterprising 3rd party to develop a 30-pin webcam iPad accessory.

Could be. I suspect that they're just going to add a lens to iPad 2.0, like they did to the iPod.

 

The hype on this thing was so over the top that no matter what it was, it was bound to not live up to all of it.

Sad but true. Well, at least it wasn't an iFlush Apple toilet.

(Due in 2012 - Source: Rumor mill.)

- Thoth.

[Steve E]

Props to Steak Pirate for his on-the-nose "iBooks" prediction. Clearly this man is some sort of witch.

 

I thought it would just be another iTunes department.

 

- Thoth

[marguerite]

 

 

The thing is, it's not beyond my (and I suspect your) ability to understand it, hence it's not magical. Phantasmagoric, perhaps, but not magical.

 

 

Could be. I suspect that they're just going to add a lens to iPad 2.0, like they did to the iPod.

 

 

Sad but true. Well, at least it wasn't an iFlush Apple toilet.

(Due in 2012 - Source: Rumor mill.)

- Thoth.

There is already a "Camera Add-on Kit" that lets you input photos from a regular camera. Can an add-on webcam be far away?

 

Magical, indeed.

M

[Steve E]

Magical, indeed.

I want it (because of my natural masculine technolust) and I don't want it (because I know that if I wait it will get better and cheaper - feminine side?). What's a Thoth do do?

 

Enchanted by the enchanting.

Poor Thoth.

[Steve E]

Hey everybody — I just got an e-mail from Apple about...guess what.

[orrenm]

There is already a "Camera Add-on Kit" that lets you input photos from a regular camera. Can an add-on webcam be far away?

 

I'm certain that an add-on webcam is already on someone's drawing board.

 

I actually just heard something interesting from an "inside source." Due to the specific form factor and price point of the iPad, there are limits as to the resolution and range of front-pointing lens that could be fit. It would require the iPad to be held in a very specific distance and angle which would be rather awkward, so ultimately Steve said no, it reduced the user experience.

 

Now, a webcam with a clip mount or tripod stand or the like that connected through the cable would not have this limitation, and be eminently more usable.

 

Food for thought...

 

Orren

[Steve E]

Further food for thought. The critiques are starting to roll in. Here are some from CNET News. (Video chat was right at the top.)

 

- Thoth.

[orrenm]

Further food for thought. Here are some from CNET News.

 

Pretty funny stuff! That guy shows not only that he didn't "get" the iPad, but that he doesn't really get netbooks either. In his list, the guy lists one knock against the iPad (vs. netbook) that you can't run a programming environment on the iPad. That's just silly. He acknowledges that most people won't want to do that anyway. But what he seems to miss is that most programmers over the age of 14 wouldn't use a netbook for programming! They'd use a full-size laptop! Clearly (at least to me) this was just a hater, who wanted to hate.

 

The critiques are starting to roll in.

 

I agree with David Pogue. We are now in Phase 2 of the Apple Product Launch.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/...st-impressions/

 

Orren

[Steve E]

Pretty funny stuff! That guy shows not only that he didn't "get" the iPad...

Oh, I think he "gets" it. He's reviewing it as if it's a laptop without a keyboard. And as David Pogue points out, if you're going to carry around an optional keyboard then you might as well have bought a laptop in the first place. If he (or Pogue) reviewed the iPod as a tablet, and compared it to other tablets, they'd have little to complain about. Complaining (or being a "hater") is a pundit's bread and butter.

 

But I too agree with Pogue: we are now in Phase 2 of the Apple Product Launch. Phase 3 will begin in April with "positive reviews, people lining up to buy the thing, and the mysterious disappearance of the basher-bloggers".

 

My concern is whether I can use the iPad over my current cable ISP via (for example) Airport. Any thoughts?

- Thoth.

[orrenm]

My concern is whether I can use the iPad over my current ISP via (for example) Airport. Any thoughts?

 

100% absolutely. A friend uses his iPod Touch with his current ISP (I think his cable company) and Airport. In WiFi mode, I have always used my iPhone at home with my ISP and AirPort (My ISP happens to be AT&T for the last 8 months or so, but it used to be Time Warner).

 

You don't even need the Airport, BTW—any wireless router will do. I had a Buffalo router for a while, and it still worked.

 

As a WiFi device, the iPad is like any other laptop equipped with a Wireless card. All it needs is a valid 802.11b/g/n node, and it's good to go.

 

Orren

[Steve E]

Much thanks Orren. You've done me a mitzvah. The $30 a month I'll save I'll give to charity.

 

And now I have one more reason to salivate until April.

- Thoth.

[hase]

Having read a lot of complaints about not being able to change the iPad's battery I did a quick check with my still working iBook, which will turn seven in July, and was shocked, SHOCKED, to notice that I haven't changed the battery once. Never in nearly seven years! And it's down to 93% percent of its original capacity, according to coconutbattery.

Upon realizing that I felt like an outcast: somehow I simply don't change batteries in my notebooks, nor my mobile phones, for that matter. I need to get therapy. Fast. Who knows, it might just be the first symptom of becoming a.. a... mass-murderer, perhaps?

 

 

 

 

Oooops, I forgot to confess that my MacBook, aged two and a half, still runs on its first battery. Really, I need to do something about that. I will buy two by tomorrow, promise.

[marguerite]

And as David Pogue points out, if you're going to carry around an optional keyboard then you might as well have bought a laptop in the first place.

Except that with the iPad, you have the option of leaving the keyboard in its case (or at home) and just carrying the tablet.

 

They're all WiFi, as Orren notes, and will presumably join your current setup the same way the iPhone does, by entering a pw (or not, depending on your setup). So you can save not only the $30/month but the $130 up-front fee, unless you want to keep your options for 3G open down the road.

 

Somebody put a bib on Thoth; it's a long wait until the end of March.

Best,

M

[Steve]

So you can save not only the $30/month but the $130 up-front fee, unless you want to keep your options for 3G open down the road.

 

Another reason to fork over the additional $130 might be to get true GPS. On the iPhone, only the 3G models have it. Non-3G iPhones and the iPod touch use triangulation of WiFi signals and a database to get location information. This second method is slower and less accurate--and relies on you being in an area with WiFi hotspots.

 

-Steve

[orrenm]

Oooops, I forgot to confess that my MacBook, aged two and a half, still runs on its first battery. Really, I need to do something about that. I will buy two by tomorrow, promise.

 

I replace batteries when they're defective, but only then.

 

Cell phones, PowerBook, iBook, never replaced the battery.

 

MacBook Pro 2005 (1st Gen) shipped with a defective battery. After less than a year, it was drained. So Apple sent me another battery. After less than a year, it was drained--same defect. Apple sent me another one. That one lasted.

 

I don't blame Apple for the initial battery issue--I think Sony had sent bad batches to Dell, Apple, etc. I do blame them for replacing my battery with another dud, however.

 

But anyway, I am not fussed about the iPad's battery. My iPhone and MacBook Pro 13" battery are doing just fine.

 

Orren

[Steve E]

True GPS! Another drool-worthy feature! But bibs aren't necessary, M. I use a 19th century sterling silver drool cup. The drool is then frozen and converted into a slushy to be sold at Slushy Carts outside of Apple stores. (We have three Apple Stores in NYC and the Slushy trade is brisk, even in our current sub-freezing weather. So, take that, Madam.)

 

Hase, I have an old HP calculator that I bought in the 90s. I don't use it much anymore but had recharged it plenty of times and never changed the battery. The doddering old device still has plenty of charge in her. I'm not discounting the possibility of remote psychic recharging or some sort of unintentional witchcraft but you have a point. Perhaps I should buy a few extra batteries if only to please the battery gods. (You don't want them mad at you or even your plug-in devices will stop working.)

 

"I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" - Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942)

- Thoth