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The Apple Tablet Event?


Steve E

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It's a good thing I can contain the urge to throw this thing across the room every time it asks me for the password and/or drops the connection. Otherwise I think I'd be out quite a few iPads by now :P

 

Tomorrow I'll fiddle with the settings again and then if that doesn't work I'll probably end up with another router. The question is which type?

-Jools

 

I bought my mom a $35 Belkin hub/router (meaning it has both 4 Ethernet ports and a wifi 802.11n hub) for her iPhone and iPad and it works really well for both. She has a 16GB wifi only model.

 

Orren

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I bought my mom a $35 Belkin hub/router (meaning it has both 4 Ethernet ports and a wifi 802.11n hub) for her iPhone and iPad and it works really well for both. She has a 16GB wifi only model.

How does your mom like her iPad? Is she running 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6? (I'm curious about the iPad experiences of other Tiger users.)

- T

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How does your mom like her iPad? Is she running 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6? (I'm curious about the iPad experiences of other Tiger users.)

 

Mom is running 10.6.4 due to the automatic update box being checked, she is more up-to-date than I am (I'm on 10.6.3 still).

 

As an iPhone user, she loves the iPad. Really, my mom is one of the targeted audiences for the iPad: people who are intimidated by computers, but want access to email, web, and photos. Launching an application, using a mouse, and quitting a program are complicated and stressful activities to my mother. I often get calls because one window ended up in front of another because a click happened somewhere on the screen (she doesn't know how) and what should she do.

 

So the iOS devices are perfect for her. One app on screen at a time. Touch to make something happen. Type on the screen (touch typing is lost on her, she'd hunt and peck with a single finger regardless of device). Hit the one single button to go back "Home" (it sounds so gentle, doesn't it?).

 

Orren

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Mom is running 10.6.4 due to the automatic update box being checked, she is more up-to-date than I am (I'm on 10.6.3 still).

Oh well.

 

As an iPhone user, she loves the iPad. Really, my mom is one of the targeted audiences for the iPad: people who are intimidated by computers, but want access to email, web, and photos. Launching an application, using a mouse, and quitting a program are complicated and stressful activities to my mother. I often get calls because one window ended up in front of another because a click happened somewhere on the screen (she doesn't know how) and what should she do.

I empathize with you. My Auntie Evie (a charming octogenarian) often brags to her friends about her tech savvy but in reality she's a lot like your mom. (I've gotten that "one window ended up in front of another" call from her more than once.) So thanks for the tip about the iPad. I'll recommend it to her (or surprise her on her birthday). She'll love the photo mode.

 

Thanks.

- Thoth

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And on a completely different iPad note:

Is there blood on my iPad?

 

Stressful working conditions at Foxconn’s factory in Shenzhen, China, which assembles electronic goods such as Apple’s iPhone and iPad, have been blamed for a string of recent suicides. - Lee Fa-hsien, Taipei Times, Jun 17, 2010.

Here's the story.

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And on a completely different iPad note:

Is there blood on my iPad?

 

My guess? Probably. But the question is: is there more blood on your iPad than on your socks and pants and TV and nightstand...etc. These days, so much of our electronics, furniture, clothes, can come from Chinese (or other Southeast Asian) sweatshops and factories that very likely abuse their workers. There's lots of information out there on the general state of near-slavery in such places. So is Foxcomm one of them? It may be. As a supplier for a huge company, they are under scrutiny right now. But I think that this is endemic of factories and sweatshops in the region, and hopefully the results of this added attention on this sad issue will be improves conditions region-wide, not simply concessions from Foxcomm while the rest of the region continues it's abuses.

 

Orren

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My guess? Probably. But the question is: is there more blood on your iPad than on your socks and pants and TV and nightstand...etc. These days, so much of our electronics, furniture, clothes, can come from Chinese (or other Southeast Asian) sweatshops and factories that very likely abuse their workers. There's lots of information out there on the general state of near-slavery in such places. So is Foxcomm one of them? It may be. As a supplier for a huge company, they are under scrutiny right now. But I think that this is endemic of factories and sweatshops in the region, and hopefully the results of this added attention on this sad issue will be improves conditions region-wide, not simply concessions from Foxcomm while the rest of the region continues it's abuses.

But did the blood on your iPad, socks, etcetera, in any way affect your buying decisions?

- T

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I agree - there was a BBC documentary about the conditions under which 'throw away' fashion is made for Primark in the UK.

 

But this is nothing new. Early workers in all emerging industrialised nations pay the price for the establishment of the Nation's wealth.

 

The new factor in all this is scrutiny by informed, educated consumers. It took decades in the UK for parliamentarians such as Lord Shaftesbury to push through reforms to limit working hours, improve working conditions etc. In the case of China, what chance do Western consumers have of influencing a totalitarian (I won't say Communist any more) Government? If the Nation State won't level the playing field I would say we consumers are as weak as the workers to change the forces that create this situation. I say this knowing that I could boycott products but that millions of fellow Westerners will not, so I would just be denying myself.

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I know this is going to sound very American of me but I can't help but think that just because I, as an individual, can't effect change abroad (or right here) then I shouldn't even try, is no argument. Like the rest of you I too enjoy the free (or at least cheaper) ride, but what are we really talking about here? We're talking about less stressful working conditions in China (and elsewhere) so people don't kill themselves rather than miss a quota. We're already seeing some groundswell over this in China itself. No doubt they will resist the idea of labor unions and collective bargaining, but so did industry management and government in the US.

 

I agree with David in that: "Early workers in all emerging industrialised nations pay the price for the establishment of the Nation's wealth." This is true, historically. But nations evolve. The UK did. The US did. The question is, is it possible for another country or large group of individuals to force the hand of evolution? And is this wise?

 

iPads aren't conflict diamonds (although you can buy a diamond studded iPad). But there is a parallel. I have to wonder if consumers would be willing to pay more for an iPad if it were made "stress free" in another country. There are people who buy "stress free" beef and chicken at a premium, but these types probably don't own iPads (or do they?).

 

There is blood on your iPad.

How does it taste?

-Thoth.

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As for whether people would pay more for an iPad or another product that was made here in the USA or at least in fair working conditions overseas... I would love to have that option and I would have taken it if it was at all possible. Of course, I am one of the people who really wants to buy "stress free" beef and chicken too, but can't always. I think we need more options in the organic and stress free products area.

 

But back on topic (which if the "stress-free" conversation wants to continue, we should move it over to another thread in the writer's lounge).... Here's a question...

 

Does anyone on here have a Camera Connection Kit? .... they're currently endangered and selling for 2 to even 6 times the price on ebay. *sigh* I was really hoping to be able to get my hands on one for my trips this summer, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to. Still, I'd love to hear how they're working if anyone on here has one.

 

Pip pip Cheerio.

- Jools

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We're talking about less stressful working conditions in China (and elsewhere) so people don't kill themselves rather than miss a quota.

 

Actually, there is another factor that I read about too—the suicide payments. The basic outline is this: a young man or woman leaves the farm to work at the factory. One reason the young person may have done this is to send money home to help feed the family. The pay is a few dollars a week. As you can imagine, this doesn't buy a ton of food, even there. However, Foxconn would pay the family the equivalent of ten years wages as condolence payments if the young person commits suicide. Obviously, a happy person, looking forward to a bright future, isn't going to eliminate any future they might have even to give their family this much money. But to someone who is unhappy, this may seem quite an honorable "out." So Foxconn decides to end the payments out of fear that they might be encouraging suicides, but of course these suicide condolence payments are commonplace, and so locally, Foxconn now looks cruel for not paying families for suicides. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10271933.stm

 

I have to wonder if consumers would be willing to pay more for an iPad if it were made "stress free" in another country. There are people who buy "stress free" beef and chicken at a premium, but these types probably don't own iPads (or do they?).

 

I'll bet the people who buy stress free products by iPads. At least I do. :lol: I buy organic, free range, etc. whenever feasible, and I buy Apple products too. I would say that a fair number of Apple faithful tend to be the more socially conscious. Of course, Apple wouldn't have sold millions of iPads in only two months if they cost double, I'm sure. It was the affordability of the product that made it enticing to many.

 

There is blood on your iPad.

How does it taste?

 

Not nearly as bitter as the blood in the gasoline I purchase to power my car. Perhaps my next car will be electric. That way, instead of supporting the destruction of fragile ecosystems and the near-slavery of Middle Eastern peasants forced by Arab royalty to work for next to nothing on the wells, I can get my power from my local power station, powered by coal, mined right here in the United States, usually in unsafe conditions in which workers risk disease and cave ins.

 

But Obama said that it's time we end our dependency on oil. So it will happen. Just like when both Bush presidents said it, it happened. And when Clinton said it, it happened. And when Reagan said it, it happened. And when Carter said it, it happened. And when Ford said it, it happened. And when Nixon said it...sigh...

 

It's all interrelated. If we paid the "true cost" of fuel—if gasoline cost $20/gallon, representing the cost of the environmental damage, the health care expenses of the workers who die bringing it to us, etc—goods shipped across the world would become extremely expensive. It would actually be cheaper, in that case, to manufacture an iPad here in the USA than in China. And while your iPad would probably have a slightly sour flavor from labor-management relation tensions, it would not have the sickly sweet metallic flavor of blood on it.

 

Let's all go green!

 

Orren

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Does anyone on here have a Camera Connection Kit? .... they're currently endangered and selling for 2 to even 6 times the price on ebay. *sigh* I was really hoping to be able to get my hands on one for my trips this summer, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to. Still, I'd love to hear how they're working if anyone on here has one.

 

You know, a couple of my acquaintances have them...but not for cameras! The USB port is actually useful as a 16-bit, 44.1kHz ("CD" quality) audio input jack. So it's in use as an audio input. But it works as advertised—supposedly for cameras as well.

 

I wouldn't pay 6 times the amount on ebay though. Can you order it from the Apple Store, even if it's backordered?

 

Orren

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Does anyone on here have a Camera Connection Kit? .... they're currently endangered and selling for 2 to even 6 times the price on ebay. *sigh* I was really hoping to be able to get my hands on one for my trips this summer, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to. Still, I'd love to hear how they're working if anyone on here has one.

The Apple iPad camera connection kit goes for $29.99 at the online Apple Store, and I've seen it for $198.98 on Amazon. I don't have one but I know some people who do. If you have specific questions I'll pass them along.

- Thoth

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Actually, there is another factor that I read about too—the suicide payments. ...

Fascinating article, Orren. It does put a slightly different spin on the "iPad suicides".

 

But Obama said that it's time we end our dependency on oil. So it will happen. Just like when both Bush presidents said it, it happened. And when Clinton said it, it happened. And when Reagan said it, it happened. And when Carter said it, it happened. And when Ford said it, it happened. And when Nixon said it...sigh...

"Sigh" indeed. Jon Steward did the same dependency riff on The Daily Show last night. Talk about "our long national nightmare". I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

It's all interrelated. If we paid the "true cost" of fuel—if gasoline cost $20/gallon, representing the cost of the environmental damage, the health care expenses of the workers who die bringing it to us, etc—goods shipped across the world would become extremely expensive. It would actually be cheaper, in that case, to manufacture an iPad here in the USA than in China. And while your iPad would probably have a slightly sour flavor from labor-management relation tensions, it would not have the sickly sweet metallic flavor of blood on it.

I read an article on exactly this subject in Newsweek.

- Thoth

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I've heard a lot of things work with the USB part of the camera connection kit too, which is another reason I'm trying to get one. I guess I will probably bite the bullet and order one from Apple and just wait. I was hoping to get one so I could dump my photographs onto it on some up coming trips I don't want to drag my laptop along on. I'll probably take a portable hard drive and bum computer privileges from the people I'm visiting, since they're both geeks and one is a classmate from photo school I'm sure they'll have everything I need, even if they are Windows people. haha.

 

- Jools

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Yesterday, Apple announced that it had sold 3 million iPads, in about 80 days. (Click here for eWeek article.)

 

Wow.

 

That's a lot of iPads. And this is version 1.0! Imagine how cool they'll be by version 3.0!

 

Hmm. People seem to like this thing.

 

I do think part of it is that there's no significant competition yet in the shape of cheap tablets. When HP and Dell get some $199 - $699 Android or WebOS based tablets out there with significant marketing heft, we'll see if that cuts into iPad sales or not.

 

I think when people can FaceTime chat between iPad and iPhone 4, cloud/wifi sync/data transfer with no need for a PC, stream HD audio and video content, and so on, we'll see the current 1.2 million (or so) per month increase exponentially. I'm not an analyst though, that's just my guess. :P

 

Orren

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I agree Orren, when those things are implemented I think it will be ridiculously awesome. I do hope that someday there will be a tablet/touch screen macbook pro type thing. :P

 

- Jools

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Lol wow. We'd better hope Watson and Wolfram don't get together...

 

Having just seen the first transformers movie for the first time i was wondering what an app.e iphone or iPad would look like as a transformer! Lol

 

Rise of the robots....

-Jools

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Having just seen the first transformers movie for the first time i was wondering what an app.e iphone or iPad would look like as a transformer! Lol

250px-Rotf-alice-1.jpg

 

(Alice is from Transformers 2, a real stinker with some fun robot action sequences...and her)

 

Orren

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And I thought the name iPad was terrible..... Gynoids? Really?

 

Anyone come across any more interesting things about the iPad?

-Jools

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And I thought the name iPad was terrible..... Gynoids? Really?

Really. The term gynoid was coined by Gwyneth Jones in her 1985 novel Divine Endurance to describe a robot slave character in a futuristic China. At lease gyno/andro makes etymological sense.

 

Anyone come across any more interesting things about the iPad?

-Jools

Not yet, Jools, but I'm sure we're all keeping our eyes open.

- Thoth

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