Are you going to buy an iPad?

[Icyculyr]

I'm fairly certain that website is a complete joke. Yes let's interview 350. That's like me interviewing 350 kids and asking if they like high school, and I'll just be sure to find the ones that do.

I'd say the company is pretty reputable:

Over a quarter-million physicians and close to a million clinicians already use software by Epocrates to enhance their health care services. 24% of those health care providers are likely to purchase an iPad either immediately or within the year.

I really doubt the website is lying...

And honestly if your doctor is looking through their phone to see what's wrong with you... I think you best find yourself a new doctor.

Uhh I don't think that's what the software's for lol.

Meanwhile, here in the real world, I'm going to use my laptop (which, by the way, has a 2.1 GHz processor, 4 gigs of RAM, a 320 gig hard drive, and a 16 inch display and cost the same),

That's great, if you need a laptop, but plenty of people need pads (slates).

And I have USB ports, a camera, and my battery lasts 8 or so hours usually. But damn it weighs THREE whole pounds. My calculator has more computing power than the iPad.

You've got a USB accessory for the iPad, I'm betting it will have a camera, and I doubt your battery lasts 8 hours of constant use.

Or a book. Ebooks usually aren't that much cheaper. And they hold less value too, with printed ones you can trade, lend it, sell it, etc. And you're not screwed if your hard drive dies. Plus printed ones gain value after time, I have a copy of Roadside Picnic, people are selling it for like 200 dollars on Amazon.

There's something desirable, about having all your books on one device. No mess, easy access, you can take them anywhere.

If you need a laptop then buy a laptop, if you need a slate, then buy a slate. There isn't any better slate out there right now than the iPad, and they are coming, but I doubt they'll be any good.

 

[Varine]

That's great, if you need a laptop, but plenty of people need pads (slates).

Which brings me back to the question FOR WHAT? You say "I could use it for work and school and a bunch of other stuff" but I still fail to see a specific use for it where it would be helpful.

You've got a USB accessory for the iPad, I'm betting it will have a camera, and I doubt your battery lasts 8 hours of constant use.

I don't use it constantly, just like you wouldn't use this constantly if at all. It's not an MP3 Player or something where you're going to use it for listening to music nonstop.

 

[Icyculyr]

Which brings me back to the question FOR WHAT? You say "I could use it for work and school and a bunch of other stuff" but I still fail to see a specific use for it where it would be helpful.

And it is a fair enough question, it's a portable media centre. A device that can do everything well, and is light enough to be carried around and be used at the same time.
You might not need it, but that doesn't mean it's useless. The iWork apps Apple brought out are a good example, they are quite amazing, imagine what other, third party developers will be able to do.

Or consider the NYTs iPad app it's amazing. Why buy the NYTs in paper form, when you can get it cheaper on a device that will offer video, pictures, and sound clips, all at the tip of your finger?
IIRC I also read an article about Microsoft Office might be coming to the iPad, that'd be interesting. There will be a lot of magazine apps coming to the iPad.

Personally, I'll use the iPad for web browsing, e-mailing, note taking, watching videos, viewing photos, listening to music, reading here and there, and obviously using apps.
Particularly if I travel, it can do everything I need. I can browse the web, e-mail and read. It's also a GPS (3G model) so I can find my way around in unfamiliar territory.

I guess if I travelled on the bus, train, subway, this would also be appealing. I'd definitely get one for a college situation, all my text books on one device, and I can open PDFs, make notes etc...

Gaming is a nice avenue for me, I've been playing Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front on my iPhone, it's pretty amazing on a 320x480 3.5" screen, if you just changed it to fit the 1024x768 9.7" iPad screen, it'd be awesome.
You can play with other people over your WiFi, vs another person over Bluetooth, or online with other people. Pretty impressive for a game dealing with those restrictions.

I don't use it constantly, just like you wouldn't use this constantly if at all. It's not an MP3 Player or something where you're going to use it for listening to music nonstop.

No, but the iPads battery gives you 10 hours watching video (constant use), so in the case that you don't use it constantly, it'll last the entire day. Also it gives 140 hours of music w/ screen off.
True it doesn't have a USB port, but for $29 you can get the USB accessory. How often will you have a USB cable plugged into your iPad to justify having a dedicated port?

It also won't support flash, but does support HTML5 which is better than nothing. Flash games suck compared to iPhone games, the only real reason for supporting flash is those websites that are full flash.

Both flash, and multi-tasking can come to the device as a software update. Unlike other devices, you get regular software updates that offer improvements sometimes and not just bug fixes.
And at least with the iPhone, you get yearly updates which cost about $10 which offer many improvements and new features, for example iPhone OS 2.0, 3.0, and soon 4.0.

 

[ReVolver]

And it is a fair enough question, it's a portable media centre. A device that can do everything well, and is light enough to be carried around and be used at the same time.

My laptop weights about 2.5 lbs and the iPad weights 1.5(1.6) lbs unless your arms will fall of from that much of a difference don't talk about lightweight. My laptop is also a "media center" in other words it can play music and video (woo hoo?)

You might not need it, but that doesn't mean it's useless. The iWork apps Apple brought out are a good example, they are quite amazing, imagine what other, third party developers will be able to do.

Yes because you are really going to input so much information with your touch keyboard unless your bring your keyboard which adds to your carriage and weight.

Or consider the NYTs iPad app it's amazing. Why buy the NYTs in paper form, when you can get it cheaper on a device that will offer video, pictures, and sound clips, all at the tip of your finger?
IIRC I also read an article about Microsoft Office might be coming to the iPad, that'd be interesting. There will be a lot of magazine apps coming to the iPad.

There is a thing called an internet browser, it loads stuff like hmmm News articles... and who buys newspapers online when most of the stuff you need is free online? Tip of your finger... sounds powerful...pssh I can hit my mouse button with one finger too. Microsoft Office is not meant to be used by a slate type component, most of the stuff you will be using it for is point and click features, something Microsoft office isn't meant to be used for. Magazine have sites too, and I doubt people will use the iPad for that, I have never seen someone ever get an online subscription for magazines because they love to have the real ones come in, usually with clip coupons or free posters!

Personally, I'll use the iPad for web browsing, e-mailing, note taking, watching videos, viewing photos, listening to music, reading here and there, and obviously using apps.
Particularly if I travel, it can do everything I need. I can browse the web, e-mail and read. It's also a GPS (3G model) so I can find my way around in unfamiliar territory.

Yea I can do all that stuff you mentioned on my laptop and also do them simultaneously w/o causing the hardware to hiccup or go into a slow state (4gb ram // 500gb // Intel Pentium dual-core T4400(2.2GHz)) I doubt you will need an app for most of the stuff you need can be downloaded, an app is nice on a mobile device like a phone when the OS can't use regular executable

I guess if I travelled on the bus, train, subway, this would also be appealing. I'd definitely get one for a college situation, all my text books on one device, and I can open PDFs, make notes etc...

If you traveled on the bus,train, and subway? Make sure you even do that kind of stuff before you mention it, don't repeat what the marketers already told us, I'm not that stupid, like I said all this can be also done on the bus, train, and subway with my laptop. If text books are on PDFs whats wrong with a laptop? It's not like they can't read that format, having them in one device is also called a laptop. Make notes? Nope I guess my laptop can't take notes either.

Gaming is a nice avenue for me, I've been playing Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front on my iPhone, it's pretty amazing on a 320x480 3.5" screen, if you just changed it to fit the 1024x768 9.7" iPad screen, it'd be awesome.
You can play with other people over your WiFi, vs another person over Bluetooth, or online with other people. Pretty impressive for a game dealing with those restrictions.

The problem is playing the game will also cause the memory to slow down if your thinking of multitasking with it, if I wanted to play online games I would rather just use a laptop? Hoping for a Warcraft 3 App? You can already play people online via Wifi with a laptop and a copy of Warcraft 3... don't depend on people to make stuff that already exists in another form.

No, but the iPads battery gives you 10 hours watching video (constant use), so in the case that you don't use it constantly, it'll last the entire day. Also it gives 140 hours of music w/ screen off.
True it doesn't have a USB port, but for $29 you can get the USB accessory. How often will you have a USB cable plugged into your iPad to justify having a dedicated port?

My laptop gives me 12 hours of watching videos. Whats nice about a laptop is that it has a "free" usb port no wait it has more! If your in college how often are you going to use an usb? About 80% of the time, especially when your taking notes and you want to back them up or copy notes from a classmate. A usb isn't some new technology, it used on many hardware.

It also won't support flash, but does support HTML5 which is better than nothing. Flash games suck compared to iPhone games, the only real reason for supporting flash is those websites that are full flash.

Both flash, and multi-tasking can come to the device as a software update. Unlike other devices, you get regular software updates that offer improvements sometimes and not just bug fixes.
And at least with the iPhone, you get yearly updates which cost about $10 which offer many improvements and new features, for example iPhone OS 2.0, 3.0, and soon 4.0.

Well on my laptop I can use flash to play my favorite games, get some nice flash apps. Saying flash games are better than iphone games is matter of opinion, and some iphone games are based off the flash version counterparts.
HTML5 is still in beta and who knows if the OS supports the changes later, it if does they'll probably charge you for the update, I rather not pay for their lack of development

 

[Icyculyr]

My laptop weights about 2.5 lbs and the iPad weights 1.5(1.6) lbs unless your arms will fall of from that much of a difference don't talk about lightweight. My laptop is also a "media center" in other words it can play music and video (woo hoo?)

So, I never said it couldn't. The difference in weight will make a difference, and you can't use a laptop like the iPad, you can't just whip your laptop out and start using it.

Yes because you are really going to input so much information with your touch keyboard unless your bring your keyboard which adds to your carriage and weight.

It's not hard to input data on a virtual keyboard. I can type fast on my iPhone, I'll be able to type faster on the iPad.

There is a thing called an internet browser, it loads stuff like hmmm News articles... and who buys newspapers online when most of the stuff you need is free online? Tip of your finger... sounds powerful...pssh I can hit my mouse button with one finger too. Microsoft Office is not meant to be used by a slate type component, most of the stuff you will be using it for is point and click features, something Microsoft office isn't meant to be used for. Magazine have sites too, and I doubt people will use the iPad for that, I have never seen someone ever get an online subscription for magazines because they love to have the real ones come in, usually with clip coupons or free posters!

Well, apparently the New York Times thinks it's a good idea. Why spend money on a physical copy that clutters your house, when you can spend one half or even one-third to get the digital copy that features colour videos, pictures and sound clips, you don't even have to wait long for it to be delivered.

Also, iWork wasn't intended to be used by a slate either, but Apple made a version for the iPad. If Microsoft brought out an iPad version of Office, I'm sure it'd work.

Yea I can do all that stuff you mentioned on my laptop and also do them simultaneously w/o causing the hardware to hiccup or go into a slow state (4gb ram // 500gb // Intel Pentium dual-core T4400(2.2GHz)) I doubt you will need an app for most of the stuff you need can be downloaded, an app is nice on a mobile device like a phone when the OS can't use regular executable

So, I never said your laptop couldn't. But my point is, the iPad can.
I'll point out that your laptop can do the same things, but not in the same way. It's faster and easier on the iPad to get to what you want then it is on a laptop.

If you traveled on the bus,train, and subway? Make sure you even do that kind of stuff before you mention it, don't repeat what the marketers already told us, I'm not that stupid, like I said all this can be also done on the bus, train, and subway with my laptop. If text books are on PDFs whats wrong with a laptop? It's not like they can't read that format, having them in one device is also called a laptop. Make notes? Nope I guess my laptop can't take notes either.

All right, how about flying on a plane for hours and hours, that's something I do. Once again, it's easier to do that stuff on the iPad than a laptop, particularly in transit.

The problem is playing the game will also cause the memory to slow down if your thinking of multitasking with it, if I wanted to play online games I would rather just use a laptop? Hoping for a Warcraft 3 App? You can already play people online via Wifi with a laptop and a copy of Warcraft 3... don't depend on people to make stuff that already exists in another form.

Firstly, I don't know what you mean by cause the memory to slow down but the iPad will run flawlessly. You can't multi-task, and if you want to use a laptop to play games you can, but I'd like the iPad.

Yeah I'd like a warcraft 3 app, and I'm not "depending on people to make stuff that already exists in another form", it'd be pretty awesome if Blizzard made the app though. If Blizzard think people will buy Warcraft 3 on the iPad, and they can make it, then they probably will, everything is already done (images etc...), it's just a matter of converting the code and tying it altogether.

My laptop gives me 12 hours of watching videos. Whats nice about a laptop is that it has a "free" usb port no wait it has more! If your in college how often are you going to use an usb? About 80% of the time, especially when your taking notes and you want to back them up or copy notes from a classmate. A usb isn't some new technology, it used on many hardware.

12 hours of watching video on your laptop? I have a hard time believing thats even possible for the hardware you said it has. Care to let me in on any more details about it? it looks like a normal laptop to me, which is about 4 hours of video at most.
Why do you need a USB port on the iPad, plug the USB accessory in if you want it and it's only for importing photos from a camera at the moment. It's not like you're going to leave USB drives in your laptop all day, carrying them around they'll probably break off.

Well on my laptop I can use flash to play my favorite games, get some nice flash apps. Saying flash games are better than iphone games is matter of opinion, and some iphone games are based off the flash version counterparts.
HTML5 is still in beta and who knows if the OS supports the changes later, it if does they'll probably charge you for the update, I rather not pay for their lack of development

I suppose it is a matter of opinion, what do you mean "HTML5 is still in Beta and who knows of the OS supports the changes later"?
Of course the iPad will support HTML5, Steve Jobs despises flash, and has said HTML5 is the future. They wouldn't charge you to support HTML5? The only thing Apple might charge you $10-20 dollars for, is for the major update each year, which generally offers many new features and a lot of improvements.

EDIT: and it is quite desirable, at least for me, to be able to do these things via touch instead of a mouse.

 

[Wiseman_2]

Not to mention that a great deal of apps are pointless things like ifart or other completely and utterly useless things like that one that makes lightsabre sounds if you swing the iPhone around (that people pay good money for some of those things still astounds me).
The small percentage of actually useful apps, like that office one or whatever it was, can be installed on a laptop for free with stuff like OpenOffice.

 

[Icyculyr]

Not to mention that a great deal of apps are pointless things like ifart or other completely and utterly useless things like that one that makes lightsabre sounds if you swing the iPhone around (that people pay good money for some of those things still astounds me).

Sure but there are a lot of valuable ones, both free and paid. Personally I'd like Apple to cull some of the junk.

The small percentage of actually useful apps, like that office one or whatever it was, can be installed on a laptop for free with stuff like OpenOffice.

Unless you, or I want to go through all 140,000 apps and say how many useful apps there actually are, than anything we say is speculation.
But, I'd doubt more than 20% (I'm being generous here) of those 140,000 applications are useless. I could probably pick out 500 useful apps (other than games) - not that I want to, in several hours (maybe a bit longer).

And the iWork apps, are only $10 each. That isn't that much money.

 

[Vestras]

> The iPad's going to thrive because there is no slate like it. No slate runs an OS built just for a touch based device, the iPhone OS already has succeeded, they've just improved it and moved it to a larger device.

Windows 7 has touch. And I think someone needs to take a look at Microsoft Surface

 

[UndeadDragon]

So, I never said your laptop couldn't. But my point is, the iPad can.
I'll point out that your laptop can do the same things, but not in the same way. It's faster and easier on the iPad to get to what you want then it is on a laptop.

How is it in anyway faster to do stuff on an iPad? If you fill your desktop with desktop icons, your laptop would have a similar interface as the iPad. Not to mention, the programs will actually run faster on the laptop.

 

[ReVolver]

How is it in anyway faster to do stuff on an iPad? If you fill your desktop with desktop icons, your laptop would have a similar interface as the iPad. Not to mention, the programs will actually run faster on the laptop.

He's in denial, let it be. He'll be the one regretting to bring a laptop to school/work each day.

 

[Icyculyr]

Windows 7 has touch. And I think someone needs to take a look at Microsoft Surface

Yeah, but it wasn't designed purely for a touch based environment, applications are made to be used with a keyboard and mouse, unlike the iPhone OS which is designed to be touch only.

How is it in anyway faster to do stuff on an iPad? If you fill your desktop with desktop icons, your laptop would have a similar interface as the iPad. Not to mention, the programs will actually run faster on the laptop.

Its faster because its touch and also it's just quicker to get to where you want because of the OS. Its instant on, it's easy to pull it out and put it away when you're done with it.

And the iPad's apps will be very snappy, you'll notice the iPad apps will run faster and respond faster than the laptops. You might be able to render something or export something big faster because of the faster processor, but I'm not sure we'll see any apps that do any very heavy processing, IDK though, we might.

He's in denial, let it be. He'll be the one regretting to bring a laptop to school/work each day.

I'm not in denial lol, I never said the iPad is greater than a laptop since that depends on the person, but that it can do pretty much everything the laptop can do, I don't need or want a laptop. If I'm working, I work on my main machine.

 

[ElderKingpin]

a tablet cannot match a laptop.

 

[Icyculyr]

a tablet cannot match a laptop.

In what regard, I might say the same thing, that a laptop can't match the iPad. But I'm sure we're thinking about different things about each device that make us say that.
It's hard to compare this to a laptop, because whats better is mostly just an opinion. For example, the iPhone OS might be a con for you, but a pro for me.

 

[ElderKingpin]

for example. you CAN just rip out a laptop and start using it.

A laptop has better specs in general
There are certain laptops that can become a tablet.
There are laptops smaller then the iPad, in size, not thickness.

 

[Icyculyr]

for example. you CAN just rip out a laptop and start using it.

A laptop has better specs in general
There are certain laptops that can become a tablet.
There are laptops smaller then the iPad, in size, not thickness.

Still all highly dependant on what the person wants. But...

You can't whip out a laptop and start using it as easily as an iPad, the iPad is smaller, lighter, is instant on and has a touch screen.
The laptop might have better specs, but it needs them because it's running a full OS, the iPad doesn't need a 2.0GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive.

I fail to understand the point of a laptop that becomes a slate. If you have the laptop why would you want to take it out and use the slate? Perhaps for drawing with a Stylus, thats all I can think of.
And yeah, there are smaller net-books than the iPad, but if its too much smaller than the iPad its just going to get a lot harder to use.

If you need a laptop or a net-book, buy one. If you don't need any specific computer functionality, the iPad could suffice, like in my case (and more so, it's what I want because of the iPhone OS).

 

[sqrage]

>>If you need a laptop or a net-book, buy one. If you don't need any specific computer functionality, the iPad could suffice, like in my case.

Then what the hell are you arguing for? Your original question was whether people wanted to buy one or not. Obviously everyone said no, and they said their reasons for it. Are you working sales at Apple or something? You don't have to convince people they're wrong on opinion based questions.

You want the iPad because you don't look for more functionality out of a large portable device than what the iPhone has and others WOULDN'T want the iPad for just that reason. I don't see why you have to confront every single statement someone makes reasoning why they don't want to get it...

If you want to get it cool, go ahead but obviously no one else wants to.

 

[Icyculyr]

Then what the hell are you arguing for? Your original question was whether people wanted to buy one or not. Obviously everyone said no, and they said their reasons for it. Are you working sales at Apple or something? You don't have to convince people they're wrong on opinion based questions.

I'm not, I'm simply replying to posts... In fact my last few posts have been saying exactly that, that its hard to compare and say whats better because a lot of whats better is user preference.

You want the iPad because you don't look for more functionality out of a large portable device than what the iPhone has and others WOULDN'T want the iPad for just that reason.

That's not true, what more functionality is there that I need? The iPad is the perfect device for me, it does almost everything I want and much better than my iPhone.

I don't see why you have to confront every single statement someone makes reasoning why they don't want to get it...

I don't, the majority of replies I make aren't to posts saying "I don't like it, or it wouldn't be useful for me" but to posts saying "It's a piece of rubbish, or a net-book is better for such and such reasons". We're all just arguing our opinions.
And also, if I think that reasoning is incorrect, like saying the iPad doesn't have video out capabilities etc... I'll reply and say it does.

 

[UndeadDragon]

To be completely honest, you say that you havent been brainwashed by Apple, but reading through every single one of your posts, you do nothing by give Apple praise for any crap that they do. I have never seen you come up with a negative on any Apple product. Apple have got you right where they want you.

 

[tom_mai78101]

I voted for no.

1. Too expensive.
2. Too many.
3. Too novel.
4. Too few stuffs.

 

[Icyculyr]

To be completely honest, you say that you havent been brainwashed by Apple, but reading through every single one of your posts, you do nothing by give Apple praise for any crap that they do. I have never seen you come up with a negative on any Apple product. Apple have got you right where they want you.

I've not been brainwashed by Apple, I just don't talk about the products I don't like or am uninterested in.
If Apple came about with a slate that had only 4 hours of battery life, I'd neither be buying it or praising it - at least not the battery life.