My current gripe with the iPad is, well, more Apple than iPad really, it's the release date, or more precisely the fact the US gets it before others, not too handy when you're wanting to release an app and would actually quite like to test it on a device, rather than just in the simulator, as there could well be subtle differences that may cause issues.

I've just started reading e-books on the iPhone, via Kobo (*cough* slight plug *cough* ;) it is free though, along with a ton of classic free books too) and it's pretty good. The iPad will enhance this experience, be it with iBooks or other e-book apps that will obviously appear on the iPad (shall I cough again? :D). If we throw in the other apps one can put on there the iPad could be a rather nifty device.

Do I want one? Yes, do I *need* one? No. Will I be getting one? Probably not, mainly because I will be using them from 9 - 5 and so some of the "magic" will be lost, but I may sign one out for some at home testing :D

The problem with ebooks (that Kobo app is really nice BTW!) is that the latest books usually cost more than buying the proper book.
I bought Dan Browns latest one as a present from Amazon, hardback was £9.99! of the ebook apps I've looked at it's around £17.99!!

I think people are missing the point here :)

If you are in the market for an ebook reader and want something that is great for browsing the web (something that many readers dont do) then the iPad is perfect. Throw in the ability to use all your iphone apps, the iwork and email client and its a winner.

if, like me, you have a netbook or laptop and want to replace that with something that does all and everything your laptop/netbook does, then the iPad is not it. That is why I wont be getting one and I like Apple stuff :D
It just do not tick the boxes for me.

Now obviously the big game plan that Apple have is quite simple as I see it.

1. Task one. Introduce a device that is touchscreen, works well, has the function of a mobile device and gets everyone used to navigating without a stylus. The iphone. Job done :thumb:

2. Task two. Introduce a device that gets people used to typing onscreen without a physical keyboard. The hardest job ever as it is so ingrained in us as an input device. Soften the learning curve by chucking loads of extras at us that we think are useful. The iPad. Verdict unknown

3. Once we are happy doing both, then increase the form factor of device two say to 12-15", add on a fully featured OS, add the I/O's that we love, garner the relevant peripheral manufacturers around the device like carry cases etc and voila, you now are using a large tablet device that does everything your laptop once did, just without a keyboard.

Fair play to the people who are going to get one on launch day, but my bet is that the first version of the iPad is only the start.

When it can replace my laptop, then you will see me with big pocketed jeans :)

Generally speaking once the paperback version is released the ebook price comes down but I agree, they're still pricey. I can get paperbacks in the supermarket for under £4 that cost anywhere between £5 and £10 for the same ebook. Still, sometimes it's more convenient just to download one so I don't mind if it's five or six quid but it still galls me a bit.

I can't wait to get stuck into the old classics here Main Page - Gutenberg and if Apple decides to charge, well there's an app for that Kindle for iPhone for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

http://images.apple.com/ipad/specs/i...5_20100127.png

This image sells it to me. I thought I'd need to attach my bluetooth keyboard, but I wont.

p.s.
If you don't like touchscreen keyboards or have never really used a well executed multitouch one I don't care what you think, start your own thread, you can discuss those clicky clack ones at the same time.

Until Apple decides to remove it without explanation

Looks great I will be getting one. I can leave the laptop (with all the important work stuff on it) in the study and use this for web stuff, holiday etc.
That way I wont be tempted to do work when I'm not at work, All my docs are safe on the work macs and I can transport this around in my backpack.
Perfect.

Cue Dell.. They will have one out in the next 6 months I bet.

Glad you like it, and just wait for the iPad version (if you search around there are a few mock pictures of it floating about) it's rather sexy, if that can be said for a reader app.


Now that is a very interesting point. Can Apple reject e-reader apps on the iPad because it "duplicates existing functionality", ie; of iBooks, even though;
a) they have similar apps on the iPhone, and could one not claim prior art (I believe that is the term) in this instance.

b) Book downloads for iBooks will, at launch, be US only. So you'd be killing an app based on a geographic location, which isn't overly friendly and what happens when iBooks does launch in your country, your app is squished?

The pricing issue is an interesting one too, and I'd say it's the old volume discount thing. Supermarkets can purchase books in silly numbers and get a large discount. I'm not sure how exactly it works with publishers when it comes to the ebook market though. I haven't yet purchased a book, I've been reading free ones, but I will get round to it at some point. I've been eyeing Neuromancer which I do own, but I have a suspicion it's actually not here but in the UK, which makes reading it tricky.

I can see method in your madness here. Apple is testing the water as how many tablet PC's do you know of out there. It's not a massively successful market sector and I think that is the primary reason that Apple hasn't gone that route yet. They aren't totally stupid.

They would want to make sure they could create something slightly unique and attempt to dominate the sector, but as said tablets are an interesting area and I think it'd be catastrophic if they had just gone for a full on tablet. It would really have been a 50/50 chance as to wether it would work.

Believe me matey, that is exactly their game plan, you wait and see in 2-3 years time what you and I will be using.
Sure, there will always be a need for servers, desktops etc but the mobile market is where the real changes will happen and as stated by Apple before,they are now positioning themselves a mobile device company. Not a computer company.

The trick is shaping our behaviour, the way we input, the way we handle, use and view devices like tablets etc. what they are trying to do is get us to be comfortable using the iPad/Tablet first before expanding the concept into something that will resemble what I suggested in my last post.

Just think, a few years ago using a touchscreen phone was not mainstream. Now, look at the market. Flooded and it is accepted.
Same game plan for the iPad.

I do like the look of it and yes its a gadget, but it just does not do what I need it to do

I havent got with the ebook thing, I can sort of see the Kindle as being viable due to it having being desgined fromt he outset with the right kind of screen for looking like paper and low power usage but the Pida is just a big Ipod Touch and as such will cane the battery fairly quickly, all the time you are reading you are going to be checking the battery charge and I wouldnt want to try reading in the bath with £500 worth of electronics.

I can see the benefits of ebooks but they arent there yet.

I think Swiss is spot on here, but I am not sure the iPad thing won't just be a stop gap until truly portable screens and touch keyboards arrive for iPhone sized devices.

LG have some remarkable fold away stuff already up and running, just currently they cost a fortune..... but we know that won't be the case for long.

Now imagine an iPhone with the power of a laptop and the ability to fold out a wide screen and touch keyboard no thicker than a piece of card. That is where this is heading.

For now though if Apple could just make an iPhone that works as well as it looks they may be onto something :D

"Now imagine an iPhone with the power of a laptop and the ability to fold out a wide screen and touch keyboard no thicker than a piece of card. That is where this is heading"

You're describing the iPad and as proved earlier the iPhone works great.

No I'm not as the iPad is way too big to be truly mobile and the iPhone isn't :confused: Plus where is the fold out screen/keyboard?

No it doesnt really. As a phone it is average at best, the SMS interface is childish and lacking in details, Safari is very slow (the ads make it look great - they are misleading) and even the compass does not work properly. It is a masterpiece of form over function in some ways.

Except the iPhone can make calls, has a camera, digital compass, GPS .... etc etc.

You're reading this thread and decide to comment, the keyboard folds, appears, rises, who knows. If I want something that physically folds I'll pick up my laptop.

Your derogatory statements have been answered before and proved wrong.

Is that aimed at me?

Even if it isn't how can you make statements like that as if they were facts when they are only your opinion?

I had a Nokia 6300 that had a signal both at my office and at my home. I now have an iPhone that Orange tells me is working perfectly and yet half the time I have no signal at home or at work. THAT IS FACT!!!!! The stupid thing can just lose all signal in the middle of a call without me moving an inch. And then it needs a reboot. :Whatever_ A phone that needs a reboot? - FFS!!!!!

You have missed my point about keyboards and screens. These are paper thin items that LG amongst others already have on test and they will allow a phone sized device to become a full screen/keybaord laptop - that is the future IMO. Not silly iPad sized devices.

Why is it Apple geeks are always so aggressive about the defence of their chosen products?

Newsflash! in my opinion take away the looks and the iPhone is average at best - I got suckered in by the hype and wish I hadn't.

You tell em, This is Jacks thread and if you don't agree with him don't post :lol1:

You've got your fruits mixed up, if you don't get a good signal on the iPhone in certain places then you're shooting the messenger, give Orange a call and complain about the service you're paying for.

Please don't ruin another good thread with Apple hatred, it's boring. I'll start a I hate the iPhone thread for you if you like.

To be honest Jack I quite like it , I didn't want to tell you though:D

LOL at you. What a pompous reply :D :D I don't hate the iPhone, I just see it for what it is - average.

This is a public forum and I have as much right to an opinon and to post as you. The fact I don't follow your Apple can do no wrong mantra is not my problem.

Oh and if my Nokia works perfectly on Orange and my iPhone doesn't where do you really think the problem lies? :Whatever_

ladies, ladies :content:

As stated before if you chopped Jack in half there would be pips :)

I know what F1 is on about and tried to explain in my previous posts. The iPad is, regardless of how you look at, a stop gap at best. It may do loads of things brilliantly but it does not do all of them. And that is the crux of the issue. We have become so tuned and used to dealing with laptops, netbooks etc that we all think they are the pinnacle of portable devices. Every year they get smaller and lighter but never really change.

Then tablets were introduced and badly received. Why ? Because we were not really ready for them in terms of usability and the interface sucked. ALong comes Apple and as it often, they bring something new to the arena. Yes the iPad is great, but it, in its present form, does not tick all the boxes. What it will do, like I said before, will change how we interact with tablets.
Once that is established, then and only then will it become mainstream and evole into something we will actually use and need.
And this may not be Apple that does it. They may simply start it off.

In the meantime we will plod along with a mish mash of devices that do most of the things we want.

Dell will probably make one but I can't see it being a patch on the ipad as I think the main plus point for the ipad is that it uses the app store games and apps. Not only will you have a portable laptop and media player you will have loads of games for pennies :)

I've found a great use for the ipad! I thought I need device that the guys ont he shop floor can use to access our fabrication manuals providing a personal place to access all the files they need. They will have access to videos, 3d drawings the lot all in one easy accessible touchscreen device.....

I mentioned this to our IT guy and he asked what software it would need. Adobe Reader I say! That's it perfect aint it!

Errrr NO! iPad doesn't do Flash apparently......

Back to the drawing board... sorry Flash enabled PC.

Do people play that many games on these things? I'd want to use a console. If the people have an ipad then expense of games clearly isn't an issue darling!

Riiiiiiiiiiiight, so Orange are responsible for the iPhone needing to be rebooted after it loses it signal (which it lost without moving and his other phones don't)? :cuckoo:

F A N B O Y

Geezer

Adobe reader is simply a pdf reader, where is the flash element ??
Unless the files have flash content in them ??

lol I think so obvious trends and answers are becoming apparent these days on this topic.
A clear difference needs to be seen between "opinion" and "fact", as it is so regularly the stumbling block of most great arguements.

Just to clarify something though, regarding one of my earlier repsonses.

New details revealed on Microsoft Courier tablet, don’t sign up for an iPad just yet – GSMArena Blog
I posted this on here on the 5th when it first appeared, so its not breaking news.

No bet eh ;)

I have to agree with Swiss though, the iPad will certainly be future shaping, for those wishing to head down that road anyway. Others will remain happy with old fashioned devices for quite a while yet im sure.
Just like the iPhone, the iPad does show some interesting options ahead for the consumer, and for those liking that technology, im sure its going to be an exciting time watching it all develop.

But because im old fashioned, I just ordered a Mini Laptop, just cant get enough of the keys me lol

What's flash got to do with Adobe Reader? I use PDF files all the time on my iPhone - within email mostly - and they work perfectly. The iPad will be better.

And yes, Orange are to blame, they've failed to provide you with coverage for a supported phone. They knew what was needed when you signed the contract, they let you sign anyhow. We're lucky over here, O2 coverage has been fantastic and they even went the extra mile by providing a factory unlock for when they can't manage.