Your iPad Plans (Assuming You Have Any)
By Harry McCracken | Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 9:45 am
It’s been a while since our last T-Poll. And with only a few days left until the iPad shows up, we’re entering the equivalent of a political campaign’s final stretch–if you’re going to have an opinion of the iPad based on pre-release information and speculation, you’ve probably formed it by now.
So here we go:
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Apple’s iPad: The First Reviews Are In | New York Pudding Says:
January 14th, 2011 at 12:23 pm[…] (if any) at my local Apple Store, pick up my iPad, and start the conversation here. (Looks like plenty of you will have iPads on Saturday — and I look forward to hearing what you think of […]
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Apple’s iPad: The First Reviews Are In - New York Pudding Says:
January 21st, 2011 at 6:55 am[…] (if any) at my local Apple Store, pick up my iPad, and start the conversation here. (Looks like plenty of you will have iPads on Saturday — and I look forward to hearing what you think of […]
March 30th, 2010 at 10:26 am
I’m getting a lot of spousal pressure to pick one up! But I’m trying to restrain us. We’ll check it out in the store within a few days of launch and read some reviews, see how we feel then.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Until I see the iPad do something that a netbook and/or smartphone can’t, I don’t have any use for one.
Furthermore, I lived with an iPhone and an iPod Touch for a few years, and I just can’t do it again. iTunes is awful, and is not compatible with my needs as a user. As long as Apple devices are locked to iTunes, I won’t be buying any.
So, as someone who always has a smartphone in-hand, I’m definitely in favor of touchscreen tablets. However, I need one that’s a little more open, and priced appropriately. An Archos 5 with a Snapdragon and Android 2.1 for $250 would probably be perfect.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:34 am
We know that the iPad isn’t going to beat netbooks based on features–it’s got fewer of ’em. If it’s a hit, it’ll be based on ease-of-use/fun/overall experience. I’ll have one on Saturday and can’t wait to form real hands-on opinions.
–Hary
March 30th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
I’m excited to hear what you’ll have to say but not because I want to get one. I’m more curious to see what the larger market reaction to it is, if any. It seems that a large portion of users out there are looking for simplified computing. Has Apple struck the right balance and achieved the mythical “Internet Appliance” that we’ve been hearing about and seeing flop for a decade? For my own use, I’m much more interested to see what Google might come up with via their to-be-announced ChromeOS device. I balance openness vs simplicity differently than the strong majority of users, however. My Mom would likely never think of a ChromeOS device but may be very attracted to the iPad.
March 30th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I am picking up one Saturday to do testing. I’d like to compare experience between iPad and Kindle, nook, netbook, ipod touch, and a convertible notebook.
March 31st, 2010 at 5:54 pm
So 20% of respondents have already bought an iPad, another 17% will buy one this year, for 37% with iPads. Another 32% are interested … if half of those convert to sales then that would be 53% of respondents with iPads. Fairly easy to see half converting to sales when you consider they will see them for the first time soon, and that iPhone OS 4.0 will be out in a few months, and then there will be a wave of apps that will draw people off the fence, and then iPhone OS 4.1 in October or so, possibly with a hardware revision.
That is a pretty great result for a product that hasn’t even shipped yet.
The 8% who want Android sounds about right. That is the Linux crowd. Only a quarter of those 8% will be running the latest version. 🙂
I guess the 6% who want a Windows tablet don’t actually want a Windows tablet (which have been available for over 10 years) but rather they want some kind of mythical future Windows tablet? One that is more like an iPad than the current Windows tablets? A fun fact is that iPad has already outsold all the TabletPC every made.
> I’m much more interested to see what Google might come up with
> via their to-be-announced ChromeOS device. I balance openness
Chrome OS is not really any more open than iPhone OS. The parts of iPhone OS that are controversial on Slashdot are either the same in Chrome OS (e.g. unalterable firmware) or entirely missing from Chrome OS (e.g. native apps). Also, they’re pluses are the same: both have open source Unix cores, both have open source WebKit browsers, both run the same open API HTML5 applications, and both run open ISO MPEG-4 audio video. Since 2003, you get everything that’s in Chrome OS free with every Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Chrome OS is mostly browser, and the browser is mostly Apple WebKit.
Also, Chrome OS tablets are 2 years away, and iPad has a 2 year working life. So Chrome OS vs iPhone OS is really a question for your second tablet.
> We know that the iPad isn’t going to beat netbooks based
> on features–it’s got fewer of ‘em
Very true, but on the other hand, iPad has some unique features that no netbooks offer, which will be more important to some users. For example, some people will buy iPad over a netbook solely for the touch Web browser. Me, for example. All the other features are a bonus to me. If iPad just ran Safari full screen I would still be interested in it because the Web has buttons on it and scrolls a lot and benefits greatly from zooming. Being able to just tap those buttons, flick to scroll, and pinch to zoom is a major, major feature in my opinion. A netbook would just be a lousy trackpad and the same old tired mousing around the Web. I would rather use my iPhone.
Probably the second feature for me is the iTunes integration, because it will be almost zero setup, and it will back itself up to my Mac which backs itself up to a disk automatically. A netbook would require me to install and update an OS, maybe use anti-virus, back it up manually, and so on. Again, I would rather just use my iPhone in that case.
So it depends on what features you value.
April 1st, 2010 at 7:45 am
The iPad is the everyman computer. The same cannot be said for a laptop/netbook…
I don’t need to keep upgrading drivers, run virus scanners, choose between eight different web browsers, defragment my hard disk, lose track of my files in umpteen different folders, have a fan blowing hot air on my leg, suffer random hangs or navigate through countless menus. Doing all this stuff is my job – I’ve been a full-time programmer for 30 years using various flavours of Windows and Linux.
I really don’t want to deal with all that crap when I’m trying to simply relax and have fun with my computer. What I can do is sit in my chair, my bed, at the coffee shop or in a bar and browse the web, read a book, listen to some music or play some games without the platform getting in the way. I’m trying to enjoy myself – not debug a device driver!
In Windows, Linux (and MacOS) we are constantly reminded that we’re using some kind of desktop operating system. Pop-ups, menus, context menus, control keys, function keys blah blah. That may be fine for desktops but it isn’t a very pleasant casual computing experience (well not for 2010).
As you probably figured out, I will be getting an iPad. In fact I’m getting two, one for my wife as well. Our eyes aren’t what they used to be, so we’ll be using them to read books at night with large fonts. I enjoy cooking so I’ll set up a dock in the kitchen to view recipes as I work. Then of course both of us will sit back on the couch and read websites and play some word games. Sure we could do this with a netbook (I’m using one right now), but I’m really betting the experience will be IMHO so much better.
BTW, I’m not an Apple fanboy – quite the opposite… I hate MacOS and it took me almost 18months to buy an iPhone. However after I did buy the iPhone I must admit I do like it. The thing that draws me to the iPad is that it is the closest thing to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy that Douglas Adams wrote about in the books of the same name. In fact in many ways it’s better since the iPad is not just an encyclopedia but also an open ended tool. It therefore in many ways, fulfills my childhood dreams.
My only problem with the device is that it lacks a camera. I really believed there was a great opportunity for Apple to open the door to all kinds of Augmented Reality applications with the device in 2010. Sadly, without a camera that opportunity has been lost – well at least until V2.0.
April 4th, 2010 at 6:07 am
yes, there are windows tablet PCs out there. Actually, there just smaller laptops (not netbook sized) that have a stylus. The windows tablet planned for HP is much different.
I would consider a windows tablet, but not an iPad. I have an iPhone and love it, but the lack of flash, java, silverlight, multitasking, etc, support is a problem for the iPad, as well as the lack of productivity software. In the phone world, the iPhone is king, but I’m not so sure in the emerging tablet world.
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