Thoughts on ipad?

[matty-hodgson]

Actually my hand-span is 9.5", but yes, its to large to use in that manner.

My handspan is about the same (9 and a bit). I even cut out a piece of cardboard to the exact size of the iPad and there is no way I could comfortably hold an iPad, the edges wouldn't be anywhere near as grippy as cardboard.

A bit like this?

Yeah, again, loads of grip on the iPad :\. One slight knock and that things gonna hit the floor, cos the metal on the back and the glossy screen cover aren't exactly the easiest things to grip.

[Jay]

it just looks so stupid and it will cost a fortune!

[menthel]

I have just thought of one good use for it. A giant new controller for my sonos setup. The iPhone software is good and this will cost about the same as a dedicated touch sonos controller. Not that I can afford either at present!

[Saracen]

Nexus, Blackberry, iPhone, Netbook, Laptop - acceptable.

iPad neither one nor the other.

It won't fit in your pocket neither is it functional enough to be a serious contender.

Not for me.

That about sums up my impressions. It'll be a heavily-marketed, supposedly fashionable "must-have" icon because it's Apple and they're cool, right? But in fact it's over-designed solution lacking a real problem.

It might be a sign of things to come. It might hint at where we'll be in 10 years or whatever. But it rather reminds me of the very early cellular phones, when they were basically a full-size domestic handset connected to a transceiver and batter pack the size and weight of several house bricks. And it's similarly over-priced. Well, those bricks evolved fairly rapidly into small, convenient and highly portable devices that are now so commonplace it's hard to remember what life was like without them.

Just maybe this shows the future of computer devices. But I still wonder. It's far too big to be easily portable, and from what I can see, lacking in usability for a fixed device. Does it give enough advantage over a conventional laptop? Or is it just several available technologies bundled together and gift-wrapped with glitzy marketing and presentation.

I'm not sure I'd have a real use for it if someone gave me one and I sure don't see me buying one, and most certainly not at anything like $500-$800, which probably means £500-£800 by the time we get offered them.

[Steve A]

iPointless ?

[Saracen]

iPointless ?

Succinct and comprehensive summation, there, Steve.

[Zak33]

i think you'd use it on your lap... like a laptop?

[matty-hodgson]

i think you'd use it on your lap... like a laptop?

Just sit there, with someone iPad sized on your lap and pretend to type on it. How unnatural does that feel? The screen wouldn't be pointing in the right direction either :\.

[circuitmonkey]

could make some sense as an educational product if that price wasn't so high
textbook, workbook, email, portable, decent battery life, single process OS to keep you concentrating on what your supposed to be doing

[stavroshamster]

With Google and others starting to steal Apple's thunder in the smartphone market, and the iPad likely (if there is any sense left in the universe) to be a flop, what are Apple going to do to turn things around? Or are they just going to rest on their laurels and rely on iTunes and their AppStore?

[Mike Fishcake]

It doesn't really fit in to any niche that I think I could use it for really, though I'd probably have to use one first before making my mind up.

Doesn't mean I don't irrationally want NICE SHINY THING though

Plus, I could pretend I'm on Star Trek.

I'm taking bets at £399 for the bog standard one (and £349 education pricing).

[Mike Fishcake]

In addition to this, I don't think it could have been anything else other than a mild let-down, after all the hype for ages.

Still want one though.

[Grey M@a]

could make some sense as an educational product if that price wasn't so high
textbook, workbook, email, portable, decent battery life, single process OS to keep you concentrating on what your supposed to be doing

And in education that would fail instantly. You couldn't do a single process OS for education. It would fail instantly if you were doing your work and then you had to refer to the text book/ebook again for notes so you would have to close down what you are doing go read the book, make notes on paper and then re-open your work to type that up etc.

The education board at the uni here have already deemed it unsuitable for class use so I doubt we will see them around the campus in any significant numbers. No doubt there will be review models on our doorstep soon from the suppliers of the uni so we will see what it can do when the time arrives.

[Mike Fishcake]

I wonder if something as simple as an OS update will allow this?

Seems a bit short-sighted for Apple to release the initial one without the functionality, but I wouldn't be surprised if iPhone OS 4 could deal with that (in fact, i'm sure i remember reading a rumour about that somewhere)

[scaryjim]

Just sit there, with someone iPad sized on your lap ...

Freudian slip?

My notepad (I mean, a real paper spiral-bound one!) at work is 9" diagonally and has an aspect ratio of pretty much bang on 16:10, so if they could make a 9" version with minimal bezel, it would be as easy to hold as a notepad, and I can manage a notepad. That would mean I could comfortably grip it round each edge and type on an onscreen keyboard, or write on it with a stylus / pen (although trying that with a notepad it only really works if you rest your hand on the "screen", so that might be an issue on a capacitiative touchscreen ).

But the bezels on this thing are *huge*, so that's not going to be an option.

Frankly, I find this device significantly less interesting than the MSI Dual Screen notebooks that were shown at CES this year...

[shaithis]

Lets hope someone releases an etch-a-sketch app for it....it's crying out for it