Weekend Open Forum: Is the iPad for You?

You CAN download music from anywhere. You just have to add the mp3s to the itunes library and upload them to your iPod. You're not forced to pay and download music strictly from itunes.

Small hard drive, no usb, limited expansion, no camera, no GPS, short battery life and a puny processor makes the iPad little more then a large iPod touch (which I already have one).

I was initially excited about the prospect of an Apple tablet as I do photography as a side business and having my photos on a tablet was very attractive for me. However, I think Apple completely missed the target with this product. It is too expensive to be an e-reader, too limited in horsepower to be a fully functioning computer, and too limited in scope to be a true convergence device.

This product will flop. Resoundly. Perhaps if they do a major product revision taking some of these issues to heart then maybe they can turn it around.

I feel exactly the same way. I also do photography as a side business (I'm a Network Security Admin by day), and I was doing backflips in anticipation of the iPad. Once the iPad was unveiled though, I felt the distinct urge to make good use of a roll of TP. The iPad is garbage. Apple, as a company, is in desperate need of a makeover to catch up with the times.

No thanks, but I think i'll skip on the iTampon. I mean cmon where do I start on this hunk of junk. Once again TurtleNeck Jobs has done it again. Being able to brainwash the mindless sheep to buying one of his shiny pieces of metal. I bet ya if Jobs pooped in a bag and sold it, the fanboys will buy the iPoop. Tablets have been around for a LONG time, hell Windows XP Tablet PC Edition has been around since the early 2000's and it actually works. I think that only the retards will buy this. I mean iPhone was alright. The MacBook Pro is alright, but this is a JOKE. So ya Apple, I hope you're ready for your downfall, because its coming. Your little money robbing scheme won't last forever

I think if the iPad has a large availability of foreign language book titles and the ability to use alternate language dictionaries (which the Kindle has struggled to do well), it will have a leg up on other e-readers. I have not heard much about foreign language support but would be interested if anyone has information on this.

It never ceases to amaze me how far people go out of there way to slam products they hate. There are many products i hate but i don't see them as a personal attack because they didn't make it my way...really...you sound like little girls that didn't get the right barbie. You do all realize this device wasn't made for you...It was made for the people who don't post angry responses on tech forums because there personal expectations weren't met. It was made for my mother/wife and people who care about facebook, they just want to push an icon and have it work. There is a hugh shift in casual gamers in the world, that outnumber the real gamers, the people that want to check farmville or play a card game, they are the leading game consumers not the console players add the fact you can read a book. The tech inept will buy this for its simplicity and the tech crowd the ones able to get over there ego will buy it because its a solid piece of hardware with possiblities.

I have several friends that slammed this device but all paid a retarded price for there unlocked iphones which is just a phone with pretty useless programs.

nuff' said.

small hd? for who? you this has more than space for my wifes books and games
no usb? for what a keyboard? its called bluetooth
no camera? for what using skype, taking pictures? I have a camera why would you use a shitty smartphone camera, when i have a real camera.
no gps? most people know there way around there own homes, you know homes where people will be reading there books and playing games.
short battery life? Are we talking about the same product, do you own an ipad, maybe tell us the real usage is it close to the 10 hours apple states?
puny processor? really have you do any research at all about the A4 processor?

fully functioning computer? did i miss the memo about this being a fully functioning computer? Did anyone really think this was going to be a computer?

it does certain things very well, thats it, i know this must be devastating that apple didn't make it to your high standards. Life in general must be very disappointing for you?

this is exactly the problem with people they talk without thinking, a sign of the times.

My brother just found this

http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/thumb/9/94/IPadvsStone.png/800px-IPadvsStone.png

I'm a PC guy through and through. I recently broke my Apple abstinence by buying an iPhone, and I absolutely love it. So, when the time came for Apple to announce their tablet, I was very interested... and very, very disappointed. I, a PC die-hard, was actually considering buying a tablet from Apple, but I must say, Steve Jobs made it the easiest thing I've ever done to write off the iPad as an illegitimate product with no "reason to be".

What irritates me the most, is that the iPad isn't even a computer. It's a glorified iPod Touch, with a figment of a real OS. How else could they market the iPad as "magical" unless the OS were imaginary? The lack of Flash support is also ludicrous, as is their reasoning that HTML5 is the future. Yes, HTML5 is the future, but the iPad is in the present, and presently, Flash is king. The last thing I will gripe about (although there are many more) is the closed development for, execution of, and modification of ANY of their software and hardware. As a software engineer, I find it revolting to be unable to legally use or modify my computer, or to be unable to develop for my computer without being Divinely Bequeathed with the Holy Blessing from the Almighty Steve Jobs. This modus operandi strikes at the core of my freedom of ownership; a right I will not forfeit to the Con-artists of Cupertino.

The iPad is an example of how Apple doesn't make products for consumers, but how they make consumers for their products. Dupe enough ignorant people into believing a lie, and suddenly, everybody will believe it and want it. Not I, Steve Jobs, not I.

Your fanboy is showing. While I'm not as fluent in 'troll-speak' as you are, I'm guessing you're one of the drones The Onion was talking about that will buy anything new and shiny as long as it's made by Apple.

This is better:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144105&id=57559012857

But maybe Apple haven't said everything it can do? My Apple crazy friend sent me this Link.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...how_slot_for_forward_facing_video_camera.html

Appleinsider....Is that for the core fanatic ?

I clicked....I saw....I was disappointed

I was hoping they had Steve Jobs bobbleheads...but I was informed I can't have one as he's too busy running the company.

WOW!!!!

There is a hole for camera !!!

You actually CAN insert camera module in that hole !!!

iPad is not doomed after all .....

The main gripe by people on this board is the fact that this product was pitched like the best thing since the slice of bread amidst high expectations and ended up being nothing more but a big iPhone/iPod Touch. In other words - nothing to write home about. And I see nothing that this device can do very well:

- watching movies - great screen (no AMOLED, but that's nitpicking, IPS is good enough for great viewing angles), but relatively heavy to watch lying down or holding in your hands on the plane;
- reading books - dedicated book readers have better screens for that purpose;
- surfing the net - no Flash;
- listening to music - iPod is better due to portability;
- e-mail - no better than iPod Touch/iPhone and arguably more difficult to type due to size;
- any other work - no multitasking, small storage, no keyboard, etc.;
- gaming - no better than other portable devices;
- viewing pictures - probably.

In other words, bigger version of iPod Touch, which is a minus in my book, since I like all of the above functionality in a pocket-size device for less money.

BTW, USB port is needed not for keyboard, but for the ability to transfer files without hooking this thing to a computer.

In other words from the hype vs actual usefulness of the product perspective, iPad is right next to Segway.

Summary for Ipad: It's suck.

The ipad looks good. but i won't buy it, because i have a macbook..

there is a headphone jack. I agree that apple gadgets are overpriced but ... please.

Here are some reviews of ipad:

Safari on the iPad seems fairly similar to the mobile version for the iPhone. What's great though, is with the added surface area, pull-down menus no longer hide the content, as they do on the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen. The tool bar takes up less overall "visual" space too. Typing on the large virtual keyboard is effortless in both landscape and portrait modes; given the large screen, there's plenty of room between keys. One major bummer: Like the iPhone version, this iteration of Safari doesn't support Flash, so there'll be no Hulu-watching-at least not for now.

The iPod is also a fantastic upgrade from the iPhone or iPod touch. Playlists, Genius Mixes, and Videos all appear in a left-hand margin just as they do in iTunes, with a window in the middle displaying the content. Whether you're watching video or just viewing album art, the screen is sharp, bright, and the accelerometer is extremely responsive. Video playback is offered in "full HD," but it doesn't fill the entire screen in this mode. You can tap on the screen, and the video will fill the entire display, but you leave full HD mode.

While the first incarnation of Apple's iPad is truly impressive, its best features are yet to come. We have no idea what future iPad apps are in store for us, but just about the entire print industry is banking on this device to be its second chance in the digital world. And game developers seem to be salivating at the screen's size and full multi-touch surface. What we have already, however, is pretty darn good. We'll put the iPad through its paces in our lab when it is released in late March. Check back for a full review.

audio of ipad is not really satisfied,video quality is good...
ipad video conversion is mixed up,find solution here:
http://softseeking.com/prodail.aspx?proid=82