(no subject)

[theweaselking]

EDIT: Apparently the iPad has a headphone jack. And yes, I *know* it's 1/3 the weight and the price of the HP, but that's not the point. The point is that 7 years ago HP had a *more powerful* version of the same product, and that this graphic is funny.

The iPad is, fundamentally, an iPod Touch with a usable-sized interface and a halfway-decent HDD size. That's not a bad thing - the Touch was a piece of shit precisely *because* it was too small to have a decent portable computer interface, didn't have enough storage to be an MP3 player, and, without the iPhone's data connection, didn't give near-universal email/web access, making it a failure as an *ultra*portable computer. This is a very large improvement! Still not a fan of the overpricing, though.

Comments

[skwidly.livejournal.com]

Specifications which are glaring by their absence: thickness and weight.

Not that I'm an iPad fan (No headphone jack? Really?), I'm just pointing out that these are not insignificant factors in a handheld device.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Also price! Price for the HP is not mentioned, and I'm willing to bet it's huge compared to the Mac cPad.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

In fact:

[fearmeforiampink]

Another glaring absence: Cost.

The iPad costs something in the region of a third what the HP thing did.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Seven years ago the iPad would've cost a lot more too. The price of components has come down enormously over the years.

-- Steve is vastly underwhelmed by the iPod XL.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Weighing in at 4.0lb/1.8kg with the keyboard and 3.1 lb/1.4 kg pounds [without] keyboard...

cite

Which is almost exactly what the Mac cPad weighs.

The primary advantage of the iPad over the seven year old TC1100 is in battery life; ~9 hours versus the older unit's ~2.5. However, the TC1100 allows you to read ebooks and play music at the same time whereas Apple's new wunderkind allows only one app to run at a time.

-- Steve shakes his head at all those who see the iPad as something new.

[mhoye.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Weasel's a hater.

[skwidly.livejournal.com]

OK, I just went and checked, and the iPad totally has a headphone jack. That really was unbelievable.

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

Just because you can't quantify design, narrative, and marketing, doesn't mean that they're not important.

I see a lot of critiques of the iPad - and of Apple in general - that assume that only Technical People buy computers. That's not true and hasn't been for at least a decade. Apple will make a few concessions to Technical People, but the bulk of their target market is people who don't give a rat's ass about DRM, a profusion of ports, and CPU-RAM-HD speeds. They want something that Just Works. Which, the numbers say, Apple has been very good at giving them.

[skwidly.livejournal.com]

Where do people keep getting the idea that the iPad won't be able to play music and do other things at the same time? I've had it confirmed from people who got to play with the device that it can do that, just like the iPhone/iPod Touch can. That it's essentially the only multi-tasking the device can do is sad, but it will do it.

[skwidly.livejournal.com]

What's a cPad? The iPad weighs 1.6 lbs at most (a 10th of a pound less for the Wi-Fi only model).

Really, people...I don't even like the thing, but at least I check my facts.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I did already point that out, before you did.

Still funny!

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Read "Mac cPad" aloud. I know it's a juvenile joke, but so is the idea that this is something new.

-- Steve's glad that the iPad can at least play music and run an app, but still prefers is 4-year-old and travel-worn Samsung Q1 that's easier to carry and does more. (With a Celeron processor, no less.)

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

What's a cPad?

Say it out loud. "Mac cPad"

[anivair.livejournal.com]

Compatibility is a giant issue and I suspect that the iPad will have one up on the HP thing in that area. Also, when HP came out with their tablet, the world was not ready for it. now people are used to carrying around a device to handle all their stuff for them. granted, I see no reason not to just keep using my phone for that, but we'll see.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Oh, come on. This is a *hilarious* graphic.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Single-use crippleware with advanced functionality being made impossible *by design* will always annoy me - but in this case, I do think that the idea of an iPod Touch with a usable screen size is a decent one. This image is just *hilarious*.

[argonel.livejournal.com]

I would say doesn't break vs just works. After all in my experience macs don't work or at least do very little of what I want a computer to do. From what little I have looked at the iPad is just an iPhone or Touch that is bloated and retaining water.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

But the iPod Touch was a terrible device - not enough disk space to be an mp3 player, pocket-sized screen and too-small interface for a portable computer and no ability to use it as a pocket PC without a wireless AP.

Quadrupling the screen size and stop pretending it's anything other than a tablet PC? Is the main thing you needed to do to make the Touch a useful device. The hype is annoying and the concept of paying $500 for a BigTouch is nonsensical, but it's still a good decision from a design and usability standpoint.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It's a Touch with a *usable* screen, HDD, and interface size.

Much too expensive for that, but not a bad decision!

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

The iPad has a standard 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack built in. According to Apple at any rate.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

The Touch was a good PMP that you could cram productivity tools into via the App Store. The screen was limited, yes, but that was to support its primary role as a portable media player.

The iPad just doesn't work as a PMP; it's not pocketable. It'll work handily as an ebook reader but then it's up against dedicated ebook readers whose battery life dwarfs a mere 10 hours. You can use it for productivity tasks or web surfing a lot more than a Touch but then it's up against comparably-priced slates that can run full productivity packages better and actually support Flash content.

Functionally the iPad doesn't bring anything new to the table; its competitive advantage (IMO) comes primarily from style and brand recognition plus a massive rumour-based "buzz" pre-release... and I'd hate to see it go iNewton and take the slate concept with it if it just turns out to be a fad.

-- Steve very much likes his slate form factor for portable computing, and it grinds his gears to see Apple come in this late and claim all the glory.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Plural of "anecdote" is not "data." I have a Touch. I'm quite happy with the Touch. But then, I'm not pretending it's a tablet PC, or was ever meant to be one.

[mhoye.livejournal.com]

Meh. Multitouch, 3G, Wifi, battery life, whatever. It's easy. Compared only on cost and "survives a six-foot-drop onto concrete", a brick is better than any mp3 player.

This sort of thing is facile.

[fearmeforiampink]

Aye, I spotted that as soon as I'd hit 'post comment'. Ninja'd, as the col kids say.