The Apple iPad

Marty_J

poppy10 wrote: »

LOL, it doesn't come more fanboyish than this. :rotfl:
"So what"? You don't care that you have to pay hugely over the cost-price for an Apple-only adapter to provide basic functions for your iPad?

The basic functions of what? A netbook? A laptop?

The iPad is neither of those things.

You're really displaying a warped sense of how people use things. People don't use feature checklists or bullet points. Apple aren't trying to replicate a laptop in a smaller form factor as netbook manufacturers are. So, the iPad not having something a netbook has only matters if it interferes with the device's core functionality.

If it doesn't do that, then, I repeat, who cares?

I suppose you're also ecstatic about the fact that the basic keyboard for the iPad (Apple-only, of course) costs a staggering $70. Yay, another chance to hand over your hard-earned money to your favourite deity. :T

Personally, I don't really care for the keyboard.

Apple pitched this as a netbook-killer, even going to the extent of listing all of netbook's supposed faults. You'd be hard-pushed to find a netbook that doesn't come with both USB and SD card slots

And they're big features to you? Do you seriously think people buy netbooks because they have SD card slots? You don't think it's more likely they buy them to have a relatively small and portable computing device that they can check their emails on and surf the web while sitting on the sofa?

I don't hear you complaining that the iPad doesn't have a terrible screen, crap battery life, trashy hardware, and isn't seriously under-powered. But of course the iPad doesn't share those things with netbooks, because it's not a netbook.

Bowling_4_Gold

Marty_J wrote: »

And they're big features to you? Do you seriously think people buy netbooks because they have SD card slots? You don't think it's more likely they buy them to have a relatively small and portable computing device that they can check their emails on and surf the web while sitting on the sofa?

Hate to come back in to the whole Apple vs Other debate, but a netbook isn't just aimed at people wanting to occasionally check their emails and surf the net on the go.

Some of the higher-end HP netbooks (with Windows 7 and 2GB of RAM at around £400) are used by many people trying to accomplish different tasks- e.g. Photographers trying to back their photos up on the go/show them to potential clients. Yes, you can do this on an iPad, but why would you want to when you can get a good looking netbook, after taking into account all accessories respectively, for less than an iPad? It's wrong to say the iPad is not competing against the Netbook & it's market.

Marty_J

edgex wrote: »

looking?

Looking at pictures tells you what it's like to physically use something?

cant load holiday snaps onto it
> out the box you cant

Is that such a handicap?

costs $29 to do so, so what
> what other computing device at this price level do you have to buy a usb adaptor for? what do you mean so what? $29/£30 to do something that you should already be able to do, that you can already do on every other pc or laptop out there?

So that's the only way you categorise computing devices? By price?

So all devices at the same price must have exactly the same features?

You don't seem at all bothered that the iPad has many features that other computing devices at the same price point lack.

not everyone is going to want to plug their camera in
> what?! its for viewing pictures on! its got a pictures app! how are you supposed to get pictures onto it?
$29 isnt a lot? for $90 youve got a choice of digital cameras on amazon, so that makes a simple adaptor horrendously expensive

Viewing pictures is one of its functions, yes. I imagine most people will get their photos on it by syncing it with their computer. You know, the same way they'll put music and movies on it.

And no, $29 is not horribly expensive. That would barely buy you a USB cable at Best Buy.

carrying around an iPad and a 2cm x 2cm accessory would be much more convenient than carrying around a netbook
> how? it dosnt have anything to protect the screen, so you then have to have more stuff just to do that
oh look, theyll sell you a case for another $39!
it dosnt have a keyboard!
oh look, theyll sell you one of those for another $69!
& the case wont even store the keyboard, doh!

And your netbook doesn't have a touchscreen. How do you account for that deficiency?

longer battery life
> not yet tested

Apple are claiming 10 hours for watching video, and 140 hours for listening to music. Apple's battery life figures are generally very accurate.

higher quality screen
> higher quality than what?
Dell have a netbook with 'Glossy 10.1 inch HD display (1366x768) WLED'

Does your netbook?

i can take that very same Dell Inspiron Mini 10 & put every spec up to the top, & it comes in at $504
that includes a webcam, a 160GB HD, a 1.6Ghz processor, 1GB ram

ok, its a bit bigger than the iPad, but the iPad will still need to go in a bag the same size as a Mini 10

And it has no touchscreen, no solid state memory, it's bigger, it's heavier, it doesn't have a portrait display, and it's not as easy to hold.

Face it, they're different devices.

Marty_J

Bowling_4_Gold wrote: »

Hate to come back in to the whole Apple vs Other debate, but a netbook isn't just aimed at people wanting to occasionally check their emails and surf the net on the go.

Some of the higher-end HP netbooks (with Windows 7 and 2GB of RAM at around £400) are used by many people trying to accomplish different tasks- e.g. Photographers trying to back their photos up on the go/show them to potential clients. Yes, you can do this on an iPad, but why would you want to when you can get a good looking netbook, after taking into account all accessories respectively, for less than an iPad? It's wrong to say the iPad is not competing against the Netbook & it's market.

The iPad is competing against the netbook, but it's totally incorrect to say that in order to compete against a netbook, or be better at certain tasks, an iPad has to have every feature a netbook has and more.

Fifer

Marty_J wrote: »

The iPad is competing against the netbook

Not on price.

RobTang

Marty_J wrote: »

The iPad is competing against the netbook, but it's totally incorrect to say that in order to compete against a netbook, or be better at certain tasks, an iPad has to have every feature a netbook has and more.

oh no no to compete it has to have every feature a traditional tablet as well, I mean whats the point of a tablet if it cant run photoshop or illustrator.

oh and it has to be able to let me do freeform notes AND OCR any text ive written and make it searchable.

oh my tablet can play Modern warfare 2 as well can we add that to the list of things as well please...

... sorry only joking.

Fifer

Marty_J wrote: »

Lots of laptops and desktop don't have an SD card slot.

Seriously Marty? Can you think of many $900 laptops or desktops released in the past year with no card slot?

Marty_J

Fifer wrote: »

Not on price.

Sure it is; it's not much more than many netbooks here in the States.

Fifer wrote: »

Seriously Marty? Can you think of many $900 laptops or desktops released in the past year with no card slot?

This one doesn't seem to. It was one of the first ones I saw looking on the front page of Dell's website.

The iPad isn't a laptop or desktop though.

Fifer

Marty_J wrote: »

Sure it is; it's not much more than many netbooks here in the States.

Seriously? You have $900 netbooks?

Marty_J wrote: »

This one doesn't seem to. It was one of the first ones I saw looking on the front page of Dell's website.

The iPad isn't a laptop or desktop though.

Link broken, but regardless, it was you who made the comparison with laptops and notebooks. I said 'computing device'.

Bowling_4_Gold

Marty_J wrote: »

The iPad is competing against the netbook, but it's totally incorrect to say that in order to compete against a netbook, or be better at certain tasks, an iPad has to have every feature a netbook has and more.

Oh right, but it can charge a much higher price? I'm sure the "beautiful design" justifies that :rotfl: