Apple iPad Hands-On Video from Engadget

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/apple-ipad-first-hands-on/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/...first-hands-on/</a><br /><br /></div><p><object width="600" height="368" data="http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/51b063e8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="viddler"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="flashvars" value="fake=1" /><param name="src" value="http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/51b063e8" /><param name="name" value="viddler" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p><p>I'm sure Jeff at <a href="http://www.applethoughts.com" target="_blank">Apple Thoughts</a> will have more to say on this tomorrow (and I had a fair bit to say about the iPad <a href="http://twitter.com/jasondunn" target="_blank">this morning on Twitter</a>), but I figured any geek worth his salt is at least intrigued by the <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/" target="_blank">Apple iPad</a>. The Engadget video shows how fast this gadget is, and it also shows how non-responsive it is to some touch attempts and how confusing parts of the user interface are. Maybe we're looking at beta software and hardware here? <MORE /></p><p>The general vibe I'm seeing around the Web is fairly negative, but after watching this video, I'll admit there's a fair bit about the iPad that impresses me. It seems like it's caught between two worlds though - yes, it's more adept at media consumption than an iPhone/iPod Touch is, and that big screen looks great, but the bigger the device is, the more you want it to do. The lack of multi-tasking is a real let down for people who are looking for a "computer" experience rather than a "smartphone" or "MP3 player" experience. The usual flourishes of Apple software design are apparent - I love how you can pinch open an album of photos and see them explode outward. That's slick.</p><p>Would I buy an iPad? I'm not so sure. I like my iPod Touch, but I'd expect more from a bigger device like the iPad. The lack of a memory card slot means easily expandable storage is out of the equation. It's nice that is has a microphone, but no camera means you're not going to use this thing has a video-chatting device. The screen aspect ratio is good for reading books and looking at pictures, but not for watching movies. The fact that you have to lay it in your laptop to type on the keyboard seems like a big fail to me - but because of the size, that's about the only option.</p><p>I read today that someone said the iPad is the iPod Touch for "your parents", but I don't know if my parents would be keen to get one either given the physical size. It's not jacket-pocket, or even purse-sized - it's "I need a carrying case for it" sized. As <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gartenberg" target="_blank">Michael Gartenberg</a> is fond of saying, there's a market of 50,000 for any product - in Apple's case, that might be a million. But in Apple terms, that's a failure as a product - I guess we'll see.</p><p>What's your take on the iPad?</p>

[Jason Dunn]

Some interesting options here:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/editorial-engadget-on-the-ipad/

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

What a bloody waste of time. Maybe the next version.

[tabi13]

Apple fan boys made this HUGE fuss over the Apple tablet for well over 2 years. Maybe even more!
The hype before 27th January was CRAZY! But here is the bottom line, you can not have a 10 inch device with a stripped down, limited OS and expect it to be a success. Sure some fan boys will still go out and buy it but most apple fan boys should accept that the iPad is a disappointment, Apple DID NOT deliver and its time to move on with life!

[Deslock]

There are many minor annoyances such as the lack of a forward facing camera for conferencing, no flash support, the 4:3 aspect ratio, and a somewhat meager screen resolution. But the lack of windowed multitasking is the big problem.

Jailbreaking will likely add multitasking as it works on the iPhone, which is fine for a small device. But on 9.7" screen, not being able to run windowed applications is inexcusable. I can't read wikipedia/IMDB while watching a movie. I can't open two documents simultaneously to compare them. I can't have a chat session running in the corner. Etc. If there's a deal breaker, this is it.

Having written all that, viewing maps/diagrams and drawing on a large, capacitance multitouch device will be so much fun, that the $500 model is tempting. And assuming we get a decent XGA Remote Desktop Client and SSH, I could see leaving the laptop at home when traveling.

[Stinger]

Some interesting options here:

Editorial: Engadget on the Apple iPad -- Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/editorial-engadget-on-the-ipad/)

I love that Engadget editorial piece. They've been building up to this device for months, posting article after article on the wildest of rumours. And then they're disappointed when it's revealed?

Talk about believing your own hype...

The iPad must go down as the lowest point in tech journalism.

[Hooch Tan]

I'm starting to think of the iPad as Apple's idea of what a netbook should be. I believe that's why they have priced it the way they have.

It is far too large to compete with a smartphone, which means it'll likely compete in the laptop/notebook/netbook space. When netbooks first came out, they were seen as great, not because of anything truly revolutionary in them, but they were "just enough" notebooks, with long battery life and portability at a low cost. The iPad is a "just enough" computing device, with a long battery life and portability at a low cost.

The choice of going the iPhone OS route vs. OSX is interesting, but it makes sense. First, at 10", the choice of interface becomes an issue. Microsoft learned this a long time ago with some of its original attempts at Windows CE. Tiny screens are not conducive to traditional desktop interfaces. So a much more touch friendly setup is in order. It also eliminates the need for a keyboard. On top of that, Apple's most important and compelling resources is the entire experience. Staying with the iPhone OS route more tightly integrates the App and iTunes store, keeping customers better locked into their vision.

With money being made through music, app and book sales, the iPad doesn't have to have a high price anymore. I'm pretty sure it'll work, as the Apple netbook space, up until yesterday, has been fairly empty.

[Dyvim]

A lot of good opinions over at Engadget. I was underwhelmed (who wouldn't be after all the hype and speculation if you're a tech blog reader), but am still interested. It definitely has potential. It will probably come into its own once (if) developers step up to create great iPad-optimized versions of their apps. And probably the gen2 hardware and OS will address some of the biggest issues. Remember how lame the 1st generation iPod Touch was upon its release (didn't even have all the built-in apps the iPhone had, such as Mail)? But now it's a pretty capable little machine thanks mostly to iPhone OS 2, the App Store, and then gen2 hardware improvements. I'm definitely looking forward to playing with one at the store.

[randalllewis]

I have often said around here that Apple is primarily a design and marketing company and the iPad shows that even Apple can have bad days in both departments.

First, as for design of the device, there is nothing new here. The iPhone (and its cousin the Touch) were new and different. The UI was intuitive and fresh (though I believe it is now getting stale). The pad just doesn't share any of those characteristics. It looks like they tried to do a little bit of Mac UI and a little bit of iPhone UI and created a big yawn. Capability-wise, this thing is not as powerful as some of the cheapest netbooks. And if Apple is even offering a keyboard accessory, they are acknowledging that people won't be happy typing on the pad. Add the cost of the accessory to the cheapest version of the pad and you might as well buy a far more capable netbook or ultra portable notebook. No multi-tasking? Wow. Did we travel back to the 80's and I didn't notice? Apple says the pad is a media device and yet it doesn't have a camera? Huh? It has a microphone, but no camera? What are they thinking?

Second, as a marketing effort. Yuck. iPad? Are they kidding? I could go into the whole theory of the sounds of various vowels and the emotional sensations they invoke, but lets leave it at this: the short "a" sound is not a positive in a word with no contrasting sounds. iMac works because of the hard "c". iPad is just bad. Leave aside the feminine hygine product jokes, the name is not clever, creative or invocative. It seems that Apple has fallen into the "i" trap and didn't realize that there are reasons that this has been a rich comedy vein for several years. Maybe the advertising will somewhat redeem the marketeers on this product, but they certainly are starting off in a hole.

Apple has done only "C" work on this product in both of its strength areas. The Apple faithful will certainly buy the device, but I don't see it creating a new market like the iPod or the iPhone.

And for those who respond that "Well, wait for the second or third generation when they add the camera and multi-tasking and a better resolution and on and on....." I would just add that those same people are the ones who happily dump on Microsoft for needing three versions to get something right. Apple didn't need three generations to get the iPhone right or the iPod or the iMac. Those products were innovative from the first and simply got better. The pad doesn't even come close.

[Stinger]

Apple didn't need three generations to get the iPhone right or the iPod or the iMac.

I'd disagree on that one.

The iPod didn't take off until the third iteration. Sure, it was a pleasant device but the lack of iTunes for Windows killed it.

Again, the iPhone on launch was weak. Yes, there was a lot of hype but the sales didn't match up to that hype. Remember, on launch, there was no app store and no 3G. The iPhone was a half-complete product. It wasn't until the 2nd and 3rd generation device that it entered the mass market.

And whist the iMac was an iconic computer on launch, Apple's marketshare remained insignificant until Mac OS X and the switch to Intel.

Even Apple doesn't have overnight successes.

[randalllewis]

Stinger, I am going to disagree with you. I recall the lines around the block for the launch of the iPhone. The ap store may have come later, but the phones desirability was there from the first. And the innovation of the click wheel was what made the ipod stand out from the other MP3 players on the market. iTunes for Windows came later, but the iPod was already a successful consumer product. The only thing the pad has in common with these devices is the name Apple.

[Jason Dunn]

iTunes for Windows came later, but the iPod was already a successful consumer product.

I don't have any market share numbers handy from way back then, but how can you call the first-gen, Mac-only, Firewire-only iPod a successful consumer product if, at most, it would only work with 3% of the computers on the planet? I don't recall hearing much of anything buzz-wise about the iPod until it worked on Windows. Maybe my memory is shot, but I recall it taking several generations of product development before the iPod became "hot".

[Macguy59]

Apple fan boys made this HUGE fuss over the Apple tablet for well over 2 years. Maybe even more!
The hype before 27th January was CRAZY! But here is the bottom line, you can not have a 10 inch device with a stripped down, limited OS and expect it to be a success. Sure some fan boys will still go out and buy it but most apple fan boys should accept that the iPad is a disappointment, Apple DID NOT deliver and its time to move on with life!

Well a touch screen layer over the standard Windows interface isn't working either :rolleyes: I see some of the same mentality in your post that has really damaged Windows Mobile. The same kind of mentallity from a Windows fanboy like yourself that predicted doom and failure when the iPhone was released.

[Macguy59]

I have often said around here that Apple is primarily a design and marketing company and the iPad shows that even Apple can have bad days in both departments.

First, as for design of the device, there is nothing new here. The iPhone (and its cousin the Touch) were new and different. The UI was intuitive and fresh (though I believe it is now getting stale). The pad just doesn't share any of those characteristics. It looks like they tried to do a little bit of Mac UI and a little bit of iPhone UI and created a big yawn. Capability-wise, this thing is not as powerful as some of the cheapest netbooks. And if Apple is even offering a keyboard accessory, they are acknowledging that people won't be happy typing on the pad. Add the cost of the accessory to the cheapest version of the pad and you might as well buy a far more capable netbook or ultra portable notebook. No multi-tasking? Wow. Did we travel back to the 80's and I didn't notice? Apple says the pad is a media device and yet it doesn't have a camera? Huh? It has a microphone, but no camera? What are they thinking?

Second, as a marketing effort. Yuck. iPad? Are they kidding? I could go into the whole theory of the sounds of various vowels and the emotional sensations they invoke, but lets leave it at this: the short "a" sound is not a positive in a word with no contrasting sounds. iMac works because of the hard "c". iPad is just bad. Leave aside the feminine hygine product jokes, the name is not clever, creative or invocative. It seems that Apple has fallen into the "i" trap and didn't realize that there are reasons that this has been a rich comedy vein for several years. Maybe the advertising will somewhat redeem the marketeers on this product, but they certainly are starting off in a hole.

Apple has done only "C" work on this product in both of its strength areas. The Apple faithful will certainly buy the device, but I don't see it creating a new market like the iPod or the iPhone.

And for those who respond that "Well, wait for the second or third generation when they add the camera and multi-tasking and a better resolution and on and on....." I would just add that those same people are the ones who happily dump on Microsoft for needing three versions to get something right. Apple didn't need three generations to get the iPhone right or the iPod or the iMac. Those products were innovative from the first and simply got better. The pad doesn't even come close.

I hope you feel better after that tantrum

[Stinger]

I recall the lines around the block for the launch of the iPhone.

There were queues around the block for Ace Combat 6 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Combat_6:_Fires_of_Liberation) when it was launched in Japan. Niche products sometimes have dedicated followings. The first iPhone was a niche product.

And the innovation of the click wheel was what made the ipod stand out from the other MP3 players on the market. iTunes for Windows came later, but the iPod was already a successful consumer product.

The first iPod I owned was a 20GB 3rd generation model. It used MusicMatch to sync with Windows. I was the only person I knew who owned an iPod at that time.

Anecdotal evidence but clearly backed up by sales figures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg). iTunes for Windows was released in Q4 2003.

[Jason Dunn]

I hope you feel better after that tantrum

If you can attempt to be civil, it would be appreciated.

[Jason Dunn]

Anecdotal evidence but clearly backed up by sales figures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg). iTunes for Windows was released in Q4 2003.

That pretty much ends the discussion right there - the sales figures indicate a niche product that didn't explode until into it's 4th generation.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Stinger, the iPhone certainly was half-baked when it first launched, but what it *did* have was a fresh new look at how a phone was used. As an example, pinch-to-zoom might be old hat by now (some disparage it even), but it is a smart way of introducing variable zoom without having UI elements taking up valuable screen estate on a small screen. Then there were things like using a capacitive touchscreen and making the most of it (kinetic scrolling is another handy feature).

Put it this way. I was sufficiently sold on the new paradigms in the iPhone OS that I bought an iPod touch. Mind I knew I was going to regret it but oh well.

This time round, they um, upsized the ipod touch. I don't feel like Apple was as smart as they were when they created the iPhone. A 9.7" screen will demand different usage patterns, and they used the OS for a 3.5" screen device?

Some are saying wait for iPhone OS 4, and they might be right. So why not launch the iPad then?

This feels really half-baked. Hence, my comment about it being a bloody waste of time. Maybe the next iteration.

Macguy59: You are a really unpleasant individual. All you can do is to resort to ad hominem attacks to what is a decently crafted out post by randallewis? Less fanboyism please!

[Macguy59]

If you can attempt to be civil, it would be appreciated.

That's funny Jason. The post I responded to was almost entirely hyperbole but my post was worthy of your attention.

[ptyork]

I hope you feel better after that tantrum

Dude, that was far from a tantrum. Quite well thought out, really. Just because you don't agree it is a tantrum?

[Jason Dunn]

That's funny Jason. The post I responded to was almost entirely hyperbole but my post was worthy of your attention.

He was expressing his opinion about a product and a company, hyperbole or not. You chose to criticize his expression with a snarky comment rather than responding to the issues he raised. There's no room for that type of thing here in our forums, and with over 1000 posts, you know that full well. You can criticize the ideas someone raises without criticizing the person. If you can't do that, this isn't the right place for you to be.

[Macguy59]

Macguy59: You are a really unpleasant individual. All you can do is to resort to ad hominem attacks to what is a decently crafted out post by randallewis? Less fanboyism please!


Really ? Not that it matters what you think of me but it say's something about you when you consider gems like these as part of a decently crafted post

"Yuck. iPad?"

"Pad is just bad. Leave aside the feminine hygine product jokes"

"I would just add that those same people are the ones who happily dump on Microsoft for needing three versions to get something right"

(That last one is of course is where he really wanted to go with his post.)

[Macguy59]

If you can't do that, this isn't the right place for you to be.

You do what you feel like you have to do Jason

[ptyork]

That pretty much ends the discussion right there - the sales figures indicate a niche product that didn't explode until into it's 4th generation.

I don't think it ends the discussion. It proves that these products weren't commercial successes until the second or third or fourth generation. BUT, they were exceedingly INNOVATIVE in their first generation. It just took a little longer to get through the standard innovation diffusion process.

I think randalllewis's point was that the iPad is NOT innovative. It may well continue to evolve into something moderately useful to the masses in a couple of generations, but Apple fell way short of their self-imposed expectations in terms of innovating with this product. I actually think that Job's "X-million iPhone users already know how to use this" quote trumped their normal need to innovate and create an experience uniquely adapted to a 9.7" tablet computer instead of a 3.5" PDA, and I think it may well backfire.

[Janak Parekh]

I don't think it ends the discussion. It proves that these products weren't commercial successes until the second or third or fourth generation. BUT, they were exceedingly INNOVATIVE in their first generation. It just took a little longer to get through the standard innovation diffusion process. The problem with this argument is: who is to judge what is innovative? I remember a lot of regular smartphone users argued that the iPhone (and, in fact, some of its successors) was far from innovative. :)

In some sense, I think the iPad has promise, but this is a first-gen device. There's a lot of interesting UI potential, and at least Apple is exploring it. If they encourage the rest of the market to innovate in this space (read: don't get tied down by desktop UIs even for desktop-class tablets), then in some sense, the iPad will have been innovative. Also, from what I've heard, people who have experienced it in person have found it more convincing than people who have just read about it.

As for me, I'm going to take a wait-and-see attitude towards this. If Apple rapidly iterates with this like they did with the iPhone, then I think it has potential. That said, while I understand why Apple doesn't want to put Flash on the device, that makes it hard for me to justify getting one (even more than multitasking).

--janak

[Macguy59]

I actually think that Job's "X-million iPhone users already know how to use this" quote trumped their normal need to innovate and create an experience uniquely adapted to a 9.7" tablet computer instead of a 3.5" PDA, and I think it may well backfire.

Legitimate point but as another poster stated, I think this is what Jobs idea of a "netbook" should be. Contrary to other assertions, netbooks are not do it all devices. The iPad gets slammed because it doesn't do flash (why anyone would be shocked or surprised about this is beyond me given it was rumored to run iPhone OS since at least last June) but then again neither did netbooks. Not really. Oh it would load and crawl/stutter bringing the system to it's knees. No it doesn't multitask nor does it really need to given the stated goals for the device. Why on earth would a crappy low res video camera be needed on a device to make it a real media player ? Scratching my head on that one. Did I over look the camera on the Zune HD ? Video chatting sounds like something cool but it still requires higher bandwidth than the average person has available at any given time to be usable not to mention I would bet $$$ that most people that have a laptop with a vid camera have no idea how to even turn it on. There are lots of things the tablet is not but then again its stated goal is to do some things better than either a smartphone or laptop can do. Will it live up to that ? Don't know until I actually get my hands on one but iBooks and the potential of the device have me excited to do just that.

[Macguy59]

As for me, I'm going to take a wait-and-see attitude towards this. If Apple rapidly iterates with this like they did with the iPhone, then I think it has potential. That said, while I understand why Apple doesn't want to put Flash on the device, that makes it hard for me to justify getting one (even more than multitasking).

--janak

Hopefully with biggies like YouTube and Vimeo making their videos able to run as HTML5 (in capable browsers) will eventually make this a moot point. I understand how this is tough to take for fans of Hulu but how much longer is their content going to remain free ? The lack of Silverlight is a bigger deal for me as a Netflix subscriber.

[Macguy59]

Some interesting options here:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/editorial-engadget-on-the-ipad/

What you perceive as some elements not responding to touch looks more like an unfinished UI. It wasn't that the search element wasn't responding to touch but rather it simply doesn't do anything yet. The UI seems to be a WIP at this point. Part of that may be that 4.0 isn't ready yet but they wanted us to see some of the visual changes so they grafted those onto 3.2. No doubt makes it clunky at times but also tantalizing look at things to come in 4.0

[Jason Dunn]

Contrary to other assertions, netbooks are not do it all devices. The iPad gets slammed because it doesn't do flash (why anyone would be shocked or surprised about this is beyond me given it was rumored to run iPhone OS since at least last June) but then again neither did netbooks. Not really. Oh it would load and crawl/stutter bringing the system to it's knees

Having a YouTube channel with 2.4+ million views and (I'd guess) somewhere in the 8000 comments range, there are some things that I've learned about netbooks and how people perceive and use them:

1) People want to do everything with their netbooks. I've gotten hundreds of questions from people who want to know how well netbooks edit videos, play games, run autocad software (no joke!), etc. Regardless of CPU and GPU limitations, people look at netbooks as little laptops.

2) Despite what the rational geeks amongst us would think (myself included), these people DO all these things with their netbooks...despite the obviously less than optimal experience. People play games at awful frame rates and low resolutions; they edit videos and render them with incredibly long wait times; they run all sorts of software you'd think wouldn't be such a great idea (Photoshop, AutoCAD, etc.).

3) Flash support is incredibly important. I've lost track of the number of people who ask about Flash-based games, YouTube support, etc. Yes, the iPad has a YouTube client, but not everyone is uploading the MPEG4 files that YouTube needs. I'm seeing lots of video editing apps on Windows now that have YouTube upload, and they're uploadinf FLV files. Those videos are filtered out on the iPod/iPhone/iPad clients. When the Zune HD was announced and it didn't support Flash, that was easily the #1 complaint against it on YouTube.

Frankly, anyone that thinks netbooks aren't "good enough" to do anything with have their heads buried in the sand - just look at the sales numbers. The world *freaking loves* netbooks and are voting with their wallets.

I think Apple could have make a massive splash if they had come out with a real OS X netbook for $699 or so.

Video chatting sounds like something cool but it still requires higher bandwidth than the average person has available at any given time to be usable not to mention I would bet $$$ that most people that have a laptop with a vid camera have no idea how to even turn it on.

Again, my YouTube experience tells me that it's ultra-important for people to have Webcams on devices they use to communicate. I use a Webcam about four times a year, but people seem to use webcams on netbooks quite a bit - part of that is content creation; uploading videos to YouTube etc. The iPad is focused on content consumption, but clearly some of the criticism is from people who were hoping to use it for content creation. It's hard to look at a device as large as the iPad and not want to use it for most of the things you want to use a real computer for. I think that's where the disconnect is.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Ugh, yea, Jason, I want to agree with you on those points. People want cheap in general, despite it being an awful experience.

And I never understood webcams. Awful awful things. Yet they're popular and many people do use it. The mind boggles. :eek:


PS. Eh, I just realised, what happened to the huge library of custom smilies?

[Macguy59]

Frankly, anyone that thinks netbooks aren't "good enough" to do anything with have their heads buried in the sand - just look at the sales numbers. The world *freaking loves* netbooks and are voting with their wallets.

Again, my YouTube experience tells me that it's ultra-important for people to have Webcams on devices they use to communicate. I use a Webcam about four times a year, but people seem to use webcams on netbooks quite a bit - part of that is content creation; uploading videos to YouTube etc. The iPad is focused on content consumption, but clearly some of the criticism is from people who were hoping to use it for content creation. It's hard to look at a device as large as the iPad and not want to use it for most of the things you want to use a real computer for. I think that's where the disconnect is.

A couple of things . . . unless the sales people at places like Best Buy and Walmart are lying , netbooks have a high return rate precisely for the reason you cite. They think it is just like the other laptops only smaller until they get home and try to use them. The size and cost make them attractive to students. That part I get. Tough to ignore the high return rates though that still continue even though manufacturers wised up and quit putting Linux on them. Companies like Acer and Asus have openly said that netbooks have probably run their course now. With regard to your assertion about videos being shot with webcams on netbooks, I want to see hard data on that because everything else I've read about it indicates the overwhelming majority of video uploads are by devices like the iPhone and stand alone vidcams like Flips, Kodaks, etc. The iPad is a computer in every sense of the word. The real disconnect is that it like the netbooks are meant as complementary devices. Not replacements for more powerful laptops/desktops. Personally I have said since the first day I heard the rumors kick into high gear almost a year ago that I would be happy to have an oversized iPod Touch because the screens were just too small to do some things comfortably. That it's going to be much more than that is a bonus. JMO

[Paragon]

Frankly, anyone that thinks netbooks aren't "good enough" to do anything with have their heads buried in the sand - just look at the sales numbers. The world *freaking loves* netbooks and are voting with their wallets.

I think Apple could have make a massive splash if they had come out with a real OS X netbook for $699 or so.

I totally agree on both accounts.

I bought a netbook a few weeks ago. I use it for pretty much everything I do. Keep in mind, I'm not editing video, or gaming. I have hardly been on my desktop since I bought the netbook. Compared to an iPad, a netbook's functionality is worlds ahead, and for less money. The size of the iPad, coupled with Steve Jobs attempts at putting netbooks down, squarely place the iPad in the netbook space, but its functionality is nothing more then an iPod's. That clearly puts the iPad hardware in a category with inferior software capabilities. Which brings us to your statement that if it was running OS x it would make a bigger splash.....So why spend that kind of money on hardware that could be running a full desktop OS? Between a supersized iPod and a netbook, which can you do more with?
Dave

[doogald]

John Gruber at Daring Fireball has had some great posts after having actually used the device for a while yesterday. Basically, it's extremely fast to do everything, especially browsing. That is very different from just about every Netbook out there. Second, rather than think of this as a large iPod Touch, one should instead think of the iPad as where Apple would have wanted the iPod Touch to be if they could have shipped it with a larger display and more powerful processor. It is not just a Touch blown up, it is a Touch blown up with apps that have been changed to take advantage of the faster processing and larger display.

I get why people are underwhelmed; I'm actually not planning to get one myself, as I don't really think that I need one right now. At some point, though, and I think soon, this thing will grow to be a phenomenal product. in 2008 I spent a month in Europe and I brought my MacBook with me. I would have LOVED to bring something like this instead.

I actually spent some time today looking back at a couple of the threads that were started here when the iPhone was introduced in January, 2007, five months before it launched (and, obviously, before people actually had time to use it.) They are an interesting read, to read what people's initial reaction were to the iPhone.

http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/f397/apple-makes-iphone-reality-finally-21323.html
http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/f416/iphone-pretending-smartphone-84309.html

Actually, I award the most prescient post to mesposito2 in that second thread, for posting this:

Here's my take on what Apple is trying to do.

1. The feature set of the current announced iPhone is not the point.

Just like MS, Apple has the money to put out an initial device and build on it. I think the initial offering is very strong for the many phone users, although not necessarily for us geeks. (Phone, Voicemail, Internet, Email, SMS, Chat, Calendar, Contacts)

2. If you know the new Apple you can see that this is a new product LINE, not a new product.

Therefore counting the missing features is not really valid at this point, anymore than doing the same with Windows Mobile. Take note that Apple developed a special version of Mac OSX for the iPhone. This also shows that they are in this for the long haul.

3. Apple has wisely kept control over the device, which means THEY control software updates and not the cell provider.

That means that I would potentially not need to wait a year for a fix like I do now. To me this is huge for all of us, because hopefully it will put pressure on providers to release new functionality more often.

I agree that keeping it a closed environment is crappy for the high-end user. We'll see if that holds.

I think he was right on.

[Macguy59]

Zunethoughts tends to seek out the more "balanced" reviews of the Zune devices so in that vain below is a link to some opinions of various people that have actually used the device. (however briefly)

More hands on (http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2010/01/28/ipad-impressions-people-whove/#more-20181)

[Doug Raeburn]

... Basically, it's extremely fast to do everything, especially browsing. That is very different from just about every Netbook out there...

Curious... it seems to me that most netbook reviews mention browsing as one of the activities for which netbooks are best suited. I just spent a couple of hours with my Toshiba NB205 browsing using Firefox 3.5 and I had no performance problems at all.

Seeing your claim, I decided to do an impromptu test. I set my HP laptop with an AMD Turion II Ultra Dual Core processor next to the NB205 with its Atom N280 processor. The laptop has a Windows Experience processor score of 5.9 as compared to the netbook's score of 2.4. With both units running on batteries, I started Firefox, pointed at the bookmark for the same sites on both and clicked simultaneously. I tried 3 sites that are fairly complex with lots of graphics (MSNBC.com, Rotten Tomatoes and Television without Pity). With MSNBC, the netbook retrieved and completely rendered the page in 3 or 4 seconds, a couple seconds faster than the laptop. With Rotten Tomatoes, the results were reversed, with the laptop taking 3 or 4 seconds and the netbook a couple of seconds behind. With Television without Pity, it was a near draw, both within 3 or 4 seconds, with the netbook just a heartbeat faster than the laptop. So based on this admittedly non-scientific test, the netbook was every bit as good at browsing as the much more powerful laptop, aside from the smaller screen.

I realize that the netbook would trail behind the laptop (probably significantly) in other more processor intensive tasks, but in my experience, the netbook does a great job at browsing.

[randalllewis]

Gee, I don't think I've ever been the cause of comment thread like this one before. It should not surprise me that it was caused by daring to make a mildly critical comment about Apple.

And I want to thank the poster who knows what my real point was in the original post. I went through all of that stuff about the awful iPad name and the innovation of the iPhone and iPod just because I was looking for a way to bash Microsoft haters. Good grief. Actually, that paragraph was kind of an afterthought.

No, the actual point was that Apple- yes, even Apple- can sometimes not live up to its ability. And it certainly appears that I am not alone in the opinion that the iPad is no iPhone.

Stinger and Jason were correct in pointing out that sales figures would appear to undercut my argument that the phone and pod were hits from the first generation. I didn't make my point clearly enough. I was talking about device design, not the overall product ecosystem that evolved over time. I should also have noted that in the case of the pod, that there were other MP3 players near the time of its introduction that also had innovative and attractive designs but failed (in comparison to the iPod) because they didn't have Apple's marketing skill behind them and never developed the ecosystem.

[Dyvim]

Ok, so Apple could have done a lot more. But think about it this way: If you're Joe average consumer and you were thinking about buying a Kindle DX, which one are you going to get now? Kindle DX for $489 or iPad 16GB WiFi for $499? I'm betting that the vast majority of consumers pondering that purchase would now go with iPad.

[Jason Dunn]

This is HILARIOUS: Hitler responds to the Apple iPad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQnT0zp8Ya4

[language warning...though it's subtitled]

[ptyork]

Ok, so Apple could have done a lot more. But think about it this way: If you're Joe average consumer and you were thinking about buying a Kindle DX, which one are you going to get now? Kindle DX for $489 or iPad 16GB WiFi for $499? I'm betting that the vast majority of consumers pondering that purchase would now go with iPad.

I think you're probably right, but I also expect the DX to be $399 as soon as Amazon can get away with the drop without it seeming like they are responding to the maxiPad's price. Even there, I think you'll probably see 50% choose Apple's product, but bear in mind the massive differences. If you really do just want to read papers and books, then the DX is the correct choice. And a lot of folks really do just want to read.

For me, the real questions start to pop up when the plethora of alternative devices start popping up. Apple left the barn door open for major league competition here, both in the multi-function tablet market and in the reader market. And costs will quickly plummet. I see the QUE dropping to $500 maybe before it even ships. This is a fun time.

[Jason Dunn]

Ugh, yea, Jason, I want to agree with you on those points. People want cheap in general, despite it being an awful experience.

The expectations that average people have for their computing experience is quite low - I chuckle when I see people talk about how "fast" netbooks are...and there are dozens and dozens of comments to that effect...but I've also seen comments where people say their previous computer was a laptop from 5 years ago. Those of us that upgrade/buy new computers every 12-24 months can't understand these types of people - but trust me, they're out there, and in great numbers.

And I never understood webcams. Awful awful things. Yet they're popular and many people do use it. The mind boggles.

Agreed. But again, my sense is that people really value Webcams - when I forget to mention that a laptop/netbook has a Webcam, I get peppered with comments asking about it. From a communications perspective, and from a content creation perspective, people value Webcams on netbooks.

PS. Eh, I just realised, what happened to the huge library of custom smilies?

We've had the vBulletin standard smiles for...two years perhaps? Ever since we converted from phpBB. We can add more, I've just never gotten around to it. :D

[Jason Dunn]

A couple of things . . . unless the sales people at places like Best Buy and Walmart are lying , netbooks have a high return rate precisely for the reason you cite

I've had a hard time finding any sources on this - everyone seems to be pointing to this information from Intel:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10239390-64.html

30% return rates do indeed seem high - but there's no data to compare that to regular laptops, etc. A number in a vacuum doesn't say much - but let's say that netbooks as a whole really do have a 30% return rate. But look at the numbers they're selling in (http://www.internetnews.com/stats/article.php/3855261):

"DisplaySearch puts 2009 netbook revenues at $11.4 billion, a 72 percent jump from 2008's $6.65 billion, while units shipped grew even faster. This year, DisplaySearch projects 33.3 million units were sold, 103 percent better than the 16.4 million sold in 2008. That's close to ABI Research's earlier projection of 35 million sold. The gap between units and dollars reflects pricing pressure due to increased competition."

Netbooks turned the laptop industry on it's head - before netbooks, you could get a laptop with a 10 inch screen...but it would cost you $2500 (I know this having purchased a Fujitsu P5000 and P7000 series laptop). Trying to pretend that netbooks are a huge-selling, gaming-changing industry trend makes anyone saying it look foolish - including Steve Jobs.

With regard to your assertion about videos being shot with webcams on netbooks, I want to see hard data on that because everything else I've read about it indicates the overwhelming majority of video uploads are by devices like the iPhone and stand alone vidcams like Flips, Kodaks, etc.

I have no hard data to cite - I can only tell you my experience using YouTube and being involved in the community there. Do a search for the term "video response" - you'll see 330,000 results, and looking at the thumbnails, it looks to me like many of them are shot with Webcams, either on desktops or laptops. If you're aware of data showing that the majority of video uploads to YouTube are from non-Webcam capture devices, I'd be interested in seeing it.

Clearly there are physical limitations around shooting video on a laptop - you have a lot more freedom with smaller devices like Flip cameras. By the same token though, the iPad is more portable/flexible than your average laptop, so I imagine that's part of the reason why people are pining for a camera on it. Remember how pretty much everything thought that the new iPod Touch was going to come with a camera, and the anger when it didn't? Cameras/Webcams matter to a lot of people.

It would be great if YouTube did what Flickr does and exposed the metadata around their content, allowing people to see what kind of video capture devices are being used!

[Jason Dunn]

John Gruber at Daring Fireball has had some great posts after having actually used the device for a while yesterday. Basically, it's extremely fast to do everything, especially browsing. That is very different from just about every Netbook out there.

I really don't grasp this slagging on netbooks for being slow at browsing the Web. Netbooks have (generally) 1 GB of RAM, a multi-threaded 1.6 Ghz CPU, and 802.11b/g/n WiFi. How much power do you need to browse the Web anyway? I've never felt that browsing the Web was "slow" on a netbook.

I easily concede though that the iPad looks fast - a uni-tasking operating system can be very fast. Run DOS on modern hardware and you'll see what I mean. :D

(I do love the photo demo with the exploding image groups - that's slick!)

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, so Apple could have done a lot more. But think about it this way: If you're Joe average consumer and you were thinking about buying a Kindle DX, which one are you going to get now? Kindle DX for $489 or iPad 16GB WiFi for $499? I'm betting that the vast majority of consumers pondering that purchase would now go with iPad.

Maybe...but the thing is, a backlit LCD screen really isn't great for reading hours on end. Eye strain is a major issue that the e-Ink screens solve. I don't have an eBook reader - I still prefer my books DRM free (paper) - but everyone that has one talks about how easy on the eyes it is to read. I stare at computer screens all day, and eye strain is a real issue. As is battery life - do you want an eBook ready that lasts 10 hours, or one that lasts 10 days?

I think the iPad is probably going to be a good choice for media consumption - video, photos, music, games, etc. - but an eBook reader? I'm not so sure.

[Jason Dunn]

I should point out as well that while I find the iPad to be a bit flawed in some key ways, I'm a *huge* believer in the future concept of devices very much like the iPad - thin slate devices - will be in every room in the house in the future. So I see a bright future for this form factor in general...

[Jason Dunn]

This video is worth watching:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/29/steve-jobs-compares-ipad-battery-life-to-kindles-youre-not-g/

Watch the way Steve Jobs responds to the questions from Mossberg - I really gained respect for Mossberg for asking the hard questions of Jobs. Watch Jobs' face and listen to his vocal tone as he responds to the questions.

[Dyvim]

Maybe...but the thing is, a backlit LCD screen really isn't great for reading hours on end. Eye strain is a major issue that the e-Ink screens solve. I don't have an eBook reader - I still prefer my books DRM free (paper) - but everyone that has one talks about how easy on the eyes it is to read. I stare at computer screens all day, and eye strain is a real issue. As is battery life - do you want an eBook ready that lasts 10 hours, or one that lasts 10 days?
Personally for me the deal-breaker for eInk readers is not being able to read in the dark. I've been eReading on Pocket PC's and now iPhone for 6 years now. Currently I use Kindle's iPhone app even though I don't own a real Kindle (and probably never will). Anyway, after years reading on my Toshiba e830's 4" screen and for the last 2 years my iPhone's 3.5" screen, I'm well used to reading on a LCD screen and just would appreciate a bigger one! But I'm probably not typical in that regard. I just hope Amazon ports their Kindle app to the iPad! I also wonder if Apple will be offering classics for free the way Amazon does (really old books where the copyrights have expired so the text is now in the public domain- like Oliver Twist or The 3 Musketeers)- somehow I doubt it.

[Janak Parekh]

1) People want to do everything with their netbooks. I've gotten hundreds of questions from people who want to know how well netbooks edit videos, play games, run autocad software (no joke!), etc. Regardless of CPU and GPU limitations, people look at netbooks as little laptops. I don't think the iPad is trying to be a better netbook. It is trying to be something different than a netbook, and there may be an untapped market for it. There's something to be said for a device that does certain things and does it well and simply with no risk whatsoever of malware or spyware or needing antivirus protection or what have you no matter what application you download. I think there's a very nontrivial potential niche there. In general, Apple is trying to do less than a netbook, but specialize what they do and make it dead easy and reliable.

Macguy59: I was not referring to YouTube or Vimeo. I was referring to many websites that only work as Flash. Which is total crap from a useability and a standards perspective, but yet they exist. Example: restaurants. Friends and I want to go to one, I want to pull up the website to see the place and its menu, and it's Flash-only. I could probably live without it, but it's a negative point in terms of universal web reach.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

Maybe...but the thing is, a backlit LCD screen really isn't great for reading hours on end. Jason, how many hours a day do you stare at a LCD screen? :)

--janak

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

People who keep on harping about LCDs being better for reading need to use an e-ink device first. The new screens, while not like paper, are close to it. It's really easy on the eyes.

And reading in the dark... um, I don't know. That's like, not good, is it?

[Janak Parekh]

People who keep on harping about LCDs being better for reading need to use an e-ink device first. The new screens, while not like paper, are close to it. It's really easy on the eyes. I have played with the Kindle. It is admittedly pretty easy on the eyes, but the resolution and refresh of the screen sucks. The quality of the typography bothers me immensely. The technology is getting better, but it's not there yet.

And reading in the dark... um, I don't know. That's like, not good, is it? Well, I don't do it, but I'm often in situations where the light isn't bright enough to use e-ink. I'm sure I could work around that -- I do it with books -- but I've read many ebooks with my Pocket PC back in the day and now with my iPhone and it hasn't bothered me much.

--janak

[whydidnt]

I was hoping for more from Apple, just based upon the rumors about how long they had been considering this device.

While the concept has some appealing points, the basic problem is that it's too big. IMO this is one of the reasons Microsoft has had issue pushing Tablet PC ( in Microsoft's case, they also failed to deliver a touch friendly UI). However, think about where a tablet would be most useful. Then think about holding something as big as the iPad in one hand so you can interact with the other. It's too big for that. If I have to sit down and rest it on my lap or table, then a standard PC with keyboard and a screen that isn't laying flat makes more sense. I have a couple of tablet PCs and rarely use them in tablet mode for this very reason.

What I really wanted was a bigger iPod Touch that multi-tasked, but NOT this big. My preference would be something with a 7" or smaller 16x9 screen that could be held in one hand and weighs 12 ounces or less. Some of the recently announced Android MIDs may better meet the market for this type of device. Android is designed a Touch UI and can multi-task, etc.

Bottom line for this device is that it's too big to be a replacement for your cell phone as a media consumption device, and doesn't provide enough utility to replace the laptop or netbook most of us carry. If you have to carry it in a bag and it weighs 1 1/2 lbs. already, why not carry a slightly larger, more functional laptop? Apple missed the sweet spot with this first offering. Here's hoping they get it right with version 2.0!

[Janak Parekh]

Bottom line for this device is that it's too big to be a replacement for your cell phone as a media consumption device, and doesn't provide enough utility to replace the laptop or netbook most of us carry. If you have to carry it in a bag and it weighs 1 1/2 lbs. already, why not carry a slightly larger, more functional laptop? Apple missed the sweet spot with this first offering. Here's hoping they get it right with version 2.0! To some extent, I disagree. There is no one magical "sweet spot". For the non-geeks for which the iPad's functions might replace the laptop or netbook, this may not be a terrible size at all.

Knowing Jobs, I'm sure he tried 10 different sizes before choosing this one.

--janak

[Jason Dunn]

Some further humour:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1928536

:D