Apple iPad

[Robert Dewey]

Love Apple... but really disappointed with the iPad. FWIW, there's still rumors circulating that this isn't their final solution, and that they are still working on another product called "iSlate" - http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/02/01/apple-tablet-os-x-ipad/

Of course, those rumors could have been started by those who had their high-hopes crushed (or soaked up?) by the iPad

 

[rdale]

What the iPod and presumably the iPad does well is come out of sleep quickly, which is where most people leave it.

You can leave the iPad in sleep for 30 days, and its battery lasts 8-10 hours... No laptop can do that. Again, if it's not for you it's not for you. But I think it's clear it IS for a lot of people, especially those with an extensive app collection on their iPhone / iPod Touch, who want something more useful than a netbook/iPhone yet not as bulky as a laptop. With cheap 3G.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

if you regularly leave your laptop (or ipod) asleep for 30 days, you don't need one. Netbooks do everything an ipad does and a whole lot more for less money. All they're missing is the little apple logo and the pretention.

 

[Bryan Stokes]

I think once folks actually use an iPad, they will have an entirely different opinion than the current vibe that's floating around right now...

Bryan

 

[rdale]

Netbooks do everything an ipad does and a whole lot more for less money.

I take it you never used 1) a laptop or 2) an iPhone

Again - if the iPad does what you want (ebook reader, email, apps, etc) then the iPad does more than netbooks and laptops and is worth it. Otherwise it's not. For me (and a LOT of others) the iPad fits that niche.

 

[Scott Bennett]

Great write up but I don't get how you are going to be able to still stream with this? It doesn't have a camera on it, nor any inputs to hook a camera up to it?

Yea I am not going to use the iPad to stream I wish.

I have just come up with a different way to get the stream to the server without a laptop or computer.

Still playing around with it, our iPhone app will not stream from the phone but I sure wish it would.

I can live without Flash on the iPad, I just want radar and a map in a way I don't have to mess with a mouse/trackpad... that's worth $500 to me.

To get rid of all those wires, reboots ect totally worth it.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

I take it you never used 1) a laptop or 2) an iPhone

Again - if the iPad does what you want (ebook reader, email, apps, etc) then the iPad does more than netbooks and laptops and is worth it. Otherwise it's not. For me (and a LOT of others) the iPad fits that niche.

Of course I have. You're saying that to a guy who posted an entire tutorial here on Stormtrack for how to jailbreak your iPod touch, get it to communicate with Bluetooth GPS, and function as a chase tool. The iPhone and the iPad are entirely different devices. An iPhone is designed to be an all around computer-in-your-pocket. With this, you expect some limitations; Apple has navigated these limitations rather well. The iPad exists in a size class of device that is already occupied by other devices, notably netbooks. I can mozy on down to Walmart and pick up the lowest-end piece of junk Acer netbook for a couple hundred dollars and it has ten times the disk storage of an iPad, a faster processor, a larger screen, multitasking capability, a non-closed application environment, a USB port, a built-in webcam, and a keyboard. I can also read e-books on it and the like if I want (while other applications run in the background), but I wouldn't do that since most of the world has already decided that reading long books on an LCD screen is a markedly painful experience.

That said, I can see some chaser-specific uses for an iPad that a netbook might not fulfill. Apple's iWhatever screens tend to be extremely bright and glossy, which would help in a bright car interior. The idea of a touchscreen interface while driving makes significantly more sense than that of a touchpad. The iPad is easily mountable and dismountable. If they make a version that rides on Verizon's network, they will be an extremely inexpensive alternative to the typical data rates. And if Radarscope (or some other app) ever gets to the point of competing with Gr3 in functionality, you've got a winner.

tl;dr:

Also,

 

[James Siler]

The picture of evolution is just awesome!

 

[Glenn Dixon]

Just dawned on me about using the iPad for chasing.....but where would you position the dang thing so that it's viewable while driving? hmmm........maybe you just actually *drive* while driving? OK, that's just crazy talk.

But seriously - touch-screen vs. keyboard - I think I like touch vs. searching for keys or messing with a trackpad...

Maybe something like a music stand to strap it down to? A conundrum for sure.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

Get one of those gaudy gold chains like Flava Flav and wear it around your neck! Add a clock app for extra effect....

 

[Brett Benson]

Just dawned on me about using the iPad for chasing.....but where would you position the dang thing so that it's viewable while driving? hmmm........maybe you just actually *drive* while driving? OK, that's just crazy talk.

But seriously - touch-screen vs. keyboard - I think I like touch vs. searching for keys or messing with a trackpad...

Maybe something like a music stand to strap it down to? A conundrum for sure.

http://www.ram-mount.com/NewProducts/AppleiPadMounts/tabid/2614/Default.aspx

 

[Dave Marshall]

Haha I'm sorry, but I just cannot fathom spending more than $100 on that piece of junk. I was briefly excited about it, but then I realized that it was the brain child of a drunken party at Apple HQ. "Duuuude. Would *hick* wouldn't it be awesome if weh *hick* we just made a really BIG iPhone, except without all the stuff that makes the iPhone useful? *hick*"

I refer to it as the 'iTampon'. The cons list is just enormous, and growing every day.

No camera
No removable battery
No expandable hard drive/memory card
No USB (ZERO ability to connect external devices such as video cameras)
No ability to install anything but worthless App Store software
No keyboard if you wanted it
Battery life is no better than a netbook
Backlit screen, so it sucks as an ebook reader

So basically, its a netbook that costs twice as much as any other netbook, and can do half as much. It's a kindle that sucks for reading ebooks. I honestly thought the first press release I saw for it was a joke perpetrated by the tech blog I was reading. I haven't stopped laughing yet...

Want touch screen that doesn't suck? Buy a $300 netbook and one of THESE. You'll still be $200 in the black, and performance wise, it will kick the crap out of an iPad.

 

[rdale]

No ability to install anything but worthless App Store software
No keyboard if you wanted it

April Fools -- you got us I started to think you were serious until I hit that section.

There's a TON of impressive apps out there, especially weather related.
And an add-on keyboard is pretty inexpensive.

Putting a touch screen on a netbook doesn't make it a tablet. It's still a quarter-powered PC with a clumsy keyboard on the front of it.

Now the HP Slate - that's really got me excited.

 

[Dave Marshall]

Ok, the keyboard I didn't know about, I had been told that it wasn't available or planned right after the announcement.

I totally stand by my statement about the App store though. There are great apps in the app store...for phones. I just don't see it ever gaining enough traction to become a major target for software developers with projects based in the Windows/OSX/various open source OSes. Which means you'll never have *really* useful and well developed applications. Think CS4, or any of the engineering/scientific software I so desperately want a touch screen for. I also cannot possibly fathom paying for the privilege of being locked out of my own hardware.

Oh, and I remember one of the big missing features that *really* blew me away. No flash. Seriously? I've got a 3 year old phone that supports flash. They can't make it work in their tablet? The total lack of external open-market devices is also just a blatant slap in the face.

I'd sell my soul to Satan for plenty of things. I've yet to find anything worth selling my soul to Steve Jobs.

As for the quarter powered computer...I'd point out that there are any number of netbooks on the market (anything with an Atom 450 or better, some of the Neo processors) that kick the crap out of the iPad in almost every meaningful category when it comes to processing power...for a lot less cash.

I will totally agree with your comment about the HP slate though. I have very high hopes for that one. It isn't an Apple. It can't possibly suck *too much*

 

[rdale]

If it weren't Apple, I'd agree. But it is, and you know how Apple-heads make things work. There's no real reason the iPhone should surging ahead of Windows-based phones, but that's clearly the case.