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Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

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Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#61

Post by kilian »

The iPad has been out for two weeks here in the Netherlands, I bought it on release-date.

I now read all my feeds on my iPad or iPhone. Reeder makes this awesome and syncs between the two. This frees up a lot of "check for new feeds" time on my main pc, a.k.a. procrastinating.

Reading, using stanza or Kindle is great.

What I'm disappointed about is the app offerings. No facebook app? No spotify app? No skype app?! As you said it's been four months since it's out. The lack of apps is just...wtf. (That being said, the available apps are top notch: Flipboard, Reeder, IMDb, Eyewitness etc.)

Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#62

Post by josefresco »

Flemlord wrote: post #54

Love it. We use it as the primary entertainment (education?) device for our 6-month-old daughter. She'll pay attention to the flash card app whereas she's quickly distracted with paper flash cards. We also have a few sing-along book apps that highlight the words as they are sung. She's just starting to figure out that she can touch it but her fine motor skills aren't quite there yet. My favorite app is a purple dinos…

I'm glad you found apps for your kids because I haven't had luck. How did you find these apps? Research via the web, random searching via the app store or what?

Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#63

Post by vaporstun »

I absolutely love it.

It truly has changed huge portions of my life. I initially bought it somewhat second guessing myself thinking I was buying an over-expensive toy that I would regret, but have changed my mind drastically. Now someone would have to pry it away from me.

My laptop used to be tied to me wherever I was in my house, but now it has essentially become a desktop because I have almost no use for it. It is larger, clunkier, gets very hot in my lap, has far shorter battery life, etc. I had a netbook but almost never used it because it was so slow it was unbearable. To jump into a browser and get to GMail was a few minute endeavor which quickly left me so frustrated I'm surprised the thing did not end up out my window.

The iPad is fantastic for most of my everyday things such as checking my email, web browsing, etc. It's always on and FAST, so I am never frustrated as I was with my netbook. I no longer have to take my laptop with me on trips as the iPad will suffice in most scenarios. If I'll be gone for awhile, I bring a bluetooth keyboard and have iSSH which I can use to connect to any of my servers on the road. Once I've got an SSH session open, it is not really much different from using a laptop. When I'm on a plane, I can spin up multiple movies back to back and its 10+ hour battery life means that I'll almost never run it out by the time I land. No laptop could compare to that and it is in such a small, convenient package.

I still use my "real" computers for development, but for almost everything else, I use my iPad. In fact, it is very nice to separate my development from my time-wasting viewing. Now I do nothing but development on my laptop and have my iPad for casual browsing. That separation is very nice.

And one of the uses I did not anticipate when I first got it is the photo sharing aspect. Now anytime I am with family or friends and I mention something such as a trip I took, I can pull the iPad out (I take it with me everywhere because it is compact enough...I did not do the same with my laptop) and casually flip through photos, giving them visuals to accompany my stories.

My latest "killer app" is OmniFocus; their iPad implementation is stellar. It truly has changed my workflow and my ability to keep things prioritized. I previously was using the iPhone version of the app doubled on the iPad and it just wasn't all that great.

I would seriously recommend one of these to most family/friends looking to pick up a computer because it would do everything they need and be quite a value. My sister asked for a recommendation on a computer and was looking at some systems that were $1000+. Since all she does essentially is check her email and browse the web, I coaxed her into getting an iPad. She saved a few hundred dollars and has loved the device far more than a laptop. For more developer types, it is less viable as a replacement and more of a lifestyle augment, but it was a purchase I would make again in a second.

Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#64

Post by npp »

vaporstun wrote: post #63

I absolutely love it. It truly has changed huge portions of my life. I initially bought it somewhat second guessing myself thinking I was buying an over-expensive toy that I would regret, but have changed my mind drastically. Now someone would have to pry it away from me. My laptop used to be tied to me wherever I was in my house, but now it has essentially become a desktop because I have almost no use for it. It is…

I'm just curious; how can you recommend it to family/friends looking for a computer, since currently you still need an extra machine to sync the iPad to? Is it that they have a desktop and wanted a laptop?

Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#66

Post by zzzmarcus »

I like it, though for as much as I use it, I can't seem to fall in love with it like I did the iPhone.

I use it principally for:

-Reading. iBooks is awesome. I love how it syncs your place so you can pick up on the phone. I haven't used the Kindle app much (which does the same) because most of the books I read are old and freely available in epub or PDF. I also use, to a lesser degree, Instapaper and Reeder. I used to use Stanza but the lack of sync is a deal breaker. Sad really because it's such a nice app.

-Playing Music. I use it as a banjo tuner with OmniTuner (an iPhone app) and I also use TabToolkit and GuitarTookit as well as PDF's with written music and tab. It's more convenient than lugging around books or loose leaf paper.

-Listening to Music. The speakers are good enough to make moving it around from room to room and using it for background music nice.

-Occasional Browsing. I really don't like browsing on it and it feels like the only browsing I do on there is wasting time. I get the nagging feeling that I should just be reading a book, or doing something off-screen altogether, rather than browsing. The tabs are clunky, the browser is slim on features and typing is too slow.

-Mindmaps, Mockups. I don't think it's the ideal tool (yet) for either of those activities, but I sometimes do both if I don't have the laptop handy. iMockups is pretty nice. I'd put OmniFocus on there if I hadn't already spent so much on it for my Mac and iPhone. I'm not dropping another $40 for it.

-Etc., Games, Email, Evernote, Netflix, YouTube. I play Carcassone and Settlers. I use Flashcard apps to try to teach my baby to read. I respond to emails and write notes in Evernote. I'm not a big fan of typing on the iPad (I prefer the iPhone keyboard) so I use it for email less than I expected, but still, it's nice to have it there. I thought I'd use it for video all the time, and the times I do, it's wonderful. I'd guess I watch a movie on it twice or three times a month.

Overall, I'm glad I have it, I'd probably miss it a lot if it was gone and, as you can see from the list above, I've integrated it many areas of my life. Strangely though, I don't have a strong emotional attachment to it. I don't get excited to defend it and I don't sell it to friends/family. With the iPhone I couldn't wait to recommend it to everyone I know.

Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#67

Post by dgallagher »

Still love it (had one since release day). I use mine several times a day. Common usage:

- playing simple games

- watching video's on YouTube

- reading websites or magazines

- listening to NPR or Pandora radio

- weather reports

- calendar

- email

Stuff I thought I'd use it for but really haven't that much:

- reading PDF programming books (still prefer hard copies)

- reading eBooks

My brother and parents got one each too. The other week my Mom told me she was Googling all over the internet. She's semi-computer novice and really hasn't been online much since getting the iPad. Its opened up her eyes. All of my friends who have one love them too.

Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#68

Post by AlexMuir »

npp wrote: post #64
vaporstun wrote: post #63

I absolutely love it. It truly has changed huge portions of my life. I initially bought it somewhat second guessing myself thinking I was buying an over-expensive toy that I would regret, but have changed my mind drastically. Now someone would have to pry it away from me. My laptop used to be tied to me wherever I was in my house, but now it has essentially become a desktop because I have almost no use for it. It is…

I'm just curious; how can you recommend it to family/friends looking for a computer , since currently you still need an extra machine to sync the iPad to? Is it that they have a desktop and wanted a laptop?

I can't really recommend it to people as a computer because there's quite a bit that it simply can't do. Even if I limit it to simply internet access I still come across sites where I can't book something/choose a date because the JS doesn't work. That'd be a real shitter if it was your only computer.

Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?

#70

Post by wmeredith »

npp wrote: post #64
vaporstun wrote: post #63

I absolutely love it. It truly has changed huge portions of my life. I initially bought it somewhat second guessing myself thinking I was buying an over-expensive toy that I would regret, but have changed my mind drastically. Now someone would have to pry it away from me. My laptop used to be tied to me wherever I was in my house, but now it has essentially become a desktop because I have almost no use for it. It is…

I'm just curious; how can you recommend it to family/friends looking for a computer , since currently you still need an extra machine to sync the iPad to? Is it that they have a desktop and wanted a laptop?

You can just have them sync or activate it at an Apple store. You really don't need to do it again after that. OS updates would be out of reach, though, which are important. I'm still not sure why Apple tied the iPad to an iTunes install. It's such a brilliant device (wife and I love our 32gb wifi model) but this is a serious flaw.
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