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Why the iPad isn't for me

macworld.com

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Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#101

Post by pyre »

swannodette wrote: post #80
mrkurt wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it probably is primarily for consumption, as evidenced by the apps that it ships with. I have no doubt that visual artists can create pretty good work with one, but I think they'll generally prefer pen based interfaces. Especially if they have giant sausage fingers. :)

I don't think it's primarily for anything. Apple doesn't ship any creative tools with OS X either. The iPad is what you think it is. I find it telling that geeks think it's primarily for consumption because they can't code in it- it's called tunnel-vision.

It also only can use Bluetooth to connect to devices. That limits one's ability to do things like edit HD video with it. It also limits the possibilities with respect to hooking a lot of things up to it (like musical keyboards, etc). Don't just assume the people are saying it's 'consumption-only' just because you can't program on it.

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#102

Post by dionysiac »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #89
troystribling wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That the iPad is consistently classified as a media consumption device seems an attempt to trivialize its significance by people who consider themselves power users. I agree that currently the use cases of most applications fall into this category, that it is expensive and I doubt you will ever do application development on a device of its form factor, but it is clearly not just a media consumption device. A few exam…

I would caution against using the music creation applications as good examples of iPad applications. Firstly, musicians rarely skim on their gear, if an iPad and a $10 App will do the same job as a bit of hardware costing twice the price more than half of them will buy the hardware. I've not used a synth very much but I doubt a touch screen provides an adequate replacement for the musical keyboard, nevermind the more…

The touch screen will not provide an adequate replacement for buttons and knobs - if you emulate buttons and knobs, that is. With capacitive multi-touch, there's a real opportunity to rethink the interface here. Interaction in the past was limited to what hardware can do in real life, so why should we keep those limitations now that they don't exist? The music world, unfortunately, has this "old-school" mentality for the most part. The focus is on previous hits and successes with synths and hardware that worked in the past (in this case the Electribe), not with what could be created with new ones. There's a real opportunity here that will take time to play out.

As for the sound card - I agree, the DAC in the iPad is probably similar to the other iDevices in the past.. Pretty good for consumer standards, but poor by pro standards - not to mention multiple outs, ins, etc. Where the iPad stands to gain the most is as a remote controller for a larger rig running on a laptop - via Bluetooth or Wifi. Heck the audio jack could be used for modulated data and have it interpreted by the host machine as a control input, a la Serato et al. Ever since the $2k Lemur people have been hungering for this - it will happen sooner or later!

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#103

Post by GHFigs »

conanite wrote: post #81
roc wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Clearly it should inform your purchase decision, but why should it be scary ? No one device is for all people to do all things. So why should a particular weakness inherent in this form-factor be scary ?

It doesn't scare me as a user - it scares me that yet another device encouraging passive consumerism may become immensely popular. It's sad to become used to hearing "I can't cook/sing/draw/dance/code/whatever" - I would rather live in a world where everyone is a producer of some sort, in a way that content and culture are not monopolised by Big Industry. Maybe 'scary' was a bit strong - I'm not exactly trembling und…

it scares me that yet another device encouraging passive consumerism may become immensely popular

You mean like one of these? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book

But seriously, think about it. Why would a "media consumption" device become popular? It might be because "passive consumerism" is popular. The iPad does what most people already do with laptops and desktops, which they did before with TVs and VCRs and CD players and game consoles and newspapers and magazines and books.

It's just technology conforming to what people actually do, which historically seems to work out in everybody's favor--moreso than trying to change human nature to fit an ideal, at least--in the form of new capabilities and the cognitive surplus to use them.

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#104

Post by pyre »

briancooley wrote: post #85
Psyonic wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd think so, but this is the 3rd review I've read where the adult was relatively disappointed in the iPad, but OH BOY does his child love it. It's starting to make me think its for kids.

That's not my personal review. It's a review from the perspective of my wife and in-laws. They don't use smartphones and are the kind of users that like to do things in familiar ways. I think it's interesting that kids take to the device more easily than adults. Part of that is simpler usage, but part of it is not having preconceived notions about how to use the device. It also makes me think that a certain class of…

> Part of that is simpler usage, but part of it is not having preconceived notions about how to use the device.

I'm thinking that most of it is simpler usage. Unless you're qualifying "I can't access my favorite websites because they use flash" under 'preconceived notions.' At least for me, I would be disappointed where the functionality was lacking (i.e. "it can't be done" vs "it can only be done in a different way"), and that is something that a child wouldn't suffer from as much.

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#105

Post by skeletonjelly »

briancooley wrote: post #10
Tichy wrote: post #4

With respect of iPads for moms and grandparents, I am also a bit doubtful. Since a lot of web sites probably don't work as expected (ie no Flash, among other things), wouldn't that be confusing to the noobs? I am waiting for the first review from an iPad-Mommy.

My wife is dubious. She doesn't like the lack of Flash. She doesn't like trying to type on the software keyboard. Her parents, definite technophobes, were intimidated by it. The first thing they wanted to look at was a slideshow on smugmug.com, some pictures of their granddaughter. Also Flash. They looked at me incredulously as I explained to them that you couldn't view the slideshow on the iPad. They tried to use th…

"She can get to her favorite apps and watch her videos in a flash. "

Pun intended?

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#106

Post by glhaynes »

Tichy wrote: post #61
glhaynes wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps unusable as their only machine. That by no means makes it merely a novelty.

But it makes it useless as "the computer for mom".

I was responding to a claim that the iPad is "almost unusable for the overwhelming majority of web users (at least as anything more than a novelty [...])".

If mom's savvy enough to use a computer aside from her iPad then she can use that computer to get to the sites she wants to go to that her iPad doesn't support. If she's only savvy enough for an iPad, then she's still better off being able to get to the non-Flash parts of the web than nothing.

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#107

Post by GHFigs »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #89
troystribling wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That the iPad is consistently classified as a media consumption device seems an attempt to trivialize its significance by people who consider themselves power users. I agree that currently the use cases of most applications fall into this category, that it is expensive and I doubt you will ever do application development on a device of its form factor, but it is clearly not just a media consumption device. A few exam…

I would caution against using the music creation applications as good examples of iPad applications. Firstly, musicians rarely skim on their gear, if an iPad and a $10 App will do the same job as a bit of hardware costing twice the price more than half of them will buy the hardware. I've not used a synth very much but I doubt a touch screen provides an adequate replacement for the musical keyboard, nevermind the more…

any reasonably serious musician

Snobbish bullshit like this is a bigger threat to creativity than anything the iPad does or doesn't do.

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#108

Post by dionysiac »

cwilson wrote: post #26
toby wrote: post #14

Am I the only one who found, when set at an angle using the apple case, that I can type at about 80% of my regular typing speed?

Same, and when I hooked up a bluetooth keyboard for the first time and propped it up like a regular screen I type at 100% speed. The Apple bluetooth keyboard and this thing are almost the same size, so on trips I'll be able to answer long emails, write blog posts, and maybe even reply to HN with ease! It's all about expectations with the iPad. It's not going to be a pure laptop replacement if you do any "serious" wor…

"It's all about expectations with the iPad."

My thoughts exactly. Purely as a reading device, it will be fantastic for scientific papers which are usually in hard formatted PDFs. Reflowing them for a small e-ink device sucks and makes them hard to read. Having color is a huge bonus (10 shades of grey in a color coded graph is a royal pain). The iPad + the GoodReader app will let you take hundreds of papers and technical books with you. The fact that it has a pretty good web browser and email app with WiFi is an awesome bonus.

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#109

Post by VBprogrammer »

GHFigs wrote: post #107
VBprogrammer wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would caution against using the music creation applications as good examples of iPad applications. Firstly, musicians rarely skim on their gear, if an iPad and a $10 App will do the same job as a bit of hardware costing twice the price more than half of them will buy the hardware. I've not used a synth very much but I doubt a touch screen provides an adequate replacement for the musical keyboard, nevermind the more…

any reasonably serious musician Snobbish bullshit like this is a bigger threat to creativity than anything the iPad does or doesn't do.

My apologizes if that came off wrongly. It was intended as my observation of musicians who do not produce music solely as a hobby. Obviously most of the people I know come from a fairly technical background, while plenty of people still produce amazing music on a bargain store 8 track, there are lots of people who will complain about sound quality differences that a normal person could not pick out if their life depended on it.

Re: Why the iPad isn't for me

#110

Post by kalid »

dionysiac wrote: post #108
cwilson wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, and when I hooked up a bluetooth keyboard for the first time and propped it up like a regular screen I type at 100% speed. The Apple bluetooth keyboard and this thing are almost the same size, so on trips I'll be able to answer long emails, write blog posts, and maybe even reply to HN with ease! It's all about expectations with the iPad. It's not going to be a pure laptop replacement if you do any "serious" wor…

"It's all about expectations with the iPad." My thoughts exactly. Purely as a reading device, it will be fantastic for scientific papers which are usually in hard formatted PDFs. Reflowing them for a small e-ink device sucks and makes them hard to read. Having color is a huge bonus (10 shades of grey in a color coded graph is a royal pain). The iPad + the GoodReader app will let you take hundreds of papers and techni…

Agreed. If you come in expecting an all-singing, all-dancing desktop/laptop/server replacement you'll be disappointed.

If you want a device to read PDFs, play some games, and browse the web it's fantastic.

iPad + GoodReader + 10 hour battery life is bliss.

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