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Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

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Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#91

Post by kristiandupont »

mattmaroon wrote: post #15
rbanffy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a competitor even if it addresses a subset of the iPad functionality. This one has e-book reading, something many people buy the iPad for. Different people weight different features differently (sory - had to do it) and this thingie may end up with a better value than an iPad for a lot of people. Me included, BTW. I could buy one of these and a Nook for less than what an iPad costs. For me, it's a winner. It's a…

Do you really think people buy the iPad for reading ebooks? I find it to be not significantly better than reading on a monitor. The iPad is great for some things for sure (Plants vs Zombies being first and foremost in my experience) but I think if I wanted to read books I'd get a Kindle or some eink device.

I switched from the Sony eReader to iPad for reading books. And while I prefer looking at eink, I am much happier with the overall iPad experience.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#94

Post by kristiandupont »

jarek wrote: post #83
jacobolus wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any evidence that the brightness of a fully-on iPad screen “hurts eyes”? * * * The human visual system adapts to the level of illumination it is looking at, so the times when eyes “hurt” are basically only when going from being dark-adapted to suddenly looking at something bright: for example, going from a darkened movie theater out into a sunny day. If you turn an iPad on in a completely darkened room, i…

> The human visual system adapts to the level of illumination it is looking at Anecdotally false. On really bright summer days (and on sunny days in the winter with a lot of snow), outdoors are too bright for my visual system. I have to squint or my eyes will hurt, no matter how long I stay outside to adapt. Anecdotally this is true for at least some of the people I know as well.

Definitely not false: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupillary_light_reflex

The fact that bright light can still annoy you just shows that there is an upper limit (and there is a lower one too, obviously) -- not that it doesn't work.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#95

Post by jodrellblank »

slantyyz wrote: post #59
borism wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

App Store with 200k titles is a plus? Are you serious? How will your dad be able to find anything useful there?

You're right, the App store is a real problem. Because of the low signal-to-noise ratio, discoverability is less than optimal, even using search. The only way I find out about good apps right now is through word-of-mouth and through reviews on trusted sites. Apple needs to fix this.

I'll just call further attention to this - it's highly unhelpful that the reviews can be sorted by best/worst/newest.

Best is always "WOW I CAN SEE MY COMPUTER" style and worst is always "IT DOES NOT WORK GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK".

Actually helpful app reviews would be a massive improvement.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#96

Post by ableal »

http://pandigital.net/search.asp?productid=392: (specifications) 7” Digital TFT LCD, 600 x 800 pixels

The 6-inch, 800x600 e-ink readers are now at 150 USD (Borders, Amazon, etc.). Some with SD and Bluetooth included. A bit more for touch screens (Sony?).

So, battery life and readability versus color and Wi-Fi.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#97

Post by jarek »

kristiandupont wrote: post #94
jarek wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The human visual system adapts to the level of illumination it is looking at Anecdotally false. On really bright summer days (and on sunny days in the winter with a lot of snow), outdoors are too bright for my visual system. I have to squint or my eyes will hurt, no matter how long I stay outside to adapt. Anecdotally this is true for at least some of the people I know as well.

Definitely not false: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupillary_light_reflex The fact that bright light can still annoy you just shows that there is an upper limit (and there is a lower one too, obviously) -- not that it doesn't work.

I should have quoted more of the parent's post:

> ... so the times when eyes “hurt” are basically only when going from being dark-adapted to suddenly looking at something bright

(emphasis added)

Obviously I realize that pupils adapt, but I read the post to imply that there is no such thing as absolutely too bright.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#98

Post by thought_alarm »

david927 wrote: post #9
allend wrote: post #7

I love it when people think competing with the iPad means having more bullet point features.

I love it when the faithful think that features and price are not competitive.

> I love it when the faithful think that features and price are not competitive.

A great many things are a ripoff at any price.

Re: Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor

#99

Post by rbanffy »

kristiandupont wrote: post #91
mattmaroon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think people buy the iPad for reading ebooks? I find it to be not significantly better than reading on a monitor. The iPad is great for some things for sure (Plants vs Zombies being first and foremost in my experience) but I think if I wanted to read books I'd get a Kindle or some eink device.

I switched from the Sony eReader to iPad for reading books. And while I prefer looking at eink, I am much happier with the overall iPad experience.

That's what I was trying to say. Maybe, for you, the iPad is a better value than a Sony eReader. A lot of people will agree with you and a lot of people will disagree.
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