A question: how do you use delicious/ffffound on an iPad?
Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
81–90 of 90 posts
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#82For me, it's just an appliance. I read stuff off the web, e-books, comics, and light gaming though I do watch movies and TV shows on it. For everything else, I've got my XPS laptop.
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#83Mine's a WiFi-only 16GB model that I've had since day one. It's a pleasure to use but it hasn't really become indispensable to me.
The things it does really well are:
- Cooking using recipes from the Web - Instapaper - Tumblr (reading, that is) - Watching ABC TV programs - Reading eBooks (I've only done Kindle stuff so far) - Catching up on missed TV shows via iTunes - Reading instruction/repair manuals from the Web while using/repairing stuff - WeatherBug - Reading Apple's developer documentation
The things it doesn't do:
- Flash video, audio, and games - Objective-C/Cocoa Development - Multitasking (but soon, probably iOS 4.2)
If I weren't occasionally developing iPad apps I would consider selling it, simply because I probably have more useful things to be doing with $500.
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#84Anyone bought the WiFi only version and regretted not getting the 3G?
Opposite for me, bought the 3G and have used it twice out of the house. Maybe just that I'm not travelling much - I'd be getting a mywi though I think as then I could use the dataplan across multiple devices.
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#85Anyone bought the WiFi only version and regretted not getting the 3G?
Opposite for me, bought the 3G and have used it twice out of the house. Maybe just that I'm not travelling much - I'd be getting a mywi though I think as then I could use the dataplan across multiple devices.
That's my fear over getting the 3G - thinking I need it but then never actually needing it. Good point about a mywi device.
I now have to decide whether to get one or not _now_ or wait for v2
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#86My mother (almost computer-phobic) has been using it for months and now loves it. She uses it for e-mail, loading up pictures from her camera, and some music. Since she has poor satellite internet bandwidth, the iPad isn't very useful for video at her location. I've been using my iPad extensively. My main apps are: - Evernote with auto-sync to my MacBook Pro. It's great for simple note taking. Still wish it had a sty…
My mother is also computer-phobic yet adores her iPad. Every week she's telling me about some new app she's figured out. Apple has inadvertently nailed the Seniors market.
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#87I'm loving mine. I mostly use it as a reader and a convenient way to get around the web without pulling out my notebook. Shameless plug: since you mention GoodReader, I'd like to point out that we've written a PDF reader called Folio ~ The PDF Reader, more details about which can be found at http://ballisticpigeon.com/folio , which does an excellent job with technical PDFs. In particular, we do up-front fulltexting o…
Folio is nice, but it's missing what for me is the killer feature of GoodReader: the ability to crop the white margins for all pages of a PDF. This immensely improves PDF readability in portrait format.
The Folio Fit-to-width functionality (only available in landscape mode) is already able to detect and automatically crop white margins at the top and at the bottom of pages, so why not create a mode that automatically crops all 4 margins in portrait mode?
Another much needed feature is text highlights and text notes. Since Folio already has the ability to select text, it should be no big deal to add this to the app. Make the highlights and notes syncable a-la Kindle, and I'm sold.
One minor nitpick: Most apps seem to place their Back/Up button in the upper left corner. The Folio "Library" button should be on the left and the search button on the right.
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#88I'm loving mine. I mostly use it as a reader and a convenient way to get around the web without pulling out my notebook. Shameless plug: since you mention GoodReader, I'd like to point out that we've written a PDF reader called Folio ~ The PDF Reader, more details about which can be found at http://ballisticpigeon.com/folio , which does an excellent job with technical PDFs. In particular, we do up-front fulltexting o…
Folio is nice, but it's missing what for me is the killer feature of GoodReader: the ability to crop the white margins for all pages of a PDF. This immensely improves PDF readability in portrait format. The Folio Fit-to-width functionality (only available in landscape mode) is already able to detect and automatically crop white margins at the top and at the bottom of pages, so why not create a mode that automatically…
Thanks for the feedback. I agree with almost everything you said, and most of it is coming. You can probably stop here unless you care about details, I rambled on a bit :).
Your killer feature for GoodReader is an important one, we're agreed on that, but I hate GoodReader's implementation. I don't like the idea of making the user do something manually that can be done well heuristically. We're hoping to ship a smart crop feature that does good margin detection on most PDFs in one of the next couple point releases. With the iPhone/iPod Touch version coming soon this feature goes from "really nice to have" to "necessary".
Highlights and notes with syncing between Folio instances is coming soon (which will make more sense when we introduce the iPhone/iPod touch version). We've also got plans for syncing with things like SkimPDF and exporting plain old annotated PDFs, but syncing between Folio instances will come first.
> One minor nitpick: Most apps seem to place their Back/Up button in the upper left corner. The Folio "Library" button should be on the left and the search button on the right.
Done in 1.0.2, showing up in the App Store when Apple feels like getting around to it. I had reasons* for putting it where I did that, at the time, I thought were good ones, but you're right that it really is a back button and we should just treat it as such.
Again, thanks for the feedback. It's always nice to hear ideas from people actually using the app, especially when they confirm that we seem to be on the right track for future direction of the app.
* In case you're curious as to how it ended up where it is: I wanted the "Import" button in the library to be in the same place as it was in the iWork apps, and I wanted the search button to be in a consistent location between the two views. Also, I saw the "Library" button as more of a "Done" than a back button (in fact, it sends the doneReading: selector to our reading view controller), and Apple is somewhat inconsistent about where those go.
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#89"I would by an iPad if..."
Re: Ask HN: Four months since launch: how are you finding the iPad?
#90Wow. I'm certainly in the minority here. I returned mine after about 3 weeks of use. For me it's just a very expensive browser. I spend 10 hours a day in front of a computer screen at work. When I come home in the evenings, I like to minimize my screen time. I usually limit myself to checking email/facebook/twitter for about 5-10 minutes only. On weekends too, I like to spend less time in front of a computer. And if…
So you're surprised that there are significantly fewer apps for a device that's been out for 4 months versus one that has been out for 3 years?