11–20 of 65 posts
I'd add.. I was surprised how quickly touch typing came. I'm not nearly as fast as I am on a normal keyboard, but still much faster than my thumbs on an iPhone. Certainly fast enough to write chunky emails or blog posts.. if anything, the minor slowdown is an encouragement to write more vigorously.
Did they really? Haven't they used a digital picture frame and though "Gosh, wouldn't it be cool if this could show the weather...and had a web browser...and let me play movies from my server..."
I find it difficult to believe that so many intelligent people (of which jwz is definitely one) purportedly couldn't see the obvious appeal.
I've been using small devices as PMPs for a while (whether smartphone or touch or zune) and the desire for something larger is, again, obvious.
Though I'll hold my breath for the Galasy S Tab.
Dammit. I keep resisting the lure of the iPad, but when jwz weighs in... Must. Wait. For. Next. Version. You know, the smaller one with the front facing camera. So my kids can do FaceTime with their grandparents. Or the one with a (dare I hope) retina display. I guess that's probably a few versions out.
Today the screen is 132 ppi - taking that up to 326 ppi would make it somewhere in the vicinity of 2528x1896. Would Safari then be blowing up web sites so ~960px width sites don't look tiny on that resolution?
It's an instant-on appliance with a real web browser and real mail reader on a real screen. I guess that's the selling point right there. It's not a computer that requires booting and starting up system services and logging in. It's an appliance you can immediately turn on and start using.
I'd add.. I was surprised how quickly touch typing came. I'm not nearly as fast as I am on a normal keyboard, but still much faster than my thumbs on an iPhone. Certainly fast enough to write chunky emails or blog posts.. if anything, the minor slowdown is an encouragement to write more vigorously.
The problem is the complete lack of copyediting shortcuts. There are no keys for moving the cursor, or selecting next. There isn't even a forward-delete key.
When I write long text and long emails I will invariably need to go back and copyedit my work, and iOS gives me very little to make that job easier. (Android is even worse.)
It bugs me so much I actually drew up a prototype iPad keyboard [1].
3 years in with iOS and I'm still far more comfortable and productive writing long text on my Blackberry than on an iPhone or iPad.
Everyone always leads in with the "I thought it was useless" bit. Did they really? Haven't they used a digital picture frame and though "Gosh, wouldn't it be cool if this could show the weather...and had a web browser...and let me play movies from my server..." I find it difficult to believe that so many intelligent people (of which jwz is definitely one) purportedly couldn't see the obvious appeal. I've been using s…
Yes, I have had those thoughts. I also thought "I'd be willing to pay $5 for that. Oh well." So sure I understand that these things are appealing for coffee tables or salesmen, but I (still) don't see myself using one very much.
Dammit. I keep resisting the lure of the iPad, but when jwz weighs in... Must. Wait. For. Next. Version. You know, the smaller one with the front facing camera. So my kids can do FaceTime with their grandparents. Or the one with a (dare I hope) retina display. I guess that's probably a few versions out.
I would love to see Retina Display picture quality on iPad, but can you imagine the resolution of that screen? Today the screen is 132 ppi - taking that up to 326 ppi would make it somewhere in the vicinity of 2528x1896. Would Safari then be blowing up web sites so ~960px width sites don't look tiny on that resolution?
Everyone always leads in with the "I thought it was useless" bit. Did they really? Haven't they used a digital picture frame and though "Gosh, wouldn't it be cool if this could show the weather...and had a web browser...and let me play movies from my server..." I find it difficult to believe that so many intelligent people (of which jwz is definitely one) purportedly couldn't see the obvious appeal. I've been using s…
The iPad is an unusual product, because doesn't address an obvious need. Laptops were just portable desktops. mp3 players were digital Walkmans. Smartphones are a combination of PDA, mp3 player, and phones. Most new classes of electronics are just an extension of an existing product in an obvious but technically-challenging direction. The iPad is more like the original PC - superficially similar to its predecessors, but used quite differently.
People use their iPads in their own way. For me, the killer app was as an e-reader. I could easily read books and pdfs on my laptop, but the tablet form-factor is far more pleasant for reading. Reading on a laptop is a chore, whereas reading on the iPad feels quite natural.
What trips people up about the iPad is that it isn't about the functionality. My MBP is more capable in almost every way. It's value lies in the fact that it does certain things extremely well that no other electronic device has been good at until now.
Dammit. I keep resisting the lure of the iPad, but when jwz weighs in... Must. Wait. For. Next. Version. You know, the smaller one with the front facing camera. So my kids can do FaceTime with their grandparents. Or the one with a (dare I hope) retina display. I guess that's probably a few versions out.
Video calls are most often made with a desktop computer or laptop. Laptops have a camera at the top of the screen. Most Webcams are attached to the top of monitors. So you are typically eye level with a desktop webcam or just above with a laptop. That's a fairly natural position.
With an iPad it is most often put on a table, your lap, held in your arm on an armrest or your lap or propped up on your lap or chest when lying down.
All of these cases would have a highly unflattering view if using video. "Looking up someone's nostrils" is how I'd describe it. I could see it working in the keyboard dock, if you have that (which I don't) but that mimics a laptop setup.
I'm not saying they won't add a front facing camera but just think about the practicalities of it.
As for Gen 2, I've gotten so much use out of mine that I won't think twice about selling it to buy the new one. I simply use it that much that it's a complete no brainer. Few devices I own, other than my PC, get that much use.
I'd like to see more memory. Not because I need it but because more applications will be possible with it. I'd also like to see digital out. There is a VGA out connector but it's analog and has idiotic restrictions on it like you can't play iTunes video on it, I guess as an appeasement to the idiots at the MPAA.
But front facing camera? For me it's pretty low priority.
As far as form factor goes, there might be a smaller one. Rumours of a 7" iPad persist. I'm frankly unconvinced. Even if there was one I wouldn't buy one. A 10" screen for a portable device is truly wonderful. I'm not going backwards, I don't care how much lighter it might be.
And as far as Android/WebOS/Windows tablets go, my own view is that the competition is AT LEAST two years behind. Sure in the next 6 months you're going to see any number of crappy tablets coming out but it will be at least 1-2 years before they'll have the polish, battery life and especially the ecosystem of the iPad.
Sadly, I could.
