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The Next Six Months

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Re: The Next Six Months

#161

Post by roc »

alanh wrote: post #56
roc wrote: post #17

The logic doesn't hold up for me. Are holiday buyers really the same kind of people who will have even heard gadget rumors, let alone coordinate their purchases accordingly? Do we have any reason to think many of them held off this year ? Furthermore, I thought the speed of iOS updates has been a good thing. Why are three iOS targets undesirable or problematic? It just sounds... flimsy; like someone shopping for just…

You can’t imagine everyday people hearing advice not to drop hundreds of bucks on Christmas presents that will be obsolete in a month? Because if iPads & iPods were expected in Jan/Feb I can guaranteed a ton of nerds will be looking out for Mom and Dad.

I can't imagine everyday people caring enough about specs to actually make decisions based on said rumors.

The default expectation is that iPads will hit in late March. So we're talking about rumors relating to devices that may exist three to four months after the decision of "what are we getting Sally for Christmas" gets made.

And Gruber thinks average people will hear those rumors and then be willing to disappoint a loved one on Christmas over a spec bump they have no context for?

And, again, I wonder aloud if we have any indication that this happened this year. Because we all heard rumors and those things flew off the shelves anyway. So if it didn't happen this year, why would anyone expect it to happen next year?

Re: The Next Six Months

#162

Post by zzleeper »

arohner wrote: post #142
sofuture wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to -4 on this, but: it absolutely still remains to be seen whether or not tablets are worth a damn . Seriously, people play shitty games on them, and I guess read ebooks (though I see vastly more Kindles on the subway, than iPads). I do not, at all see a compelling product yet, I see a trendy gadget that early adopters and trend followers have purchased. Sure there's great lip service to how revolutionary t…

I use my iPad nearly every day. It's a better experience than my laptop (which I do use literally every day) in several areas: * reading in bed * reading long PDFs. This is my primary "work purpose". I read a lot of machine learning books and journal articles in PDF form. * quick checking of email, when you don't want to sit down for a while * looking up recipes while cooking * social media sharing: when friends are…

Would you prefer reading the articles in paper or in the ipad? (I'm considering switching from paper to ipad)

Thanks!

Re: The Next Six Months

#163

Post by candeira »

gregpilling wrote: post #134
sofuture wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to -4 on this, but: it absolutely still remains to be seen whether or not tablets are worth a damn . Seriously, people play shitty games on them, and I guess read ebooks (though I see vastly more Kindles on the subway, than iPads). I do not, at all see a compelling product yet, I see a trendy gadget that early adopters and trend followers have purchased. Sure there's great lip service to how revolutionary t…

I have noticed that a surprising number of personal acquaintances that have no computer skills, have iPads. The iPad lets them surf the net, read books, email and run some games. They don't have to think about how to use it, it has great battery life, it does the basics that they want and it is fun. One good friend of mine (former business partner) who is almost -intentionally- computer illiterate goes everywhere wit…

How does he manage without a Mac to use as a "dock" for the iPad? Sincere question, I am a linux user and have only seen an iPad a couple of times, but I understand you need to dock it via iTunes in order to do certain stuff with it.

Re: The Next Six Months

#164

Post by joeyo »

zzleeper wrote: post #162
arohner wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use my iPad nearly every day. It's a better experience than my laptop (which I do use literally every day) in several areas: * reading in bed * reading long PDFs. This is my primary "work purpose". I read a lot of machine learning books and journal articles in PDF form. * quick checking of email, when you don't want to sit down for a while * looking up recipes while cooking * social media sharing: when friends are…

Would you prefer reading the articles in paper or in the ipad? (I'm considering switching from paper to ipad) Thanks!

I'm watching this space very, very closely (i.e. tablets specifically for reading PDFs of articles). There are a lot of options but none are quite perfect:

  * iPad
    Pros:
    - Color screen
    - Can zoom to exact size desired
    - Multi-touch
    - Papers.app (easy sync/organization for PDFs)
    Cons: 
    - Not e-ink
    - Battery life
    - Not as light/thin as Kindle

  * Kindle 3
    Pros:
    - E-ink
    - Amazing battery life
    Cons: 
    - Zoom is limited to a couple sizes
    - No touch screen
    - No expansion card & limited to ~3GB internal
    - No real way to organize large number of PDFs

  * Kindle DX
    Pros: 
    - Larger screen means PDFs are sized just about right without zoom
    - Same pros as K3
    Cons: 
    - Larger screen means it's a bit too awkward to hold with one hand
    - A bit on the heavy side
    - Same cons as K3
In my opinion the perfect PDF reader tablet would have a (color) e-ink display with multi-touch for scrolling and an arbitrary zoom. Kindle 4 maybe?

Re: The Next Six Months

#165

Post by fierarul »

candeira wrote: post #163
gregpilling wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have noticed that a surprising number of personal acquaintances that have no computer skills, have iPads. The iPad lets them surf the net, read books, email and run some games. They don't have to think about how to use it, it has great battery life, it does the basics that they want and it is fun. One good friend of mine (former business partner) who is almost -intentionally- computer illiterate goes everywhere wit…

How does he manage without a Mac to use as a "dock" for the iPad? Sincere question, I am a linux user and have only seen an iPad a couple of times, but I understand you need to dock it via iTunes in order to do certain stuff with it.

There are few times when you need to connect to iTunes:

* after the purchase (to "activate" it) -- which the store will do for you

* if you want to update the OS

* if you want to back it up

* if you want to copy music/photos/videos/app data from your computer to the iPad.

So, if you don't update the OS and you activated it at the store you'll just use it forever with the existing OS without ever touching a computer.

You get a power plug the charges it directly from the socket (faster than USB anyhow) so you are all set.

Re: The Next Six Months

#166

Post by [deleted] »

philwelch wrote: post #150
seabee wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well count yourself wrong: http://www.amazon.com/Fingerworks-IGESTURENUMPAD-iGesture-Pa... That thing even let you switch between apps with gestures. The iPod scroll wheel isn't an Apple paradigm either; jog dials for menu selection existed years before the iPod. I remember seeing it on the minidisc recorder in our school's music department.

That's not even a touchscreen. It's a trackpad with multitouch gestures designed for use with a desktop-based GUI on a PC. How is that equivalent to the iOS UI paradigm? That's like saying a mouse is equivalent to a Xerox Alto.

[deleted]

Re: The Next Six Months

#167

Post by philwelch »

[deleted] wrote: post #166
philwelch wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not even a touchscreen. It's a trackpad with multitouch gestures designed for use with a desktop-based GUI on a PC. How is that equivalent to the iOS UI paradigm? That's like saying a mouse is equivalent to a Xerox Alto.

[deleted]

Of course; Fingerworks developed the input device, Apple developed the UI paradigm. There's more to a UI paradigm than the input device. How many times do I have to say this?

Re: The Next Six Months

#168

Post by rahoulb »

whatusername wrote: post #124
podperson wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem wasn't Microsoft entering the market too early so much as never really rethinking their approach to a platform. Their idea for PDAs/phones was a tiny version of desktop windows (compare that to Apple's Newton, with all its flaws). Their idea for tablets was a pen based version of desktop windows. Microsoft has NEVER really originated a UI paradigm or OS, they just copied/bought/stole stuff from ot…

Aside from Xerox, what large company has originated a UI paradigm or OS? Apple bought the multi-touch stuff, MS licenses Kinect, etc, etc. Nintondo maybe with the Wii?

Disagree. Apple paid Xerox for the GUI (in shares) but then added a number of elements we consider an integral part of the GUI.

Xerox had overlapping windows, a mouse, networking and Smalltalk.

Apple lost the network and Smalltalk (later to reappear as Appletalk and Obj-C) but added icons, pull-down menus and the desktop metaphor.

Re: The Next Six Months

#170

Post by gamble »

joeyo wrote: post #164
zzleeper wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you prefer reading the articles in paper or in the ipad? (I'm considering switching from paper to ipad) Thanks!

I'm watching this space very, very closely (i.e. tablets specifically for reading PDFs of articles). There are a lot of options but none are quite perfect: * iPad Pros: - Color screen - Can zoom to exact size desired - Multi-touch - Papers.app (easy sync/organization for PDFs) Cons: - Not e-ink - Battery life - Not as light/thin as Kindle * Kindle 3 Pros: - E-ink - Amazing battery life Cons: - Zoom is limited to a co…

I'm not sure e-ink is an asset in a PDF reader. I use my iPad for a lot of technical papers and books. It's much faster than an e-ink display would be, and the page turning lag is still annoying. E-ink would be insufferable.
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