Apple Releases iPad Tablet, New SDK, iBooks and iWork Apps

[gmomacintosh]

iPad... a really big iPhone that doesn't make phone calls...

iPad... a really big iPhone that doesn't make phone calls... which makes it exactly like an iPhone.

Sooooo disappointed. I hope I'm proven wrong, but it looks like Apple just jumped the shark!

 

[stabile007]

First off I want to respond to all the people who say "Its just like when the iPod was announced and see where it is now!!!"

When the iPod was launched (2001) it was not a commercial success. In fact it did not take off until the 4th gen iPod (Q3 2004) and I contribute that more to iTunes had come to Windows by then and Apple allowed full USB support.

Ok now that i got that out of the way the iPad...I was really hoping for it to run OSX and not the iPhone OS it would have been glorious to scribble my notes in class on a tablet like this. But alas it is not to be. What we got was an oversize iPod touch. I have an iPhone why do I need another iPhone like device? I mean a SD card slot or a USB would have been nice because no matter how casual the user space will always be an issue especially if you factor in movies and music.

Also I hope to heck iPhone 4.0 OS is a major overhaul because the iPad version is a complete mess of laziness. I cannot believe Apple put out a product that looked thrown together at the last second. But I have this sick feeling that iPhone 4.0 is going to be a pretty minor update that will add 'iBook" support to the iPhone and iPod Touch and some other measely useless things no one cares about.

Seriously is there any reason why you can only have 4 icons across the screen and down the screen and only 4 fixed ones? The screen is much bigger then the iPhone and you limit it to the same amount of apps per screen? That is just Apple being lazy and not wanting to enhance it for the iPad. I bet the notification system is the same horrible system, the home screen is the same stupid thing I mean seriously Apple it doesn't look polished at all!

ugh I am a sad

 

[TheSlush]

All in all, disappointed. I expected a deeper rethink.

I'm as big an Apple fanboy as anyone, but -- perhaps for the first time ever -- I felt this Apple launch was underwhelming and really left me wanting. I think Apple has aimed too low with the iPad (at least so far). My sense watching Steve's presentation was that he was showing us a beta version that hadn't been fully thought through yet!

I realize that just about nothing could ever live up to the uber-hype surrounding Apple's mythic tablet... but there was uber-hype surrounding Apple's mythic smartphone, and the iPhone launch largely lived up to that. It wowed just about everyone. I craved that thing on day one. The iPad simply does not inspire that degree of must-have lust. If the iPhone launch was a revolution, the iPad launch by comparison seems like a retread of the earlier revolution on a new form factor. I expected a deeper rethink than that.

INTERFACE PROXIMITY TO IPHONE OS:
Apple's approach to this product indeed appears to be a "big iPod touch," with all the exact same advantages and all the limitations. I find this to be aiming too low. They somehow seem too attached to their successes with the iPhone OS and were therefore perhaps unwilling to reinvent the tablet interface too much. The potential opportunities presented by a larger screen seem not to have been fully capitalized on, in favor of keeping things as close to the iPhone OS as possible.

PUBLISHING INDUSTRY INFRASTRUCTURE:
I was sure that Apple was going to introduce a new approach to the creation, display, subscription, and selling of published media including newspapers, magazines, and periodicals. I was sure Steve sought to reinvent the publishing industry with his tablet just as he had the music industry with his iPod/iTunes. I was sure. I anticipated a new "iNewsstand" section of iTunes. I anticipated over-the-air subscription renewals and push delivery of new issues. I anticipated Sports-Illustrated-prototype-like innovative interfaces merging print with animation and video (the components of which would perhaps be available as part of the new SDK). I even anticipated rich full-screen opportunities for advertisers. And what did I get? A lackluster scaled-up New York Times app? Not begun until the final two weeks? Apple's answer to the future of publishing is "make us an app for the App Store... it'll be just like your old app, but bigger!"???? Come on, guys.

AESTHETICS:
ASPECT RATIO -- Let me add my voice to the chorus: Why a 4:3 ratio?? It feels too square/squat. It certainly doesn't favor watching widescreen movies. Even the iPhone is closer to 16:9. I thought we were moving toward a widescreen world, not away from it.
VERTICAL BIAS -- Why does Apple seem determined that the tablet should primarily be used by default in the vertical orientation? You can't even dock it horizontally, which means you can't watch videos while it's docked!?!?
HOME SCREEN -- I'm sorry, but that Home screen has all the excitement of a shuffleboard semifinal playoff game. That's it? That's all you guys could come up with? Tiny iPhone icons spaced out and floating on a huge screen? And who chose that lame desert-at-night landscape wallpaper to be the face of the iPad to the world????

Does the iPad have potential? Sure. There's a lot of opportunity, and a lot to grow into of course. But unless they yanked a LOT out of this keynote at the last minute, I didn't feel like they were delivering "the most important work" Steve Jobs has ever done.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Hmmmm. Let's see, a computer allows you to email, view photos, surf the web, listen to music (though carrying around your home computer with headphones isn't terribly practical), manage contacts, manage schedule, etc. If you stop focusing on what this doesn't do (and given its form factor what the hell do you expect it to do?), it does 90+% of what you do on the computer (which this doesn't replace). If that's not you, ignore it, it's not a product for you and complaining about it I can only judge to be a waste of *your* and MY time.

90+% ??? Where do you get a number like that from? Oh, that's right. You just MADE IT UP.

What do I expect it to do? How about including a USB port or an SD reader (Apple seems to like those on their Macbooks lately) so that you can actually get things INTO THE DARN THING. And what does size factor have to do with capability? If it had a USB port and regular OSX, you could do anything on it you could do with a regular Macbook. In other words, it's more or less the same form factor as sub-notebook laptops. Why include a dock option if all it does is replace the touch keyboard with a real one? You wouldn't need a dock if it had a USB port. How can you get your pictures into this thing when on the road unless you take another computer with you when there's no USB or memory card reader ports? You CANNOT. Steve talks about gaming, but he didn't include ANY dedicated buttons to make certain types of gaming easier and without a USB port, forget about providing your own. Basically, it's a glorified giant iPod Touch except that it's too big to carry around on your person so any space savings over a Macbook are MOOT. What's Apple's excuse for not including Flash support on this thing? It's got plenty of CPU power and it doesn't multi-task (another great idea Apple) so where's the beef? As innovative as the iPhone was, this thing is ANYTHING *BUT* innovative. It's really just a an iPod Touch with a larger screen plus the availability of iWork (and if you'd prefer M$ Office, too darn bad; you get no choices). They couldn't even make the 3GS feature standard or an easy way to add it over a mere $30 addition to the device, thus creating "I wish I would have got it when I had the chance" syndrome for buyers that think they won't need it in the future.

If Apple wanted to present something new for this device, they could have announced a new developer program that isn't dependent on them approving apps for it and taking a 30% cut on something they didn't earn. In other words, how about opening up the device for software like any other computer platform instead of playing the software police with people's choice of what they WANT to run on a given computer. It really should be none of Apple's business. If this thing could run regular OSX, it would all be moot. But Apple purposely avoided that to increase their control and monopoly-style income off developers.


As for your comments about not responding if I have a complaint wasting your time, who said I was talking to *YOU* in the first place? If you don't want a response to your posts then don't reply in the first place! This idea that fan-bots should only get positive cheer leading for Apple products defeats the entire idea of a DISCUSSION FORUM.

 

[Phrasikleia]

PUBLISHING INDUSTRY INFRASTRUCTURE:
I was sure that Apple was going to introduce a new approach to the creation, display, subscription, and selling of published media including newspapers, magazines, and periodicals. I was sure Steve sought to reinvent the publishing industry with his tablet just as he had the music industry with his iPod/iTunes. I was sure. I anticipated a new "iNewsstand" section of iTunes. I anticipated over-the-air subscription renewals and push delivery of new issues. I anticipated Sports-Illustrated-prototype-like innovative interfaces merging print with animation and video (the components of which would perhaps be available as part of the new SDK). I even anticipated rich full-screen opportunities for advertisers. And what did I get? A lackluster scaled-up New York Times app? Not begun until the final two weeks? Apple's answer to the future of publishing is "make us an app for the App Store... it'll be just like your old app, but bigger!"???? Come on, guys.

You can't have a superstructure without first building a foundation. How could you possibly have expected such mature and full-fledged multi-industry support right out of the gate?

The one thing everyone seems to agree with is that the possibilities are exciting. This release will put the rest of the wheels in motion, and I imagine that in about five years' time, we'll arrive at the point you've described.

 

[TheSlush]

You can't have a superstructure without first building a foundation.

Agreed.

How could you possibly have expected such mature and full-fledged multi-industry support right out of the gate?

Because this is Apple, whom I would think would be capable of something more robust at launch than what was demoed. I didn't expect all the contracts to be signed, but I wanted to at least see some intention. All they needed to scrounge up to get everyone drooling was one prototype to demonstrate the possibilities. A prototype to rival Sports Illustrated's depth of thinking on those same possibilities.

Why the hell is Time Inc. getting me more excited about the future of publishing than Apple Inc.? What is the world coming too??

 

[Gatesbasher]

ASPECT RATIO -- Let me add my voice to the chorus: Why a 4:3 ratio?? It feels too square/squat. It certainly doesn't favor watching widescreen movies. Even the iPhone is closer to 16:9. I thought we were moving toward a widescreen world, not away from it.

I'm not going to disagree with the rest of your arguments—everybody's entitled to an opinion. (Although this launch seems to have generated more slobbering hate than any other I remember. There's always a lot of it, but not this bad. Not talking about you, obviously.)

It's the quoted part I couldn't agree less with. I was really afraid they were going to come out with some stick-of-gum 9:16 thing that you were supposed to use as a reader as well. 3:4 is perfect for that—and for standard definition video, which is still a large majority of what people will be watching on it.

The reason we're moving toward a widescreen world, as you put it, in the computer area at least, is because computer manufacturers are cheap. They tout their new screens as being "wider" when they're not actually any wider, just narrower vertically. They've made a screen with less area, saved money, and made you think you're getting something extra.

My only beef with the iPad is the oddball resolution. If it were 1280 x 960 (Which, if you take the dot pitch of the iPhone and figure the size, comes to exactly 9.7"!) you could watch 720p in native resolution and 480p line-doubled. As it is, having to scale the picture up and down to fit, 93.75% and 96% respectively of the pixels on your screen are going to be interpolated, on the fly, by a mobile processor, and the vast majority of the picture information as it comes in will be thrown out. It would have been better if they'd gone with 640 x 480.

 

[mammajamma]

You might recall this thread after the iPod was released...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.500/

Personally I think the iPad is a full realization of Alan Kay's Dynabook concept and it will be the first true computer that can be used as an appliance. It'll take off, especially with non-tech heads which will not mind the missing features. Apple will add additional features such as video conferencing and a SD slot as prices for components come down. It'll be truly the first computer which doesn't require a learning curve, where even a child can use it. Easy enough for your mom or dad to use it and bring it into the kitchen for recipes and for light Internet surfing around the home or out and about. I think it will be huge, just give it 2 years... It's the computer that 99% of the world would use who are not doing programming, content creation, etc.

For all the naysayers, you haven't even played with one yet or seen any apps that really take advantage of the new hardware.

mammajamma

 

[TheSlush]

I think this iPad intro was rushed a little, because the rumormongering was getting out of hand and they needed to get something out there before people would settle for nothing but a virtual reality machine that would let you marry Marilyn Monroe.

Great, now I'm REALLY disappointed.

 

[Palm Pimp]

Folks, the iPad is NOT a standalone device. Grandma and Grandpa STILL need a real PC.... and they still need to know how to use that real PC in order to transfer files anyway.

So why not just get them the laptop for the price?

 

[TwinCities Dan]

Folks, the iPad is NOT a standalone device. Grandma and Grandpa STILL need a real PC.... and they still need to know how to use that real PC in order to transfer files anyway.

So why not just get them the laptop for the price?

Why must you spam all over the forums?

 

[Phrasikleia]

Folks, the iPad is NOT a standalone device. Grandma and Grandpa STILL need a real PC.... and they still need to know how to use that real PC in order to transfer files anyway.

So why not just get them the laptop for the price?

Actually, Grandma and Grandpa don't need a real PC. Back in the day, my Grandpa had a WebTV unit, and that was all he needed. Remember those? A WebTV unit did far less than an iPad can do. It really worked for him because he could sit on his couch and operate it. He had never done email before in his life, and he didn't even understand the concept of how the mail got to him (he thought at first that the "server" I spoke of was an actual guy at a switchboard). He used the unit to read news on the web and to talk with a few people via email. That was all he could do with it, and he loved it until the day he died.

 

[cyberddot]

Sooooo many years listening to people try to tell Apple how they should do their bidness...yet they continue to succeed somehow...with all of the sheep in less than 10% of personal computer market...

Why does this make you so angry?

Just move on to sites with products that make you happy, ffs.

 

[Speedy2]

Because you can use it on a 7" screen.

Where can I download or buy it?

 

[DMann]

Where can I download or buy it?

Same place you can buy this little puppy:

Courier "secret Tablet HTML5

Conceptware for the optimistically wishful.

 

[zephyrnoid]

Ok Folks. I ran some parameters into my (proprietary application), based on facts that we know about the iPad V1.0 against a 10 item list of Human Factors and Performance optimization metrics that I have programmed the software with.

Based on the foregoing and leaving hocus pocus guessing and proselytizing out of the equation, the iPad V1.0

- Is optimized as an mutimedia output device for receiving wireless data
- Secondary application includes input via built-in virtual keyboard and microphone
- Tertiary application includes input via an accessory keyboard for text-based entry

My call. But if for it's advantage as a 'thin client' over extant e-book readers
DO NOT buy this version if you are hoping it will expand thanks to modular interface- Since it is not shipping with a 'productivity' centric OS or File Management, telephony or physical media input connectors, it is unlikely this version will support the flexibility of use that we hoped it would.
Also, laptops are unbeatable for ergonomics of screen viewing. A touchscreen ipad is hand-holdable viewing but require stands to make them hands free viewable at a comfortable angle (ie Laptop keyboard IS that stand)


APPLE: Here is what we need ( since 2000). A series of laptops that allow the user to separate the 'screen' allowing it to function solo as thin client (as in iPad) but wherein the HD panel display can be used to input from the plethora of HD outputing devices ( Duh!). Reattached to the dedicated keyboard the 'folio' is folded back together as in some early models of tablets. As I stated back in 2000. Bluetooth should allow for a screen to be distanced from the keyboard, creating much better accommodation for the human using the pair on a desktop.

 

[Anonymouslives]

You expected a $500-$800 device to be better than a $1200+ device?

Sounds like an unreal expectation, on your part.

It's perfectly understandable to want it to be better than an iPod Touch. It shouldn't just be "a big iPod Touch", it should have features that can't be crammed into a pocketable device, like USB Host/OTG ports, Display Port, even a microSDHC or SDHC card slot.

And while I think it should have run Mac OS X with a finger-optimized UI, instead of running iPhone OS X, to say that it should be better than a Macbook Pro is ... laughable. They would be shooting themselves in the foot if they made it better than a Macbook Pro. "should I buy a $500 device that does everything this $1200 device does ... or should I buy the $1200 that offers no advantages?" ... say good bye to the Macbook Pro product line. Yeah, that'd be SO brilliant.

Like netbooks, mid-size tablets aren't meant to be better at anything (other than portability) than their laptop (and full-size tablet) cousins. They're specifically intended to be lower powered and slower, because they're only meant for web surfing, mail/calendar/PIM, and media viewing (with possible document viewing and light editing). They are NOT workstation/laptop replacements.

NO ONE had a REASONABLE expectation that the iPad would be better than the Macbook Pro.

The reasonable expectation was that it would be better than an iPod Touch. If the iPad has a point of failure, that's it.

Perhaps you should watch the keynote, where Steve Jobs SAYS it's better at ALL the things I mentioned, than a laptop. How's it an "unreal expectation" when Steve Jobs stated it's exactly that?

 

[DMann]

Perhaps you should watch the keynote, where Steve Jobs SAYS it's better at ALL the things I mentioned, than a laptop. How's it an "unreal expectation" when Steve Jobs stated it's exactly that?

I guess we won't be able to determine whether or not it is, or isn't, until we actually have one in our hands.

 

[kzin]

How's it an "unreal expectation" when Steve Jobs stated it's exactly that?

And if he told you that he was selling this nice new bridge in Oakland, would you accept that as a reasonable expectation too?

He's selling product. Everything he says should be seen in that light. For example, the original iPhone claims that it was first to have a full/real web browser in your pocket. Neither half of that claim was true (it wasn't/isn't a full/real web browser, and even if it was, it wouldn't have been the first such device).

Base your expectations on things like published (and verified) specs, thermodynamics, physics, etc. Not based upon a grand sales/marketing pitch.

 

[mm1250]

Wow,

I watched the keynote and read about the new iPad. All I can say is if this was Apple's biggest invention and all that hard work was for that, than I can truly say Apple is out of ideas.

they came well under expectations on this one. I'm greatly disappointed.

 

[sunnylee]

well the ipad just got some major publicity on the grammy's...

 

[tkermit]

well the ipad just got some major publicity on the grammy's...

in what way ?

 

[iJohnHenry]

Was there laughter at the absence of Flash??

 

[kzin]

Wow,

I watched the keynote and read about the new iPad. All I can say is if this was Apple's biggest invention and all that hard work was for that, than I can truly say Apple is out of ideas.

they came well under expectations on this one. I'm greatly disappointed.

Yeah. By tying it to the iPod/iPhone family of devices, it should be the best d*mn media playing mid-size tablet on the planet. Yet, if I were to buy a 7"-11" media playing tablet, right now, I'm very sure I'd be looking more toward the Archos 7IT or maybe even the Archos 9.

 

[sunnylee]

in what way ?

stephen colbert pulled out a ipad while reading the nominees and joked that he was cooler than jayz