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Couldn't the MacBook Air be better than the iPad?
- Thread starter entatlrg
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Then what exactly does the iPad offer you that your MacBook Air doesn't? For what you describe, it most certainly does seem redundant.
What exactly *is* the iPad marketed as? I've searched the Apple website, and the best I can find is "magical and revolutionary." It seems Apple doesn't even know how to market the thing.
You, sir, have been hit by the Jobs Reality Distortion Field, and hit hard.
First off, I'm willing to bet you haven't even looked at the rest of the industry to see if anyone else makes anything with more value than an iPad, am I correct?
Anyways, the ONLY THING an iPad does better than a laptop is casual gaming, and here's why:
1. Browse the web-- we know it's not the best device for surfing the Web because it lacks Flash. Love it or hate it, you can't deny the fact that it's a standard, and as such it needs to be supported.
2. Read books and magazines-- maybe I'm not sure quite where you're going with this one, but if you read at 350 words per minute on an iPad, you're going to read at 350 words per minute on a laptop. If you can have animations around your text on an iPad, you can have them on a laptop. Not sure why you think the iPad is "better" at this.
3. Watch videos-- 4:3 display leaves huge black bars. Low-res display can't play true HD.
4. Browse and share photos-- yeah, because I'd much rather see photos on a 10" display than a larger laptop display with a higher-res screen.
5. Games-- certain games will have an advantage on the iPad, but only those that use either Multitouch or the accelerometer, things laptops don't have. So as I said in my previous post, the iPad is a $500 casual gaming device that won't fit in your pocket.
The MacBook Air is already better than the iPad. Its a computer as opposed to an ebook reader with a web browser and iTunes. Im not saying the iPad doesn't have its uses. I could imagine it being handy for reading a newspaper whilst sat in garden, but the Air isn't that far off a MacBook in performance and capabilities
I'm sorry no.
A laptop can play games like Half Life, Portal and the other high rated PC and Mac games out there.
Videos? The iPad has a 4:3 display, other Apple laptops have widescreen displays better for watching videos on. Unless you're watching old TV shows (of course).
Sharing photos on a Mac is already quite easy. I can email them if I want, or if I have a very large collection I can run a Photoshop plugin to generate a small site and upload through FTP.
Browsing the web would be better on a laptop, given the more open nature of Windows/OSX you can install plugins etc.
There is one reason why iPad does all these things better: Capacitive multi-touch display. It makes a far better experience than a trackpad or mouse.
Everyone who has touched an iPad has loved it. It's only detractors are people that haven't.
I predict my MBA usage will go down 80-90% after I get my iPad.
Boring! There has been no innovation in PC gaming in the last ten years except better graphics. iPad's multi-touch and accelerometer allows for far more innovative gameplay.
None of these things make extensive use of a keyboard and having it there is a CON, not a PRO. Manipulating photos directly with a multi-touch display makes it a more enjoyable experience. Same with web browsing. Touching your links, icons, objects, etc, is a dream and faster than using a trackpad.
You sound like someone who hasn't played games in the last 10 years. I'm in the same boat by the way, I prefer gameplay over graphics (my fave system this generation is the DS and PSP). But come on now. PC gaming has had much more than better graphics;
Realistic physics, explorable cities, vast worlds, massively multiplayer games, multiple input options, modifiable games.
If you want to talk about innovative gameplay go buy a 3D display and Novint Falcon. Leaps and bounds above what an iPad will be able to do.
You're prepared to use an multitouch display over something as highly functional as Photoshop or Aperture, or heck I bet iPhoto will still be the better editor purely because the hardware its running on is better.
The browser is still not as good as any other browser on a real computer, there's so much more support on a laptop/computer! I honestly can't understand how anyone in their right mind can draw a comparison between a large mobile device and a real computer.
Guys, if I ever get this far gone could you please put me down?
I don't know about you guys, but I'm sort of getting tired of the whole multi-touch thing. I think I'll find it a hassle after a while to move my whole arm to do simple things. It sounds really lazy, but think about it. I like being able to swipe my finger 3 cm on the trackpad on my mac and instantly be on the other side of the screen. Much more intelligent in my opinion.
And I'm getting tired of accelerometer-based games on my iPhone. A lot of games are best IMO with either a mouse or keyboard...
Do you want to know why? Because the only people who have touched one so far either a) work for Apple or b) make money when they say good things about it. And even then, they've only commented on how well it works; no one's talked about the practical aspect or why anyone should need one.
So basically, you're saying an iPad will do 80-90% of what you use your MacBook Air for. So considering you already own the Air, why not save $500 and use the Air for 100% of what you use the Air for? And don't say you can sell the Air once you get the iPad-- you said yourself that the iPad will only do 80-90% of what the Air will, so for that other 10-20% you'll still need to hang on to the Air.
I couldn't agree more. Honestly, you need two hands just to operate an iPad! You only need one hand to use an iPhone, unless you need to pinch. Grasping it by the sides, your thumb can still easily cover the entire screen. And of course it's even better with a trackpad, where you don't even need an entire hand-- just a finger.
And ditto on the accelerometer games. You get so much more control with with a mouse/trackpad/keyboard. Using the accelerometer for games is rather gimmicky, except maybe for games such as Labyrinth. But really, those driving games where you use the accelerometer to steer the car? I've stopped playing those because the control method is just so ridiculous.
You can do this. The iPad emulator comes in the SDK.
But what I want to do is emulate OS X on the iPad. It might actually make the iPad useful.
It's not the true internet with out flash. Yes it sucks on the Mac, but Apple NEEDS to give Adobe the set of APIs so it can do rendering on the GPU not the CPU. I also want Java on my iPad. And Some laptops have a better display, thats also bigger to whatch video on it. Browse and share photos... Its nice on the iPhone, and will be the same on the pad, but I want to use PhotoShop or iPhoto to edit them. This "pad" is not for me sadly.
Every journalist at the media event was invited to play with the device. These same journalists have said plenty of negative things about it but they all describe it as blazingly fast and enjoyable to use.
I love my MBA to death but I believe the iPad does several things better and I feel these features are worth the $500. For example, I will do almost all of my web browsing on the iPad because I feel multi-touch is a more enjoyable experience than a trackpad for surfing the web. The cons (lack of flash) do not outweigh the pros.
While the iPad doesn't replace a laptop and isn't as functional, what it does do gives a more enjoyable experience. I also believe that most of what people do on a laptop does not require extensive use of a keyboard and having it there is a negative.
If you want to argue about redundant features, a MBA does everything a iPod does. Why buy an iPod? Because it's more portable and convenient? Well, the same applies to the iPad.
The size difference between an iPod and MBA is quite vast. An iPod can be stored in a pocket, a MBA cannot. An iPad cant be stored in a pocket either and isn't much smaller (10" 4:3 display vs 13" 16:10) than a MBA. What you're suggesting is akin to comparing 2 similarly sized people carriers to a Mini.
We are not comparing gaming on iPad versus desktop. We are comparing gaming on iPad versus laptop. Gaming on a laptop is a terrible experience. Less than 2 hour battery life, overheating GPUs, and laptops that will play modern games are heavy and bulky.
Of course media creation is better on a laptop. Media consuming, however, is better on an iPad. How can you argue that viewing photos isn't better on a iPad? You can hold it and flip through it just like a photo album.
Besides lack of flash, how is the browser deficient? There is java on the iPad. And if Adobe does get its act together, it's a simple software upgrade to enable flash on iPad. I wouldn't want flash in its current form anyway. Flash on my MBA lowers the battery life by 60-70%.
What laptops have a better display than the iPad's gorgeous IPS display? When it comes to image quality, resolution is 5th in importance, behind color, black level, contrast, and brightness.
If you want to touch something on the other side of the screen, just use your other hand. I'll probably have both hands on the side of the device most of the time and just use my thumbs to touch icons on the screen.
A MBA is 2x heavier than an iPad and 1.6x the size.
By comparison, a MBP is only 1.5x heavier than a MBA and has similar dimensions, yet most people feel the difference and are willing to pay a huge premium for the MBA.
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Find it funny when people says ipad is nice for games... cause almost all simple "online" games i see people playing are flash and free... compared to whatever ipad uses and at a cost. Even if apple added flash, most games would be hard to control unless specially designed for the ipad (try throwing a monkey as fast as you can with a touch screen, unless you oil your finger, you're gonna get burns to break the record).
Find it funny when people says ipad is nice for games... cause almost all simple "online" games i see people playing are flash and free... compared to whatever ipad uses and at a cost. Even if apple added flash, most games would be hard to control unless specially designed for the ipad (try throwing a monkey as fast as you can with a touch screen, unless you oil your finger, you're gonna get burns to break the record).
Did you say you've already used an iPad? It sure sounds like it, otherwise you're putting a heck of a lot of faith in some reviewer you don't know.
I could see you saying all this in confidence once you yourself have played with an iPad for a bit, either at the store - or using a friends ... but until you've actually used it for a while yourself, for hours on end, I'm surprised you're so confident about how 'better' it will be.
They also play real games. My 9400M runs Fallout 3 on medium-high settings just perfectly. Will the iPad be getting Fallout 3? I can run L4D2 on medium-high.
If my Macbook wanted to play games in similar quality to the iPad I wouldn't have to worry about overheating or GPU troubles.
Because on my laptop I have a widescreen and higher resolution, better and larger display and still have multitouch for browsing. If I want to flip through I swipe (I think) 2 fingers across. Although it's more efficient and faster to just press left/right on the dpad.
FWIW I've only used IPS monitors for my desktop PC and Macs since 2005. Oddly enough I find them best for content creation, for displaying content I find LED etc much better.
1. No
2. Maybe
3. No
4. Maybe
5. Hell no
And multi touch ain't faster and way less precise.
No, I haven't used an iPad but I do have an iPhone. If the experience is exactly the same except with a bigger screen, I will be satisfied.
The argument works both ways. How can you criticize it without having used it?
With that said, let's save this discussion for until the iPad is released. I bet a lot of you who are skeptical will be surprised.
In all honestly, I'll bet you're right. Time and again Apple products that I thought seemed kind of 'meh' in theory turned out to be awesome once I actually got my hands on one.
yes, entatlrg. I agree
increased the battery life on the Air and gave it 3G I think it could be better than an iPad.
iPad is probably a product not needed in the market
in the first place.
just another shiny toy to have
and I still love it....
yes, entatlrg. I agree
increased the battery life on the Air and gave it 3G I think it could be better than an iPad.
iPad is probably a product not needed in the market
in the first place.
just another shiny toy to have
and I still love it....
Yes! Stop this non-sense. It's just another new toy for most of us. I get as many toys as I can, whenever I can. I don't plan to replace anything after I get the iPad. Probably redistribute the amount of time spent on my other machines, but will be just another toy.
I think of it like this - I have my fast German sedan (130mph+), big American SUV (480hp), and a motorcycle... Nobody argues or questions which does what better. I use a different vehicle depending on my mood. They all take me from point A to B just fine... Where it differs is how many passengers, how comfortable, how fast, and how safe. I'll use the best that fit my need or mood at the time. Isn't this the same thing with the MBA (or any other small profile device) and the iPad?
Have your big and powerful desktop, powerful notebook, portable notebook/netbook, iPhone, and now the iPad and wait for the next toy to add to your inventory. Your life is not an RPG game that only allows you to carry a limited number of things in your satchel. Have as many as you can.