Macworld reports on Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's keynote session at Storage Networking World in California. Wozniak was questioned about how tablets would change the computer industry.
Article Link: Wozniak: Tablet is the PC for 'normal people'
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Wozniak: Tablet is the PC for 'normal people'
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Macworld reports on Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's keynote session at Storage Networking World in California. Wozniak was questioned about how tablets would change the computer industry.
Article Link: Wozniak: Tablet is the PC for 'normal people'
This is so on the money.
I was just having lunch while watching a film on my iPad. Next table over a table of business people are showing off one of their new iPads. People respond so positively to the experience on so many levels it really has something for nearly everyone.
The important thing that apple got was that making great computers for 2% of the population, or smaller, was one thing. Making a great piece of hardware for 95% of the world something else entirely and much more lucrative.
I was just having lunch while watching a film on my iPad. Next table over a table of business people are showing off one of their new iPads. People respond so positively to the experience on so many levels it really has something for nearly everyone.
The important thing that apple got was that making great computers for 2% of the population, or smaller, was one thing. Making a great piece of hardware for 95% of the world something else entirely and much more lucrative.
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I'm not normal
I'm not normal
It is what I've been saying here for the last year. MR readers are not the target audience for the iPad, and that is why they have been so consistently wrong on the iPad's prospects until market data proves them wrong. We are NOT normal -- we like to hang out on a tech rumor site 
The rest of the world gets the iPad and loves it.
The rest of the world gets the iPad and loves it.
Kinda agree i could seem myself using a iPad over my MBP when i am not working, having that separation from programming is what appeals to me.
I want to work when i work and not have to think when i am just browsing the web, in reality the iPad covers all my computing needs when i am not programming.
Though it would be lovely to have Aperture on the iPad to cover my hobby needs but it would require some from of local wireless storage access as i don't think many 25MB images would fit on 64GB.
I want to work when i work and not have to think when i am just browsing the web, in reality the iPad covers all my computing needs when i am not programming.
Though it would be lovely to have Aperture on the iPad to cover my hobby needs but it would require some from of local wireless storage access as i don't think many 25MB images would fit on 64GB.
If needing to carry a computer all the time everywhere I go is normal I'm glad I'm not normal. I enjoy using a computer but I also enjoy being able to walk away from them and exist without one too.
Hasn't Apple always been known for producing systems usable by the Everyman? Whereas the ubermenschen were off using UNIX systems at first, followed by Linux, Apple computers have always appealed to those who wanted to pick up a computer and start working, without technology getting in the way, at least since the Macintosh...
but people that have 25MB images and need Aperture at all wouldn't be considered "normal" either
It is what I've been saying here for the last year. MR readers are not the target audience for the iPad, and that is why they have been so consistently wrong on the iPad's prospects until market data proves them wrong. We are NOT normal -- we like to hang out on a tech rumor site
The rest of the world gets the iPad and loves it.
I hang out on MR a lot. And a lot of other tech blogs as well. And I love my iPad 2.
Crap... I'm certainly not normal but I love iPad 2. What am I?
The iPad has broad appeal and I'm willing to bet at least a few people in that room love the iPad and didn't agree with Wozniak when he made the comment.
I can see this.
Take me and my gf- she works soon I'll have finished studying and be working full time. We won't need a full computer each. Get one mini/MB/MBA and two iPads for the same price as two MBPs.
The iPad is much better for emails/web than computers in my opinion.
Take me and my gf- she works soon I'll have finished studying and be working full time. We won't need a full computer each. Get one mini/MB/MBA and two iPads for the same price as two MBPs.
The iPad is much better for emails/web than computers in my opinion.
No, they agreed with Woz for they got what he was saying. Generalities contain truth despite the exceptions in that room, you, and me. What are you? Able to see the forest despite the trees.
I certainly don't consider myself to be "normal" in regards to my computing needs, but the iPad has been a very welcome addition to my electronics landscape.
It excels at casual uses and has all but replaced my laptop for my traveling needs.
That said, there are times when you just need a 'real' machine to get things done.
It excels at casual uses and has all but replaced my laptop for my traveling needs.
That said, there are times when you just need a 'real' machine to get things done.
That must mean I'm not normal.
If you're here, then probably not. These forums are filled with boring
Penny is normal. Leonard and Sheldon are not, even if you can relate to them better (hopefully Leonard more than Sheldon).
Yes, but Apple's adoption of UNIX and open-source in Mac OS X via NeXT attracted the übermenschen in a manner not seen during the years before. And with its increasing maturity and acceptance, Mac OS X - and subsequently iOS - has continued to attract them and the illusion that those über-geeky nickpicky details were the most important thing in the world.
Products - and not just Apple's but any technology - could be powered by hugs, rainbows and unicorn kisses running on a half-core processor and the normal person wouldn't care, as long as it's easy and enjoyable to use, and lets them do what they want to do without having to think about how or why it works the way it does. They don't care about the nuances of the definition of "Retina Display" or debate the conspiracies behind charging $0.99 for FaceTime (they'll either buy it or they won't). A computer is a toaster. They want to put bread in and get toast out.
It used to be that every computer was a box with a monitor attached. When iMac came out, people said "well it's all very nice, but my needs are special and I could never use an iMac. I still need a fully-loaded five-figure tower." Similarly, laptops were underpowered and people still used a desktop to get the "real work" done. iMac is now well and above its original base-model station, and the specs of laptops now make them desktop replacements, with laptop growth carving a big slice out of the desktop market. Likewise, while iPad and even iPad 2 are possibly not going to be all anyone will ever need, iPad 3, iPad 4 and so on will close the gap. But like iMac was back in the day, iPad is the right direction for the new segment - an appliance - and will evolve and mature.
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ya this.
I've been saying since I got the first iPad, what people will use most of the time will be an evolution of the iPad. A standard computer will be needed, but will be much less used. IE; I family of two adults and two teenagers will share one iMac, but each will have an iPad.
I agree with the iPad being the computer for normal people. Many people I know have no idea how to copy and paste files on a computer, how to install a program, or how to do more complex things that for me seem completely simple. Most people don't even want to bother with putting their files into folders and renaming them. I think that "normal" people (the average person) is not comfortable with all the features of a real computer. It's like putting someone who normally drives a car into an airplane cockpit.
Anyway, the iPad at the moment could not be my only computer, but even I would enjoy having it as a secondary device to carry around to lectures and other places. I won't carry my MacBook Pro with me unless it's absolutely necessary, as it's heavy, requires sitting down and only works for a couple of hours. An iPad on the other hand, can be used while standing, it can be given to someone else easily, anyone can use it instantly. I can't just hand my MBP over to someone like that.
I think the iPad is filling a gap in computing that no one has really thought of before: computing that doesn't take place at a desk, and that is easy and fast, and as Apple says "gets out of the way".
Maybe one day the iPad will be able to do everything a proper computer can (open most file types, allow communication between applications such as drag and drop from one app to the other, etc...) and then it will actually appeal to everyone.
Anyway, the iPad at the moment could not be my only computer, but even I would enjoy having it as a secondary device to carry around to lectures and other places. I won't carry my MacBook Pro with me unless it's absolutely necessary, as it's heavy, requires sitting down and only works for a couple of hours. An iPad on the other hand, can be used while standing, it can be given to someone else easily, anyone can use it instantly. I can't just hand my MBP over to someone like that.
I think the iPad is filling a gap in computing that no one has really thought of before: computing that doesn't take place at a desk, and that is easy and fast, and as Apple says "gets out of the way".
Maybe one day the iPad will be able to do everything a proper computer can (open most file types, allow communication between applications such as drag and drop from one app to the other, etc...) and then it will actually appeal to everyone.
This is the primary design flaw with the iPad. This tablet can't be the normal person's computer unless every normal person has a tech friend/relative to keep the tablet working/updated. So while Woz is correct that the tablet will be the normal person's computer, Apple's iPad is not yet that tablet.