My point is that the fact it *does* rely in iTunes means it can't be a standalone device.
I understand that, but what I'm saying is it won't be tethered to iTunes this much forever, in my opinion.
And by "soon" you mean "1-2 years", right ? Flash isn't going anywhere in a timeframe less than that.
Yes something like that
I wanted flash gone back in 1998 already when it started to become hyped and people made websites out of 100% flash. I'm glad it's finally happening.
Great. The argument was that the iPad is a decent single device today, not that the IPad's successor might be in six months.
I might have misunderstood this as a discussion about iPad-like devices in general, not THE iPad that is currently available.
Which also comes back to the Flash point. Of nearly all of those people with "limited requirements", the vast, vast majority of them will have Flash as one of those needs, if for no other reason than most of the games they're wasting their time playing are Flash-based.
Ok but I know nobody who plays Flash games really...
But the interface won't be. It's just going to do a better job of running stuff in the background, not make it easier to actively interact with multiple programs.
But the problem here is brining up multitasking to such a high visibility level as you suggest will make the device more complicated to use for people who love it for its simplicity and the seemingly single task approach. I think if you expect more than what you are getting in November you are just not the right person for an iPad and you will need to go with a real computer. But that doesn't mean there isn't a huge market for the iPad. Neither does it mean that it is some kind of hyped thing that will go away again soon. Somehow I got that from you initial post.
But still be inadequate. Even my parents have dozens of GBs of digital photos, movies and audio today. Not to mention the exorbitant pricing to add storage to an iPad at initial purchase, and no way to increase it later.
I agree. But when your parents want to handle their Music, Photos, etc - the iPad isn't the device for that. It is for consumption, not for management or creation. And consumption is what it does really well and very simply.
No, the point of the device is to be simple. The point of expandability is so you can do basic stuff like, say, backup all the data on it to an external device, put in an SD card with some movies on it to watch, or copy some photos to an SD card so you can take them down to be printed.
Yea but all these points go further than the whole iPad idea. Backing up data is done via iTunes at the moment. (I know you don't like the fact it requires iTunes, but thats how it is for the time being). Movies to be watched have to be synced or played over the net from media servers. The iPad doesn't manage content, it just plays it. That's the whole idea. Once you bring all those functions in you will destroy the simplicity that it has right now - I don't believe they will go that far. You have to draw a line somewhere. I'm not saying the iPad will replace computers. All I'm saying basically is that most people wanna consume, not manage or create. And that's what the iPad is for.
I know I mentioned it before, but it's so significant an omission it's worth mentioning again - why on Earth doesn't the iPad have an SD card slot ?
I don't know. Because the main iOS branch didn't even have a way to let you put files onto the device that aren't handled by iTunes before version 4. You have to remember the OS is 2 years old. I think it has come an incredible way since then. Give it some time. And yes I realize the iPad you or your parents have right now prolly will have to be replaced down the road. But the whole idea of this new simple device thing won't go away. It will evolve and eventually fill more needs than it does now.
How is the Apple TV going to help them connect the thing to an external screen so they don't need to squint at the tiny 10" LCD while they're typing up the weekly church newsletter ?
I thought you meant for watching movies. Apple TV will allow you to display content you play back on the iPad on the hooked up TV and vice versa. But really if you think the display is too small for normal usage you shouldn't have bought it in the first place!!
More expense. By the time you've bought enough stuff to make your iPad somewhat-but-still-not adequate as a single device, you've basically paid as much as you would have for an MBA, only without all the advantages that the MBA has over the iPad.
Which is my point.
Yea I completely agree with that. The iPad is not yet suitable as a single device in a household. But its a damn good start in my opinion. And it will get there eventually.
An interface that doesn't suck ? Copying and pasting on the iPad is painful at best (albeit probably as good as it can get given the physical limitations of the interface).
This also ties into the multitasking issue. It's as much interface as it is raw capability.
The only thing I can think of is to make selection easier. Maybe by using a multitouch gesture with two hands. Like thumb of left hand somewhere on the screen and right index finger to select instantly instead of telling it to go into selection mode first. Something like that. Paired with instant Copy/Paste button popup while selecting this way and it's already much faster.
Then I have to wonder what your clients are using computers for at all, because none of what I listed goes beyond simple web and email, with a bit of basic gaming and photography. That is, after all, exactly what my parents use their iMac for at the moment.
I guarantee you that, at the very least, all your clients are using Flash on a regular basis.
There is no way known that the iPad - especially as it exists today, but even with promised (or speculated) changes in the near future - is going to cover all the requirements of "90%" of users.
My clients are mainly people that are computer illiterates. It goes as far as them not even knowing how to turn it on. However they wanna take part in the modern activities which are, as you said, browsing, email, maybe listening to music with it instead of having CDs, watching movies, etc. Simple things.
Now imagine teaching them Mac OS X to do just these things. Isn't that a total overkill? Mac OS or Windows or any computer OS is just far too advanced and versatile for people like that. The iPad is PERFECTLY suited for these tasks. They aren't far enough to do "advanced" things like managing music or wanting to put things from one device on another or whatever. All they wanna do is browse, email, listen to music, watch movies. And as simply and easy to understand as possible. And that is exactly what the iPad offers. Sure it is restricting for people like you and me, who know far more. But it opens a world to people like that that they simply had no chance to get into before... It allows them to use these things even though they have no knowledge about computers whatsoever.
The iPad does that through the touch interface that is very intuitive. And through simplicity things like full screen apps only, no task switching, exiting an app via the home button every time - no other way, making it easy to launch apps, hiding the filesystem layer completely, etc etc. And this is the dilemma. Introducing many of the things you would wish would destroy this simplicity. And I gotta say, if you want to do those things, the iPad is just too low a type of device for you. You need a real computer then. That's why I don't believe the iPad is a threat to computers. But even if you don't agree on the 90% thing, I am sure that the vast majority of people would be fine with an iPad. You have to factor in all the people that don't have any computer whatsoever at the moment because it's simply too complicated for them. Most of those would be ok with an iPad. It's not that they are too stupid to use a normal system. But it's unimaginable how hard it is for a person that has no clue about any of these things whatsoever to get into the depth and level of versatility the systems today are offering.
And yea we are getting terribly off topic here kinda, but I somehow got from your initial post that you were saying the iPad-kind-of-devices have no future because they are too simple. I'm sorry if I misunderstood you there...
