Apple iPad Pre-Orders to Begin February 25th? Speculation about Other Features?

[whiteboytrash]

I have to say I'm amused though. It seems the close the iPad comes to actually going on sale and launching the rats are really feeling cornered and attacked like crazy. Normally, when one isn't impressed with a product they don't feel the need to say much other than "meh," and move along. For some bizzaro reason some feel threatened by the iPad and I can't figure out why. I just hope they don't end up gnawing their own tail off when the lines form.

I read a wonderful article in realtion to the point you just made. It stated the iPad symbolises the end of the "geek era". No longer can tech savy geeks help people with their computer problems. No longer will average PC tech heads charge themselves out at £400 per day to fix user issues. Geeks smell the end. iPad shows that when a device is at a price point for the mass market and doesn't need an entire IT team to support it the end is neigh. That's why the geeks are up in arms about not bring able to spend 4 billable hours downloading drivers for a new printer. It's all over and thank-god for that.

When hot girls will be able to fix their own computter problems. The geeks are worried.

The geek will no longer be useful.

 

[freeny]

Yes, you can change the desktop image. As for "scrolling frames," if that's what I think it is, you can scroll by dragging with two fingers inside the frame.

Have you tried this?
On an iPhone, two fingers inside the frame still moves the entire window around and not just the contents of the frame...

Good to hear about the desktop image

 

[doctoree]

to everybnody who compares this to a big ipod touch: watch apples second half of the keynote. they show a really cool multitouch version of iwork. this is a real productivity device (for easier tasks like writing, of course not for vfx or so). Its far more than a big ipod touch or iphone.

 

[pmz]

Have you tried this?
On an iPhone, two fingers inside the frame still moves the entire window around and not just the contents of the frame...

Good to hear about the desktop image

There has been some confirmation that Apple has added support for 3 and 4 finger gestures. This is open to 3rd party developers. We were shown that. We certainly were not shown any built-in 3 or 4 finger gestures, but it seems hardly likely that Apple would add such an advanced feature and not have some default use for it.

While I'm still holding out my belief that Dashboard is a super-secret last minute feature and all of those Apps that are missing are now widgets (as Steve Jobs originally described them in the first iPhone keynote)...

...Isn't it just as likely that Apple will move those Apps to the App Store as free downloads so that users can decide whether or not they even want them installed? After all, each of them is incredibly simple and out of date, and can be replaced by a better 3rd party App.

This might be the route Apple is going.

 

[DanielSw]

Why is a full osx better than the iPhone os on the ipad?

I have never heard the argument clearly stated.

That's because there IS no clarity in stupidity, and because there IS no valid argument beyond their childish whining.

At the outset of Steve's presentation, he talked about the iPad filling a gap in the array of products between portable computers and existing handheld devices. Just as a full OS X isn't needed on the iPhone, neither is it needed--or wanted--on the iPad.

The sane and reasonable will embrace the iPad enthusiastically and find it very useful. It will "sell like hotcakes", as we say in English.

 

[Night Spring]

Have you tried this?
On an iPhone, two fingers inside the frame still moves the entire window around and not just the contents of the frame...

It is a bit tricky, but I did get it to work after a few tries. However, not something I want to do regularly, and left me skeptical about multi-finger gestures in general.

 

[freeny]

There has been some confirmation that Apple has added support for 3 and 4 finger gestures. This is open to 3rd party developers. We were shown that. We certainly were not shown any built-in 3 or 4 finger gestures, but it seems hardly likely that Apple would add such an advanced feature and not have some default use for it.

I would assume one could hold the main window with one finger and scroll the frame with two fingers...

I hope they come up with a solution... On the iPhone as well...

 

[joelsink]

new accessories

Had not looked at the iPad page on apple's website for a few days... there are new accessories for the iPad:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

 

[Bodypainter]

and here the classic keynot sum up in 180 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZS8HqOGTbA

 

[jc1350]

I really hope this is right..... In the past if you pre-ordered a product from apple online did you have it at your house on the day it launched in stores?

No

My pre-ordered iPhone 3GS arrived around 10am via FedEx the day it was released in the stores.

 

[Shodan]

I read a wonderful article in realtion to the point you just made. It stated the iPad symbolises the end of the "geek era". No longer can tech savy geeks help people with their computer problems. No longer will average PC tech heads charge themselves out at £400 per day to fix user issues. Geeks smell the end. iPad shows that when a device is at a price point for the mass market and doesn't need an entire IT team to support it the end is neigh. That's why the geeks are up in arms about not bring able to spend 4 billable hours downloading drivers for a new printer. It's all over and thank-god for that.

When hot girls will be able to fix their own computter problems. The geeks are worried.

The geek will no longer be useful.

Being an IT Technician myself though more Mac Orientated - I completely agree.

 

[fkntotalkaos]

My phone bill is big enough. I'll take the WiFi model.

IMHO there should be a discount for having ipad and iphone from AT&T, obviously the data usage rates for iphone will drop if you use an ipad, not to mention all the tethering that goes on will decrease as well.

 

[Night Spring]

Had not looked at the iPad page on apple's website for a few days... there are new accessories for the iPad:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

Don't see anything new -- keyboard dock, case, regular dock, camera adapter, power adapter. They've all been there since the announcement.

 

[blackcrayon]

Dashboard widgets for iPad

I'm wondering if Apple would create a dashboard widget system that used nearly unmodified widgets from Mac OS X on the iPad- and allowed them to run in the background. Then we would get "background apps" but they would still just be encapsulated "Safari" web pages so it wouldn't take much of an engineering change on the OS, nor would it take yet another programming technique from developers (already plenty of widgets available and widget developers, and since they just use javascript and CSS they're things that the iPad can already run). I know there are already some hacks to allow mostly unmodified dashboard widgets on an iPhone. Apple would just need to make a nice interface for it (fancy gesture or whatever to make them pop up).

If they did so i guess the only question would be what would they be allowed to access in terms of files/features on the device. As long as they could play sound in the background that would satisfy a lot of people (and since Safari can, it's not too far fetched). And maybe Apple could make a couple of special ones that allowed some access to recent mail messages or calendar events on the home screen.

 

[Young Turk]

Had not looked at the iPad page on apple's website for a few days... there are new accessories for the iPad:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

None of those are new - with the possible exception of the power adapter - all were announced at launch.

 

[Ed91]

I kinda wish Apple included a 3.5mm Line-in jack for audio. The iPad would make a great portable tool for recording audio given that some cool apps come out for it. An Audacity app for the iPad would be amazing IMO. What do you guys think?

And watch Apple's support forums fill with threads about the headphone port not working

Seriously, though, there's no way anyone would want to do any form of serious recording using the iPad's built in analogue to digital converter. I'm speaking from a musician and audio enthusiast's perspective here. You'd want to connect an external sound card via the 30-pin connector.

... but then why use the iPad. For that price you could get a usb sound card and a cheap laptop, which would be infinitely better suited to location recording - but sure, it wouldn't look as cool.

The instant an app appears to turn the iPad into a controller for Logic, though, I'm in. An iPad mixing desk. I can think of nothing cooler.

 

[NebulaClash]

Then why do painters still use a brush on their canvases?

That's like asking why do dentists still use a drill on teeth. There are some functions fingers cannot perform, so for those we invent tools. Pointing is not such a function.

 

[RQPS]

It seriously looks just like a big iPod Touch. I really hope it's more than that.

Maybe the ipod touch is just a small less useful iPad

 

[kirk26]

Nah, save yourself some time and buy an iPad Mini that are already in stores.

 

[RQPS]

Nah, save yourself some time and buy an iPad Mini that are already in stores.

I actually already have an ipad mini (wi-fi) and an ipad mini (wi-fi + 3g)

 

[Ed91]

I read a wonderful article in realtion to the point you just made. It stated the iPad symbolises the end of the "geek era". No longer can tech savy geeks help people with their computer problems. No longer will average PC tech heads charge themselves out at £400 per day to fix user issues. Geeks smell the end. iPad shows that when a device is at a price point for the mass market and doesn't need an entire IT team to support it the end is neigh. That's why the geeks are up in arms about not bring able to spend 4 billable hours downloading drivers for a new printer. It's all over and thank-god for that.

When hot girls will be able to fix their own computter problems. The geeks are worried.

The geek will no longer be useful.

Being an IT Technician myself though more Mac Orientated - I completely agree.

As another IT Tech, I also agree. The end is nigh, but with any luck the prevalence of Microsoft will keep me employed for a while yet

 

[blackcrayon]

Nah, save yourself some time and buy an iPad Mini that are already in stores.

I was going to get a 17" MacBook Pro with a 1920 x 1200 screen, then i realized it's the exact same thing as a netbook with a 1024 x 600 screen. I can't imagine being able to do anything on a larger screen that can't already be done on a much smaller screen. In fact I'm replacing my iPod Touch with a .7 inch calculator watch

 

[crackbookpro]

This will mark the 1st time ever that I will be buying a first-gen from Apple.

The 32GB iPad w/3G is my first purchase. I am guessing a front-facing camera is coming in the second gen, which is really an item that I can not understand why Apple did not include. I guess, price point or development issues... who knows?

There are too many functions that the camera would add - that makes it absurd to not include.

I'll be buying the first-gen, but most likely selling it on ebay when they introduce the front-facing camera shortly thereafter...

 

[bretm]

Yes I'm getting one, I think it'll be great, but no way am I waiting in line. Waiting in line is what makes a fanboy a fanboy. Instead, I suggest getting a minimum wage part time job, working for a couple of weeks, and buying two with the extra money. It'll make both you and Steve Jobs happier in the long run. But mostly Steve Jobs.

Lol. Minimum wage for 2 weeks? You could maybe buy half of one after taxes and FICA, etc.

 

[mrzeve]

What are the chances they jailbreak the iPad to let you tether your iPhones internet connection with it?