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

[DaBrain]

Still no Flash eh?

Will the Web Browser allow Java Script for things like on line games? My elderly Parent plays Pogo All the time and this would suit her perfectly. At her age she gets too confused on a computer.

Anyone know?

 

[restricter]

Whether you want to believe it or not, this is a Kindle-killer and it's engineered towards the people who have long commutes. I see them every day, listening to their iPods and reading their Kindles. This is a great alternative -- everything in one place, plus the ability to (heaven forbid) get a little work done during your commute. This is a middle-aged person's dream toy.

It does beg the question of why you'd need an iPhone too, though.

 

[MrCrowbar]

I can picture buying this and using it exclusively in the bathroom while I go number two...

Well, you still have to hold it with both hands because laying it flat on the floor will give you an awkward reading angle and the titles will scratch the metal back. Any laptop is better IMO.

 

[derek1984]

I'm put off by Apple right now.

I am begining to learn that it's a company that think's it too good for everybody else and is overly confident.

From the controlled leaks, their use of AT&T, and the fact that they purposely hold back on technology (front facing camera on iPad), I'm really put off by the way they are run.

For the benefit of the consumer, I really hope this flops. They need a wakeup call and to be dropped down a level or two.

 

[Chevenowner]

Apple Taking The Piss

Steve Jobs says, “A device in this middle category must be better to browse the web better than a laptop or it will fail.” How can this device be better at browsing the web if it can not even use Adobe’s flash, which is used on so many popular websites. If the iPad is supposed have the best web browsing experience out there, how can it not be flash enabled? I guess we can forget about watching HuLu.

 

[trrosen]

Important Fact

Everything we are seeing is in the new SDK.

THAT IS THE 3.2 SDK!!

Think what we might see in 4.0.........

 

[iMaconApple]

To me this is more of a iPod touch just bigger..i wanted a cam but I guess apple didn't want that..maybe someone will make a small cam to plug on the 30pin dock..might not get this now that it don't have a cam it's 2010.. japan has been doing mobile video chats for some time now ..now let's see what iPhone 4G has for us......

 

[Gauthic]

Simply because nobody reads books in 16:9 format. 16:9 is great for movies and TV, but doesn't work all that well for everything else

I totally agree. Movie watching is a secondary function at best for this device.

 

[IzzyReal]

Ok... after thinking about it for a few minutes I have decided that I am slightly disappointed with the iPad. It seems to me that it was released without some very obvious features that, had they been included, would have made the iPad absolutely the hottest thing on the market. Those things are (in order of importance to me):

1. Forward facing camera
2. Native printing
3. Multitasking

Each one of those items, by itself, would practically double the value of the iPad! What possible reason can Apple have (other than saving things for the iPad 2.0... which is LAME) for NOT including these basic features?!? Especially the camera!! The iPhone has a camera so why not the iPad!?!

I am torn between buying the iPad now, and waiting till version 2.0 comes out with at least a camera.

On the positive side, the iPad is priced $100 lower than I was expecting and I think that it could replace my macbook for my mobile computing (it would certainly make my book bag more manageable). Also, having prepaid 3G wireless is brilliant (even with AT&T)! I just REAAAAALLY wish it had a camera and native printing!

Edit: The iPad also need a stylus. It's not a deal-breaker like the other three features I mentioned, but I can think of a lot of ways that a stylus could make apps more useful. On the other hand, it would be irritating if people made apps that required you to have the stylus... so maybe it is a good thing that the iPad does not have one.

 

[JrMac]

typical first generation product

Apple has done this before. The first generation iPod was expensive and had few features. The iPod now dominates. The iPhone's progression is much the same. There is an intentional omission of features here, but at a $499 entry price, these will sell. Even the top of the range is below the anticipated $1,000 price.

 

[floatingspirit]

Have to say I'm not interested. If I needed a netbook, I might be, but I was more interested to see if the AT&T deathgrip would be loosened. Service is getting worse instead of better, and as much as I love my iPhone, I'll be having to get rid of it and move to a better carrier that can provide service where I am. One part of me is hoping that the 3G version of this device sells really well so it can fully bring AT&T's network to its knees, forcing them to get the service up to speed.

Here here! Down with the death grip!! I was dieing to hear that too

 

[gctwnl]

This is a giant iPhone, there's no other way to put it. You can love it, you can hate it but in the end it is a giant iPhone.
Not revolutionary at all.

It isn't. It is more like a giant iPod touch. You see, the G3 is data-only, no voice.

This thing won't cannibalize iPhone too much because it is no phone.

Too bad. I was hoping for some phone functionality that I could use via a bluetooth headset with voice commands so i could leave the pad in my bag and use it as a phone without taking it out. Such a gadget could als o act as an antitheft device (warning from the bluetooth headset when you get out of range - read: somebody stole my pad).

Add ssh or Server Admin tools and I could use it to do remote sysadmin stuff.

 

[Frosties]

Also saw this:

* Wi-Fi models shipping in late March.
* 3G models shipping in April.

Fun product.

 

[wacomme]

My Concern

How do I type a research paper and browse the internet page to do the research simultaneously? How do I save and access iwork documents? How do I attach these documents to emails? These are all valid questions I don't feel like can be answered by this device.

This is my concern as well.

 

[kgiglio2]

Your parents will throw this thing at you the second they try typing on the virtual keyboard.

I think most parents have just as a difficult a time typing on a physical keyboard...

 

[Lesser Evets]

So what was this Apple Invitation all about?

That was something someone cobbled in a phit oph photoshop precognitive imagination.

That wasn;t an actual invitation sent out.

 

[spydr]

If there is no way to upgrade the memory capacity, then I'd have to pass. That's fine on an iphone/ipod, but for something that is attempting to be more of a in-between laptopesque device, i think you need way more storage or some way to expand the storage.

I think 64GB will be plenty for me... I mean for any given moment. You can always shuffle things up differently while you sync, so I don't imagine it being a limitation yet.

 

[tkermit]

I can't wait till they make a pocket version of it.......

haha Maybe with added telephone functionality ?

 

[stil29]

Not bad... really!!

It's an iPod touch, more accurately, with 3G capability. Lacking a camera, lacking a decent screen - sorry Apple, but in today's HD world, anything less than a 10.1" 1280x720 screen on such a device is basically unacceptable, really. No mic either, so much for Skype or VoIP usage - of course the headphone jack might support that but, it doesn't say anything in the specs.

1024x768... good lord. And here I am dictating this reply on my 7 year old Toshiba M205 Tablet PC - yes, dictating it with the built in field array microphones with a 1400x1050 LCD.

And sticking it to buyers again with no expansion or an SD card slot which pretty much every other damned device in the same concept/class has had for years. Want more space? PAY US FOR IT. Pretty lame, Apple.

Oh well, we can already start expecting stuff in iPad 2.0 I suppose.

Lackluster at best, for me. Been using tablets for well over a decade and I had higher hopes for this... I'll chalk it up to being a 1.0 version and see what transpires.

Ok so it's not what everyone hyped. It is an LED screen, an ereader, a good gaming platform and great light tablet to take notes in class I think this could revolutionize education. Think big guys!! I'm buying mine the 32gb model wifi only as my city is a college campus off shoot and most businesses have wifi free.

 

[alexf]

Feeling a bit underwhelmed, especially after hearing the quote about Steve Jobs mentioning that this is the "most important thing he's ever done."

Beautiful device indeed and impressive technology, but basically just a large version of the iPod touch. Hardly "revolutionary," since the iPhone/iPod Touch has been on the market for awhile now...

We'll see if this product really does become a hot seller outside of the Apple fan community, and people with a lot of extra cash to spend on something that they don't really need... part of me doubts that there really is much of a market.

Anyway, I don't want to sound like a troll, as this really is a gorgeous device (just - IMO - not anywhere proportional to the hype).

Once again, nice going Apple! Keep on engineering beautiful and intuitive products...

 

[Small White Car]

Go read what he wrote. Look it up. Then try to comprehend.

It may be difficult at first, but post here if you have trouble. We can help.

LOL

I'm not the one who thought "file system" meant he was talking about cloud storage.

They were clearly talking about a navigable directory. You know how Windows has Explorer and Mac OS X has a Finder? The iPhone and iPad don't have those. In other words, you have to use the Photo-app to view your photos. You can't just browse the hard drive to find the JPEG file like you could on a laptop.

The one poster was saying that's a good thing as there's no real reason to browse the hard drive. As long as the Photo-app can find the photo, why do you want to go manually searching for it?

NONE of that has anything to do with wireless signals.

So please explain to me how losing wifi has any bearing on that conversation. I'm not seeing it.

 

[decimortis]

Crap.

I said I'd eat my shoe if it was called the iPad. I'm a man of my word, now how the hell am I going to eat a shoe?

 

[a.gomez]

my uncle bought a netbook so he could surf the web and do online banking... 2 month later he has Microsoft Office, Quickbooks and turbo tax on it, a 120 gig drive and an extra battery. I really think some people are underestimating what people end up using a netbook for.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

Exactly what many said about Apple in early 1998.

www.pandora.com

I don't see what flash offers that other non-plugin technologies don't. You can accomplish any UI that Flash can do with javascript now, and it is easier to integrate with your web application. Flash is good for video, there are ways to get us out of the Flash video quagmire too.

It's a tack-on technology that was useful when browsers weren't as capable as they are now.

 

[surferfromuk]

http://www.apple.com/ipad/#video


Watch the video - even if you have a Macbook Pro, you will want!! It's fricking awesome!