Are Apple going to be able to hold the iPad back without hurting it?

[Don Kosak]

I don't like the various ports and connectors on the competition. I think in generation 2, they will remove most of these ports. I don't have a problem with my Desktop being plugged into a rats nest of cables. I think it sucks that I have to plug in 6-7 cables into my laptop. The last thing I want are cables for my iPhone or iPad. It's bad enough I need to plug the darn thing in to recharge it.

On a highly portable device, I'd want everything to be wireless. Bluetooth accessories, WiFi 802.11n (or better) to sync data with the cloud and stream video (in either direction).

I think the iPad is way ahead of the competing tablets on that front.

A brief word on Blueray: After migrating from Beta to VHS, VHS to LaserDisc, LaserDisc to DVD... I stopped. I've ripped my favorite movies, and stream new ones from NetFlix, or Xfinity. A Blueray drive is a negative on any gear for me. It's just money down the drain on already obsolete technology.

Tech moves quickly, I have two $900 Pioneer 300 Disc DVD carousels I'm trying to unload for next to nothing, and no one wants them. Blueray gear is just a few years away from the same fate.

 

[Piggie]

I don't like the various ports and connectors on the competition. I think in generation 2, they will remove most of these ports. I don't have a problem with my Desktop being plugged into a rats nest of cables. I think it sucks that I have to plug in 6-7 cables into my laptop. The last thing I want are cables for my iPhone or iPad. It's bad enough I need to plug the darn thing in to recharge it.

On a highly portable device, I'd want everything to be wireless. Bluetooth accessories, WiFi 802.11n (or better) to sync data with the cloud and stream video (in either direction).

I think the iPad is way ahead of the competing tablets on that front.

A brief word on Blueray: After migrating from Beta to VHS, VHS to LaserDisc, LaserDisc to DVD... I stopped. I've ripped my favorite movies, and stream new ones from NetFlix, or Xfinity. A Blueray drive is a negative on any gear for me. It's just money down the drain on already obsolete technology.

Tech moves quickly, I have two $900 Pioneer 300 Disc DVD carousels I'm trying to unload for next to nothing, and no one wants them. Blueray gear is just a few years away from the same fate.

But you could be dead in 2 years time, why wait 2 years before you can enjoy 1080p quality?

Enjoy it now, and then in 2 years move on to what's around then.

Live for today, not wait for tomorrow.

I agree about Wireless. And would love Wireless charging (which Apple won't yet offer us) and Wireless Syncing (which Apple banned after someone got it working)

The problem is, in the REAL world you need to deal with real people, and real people have a variety of different equipment.

I could be somewhere with my iPad and someone hands me an important file on their USB thumb drive, sorry I say, I can't read that. My iPad cannot accept a USB drive.

No worry he says, We can use a PC, Sorry I say, I can only sync with my PC back at Home as the iPad it locked to one PC only.

That's the real world we live in.

I've love it if everyone was wireless and using the latest kit, but they are not.

 

[poloponies]

As I've said before it's naive to think that Apple is holding back features for emotional or spiteful reasons. Their decision-making is exceedingly complex. Consumers think about the "now" but Apple has to look out for its future - and that doesn't mean "holding back" features so it can trickle them out over time.

Any new product that Apple introduces, including the iPad, has to expand on Apple's offerings and provide for future profitability. The iPad obviously fills a niche but, as is often the case (and a function of human nature) it elicits cries of "but if it only did a little bit more then it could replace my notebook, or desktop or home theater." Sure, all that is technologically possible, but it's also a huge business misstep.

Apple will undoubtedly keep improving the iPad for as long as it remains a viable revenue stream.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

As long as there's several million people willing to be told what to buy, the iPad will sell. That's been the strategy for a couple years now and it seems to have worked.

This is the brilliance of Steve Jobs, he has an incredible ability to build a massive cult like following.

People who listen to his every word, as though he is the anointed one. They worship every move he makes, and buy every product his company builds. No longer choosing to think for themselves they simply do what he says, use what he sells, and go out of their way to defend him and the company at all costs. According to them, Jobs and Apple can do no wrong. It's an amazing spectacle to witness.

Here's an excerpt and a quote from an article I came across today about Steve Jobs:

When asked which company is the most threatening, Wu has a ready answer: “Right now, I’d have to say Apple… Steve Jobs has the charisma, vision, and instincts of every great information emperor. The man who helped create the personal computer 40 years ago is probably the leading candidate to help exterminate it. His vision has an undeniable appeal, but he wants too much control.”

source http://goo.gl/QkIDZ



"

 

[poloponies]

Here's another Apple quote:

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:AAPL

 

[BaldiMac]

This is the brilliance of Steve Jobs, he has an incredible ability to build a massive cult like following.

People who listen to his every word, as though he is the anointed one. They worship every move he makes, and buy every product his company builds. No longer choosing to think for themselves they simply do what he says, use what he sells, and go out of their way to defend him and the company at all costs. According to them, Jobs and Apple can do no wrong. It's an amazing spectacle to witness.

To paraphrase: "What I believe is not supported by reality, so someone must be messing with reality! And I have the strawmen (and fringe crazies) to prove it."

(It couldn't simply be that a large number of people appreciate the results of Apple's design philosophy and find value in their products and the way they work together, could it? Nah. Cult it is.)

 

[poloponies]

To paraphrase: "What I believe is not supported by reality, so someone must be messing with reality! And I have the strawmen (and fringe crazies) to prove it."

(It couldn't simply be that a large number of people appreciate the results of Apple's design philosophy and find value in their products and the way they work together, could it? Nah. Cult it is.)

There's a lot of the "to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail" going on here.

Of my friends with iPads - there are 6 or 7 in my immediate circle, including coworkers - I doubt more than one could pick Jobs out of a lineup; not one has ever sat through - nor been aware of - a product introduction keynote and few own any other Apple products (well, okay, nearly everyone with a college-age kid has purchased a MacBook in the last few years). What they all have in common is that they saw my iPad and "got it" - first conceptually, then they purchased it. It's the products that sell.

 

[Night Spring]

The problem is, in the REAL world you need to deal with real people, and real people have a variety of different equipment.

I could be somewhere with my iPad and someone hands me an important file on their USB thumb drive, sorry I say, I can't read that. My iPad cannot accept a USB drive.

No worry he says, We can use a PC, Sorry I say, I can only sync with my PC back at Home as the iPad it locked to one PC only.

Nope, if he has a PC, he can simply email the file to you. Now, if there's no PC around, then you have a point. Although, a jailbroken iPad with a camera connection kit can access the file system on a USB drive. Is Apple being pigheaded by not including this functionality as part of the regular iOS? Maybe. But *as of the moment* it's not hurting iPad sales. If the competition starts catching up, they'll probably rethink things.

As for the argument you or someone else made that a card reader slot wouldn't add any weight, sure it wouldn't add much weight, but it would add thickness. It would add bumps and depressions to the side of the iPad, which would rub against your palm as you're holding it. Right now I sometimes find it irritating when my hand brushes against the USB dock connector. Just imagine if there were more ports and slots for my hand to brush against. Each additional port or slot detracts from the smoothness of the overall user experience when holding the device. There's a real design advantage to keeping the number of ports at a minimum, even if the tradeoff is loss of functionality. Functionality, it turns out, that most people don't need that often. Most other manufacturers think that, if there is a chance you might need it, why not include it. Apple's philosophy is that, if you only use something once in a while, why not ditch it. If you don't agree with that philosophy, you shouldn't be buying Apple products, because you'd always find them lacking.

 

[Consultant]

Do you know

nerds did not see value in GUI or the mouse? Until Apple's version come along.
"consumers" did not see value in touchscreen devices? Until Apple's version come along.
etc.

 

[Carouser]

I could be somewhere with my iPad and someone hands me an important file on their USB thumb drive, sorry I say, I can't read that. My iPad cannot accept a USB drive.

What if they hand you an important file on a burned CD?

I think you have some responsibility to be prepared for 'important' situations. If someone is going to give you an 'important file' and you need to access it right away then maybe the iPad isn't what you should have brought with you? I can't imagine any real-world situation with these criteria:
(1) someone has an important file on USB for you
(2) you brought your iPad and there is no other computer anywhere around
(3) you have to access the file right away (they can't just e-mail it to you later or give you the USB drive)

People who listen to his every word, as though he is the anointed one. They worship every move he makes, and buy every product his company builds. No longer choosing to think for themselves they simply do what he says, use what he sells, and go out of their way to defend him and the company at all costs. According to them, Jobs and Apple can do no wrong. It's an amazing spectacle to witness.

It must be. I've never witnessed it, either online or in the real world. Where are all these people you are talking about? Why, it's almost like you've made them up to suit.

 

[Macbees]

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
— Henry Ford
HDMI is so yesterday.. The future is wireless, and apple have come out with the apple tv to address that.
Printing using airprint..
And the future is cloud computing .. Not USB flash drives ..etc.

I am of the opinion that the iPad IS ahead of its time... Not held back technologically and has been designed for what it was meant to be for.

I think all these people who are whining over the lack of slots ports are stuck in 'horse' mode..

 

[macabouttobe]

Great line of thinking! A little "alarmist" but very reasonable as the competition starts to try to chip away at their almost 100% market share!

 

[al2o3cr]

A serious question to all the folks in the "OMG IT NEEDS A CAMERAZ!!!!one!!!!" - how exactly is that supposed to work? A front-facing for FaceTime maybe, but a day barely goes by without seeing another poster asserting that the iPad is **** because it doesn't have a rear-facing camera. WTF? Have the people suggesting that ever *held* an iPad? It would be a terribly un-ergonomic thing to have to hold a 10" screen at arms' length long enough to compose a shot, never mind filming video...

 

[matt90036]

1-5 is what will make me swtich. just like i switched with ipods. it is just a matter of time before another company releases a quality product that can compete with ipads.

 

[Speedyparker87]

The thought of hdmi cables dangling out of an iPad just seems wrong. Airplay is all anyone will ever use.

I think the next big iPad OS release will incorporate a file system. With the popularity iPad's are seeing in the business world, I wouldn't be surprised if a USB port or sd card slot were added on iPad 2. Still, a USB port is nearly impossible to imagine.

 

[lilo777]

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
— Henry Ford
HDMI is so yesterday.. The future is wireless, and apple have come out with the apple tv to address that.
Printing using airprint..
And the future is cloud computing .. Not USB flash drives ..etc.

I am of the opinion that the iPad IS ahead of its time... Not held back technologically and has been designed for what it was meant to be for.

I think all these people who are whining over the lack of slots ports are stuck in 'horse' mode..

So, two pals with iPads meet and one wants to pass a file to another. How do you do this? I see, it's going to be possible in the future even though people were able to do this for decades. Something is really messed up. Besides, why to paid to the cloud for this simple transfer if one can do it locally?

The thought of hdmi cables dangling out of an iPad just seems wrong. Airplay is all anyone will ever use.

I think the next big iPad OS release will incorporate a file system. With the popularity iPad's are seeing in the business world, I wouldn't be surprised if a USB port or sd card slot were added on iPad 2. Still, a USB port is nearly impossible to imagine.

So, you visit your friend. You have a video on your iPad that you want to show on a big screen TV. It turns out your friend does not have ATV. What do you do? Carry ATV with you? Well, considering that Apple customers are used to carrying all kinds of adapters anyways , perhaps, it's not such a big deal but still... Why not to add a port? Is it about profits, ideology or something else?

 

[ezekielrage_99]

This thread reminds me of the good old articles about the very original iPod...

Gasp, shock, horror, no radio... Who would by an MP3 player without a radio, and why would you only want to use iTunes not Winamp.

The reason why in general Apple product succeed is they seem to do one thing very well not aim to do a bit of everything like other products. Did I buy a Diamond RIO, well yes, did I replace it within 12 months with a G2 iPod which lasted me 5 years, yes. A good product will usually sell well while a strong brand presence will ensure the product is popular.

This same idea works well with the iPad, it does what is does and pretty well... If you want/need flash, HDMI out and additional ports then you'd be rather dissapointed with the iPad, it's not the tool for the job you want.

Has Apple created something revolutionary? I think it could be if developed overtime as a new media device.

 

[Imsuperjp]

Bitch and complain all you want about Apple, but you cant deny that their products have not made their competition step up their game.

Ipods have changed made the mp3 player popular.
Itunes has changed the mp3 downloads.
All of these "iphone killers".
App stores were not popular before the iphone.
And now the Ipad has started the tablet competition.

So you may not like Apple, but alot of the stuff today might not be there if it were not for Apple.

 

[lilo777]

This thread reminds me of the good old articles about the very original iPod...

Gasp, shock, horror, no radio... Who would by an MP3 player without a radio, and why would you only want to use iTunes not Winamp.

The reason why in general Apple product succeed is they seem to do one thing very well not aim to do a bit of everything like other products. Did I buy a Diamond RIO, well yes, did I replace it within 12 months with a G2 iPod which lasted me 5 years, yes. A good product will usually sell well while a strong brand presence will ensure the product is popular.

This same idea works well with the iPad, it does what is does and pretty well... If you want/need flash, HDMI out and additional ports then you'd be rather dissapointed with the iPad, it's not the tool for the job you want.

Has Apple created something revolutionary? I think it could be if developed overtime as a new media device.

Then of course, Zune is a better music player than iPod and yet...

 

[SteveAbootman]

Just my two cents. There will always be a situation where the technology you have at your disposal is incompatible, or ill-suited for the job. No one can reasonably believe that one device should be able to handle every situation. If the iPad had HDMI out, you'd arrive somewhere that only had RGB and Component. If it had USB, you'd get files on a burned CD. This is just a reality.

The iPad is many things to many people, but to Apple they've clearly defined what the product is, what it's main functions are, and where it is headed. 3rd Party developers help squeeze a whole lot more out of it (see GoodReader, AirVideo, etc).

For anyone who is disillusioned by the lack of seemingly standard physical ports, drives, attachments, etc; this is not the vision of the company making it. It's a free market, and you can choose to vote with your wallet.

 

[bri1212]

Then of course, Zune is a better music player than iPod and yet...

Is it??? Not according something like 100 million people who voted with their wallet and bought the ipod.

 

[imacken]

Nope, if he has a PC, he can simply email the file to you.

Not if it's a large file. Just not practical. Most of my email accounts have a 10Mb limit on attachments.

 

[imacken]

AirPrint works with almost any printer, Apple pulled it due to patent trolling which is completely out of their control. You only need to modify three files to get it working on a Mac. And Windows will probably get a utility app that some developer out there will write that does AirPrint for them and is compatible with AirPrint.

Already done on Windows, too.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1047779/

 

[BergerFan]

This last bit you wrote is really all I ask.

As I said (from experience) Steve Jobs for reasons other than those he publicly says decides not to give customers things as he can make more money from Apple by doing so.

He is a businessman, so I cannot blame him for that, and I know most businessmen lie to customers to put the company's interests first.

I just hope the iPad does not suffer due to things like this, and Apple feel forced to offer the customers more, due to the competition also offering customers extra's.

I feel the iPad is going to look out or date before it gets a revamp.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect the 2011 iPad to get much of n update, just a few tweaks and the camera's.

By 2012 the competition will have moved forward quite a bit, so then in the time iPad3 that Apple really needs to move to stamp their mark again.

The iPad has so much mindshare, it's incredible.
In 8 short months, 'iPad', like 'ipod' & 'iphone' have transcended the techsphere. Average joes and your dear aunt Betty have a pretty good idea of what an iPad is, and it'll be their first and probably only choice, when evaluating a tablet purchase.
Readers of MacRumors, Engadget, Gizmodo, cnet, etc are the overwhelming minority here. The other 99% of the population have no idea what a Galaxy Tab is, nevermind a Notion Ink Adam, Archos, or JooJoo(lol).
Like the iPhone, the first iPad is the revolution. The next two, I predict, will be iterative. That's how Apple rolls. It means we have to wait, but I guess you can't reinvent the wheel every year.

 

[Night Spring]

So, two pals with iPads meet and one wants to pass a file to another. How do you do this? I see, it's going to be possible in the future even though people were able to do this for decades. Something is really messed up. Besides, why to paid to the cloud for this simple transfer if one can do it locally?

Someone could probably write an app like Bump to do this. Maybe Bump itself would eventually include this function. And you can always email each other, or use a free cloud service, if it's too big to email. And yes, people may have been able to do this for decades on computers, but the iPad is a multitouch tablet. Apple chose to write a touch based operating system from the ground up, and as a result, a lot of the functions that were available for decades on computers aren't there in iOS, and are slowly being added. Remember, at the beginning there was no cut and paste! We are finally sort of getting printing.

As for USB file transfer, the hardware for this is already there, in the form of the camera kit. That we can't use the camera kit to swap files has to do with Apple's policy of locking down the iOS file system. If you want this functionality, just jailbreak. Apple isn't going to give it to you.