QUOTE=sapporobaby;11532474]The iPad as currently marketed by Apple does not fit your definition of the future.Kit? Sounds a bit newbie to me but okay and as for lenses, unless they have a gold ring, they are for the enthusiasts. Kits are generally sold to people new photography but for the sake of argument you have a kit. Anyway, lets move along shall we?
Please do. I quit hanging aut on photo forums about a decade ago.
I was talking about your future. From all the marketing, press releases, etc... the iPad in its current form plus a few additions here and there is how Apple plans to position it in the future. Why make it into a full on laptop device when the Air is positioned for this. It seems that this is lost on you. I have an iPad and a new 11 MBA and for me they are night and day. When I am traveling for pleasure, I bring only the iPad, but when I go to shoot and need to use Aperture or Lightroom, or something more robust, along comes the Air and the external HD. Surely (don't call me Shirley) you see the difference. The iPad is not meant to be a major production device. It is meant for content consumption. Apple positions it as such, it sells as such.
I think pretty much everyone here realizes that the iPad is not a laptop/desktop/supercomputer replacement. No need to belabor the obvious.
The point we have been trying to address is whether or not a backside camera would be a worthwhile addition to the iPad.
You seemed quite adamantly opposed to the idea seemingly on the grounds that any camera would not meet a professional photographers standards for image quality, and that using it would make you look funny. Was that your point, or did I misunderstand you?
My point is that a backside camera could be quite useful for "documentary" type type of snapshots to supplement the note taking abilities that are well within the useful range of production abilities that are currently available on the iPad.
I actually had not have thought a backside camera at all needed on the iPad until recently discovering Evernote, which opened up my eyes to some very interesting ways that the iPad could fit into peoples lives. An integrated camera would be a very useful feature to aid that use. Can you understand that?
Again, this is above the level of what anyone would reasonably expect from the iPad, and really doesn't have much to do with this thread.
As for competition, when has Apple been known to jump on a bandwagon because the competition did something. How many Apple devices have BluRay? The thing is, Apple does EXTENSIVE testing with focus groups to see what the average person within the bell curve wants. Yes, at the fringes people want an iPad with Retina Display, 1TB of storage, quad-core processors, etc... but for the average Joe the iPad is right in the sweet spot. If the iPad is not to your liking you always have the competition to run to.
Well, we'll see what they do.
A low-res backside camera really has not much in common with the technologically unrealistic "fringe" examples you listed ... now does it?
Switching is of course always an option for everyone.
I quite like mine, and am looking forward to future improved versions.
Hummmm ... messed up quotes ..
Seems to still get the point across well enough (like a low a low-res camera)[/QUOTE]
Sorry for the delay. Had to sleep. Okay, I will try to answer now, and I may even give your quotes repair a go.
After using the Galaxy Tablet for a bit and the back camera as well, even at 7 inches, the handling of the camera is quite awkward and as far as I am concerned to difficult to be useful. Many times companies will throw a ton of hardware at you when they have no hardware to back it up. Nokia is a classic example. They have great hardware but their software is absolute crap, which leads to a crappy user experience. This is not the case with Apple. They have proven time and time again that they can provide a stellar user experience with outstanding hardware and middle of the road hardware. Again, several will find having a back camera useful, many more might not. As you said, time will tell. By the way, I too am an Evernote user and see it as an okay app but for me it is not life altering. But if it work for you, cool.
P.S. I don't hang out much in camera forums but I do visit from time to time to stay abreast of what's new.