HP TouchPad?

[-Ken-]

PreCentral and WebOSroundup

 

[DiamondMac]

Touch-Pad and Galaxy tablets look interesting yet are 2-3 versions away from being legitimate tablets to get, imo.

Not a bad start for either but when you are up against the iPad2....it just isnt even close for most (not all, I admit)

 

[-Ken-]

Have you used a TouchPad? Specifically one someone actually purchased? The demo units do not reflect reality.

 

[erawsd]

If those demo units are running unstable software, shouldn't HP do something about it? Many people (myself included) have or will experience WebOS for the first time on those units and walk away with a first impression that is not easy to break. You don't need an Apple marketing super team to know that is tragic for business.

 

[bowlerman625]

If those demo units are running unstable software, shouldn't HP do something about it? Many people (myself included) have or will experience WebOS for the first time on those units and walk away with a first impression that is not easy to break. You don't need an Apple marketing super team to know that is tragic for business.

Great point! They should have these units run the best of the best! I played with the demo unit at Best Buy...and I can say my purchased TouchPad does seem to perfom better than the one I tested on display...........

 

[AppleGoddess]

The strive is nicer played with both.

 

[MassacrMan]

Display units are always worse than what you buy, it's bogged down by a bunch of random crap people have downloaded onto it and left running. But, that's quite easy to fix. Just close everything in the insanely awesome multi-tasking screen and your back to being smooth as butter.

 

[radiogoober]

Display units are always worse than what you buy, it's bogged down by a bunch of random crap people have downloaded onto it and left running. But, that's quite easy to fix. Just close everything in the insanely awesome multi-tasking screen and your back to being smooth as butter.

Hahaahahahah. I've never had to close anything on my iPad to make it run faster. That's hilarious. So primitive!!!

 

[MassacrMan]

Hahaahahahah. I've never had to close anything on my iPad to make it run faster. That's hilarious. So primitive!!!

That's because on an iPad, tasks in the background are not actually running. They sit there idle until you re-open that app from the multi-tasking bar.

As for the TouchPad, everything is actually running in real time in the background. Hence why you can zoom out to the multi-tasking screen but still have that YouTube video you were watching still play in the smaller window.

It's not primitive, it's a new way to do multi-tasking in a much more effective way than Apple is at the moment.

 

[radiogoober]

That's because on an iPad, tasks in the background are not actually running. They sit there idle until you re-open that app from the multi-tasking bar.

As for the TouchPad, everything is actually running in real time in the background. Hence why you can zoom out to the multi-tasking screen but still have that YouTube video you were watching still play in the smaller window.

It's not primitive, it's a new way to do multi-tasking in a much more effective way than Apple is at the moment.

If by "much more effective" you mean "much more inefficient" then I agree with you.

Why, on earth, do I need a game, an app, stocks, weathers, or whatever, running the BACKGROUND? It's brilliant to effectively suspend an app that isn't doing anything. Any app that I need to actually run in the background (ie, GPS, or satellite radio streaming, iPod, etc) all run fine in the background. This is why iPad can have multitasking and still have incredible battery life. It's why iPad doesn't have have to have third party memory managers and crap like that.

Apple was brilliant in designing multitasking this way.

 

[Carouser]

If you are looking at a home screen for constant updates then you aren't doing work. If you're checking your home screen every 5 minutes to see if the weather is updated, you're not being very productive. You get audibles for e-mails and a ring for a phone call, so what do widgets provide in the way of workflow?

I don't get this at all, it seems to me that productive users delimit their time spent handling e-mails, and they actually handle them, i.e. clear out their inbox, send replies, do actionable things, and do this at specific points during the day. They then go on to do other things (whether talking to clients in person, or working on documents in Word, for example). They don't prop up a home screen watching numbers flash around. If you're some social networking wizard using Twitter you can get your alerts through that, and the notifications in iOS 5 seem to solve any problems anyway. Being able to have a YouTube video playing in a reduced window while checking the weather is eye candy - which is fine, but I don't see how this 'helps' anybody. I'm open to arguments.

 

[MassacrMan]

If you are looking at a home screen for constant updates then you aren't doing work. If you're checking your home screen every 5 minutes to see if the weather is updated, you're not being very productive. You get audibles for e-mails and a ring for a phone call, so what do widgets provide in the way of workflow?

I don't get this at all, it seems to me that productive users delimit their time spent handling e-mails, and they actually handle them, i.e. clear out their inbox, send replies, do actionable things, and do this at specific points during the day. They then go on to do other things (whether talking to clients in person, or working on documents in Word, for example). They don't prop up a home screen watching numbers flash around. If you're some social networking wizard using Twitter you can get your alerts through that, and the notifications in iOS 5 seem to solve any problems anyway. Being able to have a YouTube video playing in a reduced window while checking the weather is eye candy - which is fine, but I don't see how this 'helps' anybody. I'm open to arguments.

You do have a very good point there, it is eye candy. ( I think the Playbook does the same thing, wondering if HP might consider a suit against RIM because that design looks way way too similar to WebOS ).

But, isn't eye candy what normal users like to see? A UI that pops and wows the user every time they perform an action. With the introduction of multi-finger gestures in iOS5 for the iPad, I think that will definitely help with the "wow factor" of the OS.

 

[dgree03]

If you are looking at a home screen for constant updates then you aren't doing work. If you're checking your home screen every 5 minutes to see if the weather is updated, you're not being very productive. You get audibles for e-mails and a ring for a phone call, so what do widgets provide in the way of workflow?

I don't get this at all, it seems to me that productive users delimit their time spent handling e-mails, and they actually handle them, i.e. clear out their inbox, send replies, do actionable things, and do this at specific points during the day. They then go on to do other things (whether talking to clients in person, or working on documents in Word, for example). They don't prop up a home screen watching numbers flash around. If you're some social networking wizard using Twitter you can get your alerts through that, and the notifications in iOS 5 seem to solve any problems anyway. Being able to have a YouTube video playing in a reduced window while checking the weather is eye candy - which is fine, but I don't see how this 'helps' anybody. I'm open to arguments.

I think your talking about widgets.

If you are, and you are a modern computer user of this age, I do not see HOW you are not able to see advantages of having information presented to you upon unlocking your screen. By not having to click on Twitter, Facebook, GMail, and Weatherbug I can see all that information AT ONCE without having to dig into each app. If I want MORE information, I then have the option of clicking and opening that app.

Sure it might save seconds, but those seconds add up. The same reason why tabbed browsing is so important now. Or why we have apps that save notes or whatever... they are all little timesavers that add to the experience.

 

[Carouser]

You do have a very good point there, it is eye candy. . . . But, isn't eye candy what normal users like to see? A UI that pops and wows the user every time they perform an action.

Ok, then people demanding this can be up front and say they want these features because they look kewl, not for any productivity reasons. Also, this novelty wears off quickly and becomes 'invisible' to the user. I'd rather judge a tablet based on criteria such as what it lets me accomplish, ease of use, simplicity and elegance in interaction, than whether I go 'ooh' after early and initial use. I do understand that people who favour competitors' tablets have other standards than mine.

EDIT:

I think your talking about widgets.

If you are, and you are a modern computer user of this age, I do not see HOW you are not able to see advantages of having information presented to you upon unlocking your screen. By not having to click on Twitter, Facebook, GMail, and Weatherbug I can see all that information AT ONCE without having to dig into each app. If I want MORE information, I then have the option of clicking and opening that app.

Sure it might save seconds, but those seconds add up. The same reason why tabbed browsing is so important now. Or why we have apps that save notes or whatever... they are all little timesavers that add to the experience.

Seeing that information all at once doesn't do anything for me, because sooner or later I am going to open those apps anyway. What kind of decision is made looking at all those bits of information in concert? If you are important enough to rely on some of those apps, you will be opening them regularly (if you have any workflow sense at all); otherwise they are opened at one's leisure. There is no crucial need for the simultaneous display of snippets of increasing info beyond visual and audible alerts. You've just restated that 'wow you can look at it all at once and then make a decision' but nobody needs to make those decisions. The wasted time is actually in looking at all of that stuff and then deciding what if anything to open. Do you have any professional experience in human-computer interaction?

I get the weather through the radio and window, and I need to check it from my computer only maybe three times a day, max. I don't know who is living in a climate or under demands which require more than that.

Twitter and Facebook are either leisure reading (for me) or crucial (for those in industries where they are relevant). If they are leisure, I can check the Apps once or twice a day, and set them up for e-mail alerts. If they are crucial, then their users should have better workflow than opening a lock screen at random and saying 'anything new?' Seeing Facebook and Twitter updates (and Weather and Gmail too!) in conjunction doesn't solve any problem which I can think of. What problem does it solve? Give me an example.

Most of this can be routed through e-mail, anyway, which means you get visuals and audibles, can use filters to handle important and non-important things, and can automate much of it.

 

[dgree03]

Ok, then people demanding this can be up front and say they want these features because they look kewl, not for any productivity reasons. Also, this novelty wears off quickly and becomes 'invisible' to the user. I'd rather judge a tablet based on criteria such as what it lets me accomplish, ease of use, simplicity and elegance in interaction, than whether I go 'ooh' after early and initial use. I do understand that people who favour competitors' tablets have other standards than mine.

EDIT:



Seeing that information all at once doesn't do anything for me, because sooner or later I am going to open those apps anyway. What kind of decision is made looking at all those bits of information in concert? If you are important enough to rely on some of those apps, you will be opening them regularly (if you have any workflow sense at all); otherwise they are opened at one's leisure. There is no crucial need for the simultaneous display of snippets of increasing info beyond visual and audible alerts. You've just restated that 'wow you can look at it all at once and then make a decision' but nobody needs to make those decisions. The wasted time is actually in looking at all of that stuff and then deciding what if anything to open. Do you have any professional experience in human-computer interaction?

I get the weather through the radio and window, and I need to check it from my computer only maybe three times a day, max. I don't know who is living in a climate or under demands which require more than that.

Twitter and Facebook are either leisure reading (for me) or crucial (for those in industries where they are relevant). If they are leisure, I can check the Apps once or twice a day, and set them up for e-mail alerts. If they are crucial, then their users should have better workflow than opening a lock screen at random and saying 'anything new?' Seeing Facebook and Twitter updates (and Weather and Gmail too!) in conjunction doesn't solve any problem which I can think of. What problem does it solve? Give me an example.

Most of this can be routed through e-mail, anyway, which means you get visuals and audibles, can use filters to handle important and non-important things, and can automate much of it.

Gosh, so short sighted... here are some examples of widget usage.

Wife: It is very hot outside, I wonder what the temp is

Without a Weather Widget:
Me: Pull out Ipad, unlock ipad, scroll to weather app, wait for it to load and update weather info. Its about 98 degrees.

With a Weather widget:
Pull out Ipad, Unlock, Scroll and visually see that it say its 98 degrees directly on the app icon. No need to click in the app, and wait for it to load


Me: I wonder who is on (insert instant Messaging client)

Without IM widget:
Unlock ipad, scroll to app and open, wait for loading, then be able to tell who is on

With:
UNlock ipad, I can see my who contacts list and see who is or isnt on, without opening the app. If I need to contact someone, I can click there name and the app and a IM window opens.

I can go on and on.. but you get the point. Again it is about ease of use. Like I stated, this is why tabbed browsing is better than have a million windows open.

 

[MassacrMan]

In short, it shortens the amount of steps that need to be taken to get to a piece of information you are interested in.

Simple as that.

 

[radiogoober]

In short, it shortens the amount of steps that need to be taken to get to a piece of information you are interested in.

Simple as that.

It's hilarious you act like widgets save time and yet you spend all day on these forums

 

[h4keem]

I am a dedicated iPad 2 User but I have to say the touchpad impresses me a lot. Web OS is awesome and I love how it all links with your mobile phone etc.. However I always find myself coming back to the iPad.. Overall a great product and by far in my opinion the best direct competitor to the iPad 2.

 

[MassacrMan]

It's hilarious you act like widgets save time and yet you spend all day on these forums

They do save time, and how does my time spent on a forum have ANYTHING to do with widgets?

 

[Carouser]

Gosh, so short sighted

tut tut my goodness yes so short sighted, if only I take a longer view as you do, to look past what people actually write in order to see the total nonsense inscribed on some distant horizon

Wife: It is very hot outside, I wonder what the temp is

[snipped horrendous labour of jabbing an app for the missus]

That's funny, if only I had said "There is no crucial need for the simultaneous display of snippets of increasing info beyond visual and audible alerts". A badge with the temp counts as a visual alert BUT WAIT THATS A WIDGET . I wonder very very hard if this is included in iOS 5.

Anyway, I was asking for examples where you need to see multiple streams at once and determine which among them is actionable. Telling your old lady what the temp is (it's hot, that's what the temp is) is not the pressing productivity demand people say widgets are indispensable for, and increased productivity granted by widgets is what I was arguing against.

The minor gains in time are statistically insignificant when we look at people's work habits and the losses they incur in other areas when using these devices. I take you have no familiarity with human-computer interaction, as I asked earlier?

Me: I wonder who is on (insert instant Messaging client)

Without IM widget:
Unlock ipad, scroll to app and open, wait for loading, then be able to tell who is on

With:
UNlock ipad, I can see my who contacts list and see who is or isnt on, without opening the app. If I need to contact someone, I can click there name and the app and a IM window opens.

What, you mean see if someone is on and go in and blab about nothing? This is being penny wise and pound foolish with your time. If you need to contact someone, you need to contact them, or its not really that important, and you can send them a message anyway.

It's cool if someone wants widgets, I'm not arguing against them, or minor advances in interactions. I'm arguing against the idea that widgets are a super-valuable resource, that the only way to solve your supposed problems is through your idea of widgets, and that they save any kind of statistically significant time.

EDIT: Just to hammer home the point, those seconds do not add up, they are washed away in the moments people zone out, or are distracted by others, or would be obliterated by typing faster, or by checking things less often to begin with because firing up a home screen to watch some numbers dance is for people who have too much time, not a lack of it.

 

[radiogoober]

They do save time, and how does my time spent on a forum have ANYTHING to do with widgets?

Because the "time saving" examples of 1. checking the weather and 2. chatting online are completely ridiculous.

Do you know how many times my wife, or anyone in the entire world, has asked me the precise temperature? Zero. In my entire life I've never needed to know the precise temperature. lol. And in the off-chance that it ever matters if its 105' (which I would say is "hot"), I could load a stupid weather app.

Also, chatting online: Wow. So it would save you 1 second that you in turn will waste anyways chatting with people online. Forgive me for not being sympathetic to you. I haven't IMed anyone since I was in high school. I'm 30 now.

What's laughable is using these meant-for-children widgets as examples of time savers, and yet you Android users have all day long to troll around on a Mac forum and defend your second-rate gear.

 

[lilcosco08]

Hahaahahahah. I've never had to close anything on my iPad to make it run faster. That's hilarious. So primitive!!!

That's because the iPad doesn't have full multitasking. That's hilarious. So primitive!!!

 

[andyroochoo]

give me a 7 inch touchpad with 3G and i'm sold, I agree with the poster that mentioned the buld quality of the original pre, ive read that the touchpad is very 1.0 and the build quality is naff.

Would I buy one? probably, if the price was right but it would have to be cheaper than a base iPad 2 as I have lots of bought apps, We are locked in!!!

 

[MRU]

The lack of 3rd party dev support (excluding PreWare homebrew) is what will kill the touchpad.

I have owned both the Pre and Pre 2 (alongside an iphone) and its clear that despite the promise of a great operating system - it means nothing without decent App support (GLOBALLY).

HP & Palm failed to entice European operators to back the Pre in any great form and its clear on its localized App store the amount of choice is utterly pitiful.

I see no further strides to improve this with the Touchpad, and with Veer and the forthcoming Pre 3 not making any impression or looking like they will with European carriers there is little hope that a tidal wave of quality apps will hit WebOS.3 guaranteeing that it will NEVER rise to its potential. In fact I see little evidence that HP's involvement has improved webOS's chances of success or survival.

After spending €800 on the two Pre device (handsets) and witnessing the woeful support and lack-lustre app store for way too long, I will not be investing ANY thing more into WebOS as reviews have done nothing to inspire me that this great vacuum on which a device sinks or swims has been plugged.

A nice OS hampered entirely by half hearted hardware design and piss poor app support and no real carrier momentum to drive the device into consumers hands.

 

[andyroochoo]

cant argue with the lack of apps but if i were to get one for next to nothing i would purely use to to browse the web and check email.

it has come too late and while i have a pre i use now and again, i only use it for voice and sms.