I'm sorry, I was unaware that my opening comment had to be funny.
Only when you try for humor and fail. It sets a tone immediately, that people who use the device are idiots and that it is a toy. As I said, it does not bode well for the balance. You were biased and dismissive from the start.
It seems fairly clear that you don't see the point because you don't
want to see the point, protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.
Also, it's not about the extent of the notetaking. You want to be able to catch as much of what the presenter is saying, and if you're pecking at virtual keys you'll miss more of the presentation than if you just bang a couple bullets out on a real keyboard.
And what's stopping you from using a real keyboard? Then not only do you get to type, but you can leave the keyboard behind for those many occasions when you're
not seated at a table and want to type a quick note or look something up or catch up on some reading.
You pretend the lack of a clamshell configuration and foldaway keyboard is an unmitigated negative. It is not. Having something you can hold in your hand or rest against anything has proven to be hugely convenient for many people, myself included.
Flash is the current standard for web-based multimedia consumption. It's that simple. I don't want to encounter a situation where I am unable to view something, important or not
I'll ask again, what scenario is that? Because as I understand it, you're talking about a device meant to be useful in places where full-fledged computers aren't. No device=no Flash, and you can view it when you get back to a computer somewhere, just like you'd do without a tablet.
If your expectation is a 1:1 recreation of a desktop computer in a portable format, such a device already exists: a notebook.
Maybe my idea of "the best user experience" is everything working seamlessly, not being able to not charge for a week.
And maybe your idea of "the best user experience" isn't shared by everyone.
I already answered that in the post you quoted. It doesn't fit in my pocket.
That doesn't answer anything. Why does an iPad
need an
additional carrying case beyond what you'd already be carrying?
Of course a cheaper car does the same job. But no other car does the job as well as an Audi. There may be faster cars, there may be safer cars, there may be more comfortable cars, and there may be better styled cars. But no car has a better mix of these elements than Audi does.
I see you're trying to draw an analogy between Audi and the iPad, and I avoided this in my post because it doesn't work.
No, what you see is that you are trying to avoid it in a conclusory manner. You don't see the point, therefore there can't
be a point is a self-defeating and circular argument.
I am not blown away by the iPad, either, but the truth is that there are faster devices, there are more full-featured devices, and there are more portable devices, but no device has a better mix of those elements than a tablet does.
...on top of that, there's no real gain. At least with a larger Audi, I get more space for people, cargo, headroom, shoulder room, what have you, plus a larger engine and more features (nav, etc).
There is a real gain. You get more space for text, images, controls, what have you, plus a larger battery. You only get a larger engine in the car because it weighs more--there is substantial overlap throughout the line. The same is true of features--most everything available in the A6 is available in the A4.
But something with a phone OS that offers exactly the same level of functionality of a phone should go in my pocket.
Why?
Well, what are larger displays used for? Besides Pro apps, multitasking. Neither one of those is something you're using your iPad for, is it?
Larger displays are used for presenting more information. As evidenced by the frequent whining about OS X's lack of a "maximize" button, many people don't want to multitask. Monitor size has little to do with how many programs you have running and a great deal more to do with how spread out you are. I know I typically run the same number of programs on my notebook whether or not the 23" external display is attached.
People generally want to see more of the picture, watch bigger video, not have to scroll to see a page on a document, be able to read legibly at a greater distance, or to have a "big picture" view of layout content. In other words, the exact same reasons why more screen space on a tablet is better than a smartphone.
It's the same with the cars--some people want a roomier cabin, and others look at the resulting car as an inefficient, spacewasting behemoth. It's all about personal priorities. You honestly believe that millions of people have been saying "my smartphone gives me everything I need on the go, but it's just too small to replace my laptop" for years without reason?
Is it really that difficult to scroll a tiny bit to see more of a page?
It's not the scrolling, but the cropping, that is the issue, and yes, people do complain about having to pan around to read a page of text.
As in, I-need-to-spend-$500-for-this-functionality difficult?
Is a larger passenger cabin worth an extra $10,000? Because that's the difference between an identically equipped A4 and A6 (and the A4 actually has the performance edge). Is moving from a 24" display to a 30" display worth doubling the price? Is a netbook's slight price drop worth the severe performance sacrifice over a 13" notebook?
Using your logic, looking the other way when you don't care, the answer is no. And yet there are strong markets for all of them.
The fact that you don't personally value it does not preclude the fact that others do. I can't see any portability problems with the iPad, and that seems to be the extent of your complaint--that you can get the same thing pocket-sized. For whatever reason, you're unable to see that the
pocket-sized part is not a
plus for many people, but a minus, and that even in its first few months, much more powerful software is being developed that would be impractical on the smaller screen.
Your needs may be better met by a different type of product, but your continued insistence that
no one gets a benefit out of a tablet is indefensible.