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FlameofAnor

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2011
210
1
I agree. It's ridiculous that you need a machine that runs iTunes in order to use an iOS device. Besides leaving Linux users out, it just seems burdensome. I know some people with PCs/laptops on their last legs, and while an iPad will meet ALL of their computing needs, they’ll still need a (or have access to another’s) PC/Mac. It’s also not very future forward. Steve said were heading into a post-PC, ultra-mobile world. So why do we still need a PC to use our ultra-mobiles?

If the device fails for some reason, and all the data is lost, you'll be glad it's backed up on a computer. If Apple gets the cloud storage thing working, then you could have your data remotely saved. Until then, it makes sense to sync and backup to a computer.
 

seashellz

macrumors 6502
Nov 18, 2004
407
0
Considering the first serious competitor to the ipad didn't come out until this year, I'd wait a year to really see how well the ipad is doing.

-------
well, when you are a healthy runner and you have a 5 mile head start, no matter how fast the people behind you are ,they will never catch up (im excluding Superman etc)
 

FlameofAnor

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2011
210
1
Is that really great?

Are you still holding out for the Steve Balmer signature tablet? ;)

alg_microsoft.jpg
 

FlameofAnor

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2011
210
1
-------
well, when you are a healthy runner and you have a 5 mile head start, no matter how fast the people behind you are ,they will never catch up (im excluding Superman etc)

Wouldn't The Flash be a more appropriate superhero?

Oh wait, Flash was disqualified before the race. :p
 

scott911

macrumors 6502a
Aug 24, 2009
758
456
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Kindle is just a different type/class of device in my opinion.... Until color/motion screens get much, much better, I think a reader (e-ink) will continue to be a complimentary device to go along with a tablet...
 

FlameofAnor

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2011
210
1
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Kindle is just a different type/class of device in my opinion.... Until color/motion screens get much, much better, I think a reader (e-ink) will continue to be a complimentary device to go along with a tablet...

I always find that viewpoint amusing. I spend many hours a day working on a computer..... never suffered from the dreaded "eye strain". Reading books on the iPad isn't a problem for me. You can adjust the brightness level, and in iBooks and the Nook app, you can change the background color as well.

Many people love reading on the Kindle, but to me, it's a poor substitute for a real book. The pages look like cheap newsprint.... grey ground with dark grey text. Yes, it's not backlit, but that means you also need a good light source to read by. The best thing about it is it's cheap.
 

shen

macrumors 6502
Jun 19, 2003
390
0
Those charts are clearly based on bad data.

No way in hell 4% of the people polled want a Xoom.....
 

faroZ06

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2009
3,387
1
Is that really great?

Considering how much of a successful company they are and how carefully they make their products, yes. But Apple is kinda a jerk sometimes since they tend to only aim for profit (like how they make new iMacs not user-serviceable).

Sure MS is worse, but there are a lot of companies that are a bit nicer.
 

dampfnudel

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2010
4,502
2,545
Brooklyn, NY
I always find that viewpoint amusing. I spend many hours a day working on a computer..... never suffered from the dreaded "eye strain". Reading books on the iPad isn't a problem for me. You can adjust the brightness level, and in iBooks and the Nook app, you can change the background color as well.

Many people love reading on the Kindle, but to me, it's a poor substitute for a real book. The pages look like cheap newsprint.... grey ground with dark grey text. Yes, it's not backlit, but that means you also need a good light source to read by. The best thing about it is it's cheap.

Actually, it should probably be a little cheaper at this point, maybe at the $99 price point.
 

Yankee617

macrumors regular
Jan 18, 2010
121
0
What I really want to buy is an iPad 3 which has

+ 128 GB of flash memory,
+ 1 GB of RAM,
+ 1.5 GHz quad-core A5,
+ Retina Display (double number of pixels in each dimension),
+ High megapixel rear camera with Autofocus and LED Flash (as in iPhone 4),
+ HD front camera (as in 2011 MBP),
+ AirPrint that works with any printer,
+ AirPlay that transfers video and audio from any App,
+ 10 hour battery life,
+ 1 pound weight,
+ Similar form factor as iPad 2,
+ WiFi and LTE,
+ Cheap unlimited LTE data plans, with 1 week terms, everywhere I travel,
+ all the other goodies in the current, fully-loaded, iPad 2,
+ a price-point of about $929 (plus the cost of a Smart Cover).

But that's not available. So what I'll buy now is a 32 GB WiFi-only iPad 2.
When the above iPad 3 becomes available, upgrading will be irresistible
and I'll give my old iPad 2 to a friend.
 

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
Considering how much of a successful company they are and how carefully they make their products, yes. But Apple is kinda a jerk sometimes since they tend to only aim for profit (like how they make new iMacs not user-serviceable).

Sure MS is worse, but there are a lot of companies that are a bit nicer.

What is worse about MS? They really are quite similar in many ways.
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
I agree. It's ridiculous that you need a machine that runs iTunes in order to use an iOS device. Besides leaving Linux users out, it just seems burdensome.

It also makes it really difficult to give an iDevice as a preconfigured gift.

I got my brother-in-law an iPod touch for his birthday, and wanted to put Angry Birds and some family pictures on it.

Of course, if he went home and plugged it into his own iTunes, he would wipe out everything I had put on there unless he stopped sync'ing apps or pics altogether... or I sent him a copy of all the pics to insert in his host computer.

It's just silly. At least with Android tablets, I'm able to completely set up gift devices for my family that they can also add onto themselves without fear of losing what I did because of iTunes. Plus they can get OTA updates without using a host computer. iOS devices are so 1990s at times with their wired tethering.

Or am I missing some cool trick?
 

marksman

macrumors 603
Jun 4, 2007
5,764
5
I always find that viewpoint amusing. I spend many hours a day working on a computer..... never suffered from the dreaded "eye strain". Reading books on the iPad isn't a problem for me. You can adjust the brightness level, and in iBooks and the Nook app, you can change the background color as well.

Many people love reading on the Kindle, but to me, it's a poor substitute for a real book. The pages look like cheap newsprint.... grey ground with dark grey text. Yes, it's not backlit, but that means you also need a good light source to read by. The best thing about it is it's cheap.

YEah it is so weird... People now spend all day reading text on their iPad even if it is not books. Books are not some kind of magic that have to be read a special way or it makes your eyes hurt.

It is fine if people with some kind of eye disfunction want to buy a special device just to read ebooks for $150, but most people will be able to read books just as easily on a device like the iPad, with all the amazing other benefits such a device offers behind an ebook reader like the Kindle.

I own a kindle, but I would never buy a dedicated e-book reader today. That money is much better spent going towards the purchase of a tablet device.
 

FlameofAnor

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2011
210
1
YEah it is so weird... People now spend all day reading text on their iPad even if it is not books. Books are not some kind of magic that have to be read a special way or it makes your eyes hurt.

It is fine if people with some kind of eye disfunction want to buy a special device just to read ebooks for $150, but most people will be able to read books just as easily on a device like the iPad, with all the amazing other benefits such a device offers behind an ebook reader like the Kindle.

I own a kindle, but I would never buy a dedicated e-book reader today. That money is much better spent going towards the purchase of a tablet device.

What often goes without comment is that many people with poor eyesight have actually been able to read again because of the iPad. If you're elderly or have bad eyesight, reading a book isn't an easy task. The fact that you can make the font size bigger on the iPad + the backlight make for a higher contrast easier to read device for many of these people.
 

kuebby

macrumors 68000
Jan 18, 2007
1,582
13
MD
I always find that viewpoint amusing. I spend many hours a day working on a computer..... never suffered from the dreaded "eye strain". Reading books on the iPad isn't a problem for me. You can adjust the brightness level, and in iBooks and the Nook app, you can change the background color as well.

Many people love reading on the Kindle, but to me, it's a poor substitute for a real book. The pages look like cheap newsprint.... grey ground with dark grey text. Yes, it's not backlit, but that means you also need a good light source to read by. The best thing about it is it's cheap.

I disagree, a Kindle is an excellent compliment to an iPad and I'm glad I own both. The Kindle has much better battery life, is lighter, and is MUCH more pleasant to read on for long periods than the iPad. The e-ink screen is excellent and is very much comparable to reading off a paper page.

You can pretend you don't get eye strain but reading for long periods off an LCD isnt great for your eyes, and is certainly isn't conducive to falling asleep at night.
 

gorgeousninja

macrumors 6502
Mar 27, 2007
360
0
secret mountain retreat
Considering how much of a successful company they are and how carefully they make their products, yes. But Apple is kinda a jerk sometimes since they tend to only aim for profit (like how they make new iMacs not user-serviceable).

Sure MS is worse, but there are a lot of companies that are a bit nicer.

Please explain your criteria for 'nicer companies' Not for Profits? NGO's? Charities?

If you consider that Apple is the second biggest company in the world, behind only to a Petro-chemical behemoth like Exxon, is a company that has no business in arms manufacturing, no outwardly Political deal-mongering, no connection to religious fanaticism (apart from the odd fanboy), and is a company that consistently declares creativity, design, and maximizing the user experience as part of their core business model it is hard to think of any other company that is even close to achieving what Apple have done....

A lot of people take exception to Apple's 'this is our playground, these are our rules' approach, but it seems that with humankind's endless capacity to hurt, swindle, lie, and steal, is there a viable realistic alternative?

The increasing malware attacks and security leaks in Androids 'Open and Free' environment suggests that there isn't.
 
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