You're still talking about tapes! This is 2010, not 1980!
The switch to CDs removed some functionality (rerecording). The switch to LCDs removed no functionality (though professional photographers did reject early LCDs, claiming they didn't have as great color accuracy as CRTs).
by "fraction" i'll assume you mean "the largest percentage of apps in the store"
1/1000 is a fraction. 1/2 is a fraction. Hell, even 1/1 is a fraction, though of course the number of games on the App Store is less than 100%, so you can deduce that I wasn't referring to such a fraction.
I also mean that games are important to me on this device, and I like playing games on my iPhone.
So you want to spend $500 for a device that duplicates the game-playing functionality of your iPhone, is what you're saying.
I expect I'll like them on the iPad even more. Of course pixel doubled "Regular" interface apps will look like crap. Luckily, if the developers aren't dead those will be the first to be updated.
Note my prediction a few posts above. If I'm correct, iPhone apps will be "upgraded" to iPhone apps and we'll see very few iPhone app updates in the future.
That's a lot of flawed devices out there. Not to mention the books and magazines the iPad wants to replace.
Do you generally carry either one of those with you? Even if you did, books and magazines are less fragile, they're bendable, they're not as big a target for thieves, their batteries won't run out on the last page, and some people would argue that they're easier to read, since a glossy display is not something you want to use for prolonged reading.
I don't know how else to try to explain it. You don't seem to want to acknowledge that, for example, a 27" iMac allows using types of applications that are not practical on a 13" MacBook's screen.
That has to do with multitasking. I don't *think* most people would full-screen their apps on a 27" display (at least not their basics like web browsers, Word documents, etc). They want to display multiple Word documents side by side, have a video open while they browse the web, be able to see when they have an incoming chat while they're reading a PDF, etc. You can't do that on a 13" MacBook screen, since you kind of need to full screen all your apps. As we all know, the iPad lacks multitasking, meaning the larger screen is for nothing.
Are more sophisticated, "full screen" apps with the same type of open-ended, fun, clever code behind them as those on the iPhone worth it to me? Absolutely.
Sophisticated? Remember, these are still iPhone apps we're talking about, meaning they're still quite limited in functionality compared to desktop applications. And if you're planning on carrying such a large device for the slight bit of extra functionality you might gain by using iPad apps,
why not just get an ultraportable notebook and get even more functionality?
It's great that you can read books and edit iWork documents on your iPod Touch though.
I'm going to assume you're being sarcastic. Ever head of Kindle for iPhone? Or B&N eReader? I damn well can read eBooks on my iPod touch if I wanted to, and I don't need to shell out another $500 for Apple should I want to.
As for iWork, I'd rather just use a laptop and get it done in half the time.
And i know what it's like to have a netbook, a Dell no less. (A 10v, so 1 size smaller than your 11z)
Not quite. See, the 10v is a netbook. The 11z is a full-featured notebook with a Celeron or a Pentium processor, 2GB RAM, and a 160GB hard drive.
Though it was OK, I think the iPad would be much more elegant (and in some cases, capable at all, since it has a touch screen) for doing what I want to do with it.
In another post, you said:
I want to browse the web, read reference books/PDFs, play some fun games, use remote desktop clients, take occasional notes, and watch the occasional movie. I want the touch screen to be as responsive as possible. I want a polished product that is fun to use.
I said:
Fortunately, for [all of that], there's a device that has all the above characteristics (only better), plus more. It has exactly the same level of simplicity of an iPad, a nice speed, an even lighter weight, and it takes notes even faster than an iPad despite the iPad's full-sized virtual keyboard. You may even already have one of these magical devices. It's called an iPod touch, and despite being more than capable enough to get through all the tasks you listed, it'll still fit in your pocket.
You have yet to acknowledge how my statement is untrue.
Is the Inspiron 11z good (i didnt say perfect) for reading books?
Have you ever read a long web page or a PDF on your computer? It's not much different. And of course, the screen is bigger than the iPad, with a higher resolution (1366x768 vs. the iPad's 1024x768) which can only add to the enjoyment.
Do games run on it at all?
Yes, remember, this is a full notebook we're talking about, just with a small screen, small size and low weight.
Does it get 10 hours of battery life? It's double the thickness and weight of the iPad.
No. You can't have it all, can you? And don't say the iPad delivers it all; it's a pretty well established fact that it doesn't. If you seriously think otherwise, I challenge you to replace your computer with one.
But it runs Windows 7! But I don't want Windows 7 on my ultra portable device. I might ask is it really worth it to shell out $514 to be subject to Windows
I've never used Windows 7, so I won't pretend I have, but from what I hear, it's actually not that bad. And it gives you many of the capabilities the iPhone OS lacks.
I'm looking forward to the simplicity and reliability of the iPad. I have my Macbook Pro and Mac Pro when I want to deal with a complex desktop OS.
Please tell me, how is OS X complex? They've dumbed it down quite a bit from, say, the command line interfaces from 30 years ago. If you can't figure out how to use something as simple as OS X, that's a problem. Imagine a future where *all* computers run iPhone OS. All tied into the Apple ecosystem, no getting at the Unix kernel, no complex operations, no apps Apple doesn't want you to have. Maybe this is what you want, but for most people this would be the ultimate nightmare. But I digress.
As for the reliability of the iPad... really? Have you never had an app crash on your iPhone? Or had mobile Safari close on you because you tried to load a page that was too big? Or had the whole thing lock up for a full minute when you tried to press the Home button? If not, you're one of a lucky few-- a "fraction," if you will.