This is why iPad needs to become a fully functional computer

[matt90036]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/18/acer-building-sandy-bridge-tablets-for-android-will-use-them-to/
- as I mentioned many times. The competition is not sleeping and it will be slowly making tablets fully functional computers. Its inevitable! Hp is said to be killing it's netbooks in favor of tablets and I think this is only the beginning. By the end of this year we will see several tablets with open file systems, USB drives and ability to connect keyboards, mice, cameras and external hard drives. Tablets will be used not as mp3 players but as computers to which you connect your mp3 player/phone.
- This is great news. No more jail breaking. No more hassle with good reader or having to buy external apps just to download email.

 

[ovrlrd]

Yawn, the battery life on those (except maybe the bigger ones) are gonna be terrible. On top of that Android isn't exactly a full OS (yet) for this kind of stuff. I think Apple's approach makes the most sense. They can always improve the capabilities of iOS to make it more powerful, but throwing a x86 chip inside it is just stupid and unnecessary since you need new software written for tablet form factors anyway.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I don't know that it needs to be a fully functional computer but I do agree that we need some sort of file system that you can access. In other words, while I am typing an e-mail I would much rather hit the universal symbol for "attach" than to figure out halfway through my e-mail that I wanted to attach an image, for example. This is something that I can do on my Droid X; I can even upload an image from the DX here on the forums using the image manager. There are shortcomings of the DX, some things that aren't as smooth as the iOS platform, but overall this very "feature" is well worth it. It is something I've wanted on my iPad since I purchased it. I absolutely love my iPad, the battery life, the usability ... excluding the aforementioned missing "feature".

 

[fishcove]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/18/acer-building-sandy-bridge-tablets-for-android-will-use-them-to/
- as I mentioned many times. The competition is not sleeping and it will be slowly making tablets fully functional computers. Its inevitable! Hp is said to be killing it's netbooks in favor of tablets and I think this is only the beginning. By the end of this year we will see several tablets with open file systems, USB drives and ability to connect keyboards, mice, cameras and external hard drives. Tablets will be used not as mp3 players but as computers to which you connect your mp3 player/phone.
- This is great news. No more jail breaking. No more hassle with good reader or having to buy external apps just to download email.

HP has been making "fully functional" tablets for years.

Nobody buys them.

 

[rdowns]

Where did this notion of people wanting and/or needing a fully functional computer in a tablet come into play? How many times does Apple have to prove it to you- it's not the damn hardware and specs, it's the software.

People here need to stop viewing the world through their nerd geek tech glasses. The vast majority of buyers don't own a pair.

 

[gnasher729]

Where did this notion of people wanting and/or needing a fully functional computer in a tablet come into play? How many times does Apple have to prove it to you- it's not the damn hardware and specs, it's the software.

People here need to stop viewing the world through their nerd geek tech glasses. The vast majority of buyers don't own a pair.

The MacBook Air is a very fine "fully functional computer" for those who need it. Yes, some people would be happier if the iPad went into that direction. Lots f people wouldn't.

 

[ZilogZ80]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/18/acer-building-sandy-bridge-tablets-for-android-will-use-them-to/
- as I mentioned many times. The competition is not sleeping and it will be slowly making tablets fully functional computers. Its inevitable! Hp is said to be killing it's netbooks in favor of tablets and I think this is only the beginning. By the end of this year we will see several tablets with open file systems, USB drives and ability to connect keyboards, mice, cameras and external hard drives. Tablets will be used not as mp3 players but as computers to which you connect your mp3 player/phone.
- This is great news. No more jail breaking. No more hassle with good reader or having to buy external apps just to download email.

The iPad is what the iPad is. If Apple decide they want to produce something like you describe, it can be in the form of an MBA with a touch-screen and no keyboard.

I agree though that the iPad desperately needs an alternative email app with more functionality. There is not even anything on Cydia, as far as I know. Regarding a file-system, it wouldn't even need to provide full access, just a "documents" folder that all apps can use would be perfect.

 

[Zcott]

File systems cause problems. When was the last time you had to repair permissions on your iPad?

 

[ZilogZ80]

File systems cause problems. When was the last time you had to repair permissions on your iPad?

Don't allow users to change permissions then. Or have them set to a default when the device is rebooted. Not a problem really.

 

[maflynn]

Up until apple released the iPad, all tablet computers failed. Why? Because of battery life, running a full OS and its ability to transition the UI from mouse to touch.

Apple positioned the iPad a device that's more then an iPhone and less then a laptop and struck upon a formula that made it wildly successful.

While it will be nice to see iOS become more powerful and as the OS evolves this will occur to some degree, I don't see apple transitioning iOS to a full fledged OS like OSX.

I have a droid x, which has a file system, do I need a file system on my phone, not really. While I was able to use a file explorer to navigate around and store some files, the need is really not there. I think as long as we have document editing/creation abilities on the iPad, we should be ok.

Don't allow users to change permissions then. Or have them set to a default when the device is rebooted. Not a problem really.

Except that people will jailbreak their phones and do just that. Prevent a user from an action and they'll find ways to work around that.

 

[Jaro65]

The MacBook Air is a very fine "fully functional computer" for those who need it. Yes, some people would be happier if the iPad went into that direction. Lots f people wouldn't.

No touchscreen (and the touchscreen OS) on the MBA though, so it really is quite a different experience.

 

[ZilogZ80]

Except that people will jailbreak their phones and do just that. Prevent a user from an action and they'll find ways to work around that.

Not Apple's problem and certainly not anything they'd take into consideration. If want to jailbreak your device, fine, but you'll have to fix it on your own after you screw it up.

 

[monaarts]

The only reason any of these tablets are getting noticed is because the iPad made tablets useable. There have been tablets for years now but no one cared because they didn't use the form factor correctly. Everyone needs to realize that Apple doesn't need to catch up with these other tablets but these other tablets need to catch up with the iPad.

All of these tablets are going to be released in the next few months and they are taunting specs because thats all they have up on the iPad 1… But you need to remember, while they are working hard to create a good version of their first tablet, Apple is finishing the work on their second tablet. ;-)

If the iPad was created so wrong ("This is why iPad needs to become a fully functional computer"), why does the iPad account for about 95% of the tablet market? Everyone needs to understand that great UI with great Software > great tech specs with great software.

 

[drgrafix]

I don't have an iPad (yet) but my son does. I'm waiting on Gen2, and honestly... I agree that it doesn't need to be a full blown personal computer like my MBP. Its a sort of communication/entertainment/functionality device LOL and sure... a few tweaks would be nice, but overall, its satisfying the vast majority of owners just fine.

The addition of the camera and perhaps a USB/card reader would bring it closer to "perfection" on the hardware side, and software is usually a aspect that changes and adapts with new iterations. They need to work on a slightly more robust browser that functions with online software apps, and yes... it would be nice if you could _easily_ call up a file for attachment after you've started an email.

But overall... this product has set the standard and is still the leader and benchmark against which others are judged. Having 90% of the market cornered doesn't hurt either.

 

[Winni]

File systems cause problems. When was the last time you had to repair permissions on your iPad?

That's a funny argument. I never had to "repair" file permissions on Windows or Linux systems. Why is OS X the ONLY operating system in existence that apparently breaks those file permissions all on its own?

Don't allow users to change permissions then.

Users CANNOT change the permissions of a file unless they OWN the file. Only the root user can do anything that he wants. That already is the default in all operating systems. But OS X still manages to screw up file permissions.

 

[Kwill]

The ability to print from the iPad on more than a handful of specially equipped HP printers would be welcomed.

 

[smetvid]

No touchscreen (and the touchscreen OS) on the MBA though, so it really is quite a different experience.

The first time I played with a 11" MBA at the store I started touching the screen until a sales guy quickly pointed out it doesn't work that way. We both had a big laugh and then commented on how quickly people seem to be adapting to touch mentality and it is too bad the 11" MBA wasn't touch screen.

Of course I knew it doesn't work that way but I am so used to using my iPad with something that small that I instinctively just started touching the screen.

 

[rdowns]

The ability to print from the iPad on more than a handful of specially equipped HP printers would be welcomed.

http://netputing.com/2010/11/11/airprint-hacktivator/

 

[maflynn]

Users CANNOT change the permissions of a file unless they OWN the file. Only the root user can do anything that he wants. That already is the default in all operating systems. But OS X still manages to screw up file permissions.

That argument could have been made for OSX 10.0 and 10.1 but now, not so much. In fact running repair permissions is more myth then fact. OSX's file permissions are as solid as any other OS.

I think when ever an OS has file system problems, its due to updates to the file system. ext4 had its share of problems, i.e., losing/corrupting data. OSX adopted a slightly different file system with OSX when it transitioned from OS9 and that did in fact cause some headaches but like every other OS with a mature file system, its solid,

 

[newagemac]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/18/acer-building-sandy-bridge-tablets-for-android-will-use-them-to/
- as I mentioned many times. The competition is not sleeping and it will be slowly making tablets fully functional computers. Its inevitable! Hp is said to be killing it's netbooks in favor of tablets and I think this is only the beginning. By the end of this year we will see several tablets with open file systems, USB drives and ability to connect keyboards, mice, cameras and external hard drives. Tablets will be used not as mp3 players but as computers to which you connect your mp3 player/phone.
- This is great news. No more jail breaking. No more hassle with good reader or having to buy external apps just to download email.

HP isn't killing their netbooks.... Apple's iPad killed their netbooks. lol.

 

[thelookingglass]

In my opinion, I think those who say that they don't need/want a fully functional computer in an iPad-like form factor are just deluding themselves. Why? Simple. The primary reason tablets these days do NOT have desktop-class capabilities is because the technology just isn't there. Yes, a significant reason is also because desktop software is not touch-friendly. That's fine, I buy that. But, it's a software issue and, if Apple wanted to they could've designed iOS to be a touch-friendly OS X (albeit in a better implementation than touch for Win7). But to do that would've been futile at this point because we do not have the technology to enable a desktop-class experience while still preserving decent battery life.

In an ideal world, where neither processor speed nor battery life is an issue in a mobile device, wouldn't we all love something akin to the size and weight of the iPad (or even thinner or lighter) where we could seamlessly switch between browsing the web, editing video, compiling code and running fullscreen HD video (in Flash or otherwise)? If you don't think that's the future that lies ahead of us, aren't you just kidding yourself?

 

[rdowns]

The competition is not sleeping and it will be slowly making tablets fully functional computers. Its inevitable! Hp is said to be killing it's netbooks in favor of tablets and I think this is only the beginning. By the end of this year we will see several tablets with open file systems, USB drives and ability to connect keyboards, mice, cameras and external hard drives. Tablets will be used not as mp3 players but as computers to which you connect your mp3 player/phone.
- This is great news. No more jail breaking. No more hassle with good reader or having to buy external apps just to download email.

Yeah, HP is going to kill a profitable product line for a market where they have yet to ship a product. Think people, think.

Open file systems, USB drives, keyboards, mice, cameras. Um, it's called a desktop.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

... as I mentioned many times. The competition is not sleeping and it will be slowly making tablets fully functional computers. Its inevitable! Hp is said to be killing it's netbooks in favor of tablets and I think this is only the beginning. By the end of this year we will see several tablets with open file systems, USB drives and ability to connect keyboards, mice, cameras and external hard drives. Tablets will be used not as mp3 players but as computers to which you connect your mp3 player/phone.

A person arguing for all of these things on the iPad doesn't actually understand what it is about the iPad that made it successful. Some companies certainly will try all of these things in an effort to differentiate from the iPad (and it won't be hard—most companies are content to rush out feature lists instead of products which are a delight to use) but they're not going to dethrone the iPad. Not by a long shot. Instead, expect the iPad to evolve in such a way that the user doesn't have to worry about the more technical aspects of computer use.

But those tablet/netbook highbreds you're talking about will come about, and they'll garner interest in the technical community and maybe some other smaller interests—just don't expect a whole lot from them.

 

[Agent69]

Personally, the only thing that annoys me about the iPad is it's dependency on iTunes. I would love the see that changed, but otherwise, I have no problems with it.

 

[newagemac]

When I look at the iPad and the efficiency in which I can get in and out and get things accomplished and then compare it to my "powerful" desktop with windows all over the screen and the mountains of usability problems it suffers from compared to the iPad then no I don't look forward to the "full desktop" experience coming to the iPad.

Apple's success with the iPad is because they completely rethought and redesigned the desktop experience. Other manufacturers seem to want to go back to the same reasons tablets never caught on in the first place. They will fail.