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whats the iPad really for?

I really try to work paperless ... Meeting material get PDFed and transferred to the iPad. I don't print out anymore. Minute meetings for myself I write with iThoughts HD which gives me a nice comprehensive view over several meetings for one project or regular department meetings. Really like it.

Of course reading companies email on iPad is also better compared to iPhone; same for the calendar. Now as the integration into exchange server also works for my company it's really nice. Nearly as nice as MobileMe.
 
ChristianJapan said:
I really try to work paperless ... Meeting material get PDFed and transferred to the iPad. I don't print out anymore. Minute meetings for myself I write with iThoughts HD which gives me a nice comprehensive view over several meetings for one project or regular department meetings. Really like it.
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I am on a volunteer board of directors for a non profit. We had a budget meeting the other day -- in the distant past this would involve printing out lots of copies of last year's budget and a working copy of the following year's, and lots of comparing notes. For the past few years we use a projector and work off the big screen. I was asked to bring a projector again for this year's budget meeting, but when we sat down it turned out that between everyone's laptops and iPads, everyone was able to get into Dropbox and view the files directly from there. Our secretary was updating the original and every time she saved, it got synced up to all of our machines. Very handy!
 
Honestly, when the iPad first came out, I couldn't figure out WHAT anyone would use it for! I had an iPhone and a Kindle and figured I had my bases covered. Plus, I could easily fit both in my purse.

But now that I've finally succumbed to the siren song of the iPad ... I'm in love :) I like to use it to browse the web (more convenient to use in bed or on the couch than my laptop), send emails, read news and RSS feeds, read some books (though I still generally prefer my Kindle for that), play games, and entertain my kids. All of the above COULD be done with other devices, but I find that the iPad is generally more convenient and more enjoyable in many if not all instances :)
 
Rikithemonk said:
I then go to work and my iPad goes on my desk. I log into my IM using "bejive". This allows me to have my facebook IM and my yahoo IM logged in at the same time. I then chat with the wife and flirt with my girlfriend all day.


That's what the iPad is for.
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Best use for an ipad I've read yet.
You sir, win!:D
 
macking104 said:
IPad vs iPod Touch... Screen bigger on iPad

What can you do:
Make/edit movies
Create music
Play games
Write stuff
Design graphics/drawings/art
Doctors use it in their practices
Used in schools for educational purposes.
Newscasters use them as portable teleprompters
Etc...

Age: there are Apps for babys/toddlers, but would you trust a young kid with a $500 device...
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I agree with you guy.. You give right answer to him..
I am also using this for all these purposes..!!
 
Could not help it...

itampon.png
 
Sam235 said:
dnt get me wrong, i am a huge apple fan, but i dnt get what the iPad is really for or what it can do that the iphone or ipod cannot currently do? what do u guys use it for other that internet, what are your opinions on the ipod and its price? what age do u think its most suitable for? thanks :D have a gr8 day:)
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As you have compared the smaller iPhone to the larger iPad I will compare a smaller bathtub to a larger swimming pool. Do you have more fun swimming in your bathtub or in your swimming pool? Solely based on the larger size of the swimming pool, many more possibilities open up.

I use mine from everything to web surfing to gaming to photo post production. And I love it to bits :)
 
I will never stop answering this question, even though I'm sick of people asking it. The iPad is a giant touch screen and is only limited by the apps made for it. I still on a monthly basis find apps that completely change the way I use it.

It's my ereader, gaming device, calendar/organizer, web browser, and even iPod. I've used it for creating movies, music, and documents. I use it as a remote control for my Roku boxes, a weather map, a sketchpad, and a web cam.

It's basically whatever you want it to be, and can be a suitable laptop replacement for certain types of users. If you have to ask what it's for, you haven't used one. I reach for my iPad 2 over my iPhone 4 99% of the time. If I have a voice mail or text, I take care of those on my iPhone. Everything else is done on my iPad 2. And I sold my laptop months ago as it was sitting in its bag unused ever since that rectangular FedEx box arrived from Apple.
 
spiderman0616 said:
I will never stop answering this question, even though I'm sick of people asking it. The iPad is a giant touch screen and is only limited by the apps made for it. I still on a monthly basis find apps that completely change the way I use it.

It's my ereader, gaming device, calendar/organizer, web browser, and even iPod. I've used it for creating movies, music, and documents. I use it as a remote control for my Roku boxes, a weather map, a sketchpad, and a web cam.

It's basically whatever you want it to be, and can be a suitable laptop replacement for certain types of users. If you have to ask what it's for, you haven't used one. I reach for my iPad 2 over my iPhone 4 99% of the time. If I have a voice mail or text, I take care of those on my iPhone. Everything else is done on my iPad 2. And I sold my laptop months ago as it was sitting in its bag unused ever since that rectangular FedEx box arrived from Apple.
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I did the same thing. Waited a while to buy an iPad. Just got an iPad 2, have an iPhone 4, and just sold my MacBook. I have a desktop PC I use for my "TV" and gaming device so I use the iPad for everything else.

I love it and don't miss my MacBook at all. Although all I really do on computers is web surf, gaming and video consumption.
 
But what's a PC really for?

I mean I have a perfectly good typewriter, telephone and postal service. I can send documents to anyone I want, I can write stuff and I can speak to people who are not in the same room as me. If I want to watch a movie, I put a cassette in the VCR and if I want to listen to some music, I put on an LP. I just don't get why you would want another device to clutter up your home with.
 
the iPad is really for sitting on the couch on reading / viewing stuff on it. It is not made to work on it. It is exactly for the situations that were demonstrated on stage when Jobs introduced it.
 
spiderman0616 said:
It's basically whatever you want it to be, and can be a suitable laptop replacement for certain types of users. If you have to ask what it's for, you haven't used one.
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This is so true. The iPad is flat out revolutionary...anyone who cannot see that is just lost.

You can do 80-90% of the things you can do with a traditional laptop, yet you can do it faster on an iPad and it's way, way, way, more convenient.

My Macbook Air literally collects dust because my iPad is so easy to reach for and get the info I need in an expeditious way. Sure, there are times when I have no choice but to pull out the laptop or sit at my desk to use the iMac, but for me, 9 times out of 10, the iPad gets what I need done in the easiest fashion of any of my iDevices.

I say this with the knowledge that I own an iMac...so, if someone told me I had to give up my MBA or my iPad 2, I would let the MBA go in a heartbeat before I'd give up my iPad.
 
I mainly use my iPad for light web browsing, an e-reader, compose emails, and catching up on past episodes of a few HBO shows I watch. I also use it to play Angry Birds since I hate playing it on my iPhone. Don't get me wrong, I love my MBP, but my iPad is always near me when I'm home, so it's more convenient to use.
 
If you can, OP, borrow one for a week and you will see how usefull it can be. Almost everyone finds a way for to utilize the usefullness of the iPad. Some in this way, some in that way. It is truly amazing how different uses it can get for different individuals.

Reading posts here is good, but get one in your hands for a week and you will see :)
 
Simply put, I use it for almost everything that doesn't feel like work. Email, Facebook, Twitter, RSS, browsing, and some games. All stuff I *can* do on a computer, but it's so much more comfortable to do it on the iPad because it's so light, but large enough to really see everything really well - and you can sit comfortably anywhere and do it. I never liked using a laptop for these things on a couch, or wherever. It still felt like "work." And by work I mean that I feel like the "regular" computer is the workhorse, the no-fun machine that you do stuff you really don't enjoy doing stuff on, it's a tool to get big, important things done with but otherwise you really don't feel like interacting with it. The iPad is the opposite. Maybe I won't write a book on it, and maybe writing an email on it using the on-screen keyboard is slower, but everything else is so much more enjoyable that I really don't care. If I'm home, and I'm not doing something "important" on my iMac, the iPad is nearby, if not in my hands. I use it ALL the time.
 
I don't get the whole "iPad is just a large iPhone" statement.

If so, this is how i could see it; The iPhone is just a small iPad where everything is much more tiny and impossible to do.

The iPad is great for everything;
I use mine to surf the web, take notes in class, read books(i never touch paper books any more), play games on, watch movies and tv-series and much much more. It has really revolutionized how i do things.
 
Sam235 said:
thanks for ur opinions guys, i guess i should give the iPad another chance i might end up buying one :p
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i did

i copped the ipad2 when it was first released - sold it on ebay as i found vert little use for it - at the time i was mainly at home and didnt have exams, or travel!

Now, 4 months later, i copped another ipad, and boi i could not live without one - especially since my mbp 17" is hardly portable.
Since i am out n about a lot, and have 3 hr commutes to work - the ipad is invaluable, along with JB, ifile, dropbox and goodreader - it has become a mobile notebook replacement. Now i hard ever use my iphone
 
I use mine for those many times I feel like relaxing and doing things like browsing the Internet, email, games, etc. I don't know about some of you, but I don't like to have to sit at my desk if I am trying to relax. My 15" MBP is just too heavy and cumbersome to lug to the couch, bed, etc.

Also, I take the iPad to the library when I study. I live within walking distance to campus so it is SO much lighter to carry on my back than the MBP (all while accomplishing everything I need it to for my studies).
 
spiderman0616 said:
I will never stop answering this question, even though I'm sick of people asking it. The iPad is a giant touch screen and is only limited by the apps made for it.
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I would just like to make one VERY VERY important point with regards your above statement which does actually make a vast amount of difference and meaning to the paragraph.



"The iPad is a giant touch screen and is only limited by the apps APPLE ALLOW to be made for it"

For example, I wished to check my wireless routers signal strength around my home, and wanted to try different locations for the router and see what the signal level was.

At the time, I asked what apps there were that would show me WiFi signal strength.
I was told the name of one of them and when I went to find it, I found it was removed, I then learned that Apple had removed every single app that would show this information from their app store.
So instantly, thanks to Stalag Apple, my device could not do the simple task I wished to use it for :(
 
Piggie said:
For example, I wished to check my wireless routers signal strength around my home, and wanted to try different locations for the router and see what the signal level was. At the time, I asked what apps there were that would show me WiFi signal strength. I was told the name of one of them and when I went to find it, I found it was removed, I then learned that Apple had removed every single app that would show this information from their app store.
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Apple discovered that the strength-testing apps were using a private API. The developer agreement for App Store apps requires that only public APIs be used.

I'm guessing each and every app doing this was pulled because they all were using the same private API. In this incident, the unfortunate thing is that Apple failed to initially enforce its own rules. They shouldn't have let any of the apps into the app store.

So instantly, thanks to Stalag Apple, my device could not do the simple task I wished to use it for
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The iPad is not a general-purpose computer. It's a simplified tablet machine.

Laptop PC or Macbooks are much more general-purpose machines. Do you not have one of those at your house? Do you have a friend who can lend you one?

Do you find yourself bumping into this kind of problem very often?

Owning a device that reminds you of WWII POW camps doesn't sound optimal. If you don't like the "walled garden" approach of the iOS devices, you could jailbreak your device. I have no doubt you could find the desired app in a jailbreak app store. Or you could just sell it and get a tablet machine that has more promiscuous policies.
 
malnar said:
Simply put, I use it for almost everything that doesn't feel like work. Email, Facebook, Twitter, RSS, browsing, and some games. All stuff I *can* do on a computer, but it's so much more comfortable to do it on the iPad because it's so light, but large enough to really see everything really well - and you can sit comfortably anywhere and do it.
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This pretty much nails the issue.
 
Piggie said:
I would just like to make one VERY VERY important point with regards your above statement which does actually make a vast amount of difference and meaning to the paragraph.



"The iPad is a giant touch screen and is only limited by the apps APPLE ALLOW to be made for it"

For example, I wished to check my wireless routers signal strength around my home, and wanted to try different locations for the router and see what the signal level was.

At the time, I asked what apps there were that would show me WiFi signal strength.
I was told the name of one of them and when I went to find it, I found it was removed, I then learned that Apple had removed every single app that would show this information from their app store.
So instantly, thanks to Stalag Apple, my device could not do the simple task I wished to use it for :(
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you're complaint about here. I have a speed test app on my phone and iPad, and it is still available on the app store along with others. And because Apple takes the time to screen stuff like this, I don't have to worry about running security software on my phone.
 
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