I can't really say the iPad is the best option for going truly paperless as it lacks a proper dual touch interface(multi-touch + Pen), from the likes of either Wacom or N-Trig. I only say this as devices that support them have the real ability to recognize pressure sensitivity, and stuff a capacitive pen can't which is great for taking notes, drawing, and annotating. Other than that the iPad is a perfectly fine device(well I do kind of wish either USB or Firewire was included) for pretty much everything else.
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whats the iPad really for?
- Thread starter Sam235
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definitely worth couple of hundreds of dollars just to be able to login to FB while at work.
wasn't the realtor websites tour in flash?
not sure how you can pull that off with the ipad if it was. 
I think the iPad is clearly for media consumption, can't get any serious work done on it though. I now primarily use it while in bed & but usage has gone down tremendously since I first had it.
Is it revolutionary? I think what's revolutionary is how powerful these small devices are becoming, but I say that about all tablets not just an iPad..
Like many reviewers have said, it's by no means a device you need, and I don't think it could ever replace a desktop or laptop, simply because multi taking is severely lacking..
Even having jailbreaked mines I've still only finished one game out of the 160 I have, and only really enjoyed a dozen..
Is it revolutionary? I think what's revolutionary is how powerful these small devices are becoming, but I say that about all tablets not just an iPad..
Like many reviewers have said, it's by no means a device you need, and I don't think it could ever replace a desktop or laptop, simply because multi taking is severely lacking..
Even having jailbreaked mines I've still only finished one game out of the 160 I have, and only really enjoyed a dozen..
The real answer to this question, is that it is different for everyone.
For every different response you've gotten a different answer.
I drive an hour and half every day to work, or I can take the Metro, which oddly enough, also takes an hour and a half. For the days where I am sitting in mass transit, rather then in that parking lot we call a freeway, I read and respond to my work emails. I sign agreements and email them back, I send pictures and proposals to customers. I have produced several email marketing campaigns direct from the ipad. I add new items to our website. I enter Orders direct into the companies ERP software. All of this is done from my ipad2.
So when someone tells me that the ipad is not a creative, productive device, I say...
"Your not holding it right".
For every different response you've gotten a different answer.
I drive an hour and half every day to work, or I can take the Metro, which oddly enough, also takes an hour and a half. For the days where I am sitting in mass transit, rather then in that parking lot we call a freeway, I read and respond to my work emails. I sign agreements and email them back, I send pictures and proposals to customers. I have produced several email marketing campaigns direct from the ipad. I add new items to our website. I enter Orders direct into the companies ERP software. All of this is done from my ipad2.
So when someone tells me that the ipad is not a creative, productive device, I say...
"Your not holding it right".
Aha. This also occurred to me: knowing the field strength is really missing the point. What is most important is how well the devices actually behaves in real-world tests.
AFAICT, the whole example seemed rather contrived. Why would this have been the only portable computer in-house? Did it really happen, or was the backstory created because the poster learned that the field-strength apps had been pulled? We'll never really know....
This pulling of apps really doesn't concern me in the least. I was much more concerned when Alex Sokirynsky's "podcaster" app was pulled back in 2008, but Apple reinstated that app.
if we take steve at his word, the ipad is more capable than the smartphone because of its size, and it is supposed to be more intimate than a computer. i don't think anyone would disagree with this.
judging by his original presentation, though, the ipad was almost entirely a device for consumption. the same thing could be said for early ipad commercials. i don't think it's too much to say that the ipad was created as a device for viewing/listening to stuff for sale in apple's store.
i am not well-versed in ipad history, but my impression is that developers helped push the ipad in the direction of content creation. although the op wanted to know what the ipad is "for," i think a more interesting question would be, what can the ipad do?
a short answer would be: it does a whole lot more than any smart phone, and while it does a little less than a laptop, it is (in steve's words) more intimate, and certainly more portable. that's useful to some people. not so useful for others.
judging by his original presentation, though, the ipad was almost entirely a device for consumption. the same thing could be said for early ipad commercials. i don't think it's too much to say that the ipad was created as a device for viewing/listening to stuff for sale in apple's store.
i am not well-versed in ipad history, but my impression is that developers helped push the ipad in the direction of content creation. although the op wanted to know what the ipad is "for," i think a more interesting question would be, what can the ipad do?
a short answer would be: it does a whole lot more than any smart phone, and while it does a little less than a laptop, it is (in steve's words) more intimate, and certainly more portable. that's useful to some people. not so useful for others.
Apple's January 2010 announcement is available in the iTunes library here. In the announcement, Jobs demonstrated all of the built-in apps. Extensions to the iOS SDK were released the day of the announcement. A few developers had early access to the SDK and their iPad-aware apps were demoed at the keynote: MLB.com, a couple of games, and Brushes, a popular app for doing drawings on the iPhone and iPad. Third-party iPhone apps would run unmodified in doubled-pixel mode; developers rapidly updated their iPhone apps to be iPad-aware.
One interesting note: at the iPad introduction, there were around 150,000 total apps in the app store. Today, there are over 425,000 total apps and over 150,000 apps designed to work exclusively on the iPad.
Apple also announced the iWork apps at the rollout: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Those apps were certainly capable of content creation, although I think they were better suited for touch-up of content.
Apple announced iMovie and Garageband in concert with the iPad 2 announcement in March of 2011.
Developers have definitely gone in all sorts of interesting directions. Some of them are hardware: the Alexis IO-Dock provides a cool way to do remote recording with the iPad. It gives you inputs for 2 microphones (phantom power available) and MIDI. This is great equipment for podcasters or for bands to record a practice session: all content creation.
There's an active thread here about using an iPad for airplane navigation with electronic navigation charts and GPS. These kind of functions have been done for years in large commercial jets, but the iPad can do many of those functions far less expensively. This use is a bit beyond simple content creation, because some applications are integrating the pilot's position with the charts.
Wolfram Research has been hinting that they'll have some version of their CDF player for the iPad this year. Currently, the CDF player is available for free for the Mac, PC, and Linux machines. It's essentially a read-only version of the Mathematica engine that plays simulations/demonstrations that were authored by users of Mathematica software. Wolfram maintains their own flavor of a curated app store for CDF files (they're all free) here.
Most would characterize playing CDF files as a passive content-consuming activity; I'm not so sure. A well-crafted CDF file can allow the user to create novel initial conditions for simulations and then run them. At the very least, users of CDF files gain all sorts of insights about the dynamic systems being modeled. The CDF player wouldn't be a new app, but it would be a new intimate setting for Wolfram's magical visual learning. "Content consumption" seems to be a bit inadequate to describe this activity. I strongly encourage everyone with a PC or Mac to explore the CDF demonstration files.
Hear, hear.
Oh, so you're using it to get a job done? (I'm talking about the DJing, not picking up the girls). So that would make it a creation tool, no? Prepare to be flamed for daring to say that you did anything useful with your iPad. I talked in another thread about how I had created songs and slide shows on my iPad, and got scrutinized beyond all recognition.
Well said.
The interface of the iPad is very much a blank canvas. The touch screen interface and size of the screen lends itself to all sorts of applications and uses...including practical/productive uses. Granted a keyboard and mouse is still very much a necessity for heavy productivity in many cases, but for the uses of 95% of our daily lives, the possibilities of the iPad are limited only by the creativity of app developers, and willingness of users to adapt to alternate methods of interacting with a device.
What the iPad lacks compared to a laptop with a full keyboard, mouse, and desktop OS, it more than makes up for with the compact form factor, portability, and battery life. The iPad is not a practical device for some uses better suited for a laptop, however, a laptop is not practical for some uses better suited for a tablet.
well, my iPad does the DJing and seals the deal with girls.
I use talking tom app when tom says "have you met *my name*" and girls are impressed
but when I tink about this move now, it looks like a foreveralone move
so yeah, iPad is really useful for me
Ah. Your metaphor has shades of Sunday in the Park with George. Speaking of his great-grandfather Georges Seurat, the lead actor from the play notes, "White: a blank page or canvas. His favorite so many possibilities." The challenges for designers to use this new canvas may have more to do with art than with programming.
Blank canvases tend to drive us a bit crazy. Larry Niven wrote a great little short story "Cloak of Anarchy" available on his website here. In that story, a researcher carrying a blank sign gets an unexpected result. Thanks to Larry for publishing that great little story on his website.
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Actually I find this funny while thinking back before the initial iPad 1 release. Everyone was calling the iPad a joke and laughing this content at it. Now the majority of people use and love them and all the bigger companies that mocked it are now duplicating it (sometimes a bit too far).
It always comes down to Apple innovates, everyone mocks it, everyone realises they aren't as good, they copy. lol
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Actually I find this funny while thinking back before the initial iPad 1 release. Everyone was calling the iPad a joke and laughing this content at it. Now the majority of people use and love them and all the bigger companies that mocked it are now duplicating it (sometimes a bit too far).
It always comes down to Apple innovates, everyone mocks it, everyone realises they aren't as good, they copy. lol
I lived in a rural area in indonesia and owned couple of businesses. I bought logmein ignition and used several apps such as eagleeyes and docs to go to control my businesses on the move. When my employees need my approval code, i just have to log into my computer in the office through logmein and type my code. Or if i have to surveillance, all my cctv dvr is set through eagle eyes. I can monitor everyone while on the move. So yeah my ipad2 3g really helps me a lot without having to carry a laptop.
I use mine just for variety. A different way to surf the web & consume content.
My MBA & MBP are so much better for any kind of work. In many ways they're also better for web research since I use Chrome with iReader, and other valuable & time saving extensions.
Plus with flash on my Macs, I'm not prevented from viewing all web content. The lack of flash on the iPad is a huge shortcoming for my usage. But that's just my preference.
Many don't care if Apple restricts their web access.
My MBA & MBP are so much better for any kind of work. In many ways they're also better for web research since I use Chrome with iReader, and other valuable & time saving extensions.
Plus with flash on my Macs, I'm not prevented from viewing all web content. The lack of flash on the iPad is a huge shortcoming for my usage. But that's just my preference.
Many don't care if Apple restricts their web access.
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
You'll potentially get as many answers as there are iPad owners.
No one knew what they were for during the iPad keynote. No one can pinpoint exactly what they're for now. But people are using them, some for a variety of tasks, and others for a few specific ones. And regardless of the foregoing, folks *want* them. iPad demand going into 2012 is absolutely insane.
The answer to your question is simple: start using it and see where it takes you.
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
Interestingly what my iPad has done is largly replace my iPhone, I hardly used it now except for texting and calls.
I travel a lot so take this into context so I use it for this:
1 - I've got rid of all my books and put them on the Kindle app (I've just had to move and vowed never to have books again, books are heavy!)
2 - Email - I check email when on the train, filing email is particularly easy.
3 - iPad is my primary gaming device now
4 - I've ripped my DVD collection to iTunes and packed the physical disks away, I use the iPad for viewing tv shows more than my TV now
5 - Work - I use my iPad to make meeting notes that I mail out stright after the meeting, also I use it to go through presentations if I have meetings with 1 other person. Finally I have the webex app so I use it for WebEx meetings
Overall I'd say that the ease of which the iPad works makes you use it more, where I wouldn't bother going to my PC for something, I now wip out the iPad (because it's instant on and therefore much quicker) and get that thing done.
The ipad just does some things better than a laptop.
Reading is one of them. Whether that means reading books, webpages or email. Or the Ikea catalog.
IT is only getting started too. It think the controlled form factor really lets developers fully exploit the presentation of their information/data.
There are so many screen sizes and resolutions on computers than everything is one size fits all. It is a bit of a mess.
On the iPad though you get stuff like the Ikea catalog or the just released Dolphin Browser or numerous newspaper apps etc etc.
I can just read so much quicker on an iPad. The information is presented so much clearer. IT is so easy and enjoyable to go from article to article. The only downside is things are just getting started and aren't where they should be yet.
I really look at the iPad as digital paper.
And what also does wonders for it is the battery life is killer. Beats out the MBA easily. Trumps my 2011 13" MBP by a nice margin as well.
It really is the first device I have had that I can literally use all day without charging the battery although let me say I'm not including playing 3d games in that equation.
And the touching is also an ease of use bonus. Being able to directly touch something instead of moving a cursor to it is not only intuitive but faster.
Tablets are here to stay. However I think Apple will face pressure to lower the price of them soon enough. I guess it depends on whether folks will want them to take over all the function of their computers or just get cheap enough so they have a few of them per household in addition to their computer. I think its the latter.
I would have bought a TouchPad for $100 when that firesale was going around if I had known about it. And that's because just using one for email, surfing and reading is all I really need to do along with basic video and music.
Reading is one of them. Whether that means reading books, webpages or email. Or the Ikea catalog.
IT is only getting started too. It think the controlled form factor really lets developers fully exploit the presentation of their information/data.
There are so many screen sizes and resolutions on computers than everything is one size fits all. It is a bit of a mess.
On the iPad though you get stuff like the Ikea catalog or the just released Dolphin Browser or numerous newspaper apps etc etc.
I can just read so much quicker on an iPad. The information is presented so much clearer. IT is so easy and enjoyable to go from article to article. The only downside is things are just getting started and aren't where they should be yet.
I really look at the iPad as digital paper.
And what also does wonders for it is the battery life is killer. Beats out the MBA easily. Trumps my 2011 13" MBP by a nice margin as well.
It really is the first device I have had that I can literally use all day without charging the battery although let me say I'm not including playing 3d games in that equation.
And the touching is also an ease of use bonus. Being able to directly touch something instead of moving a cursor to it is not only intuitive but faster.
Tablets are here to stay. However I think Apple will face pressure to lower the price of them soon enough. I guess it depends on whether folks will want them to take over all the function of their computers or just get cheap enough so they have a few of them per household in addition to their computer. I think its the latter.
I would have bought a TouchPad for $100 when that firesale was going around if I had known about it. And that's because just using one for email, surfing and reading is all I really need to do along with basic video and music.
I'm planning to use my ipad to view textbooks and lighten my school bag. I'd also use it to read RSS feeds and do some quick web browsing. I don't bring my laptop to school because my bag is already pretty heavy. Phones in classrooms are frowned upon at my school so I could do most of what I already do on my phone there. I'd also record class notes with the iPad.
yeah, there are a few negative Nancy's around this board who can't think beyond their tiny world. The iPad has revolutionized my job. It's as simple as that for me.
People ask that question all the time, and it makes sense why they would ask, not everyone really needs an iPad in their life. But let me explain a day in my life to you. Every week, I take public transportation to the city, which I about a 40 minute train ride. Then, I'm in the city for about 10 hours, and I have to come back home. For some of those 10 hours, I go to class, and I have a very long break in-between them. So, I sit at a coffee shop and do my homework, sometimes watch a movie, read a book, do my PowerPoint(keynote) presentations, read the news and some magazines that I'm subscribed to, and occasionally even play a game on my iPad. I would be very annoying to do all that on a tiny little screen on my iPhone. And I don't own a laptop, so my iPad basically takes that place in my life. Although, I am considering getting a MacBook air sometime soon, for now, the weight and size of my iPad is perfect for me. And it gets the job done. Good battery life, perfect screen size, and plenty of very useful apps. At this moment in time, I don't know what I would do without it. It keeps me sane for those 4 long hours when I don't have class, and the train ride there and back. So it's really not about the iPad being able to do more or less than any other iOS device, it's really about the size. For me, it's more of a laptop than an iOS device. I don't use it like I use my iPhone.
I hope this helps. I'm Sure that many other people make different uses for their iPads, it this is how I've been using mine for a while, and it's been getting the job done pretty well. And you also can't forget about just laying around in bed and browsing the web or reading the news, without having to get up and get your laptop which is much heavier to carry around.
I hope this helps. I'm Sure that many other people make different uses for their iPads, it this is how I've been using mine for a while, and it's been getting the job done pretty well. And you also can't forget about just laying around in bed and browsing the web or reading the news, without having to get up and get your laptop which is much heavier to carry around.
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
As noted in another message: those apps were all pulled because they were using a private API. The bug was Apple's failure to allow them into the App Store in the first place. I don't quite understand why there can't be an automated process to screen for the use of private APIs by apps.
Apple does provide a tool that is great fit for what you needed ... in OS X Lion. It's called "Wi-Fi Diagnostics". You can see Andy Ihnatko demo the free utility at 1:18:20 in the latest video edition (264) of MacBreak Weekly. It provides a real-time chart of signal and noise for your WiFi connection allowing you to test your configuration rapidly. That is the perfect tool for the kind of project you described.
This tool shows the philosophical difference between Mac OS X and iOS. OS X comes with a bunch of diagnostic tools and utilities; iOS does not, and I don't expect that to change appreciably over time.
@piggie has failed to explain why his extrapolation from this story is warranted. Is there really any widespread pattern of rejection of apps from the iOS App Store?
Update: I asked in the iOS programming thread: Apple has automated the process of screening for private APIs before approving apps. Developers can also verify that their apps contain no private APIs by invoking the Validate process at any point during code development.
@piggie: have your so-called "Stalag Apple" concerns been addressed?
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