Paul Thurrott has posted his “Hands-On First Impressions” of his 16GB Apple iPad Wi-Fi:
• “My iPad arrived a few hours ago, so I loaded it up with some apps and checked it out quickly. So far, it’s not all that impressive.”
• “I still disagree, and strongly, with some of the first generation limitations–like the lack of dual cameras and the non-widescreen display–but overall it’s a decent device.”
• “16 GB isn’t 16 GB with the iPad, it’s 14 GB. That’s a big difference when you’re talking about a small pool of storage.”
• “The device is far heavier than expected, and heavier than it looks. It is literally a big iPod touch. In fact, if anything it’s too big. Why isn’t this widescreen? It’s so obvious.”
MacDailyNews Take: While the rest of his blather falls into the usual joke category, Thurrott’s “widescreen” comment deserves comment: iPad’s total screen aspect ratio is not “widescreen,” but the device is perfectly capable of playing back “widescreen” video and does so with aplomb. Thurrott’s criticism of iPad for giving users extra screen real estate at the top and bottom for all those times when they’re not watching “widescreen” video is stupider than his “normal” biased anti-Apple idiocy.
• “I hate not having a case on this thing. It gets smudged just from the air, it seems.”
• “The default wallpaper is ugly; worse yet, the meteor shower it depicts looks like screen scratches, causing a momentary bit of panic.”
• “More later in the review, I guess. Is this thing even worth reviewing?”
And, Thurrott’s pièce de résistance:
• “Anyone who believes this thing is a game changer is a tool.”
“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world—it’s going to be a game changer.” – Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, April 5, 2010
MacDailyNews Take: Who to believe, who to believe… the man who’s changed the world via multiple technological paradigm shifts or a sad sack who shills for perennial Apple follower Microsoft?
If there was only some way that I could add articles from guys like him to an ‘ignore’ list.
Paul, the “meteor shower”, is actually star trails caused by doing a time exposure.
Don’t worry, Paul, we all know who the real TOOL is…
Turdrot is a tool. First!
I hate to say it but it is a giant iPod Touch. I’m not all that impressed myself, hopefully the second gen is better.
He did have sone decent points. The weight is an issue for some. I agree on the camera issue.
A huge part of the iPad story hasn’t even been written yet: third party apps. They will truly define this device.
what the EFF is this guy talking about, NOT WIDESCREEN? what an idiot! And for the rest of you, cut the crap talk about the lack of a camera already, how is that a deal breaker, don’t you own a camera?
Come on….without Thurutt and Dv-whore-ak I would laugh only half as much.
Hey Paul, why don’t you shove this Tool where the sun doesn’t shine?
@ silver surfer
Be my guest and wait…..you people that wait think it stops at the next generation, when are you going to learn that you’ll never catch up or stay ahead of the curve. You’re only depriving yourself.
Hey, he apparently bought one, so he’s contributing to Apple’s success. Since it shipped before Saturday, his iPod is even one of the DAY ONE 300,000. So Paul, Apple thanks you…
Being a giant iPod touch is precisely the point. Appliance-like simplicity is king.
Actually, it is 16GB – but they have to put the OS and the default apps somewhere so it come out at 14.8.
Guess what, my 32GB touch is only 29.56GB – yet somehow I survive. And my 500GB LaCie drive is only 465.8GB when it’s formatted.
Idiot.
Paradigm shifts?! Can someone say Apple printers, scanners, cameras, and Newtons? Apple isn’t a stranger to failed or discontinued devices. It all boils down to what the public wants. Don’t be a typical fanboi, MDN, everyone wants Apple to succeed, not everyone will like their products and they’re definitely entitled to their own opinions, especially those who are technically critical.
I have some advice for Thurott: Take some of the medicine your doctor and family members are always begging you not to forget, and then get into some comfortable clothing.
Dim the lights, and then put your feet up on the comfiest recliner in your house.
Then hit the little home button at the bottom, unlock the device and breath a nice long sigh. Then begin. Surf the web. Watch a movie. Listen to some music. Enjoy a game. Perhaps just peruse those 1,000+ new apps to see if there’s something you like.
Stop looking at it as a device with “features” and just enjoy it for what it is — the most relaxing way to consume virtually any kind of media ever.
This actually pains me to say, but I do agree with Paul on one small point. I finally saw the iPad (a demo unit) in person late Saturday evening and at first thought there was a scratch on the iPad. Had to rotate the iPad to see it wasn’t a scratch. Whew. However unlike Paul, I liked the wallpaper – which CAN be changed.
Peace.
I remember when the iPod came out. Everyone was saying that it would be a flash in the pan and the other players would come in with a subsciption model & Apple would lose market share & be marginalized.
I thought, no, Apole has done it just right. So, I bought stock @ $12.50.
If, 3-5 years from now we are all reading our print media on it, please republish this post.
Bought stock last year when it was $115.
And what exactly is wrong with a giant iPod touch? Over half my computing time is now on an iPod touch. It is fabulous. An iPad could ONLY be MORE fabulous.
I’m suspicious. I think that there’s a possibility he doesn’t even own one. His comments could have come from anybody who’d seen the specs and decided to do a hatchet job on a review.
He must have known what it’d be like before he bought it and if he dislikes it that much, I reckon he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of buying one.
I mean, what’s he going to do with it now he’s ‘spent’ hundreds on a gadget he doesn’t like? Throw it in a corner and never use it?
ThoroughlyRotten is so jealous that he is the type of person who will try to tear down the object of his envy. How dare Steve create something above mediocre?
If ThoughlyRotten were so smart, he’d get a gig like Enderle, advising Dell on how to REALLY make a tablet.
Truly pathetic.
who the hell wants to read the internet in 16:9? He’s a dick
Without tools – where would we be?
The-Rott is not a tool. He was spawned prior to tools.
“multiple technological paradigm shifts”
Yes! Thanks MDN, for starting my morning right..
Incidentally, my precious new iPad fell off the table to the floor (horrors) and displayed no damage. Thanks Steve for building the iPad tough!
Thank Gawd for Steve Jobs and all the new products from Apple, Inc.
For . . . What would all of us erstwhile and wannabe experts, analysts, and tech aficianados do with our vaunted (and, actually, worthless) opinions? Standing on the shoulders of actual risk-takers and innovators, what more fun can be had than spitting down their necks and denigrating anything they have done?
“Ain’t good enough for ME!” “Doesn’t do everything I want such a device to do!” “Not what I would have designed!” “Doesn’t even come close to meeting my lofty standards!” “Not even close to Microsoft’s eventual Currier tablet!” “JooJoo and TechCrunch rule!” (That is, if they ever actually ship anything and stay out of court.) “You’ll have to pry the Kindle out of my cold, dead hands!”
“Yep, can’t please me with anything, no matter how hard you try!”
And remember, all of us faux entrepreneurs: The only thing pioneers get is arrows.
This reminds me of when the iPhone came out originally in ’07. Every day or two a new list of ‘reasons to not buy an iPhone’ would come out, all nearly identical and all listing ‘smudges’ as one of the reasons to not buy. Smudges?? Really??? This is the kind of nonsense that gets trotted out by those who for whatever pitiful little reason can’t stand Apple and Steve Jobs. I’m not saying that the iPad will be a sure fire runaway success, but anybody who doesn’t see the potential is blind or in massive denial.
@jg2000
This is basically replacing netbooks…. which have a camera….. front facing….. people want to video chat…
I guess when we finally do get a video chat option apple will release ichat for the iphone/touch/pad
Just think of how much better for business it would be with video conference option… just imagine everyone at a board meeting with an ipad… at $500 each that is a ton cheaper than the cisco telepresence systems going in offices with big 60″ screens and networking equipment. plus… they could be in a meeting anywhere.
Oh there is a tool here alright… but its not Jobs. Any guesses?
Sounds like Paul already had his list of complaints ready even before the iPad arrived.
I’ve got a first generation iPod touch and I never bought a case for it…so the back silver housing has literally millions of scratches…but the front glass, although easy to smudge…has only one small scratch…amazing to me…not to mention that I have now dropped it on the concrete 4 times and twice on asphalt…it fires right up.
The smudges on the front get a baby wipe and…perfecto. It is truly a tool for me…no pun or twist used.
As to the comment that it is a giant iPod touch- I couldn’t disagree more. I hav been using my iPad for 2+ days and the only similarities are the way the home screen behaves and the way one interfaces with the applications. Once you pull up an app that is designed for the iPad the difference is clear. It is more mac like than iPod/iPhone. That is the nature of the game change here. It is by far a more in depth and capable experience. Thurott spent maybe 5 minutes with his before he started jotting down his scratch.
MDN, this man is one of a select few that should not even have time wasted on his…craptastic opinions. Let’s not even give him the satisfaction of being quoted for the hitwhore that he is. Let him drift off into the oblivion of irrelevence.
I use my iPhone for surfing on the couch. I giant iPod touch would be great for that. That’s what people aren’t grasping who complain it’s “just an iPod Touch.” People sitting on their couch watching TV doing some Web surfing or texting don’t want a laptop. I use my phone… and next, I’ll use my Big Ass iPod Touch. It’s called CONVENIENCE.
So this author would like a laptop perhaps with a screen and hinged keyboard. Something that looks like all other laptops from all the makers on the planet – but not if it resembles an iPhone. Oh no, not that the iPhone or iPod Touch
Honestly, I can’t see having a camera, or cameras on it. Maybe a font camera, but certainly not a back camera. I mean, that would be like having a laptop with a back camera…..
I still don’t see how these guys get paid for their crap opinions and articles…..
My wife had the same “Uh-oh” moment with the shooting stars looking like scratches. Beyond that, she LOVE, LOVE, LOVES her new iPad. As I expected, it is the perfect Mom Machine. She has never raved about techno-goodies like I do, yet she was giddy with this machine. And the screen is gorgeous.
Techno wizard son and I were equally impressed, and I think I need one for myself, as the wife doesn’t seem too interested in sharing. Way to go (again), Apple. Rock on, aapl.
Only time will tell, but for sure, the “computer” world is not the same since Saturday. However this all shakes out, the iPad HAS changed the game. Even that Mr. Thurrott has to admit that.
The more I think about people like ThoroughlyRotten, I realize he’s the Scrooge or Potter of It’s a Wonderful Life of our times. They just can’t tolerate anything being wonderful, or good in life. Everyone should be as miserable as they are.
My iPad is performing exactly the role I envisioned for it and I could not be more pleased. There is really no reason to provide Thurott any more of an audience even though most know what a jackass he is. He has been wrong about everything to do with Apple which isn’t surprising given his obvious genuflecting to Microsoft. He should be embarrassed but this is his pathetic meal ticket.
Hey kiddies…Like I said…keep buying those iPad 1.beta’s for me. Even Thurrott agrees those R&D;dollars are needed to devise the corrected iPad 2.0 with dual cameras and the SSD. Now if only people can buy into the whole IR thing. Then the iPad could become the computer that sits on everyone’s coffee table. When you order a movie then the iPad can fire up your home entertainment system and prompt you to start the show. No more remotes.
just my $0.02
He complains about the weight. The iPad teardown shows that most of the space and weight is taken by the battery – which gives the iPad more than ten hours of battery life – an that is amazing on a device this size.
It IS a big iTouch….yeah so….the iTouch is pretty amazing and with more REAL ESTATE the iPad is even more amazing. It has just started….
The only reason it seems a little heavy is that it is so hard to put down.
The guy is a hit whore. He knows it. He knows he doesn’t contribute much to society. I feel sorry for him. He has to come up with hit whore crap everyday to make a living.
One thing nerd writers do is presume all nerd things are for them. Perhaps nerds like PT might consider how meaningful the device would be for technophobe partners of nerds, you know, the non-nerd in the home who finds no value in the PC experience and upon whom a laptop or netbook would be irritatingly too technical.
Psssssttttttt … pads come in different sizes … Apple typically offers a small/medium/large kind of selection … if the iPod touch is the small, and the iPad is the medium, wouldn’t it be reasonable to look for a 1440 x 900 at the same 132 pixels per inch in a 12.86″ diagonal screen (10.9″ x 6.8″)?
Shhhhh, don’t tell Paul
If it’s so lame…….why did he buy it in the first place? It’s obviously not a review model or he would’ve had it earlier. So, he had to order it or go stand in line for it.
Ok. I will give him the “The default wallpaper … the meteor shower it depicts looks like screen scratches, causing a momentary bit of panic.”
My wife thought I scratched the screen too. Maybe that is Apple’s April Fools joke?
Last week someone showed me their first gen. iPhone with smashed glass and it was still working. He had dropped it. It was not a scratch or cracked, it was several cracks of the top of the screen. That was impressive.
On topic. What computer does not use some of it’s storage for the OS, none. Oh so he did not buy a case, that is his fault. I did like the wallpaper, however I quickly changed it to a picture I took. Again his fault. How many weeks have they been telling us the wight, could have tested that, I do not think it is heavy; but then he is probably used to cheep plastic PC, not well built MacBooks. Dual cameras, it would suck to take pictures with this. The fact that he can’t come up with real issues shows how great the product is.
Steve Jobs has revolutionized the computer industry several times in his life and is a billionaire several times over.
Thurrott has done what?
It’s pretty obvious who is the tool between those two?
What’s funny is that he actually bought the thing.
It dont have camoaaaa whaaaa. It’s too heavy whaoaaaa. I’m still a complete moron whoaaaaaa. …!
@Jersey_Trader
Maybe they WANT our wives to think we scratched their screens. So they can sell us that $79.99 “Marriage Saver” app.
“Jeff
Paul, the “meteor shower”, is actually star trails caused by doing a time exposure.”
Yes, but I too was alarmed by what I thought were scratches while playing with the demo model at Best Buy. A group of us were waiting for the delivery Saturday morning, playing with the demo, thinking oh shit I ruined it! A close look revealed the truth, but it was disconcerting.
Weight is a factor. If it’s the aluminum and plasctic would have made a marked decrease in weight, Apple should have used it. I’m more worried about scratching the metal than I would be plastic because of the assumed value.
The camera is an issue as well ’cause everyone knows it will be on the next model, as will USB. Apple has a bad, galling habit of piecemeal releases across the line.
Galling? DISGUSTING!
I wouldn’t count this as a success just yet. This may be a success more in the business/education realm than the private sector in the end.
It’s already changed my game! I find myself not reaching for my iPhone or using my Mac as much as I used to.
And I no longer have plans to update my iPhone every year (maybe every two years now), nor will I update my Mac as often.
I can easily see my iPad becoming my primary computing tool, with my Mac being relegated to being my iPad’s docking station – only being used for ripping media into iTunes, storing documents and media, and updating software.
They only people that are not impressed by this device are those that do NOT wanted to be impressed by this device.
@Dirty Pierre: Knowing the dude, he’ll write off the purchase price on his taxes as a “business expense”, then sell the thing on eBay…
Ooooooooh it has more than 10 hours battery life.
Ooooooooh it weighs a pound and a half. It’s heavy.
None of you pussies connect the two and you’d expect that from people who can’t pick up something that weighs less than 0.7 kg.
I have never in my life seen a screen that was exactly proportionate to wide-screen video. “Widescreen” is not an option on anything, is it?
Basically, computing has come full circle.
In the Dark Ages, computers were restricted to the elite specialists who learned archaic languages in order to work with them.
The development of the desktop personal computer (and the laptop) opened that world to the general public.
Now with the iPad the computer is back in the hands of the specialists who need the power for audio/video editing, heavy number crunching and the like, while ordinary consumers have a device designed specifically for them.
I am friends with a guy that did 100% of the ipad setups at his store and he said 100% of the people thought their screen was damaged. You have to wonder if they did this on purpose, maybe to show how nice the screen was.
The next gen iPads will be interesting But, I do not see the Camera obsession that all the tech punters seem to have it makes little sense to me on why a camera is so important to so many of the Lame ass tech reviewers. Personally if I want to take pictures I use my professional DSL camera. I really detest portable devices with camera. Here is why: 1) I visit sites that are secure and restricted where Camera’s are not allowed. (I have to get special permission to bring my Mac Book Pro into these sites, it also requires security placing a Black Strip of tape over the camera) 2) With cameras on other portable devices people tend to use them in private locations being a female if you’ve never had a perv try to take a photo up your skirt you’re either very lucky or live a very sheltered life in a bunker some place. If Obama had wanted to pass a good law he should have dumped health care, and passed a law on personal privacy banning cameras from personal electronic devices and/or made it a serious crime to use one in locations or in any manner that is a breach of someone’s personal privacy 3) Portable devices take crappy pictures 4) People driving while talking on the phone is bad enough, people texting is even worse, now add a camera and these idiots that bitch about not having a camera (on the front) will be driving and video chatting. The question is not when any given device will or even should have a built-in camera (front or rear facing) but when will tech people figure out that personal electronic devices such as the iPad, iPod and iPhone do not need camera’s and should be sold without them. Camera on all personal electronic devices should be a modular add-on like to the Apple dock connector that way it could be removed when not needed, When you’re in a location were a Camera is not permitted or that a camera is well a violation of others personal and private space.
And as someone who routinely lugs around 20 lbs. of books, newspapers and the like, a 1.5 lb. device is a dream. Now if they’d just come up with a waterproof model for the bathtub…
@jg2000
Actually, I have 3 cameras, but none will allow me to do video conferencing on this thing.
DUH’s post was hard to read, but has some good points, especially the security issue. While a front facing camera would be handy for video chat, who the heck is going to want to hold up an iPad to take a picture when you can get a point & shoot camera for well less than $100 these days? Maybe when models with camera come out, they’ll be a additional model, just like the low-end 8GB iPhone 3G is still available for $99 as an option for those who don’t want to spend the $$$ on a 3GS model.
Okay, so who’s surprised that Paul the Tool went for the cheapest iPad available?
If you cant hold a pound and a half, you have other issues to deal with. Searching MDN articles for the last year, I see NO comment from you regarding netbooks as TOO heavy. The only “tool” here is in your mirror.
He shouldn’t bother reviewing it. He’s not worth it for the iPad to be the reviewer.
Thurrot’s well-documented anti-Apple perspective has effectively removed any credibility from him. Even Windows fans know better than to take him seriously. He’s really nothing more than a court jester in Castle Microsoft.
This poor guy is quite obviously clutching at straws.
He’s expected to come up with a convincing attack on the product, but this is all he can do.
Will his cheque arrive? Probably not, after his lords and masters read his latest rubbish.
As for cameras… I have never felt the need to use them in my phone, laptop or iMac. Not once. Prefer a real camera.
A Camera on the iPad isn’t useful unless Skype (or something similar) can be run in the background.
As for Thurrott, the 14GB thing raised my eyebrows. He’s in technology, right?
Other than that and the petty scratch thing, he’s a refreshing breath of fresh air from the Walt (lapdog) Mossberg’s of the world.
For perspective, I recommend listening to (as many minutes as you can stand of) PT on the Windows Weekly podcast. I find it oddly amusing. Like the appeal of a cheesy B-Movie. No coincidence that this claustrophobic, hushed tones show differs so markedly from Macbreak Weekly. Ha ha!
May all those who think the Paul Thurrott’s thoughts will never walk out of the Microsoft world, and stick with the netbook paradigm till their last day on earth.
700 gram is heavy? Paul you are a pussy!
You want iPad to be widescreen? How you think it will look like then? Like a skateboard? iPad is made so that both thumbs could reach the center while holding it.
@dimplemonkey: “Paradigm shifts?! Can someone say Apple printers, scanners, cameras, and Newtons?”
I would argue that Apple’s early integration of the laser printer, scanner and camera, along with their GUI and software like Pagemaker, was largely responsible for the mass shift of graphic design to digital although I will admit that others went on to have more success with the hardware. But you think the Newton wasn’t a paradigm shift? What do you think people were lining up for Saturday? That’s right, the latest version of the small-form, touch-screen computer Apple first released as the Newton…
Unbelievable, does Microsoft pay you in cash or by check? I LOVE my iPad and over Easter we were bombarded by people who wanted to see it and said that they were going to buy one. Almost all of the people that said that were non-nerd people, the majority. The computer nerds are the minority and the majority is going to flock to the iPad like the 700,000 that already flocked to it.
@ibagwan you forget who makes the technology – nerds. You’ll always need us.
1.5 pounds is too heavy?
@Dimplemonkey Heh, heh, I’m one of them! No, I never discount the nerds because like you said, we’re the ones that drive tech. What IS interesting is I have never had a tech device that has drawn as much attention from the non-nerds as the iPad. My wife’s dad was fascinated by the iPad and this is a guy that barely has a cell phone.
As to the weight, I read in bed with the iPad and it’s no heavier then a typical hardback book. Yeah, it’s not a paperback but my paperbacks don’t come with backlighting either! lol
I too thought the stars were scratches on the demo model in the Apple Store for about one second because scratches don’t move. Then I thought that’s pretty cool. Will change it when I get one. It was smudged badly also but it had been handled by who knows how many people by the time I arrived in the Apple Store 5 hours after it opened. I won’t be having several hundred people using mine so I’ll clean it off like I do every monitor I have. None of the computers I’ve purchased came with a case. I purchased them. It doesn’t have a video camera and a tripod, a four slice toaster, stereo surround sound, a blender for refreshing beverages,front wheel drive and heated seats, a warm body to snuggle with and a device to call my friends but I have all those things already.Apple was pretty clear that the iPad would have only the features that that they said it would. This complaining is juvenile. If you don’t like it don’t buy it. Personally I’m waiting for the iTeletransporter in v.2 before I buy mine.
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The reason everyone is lamenting the lack of a camera is because they want to take pictures. With the size of the Ipad that would be absurd. A camera would allow teleconferencing and Ichat. Even the DSi has a camera. Two in fact. I cannot imagine the second generation not having a camera.
Paul is write on all points and as usual, MDN is completely retarded.
Watching 16:9 content on 4:3 aspect ratio is RETARDED. There is no excuse plain and simple. Even magazines would have benefited in iBook store to be stretched. Apple just missed the boat on this. If a PC slate had come out before the iPad with 4:3 aspect (hello, is it 1986? who watches in 4:3 anymore) you all would have tore it a new one, yet you defend Apple junk.
I love giant black bars almost as wide as the content I am watching .
Idiots.
Meanwhile, back at the Apple Reality Distortion Ranch, 14GB of usable space when it’s advertised as 16 is a SCAM when you have so little space to begin with.
The thing feels HEAVY in your hands. Try holding this thing for an hour reading a book. Can you say carpal tunnel syndrome?
The screen attracts smudges and dirt more so then anyone expected. It’s also completley useless if there is any direct light. Useless. Impossible in sunglight.
The background is completley retarded and lots of reviewers have stated they initially thought it was scratched. And you can’t change it? WTF?
FAIL.
Bring on revision 2 with an UPDATED processor and graphics gore, a camera, SD card, HDMI and multi-task.
LOL PlayNice. Sooooo angry! Show us on the dolly where the nasty iPad touched you.
LOL. So, I wasn’t being subtle?
Listen, believe it or not, I own one. I pre-ordered it. I actually like using it – but I am realistic about it’s shortcomings and I acknowldege all of it’s weaknesses. I am a gadget fanatic, and an Apple user, so I was probably going to buy one of these things no matter what.
What pisses me off to no end is the Apple Fanboy Idiots who try and shoot down any criticism of the iPad. I just have to play devils advocate in this situation. I can’t helpmyself.
Stupid fanboys. Get a clue. Or better yet, get a girlfriend, and then maybe you wouldn’t have an Oedipus complex with a piece of hardware…
When someone lists that default background in a review, then further says that it confused them, you know that review is useless.
It is heavier than expected? Well, I guess if you don’t know what 1.5 lbs is, then it would have been unexpected. Wow. He’s obviously just saying negative things to say negative things. It is possible to legitimately have a negative review of the iPad, but this is not it.
@silversurfer: Yes, that’s right, it is a big iPod Touch. Those and devices like them, such as the iPhone and imitators thereof, are actually wildly popular in case you missed it. Even if the only difference were the screen size, it would be a popular device. However, the reader and iWork apps alone provide valuable additional features that will make it a viable product.
Well,
I have to agree, somewhat, about the weight issue.
It is, definitely, heavier than it looks. My feeling is that the aluminum back enclosure probably needed a sufficient thickness to support the components and one-piece glass without flexing and to make the iPad less prone to denting.
I am on the fence about the camera, though.
This iPad is a pretty large device to hold up for shooting digital still images. That said, I think the iPad could make a better digital video camera.
I would have like to see more functinality for the Photo app on the iPad. Maybe an iPad version of iPhoto or Pixelmator would be an welcome addition.
Plus, I am waiting for the iPad version of Brushes and I am looking forward to seeing more productive graphics apps to do graphic design and/or drawing/photo editing manipulation on this device.
This is device is going to eat into netbook sales for sure and with newer versions and/or software updates, the iPad could be a viable and productive replacement for a laptop.
I hope to see compact data storage devices that can be connected to this device for additional data storage, too!
That “meteor shower” convinced me I had a bad screen and I had a really bad few minutes until I loaded something else up and the “scratches” disappeared. Bad choice of photo.
MDN – please ignore that clown in the future – even if on the outside chance he is correct.
Ok – for future reference – whenever people say it should have a camera – I am almost certain they mean a webcam. I agree that taking pictures with this thing probably doesn’t make any sense.
However, webchatting makes PERFECT sense and it is incredibley stupid and short sited for Apple to not include that.
Hi, Paul;
On behalf of everyone else here, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your insight. We could never have known until your expository brilliance what the iPad weighs, nor that it (like all other devices) does not have a full GB capacity, due to the OS and other things, nor that it doesn’t have cameras (let alone a dual camera) and widescreen capabilities. But we appreciate that you bought it anyway, and only THEN discovered these deficiencies.
Rumor has it all this was known well in advance of the 3 April launch, but I like how you Monday-morning quarterback the iPad.
And in other news: Words like “tool”, “dude” and “fail” are sooooo 2006. I just want you to know this, for the sake of any future somnambulistic journalism you wish to practice.
two words…
Hit. Whore.
-Fin
Hi Paul!
Just wanted to let you know that I found the iPad “killer” that you’ve been looking for.
Its the Sony VAIO X Netbook.
Unfortunately, at 1.5 – 1.6lbs, its not any lighter than the iPad, so your limp wrists will still have problems.
Also, I regret to report that this is with the standard battery, for which Sony claims “up to” 3.5 hours of battery life…so you’ll have to find something else to do for the 7 hours it is short of the iPad.
And finally, its MSRP is $1300, which merely makes it roughly twice the price of the iPad … so its a bargain!
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-hh
DORK!!!
You missed this comment.
“The screen responsiveness is superb. This is something Apple does better than anyone. This should be studied and copied. It’s just amazing.”
Read – ignore the patents, Microsoft’s been copying for years, it must be ok!
@ DUH!
Let’s see, dump accessible health care for all Americans in favour of a bill banning cameras on portable devices … yeah right.
Only in America.
Back on track – waiting for the new Macs … Hopefully this hypefest will die down soon.
Regards the lack of a camera…
Ok, hands up anyone who wants to conduct a video conversation with someone holding an iPad? A few hands…
Ok, now think about that they;d be continually moving and adjusting in their seat.
It would be like watching someone in an earthquake. You’d end up seasick.
Ok, so they mount it on their desk and all is still. ok… but why not just use an MacBook then?
Then there’s also the issue of where to mount a camera. Would it be better on the long side or the short side? Which orientation would people use it most?
A camera in the iPad may seem a no brainer, but there’s a few issues that quite justify its absence.
And the media would have had a field day.
Imagine Thurott… “Who was the idiot who said to put a camera in this thing? I got nauseous in 10 seconds of video chatting.”
Apple will put a camera in the iPad when it can do it right. And don’t be surprised if it includes anti-shake technology when they do.
and add to the camera problems, you’d probably be looking up their nose if they had it on their lap.
Pathetic fanboys.
Hi dude, It is crazy bau5! Thanks a lot!