Apple iPad released - Whats your take?

[cerebus]

Have you tried to purchase an A3 at Makro or Musica? I got mine from B&H Photo Video NYC.

Well what's your point? They're niche devices therefore you can't buy them at Musica? I have no problem finding Sansa players in shops here and I can find Cowons and Archos's online.

Those screens are great for daylight viewing.

Very promising, I had hopes Jobs would use this technology in iPad.

ONLY if he buys his video from Apple or has an iMac and converts all his cam footage to Apple iPod MOV. If he buys from other sites, uses other formats, etc - he will need to transcode. So all your Crunchyroll and Hulu videos, need that too.

I don't think so. For one iTunes does not natively handle MKV and AVI containers. You'll need to transcode with 3rd party apps - on a Mac/PC.

The iPod is great because it is so easy to use and so ubiquitous but the video support on it sucks. In the US (UK, Japan, etc) they have the iTunes Store and can buy videos, TV series, music directly - we can only rip CDs. Apple doesn't even officially let you rip DVDs.

Ok Apple could do more on the video side I agree with you. I don't find it particularly onerous to transcode over to iTouch because every application supports it as a single button - Handbrake, Espresso et al. But it may be that the average user does, and it's a step removed from drag-drop. They have such a philosophy of strict control that I don't see them opening it up but I do foresee other developers moving to fill up the field in their absence.

My point is that because the iPad is so dependent on the iTunes Store which we don't have, it is not the magical device Jobs makes it out to be. A more general player/computer is more worthwhile for users w/o iTunes shop access.

The magic of iPad is its ability to overhaul personal computing. iTunes store access is something that would be available for a majority of its Euro-US-Asian buyers (we are very much a fringe market). It is not that much of a big deal. And while there will be imitative tablet devices and iPad's execution lacks a number of elements esp to fundis, Apple's vision here is extraordinary.

 

[zippy]

Yeah but it's very time-consuming. Apple could be better WRT video file support.

Maybe this has been discussed before, but why isnt the iTunes Store available in SA ?

Anyway, why would Apple do this for the relatively small number in SA ? Doesnt make business sense to them, I would guess. And they arent a charity

 

[PeterCH]

Maybe this has been discussed before, but why isnt the iTunes Store available in SA ?

The same reason it's not available in Brazil, Greece, Russia etc.

Anyway, why would Apple do this for the relatively small number in SA ? Doesnt make business sense to them, I would guess. And they arent a charity

What a bizarre thing to say. To be a charity Apple would have to be giving stuff for free, not selling at a profit. By the way, the iTunes store is only available in a select small number of countries and each store is different and sells different music.

 

[PeterCH]

Well what's your point? They're niche devices therefore you can't buy them at Musica? I have no problem finding Sansa players in shops here and I can find Cowons and Archos's online.

Apple iPods are ubiquitous. They're easy to find and get. Sure you can get Sansa but it's not much better than an iPod or maybe even worse. And why should you say they are niche devices?


Very promising, I had hopes Jobs would use this technology in iPad.

Ok Apple could do more on the video side I agree with you. I don't find it particularly onerous to transcode over to iTouch because every application supports it as a single button - Handbrake, Espresso et al. But it may be that the average user does, and it's a step removed from drag-drop. They have such a philosophy of strict control that I don't see them opening it up but I do foresee other developers moving to fill up the field in their absence.

It's not about strict control. OSX is able to run Handbrake and other programs. It's that they have a conflict of interest. They would prefer to not make it easy or convenient to use other media. That's one of the reasons why I don't like the iPad in its present form while I like OSX and Mac computers. Apple allows you to install 3rd party drives (I plonked an Intel X25M and have Hitachi, Samsung, WD drives in my Mac Pro -- not one is Apple branded), memory, PCI-EX cards, printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, monitors, modems, change CPUs, graphic cards, etc. Secondly if you don't like Apple softs, you can buy from Adobe or Intuit or Microsoft or Roxio etc. There's also lots of free ware, OSS and some good shareware. However Apple still has control over other aspects.

The magic of iPad is its ability to overhaul personal computing

.

The iPad is not a fully fledged computer. It can do the basics, but even now it can't multitask. It can't do more complicated things. It has a weak CPU etc. If it had the power of a Macbook (pro) it would then be overhauling personal computing.

i

Tunes store access is something that would be available for a majority of its Euro-US-Asian buyers (we are very much a fringe market). It is not that much of a big deal. And while there will be imitative tablet devices and iPad's execution lacks a number of elements esp to fundis, Apple's vision here is extraordinary

I think in Asia you only find iTunes Japan and iTunes Hong Kong. You don't get iTunes Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, India, Pakistan, Russia, etc.

Why do you say Apple's vision is extraordinary? Apple is not the first to make a music/etc download store for physical devices. There is nothing extraordinary about it.

 

[Synaesthesia]

No, the A4 is fast, and it makes possible such a small thin device with 10 hours battery. That would have not been possible with Core 2 Duo, or even Atom. I've got OS X running on Atom, it's not so great.

Obviously this thing is not gonna replace your Mac, you can't encode video and perform very complex tasks with it. But you perform simple tasks, on the go. And iPhone OS is perfect for the form factor. Another important factor in the iPad is it's got a very successful App Store, huge developer support. Basically the thing which will make iPad a huge success is the Apps. There's so much potential with this hardware, it's got really fast 3d graphics, a high quality screen ...

Oh, and it does multitask. The iPhone multitasks, although only the Apple Core apps. This makes sense as memory and battery are limited. With the iPad I predict they will enable multitasking with 4.0 like they did with Copy/Paste in 3.0.

 

[cerebus]

You're defining personal computing according to your very technical requirements - which is the classical view of personal computing. The overhauling of that paradigm is in taking it from a power-user focus to an anti-technical userbase. You can only see it in terms of how it underperforms relative to a Macbook Pro - even as a standalone you would only really want it to play movies on, in which case something like JooJoo would be more tailored to you. The iPad is focused very strongly on attracting non-core users, of which there are multitudes. I suspect that is the extent of Apple's vision, and from that perspective it is extraordinary (not itunes lol). We'll see if they succeed though.

 

[Shardie]

Maybe this has been discussed before, but why isnt the iTunes Store available in SA ?

Anyway, why would Apple do this for the relatively small number in SA ? Doesnt make business sense to them, I would guess. And they arent a charity

These guys sell itunes gift vouchers... http://megagraphix.co.za/store/mac/mac-accessories/itunes-gift-cards.html

 

[PeterCH]

No, the A4 is fast, and it makes possible such a small thin device with 10 hours battery. That would have not been possible with Core 2 Duo, or even Atom. I've got OS X running on Atom, it's not so great.

Current Macbook Pros can get up to 10 hr battery life - those use a hard drive, a larger screen and a mobo with a fan. The ARM processors are fast but they don't run x86 code like Atom or Intel C2D/i3 etc.
Intel CULV processors - C2D are faster than ARM.

Obviously this thing is not gonna replace your Mac, you can't encode video and perform very complex tasks with it. But you perform simple tasks, on the go. And iPhone OS is perfect for the form factor. Another important factor in the iPad is it's got a very successful App Store, huge developer support. Basically the thing which will make iPad a huge success is the Apps. There's so much potential with this hardware, it's got really fast 3d graphics, a high quality screen ...

The screen isn't very good quality - it is low res and it is poor in daylight. Secondly the A4 can run code optimsed for it, I don't know how well this thing would tackle H264 out of spec (eg different profile) or other video codecs. A4 etc are processors which are optimised for very few specific tasks. However you're locked into those few tasks.

Oh, and it does multitask. The iPhone multitasks, although only the Apple Core apps. This makes sense as memory and battery are limited. With the iPad I predict they will enable multitasking with 4.0 like they did with Copy/Paste in 3.0.

Well it doesn't multitask. It doesn't even multitask like Windows 3.0 did.

 

[PeterCH]

These guys sell itunes gift vouchers... http://megagraphix.co.za/store/mac/mac-accessories/itunes-gift-cards.html

It is unofficial and not sanctioned by Apple. You need to use various tricks to buy on iTunes using those and if Apple found out, they'd cancel your voucher.

You contradict yourself. On the one hand you like the iPad because it is so easy and convenient on the other hand to be functional you need to play tricks and buy vouchers Apple could cancel at any time with no recourse on your part - hardly easy.

 

[bwana]

Current Macbook Pros can get up to 10 hr battery life - those use a hard drive, a larger screen and a mobo with a fan. The ARM processors are fast but they don't run x86 code like Atom or Intel C2D/i3 etc.
Intel CULV processors - C2D are faster than ARM.

Thats quite a bit longer than even Apple claims and they're usually pretty accurate with their estimates.

 

[cerebus]

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3580&p=1

the $2499 17" model goes to 8hrs.

 

[PeterCH]

Thats quite a bit longer than even Apple claims and they're usually pretty accurate with their estimates.

Ok it's 8 hours - but using a faster CPU, using a HDD, using a larger screen with fan. If you scaled it all down, you would probably have 10hr on a C2D 1.4GHz with 160GB SSD etc.

Panasonic Long Run batteries power 2.53 GHz Toughbooks for up to 16hrs. This is Panasonic which does laptops for the US military and the CIA.

 

[cerebus]

Ugh you cannot compare a $2500 machine to a $500 one. 10 hours is very good performance.

 

[PeterCH]

Ugh you cannot compare a $2500 machine to a $500 one. 10 hours is very good performance.

Cerebus, I'm not sure why you said that.

Synaesthesia mentioned that Apple wouldn't be able to make a general, table form computer in the shape and form of the iPad and make it last 10 hrs. Look back a few posts.

I then responded that the Apple MacBook Pros already do a good 8hrs. These machines have non-ULV 2.53 and up GHz C2D processors, fans, HDDs, bigger screens and so on --all components which suck more power. They cost more, because such a CPU, mobo, screen etc all cost more and Apple probably enjoys a higher profit margin on its pro hardware vs the basic entry level consumer h/w - the way that MB makes more profit on a CLK500 vs an A180.

However, the energy supply possibilities are there - it would be possible for Apple to take a C2D ULV processor or an i3, pair it up with an NVIDIA chipset, an SSD and higher res screen and come up with a 10h iPad Mac OSX machine which would run everything. Perhaps it would be a bit more expensive but when you look at the 3G iPad with 64GB of flash for $829 you see that that is already a lot of money for a TOY (mobile internet device with limited usage - and not a general computer -and dependence of apps Apple approves from both techincal, corporate and moral POVs). The $499 iPad is a joke - no 3G, 16GB of storage (for 720p content that is very little, especially without a way to plug in a MicroSD card).

As for classical computing - I don't know what you mean. The multi-touch on-screen technology developed for the iPhone could be used in Mac OSX machines. It would give you gorilla arm to use it vertically (as current laptops have angled vertical screens) - it makes more sense to do it on the table or on your lap or while standing - all locations where tablet PCs could be used easily and where notebooks are cumbersome for multitouch.

There are companies which convert Macbook (pros) into tablets right now - however these are still the same old HEAVY Macbook Pros. Instead a 700g tablet with a high res screen, general use CPU, gpu core, SSD for at least 160GB and 3G etc
would be something really worthwhile to take along. You could still do everything the iPad does, but you could do more.

That's my take. I like Apple h/w - their computers and haven't been inspired by their gadgets. The iPod was great in the day but better players have come out. To draw a car analogy - you can buy an expensive Mercedes Benz where you must pay extra for leather, extra for retractable mirrors, etc or you could buy a cheaper Luxury Lexus or BMW where these things are included as standard. Apple chooses to be the MB here except sadly they don't even offer these as upgrades. Which means that if I want leather, I can't buy MB - if MB did not offer it and I would really want it.

 

[cerebus]

Ok I get your take on it - but your analogy isn't so great. The cheaper iPad isn't luxury priced for what it offers - not by any stretch. The JooJoo Crunchpad costs $500 and offers 4gb ssd storage. The iPhone with 4gb debuted at $500+ onerous AT&T contract. You can't see the iPad except in the rather myopic perspective of what it lacks for you - but perversely you'd pay $400 on top of the highest listed price if they'd only throw in additional luxury add-ons such as full OS+dual core cpu - putting it WAY out of the league of the average consumer.

You consider it a toy but in actuality it provides a solid alternative to the great majority of things that most people use their PC's solely to do. So I can't help it if you're blinkered by tech-snobbery but it's far from a toy.