One definition of insanity is trying exactly the same thing over and over again and expecting different result. Microsoft pioneered Tablet PC concept back in 2001, but form factor and input method failed to catch on. For Apple to be successful with their tablet, they had to try something different, or otherwise they’d be insane 🙂
So they tried something different. They took iPod touch, super-sized it, called it iPad and what followed was chorus of technology enthusiasts and casual users alike who have been unimpressed by what iPad is all without trying it. Even Bill Gates says that he is unimpressed since device does not have built-in physical keyboard…
I don’t know whether iPad will succeed or be second coming of Apple TV, but Apple is trying something different so all bets are off.
What I do know is that iPad is device that I would feel good about giving to my mother or grandmother to use and not worry about viruses, deleted files or them being intimidated by the device and not grasping how to use it. It does not need rebooting, has 10 hours battery life and is easy to use… There are lot of people that use computers just to surf the web and do email and will be delighted by iPad…
What’s interesting to me is that pundits got blinded by how device looks (like giant iPod touch) and how Apple positioned iPad in introduction, as device between phone and laptop. This strikes me as perfect misdirection. I see iPad as full fledged computer that can replace not only netbook and laptop for many, many people, but it can be their main machine. And there are over 100,000 applications that it can use. And you can connect bluetooth keyboard to it or use keyboard dock…
There is huge potential there, I can’t wait to see how it plays out. What do you think?
http://hijinksensue.com/2010/01/29/theres-the-flashing-magic-screen/
Well as that comic points out, the demo is a joke… well I made me roll on the floor and laugh.
For many of the reasons people are unimpressed, yes this product absolutely fails…
I’ve had a “Toshiba Portege M200” for over 3 years, which I am still very happy about and use a lot for drawing UI mocks, taking notes, editing graphics/images ect. That was designed for working tasks as just that, and as such it was excellent.
You where also able to switch to a more traditional use for e.g. essay writing, programming and so on, so use it like a regular laptop was something some companies manage to make work, like the M200 which in my eyes was the very best Tablet PC back then, and for many intends still beats many of the newcomers.
Compared to all the reactions I have gotten over time when showing this product of, Microsoft never failed at the angle of the Tablet PC, it was just to way expensive and the technology was not mature enough in many ways.
I think you are completely wrong in your assessment of this being able to replace any sort of netbook or laptop, it simply doesn’t have the capabilities… imagine using this in a train on the way to work, trying to find a proper working position, and even worse if you try to use the bluetooth keyboard… or at home in the couch where you normally have your laptop sitting on your… yes… lap…
There is not a single situation in my home or on the road where this would fit into the way I use my current Tablet PC/Laptop…
The iPad is meant for something entirely different, it is a Media Viewing Device, nothing else in my eyes, it is not meant for editing, it is meant for viewing, In that way I would shiver when someone compares this to the original intend of tablet PC’s from MS…
But that is all OK, because that is how they present it and sells it… This would be excellent for reading books, viewing your image library, integrating it with a home theatre to make it your remote control for listening to music, watching movies.
I see endless possibilities for incorporating it for those tasks… Sadly it is an Apple product, and I doubt it will work with anything else but there devices for just such tasks.
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