Steve Jobs uncloaks the 'iPad'
Steve Jobs has announced Apple's long-awaited tablet - now officially named the iPad, as The Reg had predicted - at a media circus Wednesday morning in the 757-seat Novellus Theater at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The Reg will offer its considered analysis of what Jobs called "a truly magical and …
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Rename it the iFail All Ready
No multitasking.
So I wouldn't be able to listen to Spotify while I browse the internet, or to my locally streamed audio while doing something else, like writing my emails.
Uh-oh.
And locked down tight so I'm limited to using what the crack-addled monkeys at App Store approval department say is blessed.
Apple have a track record of scre-ups for all their insightful wins and this is such a fail.
Meh...
I'll wait till Asus/Acer et al bring out a superior machine for half the price <ducks for coat>
Mono speaker(s)?
Just noticed from the 360 view on the apple site that it only looks like it has one speaker (bottom left corner - positioned the same place as an iPhone). Can anyone confirm/deny?
Stereo?
What would be the point of stereo speakers on a device like this?
Wait for V2
When they put the phone back in. Looking at the yute of today -- surfing and yacking -- this thing probably fits the bill of a netbook and phone all wrapped up in one. And as a road warrior who can't afford to call alot when traveling internationally, a phone and 'presentations' all in one box.
iBook, iWork, iPhone apps, e-mail
Don't care.
If I could use the thing to write-compile-test code at least for it, I'll change to a partial pass
Not holding my breath, though. I like breathing at least a few times a year.
write compile???
"If I could use the thing to write-compile-test code... "
<peter griffin voice>yes. yes, that's exactly the market this product was designed for. yup. that's the one. right there. thaaaaat one.</griffin>
Meh
I can write-deliver an app on my Palm V for crying out loud. But it looks right now like wanting to do anything outside of what Apple allows, like running an in-house company app, will be verboten. Pass.
Flash
Now I know that a lot of web is changing to HTML5 but there is still a hell a lot of Flash out there.
Its just a giant Ipod touch.
Even tho being an Apple fan, typing on a Macbook Pro, listening to my iphone........ think i will steer well clear of this...like Google and China clear
Hmm.
Looks mildly interesting.I see that apparently some versions will have 3G, with AT&T the partner in the states.
1) O2 over here?
2) When will this be available in the UK? apple.com/uk has nothing so far ... :(
3) Please can it have a decent RSS reader that caches web pages including the pics?
iPad...
right down to the Apple store in my stocking feet to get in line for one of these!
Seriously, EVERY ONE of the previous posters has missed what makes this special, AGAIN:
It's the only tablet with an in-built micro-payment system (aka iTunes) and a few thousand mobile applications at launch. Yes, that is a game changer - that will bring serious portable media to the iPad, there are already a slew of iPhone games to play on it that will benefit immensely from a larger screen, etc. It will rock.
As for why it is better than a phone, as anyone that has used an ereader knows, size DOES matter. My Sony 505 has a 7" screen, and it still struggles to properly format many pages readabily - a 9" would be much better. E-ink would be cool, but would utterly reduce it to JUST a portable book - no games or video. And there are already a few larger screened ereaders.
Apple wins, yet again. And once again, it isn't about just the hardware itself...
Uh-huh...
Right, so the game changer is that you're tied to one online store, rather than being able to buy OSX programs from anywhere online?
Wrong
Despite all you say, it still blows. Seriously. Did you even pay atention to the part you wrote about being tied into a micropayment system? Yep, lets line up to get nickeled and dimed to death ( or whatever pence and such you brits use :) )
Its worse than a phone, worse than a netbook. It won't make a call and its going to be akward as hell to use unless you have it on a flat surface, and then I would imagine that it will have to be propped. 4:3 screen for movies? What the hell were they thinking?
As for ebooks, mobi pocket readr for winmo does the trick nicely.
padboi
Hey Rob, Steve Jobs called to say thanks for the organ you donated.
..one for the ladeeeez?????
Missus says she likes it and wants one (much more than her current netbook) .. maybe this is the first female only gadget (well apart from other 'niche' products)
I reckon the ladies will be flocking to get one of these...
Oh and people who just want to use a computer for email and let Apple think about the apps for them... no virus's is quite tempting.... how many netbooks can boast that...
And no I'm not a fanboi....or maybe they're creating a market of fangirls....
Marketing, marketing, marketing
I can't believe even Reg readers are stupid enough to believe the nonsense about macs being completely impregnable to virus', and PCs having a lot of them.
Blame windows, not PCs, OMFG the hardware architecture is exactly the same. I have a quad-boot (as in Linux, Drangonfly BSD, leopard, and 7) system right on this netbook, which I got for $300.
It doesn't have an apple on it, yet it is much more secure than your overpriced mac gadgets.
Mine
"no virus's is quite tempting.... how many netbooks can boast that..."
Mine can!
Hold your horses
The iPad was not speciically designed for the sort of people who read The Register.
I think the low cost (non 3G) 16GB version would be great for my 70 year old mother. OK, several web sites that require Flash might get her confused... other than that it should be ideal.
Yes, it's a large iPhone / iPod Touch. No problem - no viruses, controlled environment, simple to use, hard to break (software wise).
Initially, I thought it might give Sony's eBook or Amazon kindle a run for thier money - however, the 1024 x 768 display is either optimised for video / pictures or for matte reading. No problem - no one said Apple was perfect. I also worry about the issues between Google and Apple - YouTube not working is going to be a problem if the relationship breaks and Flash isn't supported.
So hold the negativity and think who the device is aimed at. Sure it's not an Aston Martin, but a lot of people like the BMW Mini.
netPad™
Thank god they didn't call it the Apple netPad. Psion would be back onto the lawyers quicker than you can say, "No sir, we've never heard of one peeling before".
Hackintosh a Dell mini instead
Buy yourself a Dell mini and a Copy of OSX for £20 or so. Hackintosh it, then you get the same size screen, a proper keyboard, a 160GB disk, camera and mike and a proper multitasking operating system. All for less than the entry ipad. No contest.
Executive toy
Everyone goes on about Apps, but the reason you need Apps is because you can't use an iPhone like you can a proper computer. If you can use the web properly, use Google apps or MS gadgets, or use other office products, most Apps immediately become redundant - all you end up doing is paying for things you can get elsewhere for free.
Then there's the compromise - all the things you want to use an iPad for can be done either cheaper, smaller, faster, or better with other existing devices. It's too big to take on the PSP and DS, it has no keyboard and a small screen so you can't use it like a laptop, it's got a normal LCD screen so it’s not a proper eReader and you can't carry it around with you as easily as you can a Smartphone. It’s not a netbook because it’s too expensive (despite being no smaller), and it’s not a proper movie player because it has no built-in optical drive.
Realistically, who’s going to shell out £500 (plus the cost of an extra mobile contract) for this? People with too much money, and there aren’t that many of those around at the moment. The iPod was revolutionary because it popularised the current generation of portable audio devices, and the iPhone was revolutionary because it was the first consumer friendly pocket-sized computer. What, exactly, is revolutionary about the iPad?
Finally, all of you reading this on a laptop on the sofa, push the screen as far back as it will go and lean it back so it’s flat on your lap. Now, sit back in comfort in your chair. What can you see? That’s right… nothing!
iPad becomes iFad ...
Our MD will invariably be ordering one of these as soon as they become available in the UK, so I'll pass judgement on usability etc. once I've actually had a play with one (I'm the poor sod who'll have to do the setup etc.)
From a personal point of view, however, iPhone OS=lockdown=no sale - if I want computing on the move I'll use my Dell Mini-10v
Multitasking, Flash
Multitasking is coming in iPhone OS 4, the iPad runs 3.2 at launch.
Flash is old hat technology being replaced by (open source) HTML5, supported by Firefox 3.6, Google Chrome and Safari already.
For all the naysayers, sit back and watch how to make money - but you will never learn!
HTML5?
You've not been reading the Reg. properly. HTML5 is far from done-and-dusted, as it relies on the underlying codecs being in the browser, and there being arguments about H.264 and Ogg Vorbis.
BTW. H.264 is not open source. Even though it's freely available It is patented. This is something quite different.
iPeriod
Yes, it's name conjures images of sanitary towels and hence must be aimed at those of us of a menstruating disposition....
iPad - sounds smelly to me.
"Pad" is the gujarati slang word for "excessive flatulence" - welcome to Apple's new iFart !!
errm
Isn't it just a jumbo Ipod Touch? The only really revolutionary thing Apple did here was take an existing product and enlarge it, whereas most companies shrink them instead.
And for its price you can buy a tablet pc that runs real computer software not just iphone apps, and has 5 hour battery time.
What a waste
May as well buy one of those crappy Archos 'multimedia' devices - another product where you have to throw money at it to get it to work and be tied into their own brand of proprietary software.
To big to be a travel companion
I was hoping the iPad was to be a 7" device, something I could take on overnight business trips, so I could browse the web and answer some email on the train with a few multimidia features thrown in, but the fact that it is too big to fit in a inside jacket pocket keans I'm back to eyeing up a Lenovo X Series tablet. At least I'll get some freedom of choice out of that!
As Usual......
...... A wonderful piece of engineering by Apple.
The demo's that I've seen seem to show that Apple has taken a gamble on people not wanting to multi-task in favor of making sure that whatever you happen to be running runs smoothly.
Personally, I'm in two minds. the 64GB version would be adequate to replace the personal laptop I carry around on business trips (ok, it's a macbook), but I'm not loving the idea of not being able to watch a movie while I web browse and clear up the days Emails.
But, I can see a legitimate use for this device in my home. I spend hours a day with my laptop open, either web browsing or reading articles, often with the stereo or TV on. At times like this I could easily replace my laptop with this device. Unfortunately I can't see myself being able to do without the laptop during that one in ten time that I need to do more than one thing at once.
End result (as I have just stated to the other half with puppy dog eyes) "I won't buy one for myself, but if somebody wants to buy me one I'm not gonna say no"
Finally
I'm not an apple fanboi, I dont own anything made by them (iPhone I might get if they stick a better camera in). When the touch came out I thought "if they scale that up, you'd end up somewhere near the pads they had in star trek TNG, which would be great". Tablet PCs never lived up to their original concept, and unless things have changed, they were way too expensive. Netbooks are just crap laptops. I think the iPad fills a gap somewhere in there, and is more or less how I imagined it would be.
Yeah the single tasking is bollocks, their app model makes a techie scream for a jailbreak. But if they can avoid pricing it the same as the USD value in GBP I could consider thinking about maybe possibly deciding to consider buying one. I hope this doesnt make me a girl.
Coooooooolllll!!!!111!!!1!
But I'll add a keyboard to be useful, maybe I could use the keyboard to protect the screen when not in use too! Oh, wait, I've already got one.
Phone not included for safety reasons
If you tried to answer that brick you would knock yourself out!
"iPad, we are taking the piss and mopping it up for you"
Cue woman in pink lycra on roller skates
Paris on the skates!
Design Flaws
Does anyone know if the iPad suffers from a lack of removable battery and/or a lack of storage expandability? In other words, can you get a 16GB model and replace/add flash to it to boost it up to 64GB? Can one swap batteries?
iFail to see the niche.
I'll enjoy watching this one crash and burn.
Too crippled for me
Echoing many other posters, the lack of Flash or Multitasking makes this a miss for me. Wife is doing a Masters and flips between online resources and her word processor when doing coursework. If this can't multi-task then she'll just stick with her Dell Mini 9 and iPod Mini.
I'd want this for casual web surfing (amongst other things) and the lack of Flash means that I can't "see web pages as they were meant to be seen" (to quote apple.com.)
Finally (and this is not a complaint, just an honest reason why I'd not go for it yet) its form-factor means it won't fit into my iPod docks. My iPod sits in my car's glovebox broadcasting to the stereo and at home it sits in my Sounddock. I'd hope there'll be an accessory to cope with this.
So I'll stick with my laptop, iPod Nano and paper book for now. Fix Flash and Multi-tasking and I'll consider this.
Agree
Moses Tablet it is...
Any more concur?
Or we could always call it the iPlank
iFlop
Or iSlate, because it's getting one. Perhaps even iSuck. I'll run with Moses tablet though.
hmm
Just another toy for the kids, it's not a large version of iphone, it's a large version of the itouch. I was looking forward to this but now that there is nothing for wordprocessing or stylus, what is the point.
it would have been nice to do up a doc, grab the stylus, sign your name, then send it out.
apple really needs to make these big toys corporate friendly.
meh
man bags... I hate those fucking things... and now there's a reason to carry them... arrgh.. hate the fucking things even more now...
Business as usual I see...
As usual we see the traditional split that occurs when Apple products are discussed, the Yeas rejoicing and the Nays slagging off - both without much evidence that their positions are justified.
I think that the merits or otherwise of this device will be decided when people finally get hold of one and play with it and use it. I believe this is how the iPhone took off.
My position? I've learned not to get too excited about any new piece of kit until I've had a chance to use it and I've been around since the Apple 2s and the original DOS PCs.
Haha
So many blinkered people here judging a book by its cover, and usually I'd be the first to slag off Apple. This is the hardware, people, most likely announced prematurely cos of a) hp & ms and b) rumours.
If you lot can't see this as a huge, hardware precursor to a iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch v4 OS coming imminently then, I'm sorry, you all need your heads examined.
Just had a thought
iBook Store will have ePub books. I'd bet my hat they have DRM. So are they going with (integrated?) Adobe Digital Editions or are they going in-house with their own DRM?
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