2010
What they wanted: a MacBook Pro with no keyboard for $799.
What they got: a big fucking iPod Touch for $499.
OMGWTFBQQ!!!!1111!! HOW COULD HE DO THAT TO US? OUR BELOVED STEVE!??!
Now, anyone who could possibly mistake me for an Apple apologist obviously doesn't know me or read anything I've written in the last... oh... 5 years. There is absolutely no way I will defend that company, in any way, shape, or form. But that said, I think that the iPad is exactly what it is advertised to be: a big fucking iPod touch. In that context, if you need a big fucking iPod touch, you're in good shape, because there is one now. If you don't, believe it or not, you don't have to buy one. There's no law that says you do.
For what I do, which is make music, and make software to make music, the iPad is pretty fucking cool, bordering on heaven-sent. I can easily think of about 20 ways this will be handy for me, and if you gave me a little time to think about it, I could come up with dozens more. For the times I'm not making music or making software to make music, I'm either sitting outside or sitting on my couch, staring at the tiny screen of my iPhone as I play games. This will be a nice replacement for that.
I'm not going to try to read anything else in to it. It's just a big fucking iPod. Peter Kirn would have you believe that the Sky Is Falling, but he obviously doesn't recall the original Mac, which was as closed as a computer can be, yet beget a fairly robust line of products. Besides, we've heard that story before.
How different would the stories be today if they had just called it the iPod Pro?
posted January 28, 2010 by dub3000
While not hyped in the press event, there is a camera connection kit that is basically a usb dongle to retrieve photos from digital cameras. Well, most digital cameras nowadays can also be used as a standard webcam over usb. There's no indication that this can be done with the camera connection kit but it makes more sense for a camera to be an external device here. It's non-essential to the core functionality of the iPad and I can imagine a third party making something snazzy that can clip onto the bezel and be pivoted around to aim at whatever you want to get a picture or video of.
Let's hope that is a pleasant surprise.
posted January 28, 2010 by spittingangels
Or, put another way; how many apps are there out there that will work properly on this thing, vs how many would have worked properly if it ran regular OSX? Sure, it would be nice to load up live on this thing, but the interface would have been absolutely useless.
posted January 29, 2010 by 33degrees
There may be an increase in sales for e-books, but anyone who actually reads books won't be raving about the ability to read a book on an iPad simply because it's no better than reading on current laptops or current desktop computers... plain and simple, the process of reading on any of these devices is a quick way to eye fatigue instead of aiding in a quick read.
Serious readers will still opt for the latest digital ink devices over something like this. They might buy one of these too, but not to replace their digital ink devices (Sony's e-reader, barnes & nobles' nook and of course the kindle).
Still, like you said... I'm excited about what's to come and am happy to see how Apple is pushing the issue. These are all features of technology that I wished were taking advantage of sooner, but I'm still happy to see it come to reality now.
Lemur killer is more appropriate... but not a digital ink device killer.
posted January 29, 2010 by elxicano
In any event, serious readers will opt for what they've always opted for: a slab of paper between two pieces of cardboard. If you're in to books, you buy a first edition, and you carefully remove the dust cover and store it while you read that book. Then you put the dust cover back on and put it on the bookshelf with all your other books. eReaders are all fine for combing the massive pile of Project Guttenberg orphans, and they're all fine for reading the latest Tom Clancy techno-drivel, but for a person that is in to books, there is no substitute for a book. Plain and simple. People that love books (like myself) think the Kindle and all its kin are worthless pieces of shit.
Which is not to say that this is any better, of course. My point is that it's easy to kill the Kindle, because the Kindle is a joke. This could happily do it. "OMG BATTERIES!" When are you _ever_ 10 hours away from a plug? I was going to say I would be if I was camping, but my SUV has a damn plug in it. When do you read for 10 hours at a stretch? Never. Ever. Nobody does. All that shit is a Costco-sized drum of red herrings with a bill of goods stapled to the front. Seriously.
-CR
posted January 29, 2010 by Chris Randall
posted January 29, 2010 by ehdyn
Rather than being disappointed that Apple didn't use a macbook pro behind its casing (like ehdyn is it seems) I'm just wondering when they'll bother to refresh their actual Macbook Pro lineup. Lynnfield is already populated and now Arrandale has plenty of availability as well, so even if Apple couldn't conquer the heat issues of the former... They're really going to wait until March (or later) to update their remaining Core2 stuff?
posted January 29, 2010 by valis
posted January 29, 2010 by 33degrees
It's also necessary for anyone who wants to use the thing to amuse themselves on a long flight, such as the San Francisco to Tokyo jaunt that Steve mentioned. (Considering that the Sea/Tac-Tokyo flight makes me go nearly stark raving mad with claustrophobia and boredom, and that I seem to do it every year, an iPad might be worth the price to me for this application alone.) I'll grant that that represents an even smaller portion of the buying public, but consider the business traveler who has to spend several hours on a domestic flight and then go straight to some multi-hour presentation/lunch meeting/etc. IMHO portable devices aren't really living up to their promise if they don't provide real-world battery times of 8-10 hours.
But, what I want to know about the battery is this: is it user-replaceable, or has Apple just created yet another environmentally reprehensible throwaway electronic gadget?
--Adam
posted January 29, 2010 by studio nebula
