Well the iPad is here. Richard can rejoice perhaps. I'm somewhat underwhelmed by this device so far but then again this probably isn't geared towards me.

Enjoying the live update on Engadget and Mr. "RDF" himself looks better than he's been in a really long time.

I agree Josh. I am decidedly unimpressed with what essentially amounts to a larger iPod Touch. I don't like e-readers in the least and I already have an iPhone. What's this device bringing to the table that I don't already have?

Well, it has iWork, which is a plus for me. if it had multitasking and flash, it would be a better option. Also it would be awesome if it had video out, but I'll live without it.

It has iWork but wouldn't somebody already have that on their MB/MBP/MBA? I'd have to see the cost of this before I plunk down any money for it.

It's probably going to have 3g capabilities so I'd also need to see who the carrier(s) are and what the pricing structure is for a contract.

[EDIT BY ME]



Oh great AT&T

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (1/27/2010)]

It indeed DOES have 3G. Plus, this is a selling point if/when AT&T comes to MT, 29.99 a month for UNLIMITED data... on a prepaid plan.... Best thing about it.

WOW!!! $500 for this! I may have to rethink my stance on this.

I have my train of thought done. I will have one by my birthday, May 24th. No 3G included. Unless HP's Slate out-do's apple with amazingness, then I may buy it instead...

Ok now this has to be one of the dumbest comments I've read this year:

From the Engadget feed:
11:26AM No phone calls from what we can tell.

Who on Earth was EXPECTING this thing to make and receive phone calls?

I think it would be cool to have the ability to do that, using a Bluetooth headset. But it is unlikely, and was proven to not be true..

I want to see 10,000 yuppies walking around with those things up to their ear.

Also, that thing is going to become a paperweight the first time you drop it.

[This message has been edited by Levi Forman (1/27/2010)]

The more I think about this thing, the worse it sounds. Putting the iPhone OS on it is just idiotic. No flash websites, no multitasking, you have to hold it so it's not like you're going to use it to write/edit documents or lengthy emails and you're not going to want to do that without a real keyboard anyway. This thing is the answer to a question no one asked.

I do have to post something I saw on another board though. New Headline:

APPLE SHRINKS STEVE JOBS

You are not alone Levi:

The iPad's Five Worst Surprises
http://www.macworld.com/a...ssues.html

My opinion is that while this isn't a toy, this is NOT going to replace my laptop at all. I like the price, how you pay for 3g (no contract) and that it runs iWork among other things but there a few things about it that I don't like, some of which are mentioned in the article.

I already have an iPhone and a MacBook Pro (2007). I do not need the Barry Bonds iPod Touch.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (1/27/2010)]

I'm watching the Stevenote right now, and yet I have no problem drifting away to type this. Also, you could hear a pin drop in the background as Jobs goes through this -- not the usual cheering and excitement. I think part of the problem is we were expecting sooooo much. In possible to live up to the hype. Man, you can hear people coughing in the background. Finally some applause and anemic at that.

As for me, what I wanted it does not have. I was hoping that this was like a regular tablet computer running any software like Work, Photoshop, etc. Then I wanted to be able to write right on top of the program using a pen. Also, wanted to be able to hook it up to a video projector. Rats.

Oh, it looks interesting and I think Apple is going in the right direction with the whole ebook thing, but this is not what I was hoping for. Well, the good news I don't have a huge desire to buy one. But, I don't have a desire to buy an iPhone or an iPod touch, so Apple should make a pile of money on this.

Photoshop epic FTW

I wrote Work, but wanted to write Word for the Office suite.

Okay, wrote too soon. Phil tells me I can hook up a projector.

Looking better.

[This message has been edited by Bart Freese (1/27/2010)]

Sitting in a motel room in Rock Springs Wyoming and just finished watching the presentation. Very Cool product!

I do have a few technical questions such as will it support a bluetooth phone headset or a bluetooth gps. I found it interesting that there was no mention of the OS this device runs, which might mean that it will be multitask capable when iPhone OS 4.0 is released. I also wonder if the numbers app supports data list validation. I sure hope so. At $499, I can afford to own several of these for data collection. It will be so cool to have all of my plant id keys with me in the field.

I also wasn't clear on the 3G part of this. If it is prepay with no contract and it is an unlocked device, does it mean that the 3G will work here in Wyoming? If not, I can just hook it to my Verizon mifi.

I do wish that it allowed for handwritten notes like the Newton, but that is a very minor nit.

Overall, I am pretty impressed. I will definitely own at least one of them.

I am actually repelled from this now. Why? Apple directly copied one of the most famous applications on Mac OS X, Delicious Library, in it's iBooks app. I think I'm going to go with HP's tablet when it comes out....

Richard, from all I understand you can take any SIM card and plug it in and get on that networks 3g.

Also if I'm not mistaken this is running an iPad exclusive iPhone OS 3.2 or something like that.

Correct, it is indeed running 3.2. Also, why the hell do you need a Compass in a tablet?!?

Really Richard? I thought you said you weren't interested if it was just a big Ipod Touch? That is exactly what it seems like to me.

Also, why the hell do you need a Compass in a tablet?!?

For me it would be very handy so I know exactly what direction to run my sampling transects. One less thing to pack around in the field.

Really Richard? I thought you said you weren't interested if it was just a big Ipod Touch? That is exactly what it seems like to me.

Yes, I said that. I didn't anticipate they would rewrite iWork. I see a lot of uses in my business for this device. The closest thing would be a Trimble Juno which is about the same price and won't do half of what this thing will do and has a smaller screen. To get this size of screen in any other tablet form you are looking at $2000 minimum and then you have to deal with windows.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (1/27/2010)]

A tablet PC would be a totally different animal than this. It has a hard drive, it runs real Microsoft Office, it can run multiple apps simultaneously, it can run real software, not just cute little iphone apps. Windows devices do have handwriting recognition as well.

Something about this reminds me of this onion classic: http://www.theonion.com/c...node/33930

The name isn't so bad. It was either that or the tamPod.

There already was a TAM computer.

The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (Tam) computer. I seem to recall seeing a black model in the back ground on some Seinfelds.



Note: This thing was before Steve Jobs came back and Jony Ives was around.

[This message has been edited by Bart Freese (1/30/2010)]

Point taken. Joke ruined. Thanks

Another hat in the ring to vie for your hypothetical tablet dollar.





http://archosfans.com/201...d-pricing/

It's got a lot of things that the Ipad is missing, but I still can't see laying out the $ for one of these with a "mobile" OS. Price listed is £149.99. Not sure what that converts to in dollars but I'd think it's less than the Ipad.

Supposedly Adobe has a flash viewer for Android about ready for release also.

todays conversion rate is $238.17...

Thanks Howdy.

It looks like the Microsoft Courier might be along the lines of what Richard has been looking for. At least it is pen based and uses handwriting recognition for it's primary data entry.

http://gizmodo.com/536949...oplay=true

[This message has been edited by Levi Forman (2/1/2010)]

Here we go:



http://www.axiotron.com/i...hp?id=home

You send them your macbook and for $700 they turn it into a tablet. It's got the pen input and everything. I'm surprised Apple hasn't shut them down.

Also, I heard another dumb thing about the ipad. It has a curved back, so if you want to set it down on a table or something, it rocks back and forth when you try to use the touch screen.

[This message has been edited by Levi Forman (2/2/2010)]

http://www.macworld.com/a...ssing.html]

So have any of the resident Apple-holics here looked at or perhaps have purchased/ordered Apple's MaxiPad? It looks interesting but it's not something I would consider getting. I don't like e-readers at all and the rest of what's on the iPad I can do on my MBP & iPhone so this isn't a product for me.

I think this is a device for the seasoned citizens among us for whom a MBP would be overkill and don't have an iPhone/Touch.

I think Richard was considering picking up one for his business. So how about it Richard? We're you camping out overnight for one?

I went to Best Buy in "Speedy Village", SD and looked at the iPad last Sat. By the time we were done at the mall they were out of the $499 model. It is a very cool device that will function well as a replacement for my Franklin planner (finally). At some point I will likely buy one. I recently took on a huge range monitoring project that runs from east of Bill, WY to the SD border (north of Lusk) so the priorities for my cash have changed significantly. I need a couple of ruggedized field computers that are capable of running GPS and spreadsheets. I am not sure the iPad would live very well in that environment.

Well richard, the 3G iPad will have GPS, and both have numbers (spreadsheet on mac equivalent)... But as for ruggedness right now... You probably wont have any options. In 2 months, probably.

The GPS in 3G iPad depends on phone signal for location and isn't nearly accurate enough for my needs. I will be locating rebar stakes in the middle of the National Grasslands. There isn't much cell phone service, 3G or otherwise, near Bill, WY. So the iPad won't work for that application.

I am looking at the Trimble Yuma which is about $4100. If Excel mobile would support list validation I could get by for a lot less. May end up using paper and a pencil and a data entry person.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (4/6/2010)]

I forsee Richard buying a iPad very soon, as it will satisfy his need to keep in touch with NPR and current events:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/...p-and-site

I heard that FOX News, however, is going to an older technology to keep in touch with its viewers who are away from their television sets...

Richard,

Have you tried google documents? I don't know how their spreadsheet compares to excel but I think they are improving it all the time and at the same time making android phones able to use more and more of the features. If it can't do what you want now it might be able to later and you can access them from the "cloud" so you don't have to worry about saving them on multiple devices, can give other people access to them, etc. This is a google docs screenshot from an iPhone.



Of course that isn't as good if you don't have cell coverage. I don't know if there is any provision to use it offline.

[This message has been edited by Levi Forman (4/6/2010)]

Thanks for the suggestion, Levi. I will have to investigate.

I saw that the other day and that is just brutal but considering they put $600 bucks in Steve Jobs' pocket I highly doubt he cares much.

This was equally brutal:


[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (4/7/2010)]

My husband's iPad arrived on Monday. He absolutely loves it, especially because he could get iWork for it. I plan to steal it while he's sleeping one of these nights and blame its disappearance on the kids. It's pretty darn cool.

Just finished watching Steve Jobs' presentation of iPhone OS 4.0. It has a lot of really cool stuff. Multitasking, Folders, unified inbox, etc. Nicely implemented Will released on iPhone in June and on the iPad this fall. I sure hope there is a Verizon iPhone this summer. I am rather disappointed with the clumsiness and slowness of Android.

Richard, if you saw my Motorola Droid, your opinion on Android would change. It is the best phone I have ever had.

That iAd crap irks me a little but so long as they have ad-free versions that would be fine by me. I've also heard that the "multitasking" isn't really true multitasking but it still looks pretty good.

Josh, being the Apple-file you are I'm surprised you went to the Android Dark Side.

if you saw my Motorola Droid, your opinion on Android would change.

Maybe. I didn't like the size and weight of the Droid. The phone functions were not as convenient on the Droid as on Eris. The phone function on iPhone blows them both away.

Irritating as hell that people in the bush in third world countries can own an iPhone and those of us here in God's country can't.

Irritating as hell that people in the bush in third world countries can own an iPhone and those of us here in God's country can't

Perhaps this might help Richard:


http://www.macrumors.com/...ext-month/

Isn't that nice. They want to ride your internet connection and then have you pay THEM for the privilege.

Why would anyone pay for this when they could use Google Talk or Skype for free?

So, if enough of us bought and installed AT&T 3G MicroCells in our homes and workplaces, we could bring AT&T coverage to Montana, and then I could finally buy an iPhone. Great. I would particularly appreciate it if folks living and working along the Interstate between Miles City and Billings would start buying these right away.

But you still couldn't buy an iPhone because you don't have an "approved" zip-code.

Neat video from Microsoft that may be a preview of how the alleged Courier tablet UI would work. Between this and the Windows Phone 7 Series MS is really coming up with some innovative UI's. What remains to be seen of course is whether they can turn them in to real usable products.