Of course it is political. Everything is political. That is why, unless you are talking a retail outlet (convenience, grocery, etc.), you can find Coke or Pepsi but almost never both. (And why RC is almost never found.) It is why mini-disks never caught on, and CDs pushed out vinyl. It is why the winner of American Idol is who it is, often despite level of talent, and why it seems the best written television shows never last more than a couple of seasons and yet the "empty" shows go on for many. It is why VHS beat out BetaMax, and Blu-Ray beat out HD-DVD. It is why MP3s are everywhere. It is why we have to watch the "bickering" ads between Verizon and AT&T. You know, the ones that think the American consumer can't think for itself. Verizon claims 5x more 3G coverage, and AT&T responds with "we cover X number of people in Y number of cities and that is Ninety-Z percent of Americans," without ever mentioning 3G - hoping that consumers won't notice they are being tricked.
And, it is even why your preferred biodiesel isn't able to be found in many, maybe even most, pumping stations.
Speaking of which, your Jeep should be available with a diesel engine as an option. So in that, you are correct that Chrysler isn't hindering your ability to run your Jeep on biodiesel.
Beyond that, unless some car fans are lauding biodiesel as obsolete fuels, and gasoline as the way of the future, your analogy isn't close enough to count.
As far as reseting the iPad/iPhone, I can't comment. But I can tell you from the "bricking" of PSPs, and other handheld devices during updates that I am much more comfortable with the option of a clean install when needed. Especially on a device that costs more than $150ish dollars.
I will grant you that the majority of iPad users won't want to, or even dream of, installing another OS on it... (I don't necessarily agree with your numbers though.) But, to use your auto analogy, the majority of people don't change their own oil or spark plugs. I guess the ability to do so should be removed then?
Now, for your system requirements...
From the iPhone Tech Specs page on the Apple Store:
"Mac system requirements
Windows system requirements
So then I should take it that the iPhone is a computer peripheral too?
I doubt it...
Because we both know that the requirements are listed simply to advertise the iTunes store, as well as "gently guide" consumers toward the support Apple prefers to provide. If you want iPhone OS updates, you need the iTunes application. To run that, you need Windows or Mac OS on a computer with USB 2.0 support, internet access, and an iTunes account.
And look at that, all of your system requirements are explained without even touching on the functionality of either the iPhone, or iPad.
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Well, I completely disagree, but I'm bowing out because I think we've reached an impasse.
I originally wrote a post to counter each statement you make, but I'm positive you can make a counter-counter; then I'll counter-counter-counter... Eventually, we'll find ourselves arguing the original points all over again, and this thread was never intended for argument at all.
On the PSP's most such bricking came to devices that had been modified to get around region codes and copy protecting.
Those evil people trying to watch unamerican movies/games...
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Kindle books for iPad? Yes!
I caught myself a couple weeks ago saying that I planned to stop buying Kindle books since I was determined to buy whatever device Apple came up with. There was this unspoken idea crawling around in my head that Kindle books wouldn't port to the iPad (or iSlate as I then thought it would be called). The announcement that almost all iPhone/Touch apps would port to the iPad should have immediately registered, but it honestly didn't. Apple's big hurdle in the ebook range looks to be pricing right now ($12-15 a book, so the rumors go), akin to B&N's quandary.
But Amazon confirms Kindle books will be for sale through iPad as well, so that's a relief to me, since I already have a pretty big Kindle library and I'm not too keen on spending more 'just because.' You can read more at the Kindle page on Amazon.
iPad makes the rounds of Tech shows: (These episodes auto start, so watch your sound settings.)
Totally Rad Show - WARNING: I find the format of the show irritating, and at least one of the hosts I want to throttle. So don't blame me if you find the show annoying.
They speculate on the usefulness of the iPad in gaming, most of which I think could be handled by a MiMo Monitor instead.
HD Nation.
Here they discuss the place of an iPad in a home theater environment. It seems relegated to "web lookup" next to your universal remote control.
On the PSP's most such bricking came to devices that had been modified to get around region codes and copy protecting.
As far as reseting the iPad/iPhone, I can't comment. But I can tell you from the "bricking" of PSPs, and other handheld devices during updates that I am much more comfortable with the option of a clean install when needed. Especially on a device that costs more than $150ish dollars.
That may be true. But from experience I can tell you if you are the 1 in 10 million case that a bricking happens out of the box when you decide to update first thing, you get more than a little frustrated to find out the Sony warranty doesn't cover bricking during an update. Fortunately I have no qualms about hacking a device, and instructions on how to unbrick a PSP can be found.
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Given the spirit of this thread (at least the way it started out) 'ridicule' is a deliberately caustic word that could have better been replaced by 'question.'
Unfortunately, I realized this about twenty reposts too late and found myself sucked into the tit-for-tat, Mac vs PC squabble. Oh well, lessons learned and all that.
Diggnation's take (Video)
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How much does it cost to make an iPad?
So that's the base cost estimate (a better figure will emerge after someone gets to disassemble one), and the profit goes toward returning R&D and labor, etc. The one thing that jumped out at me: the 3G radio is only $24.50... Apple is definitely getting some return on the 3G-equipped models!
Nearly half a million pre-orders and I'm the only Paizonian? No-one else ordered an iPad of any flavour?
Would that funds permitted it. :D
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Reader with annotation capability
These look very promising WRT Paizo PDFs.
Since it seems no Paizonians have gotten the WiFi iPad (or at least none have let us know about it if they have), I'll post a youtube video as soon as mine arrives later in the month. I'll be sure to include a demonstration of the PDF capacity, since I know many of us are most interested in this.
First, a note to others: Both links are YouTube that likes to autostart (at least if you are not logged in - I think you have a setting for that if you log in) so don't click them both and then go and see what they are.
These look very promising WRT Paizo PDFs.
I'm not sure why you say that. Paizo PDFs aren't really optimized for readers of any stripe. They tend to clog up my 3ghz Pentium 4, and can really murder my Atom processors. (1gig memory on the Pentium, and 2gig on the Atoms.)
I'd like to see a more objective video of the iPads performance with Paizo PDFs.
Price comparison chart mentioned in the review.
I wonder just how much iPad users will really want/need 3G. It seems to me to be more of a "home" device, then a mobile one (although it's being touted as one). If I ever get one, I see it more likely to spend its time sitting on the coffee table than being taken out for a walk. (But then, what do I know?)
Greg
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Reader with annotation capability
These look very promising WRT Paizo PDFs.
Since it seems no Paizonians have gotten the WiFi iPad (or at least none have let us know about it if they have), I'll post a youtube video as soon as mine arrives later in the month. I'll be sure to include a demonstration of the PDF capacity, since I know many of us are most interested in this.
That would be much appreciated Andrew. We're not getting it until late April here in Australia, the more I read about it the more excited I get about it's application at the gaming table.
Not too sure when we'll have access to the iBook store though.
For those that are interested in such things: iPad jailbroken already.
Greg
Price comparison chart mentioned in the review.I wonder just how much iPad users will really want/need 3G. It seems to me to be more of a "home" device, then a mobile one (although it's being touted as one). If I ever get one, I see it more likely to spend its time sitting on the coffee table than being taken out for a walk. (But then, what do I know?)
Greg
I can only tell you what I know from watching previews/reviews and my extremely limited exposure to iPhone owners.
From the previews/reviews I have seen, the majority are split between "not worth adopting" or "it'll sit on my coffee table if I get one," and with "it is a netbook replacement." (I just wish there was a way to adopt the netbooks being replaced.)
My extremely limited exposure to iPhone users (I would guess less than 0.001%) tells me it'll be "taken out for a walk." How else are you going to show it off to everyone? We can't know how cool they are, if we can't see them with their iPad.
I know that if the economy doesn't turn around real damn soon, I won't see any in the area I live in now. And I wouldn't see more than one or two where I used to live.
That is the only anecdotal evidence I can give you.
For those that are interested in such things: iPad jailbroken already.
Greg
Whooo Wee! That didn't take long at all. As the tech saying goes "information wants to be free." Apparently so do Apple products. It almost makes you wonder why Apple even tries to "lock up" their products at all. Those more legitimate users either will want to jailbreak their products or not, and the ones that want to will anyway... So it doesn't act as much of a deterrent...
An excellent article at Gnome Stew concerning using the iPad for gaming.
I think this really is the start of something different in computing. I know a lot of people decry it because it's underpowered, or lacking in features, or even because it's Apple & their "closed" environment, but I really think the concept as a computational appliance is pretty new and exciting.
It will be quite interesting to see what comes of this in the future, especially at the gaming table.
I tried to use my iPod Touch as a way to reference material at the table, but found it too small to be really useful. So maybe the bigger size will be better. We'll see.
Greg
Another important "review" of the iPad one must not forget!
Chief Technical Officer
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GIGGITY! *explodes in fangirl glee*But can I draw on it?!?!? *shakes fist*You can paint on it...
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iPad WiFi issuesApple had a support page up and running for the wi-fi issues on release day?
Huh.
I almost hate reading the comments sections on some of the tech sites (or CNN, for that matter)--Just do a Google search for 'iPad WiFi issues' and almost every site that has a comments section reads thus:
there about 1% honest assessments or asides; 10% Apple-products-are-Kaminoan-perfect; and 80% Apple-suxx, Steve Jobs pwnd! you, n00b!
I almost hate reading the comments sections on some of the tech sites (or CNN, for that matter)--Just do a Google search for 'iPad WiFi issues' and almost every site that has a comments section reads thus:
there about 1% honest assessments or asides; 10% Apple-products-are-Kaminoan-perfect; and 80% Apple-suxx, Steve Jobs pwnd! you, n00b!
Nature of the beast. Those who aren't having problems probably aren't on those sites.
I am one part impressed, and one part disappointed.
I'm impressed Apple was actually prepared, after a fashion.
I'm disappointed because from a manufacturing standpoint that means they were likely aware of the issues (probably due to a bad batch of wi-fi transceivers, or some manufacturing errors) and counted on it being better for their bottom line to "fix it in the field" rather than postpone their release date. But this is usually true for any big business...
From reading Apples support page, it appears only a tech repair, or replacement will fix the issue. If you have to move closer to the access point, it isn't a software issue...
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Nature of the beast. Those who aren't having problems probably aren't on those sites.
Some people visiting the sites are merely interested (like me, since my device doesn't ship until the end of the month), or they're in the intel gathering phase. Most of the comments on these reporting sites, however, are from people who purport that they would never dream of wasting their money on an Apple product, and everyone who did is a st00pid n00b and got what they deserved (insert Nelson "Ha-Ha!").
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iPad WiFi issuesApple had a support page up and running for the wi-fi issues on release day?
Huh.
I almost hate reading the comments sections on some of the tech sites (or CNN, for that matter)--Just do a Google search for 'iPad WiFi issues' and almost every site that has a comments section reads thus:
there about 1% honest assessments or asides; 10% Apple-products-are-Kaminoan-perfect; and 80% Apple-suxx, Steve Jobs pwnd! you, n00b!
well, I would NEVER even consider a windows product... umm let's see, my wife's computer completely crashed due to virus... laptop became a doorstop due to virus, the company she works for had their entire network hacked and brought down. Her computer was crashed by an electrical storm and my Mac was fine. In 10 years I have not had my computer go down one single time. Not once. No security software, ho hassles. It actually WORKS. Microsoft KNOWS about these issues and they STILL exist! PC-users=lemmings=loosers duh! Bill Gates pwnd the lemmings! laugh at them goofy PC retards! lol
yeah goes both ways :)
If you are a lemming and hate the fact that someone has a great product then you bash it, whether Mac or PC user, doesn't matter.
TRUTH is I honestly do not HATE PCs. I prefer Macs because they are easier to work with. That is all. Both are great tools and both get the job done well. It is a matter of taste. I will use either one no problem.
The reason I use a Mac is a simple one... my wife's PC is always having "security" issues of one kind or another. She turns to me all the time and says, "Hun, this window popped and says XX. What do I do?" I shrug and say "I have no idea hun, it's not an issue for my Mac. Call Brett, he is always tinkering on his PC to make it work right, he'll know."
Do I LOVE Macs? No, I like them yes. Do I HATE PCs, no, I just don't PREFER them is all. Both are just tools that work fine to do the same thing in ALMOST the exact same way.
Technical issues? Ummm Toyota HIDES potentially DEADLY problems with their cars... Let me repeat... HIDES DEADLY PROBLEMS...Now THAT is a technical issue to be upset about... upset because something isn't quite working on an electronic device on the day of its very first ever unveiling? Seriously? You ARE kidding you're upset right?
If THAT is all you have to complain about, have a sucker and sit in the corner and pout that you are just jealous you don't have one...
This appears to be a very comprehensive revivew:
I'm only ~1/4 of the way through it (it's 18 "web-pages" long...)
Greg
This appears to be a very comprehensive revivew:
I'm only ~1/4 of the way through it (it's 18 "web-pages" long...)
Greg
I mostly skimmed it, but it appears to be comprehensive, no holds barred, and relatively unbiased.
I'd recommend it to anyone curious about the iPad.
A couple of things I noticed that others might want to know without diving into the review:
- Battery charging can be mildly problematic.
Ars Technica claims only more modern computers will have the power to charge the iPad via USB, and then you probably shouldn't be using the iPad at that time.
- The processor is only single core. (According to ifixit)
Not a big deal, but some have been trying to track down details on the CPU.
- It is faster than many smartphones, but slower than the ASUS Eee 1005pe
If you are looking for performance above other things, netbooks might be your best bet.
- No multitasking is a bit of a lie.
It looks like Apple specific apps can run in the background, but no 3rd party apps can. So some multitasking is available.
- No multitasking is a bit of a lie.
It looks like Apple specific apps can run in the background, but no 3rd party apps can. So some multitasking is available.
Haven't finished the review yet (just finished giving 3.5 hr training session) but I wanted to add to this.
For those that have used iPod touches and iPhones, this has always been known. You've always been able to listen to your music and run other apps at the same time (if the 3rd party app allows <- i.e. not Apple's choice, some apps disable the music playback.)
Apple has always said that multitasking was about power management, not about capability. Push notification was their first "give in" to multitasking.
However, rumors are swirling that the iPhone OS 4.0 shindig tomorrow will announce 3rd party multitasking availability in the OS. From what I've read, it may not be full on multitasking that one gets from a desktop or laptop OS, but it will still be multitasking.
Greg
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This appears to be a very comprehensive revivew:
I'm only ~1/4 of the way through it (it's 18 "web-pages" long...)
Greg
I mostly skimmed it, but it appears to be comprehensive, no holds barred, and relatively unbiased.
I'd recommend it to anyone curious about the iPad.
A couple of things I noticed that others might want to know without diving into the review:
- Battery charging can be mildly problematic.
Ars Technica claims only more modern computers will have the power to charge the iPad via USB, and then you probably shouldn't be using the iPad at that time.
- The processor is only single core. (According to ifixit)
Not a big deal, but some have been trying to track down details on the CPU.
- It is faster than many smartphones, but slower than the ASUS Eee 1005pe
If you are looking for performance above other things, netbooks might be your best bet.
- No multitasking is a bit of a lie.
It looks like Apple specific apps can run in the background, but no 3rd party apps can. So some multitasking is available.
I wasn't aware of any multitasking aside from iTunes.
WHen they can finally really multitask it will be a great day. THAT is the biggest limitation and frustration to me. AND it is a very serious and valid complaint.
I wasn't aware of any multitasking aside from iTunes.
WHen they can finally really multitask it will be a great day. THAT is the biggest limitation and frustration to me. AND it is a very serious and valid complaint.
"Valid", yeah, "Serious", not IMHO.
The problem, as I hear it, is that with the iPhone and iPod touch, there was a real concern about battery drain. When you only have 4-6 hours of power to begin with, and you allow anyone to multitask as many apps as they want, it's easy to drain that power down to nothing really quick. They wanted to make sure they maximized battery time and to do that, they inhibited 3rd party multitasking. It was the lesser of two evils in their mind. Add that to the fact that they were originally building a phone (the touch came later), they probably didn't want any 3rd party software to bugger up the phone app when you were in the middle of a call. Easiest way to do that is to not allow it to run.
Now, everyone now seems to be asking for it, and the scoop seems to be they will announce it tomorrow. Now that the iPad is out, and it appears to be getting nearly 12 hrs of battery life (depending on the review) I don't think they can hold it back.
If one considers that, internally, the iPhone and iPad are essentially the same, then consider how much bigger the battery for the iPad can be. (And technically, there's no phone hardware in the iPad so it has even more space.) So while multitasking is viable on the iPad, I wonder if people will really end up using it much on the iPhone (and touch).
I've been mildly annoyed at times that my iPod didn't multitask, but largely I haven't been that concerned. But then I use it for listening to music and doing crossword puzzles, for the most part.
Greg
I wasn't aware of any multitasking aside from iTunes.
WHen they can finally really multitask it will be a great day. THAT is the biggest limitation and frustration to me. AND it is a very serious and valid complaint.
"Valid", I'll give you. "Serious", not IMHO.
The way I hear it, Apple had to make a decision: battery life or multitasking. The fact that the iTunes part of the iPhone OS will multitask with any other app shows that Apple thought about it. But the fact is, when you have a new mobile device on the market, and you know that battery life is going to be one of the make or break items, it then becomes a battle between the lesser of two evils. The iPhone (and touch) only gets about 4-6 hours of battery life, on very non-intensive apps. I have a game (Settlers of Catan) which drains my battery at an alarming rate. If I was playing it, then were allowed to switch over to another app, without thinking about shutting it down, my battery would be gone in no time.
Now everybody has been clamouring for it, so the scoop seems to be that it will be announced at the iPhone OS 4 event tomorrow.
But this is likely due to the iPad - I think it's no coincidence that it's coming in the week after the iPad is released. Considering that the iPad and iPhone have largely the same guts, and the iPad is, what, 4x the size of an iPhone, think how big the battery can be made. And reports are coming in that they are getting up to 12 hours of movie viewing time on that thing. So they are probably bringing in multitasking because they now have the overhead. But I would expect that everyone that uses it, will get a battery hit.
And I don't think as many people will end up using it on the iPhone as much as they say they want it. The drain will be too big.
Greg
For those that have used iPod touches and iPhones, this has always been known. You've always been able to listen to your music and run other apps at the same time (if the 3rd party app allows <- i.e. not Apple's choice, some apps disable the music playback.)
Perhaps, but I listed it because I wasn't aware of the iTunes multitasking ability, and it coming from a "known Apple hater" (as I'm sure some consider me, although I would prefer skeptic, or even paranoid skeptic...) can shed different light on it.
I wasn't aware of any multitasking aside from iTunes.
Well, the Ars Technica article mentioned Mail and iTunes. There might have been others, but I didn't catch them.
For those that have used iPod touches and iPhones, this has always been known. You've always been able to listen to your music and run other apps at the same time (if the 3rd party app allows <- i.e. not Apple's choice, some apps disable the music playback.)Perhaps, but I listed it because I wasn't aware of the iTunes multitasking ability, and it coming from a "known Apple hater" (as I'm sure some consider me, although I would prefer skeptic, or even paranoid skeptic...) can shed different light on it.
If it weren't for one of your posts above, I wouldn't have known you had an opinion one way or the other. But no matter. I was simply trying to explain that the "no multitasking" has always been untrue when stated as being absolute. It has always had a form of multitasking, it's just not allowed it to 3rd party apps. Some may consider that nitpicking. But I think it was a design choice. One may not like it, but I see merit in the decision.
(BTW, I'm sure if anybody looked around my house, they'd probably consider me an Apple fanboy. Don't care, quite frankly. I don't proselytize. I just like what I like.)
Well, the Ars Tecnica article mentioned Mail and iTunes. There might have been others, but I didn't catch them.
I don't off-hand remember the mail reference, but as I said, I haven't read the whole thing. But it is still very limited.
But wait for tomorrow... (now watch me be wrong :-)
Greg