There was a really strong argument for computers to be easier to use from Slate. Basically, computers should be an appliance, like a toaster. And the iPhone is a good example. No menus, no extra screens, no manual updates, just a button to launch a program and you're away.

Typing on it will suck balls, but. As will be holding it. Like, is it like a giant iPhone you can walk around with, or like an Etch-A-Sketch you put on your knee?

Also, what happens when they develop their digital female sanitary device? What do they call that?

iRag

erm, i guess they'll say it's not for typing massive articles, and if you really must do that on the iPad, just connect a bluetooth keyboard.

so, skim reading thru the reports, they can connect to a 3G network, but you can't make calls on it? i thought this ought to be like a super high end iphone. no, of course you wouldn't hold it to your face like a phone! but since it's connected to 3G network, you may as well make calls with a bluetooth earpiece. why carry this AND an iphone? (sheepishly glance at the iphone AND ipod on my desk now.)

Apparently it is like a giant iPhone. No flash, no multiple-programs running at the same time.

Waits for 'I just smashed the screen on my iPad :( ' thread

I'm amazed it has no webcam.

Well, it sort of does but you have to buy it separately.

No camera! No mic! This is stoopid. We just got a new Macbook Pro in the house last night and it has this stuff as a matter of course. Bad Jobs, bad.

Sounds like a really bad idea. Lots of commentators were saying ''If they do this, it better be a probably computer running a proper OS rather than something like an iPod!''
Being locked down like an iPod, with the usual Apple minimum of choice, and with no webcam or mic, it's a really limited device. Oh well, I never thought I'd be interested.
(And on-screen keyboard = yuck!)

Also, what happens when they develop their digital female sanitary device? What do they call that?

Unfortunately that is the first place my mind went.

It has a microphone Apple iPad specs

Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Oh, well as long as they have all possible file formats supported, that's okay.

Incidentally, I don't think I own anything that Apple have made. They really are very good at convincing people they need things they didn't before, aren't they?

Modi said 4 minutes ago:
Incidentally, I don't think I own anything that Apple have made.

I know I don't own anything they have made. And also that this situation is not likely to change in the foreseeable future.

i reckon it will come down to how easy the keyboard is to use

if it's good, i might buy one ... it'd be the first apple gadget i've bought*

computer upstairs in the study and ipad downstairs on the couch

• i got given an ipod as a gift and i love that too

there was an asterisk before that last line

I am saying ''I don't think'', because there may be the hulking wreck of an old power Mac mouldering in a garage somewhere that technically belongs to me.

And I am saying the situation is not going to change because I checked the future on my Toshiba FutureViewer X6700.

The thing is, everyone was skeptical of the ipod and then the iPhone when they came out and now they are absolutely everywhere. I don't see the point of this new thing, but I think there's a good chance that most people here will have one in a few years..

Unless you happen to be a giant with no friends: iPhone > iPad.

i see the point

it's the closest we've come yet to an digital magazine, i reckon

you can lounge about on the couch and hold it like you would a magazine and read blogs and stuff

publishers are going to love it if this takes off, because this style of device will make it easier to sell online subscriptions ... imho and all that

I reckon the ergonomics of this are no good for long-term use, unless you're on a couch with your feet on a coffee table. Otherwise you'd have your neck bent, chin on your chest for ages, poking away at the screen.

Hey iPad users.

I'm planning on getting an iPad w/ 3G in the next couple of weeks. The Apple store is currently selling refurb first gen 32gb & 3G for $450. I was planning on getting the iPad 2 16gb & 3G from JB Hi Fi for $715.

So if I get the refurbished first gen I'll be saving almost $300 and getting 16gb extra space. Not fussed about the issue of it being a refurb - I have a refurbished Macbook which is still going strong 4 years on.

My only query is about the first gen iPad itself. A quick google search tells me that Safari can be quite slow and laggy, web pages can crash and take ages to reload etc. Can anyone confirm whether this is the case? Would installing iOS5 on the first gen iPad solve this?

Any help appreciated!

yeah ios 5 fixes most of safari's issues, it has tabs and doesnt reload all the time. although the ipad 2 will still be much faster than 1 with its processor

Well all I know is I use this first gen all day everyday...I even have a shitty Photoshop on it...when it glitches, which is every so often say email is taking ages to update or safari glitches or someapp loads and dumps bqckto the main screen, it's just ya basic glitch thing andyou shut all the apps down and start again, or at worst I had to actually shock horror turn the thing off to clear it's cache or ram or whatever and then it's fine.

It's been dropped twice onto hard floor and never complained, the kids throw it around like a big 80s game and watch and its on say 18 hours a day being used...

Thanks dropkick. Do you think an iPad 1 with ios5 would be fine for casual web surfing, or would you still recommend the iPad 2?

yeah the 1 should be fine, especially if you're saving $300. the 2nd one does feel nicer, much lighter and thinner but if you don't care about that then 1 should be cool

i was just thinking about doing the same thing fakeplastic. can you run the 3G through your current mobile data plan (not through personal hotspot) or do providers make you spend more on an additional data plan?

basically, i'm choosing between the 32g with 3G or the 64g with just wifi. considering most places I would use it will have wi-fi access, is it even worth getting the 3G with a data plan or just running it through my phone hotspot in the few instances where i'll be out of wi-fi area (i.e on the train or the like)..

What's the best software for a Mac to get DVDs onto my iPad?

I use Handbrake for all DVD converting. There's no default iPad conversion, but if you're kinda savvy with this stuff, you can import the presets from here and you'll be alright; or alternatively you can go into the Handbrake Preferences, enable the .m4v extension and see if that works

Any good unhyped music apps floating around that I wouldn't have heard about? I've got the majority of the obvious ones.

Musical, I mean.

...you mean music no?

NLog Midi Synth is a lot of fun

Well, ones you make music with, as opposed to listening.

Got that one too. Got the Alesis iO dock the other day and having lots of fun.

This weeks This American Life is about a guy going to the factories in China where they make iPads and other Apple stuff, fantastic stuff highly recommended, funny and moving etc...

link

i bought the moog app. i have no idea what i'm doing

Has iBook Author changed ''everything'' yet?

it kind if looks promising.. some books seem rather on the large size (~1 GB) but much better than a static textbook.. ibook Author looks pretty straight ahead if you wanted to create something (downloaded and had a quick poke around this morning) but you might have to dive into dashcode for the interactive/web widgets.. can import 3D models (collada format)
yet to see a good example of a maths text.. speaking of which no ibooks for Mac/PC yet which is still gonna keep this out of a majority of schools

Surely that's coming soon, unless it's all about the touch interaction and they're trying to push yet more people to the iPad, get schools to adopt it instead of laptops, etc?

Is it intensifying the competition between ePub formats compatible with Kindle/E Ink devices and touchscreen devices, or have they always been this divided?