

Ask HN: How many people here use iPad? - JarekS

Initial hype has ended. Time to check how many people actually bought an iPad? If you are a user - what do you think about it? Would you buy it again today?
======
watmough
Yes, love the thing. Great for web surfing, surprisingly great for running
iPhone apps (but BIGGER, great for older folks), fantastic for watching
videos, mail is great.

Not so good for running IM type apps where you want them to background. Not so
great for a lot of typing, since the keyboard is a step back from the iPhone,
with keys moving around inconsistently, and various weird foibles (shift key
coloring? WTH?).

The iPad was rushed out with 3.2 as a stopgap, and it shows. It's a great
device, but it needs iOS 4 and a camera badly.

~~~
MyBoxnRama
Would you buy it again?

~~~
zephjc
I know _I_ would. We (my gf and I) use it for ebooks, browsing, and playing
games (Yatzee, Scrabble, etc), amongst other things. The only thing I dislike
is the battery life - typical tasks (browsing, ebook reading etc) tend to draw
power faster than the charger can fill the battery.

~~~
JarekS
Interesting - so what's with 10 hours usage without charging? Do you find it
true statement after weeks of using the device?

~~~
zephjc
It probably works out to that but because of typically sporadic use it adds
up. Games (any, not just graphics-intesive ones) seem use battery life faster
though. It does have great "stand-by" battery life though.

~~~
tpz
I use mine every day and it gets the full 10-11 hours most people are getting
for non-gaming activities, somewhat less for gaming activities, and charges
way faster than I can drain it (though I haven't tried this while gaming I
suspect it'll still be true.)

Something is definitely wrong with your iPad, and you should take it into an
Apple Store to have it checked out.

------
tpz
I pre-ordered mine (64GB 3G) when they became available for pre-order in
Canada.

It has very nearly replaced my computer for casual computer use, leaving my
computer for work, occasions where I need to do especially tab-heavy surfing,
and the odd bit of Flash usage. My hours of daily casual computing have moved
from the office to the living room, kitchen, and deck, something that hasn't
happened before even with both a 15 inch and an 11 inch laptop in the home. My
girlfriend loves it too, and will grab it from me to pull up a recipe, do a
quick search, etc.

It has also proven to be a more-than-capable gaming device running everything
from casual match 3 games through light strategy (Strategery is a must) on to
board games we can play together (Small World and Carcassone are also musts.)

On the work side, I use it often for background reading (the Apple HIG from
front to back, for example, and that isn't a short document), quick bits of
research, etc. whether at the desk or as a chance to get away from it for a
little while.

One of the best things about it has to be its ability to disappear during use,
leaving you sitting or standing with the _application_ in your hands, not a
device. Or at least it seems that way, and that is certainly not something
that laptops or desktops (or even handheld or living-room-bound game consoles)
do particularly well if at all. That you can then set that application down on
a table for a moment or hand it to someone else so naturally is something that
you will have heard about the iPad but really must experience for yourself a
few times to truly understand it. It seems like a small thing but it
fundamentally changes one's relationship with computing and the computer.

The iPad can't and won't replace traditional computers for everyone, but from
what I have seen and have heard from other purchasers it is certainly proving
itself as a device that can replace _most_ 'casual'/'personal' usage of
traditional computers for _most_ people _most_ of the time.

------
maukdaddy
Wife and I both bought one. Use them extensively to surf, read, etc from our
roofdeck (right now actually). She has great luck propping up in kitchen while
cooking and baking. I use mine at work to go outside and brainstorm away from
my desk and other distractions.

Would buy again in an instant!

------
jaxn
I also love it (on it right now).

I use it for email, reading (news, books, Instapaper), surfing the web,
watching netflix, scrabble, etc. I also use it as my todo list, calendar,
notepad, and doing mockups while in meetings with clients.

I imagine I will always have something in this form factor going forward.

Oh, and the 10 hour battery life is great. I don't feel tethered to a power
outlet and never feel the need to conserve power on a cross-country flight.

------
damoncali
Yep - It replaces my laptop about 40% of the time. And it's great.

But... it's a work in progress. No flash means a lot of sites don't work. (The
thing seems like it was made to obsess over google analytics, but no dice.)
Safari in iOS is, well, not quite up to snuff. In genreal, the software all
needs a little more refinement. People just haven't figured out how best to
use a device like the iPad, and the software shows it. I expect this to change
dramatically in the next year. It has tons of potential once developers get a
chance to fine tune the UI.

In a nutshell, I'm very happy with it, but 2-3 more generations from now is
when the magic will happen.

~~~
lovskogen
What kind of UI fine tuning do you mean, and what is missing from Safari?

~~~
damoncali
Safari just need more polish. There are weird rendering bugs like fine lines
between divs. large sites get cut off instead of becoming scrollable. Sites
that use drag and drop or hover don't work right.

Overall, the UI on the iPad feels like the iPhone, which isn't really optimal
for a larger device. It needs more thought, which I'm sure is happening right
now as developers get a feel for the iPad.

It's very much a V1 product.

~~~
lovskogen
Sure those rendering errors are the sites CSS fault? Pretty sure Safari for
iPad uses the same webkit as Desktop.

Hover for a touch device?

~~~
damoncali
Yeah, it's Safari. And yes, if there is a web app that requires a hover or
drag, you're kind of screwed. It's not often, but between the Flash issue and
the less than awesome Javascript, and the lack of certain common ui elements
(drag and hover), it's not all that uncommon to find problems with the iPad
Safari.

But I'll take it, warts and all.

~~~
lovskogen
I'd say it's the designer of the interface that hasn't taking a touch
interface into consideration.

------
csl
Bought one about a month ago in France. Use it for browsing everywhere a
laptop isn't comfortable (while eating breakfast, while cooking, in bed, etc).
I absolutely love it!

It dawned on me that in the near future, people won't buy laptops and ordinary
computers. They'll buy devices like the iPad. Only developers will use PCs.

Also, don't underestimate the "future factor" when using an iPad. It might
sound a bit funny, but when I use the iPad I _feel_ like I'm actually in the
future that I imagined when I was a kid. I mean, it was only a few years ago
that I saw THE INCREDIBLES and the hero got an iPad like mail -- I thought
that looked awesome. Now I've got one in my hands.

I'd absolutely buy an iPad again. In fact, when it's released in Norway, I
might get an additional 3G version.

------
weaksauce
I'm browsing on one right now. It's a great device and I think the email and
web browsing on it are top notch. I would most certainly buy it again right
now. It really makes bringing a PDF outside to read very enjoyable though in
direct sun the screen gets washed out. Most of the videos on the web have been
converted into a format that works natively on the iPad so the lack of flash
does not hurt all that much. It's great to have next to my bed for morning
browsing / checking email. Overall I love it.

------
csixty4
3G 32GB. Love it. I take it almost everywhere instead of a laptop. Great for
surfing, e-books, even a little code. Makes my Blackberry look like a pathetic
piece of @(%&@#.

------
rnicholson
I have a 32GB wifi-only model. I use it daily, and I would buy it again. I use
it for surfing, watching videos off iTunes U, reading (via Kindle app),
checking mail, etc. It basically replaced my Kindle DX and ThinkPad but, not
my iMac or other desktop.

Sometimes I wish Safari could be a little more stable. I'm finding that when I
go to a page (like The Big Picture) that has lots of large images on it,
Safari on the iPad will crash.

------
antichaos
I love it. I stopped using Kindle DX after getting an iPad.

~~~
c1sc0
Funny, I never even considered eBooks (ok, besides my Safari account, but
that's not me paying) and now I'm in love with the iPad's Kindle reader.
Actually feel a bit guilty because I spent like 50 euros on Amazon in the
first day I got the Kindle app.

------
fjabre
The way I use it: 1\. A makeshift Apple TV with video hookups 2\. As a radio
running Pandora (speakers are great) 3\. GPS - the best GPS I've ever used
(GPS Drive Motion X) 4\. All the standard web browsing/emailing/IM'ing..

Areas still lacking: 1\. Multitasking! 2\. Browsing the app store on it is
painful and clunky 3\. I still prefer tabbed browsing. The switching
animations in Safari are overblown.

------
ambulatorybird
I got one and use it a lot for web surfing, reading ebooks and papers, and
referencing things alongside my desktop computer and/or gaming console. I was
skeptical at launch time, but I have to say that the iPad is really very nice.
I also plan to develop for it, which was initially why I got it.

------
limedaring
I only use mine because I got it free through my former job - definitely not
worth the $750 to buy. I've used it for cooking, reading in bed, and a
replacement for my Macbook Pro which is being repaired right now... and for
the first two tasks my iPhone is fine, and for the latter, the iPad isn't good
enough to replace the laptop.

Not to mention, it seems all the freakin apps cost $10, due to all the
developers who heard how well the iPhone apps were doing and jacked up the
price of the iPad apps.

Macbook Pro + iPhone are a good enough combo, an iPad doesn't add anything
new. Perhaps if you didn't already have the first two.

------
davidrupp
32GB WiFi. Haven't missed 3G yet. iBooks w/PDF support + Amazon Kindle app =
bye bye Kindle. Would buy it again. Will probably buy at least one more by
Christmas for my family, so I can have mine back.

------
tomhogans
64GB here, haven't used even 16gb yet but still love it. Couch, bed, car, DMV,
bank, anywhere there is a wait it comes out. It even made sitting in front of
TV for an entire 30 minutes bearable.

------
c1sc0
I bought it for development only, then I started using it privately, now I'm
in love with it. Thinking about trading it in for a 3G version.

------
elcron
You might find this interesting, but this is was just before the 3g came out.
[http://blog.vovici.com/blog/bid/27710/iPad-Returns-
Why-50-Bu...](http://blog.vovici.com/blog/bid/27710/iPad-Returns-
Why-50-Buyers-Returned-their-iPads)

------
jarsj
I have it. Had to shell out 800$ for the 500$ version. But its totally worth
it. A great device and a great SDK.

When I grow rich, I would like to have these instead of the photo frames in my
house. And then it will be like Hogwarts. It's really magical.

~~~
zandorg
You can already get little LCD picture frames which do a slideshow of JPEG
images. My grandma has one. They go quite cheap.

~~~
jarsj
How about talking pictures and pictures travelling from one picture frame to
other ?

------
davidchua
I'm actually thinking of getting an iPad for the purpose of e-books reading
but I'm not sure if its well worth the hundred of bucks to buy an e-book
reader.

Are there any Android/Open-source powered tablets that are slated to be
released soon?

------
junkbit
If it had 2GB ram I might pinch my nose and get one, but I wouldn't even buy a
phone with 256mb

~~~
pclark
why do you want more ram?

~~~
junkbit
So that I can go back and forward without reloading the webpages

------
maxharris
I have the 3G 32GB version, too. I love it! Apple's optional carrying case is
a must.

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dillydally
I'm on it now. Love it.

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grep
I always wait for the second/third version before buying.

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omarchowdhury
I bought one, but don't use it.

