

Be honest, your wallet is $499 lighter - techsaucebaby
http://codesketch.com/2010/03/be-honest-your-wallet-is-499-lighter/

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dangrover
What a cool app. I bet the guy who made that is a really swell fellow. (just
kidding)

Man, I need to block hacker news so I can finish the damn ipad version
already.

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pguerin
Yep, that's why I am buying an Exo PC Slate! <http://www.exopc.com/en/exopc-
slate.php>

It works on Windows 7 with 3 USB ports. It's the same price as the ipad, but
it's more geared as an netbook killer than a bigger iPod touch. They waited
untile the iPad launch to commercialize the device. I think they already are
using the device in some coffee shops in Rimouski, Québec.

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sjs
You say it runs Windows 7 like that's a good thing. (I'm no Windows fan, but
if it ran a regular desktop Linux distro I would feel the same way)

The UI and methods of interaction are what make the iPad different from almost
every other tablet released to date. Without an OS tailored for it, a tablet
_is_ just a watered down notebook.

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stcredzero
_You say it runs Windows 7 like that's a good thing._

There's actually a lot of very good, very useful Windows software out there.
Here's what I have on my tc1100 slate PC:

    
    
        - Skype
        - Chrome
        - Firefox
        - Kindle for PC
        - FBReader
        - VLC
        - Picasa
        - KeePass
        - Widcomm Bluetooth 
        - Dropbox
        - Google Earth
        - Pencil
        - Evernote
        - Squeak
    

Most of what I do, I do through Google Chrome and various web apps but I very
much like the ability to install whatever Windows program I want.

I own a new Macbook and just sold a 24" iMac. Still have a PowerPC 15"
Aluminum Powerbook. Mac vs. PC is what Noam Chomsky calls "irrational
jingoism." It's a marketing manipulation ploy. If you are for Linux because of
FOSS philosophy, then good for you. If you are part of marketdroid-created
jingoism, then I think that's a waste of time.

Me, I just run useful software on good hardware.

 _Without an OS tailored for it, a tablet is just a watered down notebook._

Not true at all. Have you actually owned and really used a good slate PC? I
can use this thing in situations I can't use a laptop or even a netbook. Just
this afternoon I was talking with a coworker on Skype while lounging around
and surfing on the couch and we were showing each other our projects with the
webcam. The form factor is key, and Windows XP Tablet is brilliantly executed,
even if it is designed for propeller-heads and not ordinary mortals. (Styluses
are for propeller-heads like me.) It's not an OS tailored for a tablet so much
as Windows XP with tablet support features bolted on. It still works well if
you are savvy.

I can do everything that the iPad is supposed to be able to do now, with
hardware and software from 3 or 4 years ago. Granted, the tc1100's industrial
design is phenomenal, which is why this machine has basically attained cult
status. But I can also see the cracks in the execution that would have
alienated it from the general public. Also, the ecosystem has to be there for
the platform to really work.

In the end, I'm bullish on the iPad, which I've preordered.

~~~
sjs
For me it's the same but the software I use is for Unix. By the way, most of
the software you use is available on OS X and Linux as well. All of it that I
can see, but I'm not familiar with Pencil, Widcomm BT, or FBReader.

I guess if the software you use works well with a touch screen then that's
fine. I far prefer my iPhone to any Windows Mobile device I've owned. You
can't just shoehorn a desktop UI into a touch-screen device without a keyboard
or mouse without the experience being subpar.

I have not used a good tablet PC, maybe I should try one out but none have
been that compelling to me. I'll probably get an iPad eventually, to develop
for it if nothing else. It's too much like my iPhone and not enough like my
notebook for me to jump at the 1st revision of a 1st gen product. In a year or
two I'll get one when the kinks are worked out and the feature set has been
fleshed out.

edit: While the exo pc and tc1100 look pretty nice I don't imagine many
developers tailor anything for them. That will be the biggest strength of the
iPad (at first anyway).

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stcredzero
_edit: While the exo pc and tc1100 look pretty nice I don't imagine many
developers tailor anything for them. That will be the biggest strength of the
iPad (at first anyway)._

I think you hit it spot-on there! The way iPhone OS and its ecosystem is set
up, developers _must_ tailor their software to the device to succeed. This was
the big weakness of the Tablet PC initiative: that such fine tuning was
considered _optional_.

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g0atbutt
The iPad doesn't really feel like it's developed for me as a tech savvy person
(no multitasking, no side-loading, etc.), but I think that's the point.

However, the developer side of me is pumped to be able to leverage the unique
hardware and create an experience that would have been impossible otherwise.

~~~
tzs
The iPad feels it was developed just for me as a tech savvy person.

I have online access to a large number of books (Safari Library subscription)
and a large number of journal articles and conference proceedings (ACM Digital
Library subscription). I currently only use these resources for short
references. I rarely sit down and read something all the way through, because
I just don't like reading sitting at my computer.

When my iPad arrives, there will shortly after be a big boost in my
productivity, as I will be able to comfortably read the above materials, and
much more, on my couch or in bed. (I said "comfortably", which rules out
laptops and netbooks).

If all I ever use it for is accessing Safari Library, the ACM Digital Library,
and technical documentation on the web, it will be well worth the cost.

But I expect it to end up useful for more as application developers come up to
speed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Omni Group comes up, with for
instance. With Omni Outliner and Omni Focus on it, the iPad could become the
organizational center of my life.

My prediction is that the app market for the iPad is going to be reminiscent
of the app market for the iPhone--full of creative apps that do amazing things
that most of us would not have come anywhere close to predicting.

~~~
kalid
Exactly. I got a kindle not for its intrinsic merits, but because of the
behavior change. $200 is a very cheap way for me to read more books.
Anecdotally, I'm reading about 3x as many books; I've cut down on my random
surfing time and instead reach for more substantive stuff.

That's worth a lot more than $200 to me, and if the iPad encourages me to read
even better stuff, all the better.

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glhaynes
(I have no ebook reader besides my laptop and iPhone.)

It'll be interesting to see whether similar iPad users get a similar boost
(Anecdotal-3x™), since [good] web/Twitter/Facebook/email are each a Home
button and a tap away on it, unlike Kindle.

I sure hope so, as one of my main hopes for the iPad is that I'll read more
"Real Books" once I have one, but my compulsion to check what's happened in
the last 5 minutes makes me think twice.

Hey, if I get Anecdotal-2x™, I'll be pretty damn happy and more productive.

~~~
bricestacey
I don't think the iPad will increase reading anywhere near as much as the
Kindle simply because of the screen. EInk is awesome. Even the iPhone hurts my
eyes in dim light, imagine 4 times the brightness.

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glhaynes
I don't really ever have trouble reading a (good) LCD, and specifically would
prefer reading on an iPad rather than a Kindle because the iPad is backlit and
I read a lot in the dark before bed. I know many disagree, though.

I never turn the iPhone's brightness above 60%; I usually turn it all the way
down in the dark and would very much like it to be able to go even lower. What
a funny change from a few years back when we were always excited about
upcoming LCDs being brighter than their predecessors and spent much of the
time with our screens at 100% and still a little too dim.

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jbellis
I don't get it. Reading music is the easy part, and it's best learned with a
real instrument.

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Groxx
You argue this based on what information? The lack of other means available
until recently? And how do you explain how quickly people learn things when
taught _interactively_ , like the music games out now do?

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freetard
I'll be honest, I'm not spending $499 or more on an iPad.

~~~
techsaucebaby
Your name says it all...

