

I've Changed My Mind About The iPad - px
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/05/ive-changed-my-mind-about-the-ipad.html

======
briancooley
_I like how I feel when I am using the thing_

This sums up my opinion on the iPad. It just makes casual consuming fun.

My wife still sings "Flash, ah-ah" to me every time we talk about it, but
she's warming up to it. Watching Modern Family on the ABC app while snuggled
together on the couch was a revelation for her.

We don't use it for everything, but the things we use it for sure are fun.

It doesn't replace my MBP, but neither did my smartphone.

~~~
jerguismi
OK, so the point is that the iPad doesn't replace laptops or smart phones, but
complements them. Great, more devices to buy! Just what I wished for.

I guess in couple of years Steve implements some new consumer device which
complements the existing ones. He's so visionary.

~~~
viraptor
Not sure why this is downvoted... a bit of trolling, but in general it's
right. If Apple starts selling a large range of devices that just complement
the laptops and phones, without making a good product in itself -- people are
going to end up with a lot of gadgets. It's fun for a rich customer (I've got
a music player, video player, phone, communicator, web browser device...), not
so fun for a typical customer (I've got a choice between a hard to use laptop,
or one or two easy to use devices).

Many of us are geeks here and buy gadgets just because they're shiny and new.
But many normal people would rather get an easy to use laptop instead, or a
"laptopised" dockable ipad.

~~~
briancooley
_But many normal people would rather get an easy to use laptop instead, or a
"laptopised" dockable ipad_

Based on my empirical experience since my iPad was delivered April 3, most
"normal" people want an iPad but are having trouble justifying the expense.

I think iPads will be _the_ gift this Christmas. About 80% of my friends are
planning to get one then.

~~~
watty
80% of your friends are planning on getting an iPad? Holy crap, what's your
demographic (if you don't mind)?

~~~
briancooley
Well, if you don't mind pedantry, here goes. It's actually 80% of relatively
close friends on a family unit basis, so it's 4 iPads out of 10 friends/5
couples that I see on a routine basis.

That's an incomplete sampling of my universe of friends. A lot of my casual
friends - the ones I haven't seen since February or earlier - I don't know one
way or another, but I'd guess the rate would be lower among them.

The data's also tainted, since most of them had the iPad in hand when they
made the statement. Anyway, what I really was trying to focus on is that _if_
they purchase it, it will likely be at Christmas and as a gift.

As far as demographics, if you mean income, I don't really know. I'd guess
$100K-$120K yearly income per family. Upper middle class, I guess. Folks that
make enough money that their wives stay home with the kids. Not hurting for
money, but $500 is still more than pocket change.

------
dpcan
When I first got my iPhone, I had to charge the battery daily for a month
because I just couldn't get over it.

Now it lasts days and I use it more like a phone and a casual gaming device
while I'm bored.

Bloggers should no better. It's too early to make statements about the impact
of the iPad on computing. Let's see where we are in 6 months.

I'm not saying it will go one way or the other, but I imagine the hype will
double with the 3G, then in a year we'll start seeing true reviews of how the
iPad is used. I'm personally holding out for 3G.

EDIT: Somehow I missed that 3G is available, so I give it 6 months :)

~~~
ben1040
This experience about mimics mine with the iPad. The first two weeks or so I
couldn't put it down, and now it's just kind of something that I have on my
coffee table.

I still find it very useful - I can now just "hand a web page" to my wife,
it's great for having around in the living room for random web surfing on the
couch, and yes, reading the news or doing a crossword while having a beer on
my back patio.

I still can't type properly on the thing to save my life. I didn't realize
just how awkward it is. I need to set it on a flat surface and type on it like
a regular keyboard, and if I'm going to do that I'd prefer a laptop.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
Same for the kindle.

At first it's this completely super-cool thing and you wonder how you could
live your life without it.

Then it just becomes a piece of stuff that you have to carry around because it
does a couple of things better than all the other stuff you already carry
around.

~~~
blhack
Just want to say that my experience with my kindle is very much unlike this.
The only thing that keeps me buying dead-tree books right now is the ability
to bike over to Barnes and Noble and browse them, and my ability to keep a
couple under the seat in my Jeep without fear of them being stolen.

At first, I liked it, but it still just felt like an MP3 player for
books...the first time I really "got it" was when I was walking my dog one
morning. I usually bring a bag with my that has a couple of tools in it
(mountain bike habits die hard, I guess), as well as my kindle. I decided to
stop near the lake and let my dog rest a bit. My friend had recently recommend
that I read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", and I was considering
riding up to the store and buying it when I realized that I already _had_
it...in my bag, all I had to do was pay for it.

I booted the kindle, opened the kindle store, and was reading the book all in
less than a minute. This is absolutely _amazing_ to me because unlike my
phone, or my laptop, or whatever other device I have that can read text, the
kindle really really does feel like reading a book. It doesn't hurt by
eyeballs, it doesn't get warm and feel strange in my hand, and the battery
lasts for almost a month without charging.

Nothing about my kindle feels like it's getting in my way...this is pretty
much exactly the opposite of my experience with every piece of apple product I
have ever used (save for the early ipods...can you still sync them with amarok
and gtkpod?).

------
zmmmmm
I guess I must be the only person with an iPad for whom it is now just going
dusty in a cupboard.

I had an enthusiastic few weeks with it but after that it just seems to be
sub-optimal for most of the use cases I have. I really dislike browsing the
web on it, which is the main problem.

It's great for viewing photos but I just can't work with iTune's retarded
methodology for putting them on there. It's nice for viewing videos but only
at close range and then you have to hold it so it doesn't really work for me
for movies. It is far too hard to type to be a practical device for email.

It's really interesting to watch how people's reactions to it change as they
adapt to this "new" kind of device.

~~~
amitto
That sounds like a real waste of space in your cupboard. I feel compelled to
take that iPad from you to free up some space :)

------
stcredzero
As flying changed from an esoteric daredevil activity to a dreary consumer
experience, many consumers gained access to great utility and tremendous
wealth has been created. As cars changed from finicky things requiring
enthusiast skills to keep running smoothly to closed, consumer devices, many
consumers gained access to great utility and tremendous wealth has been
created.

So it will go with computers. (And also note, that expert/enthusiast flying
and driving experiences are still readily available for those with the burning
desire.)

~~~
dmlorenzetti
Not that I disagree, but the analogy seems flawed. The "closed consumer" cars
and airplanes of today also are more capable than the finicky, esoteric
products they replaced. Conversely, the reason many people thought the iPad
would fail is that it's less capable than its seeming competition.

~~~
jazzdev
_many people thought the iPad would fail [because] it's less capable than its
seeming competition_

The success of the iPod and the Flip Video camera seems to demonstrate that
mainstream consumers prefer usability to capability.

The iPod wasn't the most capable MP3 player when it came out. But Flip Video
is an even more dramatic example. An unknown company came out of nowhere and
captured 13% of the video camera market in 6 months. And they were competing
against Sony and Canon and Panasonic, some big, well established players. The
first Flip had 6 buttons and no onscreen menus. Just 7 features (one button
handled zoom while recording and volume during playback). The competition had
at least twice as many features.

~~~
Goladus
Features on something that takes pictures or records video is much different
from features on a computer, though applications is generally a more common
term for the variety of uses a PC can be put to.

The long tail of what a computer can do is infinitely longer than the long
tail of features on a camera. Maybe you're an architect and use CAD software,
maybe you're a composer and need software that works with your synthesizers,
maybe you're a scientist and use a bunch of customized development tools for
research, maybe you play high-end video games, maybe you design playbills,
maybe you're just a car enthusiast and use different CAD software from the
architect I already mentioned. The list goes on.

PCs are incredibly flexible in this way. A device that can't do the one thing
you need it to do won't get bought. On cameras, usually the one thing is just:
take nice pictures. If the one thing you really need a PC for isn't available
from the App Store, usability doesn't matter at all.

------
michael_dorfman
_It's replaced our kitchen computer on our kitchen countertop._

Wait, what?

~~~
chadgeidel
I thought the same thing. Is it that resistant to spills/splashes?

~~~
shaddi
I was more surprised about having a kitchen computer.

~~~
portman
This comment was extremely enlightening for me, since I can't think of a
single kitchen amongst my friends and neighbors that _doesn't_ have a
computer. It's split about 50/50 between notebooks and iMacs.

Also, when we remodeled our kitchen two years ago, the showrooms all included
kitchen computers.

I'm not rich, either. My neighbors are mostly rank-and-file government
employees or servicemen on assignment at the Pentagon. But kitchen computers
are a de-facto standard.

~~~
Tichy
This is enlightening for me, as I don't know anybody who has a kitchen
computer.

What are they typically being used for - just recepies? Or also browsing while
having a morning coffee?

~~~
astine
I don't have a kitchen computer (Well, technically, I have a laptop which I
sometimes use in the kitchen,) but it's the kind of thing I've always wanted
if I could find a machine that would fit my needs exactly and I had the money.

I would like to use it not only for recipes, but also calenders and email, as
well as seeing the weather and the news and maybe checking Facebook and the
like. For me, not sitting down in my office just to check the weather or
morning traffic helps to prevent me from accidentally living my life in the
office.

------
melling
I got mine on Monday after much debating. Initially I was going to wait for
the second generation because I know it will be so much better. In the store,
the iPad felt a little heavy and basically like a big iPhone. After a few
weeks, I took the "you only live once and it's cheap enough that I'll just by
gen 2 if it's really that much better." By last night, I realized this thing
is revolutionary, or the start of it. It's perfect for consuming the Internet
and other information. The apps make a difference. Instapaper Pro, Good
Reader, SimpleNote. I bought Numbers last night and I'm investigating whether
Omnigraffle is any good(many poor reviews and a few positive ones and it's
$50)

Missing multitasking. Need To keep Pandora running. My only disappointment.

~~~
cpr
Multitasking (exactly for the kind of apps like Pandora) is coming this fall
(with iPhone OS 4.x ported to the iPad), Apple says.

------
Tichy
"I wanted to take the iPad with me but decided not to so it could stay at home
on the kitchen counter."

I am really interested in a sort of family computer device, that would display
calendar for everyone, shopping lists, and so on (a bit like the Weasley's
Wall Clock in Harry Potter perhaps - family dashboard?). Only I am hoping for
something cheaper than the iPad.

While I kind of hate Apple, I have recently considered getting an iPad after
all, just for reading websites and API docs. Thinking I might be able to avoid
having to get a standing desk, and instead try to pace around with the iPad
whenever I need to read stuff online.

So far I don't even have a kitchen computer, btw. It hasn't bothered me that
much. On the rare occasion I want to cook by recepy, I either print it or I
have a paper book.

~~~
viraptor
I think O2 does it with their joggler:
<http://yourfamily.o2.co.uk/o2familyjoggler>

They even advertise it as "your new fridge door".

~~~
Tichy
Interesting, thanks. Unsurprisingly, their web site sucks, so I was not able
to view details of the device. I can only hope that it is "open", and
extendable.

I think there is/could be a market for this kind of thing.

Some cheap universal replacements might be an iPod Touch (though rather small
and expensive at 200 bucks) or that open source hardware thingy whose name I
can't remember - I think it's about 100 bucks? But rather bulky.

~~~
viraptor
Not sure how open is it by default, but my colleague bought it, to put linux
on it. So, open enough probably... No idea about the app store rules though.

~~~
Tichy
If you can put Linux on it, it's cool :-)

------
callmeed
This is exactly why the iPad needs some sort of user account system. Everone
in my family loves using it—and friends and co-workers love to play with
it—but I don't like my email accounts and some app data accessible to all.

~~~
illumin8
I think Apple's long term model is that the iPad is more of a "personal"
computing device. Of course they probably wouldn't complain if you went out
and bought one for each member of your family.

~~~
cheald
Or, Jobs introduces the iPad 2.0 with revolutionary security-protected user
space partitioning, a magical innovation in computing that will revolutionize
your approach to your information.

Edit: Forgot "magical".

------
empire29
I agree -- using the ipad over my laptop allows for a much more casual
experience. i find myself picking it up/putting it down MUCH more than i did
using my laptop (pre-ipad) .. using my laptop was/is a much more focused
experience for me. I readily admit that using my laptop is generally
faster/more efficient for most typing-intensive tasks, but i am really
enjoying how the ipad's (re?)introduced casual computing to my life.

~~~
bdickason
Do you believe that the 'casual' aspect of it will remain? I remember that
people used to love laptops when they first came out (yes I'm old) because
they could take them to a park and work. They found it relaxing and not as
"business" oriented.

Fast forward to today and they've lost that vibe. I'm kinda feeling like the
iPad will also lose that after people get used to the 'newness' of the form
factor.

~~~
commieneko
It is, of course, relative. My laptop is _more_ casual than my desk top, and
I'm finding my iPad more casual still.

Now, I often use my laptop _as_ my desktop computer; hook it up to a larger
monitor, mouse, an external keyboard,
stereo/video/telescope/interociter/history eraser button/etc. But that doesn't
mean that my laptop experience isn't casual when I plop down on the couch,
sans accoutrements, and surf hacker news, listen to music, or watch a movie.

And the iPad is more casual still. And the fact that I _can't_ do many things
that are not casual may help to keep it casual. Maybe not...

(And for the record, just carry the iPad into the "little room down the hall"
for the _ultimate_ in casual computing...)

------
david927
I think this is the potential of tablets in general. If others, like Notion
Ink's Adam, are able to deliver the features/price that they're promising, the
whole category could be a big hit. The iPad is just a hint of what's to come.

~~~
cwilson
You better hope that Notion Ink also delivers on the EXPERIENCE as well. Look
at what everyone else is saying in this thread; the iPad is a hit because of
the experience of using it, the attention to detail, not the feature set.

If it doesn't deliver on experience people will not buy it in the first place
(because no one will be talking about it) or they will return it. I don't care
how many features you pack into a device, if I don't smile while using it it's
a failure.

~~~
iron_ball
That's what everyone said about Android phones, but in the end, many people
were delighted to get an experience a cut below Apple's as long as the
features and pricing were a cut above. It seems there is plenty of room for
both approaches.

~~~
0x44
Judging by the fact that 75% of Android users are in the United States, it may
be safe to say that most of them chose an Android phone because it wasn't on
AT&T.

------
dna
My experience with the iPad : My aunt (I'm French) came back from a visit to
her son who lives in the USA and she was helpless because she couldn't
understand why there was no way to add anything to her "computer" (she thought
the iPad was an actual computing device, not a c.r.a.p.pliance) without
erasing the pictures and videos of her family that was transferred to the iPad
when her son synced his computer to it. She didn't ask my advice beforehand,
she succumbed to the power of marketing and the novelty of getting something
before its availability in France and bought it without thinking much about
it. You should have seen the look on her face when she came to understand that
her device could erase all the videos and pictures of her grand-kids at a
whim. If it wasn't enough, she couldn't use the app store once she got back to
France and will have to wait for general availability, even switching to the
US appstore didn't let her. This is what a crappliance you don't actually own
will do to you. You may have bought it but Apple still owns it.

THIS is what is supposed to be the future of computing, the device that will
replace the desktop and laptop for the masses ? Job's full of it. The future
of computing is a future where you can't even share your own data with your
friends and where the manufacturer has a say on everything you do, even the
installation of apps and what country you're in ? There is a reason why lots
of people feel much stronger hate toward Apple than anyone ever did to
Microsoft. I sincerely hope that the iPad will tank after the first generation
and gets rolled over by Android, WebOS and whatever is in the work at MS. This
device HAS to die or it will inspire a new era of madness if its model gets
successful enough to be copied by everyone else. Microsoft is already joining
in the crazy with the Windows Phone 7 that restricts you to its app market
with no standalone app installation even though Windows Mobile used to stand
for freedom.

------
px
The key aspect of the ipad/tablet experience is being able to use it in new
contexts (on the kitchen counter, making guacamole). Opportunities abound for
savvy developers who are able to recognize some of ways in which tablets will
fit naturally into our daily lives.

------
silkodyssey
This is a powerful endorsement of the iPad. To me the message is you can't
really judge the iPad based on the features it has or the list of things it
can or can't do but instead it has to be experienced.

------
grandalf
I bought an iPad (after using linux exclusively for years) and have really
been enjoying it.

Highlights:

\- Great music apps (drum machines, synths, etc.)

\- Solid battery life

Frustrations:

\- Not sure why the app store exits right after you install a new app

\- Safari crashes often

------
smackfu
If the killer app for a tablet is web browsing, that makes the iPad very
vulnerable to an Android tablet.

------
miri
Oh, the iPad might be all fancy-glitzy-waste-of-money-blah-blah, but as a
product, it's good at it. It provides an _experience_ , as well as providing
usefulness. I have used a laptop for recipe purposes in a kitchen, too, but
using an iPad to do it just makes it feel a lot more cool, which makes people
bother to use it more. My mother never saw the use for mp3 player speakers
until she realised that it was a very easy and convenient way to listen to
Alice Cooper _in the kitchen_ while cooking. She could've gotten a portable
player/radio - the technology's been around for a while, I'd say - but she
didn't.

It's a brilliant marketing idea. I'll probably stick to my laptop and paper
notes, but I guess I, like everyone, have some sort of dream of a future where
we have fancy computer screens everywhere. Kitchen computers, robo-butlers (or
a disembodied mildly sarcastic voice with a British accent answering your
questions), projectors projecting the next recipe on your kitchen cupboard,
fridges keeping tally of your shopping list, you name it.

~~~
cpr
Wait, your mother? Alice Cooper? ;-)

~~~
miri
Why, yes! I've grown up with hard rock/heavy metal, opera, and good food. Food
usually gets good when mum's rocking out in the kitchen :P

------
ojbyrne
I have the 3G version, and for me it's the perfect commuting companion.

~~~
stcredzero
I concur. I have the Wifi with a mobile hotspot. I fly a lot and it's much
better on the plane. No wifi in flight most of the time, but I can download
content easily enough. Much more comfortable and usable than the Macbook in
the plane seat.

------
Goladus
I think his initial conclusion is still correct: the iPad isn't going to be
the same kind of hit the iPhone was. I think that's a direction where
computing is going to expand, but it'll happen a lot more slowly. Especially
while the it's expensive enough that the target market is people who are
"replace their kitchen computers."

------
neovive
I wonder if a lot of the utility comes from being more of an instant-on
computer vs. having to boot up a laptop.

~~~
_sh
This is a very interesting statement. I've been working with boot times at
work recently. In one release, I pulled boot times from ~25 seconds to <7
seconds by going ninja on the kernel and init.

The response was out of all proportion. Users liked it so much, talked about
'latency' and 'improved workflow' (none of the software had changed, only the
boot time). There is no doubt that startup time is a significant contributing
factor to the way users respond to applications/devices.

I was musing over all this with a co-worker who expressed no surprise, and
told me a story how, back in the 90s, he got a similar response from his users
by simply _removing the splash screen_. Not even reducing startup time. He
said people were waiting for the splash screen and when the main window
opened, they thought it must have started so quickly they missed it.

------
nkassis
I like the part where he mentions the android tablets. Frankly I love the idea
of a tablet computer but I just can't bring myself to use the iPad. If only a
good android tablet was out right now, I'd give up the rammen noodles for one.
(I'll just steal some tomatoes from the neighbor for food ;p)

~~~
bdickason
Are you craving an android tablet because it's a better/faster experience or
because you don't like Apple? I haven't used an Android phone in about a year,
so I'm missing the connection. What evidence is there that an Android tablet
will be superior, besides the draconian App Store policies?

~~~
blhack
Apple just frustrates me as a company (which is probably a silly reason not to
want an iPad, I suppose)...

There are the ridiculous app store policies (which is a HUGE problem) but
there are also little things. For instance, have you ever tried to use an
iPhone in bed? I keep mine sitting next to my pillow so that I can listen to
music while I fall asleep...

Doing this is a _huge_ pain in the butt. If you turn the thing sideways to
change songs, it goes into the oh-so-useless "cover flow" interface. If I'm
browsing the web, the phone decides that it should rotate the screen for me...

These things are fixed...but only if you void your warrant and jailbreak
it...why? Honestly, the only thing I can come up with is that it is some
stupid power trip by the folks at apple... "Bah! We designed it that way and
we're never wrong!" JUST EFFING FIX THIS GUYS! It's a very _very_ common
problem.

I was traveling last week...my laptop's battery needs very badly to be
replaced (only holds about a half hour of charge anymore), so I decided to
transfer some podcasts to my phone so I could listen to them on the
plane...now, this isn't as simple as most of the blackberries I've ever owned
(the blackberries, if you're not aware, simply get mounted as an external
storage device...copy and paste MP3s to it and it will happily play them for
you), but firing up iTunes should be _too_ much a problem, right?

Wrong. iTunes refuses to add songs to the device unless I _erase everything on
it and "sync" it to my laptop_. WTF? Apple, this is _completely_ unnecessary!
So I lose everything on my iPhone in order to listen to a couple of podcasts?
What the hell, Apple.

Okay, howabout email syncing? 4 times an hour _at the most_. Seriously? The
phone is _absolutely_ capable of more than this! So it will hurt the battery a
bit more, I don't care! Warn me about it when I select "check email 1 time per
minute".

Don't even get me started on Google voice (which I use as my primary phone
number and voicemail)...

And then there is flash...

Oh, and howabout the newest version of their iPod? You cannot disable having
album artwork take over half of your screen? Why the hell not?! These just
seems like more power-tripping my Apple/Jobs.

I've played with the iPad (while I was waiting in the apple store for three
hours for my appointment with the "genius bar"), it seems...kindof neat I
guess? But apple leaves such a sour taste in my mouth from the experiences
I've had with the iPhone that I cannot imagine myself ever buying one.

~~~
veemjeem
Your first 3 paragraphs are about screen rotation, which is something already
fixed with a hardware rotation lock on the iPad.

Email syncing is pretty straightforward, push the button to sync.

Most of your complaints seem pretty benign if you ask me.

~~~
blhack
These aren't specific problems that I think I would have with an iPad, they're
examples of what I feel is Apple's philosophy on dealing with their customers.

Basically "We're right, we don't care about your problems, piss off."

Why can't I get the same sort of rotation lock for my iPhone? (well, I can,
but it was something that was made by the community and something that will
void my iPhone's warranty [which is funny because I am literally on hold right
now with the apple store to make _another_ appointment with the "genius bar"
because the phone is currently only displaying a white screen])

~~~
cpr
If it's any consolation, iPhone OS 4 (I _think_ this has already been
revealed, so there's no NDA problem) has a software rotation lock.

~~~
blhack
Cool, can't wait :). (Although I suspect my company will have switched to
Verizon at that point, so...android).

------
vtnext
Odd, since our ipad has hardly been used the last few weeks. After a couple of
weeks of heavy use, it's now gathering dust. Wife is back to using her
netbook, kids have gone back to their own computers.

Not saying it's useless, but it is far less used than I expected.

------
jonpaul
Originally, I thought it was a device in search of a problem. However, it has
made my life more efficient in one key way. Reading. I put my iPad on the
treadmill and crank up the font... I can run fast and read iBooks. I love that
I'm getting smarter and staying fit.

------
MikeCapone
It probably isn't too rare in this crowd, but in the world in general, it's
pretty rare for someone to say "I changed my mind" in public. Kudos. More
people need to stop being irrationally attached to their past opinions out of
fear of "flip flopping".

------
pvdm
How does he get around the "unbearable shittiness of iTunes for Windows" ?

[http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2010/05/open-android-vs-
clos...](http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2010/05/open-android-vs-closed-
iphone.html)

~~~
fredwilson
i have not connected the ipad to itunes since we set it up.

and we use macs in our house so the initial connection was on a mac.

------
rradu
A small netbook serves the same purpose as that described in the post. That
easy access and family use is not really tablet-specific.

------
billpaetzke
_I'll probably wait for the first Android tablet and get that for my personal
use._

Me, too.

------
hernan7
After reading this, one could ask Jobs the same thing he once asked Sculley:
Hey Steve, do you want to spend the rest of your life selling overpriced toys
to rich ne'er-do-wells, or do you want to change the world?

~~~
ekanes
There's a significant trickle-down effect from the innovation and competitive
pressure they apply. _All_ MP3 players and (practically) _all_ phones will be
better, (even if they're simply selling overpriced toys.) :)

------
TotlolRon
Another reminder why _using_ is the best way to understand what a product is
about.

~~~
daten
I'm not trying to troll, I just have an ongoing concern when I read articles
like this.

Another way to look at it is, I've been convinced by marketing and countless
articles on HN telling me how amazing this new gadget is that I went and
bought one.

Now I need to find a place it fits in my life and convince myself it's
something I didn't know I needed and that I didn't waste my money.

I've only owned it for a week but I'm sure that a year from now I'll still
love it because it's a great product, not because it's new and shiny.

~~~
nooneelse
Cognitive dissonance is not to be underestimated in these things.

------
drivebyacct
The thing is, none of these comments are ever unique to the iPad. People are
realizing that a portable tablet is a complimentary computer. Personally, my
laptop and my phone span all of my computing needs. If I ever felt that I had
the cash on hands or use-cases that demanded a tablet, I would consider it;
but on a matter of practically and experience with both platforms, I'd
certainly be choosing an Android (hopefully Tegra) tablet.

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asdfghjkl1521
yes it is an awesome device and i am loving it.

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antidaily
"Seeeeeeeeee!" - Steve Jobs

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zalew
Like I care if random people like having a cup of coffee on the terrace with
an ipad.

1\. put 'ipad' in title

2\. write some random thoughts, don't matter if you like it or not, if they
are even technical or just stories about posting while sitting on the can.

3\. ...

4\. profit!

~~~
jdunck
Fred Wilson is a VC -- I'm pretty sure he doesn't need any money derived from
this post. He's just posting observations as this market forms.

~~~
nir
OP does have some point in that Wilson's experience is hardly a common one -
first, buying an iPad just to see if he'd like it, second, having
email/browsing so important to him that he's even considering a 2nd iPad just
to make the experience slightly better.

Basically, the early adopters have now bought their iPads and are sitting in
the terrace with a glass of wine reading emails. It's fun, but it's not "this
changes everything", it's "this gadget is so cool".

~~~
francoisdevlin
Just wait until industry & manufacturing learns how to use the thing. Then it
_will_ change the game.

~~~
shade
The iPad specifically, or slate devices in general?

The former I'm not sure about, the latter, quite possibly. My thinking is that
if I were running the IT department in a manufacturing firm looking for ways
to bring these devices into my factories, I'd be giving preference to touch-
oriented web apps rather than iDevice applications specifically. You retain a
bunch of advantages of web apps -- easier and simpler deployments, generally
faster development, more choice of languages -- and once the Android tablets
start to hit, you avoid locking yourself into a single supplier.

~~~
riltim
Disclaimer: I write PLC & SCADA system code for a living in the industrial and
wastewater markets.

Real time plant floor control/monitoring is not an unsolved problem and an
iPad/tablet accessible web app was not the solution. See page 12 of the link
below[1] for an example of what industry really works with. In some
applications seconds can cost thousands of dollars, a limb or even a life. I'd
never leave that up to a web browsers JavaScript engine.

[1] [http://www.automation.siemens.com/salesmaterial-
as/brochure/...](http://www.automation.siemens.com/salesmaterial-
as/brochure/en/brochure_panels_en.pdf)

