

A Dependable iPad - filament
http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2012/03/03/a_dependable_ipad.html

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thurn
Anecdotally, I loved my iPad and used it daily until I got an 11-inch Macbook
Air. Now it sits on a shelf for a month at a time without being used. I don't
even really understand the appeal any more, I'm positive that most of my daily
tasks like web browsing and email are much faster on a full laptop (efficient
tab-based web browsing is a huge win) with only a very marginal decrease in
portability.

Maybe this is just a power-user thing, though?

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hrktb
A different POV: I have a 2 year kid and I feel like the macbook air's screen
wouldn't stand a single pull from his fingers. The ipad in its case? he can
walk on it, throw it, it won't matter.

Before the little monster gets to sleep, any form of computing is limited to
the ipad.

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barefoot
> The use case for the iPad’s camera is FaceTime, and for me and I’m likely in
> the minority here, FaceTime is a classic You-Gotta-See-This-Once feature.
> You demo it once and never use it again. The line I draw for the cameras is
> “it can’t be crap.”

Am I the only one that uses FaceTime on a regular basis?

I have family scattered all around the world and pretty much every call I get
from them comes in as FaceTime. Most of my family has iPhones and it just
works for them. The audio quality is great and it's so much better than a
normal phone call. Does everyone else use Skype? Are your family members
comfortable with using that?

I would love a very high definition front facing camera on the iPad 3 to
compliment a possible retina display. I think that would make it a very
compelling video conferencing device.

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mdasen
I think there are a few problems with FaceTime.

First, there's a bit of a trend toward somewhat less interactive conversation.
If text messages are rising in popularity as phone calls wane, it would also
make sense that FaceTime wouldn't be the most popular. Plus, with FaceTime,
you might not want to use it on a saturday at noon when you're still
disheveled in your pyjamas.

Second, it only works with other Apple stuff right now. AT&T announced that
they wanted to push for a video calling standard. I hope that the industry
really coalesces. That will probably mean Google adopting FaceTime for Android
handsets and Google Talk/Google+. Even if I have an iPhone, only one other
member of my family has an Apple device. Many of my friends have PCs and
Android handsets. That limits how important it can become for many people.

That said, my friend's grandmother loves it. She's too old to travel, but can
see her grandchildren 4,000 miles away with it. It's really special for her.

Still, it will remain a bit more of a niche product since there isn't broad
compatibility and, at least right now, there might be a stigma to using it
when one doesn't feel put together.

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sardonicbryan
Actually, Google Talk on Android already has a video chat feature that's great
because: 1) It works over 3G 2) It works with anyone else on Google Talk who's
online, regardless of what device they're on

All you have to do is open Google Talk (I have it running all the time anyway)
and tap the camera button next to someone's contact.

I frequently use it to chat with my girlfriend or to show her something on the
go, and it doesn't matter if she's on her Galaxy Nexus or her MBP at home.

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bstar77
It's pretty amazing that Apple is bucking the trend by releasing the iPad and
iPhone once a year despite the rest of the industry releasing new models every
month or two.

There's nothing more frustrating than shopping for an android product knowing
that it'll be out shined in a few weeks and out dated in a few months.

Edit: this is coming from someone that owns 3 android phones and an android
tablet and zero ios devices (at the moment).

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nextparadigms
I don't really understand this point. That should be true even if you buy an
iPhone. If there are better/more powerful/higher resolution phones out there 2
months later, that will be true when compared to the iPhone as well. This is
just competition in a high-growth market.

So yeah, that doesn't make sense to me, unless you want to pretend that once
you get into the Apple ecosystem, there is nothing better out there until
Apple releases the next version of the device.

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bstar77
I guess I look at the iPad/iphone/ipod touches more like consoles than
computers, where I look at android more as computers.

When you have a console, you want that eco system and hardware to last longer
than it takes to develop the next gnu or cpu. Android updates on every single
new advancement in mobile tech, which I find completely overwhelming.

It's very obvious that the carriers get overwhelmed because they have
significant trouble updating their devices that are over a year old.

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niels_olson
I want an iPad with high resolution _input_. I want Wacom-tablet quality
input. Steve Jobs' paint-by-numbers level of quality is a pile of suck. I have
tried every beautiful stylus and drawing app out there, they all suck compared
to a Wacom tablet. Which is a shame. Because not putting the pen on the
drawing is soul-crushing. I have several 0.3 mm Pentel pencils that remain my
mainstay for drawing and math. I will not name the model, as they occasionally
come up on eBay and last time I tipped my hand on another work-a-day model,
the eBay prices shot up 400% and have stayed there for a year.

I want a MacBook with 4G. I would change carriers in a heartbeat to get that.
In fact, our contracts are up, we're month to month, primed, waiting, for
exactly that.

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ricardobeat
I have no idea why the post is called "a dependable iPad". If the "old" model
is good enough that you don't need to buy the new one every year, didn't that
just prove it's dependability?

It looks like he's complaining about _something_ , I just can't tell what.
Maybe the next iPad should fly, teleport and make coffee so that everyone
wants to update?

 _Sent from my iPad 1_

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jsavimbi
I never understand why people feel the need to spend time trying to advertise
what they want out of and Apple product. The company doesn't care what the
customer wants. They simply make things that sell and discontinue those that
don't. The iPad 3 will probably outsell 1 and 2 combined, and they know this
already. And they know that as long as they keep making improvements to iOS,
every other platform/manufacturer is simply copying them and are one or two
generations behind with no insight as to where Apple is headed.

Also, one would be surprised at the number of people out there taking pictures
with an iPad. It looks weird but you'll get used to it eventually.

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signalsignal
Its a blog article. I think he is just expressing himself. If Apple and iPad
happen to be highly valued keywords, then so be it.

