Quote:
Originally Posted by DixieGal
Wait a minute. You guys are confusing me. I will be able to use it as a computer, right?
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Well, I do not know what you mean under "use it as a computer". It *very* much depends on what you usually use your computer for.
*I* wouldn't be able to "use it as a computer". I could only use it for *some* or things I usually do on a computer.
I couldn't install just any program I wish on it. The only software that is allowed to be installed on iPad is from the Apple app store. And for apple store you need a credit card. And I do not have one. And even if I had a credit card I wouldn't be willing to register to the Apple store. And even if I had an account in the Apple app store I wouldn't be willing to pay for things like, for example, iWorks. Not when I can install Linux distribution on my computer and use OpenOffice.org, or Koffice, or Abiword, or ...
I couldn't, for example install Calibre on it. I wouldn't even be able to install [shudder] Vim text editor on it now that I think about it. I wouldn't be able to prepare, convert, manage my e-books collection on it.
There are lots and lots of things the iPad is not built for.
You can not install AutoCAD on it, or Photoshop, or video editing software, you can not burn DVD or CD on it, you can not rip a DVD or a CD on it, you can not write your own program or script. There are MANY games you can not install on it.
If all you ever do with your computer is:
- consuming media
- light browsing of web
- writing and receiving emails
- playing [some] games
- creating short and simple documents in a lightweight office suite such as iWorks for iPad
then yes, it can replace your computer.
iPad is an interesting device for quite a few things but for me it definitely isn't a replacement for a general purpose computer. Oh ... and I like to upgrade various components of my computer from time to time. Like memory, or disk, or a graphic card, or a raid array. I have lots of components I have purchased second-hand, or bartered, or pulled out of trash.