iPad iPad Enthusiasts - Why is the iPad a no-brainer for you?

dragonbone · 02-02-2010, 11:06 PM

Months before the iPad was even announced, there was so much controversy all over the internet and blogs that one couldn't help but be interested...
There were the Apple haters, and the Apple lovers, the prematurely disappointed, the prematurely angry and of course the many myriad of categories in between (and on the fence).

Now it is really here (well almost)... and what are we left with? See above

!

For me the iPad is really a no-brainer.

For all the things the iPad can't do; I have my desktop PC and my very nice 17" HP Pavilion Entertainment PC. I also have my Mini Acer, my iPhone and my Sony PRS -700, (although with the latter it's very unlikely that I will use it again). If I need to make a Skype video conference call with my family members in Sudan, Colombia, the UK and South Africa, (and me in Japan) all the while looking at family photos in our shared Dropbox and quickly reading a new email etc..... I will use my PC. For any other heavy work, I will use my PC.

For everything else I will use my iPad.

Even if the iPad had nothing else except the calendar/diary, I would probably still buy it because I have never been able to replace my Electronic Diary, (with dictionary, world clock etc etc. etc.) that I loved so much and which I bought many, many years ago. That was of course long before cell phones and even longer before smart phones.
Even if the iPad had only the iPhoto and iBook function, I would still buy it.
Even if the iPad had only browser or only video or only......
I could really go on and on (and on and on) here! I could easily write a 6 page essay on all the things I can do with my iPad.
IMHO, the iPad is absolutely fabulous and has everything I could possibly need and much much more. Come on!!! It's amazing!

So.... what do you think?

kjk · 02-02-2010, 11:31 PM

I'll definitely go for a hands on demo of it as soon as it comes out-from all accounts I've read (and talking with two people who went to the show), the descriptions don't come close to the experience of actually playing with one-they were incredibly impressed by just how it felt to use one.

I'm certainly not abandoning either my iPhone or my main computer-although now that 27" iMac looks even better to me than a Macbook.

I see the iPad as giving me a larger area to play in-for books, movies, browsing, and fooling around with all the incredibly creative apps that developers have created.

But...I think anyone even considering the iPad should watch the keynote speech, especially the first section-Apple makes very clear how they are positioning the iPad. It isn't a netbook. It isn't a notebook replacement. It isn't an iPhone/Touch replacement. If that is what you are looking for, the iPad isn't for you.

And yeah, I'm pretty excited about it...I love new gadgets.

nikkie · 02-02-2010, 11:47 PM

The iPad is a no brainer for me because I use my iPhone a lot as an ebook reader, and have often wished the screen was bigger.

Also, I use it occasionally at the gym and it also seems a bit small there.

Also, it's pretty. (Hey, shoot me. :-P)

dragonbone · 02-02-2010, 11:53 PM

Oh, yes!!! I love pretty new gadgets, especially ones I don't need weeks or months trying to figure out. Ones that just work - immediately. I spent weeks and what seemed like hundreds of hours trying to get books onto my 700. My iPhone took less than 24 hours to figure out.
Call me lazy - I don't care

.

adreamer · 02-03-2010, 12:16 AM

I would buy one because it is simple to use. I can tinker around with my desktop endlessly when I want, buy I want an iPad so that I can "get things done" (and ofcourse as an eBook reader -- particularly during nights).

zacheryjensen · 02-03-2010, 01:02 AM

It's a no brainer for me because of this:

9 months or so ago I set out to find a device that would solve at least one major inconvenience for me. That first inconvenience was reading technical PDF documents for work. It is not uncommon that I have to read the same documents repeated, as well as new documents, and all of these documents can range up to several hundred pages long. I started with a Sony Reader (PRS-505) and while I liked the idea of eInk, I soon found that I almost always read in dim areas, like offices and the like, so the benefits of the eInk screen were diminished to long battery life. Not that it's a bad thing, but, it no longer outweighs the detrimental effects, such as very slow refresh and the ensuing side effects to features and so on.

Then I started realizing how tedious it is to read a PDF half a page at a time, especially when it's columns. Not only that but even in landscape mode on that device it was tiny, and that made my eyes sore after a while.

However, I really liked the concept there, reading in comfort with something book-like in nature and not heavy and unwieldy like a laptop, also not super hot or very low battery life (though my new laptop gets 5 hours under load, which is pretty nice... it's still not ideal for reading.)

So I made a list of what I want from a device, it included such gems as: 8+ hours battery life (workday), native document support for at least one major eBook format, and for PDF. Annotation support, preferably exportable, but that's not entirely required. Search support in documents, including PDF. ~10" screen or larger. I chose this size because I have a laptop with 9" widescreen and it's almost perfect for reading a PDF page at a time on its side, but would be even better if it was 10" and 4:3 ratio.

Anyway, nothing existed at the time that was remotely affordable. I was not going to spend $1000 on an iRex that had terrible user opinions anyway. I even bought some crappy HP touchsmart tablet PC and it was awful so I returned it.

But that tablet PC made me realize that a dedicated reading device wasn't exactly what I wanted. Also I got a little desperate and tried a Kindle 2 as well, but that was another huge disappointment, especially with its PDF conversion. I sold that as well.

So when I heard about the plastic logic reader and its claimed capabilities, and better touch screen (supposedly below the substrate since the substrate could be plastic) I was pretty stoked. Then finally after a huge amount of pointless waiting, they release the price. Horrible! Fine, it does a little more than the average reading device but it's still black and white, very slow interface, and a totally unknown company behind it. Who knows if it's not going to be total garbage? So now it's off my list and I'm sitting around early January wondering if Apple's really going to release a tablet.

I didn't think so. By this time I have gone back to using my iPhone because despite a small screen, it provided a vastly superior user experience to any of the various readers I've been able to own or try out. So I just kinda wished it had a bigger screen at times when I was reading PDF's.

Now I have been an iPhone user since the first release, and am quite aware of the variety and enginuity represented therein. I have the utmost confidence that more than one invested developer will step up and provide a good PDF user interface for the iPad. I already get nearly everything I want from GoodReader anyway, all they need is an iPad appropriate update and hopefully include annotations and I'm golden.

So anyway, when I heard the release of the iPad it was like they read my mind on exactly what I wanted for this mystical device I've been looking for since last Spring. Not only that, but it's priced better than most any competitor with a similar potential feature set. It will run the large app library I've already invested in. It's made by Apple whom I have trusted to produce quality products for years. I can develop for it myself, since I've joined the developer program for iPhone. There's a lot to like there. And again, the price! It's great! It has a ton of other additions and improvements that I'm looking forward to but frankly, they were never requirements. I didn't need a web browser or high quality email support, or even third party app support. I didn't even need color, and I wasn't married to any particular screen technology. Unlike some, I have no issues with backlit screens, in fact, as I mentioned, I had more problems with frontlit screens due to the locations in which I tend to read.

So, the iPad is a no-brainer to me because it more than fulfills every use case requirement I had for a device of its size since before I even believed Apple would release a tablet. Not only that but it is priced similarly or far less than any of the potential alternatives that would've possibly met my geek cravings. A simple equation of "Meets needs, beats price requirements" plus the bonus of already being invested in software that will work on it...

I can't wait til I can order one. The biggest question now is whether I want 3G support or not!

dragonbone · 02-03-2010, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zacheryjensen

So anyway, when I heard the release of the iPad it was like they read my mind on exactly what I wanted for this mystical device I've been looking for since last Spring. Not only that, but it's priced better than most any competitor with a similar potential feature set. It will run the large app library I've already invested in. It's made by Apple whom I have trusted to produce quality products for years.

I also feel as though the iPad was designed for ME

. I honestly don't understand the iPad haters....

sianon · 02-03-2010, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragonbone

I also feel as though the iPad was designed for ME

. I honestly don't understand the iPad haters....

Having watched the entire Keynote speech at the launch, I suspect that there are a great many people (including myself with a couple of provisos) who will react with "they designed this with my needs in mind". Even for the areas that wern't covered for me in the speech, good handwriting-text conversion and PDF support are catered to in the avaialble apps... My outstanding concerns are:

1: Will apps such as Stanza and Kindle still be permitted on the Ipad
2: Now that the Ipad is being promoted as a digital photo album, will app developers produce apps that will display RAW file images from major camera manufacturers.

Even without these two issues being resolved, I supsect I will have an order in as soon as this is possible.

zacheryjensen · 02-03-2010, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sianon

Having watched the entire Keynote speech at the launch, I suspect that there are a great many people (including myself with a couple of provisos) who will react with "they designed this with my needs in mind". Even for the areas that wern't covered for me in the speech, good handwriting-text conversion and PDF support are catered to in the avaialble apps... My outstanding concerns are:

1: Will apps such as Stanza and Kindle still be permitted on the Ipad
2: Now that the Ipad is being promoted as a digital photo album, will app developers produce apps that will display RAW file images from major camera manufacturers.

Even without these two issues being resolved, I supsect I will have an order in as soon as this is possible.

I don't like to think of myself as an Apple fanboy, but, it's nice to finally be in a thread where not everyone is acting like Steve Jobs snuck into their house and gutted their dog when they were actually expecting him to overnight FedEx them a gilded herd of unicorn.

dragonbone · 02-03-2010, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zacheryjensen

I don't like to think of myself as an Apple fanboy, but, it's nice to finally be in a thread where not everyone is acting like Steve Jobs snuck into their house and gutted their dog when they were actually expecting him to overnight FedEx them a gilded herd of unicorn.

darius · 02-03-2010, 04:12 AM

PDFs, put simply full colour pdfs. Kindle DX $489 iPad $499 9.7" full colour IPS capacitive touchscreen with immediate access to 140,000 apps. No brainer.

Canuck_in_Japan · 02-03-2010, 04:32 AM

Because some people must love paying $15 for their e-books?

stustaff · 02-03-2010, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Because some people must love paying $15 for their e-books?

Get back under your bridge

Bremen Cole · 02-03-2010, 05:52 AM

It is not a no-brainer to me, but it is an option. As I have said other threads.... if the battery life is really about 10 hours, and it is durable.... I will most likely get one. My Sony is a great reader, I just get tired of always having to worry about a light source....

Plus the iPad is a great value. If I upgraded to the Sony PRS-900 for the iPad size screen, it cost $400. And it reads books and newspapers. The ipad does music, movies, photos, email, internet, light gaming, launches with 160,000 apps (including every reading format) and ..... books and newspapers.... with light and in color...for $100 more.

deltop · 02-03-2010, 06:05 AM

Not quite a no-brainer for me but pretty close. And for just one reason.

Comics on a decent sized screen!

Well big enough anyway. Just. I've done some experimenting on my tablet pc and at the size that the iPad screen will be comics are perfectly readable if "slightly" smaller than I'd like.

If it had another inch on it it would have been perfect but 9.7" is fine. Especially with the ips screen. I don't know how many of you have used an ips screen before but I have one and it's by far the best screen I've ever used for general computing purposes. I can read comics on my tablet pc but if you angle it just slightly it looks terrible. With ips however you can read at pretty much any angle, they're awesome.

Maybe the bigger screen on the Notion Ink's Adam will be better for me but since the iPad I'm planning on ordering next month is unlikely to lose much of it's value at all, even second hand, I've no qualms about getting one

02-02-2010, 11:06 PM	#1
dragonbone must love dogs Posts: 480 Karma: 1079 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tokyo Device: Sony PRS-700, iPhone 32GB 3GS, iPad 64GB WiFi	iPad Enthusiasts - Why is the iPad a no-brainer for you? Months before the iPad was even announced, there was so much controversy all over the internet and blogs that one couldn't help but be interested... There were the Apple haters, and the Apple lovers, the prematurely disappointed, the prematurely angry and of course the many myriad of categories in between (and on the fence). Now it is really here (well almost)... and what are we left with? See above ! For me the iPad is really a no-brainer. For all the things the iPad can't do; I have my desktop PC and my very nice 17" HP Pavilion Entertainment PC. I also have my Mini Acer, my iPhone and my Sony PRS -700, (although with the latter it's very unlikely that I will use it again). If I need to make a Skype video conference call with my family members in Sudan, Colombia, the UK and South Africa, (and me in Japan) all the while looking at family photos in our shared Dropbox and quickly reading a new email etc..... I will use my PC. For any other heavy work, I will use my PC. For everything else I will use my iPad. Even if the iPad had nothing else except the calendar/diary, I would probably still buy it because I have never been able to replace my Electronic Diary, (with dictionary, world clock etc etc. etc.) that I loved so much and which I bought many, many years ago. That was of course long before cell phones and even longer before smart phones. Even if the iPad had only the iPhoto and iBook function, I would still buy it. Even if the iPad had only browser or only video or only...... I could really go on and on (and on and on) here! I could easily write a 6 page essay on all the things I can do with my iPad. IMHO, the iPad is absolutely fabulous and has everything I could possibly need and much much more. Come on!!! It's amazing! So.... what do you think?

02-03-2010, 04:32 AM	#12
Canuck_in_Japan Wizard Posts: 1,475 Karma: 14328611 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: Aura, Aura H2O, Kindle PW3	Why is the iPad a no-brainer for you? Because some people must love paying $15 for their e-books?

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02-02-2010, 11:31 PM	#2
kjk . Posts: 3,408 Karma: 5647231 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: never enough	I'll definitely go for a hands on demo of it as soon as it comes out-from all accounts I've read (and talking with two people who went to the show), the descriptions don't come close to the experience of actually playing with one-they were incredibly impressed by just how it felt to use one. I'm certainly not abandoning either my iPhone or my main computer-although now that 27" iMac looks even better to me than a Macbook. I see the iPad as giving me a larger area to play in-for books, movies, browsing, and fooling around with all the incredibly creative apps that developers have created. But...I think anyone even considering the iPad should watch the keynote speech, especially the first section-Apple makes very clear how they are positioning the iPad. It isn't a netbook. It isn't a notebook replacement. It isn't an iPhone/Touch replacement. If that is what you are looking for, the iPad isn't for you. And yeah, I'm pretty excited about it...I love new gadgets.

02-02-2010, 11:47 PM	#3
nikkie Guru Posts: 614 Karma: 73700 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: WA, USA Device: Android, Kindle Paperwhite, lots of ancient readers	The iPad is a no brainer for me because I use my iPhone a lot as an ebook reader, and have often wished the screen was bigger. Also, I use it occasionally at the gym and it also seems a bit small there. Also, it's pretty. (Hey, shoot me. :-P)

02-02-2010, 11:53 PM	#4
dragonbone must love dogs Posts: 480 Karma: 1079 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tokyo Device: Sony PRS-700, iPhone 32GB 3GS, iPad 64GB WiFi	Oh, yes!!! I love pretty new gadgets, especially ones I don't need weeks or months trying to figure out. Ones that just work - immediately. I spent weeks and what seemed like hundreds of hours trying to get books onto my 700. My iPhone took less than 24 hours to figure out. Call me lazy - I don't care .

02-03-2010, 12:16 AM	#5
adreamer Member Posts: 23 Karma: 24 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: India Device: iPad 2, Paperwhite 2	I would buy one because it is simple to use. I can tinker around with my desktop endlessly when I want, buy I want an iPad so that I can "get things done" (and ofcourse as an eBook reader -- particularly during nights).

02-03-2010, 01:02 AM	#6
zacheryjensen Addict Posts: 229 Karma: 887 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Utah, USA Device: iPad, iPhone 4	It's a no brainer for me because of this: 9 months or so ago I set out to find a device that would solve at least one major inconvenience for me. That first inconvenience was reading technical PDF documents for work. It is not uncommon that I have to read the same documents repeated, as well as new documents, and all of these documents can range up to several hundred pages long. I started with a Sony Reader (PRS-505) and while I liked the idea of eInk, I soon found that I almost always read in dim areas, like offices and the like, so the benefits of the eInk screen were diminished to long battery life. Not that it's a bad thing, but, it no longer outweighs the detrimental effects, such as very slow refresh and the ensuing side effects to features and so on. Then I started realizing how tedious it is to read a PDF half a page at a time, especially when it's columns. Not only that but even in landscape mode on that device it was tiny, and that made my eyes sore after a while. However, I really liked the concept there, reading in comfort with something book-like in nature and not heavy and unwieldy like a laptop, also not super hot or very low battery life (though my new laptop gets 5 hours under load, which is pretty nice... it's still not ideal for reading.) So I made a list of what I want from a device, it included such gems as: 8+ hours battery life (workday), native document support for at least one major eBook format, and for PDF. Annotation support, preferably exportable, but that's not entirely required. Search support in documents, including PDF. ~10" screen or larger. I chose this size because I have a laptop with 9" widescreen and it's almost perfect for reading a PDF page at a time on its side, but would be even better if it was 10" and 4:3 ratio. Anyway, nothing existed at the time that was remotely affordable. I was not going to spend $1000 on an iRex that had terrible user opinions anyway. I even bought some crappy HP touchsmart tablet PC and it was awful so I returned it. But that tablet PC made me realize that a dedicated reading device wasn't exactly what I wanted. Also I got a little desperate and tried a Kindle 2 as well, but that was another huge disappointment, especially with its PDF conversion. I sold that as well. So when I heard about the plastic logic reader and its claimed capabilities, and better touch screen (supposedly below the substrate since the substrate could be plastic) I was pretty stoked. Then finally after a huge amount of pointless waiting, they release the price. Horrible! Fine, it does a little more than the average reading device but it's still black and white, very slow interface, and a totally unknown company behind it. Who knows if it's not going to be total garbage? So now it's off my list and I'm sitting around early January wondering if Apple's really going to release a tablet. I didn't think so. By this time I have gone back to using my iPhone because despite a small screen, it provided a vastly superior user experience to any of the various readers I've been able to own or try out. So I just kinda wished it had a bigger screen at times when I was reading PDF's. Now I have been an iPhone user since the first release, and am quite aware of the variety and enginuity represented therein. I have the utmost confidence that more than one invested developer will step up and provide a good PDF user interface for the iPad. I already get nearly everything I want from GoodReader anyway, all they need is an iPad appropriate update and hopefully include annotations and I'm golden. So anyway, when I heard the release of the iPad it was like they read my mind on exactly what I wanted for this mystical device I've been looking for since last Spring. Not only that, but it's priced better than most any competitor with a similar potential feature set. It will run the large app library I've already invested in. It's made by Apple whom I have trusted to produce quality products for years. I can develop for it myself, since I've joined the developer program for iPhone. There's a lot to like there. And again, the price! It's great! It has a ton of other additions and improvements that I'm looking forward to but frankly, they were never requirements. I didn't need a web browser or high quality email support, or even third party app support. I didn't even need color, and I wasn't married to any particular screen technology. Unlike some, I have no issues with backlit screens, in fact, as I mentioned, I had more problems with frontlit screens due to the locations in which I tend to read. So, the iPad is a no-brainer to me because it more than fulfills every use case requirement I had for a device of its size since before I even believed Apple would release a tablet. Not only that but it is priced similarly or far less than any of the potential alternatives that would've possibly met my geek cravings. A simple equation of "Meets needs, beats price requirements" plus the bonus of already being invested in software that will work on it... I can't wait til I can order one. The biggest question now is whether I want 3G support or not!

02-03-2010, 04:12 AM	#11
darius Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: iPhone	PDFs, put simply full colour pdfs. Kindle DX $489 iPad $499 9.7" full colour IPS capacitive touchscreen with immediate access to 140,000 apps. No brainer.

02-03-2010, 05:52 AM	#14
Bremen Cole Wizard Posts: 1,115 Karma: 2718 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Texas Device: iPad	It is not a no-brainer to me, but it is an option. As I have said other threads.... if the battery life is really about 10 hours, and it is durable.... I will most likely get one. My Sony is a great reader, I just get tired of always having to worry about a light source.... Plus the iPad is a great value. If I upgraded to the Sony PRS-900 for the iPad size screen, it cost $400. And it reads books and newspapers. The ipad does music, movies, photos, email, internet, light gaming, launches with 160,000 apps (including every reading format) and ..... books and newspapers.... with light and in color...for $100 more.

02-03-2010, 06:05 AM	#15
deltop Zealot Posts: 136 Karma: 244 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Kobo Glo	Not quite a no-brainer for me but pretty close. And for just one reason. Comics on a decent sized screen! Well big enough anyway. Just. I've done some experimenting on my tablet pc and at the size that the iPad screen will be comics are perfectly readable if "slightly" smaller than I'd like. If it had another inch on it it would have been perfect but 9.7" is fine. Especially with the ips screen. I don't know how many of you have used an ips screen before but I have one and it's by far the best screen I've ever used for general computing purposes. I can read comics on my tablet pc but if you angle it just slightly it looks terrible. With ips however you can read at pretty much any angle, they're awesome. Maybe the bigger screen on the Notion Ink's Adam will be better for me but since the iPad I'm planning on ordering next month is unlikely to lose much of it's value at all, even second hand, I've no qualms about getting one

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