Apple Event - Live Blogging/Streaming Coverage

[kjk]

Originally Posted by wodin

I believe I'll be waiting for Microsoft's Courier! Wouldn't it be a huge Coup d'état if they announced next week?

It would be pretty huge

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Harmon

There's another dimension to the question, though - will the other booksellers allow their apps to be used on the iPad?

I think so. Amazon got into the Kindle venture, and it has made money for them, but I'd be willing to bet they're making more from the books than from the hardware. Now they can decide if they want to stay in the hardware business or not, and still sell plenty of ebooks. If they'd wanted to keep the hardware business locked down, they wouldn't have allowed the iPhone Kindle app in the first place.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Something more complicated like a tablet, you need more hands on time with.

A traditional "open" tablet, yes. But this device has been deliberately simplified (to the unhappiness of many) by restricting apps, not allowing direct access to the OS, etc. So I think it won't take long at all for someone to get used to this and figure out whether or not they like it.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by scottjl

unlocked for 3g but sports a new "micro sim" that no one in the world uses other than this new device. you won't be taking this over to t-mobile any time soon. i wonder what apple will do globally to push carriers to the new sim.

T-Mobile (in a partnership with Lok8u GPS devices) announced they were bringing the 3FF SIM to US shores back on January 6th of this year.

http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/0...o-3ff-sim.html

BOb

[kilron]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

EDIT: And if it's 14 days as posted above this post, then problem solved. Two weeks is plenty of time to play around with a gadget you can return in person vs. mailing back (again assuming you have an apple store near you).

agreed. and 14 days is pretty standard actually in the industry. i'm pretty sure best buy's return policy on computers is 14 days. on other stuff its longer i think.

and i'd be very surprised if this was only for sale at apple stores too. granted you'll probably have the best store experience in simply playing with them if you go to an apple store, but i'd be surprised if these won't be available at walmart, best buy and others before long as well. maybe not right away at launch, but not long after i'm sure. very likely that they'll be on amazon too!

[kilron]

Originally Posted by wodin

I believe I'll be waiting for Microsoft's Courier! Wouldn't it be a huge Coup d'état if they announced next week?

not likely. there's really no buzz for the courier anyway (unlike the iPad run up) and Microsoft already had their announcement at the CES keynote where Ballmer announced a cool new Slate pc concept from HP. that is likely what the courier would have been. it usually takes MS a while to copy apple effectively anyway, and since they only design the software and not the hardware (unless they switch, like the zune), i wouldn't hold your breath on the courier.

besides, this is a consumer product. microsoft is in no way a competitor to the iPad. apple has a way of determining who their competitors are and aren't and nothing microsoft has now or has ever had comes close to an iPad competitor. it is what it is.

besides, who would actually want one? its been proven that windows 7 is not built for a touchscreen interface so they would essentially have to come up with something totally new. like the zune. the zune was way late to the mp3 party but despite that after a couple years of refinement they finally have a quality mp3 player, nobody is buying them.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by kilron

agreed. and 14 days is pretty standard actually in the industry. i'm pretty sure best buy's return policy on computers is 14 days. on other stuff its longer i think.

When I bought my iMac at Best Buy I'm pretty sure he told me I could bring it back within 14 days if I wanted to pay a 15% restocking fee.

I'm not sure if the Apple store has a restocking fee.

I just checked the Apple store policy online, there is a 10% restocking fee.

So, try and iPad for 14 days and if you don't like it get 90% of your money back.

Or, try a Kindle for 30 days, and if you don't like it, spend $5 to send it back USPS and get 100% refund. (This is why people will buy a Kindle without having tried one first.)

BOb

[kilron]

fine. then buy it at walmart. do they have a restocking fee within 14 days?

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by sianon

For me, my needs for a tablet device are simple. I want a device that is close to the size and weight of an A4 notebook in a solid leather writing compendium. I want the whole screen available to use for handwriting recognition. I want handwriting to instantly and accurately transform to text. I need a device that I can use for case noting at work and taking notes in university lectures.

The Archos 9 is in no way a competitor for the Apple Ipad. The Archos ships with a crippled version of Windows 7 which does not allow any tablet PC functions to work. I took delivery of my several weeks ago and one of the first things I did was upgrade to a higher specced version of Windows 7, it then took another day to get all of the tocuh functions working correctly. This is fine if you are technically minded or have people close to you who are.

What kind of tablet functions don't work with Windows 7 Starter? The touch interface seems to be a pretty integral part of the system. If that doesn't actually work, that really bites.

I've seen Windows 7 Starter in action on a netbook, and it looks pretty indistinguishable from Home Premium for most standard purposes, with the exception of not being able to change the desktop wallpaper. Of course, it all depends on how you intend to use it, I guess.

Originally Posted by sianon

The Archos 9 is a slow and clumsy machine with a very slow boot time whereas the Iad is pretty much an instant on device.

I can certainly see that as a downer. Slow bootup times are why I would think Linux would be more appropriate for a netbook/tablet than Windows, but I still think the power is a step above what you get in the iPhone OS.

Originally Posted by sianon

Yes I can run a range of programs on the Archos whcih won't work on the Ipad, but there are a range of Apps that will work arounds these limitations.

The Archos 9 works well as an e-reader and all formats are readable on it. Turn the brightness down low and it realy is very comfortbale to read for hours on.

The Archos 9 is totally pathetic for watching video content on and you CANNOT watch any Ituens videos at all, way to choppy.

The windows handwriting recognition leaves a lot to be desired, although it is accurate. I really do not like the very small area that is proivided to write in.

And the aspect ratio of the Ipad is very much closer to what I want than the Archos 9.

For now with all it's limitations, I will stick to the Archos 9 (mainly due to my hubby becoming a little inpatient with my Gadget buying addicition) as it does allow me to use handwriting recognition to complete ntoes, although it could do with massive improvements.

Archos and Apple provide for totla opposite ends of the spectrum, with Archos merely providing the hardware and allowing users to configure to what they want. This leads to a huge frustration in getting the device to do what you want. Whereas Apple provide and easy to use interface with a closed system which will not suit those who want to tinker.

For me to veiw the Ipad as a MUST have, it will need to provie a way to view RAW image files from a range of cameras, Solid handwriting recognition (athought the write pad looks very good) as well as a very good library app (possibley Calibre) to manage different formated books, eg click on a book and the app will open thte correct e-book viewing app. Give me these functions in the form factor of the Ipad and I will be sold (with 3G of course)

Thanks for the critique. Those are certainly things to keep in mind.

[freecia]

Originally Posted by scottjl

it uses the standard ipod sync cable. which you can find anywhere. i'd hardly call it "proprietary" any more. i am surprised they didn't go with mini-usb as it's the new standard for cell phones, but this isn't a phone. it also means that many existing docks/fm tuners/chargers stand a chance of working with the ipad without modification. again, other than the firewire ipods (still have my 5g and still working fine) and shuffles all ipod/phone/touches have used this connector. hell they sell charger cables in my supermarket with this connector!

Specs say iPad uses/comes with a 10W power adapter. The iPhone chargers use 1A*5V= 5W http://www.edho.com/power/ Not sure if a new slew of chargers will be necessary or not. It would be nice to be able to share the cables, at least. Even if they tend to split at the input to the connector (free replacements under warranty helps) ...

[kjk]

Daring Fireball's John Gruber played with iBook:

http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/various_ipad_thoughts

iBooks uses full-justified layout for books, with no apparent option to switch to ragged right. It doesn’t do hyphenation, so you wind up with very unsightly word-spacing gaps. No e-reader I’m aware of does justice to proper book typography, but I was hoping for better from Apple. It’s decent web-caliber typography, not print-caliber typography.

[Harmon]

[QUOTE=nekokami;761148]If they'd wanted to keep the hardware business locked down, they wouldn't have allowed the iPhone Kindle app in the first place.[QUOTE]

I don't think that the Kindle app competes in any serious way with the Kindle, whether K6 or KDX, so long as it's on the iPhone. They really involve two different device markets. I doubt that very many people would buy a K6, were the Kindle App not available. They'd just use other apps.

But if the app is on the iPad, that's another matter, because the iPad clearly competes with the KDX head on, and to some extent with the K6. The app turns the iPad into a superKindle. I think Amazon has to either keep the app off of the iPad, or drastically slash the cost of the KDX.

At the same time, I think you are right to think that Amazon does not have a heavy duty commitment to the Kindle. I've read that the K is sold by a subsidiary business unit that has to independently justify its existence by being profitable without reference to ebook sales.

[scottjl]

do people use the kindle app on the iphone as their primary and only ebook reader? i have more of the impression that it's a backup to their kindle. i have read ebooks on my iphone, but i must say the experience is almost more of a pain than it's worth due to the small screen and constant page turning. now on a larger ipad screen i suspect it will be far more enjoyable than my 600. eink is nice. but it isn't going to beat a larger color LCD.

[DawnFalcon]

FOR YOU.

Many Epaper fans don't want to stare at a backlit screen for hours, and count me as one of those. The iPad is quite literally unable by design to replace a epaper or non-backlit transflexive LCD screen for me - and just as you're not alone, nor am I.

Given the early state of epaper in the market, I'm quite willing to bet the vast majority of ereader owners feel like me, however.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by scottjl

do people use the kindle app on the iphone as their primary and only ebook reader? i have more of the impression that it's a backup to their kindle. i have read ebooks on my iphone, but i must say the experience is almost more of a pain than it's worth due to the small screen and constant page turning. now on a larger ipad screen i suspect it will be far more enjoyable than my 600. eink is nice. but it isn't going to beat a larger color LCD.

I read on my iPod Touch as my primary device, but not on the Kindle app if I can help it. I much prefer the features of Stanza (particularly the ability to customize the "night" colors-- I like amber on black for night reading.)

If Stanza runs on the iPad, I think it would make quite a good ebook reader. But I'm still satisfied with my iPod Touch.

The tipping point for me would be academic software to automate research and reference/citation tasks.

[scottjl]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

FOR YOU.

Many Epaper fans don't want to stare at a backlit screen for hours, and count me as one of those. The iPad is quite literally unable by design to replace a epaper or non-backlit transflexive LCD screen for me - and just as you're not alone, nor am I.

Given the early state of epaper in the market, I'm quite willing to bet the vast majority of ereader owners feel like me, however.

yet how many hours a day do you stare at a backlit lcd screen on your computer, or tv?