Apple Event - Live Blogging/Streaming Coverage

[charleski]

Needless to say, the bottom of Apple's iPad features page has:

iBooks available in the U.S. only.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by charleski

Needless to say, the bottom of Apple's iPad features page has:

the more things change...

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by charleski

Needless to say, the bottom of Apple's iPad features page has:

Oh well, that's me back to 'meh' again. Geographical restrictions can suck my dingle-dangle

[brecklundin]

hmmmm...is the unfortunately named iPad Jobs' "Lisa"...it would seem fitting for Jobs to be done in by a nice deice that was just not allowed to be what it could have been. Woz's baby the Lisa was what Jobs used to drive Woz out of Apple for all intents and porpoises, now maybe the iPad (or as someone mention the fully decked out version will be dubbed the Max iPad) but maybe this device will be a far from resounding success, even though it does offer a lot of promise, but because the thing will simply not be an open device, those netbook as well as ereader users will not flock to it genuflecting the entire way...

I dunno, but something about the iPad feels like the "Lisa" all over again...and the Lisa was far superior technically than the Mac it was competing against.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by lifevicarious

While I agree it's not the easiest or best way to type (you do get used to it), it beats the internet capabilities on any other portable device I can also read books on doesn't it?

No, no it doesn't. As noted before, a 250gb Archos costs less in tablet form, with 22 hours of playback (claimed). Now, it has a teeny-tiny screen. Or, hey, it could have a sliding keyboard like the Google Phone. You can even make calls on that device.

But on sole internet capability, a cheaper netbook has the same 2D size, and is capable of so much more; particularly if running an open OS. All with a physical keyboard and a touchpad with TWO buttons (no hidden right click). Now, it's slightly thicker, which shouldn't matter at that large a size in 2D, and it won't have access to the shiny Apple Apps, but I'm pretty sure you can replicate all of that functionality with real applications.

Originally Posted by scottjl

well reports (engadget) is that virtual keyboard response was fast and responsive. if you've tried an iphone/touch with the auto-correct capabilities you'll find it's actually not very error-prone either, even given the small size of the keyboard.

i don't expect this virtual keyboard to be difficult, slow, or error-prone at all.

I'm not questioning the response time of the virtual keyboard, but the interface with a human. We're switching from an already inferior transmission protocol of QWERTY to hunt and peck. You simple can't go nearly as fast with one finger as ten.

It's just not for me, but if it is for you, then go for it.

[bbusybookworm]

It's an interesting device.

While watching the live coverage (TWIT rocks) I was pretty excited, And was tying to plan out how to get a hold of one as soon as possible.

However after the initial Apple Euphoria wore off, I've had a few thoughts.

Price and Storage - While the initial Price $499 is low, it only gives you 16GB and no 3G. If you plan to consume a lot of media, especially videos You're going to need more then 16GB. I currently have a mostly full 16GB iPhone 3G and I hardly have any video on it as I need most of my space for Music, Photos and Apps. Most Videos I view start at 300Mb for a Low quality with good to HD between 600MB to 1.5TB.

So for most users, the Price is going to be either $599 or $729 with 3G for the 32GB and at that Price You have to stop and think. Add the cost of the Dock or Wireless keyboard if you plan to do a reasonable amount of data input At that Price point you're well above most Net book prices and there are lightweight Net books (2-3 Pounds) with 6 to 10 Hours of battery life available much cheaper.

iTunes - While the iPad's going to have smoother interface, its still designed as a companion device which you sync to iTunes. It can't be your only device. And Unfortunately while I'll use iTunes when i have to I'm not to fond of it and that's one of the things I least like about my iPhone.

Camera - The lack of feature that really would have gotten me to get it would have been a front facing camera, especially if it allowed apps like Skype to work. I could probably justify most of the price just for that as I relay on skype to keep in touch with both work and family, and we're slowly using video chat more and more.

Books - While I do read books on my iPhone (And My Laptop and the N800), I still prefer to read on a eInk screen as I'm able to read comfortable for much longer. As such the Ebook Store is interesting, its not going to affect me much unless Apple kicks off the other ebook reading apps. (By the way, if they do, I'm selling my Macbook and iPhone )

On the whole I don't think its going to impact the 5" & 6" readers as much (No more so then the Touch did) except put a bit more downward push on prices. For those who want a portable, pocketable reader they are either going to go for the Touch if they want backlit or for one of the eInk readers. The Bigger screen readers from Amazon, iRex, etc on the other hand are definitely in trouble, unless they are A) able to showcase some major specific advantages or B) Go down drastically n price.

Content creation - iWork was interesting. It give you a way to edit and create Presentations, Spreadsheets and Documents on the device itself which would be very useful for students, etc who may not need more advanced features all the time. I'm just curious how the files are going to be synced.


Photos - The Apple site says that You'll be able to connect it to a camera to transfer photos over. This is probably going to be very useful, but lets see how much the transfer capability is going to cost and how easy the transfer is going to be. If they allowed you to transfer photos (and Videos) from the iPhone it could be a killer combination.


On the whole, I feel I'll probably hold out for a second gen Device, unless there is something specific that I want to do that I can only do on it.

As a side not how many other people did a spit take when they showcased the Keyboard dock and though Microsoft and HP had the right form fact 5-7 Years ago with the Tc1000 and TC1100 and they abandoned it. If they come out with a similar one now, everyone ids going to say they copied Apple, though they did it first years ago.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

I dunno, but something about the iPad feels like the "Lisa" all over again...and the Lisa was far superior technically than the Mac it was competing against.

That is funny....a friend of mine and I were just discussing that very comparison...I think the iPad is a pretty bold gamble by Apple, but seriously no guarantees that "3rd market" he talks about will actually manifest itself...very curious to see how it does in the marketplace.

[jaxx6166]

I like the iBooks application. The bookshelf display is simply amazing. I just don't know if Apple made the right decision on using a backlit LCD if people want to read. I think that's pretty much going to suck

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by johndoesecond

No way it beats e-ink for long reading!

I don't have any trouble with the iPod Touch screen so I can see not having any trouble with the iPad screen. I just wonder if iBook has an easy way to get ePub onto it from my computer.

[dioib]

Originally Posted by scottjl

well reports (engadget) is that virtual keyboard response was fast and responsive. if you've tried an iphone/touch with the auto-correct capabilities you'll find it's actually not very error-prone either, even given the small size of the keyboard.

i don't expect this virtual keyboard to be difficult, slow, or error-prone at all.

I don't have an iPhone anymore but I have to say, among the things I liked about it back then was the very keyboard on that capacitive display. It's only a matter of time to get used to it and type reasonably fast; AND it's a smooth experience.

[JBNY]

Originally Posted by kjk

Sorry, I don't see ANY eBook formats listed for the iPad yet on their site...where are you looking? I see various mail attachment formats supported, but no mention of just RTF/PDF support.

Or are you just going by their absence?

Just by their absence. Since there is no section for ebooks, I thought they might put it in the attachment section.

[deltop]

No flash is dissapointing but as long as I can get my collection of de-drm'ed epubs onto it and read my comics I'll be buying one. And it'll be great for browsing the web in bed.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by deltop

No flash is dissapointing but as long as I can get my collection of de-drm'ed epubs onto it and read my comics I'll be buying one. And it'll be great for browsing the web in bed.

Can't believe they didn't whip out a comics demo...the crowd would have loved it.

[cavi]

I am a bit late to the party, but I have a few concrns that some have mentioned. first, is it a glass screen like the itouch? If it really is then it will break fairly easily, my wife ha broken 2 on her iphones and one of my son's has broken his on his itouch. at least 100 to 200 to replace. I imagine that with a 10 inch screen it will break even easie than the iphone, and cost way more to replace.
second, the storage is not much, my iphone is 32 gigs and I am having to remove stuff all the time to add others. A external hard drive option would have been good for pictures and movies.
How tiering will the screen be to read, I personally cannot read on my iphone.
That bieng said, on itunes the message bar at the top has a grey silver background, they could probably adpt that to be used for a reader and it might be comfortable.
I am not sure yet if I want one or not....I know for sure I do not want the 3g version, my iphone is 3g and att does not have vey good 3g coverage, and even when they do it still is vry slow, so just the wifi vrsion for me, plus I do not want to pay att more per month....

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

No ePub then?

The iBook app uses ePub.