Category: Geeks r Us
Everyone who knows me at all knows I'm a passionate fan of Apple, and their products. That said, I feel like the announcement of the Apple iPad was not as great as everyone figured i would be. All the iPad is is an overgrown iPod Touch or iPhone, designed to be a replacement for a Netbook. Unless some groundbreaking freatures are introduced to this thing, I feel that, like the MacBook Air, the iPad will be an overrated, undersold device. What do ya'll think?
Jessie,
If it comes with a solid-state drive, it may well serve as a MAC Netbook; as to overrated, I am curious to see how their gesture technology is gonna work in the hands of users on a tablet device. And they *better* be ready to support eBooks this time unlike when the original iPhone came out.
These hybrid devices show promise for users, particularly younger users, who want the mobility but also the computing power.
To really make a splash / deliver a punch, Apple needs to synchronize the online / offline content (I realize they have MobileMe but I mean unpaid like Google). The cloud aspect of these smart netbooks or tablets is huge. I shall have to read up on this.
Since the original iPod and iTunes (about version 6 I think) Apple has been targeting the larger computer user community rather than just their small elitist community what we used to call Macademia. This new iPad may serve them well actualy. Many PC users still want to use all the PC software that's available for Windows and not the Mac, but a netbook or iPad type device isn't something you would typically put a lot of heavy software on. So Apple's rather closed "nanny" policy ceases to be an issue, likely. So long as online vs. offline content is relatively seamless (for most web 2.0 users it's sorta that way anyway), the real clincher will be whether or not a user will use this gesture technology. I say Gesture because it's far far more than just a touch screen. Windows XP had a Tablet edition and Dell had at least a couple laptops whose screen could seamlessly be a tablet when the unit was closed. That was touch / Calligraphy. This is gestures, which is a lot more intuitive to all users.
I think the question is not "is this the next iPhone?" but "Is this the next iPod?" I don't mean by being a music player. I mean by introducing a computing appliance on the user market in a way most computer users never expected from Apple. Whether or not I would use one remains to be seen; I'm not in the market right now. However, they just broke the sound barrier regarding apps: The PC user who would never buy a full iMac or Mac Mini because they need their Windows software too much, just might go get one of these instead of a netbook because it's got the new touch screen, boots quickly (provided they actually did use a solid-state drive), and they can just use it to check their email / manage their personal info and surf the net. And as I said earlier, they'd better have eBook support probably Kindle and eReader / Fictionwise since mobile book-reading devices are becoming so popular. That poses some challenges anyone with any sight will understand: screen glare usually outside, but the Kindle has fixed that so hopefully iPad has too.
Oh and BTW let's see if CNet's Buzz Out Loud podcast can stop their puppy lust infatuation with Google Android long enough to notice the iPad. Will have to check their podcast ... lol
It does have eBook support with an ap called iBooks. It will read all the big players in books, Amazon included, and several textbook publishers have signed deals with Apple already. Also, it does run nand flash for its storage, and has a dock with a keyboard available. iWork will be available, Safari, iTunes, and all the rest of the usual regulars on an Apple device, but it will run iPhone OS.
I see that now based on a PC Magazine article here.
A 1GHZ processor.
Runs iPhone / iTouch applications.
Can do data plan or wi fi. Netbooks are cheaper, but what else is new from Apple / the Macademia. Schools will have a love fest for it I imagine The OS is, as you said, the iPhone OS, but what's gonna come along as a slightly cheaper "me-to" devices will come along. A notch above the teenage gadgety device, but Apple has always wanted to come up with a "kitchen" computing appliance. Where bling is king and image-minded people like shiny stuff you'll have people getting it.
Well, I think it's certainly going to have it's market. Like you already owning the touch device, I doubt it'll be something I go out and grab since I already own a netbook, but I think it will be whildly successful. My wife works for apple in sales, and the pre-sales inquiries are overwhelming already.
I think that Apple selling each of the iLife apps in the App store means they are trying to position this device as a replacement for both your laptop and iPod. The fact that any Bluetooth keyboard is supported and a keyboard doc is available lends credents to this theory. From an accessibility perspective, I am glad that VoiceOver/Zoom support was not mentioned as a feature, it is a product requirement. I know of no other companies who so firmly embrace accessibility in this manner. I am an avid iPhone 3GS user, but even so, I may consider purchasing this device once I have a chance to take a look as it may actually replace my Windows based netbook.
I feel this is more of an PIod Touch update than anything else, and with the keyboard addition this might well be something worth considering. I found the idea of the Ipod touch cool, but I do not want to spend hours using gestures or touch to write a few lines of text so the alck of external keyboard support was the biggest turn off for me.
Any word on whether the VoiceOver on the IPad support braille displays? The IPod Touch VoiceO ver does not, according to an email I received from Apple Support (and huge credit for the, they responded to my inquiry within 48 hours with a detailed, non machine generated reply), but said braille support would be a priority for future upgrades for VoiceOver on the IPod Touch, which you might think is the IPad.
If anyone has any insight on this, let me know, or I could always try and write them again.
If I owned a Touch and a net book I don't see the need for this, since I do not own a touch I could see the temptation in getting this instead, provided the keyboard is reasonably cheap and there is braille support.
I still would like to see a much more powerful processor, your verage high end mobile phone has a ghz processor, but of course it is also how that processor is utilized that makes a huge difference.
The main reason Apple should be applauded is their built in accessibility requirements, the mai reason we need to follow and test these devices as a community is they will herald the change in user interfacing that others will immitate and screen readers of any kind have to find solutions for.
The good old keyboard will be less and less important in future and I'd hate to think of this as a disaster for blind users, but rather that they get to enjoy simplified interfacing just like everyone else, which we can do if accessibility is smartly implemented.
cheers
-B
a couple of thoughts. I will number these :)
1. I agree that this will find a market for those nontechnical people (pretty much 70% of the world) who don't care about what OS is running, don't download files and certainly don't need USB support or to use CDS.
2. Thus, the iPad could never serve as a computer replacement, and for sure not as a replacement for my netbook. Lack of usb ports means that I can't plug my flash drive in and see it. there is no "file browser" on the iPhone os too, which again would make browsing files a nonexistant thing. You also sync it with iTunes.
For people like me, my netbook is now my primary computer, so the iPad is certainly not a replacement. Perhaps for those who have a desktop at home it could come handy.
3. Pricing is $499 for 16 gb, 599 for 32, and 699 for 64. As you can tell, it's all flash based. I think Apple could of included a regular hard drive, but of course that would of come with a battery life cost. Oh wait... My netbook has a 10" screen and it still gets 10 hours with it's builtin hard drive and a 1.66 GHz CPU. Hmmmmm.
4. I again agree- this will be great in the classroom. Think interactive science. You could disect a frog by tearing it apart on the touchscreen of the iPad and seeing it's guts spill out. (yep) You could also use it to read classroom books with such as a play.
5. Can we have an iTampon too ? :D
6. Clearly, the release of this shows how apple wants to keep you locked down. Notice how I didn't capitalize their name. While I love my iPod touch, quite frankly I'm getting a bit annoyed with the way they lock you down. Why else would they not include a camera on the iMaxie pad? I can understand that it's not on the iPod touch because maybe it's a bit smaller than the iPhone, but the iPad has enough room to include even the iPhone's 2 MP camera.
7. I see they still haven't unlocked that FM Radio which is in the broadcom chip they use. I think the iPad's hardware is probably similar to the touch's. Did you know that the third generation touch has an FM transmitter and receiver built into it? And that it, as well as 802.11N wi-fi, is locked down by apple? Just like the bluetooth magically awakening last year, they want to squeeze your money out.
8. Note that the data plan is $130 extra a month. And also note that you won't be able to make phone calls with the iPad - you are only going to be able to pay for a $14 (250 mb) or $30 (unlimited) data plan monthly - but as far as I can tell, no phone.
Those are just my views :)
All the best,
Tomi
a correction. Data plan is $130 in iPad cost (so the $499 iPad is $629 with data - 16 GB storage) .
Apple though should be given accessibility credit. Again, as far as my opinion goes, the way you use a touch screen on the iPod touch and iPhone far beats that found on MobileSpeak phones where you have confusing taps with quadrants. A sighted person if you tried explaining to them how a MobileSpeak 4 WM phone works, will not understand it because for them it's not quadrant divided - that's just something special for "the blind folks". So Apple's leap in accessibility, which really began 4 years ago, is huge (compared to that they only had 4 years to all of it). Not even 4, 3. Maybe 2, since the third gen iPod nano came in 2008. Though, the Mac had voiceover since Tiger in 2005, it was never that good and intuitive as the copy found on Snow Leopard or even Leopard today. That's why I don't count that as an accessibility effort - clearly if it was, they would of focused on accessibility on the first ever made iPod.
I wonder if more blind folks will try the iPad - as a touch device - because it's that much bigger (surface area). I have never used one of these products, not yet, but the spatial concepts seem to me to be intuitive. The main reason for me for not using a touch screen is, or was, the idea of having to hit it right the first time and yes, doing tap this then tap that.
The deal with the Apple devices is it's all laid out positionally like a keyboard and the gestures add the nth dimension to this. With the surface area of the Pad - and yes I've had women friends make allusions to the above commentary on sanitary items - I wonder if the challenges faced by iPhone and iTouch users would go away.
Apple's products tend to be pretty pricy: you always pay more for a mac than a PC (almost always), that's part of doing business with Apple I guess: that and the being locked down to specifics. Ironically, it's this very closed environment that lends itself to accessibility in the first place begging the question why they didn't do it sooner, but the open architecture (relatively speaking) of Windows by its freestyle approach is what causes accessibility problems.
Also screen readers are the hardest access technology to make, because of the interpretive nature of what they're having to do.
Like the Brewmaster, I'd want Braille with mine; mobility and Braille go together for me.
If the iPad has no USB I wonder how you hook it up to iTunes to turn VoiceOver on? the iTouch and iPhone you apparently can do this.
No USB is why you pay for the plan so you can go online to get your tunes. My opinion is that most, and I'd say 70% or better blind people are tactal creechers, meaning they need to feel something like a button, a nob, a clicking, so touch screens while visually smooth aren't a blind persons dream. Anything Apple has a sleek look, and feel to it, so for the sighted population that rings bells, but blind population want stuff that works even if it looks like a box, and is blue. PC devices still rule as far as accessibility goes, because they've been at it longer, and screen reader companies have hooked up with the Queen Microsoft to make sure the stuff is as accessible as possible, so. Apple is after the market, and always will be, but they also will stay locked, because if you have an Apple you unse Apple products mostly, so the cash box at Apple rings. Now Microsoft is a bit smarter making a product that will work on an Apple machine. Lol. Let the tech wars continue! It's all good for us.