iPhat?

[furie]

So, Apple have produced the next "must have" device with the iPad. To me, it looks like a giant iPhone/iPod Touch.

Pretty much all the benefits of those devices without the added benefit of being able to stick it in your pocket. I haven't quite got my head around the user base yet.

So, what are your thoughts?

Oh, and do you think Apple are making their way through the vowels?
iPed Apple's new take on the bike?
iPud Some form of strudel? The best desert ever, but what fruit???
iPid The toilet reinvented! Poo with the best arse to bowl interface ever!

 

[ECG]

LOL at the iPid, but I think the Japanese have beat Apple to it.
So I'll repeat what I posted on FB here:
It has no Flash support, only runs one application at a time so no multitasking, no USB, no camera, should have used the GoBe chips that work across all networks (still stuck with crappy AT&T for 3G), lousy VGA output, same game interface as the iPhone(=sucks) & 16, 32, 64 when it should have been 32, 64, 128GB storage.
So the only redeeming qualities are the book reader & 10-hour battery life, that even holds up during HD movie viewing. The failings will become clear once the 2nd/3rd generation make this device what it should have been from the get-go.
End of!

 

[Martyn]

As funny as the "it's a big iPhone" comments are, they're going to get annoying, fast, and they're probably wrong.

I just read Stephen Fry's blog about it, which is obviously hugely biased, but raises a few good points.

My issue with the device itself, is it screams of exactly what Apple did with the iPhone; release a version one, sell lots of them even though it's got a lot of flaws, then upgrade it to version two and sell a load more, probably to the people who bought version one, and so on and so on.

Whatever device you buy, within a year, there's a new, better version, and the one you got is out of date and can't be upgraded.

It really seems like they deliberately leave out certain "modules", just to be able to stagger the process of adding them through future revisions and pretend it's a brand new device.

Very clever business and makes them money, yes, I get that, but as a consumer, it's infuriating.

I mean come on, 64GB maximum? The iPod Touch currently goes to 64GB, in a device that's a quarter of the size. A 128GB version will appear in a revision and all those people with 64GB versions will chuck them in the bin and buy a 128GB version, even if they only use 10GB of it!

The ridiculous Apple fanboys don't help either. I really don't see how you can love a company that much. Even if you do, don't tell everyone. If you pretend you hate them, it'll force them to make better products for a cheaper price.

 

[Anonymous]

I had high hopes for this one, since it would have been an ideal travel "partner" to store all planning, maps, timetables, loading photos on, etc.

But for me it falls short on several things:
no real GPS
no USB
no memorycard reader
no video output
low amount of storage
low resolution, would have loved to see a 720p capable screen...

I guess that I have to wait until all the other clones comes...

 

[Martyn]

Oh and Flash support? Not a chance. Not unless Apple can restrict it heavily.

If it supported Flash, people would just create games/apps in Flash and host them on the web and App Store sales would plummet.

I hate Flash anyway, so I don't care about Flash support. If you've built a website entirely in Flash, you're an idiot and you deserve to not get any visitors.

 

[marc]

For me its a big Ipod Touch not an iPhone.

It is ideal for people who wish to use it as a book reader and look at the net, will also be good for watching films when away.

But it does not have multi tasking, and for me thats a big let down. The no USB is also a let down as even if you take it away you can not tranfer photos to it.

See thing that HP has one coming out later this year with Windows I dont think the Apple one will do very well. But saying that it's Apple and a new thing so it will sell just I do not see a need for it it does less that my iPhone.

I thought it was going to be good but tbh it's a bit of a let down, it does not really bring anything new to the market.

 

[Gazza]

I share the common sentiment. The iPhone did have its flaws in the first version, but at the same time it did bring enough nifty features to the table to make it worthwhile. I personally own an iTouch, and it is a great little package for what I do with it.

This on the other hand doesn't really do much new (EBooks are one feature, but that won't even be available in the Australian market from the get go), it really is just a rehashing of the iTouch and hardly revolutionary.
Add lack of a handwriting stylus as another missing feature.
Perhaps another niggle is that they have made the back of the device convex: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apple ... vent02.jpg
If you were to put it on a flat surface to type you could imagine it being liable to wobble.

To me, the market for this will probably only extend to the people that buy their computers , I don't see it being a mainstream product like the iPhone and iPod.

 

[Error]

I really don't see much of a point in it to be honest. It's the iPod touch's fatter cousin.

The only thing I can see it being used as is either an expensive netbook or a graphics tablet. However, it's usefulness as a netbook is pretty low, as it looks like it's made to be used with a computer and not as it's own independent system. I would love it a lot more if they had it be a tablet computer.

And speaking of tablets, I wouldn't buy it to be used as that either. My current tablet cost me $25, and I could get a brand new one for a little over $100.

Like the iPod touch and iPhone, I don't want either simply because I already have an iPod and cell phone, and they both do their jobs nicely.

 

[furie]

Obvious, but LOL anyway!
http://www.funnyordie.co.uk/videos/167d70800c/the-ipad

 

[Anonymous]

There is only one word for it:

LOL!!

 

[marc]

I really think that this is going to be a product people love or just can not see the point of.

I am one of the cannot see the point of people at the moment. It would add nothing to my life at all.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

I could certainly use it for my business on-the-go. It would be so much easier than an iPhone.

It's got everything an iPhones got, and some of what a Macbook has got.
The platform is going to be huge, and with Apples selling power and reputation, it's not going to fail.

iWant one so badly!!

 

[marc]

^Can you make phone calls on it? Can you text? No

You can not even sync you iPhone or iPod up with it.

From what I have read the operating system is the same one the iPod touch uses.

It can fail, Apple TV is not doing that well and people said that would be huge.

The PC Tablets that are coming out later this year offer a lot more.

 

[furie]

I could certainly use it for my business on-the-go. It would be so much easier than an iPhone.

It's got everything an iPhones got, and some of what a Macbook has got.

So does my £200 Netbook, plus it does MORE than iPad. It doesn't do it in such a flashy way, but it's certainly more functional and is rapidly becoming invaluable to me for my work and home computing. The iPad just couldn't do it... That's just me of course, each to their own - the problem is that cost for the flashiness and reduced functionality - all in the name of making a fashion statement.

The platform is going to be huge, and with Apples selling power and reputation, it's not going to fail.

Yep. it's just like Apple TV again

I think if it is bundled with phone contracts (as is being hinted at), then yes it will do well. However, I just don't think there is a mass market need to pay so much more for something which gives so much less. When asked to pay £35 a month for a phone and iPad, people will do it. When asked for £400-£600 for an iPad, I think people will look at the alternatives for less than half the price and go there. We'll see though

iWant one so badly!!

I'd have never guessed :lol:

 

[marc]

^How dare you post at the same time as me and say near enough the same lol

You can not even install Word or things like that on it.

It has no 4G which will be out this year.

I would wait and see the next version of it, if they included USB ports, video out then it would be ideal to travel with. Even my 4 year old iPod can do video out.

It's getting very mixed reviews with a hell of a lot of people saying it will fail.

 

[furie]

Great minds and all that eh?

The thing is Marc, it's a "new way of doing things". It can't be compared with a Netbook, or an iPod, or an iPhone. It's hitting a new market trying to do something else.

The problem is, I'm struggling to see what that is exactly. It's just a simplified way of doing simple things people want to do - in a flash package. It's the way it's sold though, which is what Apple do well.

Right now, I can buy and eBook and read it on my Netbook. However, to do that, I'd have to find the place that sells it, then probably install new software to let me read it.

Apple just have a "one stop shop" approach. You want a book? Buy it off iTunes and it you have it all ready. It's quick and simple.

It's that kind of simplification that Apple manage to hook people into. People often just want "something that works" rather than something flexible, but complicated.

The thing is, it has to fit into a person's lifestyle. They need to see the reason why it is useful to them. The iPhone is a great gadget. It's a really useful pocket device. People can see the reason they need one. It took me a long time to decide I needed a Netbook, because I have a decktop and a laptop. Trying to justify the decision was tough. In the end though, the flexibility of having it just sold it. I just need an internet device I can pick up off the arm of the sofa, spend ten mins surfing with then close up - all without loading times, etc, etc.

So I can see why there is appeal in the iPad on that front. It's just that it can't then go the next step further. I can hook up to work over a VPN and remote control my servers off the Netbook. I can use a full version of Facebook and watch Weebl and Bob. I can stream HD Divx films off my media server and (if I was in the US with Netflix) could rent or watch any film as long as I had a net connection (3G or Wifi).

But, that's all very complicated, but also very cheap. I just don't know, I really don't about the iPad. I just can't see it - but that doesn't mean that there isn't somebody out there who DOES get it (and I don't mean the Apple fanboys ).

 

[marc]

This book thing, the deal is for the USA only at the moment there is no set date for the UK.

Remember how long we had to wait to be able to download songs then videos and then films?

I do not even see what it offers new, it does less than products that have been around for years.

In order to get 3G you will need to order the most expensive one as well.

I just do not see what this offers I really dont, there is nothing it does that I want tbh. This is the 1st Mac product in years I have gone "what the hell have you done".

Time will tell how it does.

 

[Anonymous]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs[/youtube]

 

[kimahri]

Nuuuuhhhhmmmeeeehhhhggrrruuuhhhhh.

Edit: Spelling errors spotted by pokemaniac. Thanks Erl!

 

[Martyn]

Add lack of a handwriting stylus as another missing feature.

Not really. I've never had a handwriting recognition thing work properly. That's something Apple are good at, they'll release something that works well, and if they can't get it to work well, they won't bother.

Handwriting recognition has always been awful.

Perhaps another niggle is that they have made the back of the device convex: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apple ... vent02.jpg
If you were to put it on a flat surface to type you could imagine it being liable to wobble.

I don't think that's an issue. So what if it does wobble? You're not using it as a tea-tray are you?