POLL: Will you be getting the iPad?

[whmurray]

It will certainly make cloud computing necessary, or at least a good option, so as to keep all of my computers in sync (iPhone, iPad, laptop, and whatever else the mailman may bring this year ).

Suddenly, iDisk and MobileMe makes sense to me. But at $69-$99 a year? It's not a huge deal and the convenience may very well be worth it. Apple's marketing mechanisms of generating cash are working in tune together beautifully.

Logmein Ignition will be awesome on the iPad. Air Share Pro and Dropbox will be more important. I am also anxious to try Air Mouse and i-clckr.

It would be nice to be able to sync to iTunes via Bluetooth ERD or WiFi. Splashshopper discovers and synchs beautifully over WiFi.

I have not even looked at Mobileme or iDisk but I will do so before the delivery of my iPad. As the Dude suggests, I may even consider putting some of my data in Google.

With the exception of Dropbox, I have been reluctant to put my data in the cloud. I started using it to share photos as an alternative to Kodak Gallery and SnapFish, whose terms I do not much like. However, with the iPad, the cloud may be more attractive. On the other hand, my home LAN is my own private cloud.

I think that those who think of the iPad as "just a Touch" do not really appreciate the tools, utilities, and apps that are available in that 140K.

 

[Lady Kaede]

On the whole, I'm with whmurray again. IDisk and Dropbox are my only cloud apps because I have a genuine and limited use for them; but as an older person, I have good reason to be suspicious of placing anything of value (much less the Google model of nearly everything) in a shared space so (personally) uncontrolable as to be (accurately) termed 'the Cloud'.

 

[Lady Kaede]

Just an addendum: I like the intent of Google's motto 'Don't be evil,' and I believe the founder's sense of good and evil was very close toy own (and that of most decent people raised in Western/European civilization) . . . but it's no good creating a kind of 'freedom' that, when out of the hands of the creators, can be turned at the flip of a switch into a lever to influence those who signed on because they thought they were being set free. I recognize that Apple's model of patronizing control is also open to abuse, but based on my own experience, a benign (and limited) dictator is ultimately better than a potentially dictatorial system that most sign onto without awareness of it's potential for abuse.

 

[whmurray]

On the whole, I'm with whmurray again. IDisk and Dropbox are my only cloud apps because I have a genuine and limited use for them; but as an older person, I have good reason to be suspicious of placing anything of value (much less the Google model of nearly everything) in a shared space so (personally) uncontrolable as to be (accurately) termed 'the Cloud'.

The abstraction of the cloud arises from the symbol that we used to use to represent that part of the network that we relied upon but did not understand or control. We might well have called it the "fog."

Like Lady Kaede, I have many reservations about putting my data "in the cloud." One feature that concerns me is persistence. When I want to dispose of a disk drive, I first hit it smartly with a large hammer. After that I am confident that, for all practical purposes, the data is gone. Google, IBM, and other cloud storage providers, make sufficient copies of one's data to confident that they can always give it back on demand. When I ask them to "erase" data, I am not confident that all those copies are erased "for all practical purposes."

 

[elevatorguy]

Thenmore I read peoples comments ...the more I don't want one! Unfortunately for 500.00 it will never be a MacBook replacement. The least expensive is, what, 999.00? I thought with it having iWork apps available it would be a good little device. I agree on the following points however.

No forward facing camera for webcam use
No Card interface, Sd, etc.
No replaceable battery
Relies on having to sync with desktop or laptop....

Unsure??????

 

[whmurray]

Thenmore I read peoples comments ...the more I don't want one! Unfortunately for 500.00 it will never be a MacBook replacement. The least expensive is, what, 999.00? I thought with it having iWork apps available it would be a good little device. I agree on the following points however.

No forward facing camera for webcam use
No Card interface, Sd, etc.
No replaceable battery
Relies on having to sync with desktop or laptop....

Unsure??????

I grant everything you say and still reach a different conclusion.

 

[derrythe]

Maybe it's because I'm new to the Mac world, and I know they have a theme going on, but does it not irritate anyone else that they cannot name a product be it hardware or software without putting an 'i' in front of it? Wonder how long it will be before they even get tired of it. BTW totally getting one when it comes out. With web browsing, email, iWork, and media capabilities, it has all the things I was wanting in a new laptop.

 

[big9erfan]

With web browsing, email, iWork, and media capabilities, it has all the things I was wanting in a new laptop.

I don't find it quite enough to be a laptop replacement, not close. I'll need multiple applications open at once for that, and the ability to play flash.

 

[whmurray]

I don't find it quite enough to be a laptop replacement, not close. I'll need multiple applications open at once for that, and the ability to play flash.

I agree that it is not a "laptop replacement." However, just as the iPhone has reduced my carrying of my laptop, the iPad will reduce it even more.

When I want multiple applications open at once, I will simply use Logmein Ignition to attach to the laptop that I left at home.

 

[whmurray]

Maybe it's because I'm new to the Mac world, and I know they have a theme going on, but does it not irritate anyone else that they cannot name a product be it hardware or software without putting an 'i' in front of it? Wonder how long it will be before they even get tired of it. BTW totally getting one when it comes out. With web browsing, email, iWork, and media capabilities, it has all the things I was wanting in a new laptop.

Not so much "theme" as brand.

 

[chandara]

When it come out?

can we syn from Ipad with iphone via wifi?

 

[whmurray]

can we syn from Ipad with iphone via wifi?

Not as I understand it. It will be wired and two step. We will have to sync each device with itunes by wire. However, the capability to sync wirelessly exists. I sync both files and applications wirelessly (a word not known to MS) every day.

 

[runrev]

I think the iPad is a fascinating platform!

 

[rekamds]

Definietly, although I am awaiting UK pricing before deciding which model.

 

[gradience]

Nope, it was unfortunately a major letdown based on what I was hoping for. I have an iPhone 3Gs and I can painfully say that I'm not blown away in the long term. I figured being the most advanced phone on the planet (don't quote me on that, I'm sure the japanese have made one that gives bj's) it would change my life. Which it did no doubt, but not in the way I was hoping.

iPad Drawbacks (other than whmurray's complaints above)

- First, no FLASH support! The entertainment on the internet is largely based in flash. All the car dealer websites, gaming websites, video websites, basically the 'fun' is taken out of the internet. I could handle that on my iphone but I expected more from a device that Steve Job's thinks is in a different class than netbooks.
- I'm an engineering student (Lots of Math that keyboards can't type) and I really was excited about the possibility of a note taking app that uses some sort of stylus. I know, I know it's multitouch but fingers don't work well as pencils.
- I was dissapointed to see that the OS is very similar to the iphone which I think needs a makeover. Not being able to access the file system even remotely like a laptop is annoying and I don't see the point.

It's an oversized iPhone with a beautiful screen. One of those gadgets that is awesome at first and looses it's glory within a few months because you keep thinking about what it CAN'T do!

PS - I love Apple. I just want more.

 

[jhamilton3]

I keep going back and forth on this.

One second I feel ok with spending the money.. the next second I feel like I don't really need this device.

 

[doitnownnn]

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[jsntrenkler]

I just pre-ordered mine, I am looking very forward to April 3rd!

 

[cardfan]

Guess i'm looking forward to "late April"

 

[whmurray]

What is today? Is the pope Catholic?