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Goodbye Epson and Other Hard Drive/Viewers; Hello iPad


sanyasi

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Yum!

 

I'm buying one. Pre-ordering. If only because the form factor is absolutely suited to being a "pass me around" thing when sharing photos/video at family events, after I've pre-loaded photos.

 

The only (huge, HUGE) tactical error that I saw was the lack of a seamless periodical/magazine/comic book demo.

 

You have this cool new thing was just *built* to handle things like magazines (full color, pages, tactile, bookmarking, embedded media, great layouts, etc.), and then taunt me in the presentation by. . . . Visiting National Geographic's *Web* site. Showing me a New Yorker cover as part of another application. <argh> No magazines.

 

How about instant access to the Marvel, D.C., and Image Comics lineups? :D Sold. Now THAT would have been amazing. Trot out Stan Lee to do the pitching. Instant win.

 

Yum!

 

P.S. So, when is Apple buying Leica?

 

P.P.S. I think it's a stretch to think about the iPad as a photo reader or storage device. It would be lovely if it could read an SD card via an SD slot and ingest photos for viewing, but it's not really made for that, I think. Maybe there will be an accessory.

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Storage becomes an issue; only 64 gb could be quickly gobbled up; I saw no mention of ability to use external storage devices.

 

 

BTW I don't see any lemon here. I think it will be a monster hit, but not for people needing to do photo or video processing. It will do what most people need from a computer.

 

I don't view the iPad as a photo processing device for a number of reasons, including color calibration workflow and a screen that is pumped up with brightness. I see it as a backup storage device that at night will permit me to examine my shots from the day so I can see what I did and whether there are any obvious problems that I need to address. I suspect many know the frustration of traveling w/o a laptop (another hassle at security, particularly if you already have all this camera equipment to worry about) and shooting day after day and not really knowing what you are getting aside from what you see on the camera's display. Of course, being in that position is a bit retro--returning to film and waiting for processing.

 

People occasionally write about tethered shooting. Assuming the iPad has the capability, I think a simple screen device in the field could make that viable for more people.

 

I don't know about external storage, but I suspect that may be possible because of the possibility of USB through the dock plug. They are showing a physical keyboard as an accessory.

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Yum!

 

The only (huge, HUGE) tactical error that I saw was the lack of a seamless periodical/magazine/comic book demo. /QUOTE]

 

I suspect that is because they probably haven't finalized deals with any publishers yet.

 

As an aside (you mentioned National Geographic), I think the device is a natural for travel guides like Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, etc, particularly with the GPS mapping. Instead of carrying multiple books (or compiling one by ripping pages out, as I do), the iPad could be perfect for those types of guides.

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There's already a free Adobe Photoshop app for the iPhone that should run on this. I doubt that it'll handle DNGs though <grin>.

 

You are right, there is one but it SO limited... it doesn't even give you control over contrast or brightness... Hopefully they will update it in the future. There are much better apps for that already available. But what I really wanted to see is the ability to organize and do some editing like I currently do in Aperture. Perhaps in the future it will be possible... who knows...

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It's good for consumers that need basic access to email, web, youtube, etc. It is not good for power users that wanted a tablet running something like OS X.

 

Out of the box, it's not going to read raw files - there is a potential opportunity for someone (cough adobe) to write a program that does read raw files, but it won't present like the jpgs, pngs, etc do with the devices internal photo viewer - because tapping into that would violate apple's private api's and cause the app to be banned from sale. So even if you can offload an sd card to it, unless you're shooting jpg with raw, I don't believe you will use it to review.

 

It will be interesting to see version 2 of this product. I told my mother I think it's perfect for her, but I don't think it's enough for me.. but then I'm an 18 year IT vet.

 

Personally, I think there are quite a few things this device NEEDS.

 

Support for flash - it's only missing because it would cannibalize app sales and cost apple money. It's an integral part of the internet. I don't believe you can call something the best internet device and not support such a widely used standard. HTML 5 will take at least 3 years to take over where flash is now.

 

Front facing camera - Particularly outside the US, skype is a hugely used program. We have a hand held tablet, why can't we video conference on it? Ridiculous omission imho.

 

Multitasking - why can't we use pandora and surf the web. Or leave a messenger running. The processing power is there, I believe they may introduce this with iphone os 4.0 after they put their own chips into iphones.

 

Sandboxing iphone apps is a path, but it's not a pretty one. App developers are going to have to want to embrace the device and create native apps. This will only happen if it sells well.

 

Books cost too much - way too much. The kindle for a reader is a much much better deal on a cost basis. If someone told me all they wanted to do was read books, I would not point them at an iPad.

 

I do think it will sell well. I do think they should allow photo uploading ,even in raw, and hope we will see something like lightroom for ipad.. that would be GREAT.

I don't think it's for everyone, but it has a place. I hope it is not received like Apple TV - which is a distinct possibility given how tied into the apple ecosystem it is.

 

And finally, the name is just AWFUL. :) so for me, I'll wait to hold one - I had the money allocated at $800 to buy one today - but now, owning an iphone and a laptop, I was hoping to replace both - and not sure it will replace either.

 

To be clear, there is an accessory to read sd cards - but there was a photo bridge to upload from camera to iPod..it did so poorly nobody really even knows about it...now it's resurrected as another addon for the iPad

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It's good for consumers that need basic access to email, web, youtube, etc. It is not good for power users that wanted a tablet running something like OS X.

 

Sandboxing iphone apps is a path, but it's not a pretty one. App developers are going to have to want to embrace the device and create native apps. This will only happen if it sells well.

 

It's good for anyone who wants something in between their iPhone and laptop. It's not meant to be a powerful machine... it runs on a 1Ghz processor.

 

This will sell a lot and there will be a lot of apps designed for this, that are not designed for the iPhone.

 

Isn't it time to stop doubting Apple at this point? They have scored hits with the iPod and IPhone... this will be no exception.

 

I think people need to concentrate on what it can do and not what it can't do... if you need the power, buy a laptop... like usual. It's only the beginning of this type of device. If it ran OSX, it would cost more and would interfere with laptop sales. At this price, more windows users will come over to Apple for another device.

 

I think Apple should be congratulated for once that they put out something that is useful and cheap... that's a first for them IMHO.

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iPad is a great gadget. As long as you understand what's made for. My opinion is that this type of devices will have more than 50% of all internet browsing in the next 3 years. Trust me, I work for 10 years in telco. and their dream of surfing form phones it's now ruined. This niche product will be THE BROWSER, the book and the digital entertainment device. Computer stuff will still be done by computer, yet!

 

+ connected virtually everywhere through 3G and even by wifi

+ large enough to actually understand what's on the screen

+ natural manipulation through best touch screen technology

+ light enough to take it anywhere

 

- no multitasking - but who cares - are we human multitasking? can we control accurate a multitasking process

- paid content - sorry folks but that's the new reality. The information was never free, and pay per view is actually the best model. of course like on tv junk and adds will be free forever.

- it's not cheap as advertised - production cost it's under 100$ for sure. The rest is R&D, marketing and brand, but as a Leica owners I think we can understand this aspect.

 

My personal balance goes for + ... so, I'm gonna get one!

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I was really excited about the iPad, so I could retire my Macbook Air.

 

You don't understand.;) Apple wants you to own an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook Air, and a great big MacBook or desktop Mac, and isn't going to make it easy for you to do without any of them.

 

Best description of the iPad to date is from El Reg: "a fat iPhone without the phone".

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- it's not cheap as advertised - production cost it's under 100$ for sure. The rest is R&D, marketing and brand, but as a Leica owners I think we can understand this aspect.!

 

Apple releasing this starting at $499 was not expected at all, that is why it seems cheap. It's cheap, because it's an Apple... who tends to overprice everything just like Leica.

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iPad is a great gadget. As long as you understand what's made for!

 

That's the bit I'm struggling with. What can it do better than an iPhone or a MacBook?

 

I don't see a "killer app", I just see an iPhone on steroids without the phone part. Ok, it's lighter than a laptop, but then it's too large to put in a pocket or small bag. It can browse the web, but do I want to pay so much to be able to do that from the sofa? There are subscription magazines and book, but how many people are going to pay for those more than a couple of times to see how it works?

 

That large screen looks very vulnerable to scratches - and I notice that Apple are selling a carrying case for it.

 

I'd love to be proved wrong, but just because apple have released successful products in the past, that doesn't mean they are all going to be successful - Newton and Cube anyone?

 

There was obviously a high level of hype before the launch - and the whooping at cheering at the launch had me in stitches - but I think it's probably best to let things settle down a little.

 

As I say, I'm happy to be proved wrong, and probably will be.

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For any cheapskates (I class myself as one) who have an existing 3G "dongle" and were hoping to use the SIM in the iPad, it won't work...

 

"Incidentally, anyone who already has a wireless broadband "dongle" under a long-term contract and is thinking about buying an iPad and putting the SIM card from their laptop card into the iPad will be disappointed. The iPad is the first mass-market mobile device to use micro-Sim cards, which are smaller than the current range of Sim cards and were designed for small consumer gadgets such as Birmingham-based Lok8u's range of wireless-enabled wrist watches."

 

Full article here...

 

Apple iPad: UK phone operators vie for deals | Technology | guardian.co.uk

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The iPad is meant to consume information, not create it. Perhaps if it had a built-in USB port and an SD slot it would be more useful.

 

I travel with a 13-in macbook and while I'd love to have a smaller, cheaper device to download photos when I'm on the road and back them up onto external drives, I don't think this is it.

 

I'll continue to use my macbook for now. If it breaks or gets stolen I'll probably switch to a netbook. Unless apple gets smart and does what so many people want by bringing back the 12-in laptop. Or better yet a 10-inch...

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It's for future development. Just see how there's even no drawing program for it right now, and it's obvious there should be and will be.

 

When the iPhone came out it was a phone and address book, and with the now 140.000 programs developed by 3rd parties, that has become a big thing as well.

 

So I think new things will develop with this device. Just take books. Online, you can include nice looking photos, slideshows, videos as part of the books. And if I can get photo books for this thing I will buy them. I think personally that part will be gigantic and develop over the next 2-3 years.

 

It fits perfectly in a ladies purse for checking mails, calendars, news on a cafe. And as many others said, "I want one to play with" - and there you go.

 

We already watch television and web by the kitchen table. With this you can take it with you on the toilet, in the car, read reports on the go, watch movies and television.

 

But the best is to come. Whatever it will be...

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