15 Reasons to Consider Purchasing an iPad!

Anyone thinking there are no Office apps better go check out the Keynote video. All the iWork apps have been redesigned and are ready to go on the iPad.

Don't think I'll need them (at least not all three of them), but they look to have a pretty nice touch screen feature set and will be available individually at $10/ea.


The whole keynote re-iterated several times, this is not a replacement device for a computer.
This is something to fill the hole between the iPod Touch and the PC.
If you were/are looking for a replacement for your computer, this is not it.
It is not meant to be.
If you are one that needs your full computing power with you at all times, this device is not for you.
If you insist on comparing it to your Mac/PC, it is not for you.

If you need your full computing power with you at all times, the iPod Touch is not for you either.

I don't get this mentality of any new device having a requirement of being "all things to all people".
If it were, none of us mere mortals would be able to afford one as no one has the manufacturing capability to put out a couple billion units.

If it's not for you because it is not a computer, OK. We get it.
Not all of us were looking for a "replacement" for our computer.
Quite frankly, I'd hate to be creating business documents, editing / encoding video, attempting a video chat (with a hand held 10" display???) on a device this size.

This is a whole new market that has been opened up by a combination of devices like the Sony and Amazon e-readers, iPod touch, PSP and other hand held gaming devices all being combined into a single device in a screen size that someone older than 15 can see without having to double up on their reading glasses.

It is not for power users. Heck, I have 6 other computers at my disposal for all my power computing needs.

Yeah, it'd be nice to have 4 USB ports (that are almost as tall themselves as the iPad btw) FW 400, FW800, eSATA, optical audio out, HDMI, 250GB SSD, 1 GB ATI 5870, 3.2 Ghz core i7 and a full blown OS on a 10" screen 1/2" thick. I say keep dreaming. At the level of today's technology, try $10,000 instead of the $500 the iPad starts at.

I say, so sorry about your bad luck. This surely is not the be all and end all for this type of device. It's the beginning, the first of it's kind.

I'd have bought it if it were nothing more than an e-reader with full color capabilities. I've been waiting for that for well over 2 years since my wife got her Kindle. Not to mention newspapers and magazines, there are whole classes of books for which color is essential. Not only is the iPad that, but internet, email, pictures, music, movies, and hand held gaming (games which generally are 1/5 to 1/2 the cost of games on other hand held devices).

Those that have mentioned drawing/painting, suggest you go watch the Keynote for the app that's going to be available at launch. With the entire iWorks package being ported to the iPad, that means there is the opportunity for other Office apps to port if they have the desire and much more.

Just from watching the Keynote and the game developers they had on, you begin to get a sense of what can be done with this that just can't happen on the 2-3" displays of an iPod, Zune... At the same time, there are still things you'll want your 27" display for that this 10" just does not provide the real estate for.

We have a pretty good base of long timers around here that realize a Mac and OS X is not for everyone. There are still some things for which many of us recommend a Windows machine rather than a Mac.

No difference with this device. It surely is not for everyone. We get it. To the disappointed fanboys, welcome to the real world.

If Steve Wozniak designed it, it would be different. Hah!! Yeah, right. Coulda, shoulda, woulda...

One of the founders of that other OS has been touting and showing off touch screens for at least the last 10 years. Where is the hardware? Please show me one. Or at least show me one at a price point that makes it available to the masses. No? Didn't think so.

While I'm not jumping up and down about the iPad, I am as excited as a 60 yr old gets anymore and really can't wait to get my hands on one.

For those that were wanting a $400 notebook from Apple, too bad is all I can say.

Great post Bob!

What you said above brought a BIG smile to my face & made me laugh!!! I know EXACTLY how you feel & what you mean..."I am as excited as a 60 yr old gets anymore and really can't wait to get my hands on one."

The more "mileage that's on the ol' odometer", and the more experiences you've had, the more it takes to "see something new" and get excited about it!

Awesome,

- Nick

Oh well, I was waiting for the announcement before making a decision and now I've made it! I was hoping for a tablet of a similar size but with MacOS rather than iPhoneOS! also I would have liked removable media too. It is a decent enough device IF it does what you want (which it will do for most people) but for me the decision is made...... One modbook coming my way, this is what I would have liked from Apple. No doubt the iPad will be a success (I think my wife will get one) but its not for everyone and I would prefer something more akin to a computer.

For ME

The modbook is larger; I prefer the pen; it has MacOS; it has multiple USB ports; it connects to a monitor, mouse and keyboard; It takes a 2.5" drive so I can get 500gb on it; it is faster and it can take 4gb RAM.

But this is just MY case, there is no argument for me this is better. I do look forward to playing with my Wife's iPad though.

Great post bobtomay. Very well said.

I'm sick of everying poo-pooing the ipad for every reason they can think of. And just cause it can not do 100% of the tasks they do on a daily basis. I think the Ipod touch is a good example. It sold very well mind you it does nothing a Macintosh or other ipod can already do. And do well I must say. But still people brought the ipod touch in droves. They love it.

And I think the ipad will be the same. It's not for everyone. It is not a macbook replacement. And the ipad is not a device that aims to do everything well, like Macintoshes can. The ipad does a few select things but does them really well and in a very sleek portable way.

I think Jobs genius is not filling a niché in the market. I think he is best at creating a product and then make people try it and buy it and then people wonder how they ever lived without the product. Like Jobs creates new product for a new niché Apple just came up with for the product.

Right now no one needs an ipad. But give it a year or so and I bet a lot of people will say they need one. And that happens a lot then Jobs wins. It happened with the ipod touch and my guess is it will happen again with the ipad.

So everyone should stop poo-pooing the ipad for what it does not have and talk about what it can do. And it can do a lot. I can already think of a lot of industries that could use them. Medicine, hospitality, Corporate (the land of big business CEO's and their meetings), explorers (with the GPS), students (with ibooks for textbooks and pages for lecture note taking), warehousing and trades (could be used in a warehouse to send goods information around, could save lots of paper in the long run) and some more I can't think of.

My whole point is give the device a chance. And say 2-3 years have a look at it and see how successful it is. Something can be really feature filled or feature sparse. But it's really a success only if the public embrace it and use it a lot.

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[edit] Many people think the ipad is the piture below but it is not. It's more then that. So much more.

LOL, great picture.

I don't think it's very productive as a note taking device if I have to use the on screen keyboard. That's my main concern. I rather have a stylus pen and hand write.

No one size fits all

I think most of the complaints I've seen about the iPad as demo'ed fall into two categories:
1) It doesn't have [fill in the blank]
2) It won't completely replace [fill in the blank]

Nothing has or does everything. If it did you couldn't carry it or couldn't afford it. The real question is: Does the iPad do the things I want done well enough and conveniently enough to justify the expense? There are always tradeoffs and cost benefits to every decision.

To me the most pointless exercise is the demand that any device be a do everything device (as in a total laptop or netbook replacement). I like to cook and have an extensive collection of knives--of that number I have a few favorites and could get by with just one in a pinch. Since I don't have to choose only one I will continue to use and find value out of all of them.
None of my knives is ideal for every situation, but they each bring something to the table (pun intended).
I see the iPad I plan to purchase, the MBP and iPhone I already own, and all my other electronic devices the same way.

If I think that I will get $499 or more in value out of the new iPad I'll get one; if not I won't.

Another big problem is no flash player

Fretboard said:

Another big problem is no flash player

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Please explain to me how that is a "BIG" problem?

Is the website you are using right now using Flash? Will lack of Flash content keep you from getting the information you need on a daily basis?

I understand that not being able to view Flash content sucks, but it's not a big deal to most people.

superbike81 said:

Please explain to me how that is a "BIG" problem?

Is the website you are using right now using Flash? Will lack of Flash content keep you from getting the information you need on a daily basis?

I understand that not being able to view Flash content sucks, but it's not a big deal to most people.

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Do you speak for everyone when you say that? I would like to hear from the photographers, digital artist, and web designers who actually invest a lot of time designing and using flash for their website.

Well, those people won't buy the iPad if it's that important to them. The fact is most of us don't require Flash to enjoy surfing the internet.

You ask if I speak for "everyone", the iPad obviously wasn't designed for everyone. There is no single product designed for everyone.

cwa107 said:

Check this out:

Windows 7 on the iPad? There's an App for That - InternetNews.com

With Citrix on the iPad, I can connect to work remotely and use our company's entire suite of applications (if need be). That's a BIG reason. At least for me - it means I'll be able to do 95% of what I do on my laptop with this thing. This might just replace my MacBook Pro.

The more I look at this thing, the more I'm thinking I might want one. If it had an SD slot to expand storage, it would be a no-brainer. I wonder if the OS will eventually support removable media through the expansion port.

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Holy cow! Is this real? Because if so it pretty much takes care of every software-related complaint people have!

I've been dreaming of a wifi-connected touchscreen running as basically a thin client for my mac so I could access my computer from downstairs on the couch or across the country when I'm working. This is basically what I've been dreaming of for months.

With so much iPad talk going on, why isn't this making news in the blogsphere??

Doug b said:

It's NOT A PHONE people ! lol.

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Well, now that you can run Skype over 3G with their app, technically, it can be a phone! It's not an ideal phone, but pairing a BT headset could make it happen.

fleurya said:

Well, now that you can run Skype over 3G with their app, technically, it can be a phone! It's not an ideal phone, but pairing a BT headset could make it happen.

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I was going to say the same thing but hesitated figuring I would get chewed out like yesterday.

Glad you said it though as it's true. I use Skype all the time on my iPhone for LD calls and Chat. Works great and will on the iPad also.

Just my humble opinion here, but for a tablet and all it's useful-ness, I'll probably just buy the Courier when it comes out.

fleurya said:

Holy cow! Is this real? Because if so it pretty much takes care of every software-related complaint people have!

I've been dreaming of a wifi-connected touchscreen running as basically a thin client for my mac so I could access my computer from downstairs on the couch or across the country when I'm working. This is basically what I've been dreaming of for months.

With so much iPad talk going on, why isn't this making news in the blogsphere??

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Well, if I'm not mistaken, Citrix already has an iPhone app. So, this would just need a bit of tweaking. I've had the same dream, but of course this particular solution would only be good for those that are connecting to a high end server farm. But I don't see why one couldn't develop an RDP or Apple Remote Desktop app for the iTouch.

Calijoefornia said:

Just my humble opinion here, but for a tablet and all it's useful-ness, I'll probably just buy the Courier when it comes out.

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LOL, have waiting another year or more until that gets released.

Calijoefornia said:

Just my humble opinion here, but for a tablet and all it's useful-ness, I'll probably just buy the Courier when it comes out.

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Yeah, you'll be waiting for a long time. Pretty sure that's the epitome of vaporware.

Personally, I'm waiting for the tricorder from Star Trek. I'd be willing to bet I'll see that first.

cwa107 said:

Personally, I'm waiting for the tricorder from Star Trek. I'd be willing to bet I'll see that first.

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Let me know when they are out, and then you could beam one to me ;P

Apple Remote Desktop for iPad would go a loooong way for making this a great device for me. Add in multi-tasking and a webcam, and I would buy a totally loaded one.

Can you explain how you would use the webcam? I'm not trolling here, I just can't think of why anyone would need to use a webcam on one.

Video conferencing on the go? Can 3G networks even support the requirement for something like that?