The Apple Tablet

[Emperor]

The thread also made it to the FO blog:
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2010/apples-tablets-comics/

[radiator]

iPad - essentially a giant iPhone:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/?sort=newest&refresh=30

[Jim_Campbell]

$499 base price? Holy shit -- that's cheap! The touch version of iWork looks nice, too.

Not a gizmo for me, but some interesting stuff there.

Cheers

Jim

[Matt Timson]

$499 base price? Holy shit -- that's cheap! The touch version of iWork looks nice, too.

Not a gizmo for me, but some interesting stuff there.

Cheers

Jim

All the really good stuff kicks in with the higher spec models though.  Not being tied to a contract is a definite, if somewhat surprising, plus.  I'm sure that will entice a few waverers.  Not me though.  Not for a while, anyway.  Maybe version 2.0...

[TordelBack]

I think I'll be looking for one of those for my 40th.  Year and a bit ought to be enough time to save, and for Apple to get the wrinkles out (as more of mine come in) and the price down.  Bloody lovely stuff.

[pauljholden]

I may be being thick, but as far as I can see there are only two specs: with 3G and without.

I'll be having one as soon as its available (wifi will suit me fine, I think - I may go to the 32Gb, depending on final UK price), on the one hand : no real surprises bar the price (oh, and that you can use iWork - so a half decent laptop/netbook replacement), on the other: the price.


If the guys who do the CBZ reader's update to suit the iPad, then I'll be switching my 2000AD subscription to all digital, thank you very much (whether click wheel updates or not).

I fully expect the comixology guys to update their apps to suit - and, if so, there's a bunch of good, readable comic content already on there...


-pj

[Steve Green]

No Flash and no Multitasking...

hmmm.

I'm yet to be convinced about the whole magazine replacement thing, it does seem to be a big old thing to be carrying about.

[Peter Wolf]

It looks like it has a drawing tablet application which must be an application that you have to pay for or will this thing include a certain number of applications like that as part of the package ?.Looks like quite a good package but i cant help thinking that it could be just a bit bigger in size rather than a 9.3 inch screen because it weighs a lot less than a laptop.

I guess the easiest thing is to go to a shop and find out and have a look but i am a bit wary of being seduced by an object i dont really need.

Am i right in thinking that if the prices shown in USD will be the price that we pay in the UK after the currency conversion or will we have to pay more than that in the same way that we pay more for just about everything else ?


IPAD will ship from People Republic of China in 90 day !

Price is very cheap as our worker they work extra hour in factories so we keep cost down so you get special price !!

[Steve Green]

I imagine it won't be dollar for pound, but it will be still more expensive than if it were at the exchange rate.

£400 for the base model at a guess.

From the promo video, it talks about a 1000 sensors for the multi-touch, which is fine for typing/selecting etc, but not accurate enough for a painting app that needs to be pixel accurate - certainly doesn't sound anywhere near as accurate as, say a Cintiq - but I wouldn't expect it to be.

[Dan Kelly]

The prices are better than expected.  Some of the expected specs such as Cameras (especially front facing) are missing.

I can see it replacing my Macbook which spends 90% of its time in front of the TV surfing the web, and if the magazine companies take advantage of it in the right way then that could be amazing. 

What I can't decide now is whether my "workhorse" computer, that performs the 10% that I can see the iPad not doing, should be a Mac Pro or an iMac.

As for flash, John Gruber states good reasons why not.  Basically Adobe control Flash, and if it's a pig then that reflects badly on Apple and they can't fix it.

[Peter Wolf]

I imagine it won't be dollar for pound, but it will be still more expensive than if it were at the exchange rate.

£400 for the base model at a guess.

From the promo video, it talks about a 1000 sensors for the multi-touch, which is fine for typing/selecting etc, but not accurate enough for a painting app that needs to be pixel accurate - certainly doesn't sound anywhere near as accurate as, say a Cintiq - but I wouldn't expect it to be.

I see what you mean but i have always wondered why Apple have never developed their own equivalent of a Wacom or a Cintiq since their products are popular with creative types.

[Jim_Campbell]

The prices are better than expected.  Some of the expected specs such as Cameras (especially front facing) are missing.

I firmly believe that Apple deliberately hold back key features to ensure they have something for v2.0 ...

Cheers!

Jim

[Jim_Campbell]

I see what you mean but i have always wondered why Apple have never developed their own equivalent of a Wacom or a Cintiq since their products are popular with creative types.

You can already buy a stylus for the iPhone, to give you more precision than a finger, and the Brushes app that they demoed at the press conference is a very capable little paint package. If the pressure sensors are in the stylus, and the paint app is capable of receiving that data (via bluetooth?) then I can see someone developing a pretty decent art package, TBH.

Cheers!

Jim

[Jim_Campbell]

£400 for the base model at a guess.

That's spot on if you use the baseline MacBook to calculate the USD->GBP conversion, by the way.

Cheers!

Jim

[Steve Green]

I haven't tried brushes - tried Inspire, but couldn't really get on with it - I'll maybe give brushes a try.

"As for flash, John Gruber states good reasons why not.  Basically Adobe control Flash, and if it's a pig then that reflects badly on Apple and they can't fix it."

Seems like a terrible argument to not have it - if Apple is touting internet content as something they want to exercise quality control over, they're pissing in the wind. They may as well be trying to be the font police, or railing against bad site design.

Like it or not, flash is a major part of the web, and for them to have the brass neck to say that the iPad offers the best browsing experience when it can't handle flash is a bit rich. IMHO.

Cheers

Steve