Toronto Photography Meetup Group

The iPad is an iPod touch for people with big hands or poor vision lol. seriously though, if your a netbook user... it's time to switch.

Here is the Luminous Landscapes take on this item

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/tablet.shtml

I am not going to give you my take, as it may offend somebody.....LOL

Entertainment.

It is definitely just a big iPhone touch in terms of the device itself. I'm disappointed there is no webcam for video conferencing as that's one make or break feature for a netbook replacement for me. Still looks like a very nice device for consuming media of all kinds and is something I would be happy to have with me on a trip.

What might be more impactful than the device itself is the move into e-books for the itunes store. If apple manages to do for ebooks what they did for music they will have yet another major victory.

If it was running a real OS, I'd probably get one. But the no multitasking, no flash, no streaming video, is a big one for me.
I love my iphone, but I think the ipad it's too much of a toy, and not enough of a computer.

It's not meant to be a computer.

If it was meant to be a computer it would be a Macbook.

I've seen all sorts of comments from photographers "If it came with a portable version of Lightroom I'd so get this!!!" - that's one of the dumb statements I read today. Another? "Why isn't there a rear facing camera so I can take pictures with this??" Again, DUMB - get yourself a 4x5 or an 8x10 view camera if you want to hold a 6x9" item to take photos.

The iPad, although I personally don't see a need for it for ME currently, is meant to target those Netbook/Kindle folks. Nothing more, nothing less. Apple is, as Ken stated, using the device in order to be able to deliver the content.

For Apple, it makes sense.

If you're looking for something that has all the bells and whistles of a laptop, then guess what, get a laptop.

Cheers,
Dave

A question I have for others is if anyone would get the NON-3G version of this...

To me, the main appeal would be to be able to pull it out anywhere and surf the web without having to squint and try really hard to navigate on an iphone or bb

That said, the AT&T deal that they announced with this ($30/unlimited data/able to use AT&T hotspots for wifi) is probably way better than the deal Rogers is going to offer here...

If I already have a 3G phone why would I want to pay for another device with 3G? I'd just tether the thing off my phone - assuming Apple doesn't lock this out.

I'd just wonder how long the $30 unlimited plan with AT&T last. Rogers will probably offer something for the first month or two like what they did with the iPhone.

I'm pretty certain they will include a small camera, whether it's front or rear facing who knows, probably noted in one of their internal product planning. One thing that Apple is good at is slowly releasing new features with every generation. Get people hooked on onto their products then improve a bit on this and that, add this, etc., and it's almost guaranteed that they'll continue to have strong sales in the future.

Also, once again Apple is late to the game, yet makes it sound like they are leading the charge. Tablets of varying shapes, sizes and price points have been around for ages, if you really want something that lacks a keyboard. Touchscreen, wifi, mobile broadband, media compatibility, etc.... it's all been done before. So far, everything I've heard people say they would love to do on an iPad can already be done on existing devices. So there is no technological revolution here... only a marketing one.

The majority of mobile phone users do not have 3G capable phones or have not activated it precisely because screens on phones are too small to be ideal for media consumption. This allows someone to have a mobile phone for what it does best - send and receive calls, and a second 3G device for consuming media.

I'd much prefer to use the iPad for surfing the web, sending and receiving emails etc... over a iPhone or my HTC Magic Android.

This also allows one to segregate their mobile airtime plan from their data plan. Wind or discount mobile carriers for mobile and Rogers/Bell for data and not be forced to combine the two at a premium for both.

Think the big difference is the itunes store and 3rd party apps will make the ipad successful over the other devices.

I'll bite at this Brian.

So the question is then, where are all these "tablets of varying shapes, sizes and price points" that "have been around for ages"?

What I'm getting at here is, yes, while marketing is one thing, I don't recall going into a shop such as Best Buy or Future Shop or such and seeing a tablet for sale lately.

Note I said LATELY - the last thing I remember that was even close to this was something like a Palm device.

So.. again.. where are they now?

Even Apple themselves had their own "tablet" style device at one point (Newton) but it was plagued with all sorts of issues.

So, while being "late to the game" how many of those products that you seemed to have mentioned (although, not really mentioned) are still around? How many of the companies still exist? How many are still producing new products today that the general joe-blow consumer (not you, or me or any of the geek buddies we know) really would be interested in and actually run out and buy?

Curious as always,
Dave

mpg players were around before the iPod, what revolutionized the BUSINESS of consuming digital music was iTunes.com (from $0 to $2B+ a year in revenue for Apple in a few short years, in a market that it didn't have a place in until a few short years ago).

I'm not saying that the device is revolutionary, just that the media distribution chain that iPad enables and for which Apple will become a gatekeeper is POTENTIALLY revolutionary for the newspaper/magazine/print media and the advertising industry that made print media possible.

Was browsing around model mayhem forum and somebody mentioned using the ipad as an electronic portfolio to show to clients.

We have 1 Dell and 2 HP tablets in my dept...

That's been brought up on a number of forums.

Many photographers (wedding) I know are already using the iPhone/iPod Touch to do the same.

Now many people will say that they can just bring their laptop along and do that - and that's fine too. It really depends on the person and what they want to use.

That said, the one thing I've been harping on is photographers who have Flash websites (and there are many) - good luck with those on any of these current mobile Apple devices - Flash is not supported by Safari on any of their mobile devices. In a way, imho, it's a blessing because it means when I browse with my iPod touch I don't have to be inundated by "music" that I don't want to hear via some other photographers site..

Cheers,
Dave

One example is Fujitsu Stylist ST series, they have been around for years. I used a P-III based tablet 4 or 5 years ago(ST4120) running Windows 2000. Are they a marketing success in consumer area? I don't think so. But they are still around today. They are a bit more expensive, but they run full Windows OS.

And the ubiquity compared to this new device?

We've had one early adopter at work (because we order via Dell *ugh*) but outside of that.. I have never heard nor seen one amongst the general public.

Dave

What's the fuss about Apple's device?

I've had a Windows pad for years, a Fujitsu Stylistic...and with it I can run whatever a standard Windows computer can run.

More perspective, less drool...

http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-tha ... t-the-ipad

The iPad personally for me will never replace a netbook.

And that's what I mean - who else knows about them?
I work in IT - never heard of these things from Fujitsu myself.

So, ya, are they around as Brian claims? perhaps.
Can I walk into Best Buy and grab one? not that I've noted.

Apple appeals, and I believe this is the marketing thing Brian was getting at, to the average person and the fanbois/fangirlz. It's a combination of design and function. The functionality may have been around for a long time but now Apple's packaged it, made it all fancy shmancy and people will buy it because it's easily accessible and they don't have to "figure it out" per se.

On the other side of the coin, M$ has its appeal too and I understand that there will be further tablets released for the Windows platform later this year (same goes for Google as I've overheard). Will one be "better" than the other? who knows. They each have their audiences.. just happens that Apple's is the "big bang" currently - at least it is to most folks.

Cheers,
Dave

Tablets have been in use by the industries for a long time, I see them in hospitals and big box stores like Home Depot - check out what's attached to the employee carts the next time you're in there.

I still have a very old Fujitsu tablet running a 50Mhz 486 using Windows.

One thing I like about Apple, is that they can take existing technologies and concepts, and make it work much better than you'd expect. To go from iPods to completely dominating the pda/smartphone market is quite something.

Okay. I had written an entire hate Apple post and decided to delete it.

I'm just gonna say: people are going to buy that kickstand and physical keyboard like a herd of sheep ... and use the iPad like it was a netbook.

how many of your notebook tablets generate an addition $300-500/year in bandwidth revenue and have a global distribution chain via mobile providers?

tablets haven't been successful in the past because they were crippled laptops that cost more and generally did less (at the same price point) and for the most part, ran on Windows based OS with largely traditional interfaces with the exception of a touch screen... the iPads connectivity to media and superior/easier to use touch based interface will make consumption of media more accessible... Apple has proven able to push content through it's channels while generating substantial revenue like no other company in the world...

I've played with a couple tablets that were released in the past (ie, the PC ones) and they have historically been bulky devices that were really fat laptops with a rotatable screen that you can use as a touchscreen. They were heavy, the touch interface sucked, etc.

Very specific uses for tablets in the commercial world (manufacturing, shipping, field engineers, medical field perhaps) but that's about it. It really never took off outside of the working environment.

I sell Lenovo Tablets pretty much every day...

I'd love to have one in the hospitals. They have these PC units that you push around when you round on patients, but you have to plug them in whenever you can because the battery life is crappy. Siemens or whoever would make a killing if they could create applications for electronic medical charting that is compatible with their existing desktop software.

Late to the game?Hardly. They basically pioneered the game with the Newton. which pretty much was the original slate-type tablet (and more capable than the iPad too)

But the iPad isn't a tablet in any practical sense of the word. No handwriting recognition, no stylus support (so no handwritten notes), no real OS.

It's an iPod touch crossed with an eBook reader. A Media Player, not portable computing, although it can fake the latter to some extent.

Killer App for Photogs? It's a portfolio. Very high quality screen and excellent navigation mean the iPad can function as an easy to update and stylish portfolio.