Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Tablets haven't been successful in the past because the entire concept just doesn't add value for most people. The bonuses they provide are of little use to most people and they cost in performance and portability over most similar conventional laptops.

The iPad will likely be successful because it isn't a tablet, it's a media player/eBook reader with some computing features.

Personally, I own a tablet which is smaller, lighter and more portable than the iPad (Fujitsu U810). Love it, but it's definitely not for the masses.

Tablets started to make inroads for commercial used mainly inventory and shipping but then special purpose devices took over the rule. The last couple of years have seen the development of high volume cheap rugged touch screens which don't cause a reduce the screen brightness or sharpnes, this along with LCD development was first applied to cell phones and is now making it's way into netbooks, monitors and laptops.

Ergonomically tablets and touch screens are not very good for extended use as they can cause repetitive strain injuries. Too vertical problems in the shoulders, too horizontal problems in the neck.

Hey Brian how long before you start offering iPads as engraved preview devices in a deluxe wedding package? I know you did that with iPods for a while.

Speaking of marketing... Steve's claim that the Apple processor is an all new custom built and such, might not be entirely true. Appears that it's either the same or heavily based on ARM's Cortex-A9 MPCore processor, which is also the same processor that NVidia is using in their Tegra 2. Time will tell.... but if it is the case, again, Apple is great at spinning things their way when it comes to marketing their products. It's really the only one thing that bugs me about Apple around their marketing.....

There's actually a term for it - the Reality Distortion Field.

The RDF has proven over and over that Apple knows what people want, regardless of what pundits and tech analysts say. Apple's ability to drill down and provide products that provide initial simple functionality with increasing complexity through successive product upgrades and versions allow average consumers to confront bleeding edge technology at a more comfortable, less risky pace while retaining style and value.

.... which is aided by the event horizon which is the apple show itself, where attendants at the show and people following the updates on the web are sucked into the apple black hole into their products and never able to escape it after. LOL

Don't get me wrong, their products are brilliant but I refuse to buy into their stuff. I'll stick to my only Apple product which is the 60GB iPod.

Like the guy on my GO train that uses a brick of a cell phone, the same one used by Zack in "Saved by the Bell" back in the 90's.

"Ah, Jesus!

I wish you could see this.

The light's coming up.

I've never seen a painting that captures the beauty of the ocean...

...at a moment like this.

I'm gonna make you rich, Bud Fox.

Yeah. Rich enough that you can afford a girl like Darien.

This is your wake-up call, pal.

Go to work."

<a href="http://www.showbizgossips.com/ipad-jokes-since-the-apple-launch-update/4742/apple-ipad-3"><img src="http://www.showbizgossips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/apple-ipad.jpeg"></a>

I almost pissed my pants laughing when the guy on the train pulled it out to make a call. He even had elastic bands holding the battery in place.

I have a friend that uses a tablet exclusively for autocad, and he loves it.

If they can create an app that can make this device act like the wacom cintiq and then using the pogo sketch as the pen then for sure I will be thinking about buying it.

more comments about the iPad display:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/the-ipad-is-not-a-kindle-killer-blame-the-display

Awesome.
Which Best Buy and/or Futureshop do you work at?

Thanks,
Dave

Maybe Apple will release 2nd Gen with OLED screens for durability and weight reduction?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/16/plea ... otype-vid/

Man, that's what I was thinking when I heard about this product.

I was hoping Apple would then come out with an iCup for the guys!

Who said I work retail?

I'm a sales team lead at a reseller - who sells to consumers as well. They are buy tablets from our website all the time - they also call in for them all the time.

Just because it's not retail, it doesn't mean consumers can't access them. Retail is for the consumer who wants cheaply built, cheaply priced products (when it comes to things like notebooks). There is a MASSIVE difference in build quality and longevity on the retail products versus corporate.

And that's my whole point.

The average consumer DOES want something that's 1) cheap and 2) easy to obtain.

I've purchased Lenovo's before - via the website - for me, I know what I wanted, I did the research, I sussed it out as it were.

Joe Sixpack and Sally Housecoat don't want to do that.
They want to walk into a RETAIL store and look and feel and touch and play with - and then they want someone to hold their hand and show them all the bells and whistles and shiny things.

That's why Apple does so well with something that may have been in existence and available for some time.

If Lenovo did so greatly with these items, they'd be prevalent in every home, every business, and on the tip of everyone's tongue. Sadly, they're not.

Cheers,
Dave

Yes yes, there's not point arguing with you - I just sell them for a $100M reseller... They are popular for the RIGHT REASONS. Just as a netbooks are popular for the right reasons. Mawz said it best - its NOT something the average consumer will need/use - this is why retail won't stock them.

I'm not "arguing" - I'm trying to explain the point of view that many people don't seem to understand. There's no need to get your back up about anything - if you're making oodles of dollars selling your stuff that's awesome!! Good on ya !!

I understand that Tablets abound in certain areas.

Our company, a large, global financial conglomerate don't use them.

Doesn't mean that others don't use them or that others shouldn't use them either.

But Apple doesn't really care about the corporate environment. Sure, for smaller offices/operations etc. you may see them here or there but overall they focus on the home/school/personal user.

That's where the big deal is.
If Lenovo wanted to market to that same market, they'd do so.
They don't.
They don't want to or need to.

But if you ask someone who is not in IT or who is not reading online blogs such as Gizmodo or Engadget or such, if they knew about Tablet computers per se they may not really know (or care). Even today. However, mention the iPad (or Apple's "new" thing) and they may actually know something about it - even if it's miniscule - it's those folks that Apple seems to care about and market to.

Cheers,
Dave

I think you are giving the average consumer less credit then they deserve. I really haven't met anyone who doesn't know what a tablet is (since I have one, they see it and aren't "wow'd" about it like they've never seen it before).

I'm sure there are those who haven't seen it - but then again, they have no use for it either.

Anyhoo - Long story short - the iPad isn't a tablet - it's a glorified iPod Touch.

Deep

I'm looking at this as a potential e-reader, more than anything else. I haven't bought an e-reader because I've been waiting for this to come out. No PDFs is a problem. But I usually don't buy the 1st generation of any product. I'll wait until there are more enhancements. I'll let the early adopters <del>guinea pigs</del> go first.

I agree with others that the store is the key. If it's crappy compared to the U.S. store, like Itunes was for the first few years (and kinda still is), that will kill my enthusiasm.

I think it would be a great product if it has a card reader or some sort, so can check out our photos on a bigger screen w.o pulling out our laptops. But that would mean killing their business model, because every1 will just purchase the base model, then buy a cheap sd card for extra storage.

But jeez, how can they call it a product that delivers solid web experience when it doesn't even support flash.

actually there is an accessories for this on apples website

Actually, the book situation will be better and less dependan on Apple's bookstore than it was with music. Several other e-book purveyors have iPhone (and now iPad) applications that will allow you to get books from them. The most important of those that comes to mind - Kindle and its supply of Amazon books.

Supposed to be the killer device for surfing the web, yet no flash...there are just way too many sites using flash and not being able to go to them leaves a great big gaping hole.
I'm not sure what Apples beef is against flash but it's starting to be annoying. I can't see myself getting an iPad nor an iPhone till they get their act together and get flash.

And no multitasking is annoying as well. No, I don't need a computer but it would be nice to be able to use iChat (or equivalent) while browsing the net, or listen to iTunes while browsing the net, etc. etc.

Video chat? Yup another annoyance.

Such a nice device yet has some rather glaring omissions...

Some interesting tid bits about the iPad that you may/may not know:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articl ... nts/18430/

http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide/2 ... _ipad.html

This can currently be done on the ipod touch so can't see why it wouldn't be the same for the ipad.

Here is a great demo about the iPad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs

LOL, looks like MadTV was way ahead of the game at the time. Nice one!