retraction
I’m going to retract all previous statements about the iPad and start fresh. After having a further play on one I can now see the usefulness of it. In landscape they are pretty easy to type on. Snappy and fast response. With the addition of Dropbox/mobileme, Pages and Numbers the iPad can replace at least 75% of what I do on my MacBook Pro. Well, maybe not 75% but still quite a lot.
The next step is for Vodafone and Telecom to come up with some plans that include appropriate voice/txt/data for households. I’m not talking about multiple plans on a single bill. I want multiple devices on the same plan/account/bill. So all minutes/txt/data is shared with the ability to add additional bundles of minutes/txt/data at a nominal fee. Wrap that up with a landline and broadband and you’ve got a pretty unbeatable package.
May 5th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Without pressure sensitive stylus input they’re of no use to me, and nothing on what the Courier or Slate would have been (both of which are now cancelled), but I can see the usefulness as a netbook equivalent.
May 5th, 2010 at 11:05 am
I’ve seen some drawings/paintings done on the iPad and to me they look quite good. I don’t know how hard they were to do though.
Yes, as a netbook equivalent they’d be quite handy. Issues still are the requirement for iTunes to sync stuff to/from. However things like dropbox will help to ease some of the file management.
May 5th, 2010 at 11:46 am
I’m looking at it as a netbook replacement – could deliver what I’m looking for.
But agreed on the whole need for a “household” plan (especially for data) – that would seal the deal for me and I’d grab a 3G one as soon as it was available.
May 5th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
It’s not going to be a full netbook replacement but pretty close. Especially now that iPhone OS4 looks to have some sort of file transfer functionality. iTunes still required though so dropbox/mobileme will still probably be your friend.
Household/family plan is where it’s at. They do it in the US. If you provide it, people will use it. It also ties in more people to your network.