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The best Present and Future alternatives to the iPad
- etherael 17y agoI want something that can replace my phone and laptop, I think this could probably be accomplished by a tablet you could fit in either a shoulder sling or a large pocket, coupled with a bluetooth headset. Of course you wouldn't want to be talking into the thing, but as a platform for handling calls I can't see why a tablet shouldn't be able to act as the brain for a bt headset. This way I could just have the tablet + a powerful desktop at home for "real work".
- ZeroGravitas 17y agoThat seems like exactly the kind of thing that Apple wouldn't do because it's too geeky and niche and distracts from the product vision even though the hardware and software are probably all there already. Then again, I'm kind of shocked that you can get a physical keyboard for the iPad, so we shouldn't rule anything out. I'd expect this feature first from someone else though.
- etherael 17y agoWhich is why I'm interested in alternatives to the iPad, because yeah, I agree with you, this is something Apple would not do. Even if they would, I don't buy apple ever anyway.
- eam 17y agoNo matter how good the iPad may be or is, it doesn't replace my laptop! Good try though.
- Zak 17y agoI think that's the point. Apple wants you to buy a Macbook and an iPad. The advantage of the iPad that most of these alternatives lack is that it's light enough to hold in one hand while reading or viewing content.
- eam 17y agoI think the MacBook Pro 15" is pretty light already, I'm already content with it. If I were to get an iPad, it would be like a downgrade, at least that's how I would feel about it.
- stcredzero 17y agoHowever a MacBook Pro with an iPad is a very sweet and flexible combination. Look at what happened to the iPhone in 2 or 3 releases. For heaven's sake, Apple was able to establish a game changing ecosystem my then. Extrapolate that for the iPad. There's a good chance that the 3rd generation iPad will be able to subsume 90% of laptop use for almost 90% of the population. If you want to evaluate the challenge and potential windfall facing Apple with the iPad, then don't compare it to the iPhone. Compare that to the establishment of the App Store.
- snom370 17y agoI would never be able to replace my laptop with an iPad, simply because I'm a software developer. But I'd certainly buy it as a portable mail, web browsing, movie and ebook device, which just happens to fill all of my parents computing needs. So while it's not going to be my main device, I certainly see it as being a competitor to the traditional laptop for a MOST people. Most of all, I think Apple has managed to get the "magic" right once again. I never told my parents that they should buy iPhones, but they did after trying mine, and they are very happy (I'd never thought that my mother would start browsing the web and sending emails, but it's happened thanks to the iPhone).
- omaranto 17y agoRight, it's not meant to replace a laptop. I currently own both an iPod Touch and a Sony eBook reader. An iPad could easily replace both of them and its price is actually pretty much just the sum of the prices of the two.
- emanuer 17y agoBack in 2004 I got my first Tablet PC, compaq t1000. Later I ditched it and got myself a Sony VGN-UX90PS. My experience after 6 years of tablets: they suck. The interface is terrible to use starting from XP-Tablet Edition, to Windows 7. It is just like a laptop, but too small, to complicated. The iPad will not have the same fault. But I believe, for Apples success the interface will matter much less than the kick-ass content 3rd party developers provide. If I could have all Iphone/Ipad programs on my windows tablet, I would not switch.
- nickpp 17y agoLet me sum them up for you: there isn't any. Just like the iPhone when it appeared, there really is no rival to the experience iPad offers, to its hardware+software+touch combo. The closest it MAY come, could be Android, someday. Again, just like with the iPhone.
- xtho 17y agoWho cares about the "experience" if it doesn't run vim and has no sd card slot?
- ugh 17y agoThose people who don’t use vim and don’t need a SD card slot? I.e. most people?
- krainboltgreene 17y agoHell, I'd dare to say most hackers don't use VIM or need a SD slot on their tablet.
- DeusExMachina 17y agoI don't think hackers will use a tablet to do some serious work. For that we have already our computers. I use Vim, but it's the last thing I could think about speaking of a tablet. The iPad (and all his wanabe rivals) have a different target than hackers.
- krainboltgreene 17y agoVIM: Fuck your experience, use me.
- progr 17y agoYes you can access an sd card (search the apple.com for iPad Camera Connection Kit) and no you don't need to run vim on the iPad.
- louislouis 17y agoThe iPad and other tablets will always be made a specification lower than a laptop. Why? So consumers spend more $$ buying the full range of products on the line.
- micaelwidell 17y agoAnyone who compares the iPad with a netbook, arguing the netbook has a faster CPU, better price or whatever, simply does not get it.
- tybris 17y agoTrue, what good is a device you can type and work on if you can have one that can't?
- lazugod 17y ago"You just don't get it" is the new "magical", isn't it.
- micaelwidell 17y agoLet me put it this way: How do you think Apple has become as big and successful as it is today, despite always releasing products that are technically inferior (ie. Mhz/megapixel/megawhatever) and often more expensive than the competition? Could there me more to a product than the hardware specs?
- elblanco 17y agoHow many people pre-ordered one of these without ever touching or seeing one? Oh right, lots. That's how Apple became big again. People buying stuff sight unseen.
- rufo 17y agoI don't think most of the millions of iPhones and iPods that have been sold were purchased by people who buy Apple products on blind faith.
- stcredzero 17y agoAnd how many of those people have an iPhone and were able to do the extrapolation: "This multitouch is great with the Apps and the App store. What if we could have a bigger screen with that?" I was posting that idea well before the iPad was anything more than a rumor.
- speek 17y agoYet, I'm standing here outside the Boston apple store waiting in line, MacBook pro in my bag, checking my news on my iPhone. Honestly, the real reason I'm getting an iPad today is because I thought I would enjoy playing with it, not because it would replace any of my netbooks/laptops/smart phones.
- sigzero 17y agoThe current iPad is just a start. Just like the original iPod was a start and the original iPhone was a start. Apple is already hard at work rolling a bigger snowball with the iPad foundation.