6 ms·

A Non-Early Adopter Tests the iPad, Pronounces It Lckig=ng (Typed on an iPad)

18 points by robertbud1 17y ago

ovi256 17y ago
Maybe I'm slow, but what's that Lckig=ng supposed to mean ? And yes, I did read TFA. Is it just the nonsense one types while resting his fingers against the virtual keyboard ? OTOH, excellent point about the iPad being a non-essential : a niche product. It could still be highly successful, but as I think Apple is looking for big hits, it would get dropped eventually if it stays a niche product. Which would be a shame IMHO. Was it the same with the Newton ?
- stcredzero 17y ago
  Maybe I'm slow, but what's that Lckig=ng supposed to mean? This makes me skeptical. To type an equal, you need two separate mode-shifts of the keyboard to even make that possible. Even if that's done, the = key is two keys over and two keys up from the nearest letter in Lacking.
- sjs382 17y ago
  "lacking"?
- troystribling 17y ago
  Apple has a history of innovation in new device classes, notable are the PC, laptop, PMP and Smartphone. You could also make the claim that the Newton was not on Steve Job's watch. I see the iPad as a not fully baked iteration on the Smart Phone/Netbook. I personally do not see the virtual keyboard as a problem. There is room for improvements but I think people are not use to them yet. If the price and weight half and document management is worked through it could get some traction. It is a little premature to see its failure. Utility is often seen in retrospect. 15 years ago neither the personal computer nor internet would have been seen as essential.
ErrantX 17y ago
Ok so it's a reasonable conclusion; compared to the iPod (and iPhone I guess) the iPad isn't going to sell as many units. But Im not sure that counts as unsuccessful; the iPod is naturally a portable and popular device. Everyone has portable music players now.
- SeamusBrady 17y ago
  I make a prediction that the iPad will be popular for a while with the uber geeks but that ultimately it will be a damp squib. The market will get taken over by a cheaper, more open product that runs flash. That is my Nostrodamus bit done then.
  - endlessvoid94 17y ago
    But Apple's products aren't marketed towards uber-geeks. Sure, they're the ones that initially buy the products, but I guarantee you that my parents will see this shiny new iPad and want one. Then they'll buy one. And they'll use it for recreation.
    - stcredzero 17y ago
      My retired physician dad is getting a 3G model. He can turn on the 3G just for the months he's staying at his house in Florida. I look forward to this, as it will reduce my family sysadmin duties.
      - endlessvoid94 17y ago
        I suspect that the number of tech-savvy people who encourage their family to get Apple products is nontrivial. 10x easier to maintain (in the average case).
        mschwar99 17y ago
        It will be interesting to see how the iPad will do in the non-techie segment when the market becomes saturated with all the other pad-type products. In my little world I have noticed that most all of my non-techie family and friends consider the iPod to be the default choice for an mp3 player regardless of any price differences. However, most of these same people would scoff at the idea of buying an Apple laptop or desktop as a waste of money when compared to a Windows machine that could be purchased for a few hundred cheaper. There is a big difference in the price points of an iPod and a Macbook, and the iPad is right in between the two. It will be interesting to see if a $100 or $200 premium for the iPad compared to a Windows or Android pad will be palatable to the masses or push non-techie people to a non Apple alternative.
jlgosse 17y ago
While I usually have negative things to say about the iPad (sometimes good things), I have been able to touch type decently well on my Nexus One while in landscape (and sometimes portrait), and its screen is significantly smaller. With that in mind, I don't see the iPad keyboard being bad enough to end up typing "Lckig=ng" all that often. That being said, I wouldn't want to touch type anything lengthy on either the Nexus or the iPad. I mostly did it to see how well it worked out.
shin_lao 17y ago
I'd love to have a device I could take around in meetings, draw pictures on it, run demos, show slides, some sort of collaborative work device. My collaborators would have similar devices and we could easily "drag n drop" between our devices. The iPad could become that device with one or two improvements.
gfodor 17y ago
People complained about typing on the iPhone for the first few months it was out. I'm sure if I had an iPad I'd be doing close to regular keyboarding speed in a few weeks. The Flash thing has gone parody. Buy the scrabble app. The camera complaint is dumb too. They were trying to hit a $500 price point, so no camera for you this go-around. Having it be a paid add-on would have pissed more people off than not having it at all.
KirinDave 17y ago
First of all, how is this person NOT an early adopter? They have it in the first week of launch. Second of all, I understand iPad backlash, but this article is—charitably—poorly written and poorly organized writing that simply rehashes pre-launch complaints. Couldn't we actually focus on real criticisms for the device? I love my iPad, but I can name a few criticisms that are much more meaningful than the ones in this article, which other well-written and well-reasoned reviews have pointed out. This could have been a pre-ipad prediction. By the way, this post: typed on an iPad. Number of post line corrections: 2. Did I prove anything?
- stcredzero 17y ago
  In my opinion, this is more of an attack piece disguised as a "review" than an actual review, for the reasons you cite. The typo doesn't even make sense! If you look at the iPad keyboard, there's no way to hit the equals sign, unless you do two separate mode-shifts. Very suspicious. The key closest to equals is even two columns over and two rows up from the nearest letter in Lacking on the iPad keyboard. I can't easily imagine how that happened.

18 points by robertbud1 17y ago

Maybe I'm slow, but what's that Lckig=ng supposed to mean ? And yes, I did read TFA. Is it just the nonsense one types while resting his fingers against the virtual keyboard ? OTOH, excellent point about the iPad being a non-essential : a niche product. It could still be highly successful, but as I think Apple is looking for big hits, it would get dropped eventually if it stays a niche product. Which would be a shame IMHO. Was it the same with the Newton ?

stcredzero 17y ago
Maybe I'm slow, but what's that Lckig=ng supposed to mean? This makes me skeptical. To type an equal, you need two separate mode-shifts of the keyboard to even make that possible. Even if that's done, the = key is two keys over and two keys up from the nearest letter in Lacking.
sjs382 17y ago
"lacking"?
troystribling 17y ago
Apple has a history of innovation in new device classes, notable are the PC, laptop, PMP and Smartphone. You could also make the claim that the Newton was not on Steve Job's watch. I see the iPad as a not fully baked iteration on the Smart Phone/Netbook. I personally do not see the virtual keyboard as a problem. There is room for improvements but I think people are not use to them yet. If the price and weight half and document management is worked through it could get some traction. It is a little premature to see its failure. Utility is often seen in retrospect. 15 years ago neither the personal computer nor internet would have been seen as essential.

ErrantX 17y ago

Ok so it's a reasonable conclusion; compared to the iPod (and iPhone I guess) the iPad isn't going to sell as many units. But Im not sure that counts as unsuccessful; the iPod is naturally a portable and popular device. Everyone has portable music players now.

SeamusBrady 17y ago
I make a prediction that the iPad will be popular for a while with the uber geeks but that ultimately it will be a damp squib. The market will get taken over by a cheaper, more open product that runs flash. That is my Nostrodamus bit done then.
- endlessvoid94 17y ago
  But Apple's products aren't marketed towards uber-geeks. Sure, they're the ones that initially buy the products, but I guarantee you that my parents will see this shiny new iPad and want one. Then they'll buy one. And they'll use it for recreation.
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    My retired physician dad is getting a 3G model. He can turn on the 3G just for the months he's staying at his house in Florida. I look forward to this, as it will reduce my family sysadmin duties.
    - endlessvoid94 17y ago
      I suspect that the number of tech-savvy people who encourage their family to get Apple products is nontrivial. 10x easier to maintain (in the average case).
      - mschwar99 17y ago
        It will be interesting to see how the iPad will do in the non-techie segment when the market becomes saturated with all the other pad-type products. In my little world I have noticed that most all of my non-techie family and friends consider the iPod to be the default choice for an mp3 player regardless of any price differences. However, most of these same people would scoff at the idea of buying an Apple laptop or desktop as a waste of money when compared to a Windows machine that could be purchased for a few hundred cheaper. There is a big difference in the price points of an iPod and a Macbook, and the iPad is right in between the two. It will be interesting to see if a $100 or $200 premium for the iPad compared to a Windows or Android pad will be palatable to the masses or push non-techie people to a non Apple alternative.

jlgosse 17y ago

While I usually have negative things to say about the iPad (sometimes good things), I have been able to touch type decently well on my Nexus One while in landscape (and sometimes portrait), and its screen is significantly smaller. With that in mind, I don't see the iPad keyboard being bad enough to end up typing "Lckig=ng" all that often. That being said, I wouldn't want to touch type anything lengthy on either the Nexus or the iPad. I mostly did it to see how well it worked out.

shin_lao 17y ago

I'd love to have a device I could take around in meetings, draw pictures on it, run demos, show slides, some sort of collaborative work device. My collaborators would have similar devices and we could easily "drag n drop" between our devices. The iPad could become that device with one or two improvements.

gfodor 17y ago

People complained about typing on the iPhone for the first few months it was out. I'm sure if I had an iPad I'd be doing close to regular keyboarding speed in a few weeks. The Flash thing has gone parody. Buy the scrabble app. The camera complaint is dumb too. They were trying to hit a $500 price point, so no camera for you this go-around. Having it be a paid add-on would have pissed more people off than not having it at all.

KirinDave 17y ago

First of all, how is this person NOT an early adopter? They have it in the first week of launch. Second of all, I understand iPad backlash, but this article is—charitably—poorly written and poorly organized writing that simply rehashes pre-launch complaints. Couldn't we actually focus on real criticisms for the device? I love my iPad, but I can name a few criticisms that are much more meaningful than the ones in this article, which other well-written and well-reasoned reviews have pointed out. This could have been a pre-ipad prediction. By the way, this post: typed on an iPad. Number of post line corrections: 2. Did I prove anything?

stcredzero 17y ago
In my opinion, this is more of an attack piece disguised as a "review" than an actual review, for the reasons you cite. The typo doesn't even make sense! If you look at the iPad keyboard, there's no way to hit the equals sign, unless you do two separate mode-shifts. Very suspicious. The key closest to equals is even two columns over and two rows up from the nearest letter in Lacking on the iPad keyboard. I can't easily imagine how that happened.