8 ms·
So....who else held out on the first generation and is planning on buying? I'm in.
by scottkrager 16y ago
So....who else held out on the first generation and is planning on buying? I'm in.
- sigzero 16y agoUnless it doesn't impress...thinking seriously about it.
- lowglow 16y agoThe first gen ipad produced an amazing increase in my productivity. Topping the first gen will be a feat.
- riffraff 16y agocan you explain how the ipad increased your productivity?
- brianpan 16y agoNetflix, Uniwars, MLB app, Osmos, Angry Birds....oh, wait.
- scorpion032 16y agoYou can watch Youtube from the loo. Win!
- bluekeybox 16y agoNot grandparent, but will try to answer anyway. I do mostly scientific software development and analytics for a bioinformatics lab. Being able to carry around all the academic papers I need with me at all time, together with supplementary material and online manuals in PDF form, is tremendous for me. What's even better, I can highlight and make notes right in those PDFs with GoodReader. Unlike most other eReaders, iPad has a color screen, and in my field (computational biology and genetics) this is crucial as nearly every paper published in the big three (Nature/Science/Cell) has complex color diagrams in it. I have been using Penultimate (notebook-like app where you can scribble with a stylus) to lay out nearly all of my ideas. Because I develop algorithms as well, only being able to type (as on a laptop) is not good enough for me. I need to be able to jolt down diagrams/drawings with a pen/stylus all the time. I can immediately email any of my notes/diagrams (or the entire notebook) as a PDF file to collaborators that I have in my Contacts list in the Mail app. I don't have to carry around several unwieldy notebooks in my bag anymore. The only things I carry in my messenger bag now are: MacBook, iPad, vacuum flask with hot coffee (if the workstations at work were Macs, I wouldn't even have to carry the MacBook). No more paper! The iPad has VPN and an SSH app, so away from work I can login and view how my clusters are doing.
- kenjackson 16y agoIf you had a Windows tablet PC you could do all of that on a single device. :-)
- bluekeybox 16y agoI am able to do the things I listed above on a single device (except software development). The reason I carry around a MacBook is only because I compile code at work for Linux platform and I like to have a second non-Linux but UNIX computer to check code portability, which I wouldn't be able to do with Windows anyway (don't get me started on Cygwin).
- manche 16y agoOther than the ability to write by hand, doesn't your macbook do everything you listed better?
- ctdonath 16y agoI teach part-time. Being able to use an instant-on, anytime-anywhere networking device lets me juggle an extra class amid whatever sporadic 5-15 minute breaks I can find. My iPad paid for itself in 3 weeks.
- lowglow 16y agoSure, I'm a software engineer by day, and a software/hardware hacker at night also working on my own start-up. I require reference to be easy and without lag. Once I build up a flow of thoughts and ideas that I've compiled from a list of sources, I like to be able to reference them and organize them without having books lying about everywhere. I recently learned Objective-C pretty rapidly by having access to multiple books at the same time and consuming them in parallel. When I would have trouble understanding one concept in one book, I would move to another book that could explain the concept better to me. So I was book-sourcing my learning. iBooks is sufficient for this, but I've been thinking about building my own tool that processes information the way I do and keeping the journal handy. My set-up is (left to right): 27Inch Cinema Display, iPad on stand, MacBook Pro. I use my cinema display for coding and browsing, the macbook for logs/stderr/stdout, and I use the iPad as a book reference. So I can flip back and forth around the iPad if I need to, or I can take my iPad to another workspace on my workbench and not have to deal with lugging my laptop around.
- ryandvm 16y agoTorn between the iPad 2 and the Honeycombs, but definitely getting something this round.
- kevruger 16y agoI'm in the same boat you are. I love my android phone because I use google apps for my business and gmail for my personal - but I wasn't overly impressed when I played with the Xoom. I love the new format for Google Talk, Gmail and Maps, but the screen quality seemed not as stunning as the original iPad. I'm waiting myself to see the iPad 2, but I will be getting something this time around as well.
- ugh 16y agoYep. I planned on buying the iPad 2 but I’m not so sure anymore. I will probably wait another few months and play around with the competitors first. That WebOS tablet also looks great but I don’t know whether I want to wait that long.
- ghc 16y agoI held out. As much as I like dead tree CS books, lugging relevant ones around has become too much of a pain. Add to that the awesome offer from O'Reilly for $5 ebook versions of books you already own, and the ipad becomes irresistible to me. I've just been holding out for a lighter version. I think the original ipad is just a bit too heavy.
- ja27 16y agoIf Apple allows you to buy them any more.
- loire280 16y agoO'Reilly sells DRM-free ebooks through their store, so they're unaffected. You load the ebooks onto the iPad using the usual transfer methods for media. It's one of the nice side-effects of selling DRM-free books: they don't need an app that has the DRM baked-in -- you can use iBooks or any third-party reader.
- jonknee 16y agoA downside to this approach is not having an easy way to purchase books without a computer. iBooks has a great checkout experience and the only way O'Reilly could have something similar is by coughing up 30%. Tech savvy users can figure installing something like GoodReader and then downloading the PDF in MobileSafari and sending it over to GoodReader, but it's a UX nightmare. O'Reilly at least has technical users, other publishers are even more screwed if they want to go non-DRM.
- r00fus 16y agoGiven that O'Reilly books are of technical nature, and you can't actually code on an iPad (unless you're using SSH/VPN), this is a perfect fit for the O'Reilly... you'll need a computer anyway. Furthermore, I'm never on vacation and think, Oh, I'd love t read up on RoR... I usually already have the book.
- 16y ago
- ebiester 16y agoTwo weeks ago, I planned on it. However, subscription services like Mog are too important for me. I'll wait.
- Entlin 16y agoLike many, I was eager to get my hands on it. But Apple changing their rules mid-game and a probable removal of the Kindle app left a sour taste in my mouth. I will most likely sit this one out.
- patrickod 16y agoBuy a Kindle unit. It's the best piece of hardware that I have bought in a long time. If you were going to do a lot of reading on the iPad then you can't go wrong with it.
- simonista 16y agoI held out and I'm hoping to catch a cheap first-gen after the second comes out.
- jcurbo 16y agoI held out for several months but broke down in July and picked one up as a reward to myself for getting a job :) I'm jumping right on the iPad 2 when it comes out though. I'll just sell my old iPad, thanks to the good resale value of Apple gear.
- thought_alarm 16y agoI'm trying to think of features that would get me to trade up from my original iPad. A Retina display would do it, but it sounds like that's not happening this time round. FaceTime? I already have a couple of devices that do FaceTime. Thinner or lighter? It would have to be significantly lighter before I'd even consider it. So I'm quite sure I will stick with my original iPad, at least until v3. It's a killer device that's completely changed the way I read, the way I watch TV, the way I spend my "leisure computing" time, and the way I listen to music at home, and I'm certainly very happy I jumped in early.
- ezy 16y agoA display that is readable is bright sunlight. I'd pay another $800 for that one. Ok, I'd at least think about it. :-) Also, if it could handle pen input and finger input sensibly. There are hacks for iPad stylus input, but they're all a little unwieldy, especially if you want to rest your hand on the device.
- danssig 16y agoThe stylus has utterly failed in the market place. I don't blame them at all for ignoring it.
- joubert 16y agobought 1gen. will buy 2gen.
- aik 16y agoI've been waiting for the iPad 2 to see what it can do, but after this subscription stuff and a potential removal of the Kindle app makes me care much less.
- StudyAnimal 16y agoI want to get one tablet, and a new phone. I also want one iOS device, and one Android device. As soon as it is clear which combination of OS and form factor is optimal I will buy. Probably leaning towards Android phone, and iPad at this stage, but still not quite ready to buy.