Apple shoots itself in the foot with the Ipad—Fanbois buy mirrors instead of Macs

The Inquirer ^ | Wed Jan 26 2011, 17:32 | By Lawrence Latif

[Swordmaker]

Tell me how it prints unless I want to invest in a wireless router to make it print.

You are penny wise and pound foolish, Character. Spend the $20 for a WIFI router. That's like saying a computer can't print because you refuse to buy the printer cable.

[Swordmaker]

No Camera

Attribute that to Apple's usual first-generation conservatism. They get a revolutionary product out, then improve it later.

There are Apps such as EyeFi and Camera A/B that allow wifi and Bluetooth enabled cameras and the iPhone to act as cameras for the iPad... Works fine.

No HDMI Port

Good. Don't need one.

Perfectly good HDMI adaptors are available for those that want them instead of making all users including the 99% who will never need nor want one pay to have it included! Apple also provides a wireless HDTV solution with Apple TV that provides greater functionality than a dumb HDMI cable.

No usb port

Integral in the dock connector. No, I do not believe in putting multiple redundant connectors on a device just because a few users might want each variation.

I'm on the fence here. On one hand, it simplifies everything immensely vs. internal memory and a card, and I know this from experience having an Android. OTOH, it might be nice to be able to pop in a card with a buch of movies for a trip without having to rearrange the internal content. But in the end it boils down to connector simplicity. You can get an SD card adapter if you need that functionality.

I'm responding to this on my way back from Macworld Expo where I saw multiple inexpensive devices to do just exactly that... Again, most users don't need one on their iPad. If you are among the minority who does, buy the adaptor, instead of insisting your need requires everyone be forced to pay the freight for a built in card reader.

[CharacterCounts]

That must be why all those colleges are issuing iPads to incoming Freshmen. . . because they are so "useless!"

LOL!

When you mention useless, are you talking about:

1. Incoming Freshmen, or;

2. Colleges, or;

3. Ipads.

BTW, I never said they were useless. I said they were cool, but limited. And, I would even consider getting one for myself for email and internet use and photo viewing, and movies. And, I acknowledge that Apple was, and is, the leader of the pack in this area.

But, as many of the comments here have demonstrated, they do have limits to their functionality as a serious work tool. That may change in future versions and I will wait until an updated version is out and compare it to competing tablets such as the Xoom before I buy one.

[aruanan]

But, as many of the comments here have demonstrated, they do have limits to their functionality as a serious work tool.

This is the core of your problem: not everything has to be "a serious work tool." And even then, the degree of seriousness depends on the type of work. Am I going to try to use the iPad to run our ABI 3730 sequencers? No. But that doesn't say anything negative about the iPad. Can a manager of several campus cafes use an iPad to keep track of her business? Yes. It's perfectly adequate for the seriousness of her work.

How serious a "work tool" was the iPod? Did that have anything at all to do with its success or utility?

[aruanan]

FanBois indeed! What is really hilarious is how the Apple advocates here have been going on about how Apple computers give you much more power for the money you spend. Then here comes Apple with the iPad which is nothing more than a woefully underpowered computer. And invent all kinds of apps for this underpowered computer

What's really hilarious here is how Apple has provided a product for all those uses that don't require an overpowered computer, establishes and dominates the market, and then has people try to set up a mischaracterization to draw attention away from the success Apple has had in both directions of computing endeavor.

[CharacterCounts]

This is the core of your problem: not everything has to be "a serious work tool."No argument there. As I did point out it is pretty cool, way ahead of the competition and I did buy one for my son. I'm not an Apple hater, I just mentioned that for me, it was more of a toy.

[Swordmaker]

The fact that all these work arounds are needed emphasizes my point - its more of a toy than a serious tool.

They aren't "work arounds," they are cables.