Posted on 04/05/2010 1:11:49 PM PDT by Touch Not the Cat
It's Awkward You can't carry it on your hip like a phone, so it presents the same portability issues as any laptop - you'll need a case of some sort to protect it and carry the power cable.
It's heavy To be sure, at 1.5 pounds and with all this functionality, the iPad is an impressive feat of engineering. But it's simply not light enough
It's slippery We might ignore the awkward size and weight, but the iPad is also slippery, and its aluminum back is ever-so-slightly slightly concave.
The screen has too much glare The iPad has the same glossy screen as Apple's Macbook Pro laptops and iMac desktops. Unless you're reading in a very dim room, the glare will be noticeable and can be distracting.
Forget reading in the sun If you thought to take your iPad along for an outing in Central Park or at the beach, forget about it.
Fingerprints are annoying
It does not multitask The iPad runs the same operating system as the iPhone, and as a result has all of the iPhone's limitations.
The browser is limited The iPad also uses the same limited Safari browser that's found on the iPhone
The virtual keyboard stinks
There's no USB port
iPhone-only apps look horrible Apple boasts that many of the 150,000 apps already available on the iPhone will also work on the iPad
The price is just too high
$499 is just the beginning, a low-memory model that will fill up too quickly for anyone with a big music library and/or an appetite for video.
It doesn't replace anything
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Trouble is, Flash is a security horror-show and a processor hog. It’s crashy and demanding of the hardware.
Adobe complains that Apple won’t let them have CPU-level access to the hardware like they do on Windows, but considering the vulnerability after vulnerability suffered by Flash, who can blame ‘em? Especially now that there are open alternatives (e.g., HTML5 or Ogg Theora).
And the security issues are especially grave when the hardware in question is a powerful, always-connected, location-aware computer in your pocket. The ramifications for security breaches make some experts grow pale, and Apple takes that very seriously. That’s why demonstration botnets have been shown in the wild on Android handsets (courtesy of a malware-infected weather app that thousands of folks downloaded) but not on the iPhone.
Given its history, Flash is a worrisome vector for such things. It really needs to go away.
Plus, there are programming puzzlements for many Flash applications that use mouse-overs and hovers and other features that might be problematic, unnatural or impossible on a touchscreen platform. Which means some applications would need to be rewritten for touchscreens. If that’s the case, why not just rewrite in HTML5? A whole bunch of folks including Netflix and ABC and CBS and, soon, Hulu have made the leap. Google too— they’re dropping their own Google Gears engine in favor of HTML5.
That’s the future knocking. Apple answered, choosing 10 hour battery life over Flash.
The real Thought Police is Adobe, which could seize the opportunity to become the citadel of HTML5 design tools but instead appears to be clinging to a troublesome, insecure technology that needs to die.
Tell me about it! I had a Blackberry Bold that I fricking loved and my company MADE me get this stinking iPhone. I hate it! It takes five steps to do anythng and this touchpad makes it harder to type (for me, anyway).
I`ll be getting my 3G 16MB about tax day I hope.
Played with one at the Apple store today and ordered it an hour ago.
Wonder if anyone has hacked it yet
Runs same OS as iPhone. Yes, the iPhone has been hacked and penetrated.
I too am reading and typing this from my iPad.
I am an Apple geek and I was blown away and still am by this iPad.
I know. It seems everyone wants wither an app or a fully viewable Web site. Seems like Apple’s refusal to play with Flash will actually speed up what would have otherwise been a very slow process.
LOLOL
Yes, the iPad has already been cracked (aka “jailbroken”).
It's Awkward
So is trying to use a 5-pound 15" notebook while walking somewhere. iPad isn't made for desktop use, it's made for "always around", a convenient size to have handy. Maybe not real comfortable, but much better in more situations.
It's heavy
Got something lighter with a screen over 9"?
It's slippery
May be a valid complaint. Well, it IS so slick in so many ways...
The screen has too much glare
We've been hearing that whine since CRTs got flat.
Forget reading in the sun
Forget reading your Kindle in the dark. Actually, IIRC the iPad is at least pretty usable in bright sun (a la the iPod Touch/iPhone) - not great, but there if you need it.
Fingerprints are annoying
Keep yer paws off it then. Oh, right, it's a touch-screen ... you're going to get fingerprints on it.
It does not multitask
"Multitask" is an awfully broad term. Few whiners really want it, they just want to whine about it and would be content with mere task switching (coming soon!).
The browser is limited
It's a 1.5lb 10" no-keyboard 1/2" thick tablet, not a full-blown desktop. Cope.
The virtual keyboard stinks
So do real keyboards. Maybe it's that keyboards are unnatural. If you need one, just bring it near your Bluetooth keyboard and type away.
There's no USB port
It's a USB device, not a host.
iPhone-only apps look horrible
So does VHS on a 55" plasma HDTV, and for the same reason.
The price is just too high
Slightly more than the full-sale no-contract price of upper-end cell phones - and it is a lot bigger and does a lot more than a cell phone. Netbooks are cheaper, but they're different products built cheaply with problems that are not inexpensive to solve (which the iPad solves, at a price).
It doesn't replace anything
It's not supposed to. It's a new genre. It's not a phone. It's not a notebook. It's not a netbook. It's not a iPod. It's a slate done right.
man, don’t you know its verbotten to tell anything resembling facts when it comes to apple.
Well, you could start out, first, by spelling "verboten" right, for one thing ... LOL ... then you might have a chance at someone listening to anything else you have to say ... :-)
BUT, you know, if some of the Apple-hating, "nattering nabobs of negativity" had something relevant in the way of facts, then you might "have something there" ... LOL ...
However, they are usually woefully short on the facts and more expressive of their negativity, than anything else...
It’s a truly revolutionary product!
You got that right. For what it is for and what it is intended to do, it's a killer product.
I'm sure that some will criticize it for not cracking walnuts, but you can't have everything, doncha know ... LOL ...
After the 3rd generation of the iPad comes out, I will take a look at them. Till then, I’m very satisfied with my Pixi, Macbook & Mac Mini—just upgraded HD & went to 4 gigs of ram in the mini. Love it :)
Well, I got the first generation iPhone and it's been great, all the while. The really nice thing about it, is that there are features that I've now got on this iPhone, even though it's "first generation" that weren't there when I got it.
Apple keeps adding features, to say nothing about all the apps that are out there for it.
And it's exactly the same thing you're going to find out with the iPad. There's no need for a 2nd and 3rd generation -- because all the functionality is in the software. Even the "buttons" and choices are not "hard-keyed" into the machine.
Nope, no need for second and third generation, when Apple keeps upgrading the first generation to the same functionality as the second and third generations... :-)
The biggest surprise to me is how fast I can type. I am not a touch typis, more of a fast hunt and pecker with two fingers on my left hand, and index on my right, and I can zoom along as fast as on a regular keyboard.
That makes it great for not having to carry around a bunch of extra hardware. And if one wants to have a physical keyboard at home, they can do that too...
But, for "on the move" -- no need for extra hardware... that's great.
When the heck is Apple going to get its head out of it’s orifice and start working with Adobe to get Flash on their devices!!!
It's not going to happen with Flash... it's trashware and it's the cause of a lot of computers crashing. There's no need to put trashware on Apple products when you can do the video through other means -- and websites are changing out of the trashware, Flash, and moving over to the open standard video that Apple does use. They're getting smart about that trashware.
What you'll find, actually, is a lot of the complainers that you may find in the developer world who want Flash, want to use it to do an end run around Apple apps and Apple is not going to open the platform up to trash being created on it and crashing the device all the time, as Flash does.
Reading this on my iPad and loving it!
I've got a cousin who uses computers in such a way that this device would be perfectly made for her. It's exactly the type of use that she would want.
I'll get one, too -- later on, when I've got another laptop (from Apple) that I want to get. I'll be getting it for specific uses that I have in mind.
I'm not crazy like a lot of people who criticize it, in that it doesn't crack walnuts and work like their desktop computer... LOL ...
I'm glad to see so many FReepers with the Apple iPad. :-)
It can’t dance worth a damn.
It won’t survive an Iranian EMP strike.
It can’t teleport.
It didn’t get the author laid.
DIE Apple, die!
LOL ...
To me, the iPad already looks like an 8-track tape recorder or a VHS player — already obsolete, tacky and anachronistic.
Yep, about as outdated as the iPhone is... LOL ...
There’s no USB port - that’s what slowed me down. I want the ability to use my Sprint unlimited data plan and wireless modem that connects via usb - and a year on the plan.
No multitasking is a big drawback. With the Android and WebOS multitasking phones, how can Apple skip this feature?
I didn’t know about the shape/slipperiness. That would be a problem for klutzes like me. I’ve got my Kindle in a carrying case because I drop it once a week (drop my phone once a day).
I’m worried about my 3 year old Centro since the original usb cord stopped functioning (I dug out my old Treo cord, works great), so have been day dreaming about the next big thing - considered switching to iphone and iPad. I put patient info on my phone, so I’d like to be able to sync calendars and contacts without “the cloud.” (and Palm’s abandoned the Desktop, and may go out of business, according to rumors - the Pre’s a dead end?)
But the expense combined with the missing features have me waiting. Maybe the Nexus when it comes on Sprint? or the Evos?
When are people going to move to HTML5?
Apple always knows where to go and is always "ahead of the game" ... that's for sure... :-)
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