Posted on 03/27/2011 7:16:27 PM PDT by Swordmaker
While it can perform many of the functions of a PC or Mac, Apple's iPad— including the new iPad 2—lacks two of the most common and frequently used features of a traditional computer. It has no standard USB port for connecting a flash drive or external hard disk, so you can't move files into and out of it from these devices. And it doesn't have a systemwide, user-accessible file system like those on traditional computers.
The iPad lacks a USB port and can't accept a flash drive or external hard disk. So how do you get your files on it? Walt Mossberg gives a primer for retreiving Microsoft Office files or Adobe PDFs from a computer or cloud services.
These omissions have led many readers to ask me how you get files—especially Microsoft Office files and PDFs—into and out of iPads. They have bolstered the contention that the popular tablet is really just a "consumption device," not a productivity tool.
So, here's a brief primer on how to get such documents into and out of an iPad, and how to view, edit and create them on the tablet. This isn't an in-depth product review, though I've tested every product and method I will mention here. It's merely a quick, practical guide to how to work with documents on an iPad.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
All those features were available for 20 years.
Nobody bought tablets which had them.
The topic is the iPad, Spring 2011 version.
What is with this "20 years ago" nonsense?
lacks two of the most common and frequently used features of a traditional computer. It has no standard USB port for connecting a flash drive or external hard disk, so you can't move files into and out of it from these devices. And it doesn't have a systemwide, user-accessible file system like those on traditional computers.Those are the same problems that have plagued Apple's entire iPod line of music players, that's why they've never caught on with the public. ;')
What is it.
I use GoodReader.
Apple wanted to create a port that could transmit far more information than a USB port could.
By plugging into the proper connection, you could plug up to 5 USB ports into it.
Just look up Thunderbolt Interface on the web.
So get a book color and root it. Ipad with file system access. Love mine.
Ingenious. They've discovered the USB hub.
Anand of AnandTech.com uses a MacbookPro and a MacbookAir. He does not use an iPad, and does not plan to do so until at least the next generation of the device. See his review last week of the iPad2.
Apple is just moving past the limitations of the USB.
When we’re getting into the age downloading blu-ray movies straight off the web, it would take an average person a good hour or more to download through a USB.
The Thunderbolt reduces that to mere minutes.
So? His needs may not fit.
Unless one has two iPads, I would think the lack of a user-replaceable battery would be an inadequacy, at least for the time in between shipping and delivery, as well as the resyncing if they’re sending a new one. Unless I’m misunderstanding iPad’s battery replacement situation?
So far, I've not heard of ANYONE needing a replacement battery. If it's anything like the recharge cycle of the batteries on the MacBooks, it's something like 1000 recharge cycles before it goes down to 80% capacity. . . if you recharge and discharge it every day, that's almost 3 years before reaching 80% retention of charge... still more than 8 hours usage. I just checked Apple's website and that's what it is... 80% at 1000 cycles.
Exactly -- the right tool for the right job. For many, if not most, people, an iPad (or potentially, one of its competitors) is exactly the tool they need for what they're doing with it.
But there are certainly a minority of users who are in the business of creating content. This group is far more likely to be happy with a lightweight notebook. (For example, I'm keeping an eye on the MacBook Air to do authoring/editing work when I'm away from home, possibly with a VMWare Windows install to do "day-job" software development.)
Ditto on the nook color. Nookie Froyo rocks.
In this case it would be a netbook to be the same size as an iPad. Netbook will have one or two USB ports and you can run MS Office on it with no trouble
Yep. I use mine for business every single day. I've turned mine into a phone using the Bria app by Counterpath. Dial my desk and my Ipad rings.
Assuming you're willing to live with a poorer display, heavier weight, and much shorter battery life, of course.
Trade-offs abound. Netbooks fill their own niche -- people who can get by with an underpowered PC that they're only going to use for a couple of hours between recharges on which they're just going to run one or two apps may very well find that a netbook fills that need nicely.
The lower price point comes with its own set of costs (in terms of usability), and it comes down to whether that lower-priced model is sufficient for each individual user's needs.
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