Posted on 04/06/2010 5:26:11 AM PDT by chessplayer
The obsession of the tech-savvy this weekend was the release of Apple's iPad. The tablet computer, which looks like an oversized iPod Touch, is being hailed by many as a revolutionary device. But there are some critics who say it's a sign that the Internet revolution could be coming to an end.
Zittrain and Sweeting worry that if the iPad becomes popular, both entertainment and computing companies will imitate its closed system.
Sweeting says he thinks many of the major media companies would love to see computers discourage people from searching the open Internet for content.
"I think the media companies will leap at this," he says. "It offers them the opportunity to essentially re-create the old business model, wherein they are pushing content to you on their terms rather than you going out and finding content, or a search engine discovering content for you."
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Ping!
I think the iPad is going to flop.
And I am a Mac lover going all the way back to the Mac Plus.
The problems with the pad have already been hashed over a million times, so I am not going to do it again here. Suffice it to say, the niche it is designed for is just not big enough to support it.
I agree. With Blackberries and laptops, who needs another gizmo?
Oh, you must see this! the iPad vs. the OPad...very clever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3qiSXc1g3M
Yep, and then there is also the Apple lock-in. Just for kicks I paged through the license for the latest update to iTunes - it was 76 pages long!
Basically, it says nothing is yours, stuff that is on your computer can be removed at any time without prior notice and if anything goes wrong its not Apple’s fault.
“Basically, it says nothing is yours, stuff that is on your computer can be removed at any time without prior notice and if anything goes wrong its not Apple’s fault.”
Ah those liberals, they’re such free spirits and really trusting. In the heart of every liberal lives the Nazi they accuse the conservatives of being.
Ditto. Guy at the office just brought one in this morning. I messed with it for a few min. Unimpressed. Just a toy, nothing special. The lack of multitasking would sink it for me, I always have two or three things working at once.
The guy told me that you needed to spend $150 to get the 3G hardware. Then another $15-40 per month to get service. Beyond the hardcore Mac people, people that need to have "the coolest toys" and people with more money to spend than common sense....I don't see much of a market for it.
And, before all of the Mac users come out of woodwork to flame me because I'm obviously a knuckle-dragging Cro-Magnon that just doesn't get the genius of Steve Jobs .....I'm not a Mac Guy, or a PC guy. I just look at computers as a tool, nothing more, nothing less. If it performs what I want it to do, I'm all for it.
They lost me when I found out it doesn't even have a USB port.
What were they thinking drinking?
Even the i-phone is obsolete now. Try out the new DROID from Verizon! OH MY GOD ! ! ! ! !
I will be surprised if it is still selling in a year or two.
Once the gizmo is too big for your pocket,then you might as well CARRY something big enough to be fully capable.
Personally even netbooks don't do it for me,I want a larger screen to start with......
Another overpriced bling toy from Jobs. The 300K sales went mostly to current Apple product users, they are already having wifi connection problems, has a basic at best tool set, no cloud support, has few of the practical capabilities that tablet computers have had for at least 6 years, email problems etc. It is little better than an overpriced Kindle but hey, its trendy and flashy and it costs a lot so it must be the best...right.
Tell us about the Droid! I’ve been thinking of getting one.
Not had it very long, but when we showed to an i-phone owner, she FREAKED! She said she would get this app or that app, and was astounded to see she couldn't get any of them. I'd suggest doing a little on-line research as I have only scraped the surface.
Ihave an ASUS EEE tablet netbook. It has FAR more horsepower than the Ipad, lots of slots for memory cards, and USB ports. When folded into tablet form it is significantly smaller than the Ipad. Runs Windows 7. Current pricing is just over $300, vs $499 for the Ipad. Runs Kindle for PC and is just great as an e-reader (far superior to the Kindle).
The people who bet on more restrictive content have not been right in quite some time.
Back in the early nineties, a friend told me that soon, the only way anyone could listen to music would be on a “fee-for-song” basis. Every time you played a song, you’d have to pay some cash.
Man, I could have made some serious money on that bet...
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