The iPad is great for social media and snippet reading, but as reader it falls drastically short of any reader that uses E ink. Having owned far too many Apple products for far too many years, I can say that I will wait for the next generation or the generation after that to purchase another iPad. I do like the Android driven tablets, and will likely purchase a second-generation Xoom or an equivalent from another brand.

For me, nothing replaces a higher-end laptop...yet.

Actually you can make calls with it on skype, better yet you can make video calls with it. There are also jailbroken apps that can make calls for free. But ya im assuming no flash again which imo is a huge fail!! The thing I hate about Apple is the whole yearly refresh thing. Always makes you think your products are obsolete just a year after you bought the latest and greatest. Like with retina display.. Why doesnt the new ipad have it? Because then they wouldnt have anything to release the Ipad3 with!

:bowrofl:

Apple does 1 year cycles, it can be annoying but all companies do it. Dell, HP, Nissan, Medical drugs, etc.
Apple has just made it become very 'flashy' in how they get up on a stage and do it, while others just release a product and let it speak for itself.

The flash argument is fair, but I visit all the same websites I do on my laptop/desktop as I do on my iPad and have no issues. Most places are now building websites to be viewed on iPad, mobile devices (android/iOS), desktop/laptop, etc. Companies have learned there is more than one way to view a website.

Although I have the utmost respect for Jobs, even more for the WAZ, I've grown tired of the keynote speeches, the whiz-bang, and the hype. What Apple—not just Jobs as it takes an army of employees to do what Apple accomplishes—does well is to gather technologies into the most user friendly products with styling overlaid.

Ya know, I didn't really expect to like it or buy into the hype, but I'm using this thing more than my MacBook Pro or Desktop PC combined. I had a Kindle and the e-ink is ok and great when reading outside, but I like having a color and backlit screen even more. It can also do soo much more than an e-reader. Don't get me wrong, it has its limitations. Its just so easy and quick to use for a lot of small task I do from day to day like e-mail or browse the web.

I don't know if an upgrades to the iPad 2 is enough to justify buying. My iPad 1st gen iPad still works great, so no upgrade for me. I'll wait till it breaks. I still have a 2nd gen iPod Touch that's still going strong. Why spend money when you don't have to.

Plays havoc with my eyes, but I'm sure it's a personal issue. Reading any long document is best with E ink for me.

I agree, it is harder on the eyes, but not much more than looking at a computer monitor. If the Kindle had color e-ink and faster refresh rates, it would be a clear winner for e-reading. Turning the page on the current one is about as sophisticated as an etch-a-sketch. I still buy "real" books for this reason alone.

that's on purpose. people drinking the Apple cool-aid feel almost obligated to get the newest hardware because Steve comes out and says "hey, you! you need this!!". tablet? i don't really have much use for one. i can see where business professionals could use it (i considered getting my CPA cousin one for christmas since i drew her name, till i found out how much they are). now, the Xoom tablet? maybe eventually, i wouldn't mind having one. i just don't see myself using it often. if i started doing more photography and had meetings with clients, it might be cool to have a tablet to look at photo's but i could just use my laptop for that right? to me, the tablet seems like the ultimate tool for people who are professional assistants to corporate big wigs that normally carry around a calculater clipboard to write on and have their blackberry within an arms length at all times. seems like it'd make their life more simple but that's about as far as it goes.

I don't know about you, but this would be great if you could easily tether this to an D-SLR.

It was never meant to replace a laptop anyways. That's why previous tablets failed so miserably. Tablet PC's were cumbersome to work with and the interface left little to be desired.

I don't bag on Apple products for the simple reason that they are usually designed well and work most of the time. Every electronics manufacturer has a new or revised product every year. The media rarely shines light or cares about it though unless it could rival an Apple product. Like it or not, we are all drinking the capitalist cool-aid one way or another. It could be a new iPad or a new camera perhaps ;) :tup:

i really dont think its meant for business users. Ive never seen one used for business as of yet. Everyone uses crummy laptops and thats mostly because the laptops are maintainable/secure/customizable to each company etc.

The Ipad is a entertainment / convenience device.

Like for me, while watching NFL on sundays, instead of having a bulky laptop or sitting at the desk, i could use the ipad to watch my fantasy teams.

On the airplane where a iphone screen is too small and laptop is too big, i could watch tv shows, movies and especially top gear.

When I travelled to China, I took my laptop, and it was a pain to carry everywhere. If i had an ipad that would have been great to use e-mail, chat with people back home.

When i go use the the bathroom (throne), i sure as heck wouldnt want to carry a laptop in there with me. I'd use the IPAD!

that being said, i havnt gotten one yet cus i find my money going towards my car and stuff : / but that also means its not a Necessity by any means and I dont think anyone who buys one thinks that. if they did, i think they would be a bit of their rockers.

all valid points, that's just my view on it :tup:

definitely valid i think. I mean im responding to you right now on my iphone.. cus i wont take my laptop into the bathroom. Enjoy that thought! haha

but one thing I will say (agree)

whoever manages to capture the business and education side of this first should do well.

Originally i said apple should go very hard after all education book publishers to release ipad version of their books.

Kids wouldnt have to carry 60lb's every day. They wouldnt forget their book. They could take notes directly onto the books "page". with internal wi-fi or bluetooth antenna's per class rooms professors could disable itunes, browser, games etc and also disable books for tests or disable notes for open book tests.. or only show notes for no book tests!

plus, publishers could make the books slightly cheaper as digital as it would save them printing costs and it would be available to more students as it wouldnt be as expensive.

not just talking about highschool, or middle school but college. Only a few colleges have handed out ipads to new students.

Sigh if Apple went aggresively after this their profits woulda been so much higher.

For business though Blackberry may have an edge with their enterprise software. Their phones are already successfull for this and they could translate that into secure tablets. Unfortunately, the playbook seems pretty dull.

yea i agree with the education side of it, i don't know that i'd limit it to just ipads. hardware wise, the Motorola Xoom trumps the ipad2 by a loonnngggg shot.

I havnt had any trust in a motorola product in a while though. I work with people who work or have worked at motorola on these projects. Hrmm.. cant say what they say.

hardware wise other products have normally trumped apple products. but their os / ui makes the apples normally better!

oh and definitely limited education to ipads would be bad, but im saying if apple went after it first they would have had the market first.