Apparently you haven't seen the reviews or the iTours hosted on apple.com. College students are the last ones that need to be sold on this device. They will show us the way by finding new and innovative ways to use the device. Plus Apple = sexy/hot. Distribution of course is a sticking point because the content providers are protective but that was what originally happened with iTunes. Music companies eventually came around. Check this review out. http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/apple-ipad-review/
I saw the review and many more others (the non-biased ones). iPad just tries to be everything, but missed the most basic things: the color e-ink, the lightweight, and the ability to use stylus to write notes or set schedule (in color). Apple needs to just focus on the niche and do well in it...like how they won the mp3 player war. Focus on replacing papers and less on the being a laptop will help them win this one. BTW: I love my iPhone.
Welcome to America...sad http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/...ipad-purchase-became-a-1170-credit-card-bill/ Quote: I went shopping for my very own iPad at 8:30 AM March 12, the moment it first went on sale. Having had a chance to try out the iPad at the January 27 launch, I had wanted one for weeks. What follows is how what started out as a $499 purchase ended up with my putting $1,170.58 on my credit card. When I entered the Apple Store, I scrolled through the prices for the various models. Although the most affordable model, a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad, cost only $499 (excluding sales tax), after some soul-searching, I decided on a 64GB 3G model, even though it cost $829 and wouldn't ship until late April. As for stepping up to the 64GB iPad, my philosophy is that you can never have too much memory. I have no doubt that I will fill much of that 64GB within the next year or two. Speaking only for myself, the breathing space was worth the extra couple of hundred dollars. So, how did I go from an $829 iPad to a $1,170 tab? In a word: Accessories. Knowing I'll want to do some serious typing on the iPad, I sprung for the $69 keyboard dock (ka-ching!). To protect my iPad (and prop it up on any flat surface), I went for the $39 case (ka-ching!). I added the $29 USB power adaptor because I will want to charge my iPad in multiple locations, and the $29 VGA adapter so that I can view it on any display I own (double ka-ching!). Oh, and I took the $99 AppleCare Protection Plan, which extends the 90 days of tech support and 1 year warranty (including the battery) to two years. (Big ka-ching!) Shipping was free, but sales tax added another $76.58 to the tab (ka-ching! to the State of New Jersey). So there you have it. I admit that I willingly slipped down a slippery slope that wasn't so apparent when Steve Jobs first seduced me with that $499 price tag. (Full disclosure: My birthday is coming up soon, so at least I have a flimsy rationalization to offer my wife.)
The guy basically just purchased a laptop with separable keyboard. It's not going to be as convenient as using just the iPad or having a laptop. I guess it's true. Apple does has a cult following. Apple products has became a fashion. A "must have" to show off to friends. Like those UGG boots, Apple's products are more of social products than functional products.
The biggest complaint about the iPad (mainly tech geeks) is that it was NOT enough like a laptop. No multitasking, too much like the iPhone with multi-gestures. A number of interviews have already pointed out how easy iBook is to read. The color and interactivity will doom Kindle. 1.5lbs while not flyweight is eminently portable. Reading in bed on your side will be very easy to do on this device which you can't do on a laptop. Stylus and notes are software/add-on issues that will come once the product has mature a bit. In the hands of millions of people with thousands of developers, you will see some amazing things for the iPad. OS 4.0 promises multitasking. iTunes/iBooks store is just the start. iMagazine will come. Apple did focus on the niche. They left out a lot of things that could have been more ground-breaking. What's the point of NOT including a webcam. Seems like a conservative move to me. It will come but it would have been an attention grabber right off the bat. 2 people video conferencing on their iPads through WiFi, would u ever use your phone again?
iPhone has definitely not been just a social product. It's No.1 because it's so functional. You have to envision where the iPad is headed. It will definitely replace the netbook and even notebooks for many people. btw, I'm a PC guy and would never think of getting a Mac, though I appreciate the aesthetic beauty of Macs. I bought a iPhone and now a iPad because some of the things I wrote.
Oh hey btw, you can run Windows 7 on the iPad. http://gizmodo.com/5508794/video-wi...modo/full+(Gizmodo)&utm_content=Google+Reader
"At the shop in New York's Soho district Luis Martinez, a 30-year-old artist, was first in line after spending 12 hours on the pavement outside. After a three-minute countdown by whooping staff he was ushered into the shop at the stroke of 9am. "I've just got to get this product, man," he said. "I need it real bad. I can't wait to try out all the apps and functions." " this is the fucked up society we live in, trying to find joy in material, impermanent things. No wonder despite all the material progress, this remains one of the most unhappy societies in the history of the world.
Video conferencing? Wait for a front-facing camera to do VC? Wow, that's thrilling. That will certainly satisfy the corp sales-force just itching for a reason to buy this stupid throw-back device. Yeah, it does everything my iphone does, but doesn't make phone calls. Oh yeah, it doesn't multitask like my jailbroken 3GS. HTF do you describe this as game-changing? You early-adopters will look even more foolish when they release a 6mp front-facing camera in 6 months. Don't worry, you can sell your 1st gen for $150 on ebay and only be out of pocket $1000 for both devices. Unabashed fanboys like you make owning apple products really unsatisfying.