It is official. This thing is a game changer.

Totally reduces the latest eReaders obsolete before they even hit the stores.

And how did you like that leak it was gonna be $1000, followed by the $499 pricetag? Crafty sons-a-bitches, ain't they?
Apple Unveils iPad

I have little doubt the $1000 was a plant.

Indeed, with a 9.7 inch screen, it puts the one-trick-pony Kindles out of business. Look for aftermarket keyboards to turn it into a workable netbook computer. In fact, at a price higher than a netbook, I suspect that iTablet could hit a functionality obstacle. Big screen equals better, but the onscreen keyboard I just don't think is a workable option for serious text entry.

There's one thing i find extremely interesting: Using this iPad as a sketchbook, for drawings etc. pp.
Ok, my pocket sized sketchbook costs 3 Euros and gives tactile feedback, runs without limitations (but my brain), but the iPad could be a nice fun toy.

BN, for serious text entry Apple offers an external KB with built in dock for the iPad. This looks funny.

I want to try out that thing at my Apple-Dealer.

quote:

external KB

The optional keyboard is a start. I'd like to see it integrated. That would have made this truly revolutionary. But what we have now is a larger iPod. That's fine, but, like I said, I think it could have been much more. Simply as a self-cover for the screen, the keyboard seems a natural. Fold it back and it snaps to the back and out of the way. When you want to throw the iTablet into your backpack and not have the screen all scratched up, you'd have the flip-over keyboard to cover it. It just seems like such a natural, I don't know why they didn't do it.

So what's the verdict? Are you salivating out there? I'd like to see if the screen is of good enough quality to use as a Kindle. But certainly I can see uses for the iTablet. Forget about portability, at least regarding hitting the road. I can see this being of use within a business to be able to refer to stuff on the factory floor, in the pressroom, in the conference room, or wherever. And a sheet-of-paper like thing is much more useable in this regard than a laptop. I think a product like this could potentially transcend nose-picker novelty and really be a quite useful business device.

If I was in the market for such a device I would be salivating.

It really does have the potential for all the things you listed. Factory floor. Pressroom. Conference room. Travel etc. etc.

It really is a simple design. It is like an iPod Touch/iPhone supersized.

Last year at this time Apple shares were trading around $85. They have been trading over $200 a share for several months now.

A local conservative (errr....Brad-style, for sure) talkshow guy was talking about the iTablet yesterday. And he wondered if it would be high-powered enough to handle the usual adult content movies and such. This guy cracks me up. Fought in I think two of the Iraq wars. Real straightforward guy. A man's man, and certainly doesn't beat about the bush regarding what a lot of this stuff is used for. Bryan Suits.

The power behind the iPad is also very intriguing as well.

They are using a 1Ghz CPU developed by Apple itself. Several years ago Apple bought up P.A. Semiconductor a small start up chip maker. Brother Klappy started a thread on them before Apple bought them up.

This chip in the iPad looks to be the fruition of that purchase.

I wonder was the cost of the cheapest non-3G plan is.

I wonder if it will take external flash media of any kind. I notice it has a port.

No, I didn't notice at all that the newspaper featured on the iTablet on Apple's web site was the New York Times and not National Review.

Here are the tech specs.

At the bottom are the accessories. The camera connection kit looks like you might be able to transfer data. The Case looks very usable and a must have.

Yep, that's a data port, Rico. I can't imagine them being able to lock it our from other uses. Seems like a great way to transfer movies to the iPad.

It also has Bluetooth which connects it wirelessl for transfers as well.

I've never used bluetooth, Rico. How fast can you tranfer a 4 or 8 gig movie?

Oh wait bluetooth is only for connecting to wireless devices like keyboards etc. It looks like the best wired transfer rate will be the USB connection through the docking port.

I guess you can directly download movies vie wi-fi and probably transfer movies TV shows and music from your computer using the docking system.

Okay. Any idea on what an internet montly plan cost with one of these things? That's potentially the real cost.

I don't think you need any plan for wi-fi connection. But the G3 connection you will need a plan. Here is the pricing on the units themselves, wifi and wifi+G3.

G3 pricing as reported by MacCentral:

quote:

For connectivity, in addition to the optional 3G, it has 802.11n, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1; it syncs to a Mac via USB. To feed those 3G connections, Jobs also announced two new cellular data plans from AT&T: $14.99 a month for 250MB of data, $29.99 a month for unlimited data; both are prepaid, meaning neither requires a contract like the two-year commitment that iPhone users must make.

Thanks, Rico. I don't think my porn consumption (or, more likely, my National Review consumption) would top 250 MB in a month. But you never know. I could handle $14.99 a month. And wi-fi is free in internet cafes and stuff. That's good. But I really don't know if at home I'm in any free area. I don't know how widespread that is yet. Can a lot of you get by just using the free wi-fi? Give me a clue.

I've got to hand it to Apple for developing a great INTERFACE for this thing. It's quite intuitive. I'm a little dismayed by the onscreen keyboard, truncated. I can see myself trying to pinky semicolons where there are none... but I highly object to the purpose-defeating external keyboard. That's plain idiotic. If you can't get the screen-keys to work, the thing isn't worth a damn. There should be no reason whatever for the external keyboard. I have no objection to screen keys, if they work. I wouldn't mind a keyboard that took up most of the screen, as long as you could type, see what you were typing in a scroll above the keyboard... then dismiss the keyboard. That's the way to do it. Think Old-School word processor, where the screen was almost nothing, but the keyboard was the thing.

The map thing? The balls. I see that taking off.

But really, I think it's going to be about books, magazines, newspapers, web sites. Media you READ or Watch. TV and Movies too, I guess. If I could get Fox News on the thing, I'd buy one tomorrow.

Actually, no I wouldn't, because what do I always say? Three revs from Apple. No more, no less.

One of the first things I thought of was, they should have put an integral webcam in there. That thing would KILL as a Skype pad. I'm really surprised they didn't do that.

Tell me Scott Forstall isn't the kookiest looking Mac Fanatic you've ever seen. Check out the eyes on the iPad video, on the Apple site, lol. It's the funniest thing I've ever seen. That is the crazed look of Mac Faithful Kool-Aid drinking right there, boys. You can see the white all around his irises. Scientologist much? Don't miss it.

My questions: what if you drop the iPad? How robust is the thing? Fragility will suck. I think it is glass.

I was what, four for five in my predictions?

The book reading interface is the winner of it all. The realistic page turning is lovely. The "no right way up" aspect is also terrific.

quote:

but I highly object to the purpose-defeating external keyboard.

I've never considered efficient and ergonomic input devices to be purpose-defeating. That feature will come. Someone else will do it and probably do it right. It will even be interesting to see if someone uses that port to do an aftermarket add-on.

I haven't checked out any of those videos yet. I'll take your word that the bookstore thingie is well organized. Anybody heard whether there is also access to public domain stuff?