<p>[iPad</a> Opens a New Frontier - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304252704575155982711410678.html]iPad”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304252704575155982711410678.html)</p>
<p>I usually don’t like to get the first version of things that come out, but this sounds pretty good.</p>
<p>I doubt the ipad will kill the laptop. Most of the time users will have to hold the ipad in one hand while punching buttons with the other hand. Other than reading items on a screen bigger than the itouch, I doubt the ipad will have much usefulness and it certainly won’t match the value of a laptop.</p>
<p>^^Agree. If I switch to one of these Pads, my posts on CC will be much shorter (maybe it is a good thing :))</p>
<p>Will the Adobe CS software (Photoshop, etc.) work on this device?</p>
<p>How many applications can you run at once with the iPad?</p>
<p>Yesterday I had Word and Powerpoint open while making a presentation and a handout. I also had multiple tabs open for the internet. I don’t think you can do that on the iPad yet (but probably in the future). Also, there’s no USB without a purchased adaptor.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it will replace a laptop- but it could be a member of the family according to [Stephen</a> Fry.](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1976935,00.html]Stephen”>http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1976935,00.html)
Much will depend on what developers and users make it into.</p>
<p>Even if you haven’t sipped the tea, it is worth reading just for the image of Fry bounding over to his pal Douglas Adams house to play</p>
<p>Let’s wait and see how long it takes 'em to release enough bug fixes to ship a stable operating system, batteries that don’t overheat, and so forth. Apple is great at product announcements.</p>
<p>Apple is great at product announcements.</p>
<p>:confused: I think you have Apple mixed up with perhaps another company?
I have found that people who have problems with 10.5, or 10.6, haven’t done their housework.</p>
<p>It took some getting used to a laptop where I couldn’t easily change the keyboard or the battery- but it is still possible if I ever need to, and I love the OS.- ( they just issued a new security update 10.6.3, and I have * never* had a cough in the 23 years I have been using Macs, let alone a virus ;). )</p>
<p>I go way back with them, to the Quadra days and through the iPods. Apple makes some of the buggiest stuff around. iTunes is a trainwreck. Great idea. But, when it crashes, it behaves like the devil’s spawn.</p>
<p>Shall we talk about overheating iPhones? First gen nanos with broken screens? The day back in the mid-90s when Apple had to stop shipping operating systems entirely 'till they came up with a bug fix.</p>
<p>I go back to the Apple 1 with them (no that is not a typo) - and have also used MS products as a part of my work (I work for a major software company - not MSFT). </p>
<p>In my opinion, when you look across the board, Apple stuff is more reliable, better written, and far more innovative than the alternatives. </p>
<p>Do they have clunkers? Sure - but far fewer than anyone else in the industry. If we want to list bad MSFT products - or clunkers from their HW partners - the list is going to be VERY VERY long. </p>
<p>I’ll take an Apple iPhone - any generation - over the Windows CE Alternative - and the market obviously agrees with me. </p>
<p>I’ll take the Mac OS over the Windows release of the same time period any day. </p>
<p>And I’ll take an Apple laptop over a Dell, HP, or other clone - and have. </p>
<p>Now for the iPad - I’m not running out to buy one - but that is because I need the cellular connectivity given my travel schedule. It’s not a replacement for a laptop - but it is an entertainment device that will sure keep me occupied on long business trips.</p>
<p>Being a neat freak, I can’t get past the fact that it’ll have fingerprints all over the screen. Also, how will it work ergonomically? You can’t hold it with one hand and type with the other, and not all of us like to sit with our knees up to make a platform for it. I think I’ll stick with my netbook for on-the-go.</p>
<p>Interested dad- what sort of problems do you have with itunes?
We still have a ipod mini that works- but the black and white screen is harder to read than the color ( plus my H doesn’t like the click wheel)</p>
<p>I don’t have an iphone- we have verizon- you want to talk devils spawn?
I have a blackberry and the whole system was down last fall- only I thought it was my phone & in trying to get it to work- my data was lost.
ever since I got it, the track ball was a mess, until it just stopped working altogether ( luckily, Verizon replaced the phone since it was less than 6 months old, but you pay for the privilege.)</p>
<p>As far as the ipad screen- I have a screen protector on my ipod touch, it improves glare and I don’t have to worry about scratches- I expect the same will be available for the ipad.
I see Fry already has a docking keyboard for his ipad-and as long as your hands are clean ( as they should be when you use a computer anyway), I don’t think prints will be a huge problem.
With the small memory ( just slightly more than the ipod), it isn’t going to replace a computer- it will be used for something we haven’t thought of yet.</p>
<p>I haven’t had fingerprint problems with my iPod Touch though I mainly use it in the gym and he have wet wipe dispensers so cleaning it is really easy.</p>
<p>I had a look at the prices for the data plan and they are not bad. I’m just trying to decide if I really need internet access on the go. I’m inclined to think that I don’t. But it might be nice for passengers in my car. What would really be cool is if you could turn the iPad into a wireless access point for other devices. It has all of the hardware to do this.</p>
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<p>Which time? They’ve introduced so many buggy upgrades, I’ve lost count.</p>
<p>The most recent time, it decided to hang up and then unlink 2500 song files from the library. That was fun.</p>
<p>Apple loves to write software that, when it hiccups, it wipes out the original data file on the hard drive.</p>
<p>They aren’t the only ones. If Sony ever builds a product that works one year beyond the warranty period, it will be a first. There stuff almost always has a widespread design flaw that wipes out huge numbers of each model sold.</p>
<p>i-dad, it depends on which division of Sony you are talking about. Our old Sony TV worked fine for 15 years. And it would have worked just fine longer than that, but someone had to have a new one. The new Sony did not last so long… Sony video cameras and digital cameras are still one of the best. Their computers… We had a great experience with our first laptop and 5 years later bought another Sony laptop. Bad mistake…</p>
<p>Going back to iPads… Does anyone know whether this iPad will have Wacom-like capabilities?</p>
<p>Does anyone know whether this iPad will have Wacom-like capabilities?</p>
<p>I think that would depend on the application. It has bluetooth ( that I don’t think that is exciting cause it drains power), but there are styluses available
[Ten</a> One Design](<a href=“http://tenonedesign.com/]Ten”>http://tenonedesign.com/)
Depending on what you need to do- there are design and drawing apps for ipod- but I see that iwork, is going to be broken down by function for the ipad.</p>
<p>Apple loves to write software that, when it hiccups, it wipes out the original data file on the hard drive.</p>
<p>I haven’t had that problem, but again, I often have a smaller hard drive than I should have gotten, so I am often pruning out files- and I admit there are lots of bug fixes and security updates- not for itunes so much, but for other software that runs on the mac os, but not necessarily software that I have purchased from Apple.</p>
<p>I do try and keep my work backed up though, there are online resources as well as cheap hard drives.</p>
<p>'It has bluetooth ( that I don’t think that is exciting cause it drains power)"</p>
<p>THANKS, ek! I forgot to turn off my bluetooth when I got out of the car this morning and was scratching my head why my iPhone’s battery was losing juice so fast!..</p>
<p>As I recall, once iTunes played a nasty trick with DD wiping out her music collection.</p>
<p>If you bought your music through itunes- just give them your user name and explain the problem and you can redownload it.
If it was from CD, then hopefully you still have the CDs as backup.
( itunes will also prompt you when adding new music to back it up)</p>
<p>Why would I download music from iTunes? The LAME encoded MP3s from Amazon sound noticeably better and are playable on any music player, unlike Apple’s proprietary format.</p>
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<p>That songs were all still there. iTunes just unlinked a third of my 60+ gig music library. I couldn’t delete the iTunes libarary file and have it rebuild from scratch. The way iTunes software is designed, that would wipe out all the “rating” information for 8000+ songs. Thanks, Apple.</p>
<p>Just poorly behaved software. It should open the iTunes library file in memory so if something blows up, the only thing lost is the changes from that session. Instead. it corrupted the saved version on the hard drive. I’ve never had a Microsoft program crash in that way.</p>
<p>Or, when you are manually relinking songs, iTunes doesn’t remember the last folder you were using. So, when you click on the next song, you have to click through all the folders again instead of the same one popping up to click the next file in the folder. Just poor software design.</p>
<p>Mossberg said that fast typists might be held up by the touchscreen keyboard. That’s a big worry for me–I type fast. Also, Apple’s newest keyboard, the flat one without much key action, makes my hands ache. It’s a gorgeous piece of hardware, but ergonomically horrid. As a media viewing device, the iPad might be fantastic. As a data input device, the jury is probably very much out.</p>