Why do I need an Apple iPad?
If I have a big handbag (which I do), it could fit nicely in there. I could conceivably have WiFi and not get all honked about hotels charging me for it.
But…
- I’d have to forswear Verizon for AT & T — and I am account holder for four other phones.
- Is this a flash in the pan? Just a bigger version of the iTouch? What will be its staying power vs. a laptop?
- Check out the specs (pdf). How much better a deal is it than a laptop?
- Will HTML5 be a sufficient replacement for Apple’s lack of Flash?
Crucial things to think about this day, a day that could shape up to be more stressful than it needs to be. Know’m sayin? Mondays: me no likey.
FO
You may not have the chance to purchase it if the FCC doesn’t approve. But who am I kidding? It’s shiny, touchy and has the apple logo on it. Perfect for consumerist America!
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Rat Fink Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Samuel…so young AND so cynical.
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I think people mistakenly look to this (like they do netbooks) as a complete replacement for their current laptop or desktop computer… I see this as competition for Kindle, Nook, and all the bazillion other eBook readers that were launching at CES this past Jan.
Having said that, it mystifies me how Jobs can constantly tout “it’s the best Web browsing experience EVER” when it doesn’t support Flash. I wonder who @ Adobe p*ssed off someone at Apple?
Oh, and it’ll get FCC approval…. There are a bazillion reasons why the approval has not come yet. It may be because they’re still tweaking the RF performance of the 3G version. When I worked for Nokia, there were a couple products that got FCC approval 1-2 weeks before we were slated to ship the phone.
Happy Monday, Fink!
((SMEWCH))
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Rat Fink Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 5:01 pm
You know, I haven’t read a whole lot on the Flash/Apple thing, but cripes, how snippy do you have to be to make a company dig in its heels so hard? And who’s doing the digging? Steve or Adobe? This has *got* to be about money or branding or egos…
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Mathew Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 9:39 pm
The real reason that the iPad doesn’t support flash is because Apple wants you to only use it’s own Apps that you have to buy rather then fanmade apps that would use the Flash software to run. It’s basically another way that Apple monopolizes its products.
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The iPad seems amazing. So amazing. Until you realize you have to get AT&T service to get it. I pray that someday the folks at apple will get smart and let me have an iPhone on Verizon.
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Rat Fink Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 5:05 pm
I agree, Kodye. Although the iPhone’s inability to MMS without a programming degree is still a deal-breaker for me, I would love to have the opportunity to hack it.
I “settled” for a Storm. Don’t get me wrong — I really like using it — but I would have preferred the iPhone. I just can’t walk away from Verizon right now, and I’m not sure I’d want to if given the chance. They haven’t shown me any stuff that would make me want to leave (yet).
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BoomR Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 7:08 pm
FYI, MMS on the iPhone is **finally* a SNAP and has been for months now!!! (as of the release of the iPhone 3GS) …and way cool if I do say so myself.
You guys gotta realize that the Apple business case to bring anything cell-phone enabled out for Sprint & Verizon is pretty p*ss poor. GSM is a global standard, meaning that they can sell GSM/3G devices in like, oh, maybe close to 300 countries around the world. Vs. maybe like 125 (and that’s probably stretching it) for the CDMA technology. And unlike GSM, Sprint & Verizon have a stranglehold on the specification for how CDMA works & is deployed, which means that anyone OUTSIDE of the US who wants to enable certain features or needs addition fine-tuning of CDMA for their networks has to basically run it up the flagpole at Sprint, Verizon, and Qualcom.
GSM carriers have their act together & know how to play nicely when you roam from country to country. Sure, you can find CDMA in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, Israel, Russia, India… but try moving between these countries (or from the US to any ONE of them) and see if your service works. Snowball’s chance… People call the alliance between AT&T & Apple an “unholy alliance”, well Verizon & Qualcom have had the same sort of alliance to basically drive their platforms, applications, and services LONG before Apple/ATT.
I would see the iPhone coming out for T-Mobile & other US GSM carriers WAY before I see them come out with a Verizon version. Still, never say never…
[[stumbles down off soapbox]]
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BoomR Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 7:11 pm
PS – you never heard about the Verizon/Qualcom deal because Verizon is a brand hog. If you want to play with Verizon, you pretty much have to agree to not put your brand identity on the product. Qualcom is not the brand powerhouse that Verizon or AT&T or Apple is, so they had to take their lumps if they wanted to make any money at all.
Rat Fink Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:25 am
Mm. Yeah. So it’s all about branding. And money.
Anything that gets us closer to living Star Trek is a step in the right direction.
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Rat Fink Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:50 am
Word.
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I’m a mac guy since the first one (old school 128 followed by the “Fat Mac” 512 with the two floppy drives so the system could sit on one!) I have a mac pro laptop, Mac Pro tower and have never been without assorted macs in my life. When I was making sofware for a big company I pushed for mac versions every chance I could. A chunk of my income is currently tied to working on a mac…..I don’t have an iphone for various reasons- Apple was to slow with the biz email issues and I’m tied to t-mobile….BUT I will be passing on the ipad. I think it is a product that was not well thought out- no multitasking!! so no AIM while reading mail, no music etc, no usb or sd card port?? no camera? As a reader it still has the same eyestrain issues that a Kindle doesn’t have. And as a web machine goes the annoying lack of flash is just to much to ignore. HTML5 will not be the answer for years and years- flash is not going to be scrubbed from the web because Steve Jobs says he doesn’t like it. HTML5 is not currently a reasonable replacement at this point. I am going to sit this one out.
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Rat Fink Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 5:42 am
Paul – great to see you here, paisan.
After all I’ve read on this subject (and continue to read), I’m even more confused about the whole thing. Some pundits say millions and millions of these things will be sold, while others predict a quick demise after some initial hype-driven sales. I guess, for the price, I’d just stick with a Kindle or a Nook for the time being. I like the whole e-reader idea, even though I am a lifelong fan of paper books. I just don’t get the hype about this unit being truly revolutionary. I mean, if it is — I’ll buy one. I’m not a brand snob (I also own a MacBook Pro and have Macs in my classroom, even though I use Windows at home exclusively).
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