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Jan 27, 2010 at 6:24 pm #1567013
Miguel does admit a bias. Pretty plainly.
As far as all the shortcomings of the iPad, it's obviously not for you. Fair enough. It isn't for everybody. But it will certainly be for a lot of people, including me. The OS is more than robust enough to do everything I want it to do. For me, this will be extremely useful for absolutely everything I want to do with a computing device. I'm not a power user. Like millions of other people. I do email, web surfing, write the occasional paper, play a few simple games when I'm trying to wind down, upload a few photos. Play a bit of music. That's pretty much it. I haven't needed the power of the computers I've purchased for quite a few years now. For me, this thing is almost perfect. I wish it were a bit lighter, but that's it.
Jan 27, 2010 at 7:07 pm #1567027At least admit a bias.
Of course. I would be lying if I said that I'm not taken by the Mac bug. And I've used Macs since 1984 and gone through the whole slew of updating, fixing problems, and maintaining the systems to know what the problems are with Macs and will be the first to admit that the Mac OS is not perfect.
And yes, the iPad OS is not a full-fledged Mac OS. But I wouldn't call it a "hack". It's an OS designed for a small, mobile device. It uses less power (saving on battery life) and needs less computing prestidigitation. That's fine. As Douglas pointed out, it's all I need for such a device… it's not meant to replace my desktop and notebook computers. I wouldn't know what to do with it if it did! And I would feel that my main computers were redundant! The iPad can do things, as the iPhone can, too, that a notebook is just not convenient for or capable of, like GPS, accelerameter functions, and proximity metering.
May I ask, then what would you offer and desire in such a device if this one doesn't do it for you?
Jan 27, 2010 at 7:30 pm #1567034Jeff Eberhard wrote:
"It's a step toward the clunkiness of technology disappearing. It reminds me of the tech in "Minority Report" (without the creepiness of Tom Cruise, as a bonus)."
ROFLMAO!!
(Where are the emoticon buttons when you need them?)
G
Jan 27, 2010 at 7:46 pm #1567037I thought I stated it earlier, but my choice is a Fujitsu u820 because:
1. Smaller (coat pocketable)
2. 1.54 lbs with extended battery, 1.3 with regular battery
3. Reviews have it getting 8+ hours, which means I'll probably get 12+ with the way I'll use it
4. Higher resolution with excellent viewing angles and brightness
5. $500 if you know where to shop
6. GPS antenna
7. A real OS, and I believe some people have found a way to stuff OSX on it…at least on some other Fujitsu tablets
8. Keyboard
9. Touchscreen with stylus
10. Webcam
11. 60-120 gigs
12. Wireless
13. Cellular modem
14. SD & CF card readers
15. USB portWhat do I want it for? I want it for all my guidebooks and maps, and I want to view fullscreen without scrolling. The guidebooks are all scanned into pdf's (not like you could buy them digitally anyway) and the maps are pdf's from USGS. I want to be to use Garmin Mapsource to send new maps to my handheld gps…because frankly, I'll actually still want a rugged-spec device when I'm out. I want to offload pictures from my camera, edit them along with my journal and upload those to my online journal. I may also install Microsoft Streets & Trips to make my time hitching into resupply towns more productive.
I didn't expect the iPad to have gps (it only works around cell towers anyway), but it still would've met my requirements if it had a real OS….and a usb port…and a card reader.
Jan 27, 2010 at 7:53 pm #1567039I want to get two of those. That , my Tevas and a poncho tarp and I expect free beer along the trail.
Franco
iPad,iPod,iPoodJan 27, 2010 at 7:59 pm #1567042I can see the iPad being a weight saver if you currently carry a lot of books. If the total weight of your books, GPS, notebook, pen etc is equal or greater than 1.5 lbs then the iPad would make sense and it would add functionality in other areas too with all the apps.
Jan 27, 2010 at 8:40 pm #1567062AnonymousInactiveFranco made my night ;)
Jan 27, 2010 at 9:25 pm #1567080"Except I was using it back when it was really invented by a company called Compaq which was later purchased by HP."
I had one of the Compaq TC1000 tablets. Well, I still have it, but it is just so old and slow it is unusable. I loved that tablet – I wish they would update it and re-release it.
Jan 27, 2010 at 9:37 pm #1567084I still have my Newton. But seriously it is a niche item and something that I would not take backpacking. Nor would I my MacBook. Just take a 300 page paperback you bought for $1 and rip the covers off to reduce weight. The rest can be used as toilet paper. The iPad is too underpowered for things that most people do in their life.
Jan 27, 2010 at 11:50 pm #1567105…
Jan 28, 2010 at 8:15 am #1567168" it's not meant to replace my desktop and notebook computers."
Miguel, you have provided some compelling reasons to carry this thing along on a trek. You're probably one of a very small minority that can pull this off. Unfortunately, as your quote above states, this thing is not intended to replace anything. It's another "thing" to purchase from Apple. There's a whole philosophical debate waiting here on the "purpose" of a company. Do you provide tools for better living? Do you contribute to the greater degradation of society by resource depletion and e-waste? Do you sell stuff for the sake of selling stuff? The glitter is shiny. Milk and honey seep from its pores. Wait a bit, it wears off and you're left w/ another electronic museum collectible. "Honey, we need another storage unit! Steve Jobs has some more stuff for us to buy." Sorry for sounding like the Unabomber. I haven't locked myself in the cabin yet, but my manuscripts are growing more anti-technology.(as I type this on my Macbook )
For those of you that have pointed out the lack of need for a full powered computer. I wholeheartedly agree that eliminating a complex OS, whether Windows or Mac is a step in the right direction. The app makers look to be creating the next realm of software development. Apple might be credited w/ the beginning of the end for a traditional OS. Is that so bad? There's no reason the IPAD couldn't become a home computer by selling a docking station and TV connector. Personally, I don't know that Apple knows where the market is going, but I think they are putting feelers out. They seem to listen to their users too. I'm quick to cynically dismiss the marketing fluff on these things, but I have a strange fascination with seeing where Moses… er I mean Steve Jobs, will lead us. (Franco, you're a rockstar)
Jan 28, 2010 at 12:13 pm #1567266I think the reaction to the iPad might depend on how and where a person wants to use it. For me personally, and in a backpacking context, it's massively un-interesting. That's not to say it's a bad product, I just don't put it on the radar screen for backpacking use. In that context, it's basically a giant iPhone but without the phone (!), without the camera, and I still haven't seen a definitive answer on whether it has a true GPS or just a version of aGPS that requires cell towers to work.
I carry lots of eBooks on my smartphone; very small, light reading glasses (there's a BPL thread on this topic if you look …) makes the small screen no problem even for my aging eyes. My smartphone is a lot lighter and much more functional for trail use.
Jan 28, 2010 at 2:13 pm #1567312During the presentation, Steve Jobs held the iPad vertically (portrait mode) with his right hand low down next to his hip. That was my inspiration.
Franco
BTW, I had a Newton 110, so you can thank people like me for the iPad…Jan 28, 2010 at 2:36 pm #1567329"There's no reason the IPAD couldn't become a home computer by selling a docking station and TV connector."
I don't even think you need the TV connector. From what I've seen of the specs, this could easily be my home computer for what i use computers for. It's the notebook computer I've been waiting for. Small, light, functional. For me.
And, for all intents and purposes, it does have a phone. Skype will work on it, you only need wi-fi!
Jan 28, 2010 at 2:37 pm #1567331I owned a Newton too. Yay for vintage Apple stuff!
Jan 28, 2010 at 3:48 pm #1567357I had one of the Compaq TC1000 tablets. Well, I still have it, but it is just so old and slow it is unusable. I loved that tablet – I wish they would update it and re-release it.
They did with the TC1100 which used a different processor and a wacom digitizer. Motion Computing also made the M1400 that was similar…and if you're a sci-fi fan, you probably saw it in Stargate Atlantis. Both are quite old by now though.
Jan 29, 2010 at 8:52 am #1567584Actual tech race credits (who, when, how) aside, I'd venture a guess that most of us are drawn to the computing world's spirit of ingenuity and progress. Whether we're full-time arch-backed key-punchers or casual surfers, the connection between technology and UL backpacking seems clear: Lighter, simpler, more user-friendly.
Sure, I'm an Apple fan (jumped on the bus about 4 years ago, after buying a new Dell laptop, holing it next to a 3-year-old Apple and saying to myself, "why did I do that?"), but I think all who write and read in these forums can say that we are advocates of forward thinking – whether manifested upon a lap or an increasingly-hunched set of shoulders.
…And you gotta love the "Think Different" posters!
Feb 1, 2010 at 3:04 pm #1568650Great MacWorld article!
http://www.macworld.com/article/146038/2010/01/ipad_future_shock.html
Feb 1, 2010 at 7:42 pm #1568741Miguel, you have provided some compelling reasons to carry this thing along on a trek. You're probably one of a very small minority that can pull this off. Unfortunately, as your quote above states, this thing is not intended to replace anything. It's another "thing" to purchase from Apple.
I am still very much a sketchbook, journal, and notebook user, daily writing and drawing, by hand, in various blank page books for these purposes. I am very proud of the skills I have developed in drawing and painting, in photography, in design, and writing, even my carefully developed penmanship. I believe that, much like the knowledge and skills that take years to nurture for backpacking, expertise that is more important than the gear you carry, being able to hone your skill through your hands and mind (calculating sums in your head rather than relying on a calculator) is very important in learning to think, see, comprehend and evaluate the world around you better. In many cases computers get in the way. I can think up, quickly sketch up, and render a design idea or concept far faster on a piece of paper than I ever can with a computer. And there is a sense of "humanness" about the, often quite a lot slower, organic, analog interaction between us as physical creatures that the computer can never replace… I still much prefer to write and get handwritten letters over emails… I think it is important that we continue to use our motor skills and ability to think; it's part of what defines us as human beings, and gives us purpose. I believe very strongly in craftsmanship, because it hones as and our abilities and intrinsically develops our self-worth, beyond just a monetary value.
But computers do have their place. My writing and drawing and photography help put bread on the table. Drawing something on paper, waiting till I get home, preparing for and then scanning whatever it is I drew, then porting it into PhotoShop, there to clean up the noise, isolate lines and colors, and finally retouch the image to look sharp on screen, and finally saving it into different formats is all very well, but in the end somewhat meaningless, since you no longer have the original ink and paper… it has become a digital image that might as well have been done directly in the computer. Plus, in the long run, it requires more gadgets than I would need if I used an iPad. The iPad will allow me to do all the above (Take a look at Brushes). Though I can do these things on an iPhone, the tiny screen makes it hard to really control the drawing process. Editing photographs as such a small size is frustrating, to say the least.
Making the world a better place has nothing to do with the gadgetry that you buy or don't buy; it has to do with action and getting out there and making a difference. Your gadgetry can help with this, hinder it, or be completely innocuous. I personally don't buy or own a lot of electronic gadgets. But the few that I have I seriously use, everyday. My compact Ricoh GX200 camera has made a HUGE difference in how much serious photography I actually do now… the camera goes with me everywhere, 24 hours a day, and I've taken thousands of photos with it since I got it, with a great jump in both photographic skill and understanding, and a corresponding "openness" in creativity, trying image subjects and compositions and photographic media in completely new ways. I've blossomed as a photographer and have found my "voice". I feel the iPad would do for my drawing and painting the same kind of jump in productivity and inspiration, simply because I would have the tool with me wherever I go.
I couldn't give a fig about Steve Jobs (or Moses for that matter). I just want to grow as an artist and writer. Hopefully my writing and artwork is my own contribution to making the world a better place.
Feb 2, 2010 at 3:29 am #1568792I'm still using a Classic 2 – do you think it's time to update?
Feb 2, 2010 at 3:59 am #1568794I've been holding out for this one, actually hoping for a Netbook style. The tablet makes me nervus
I guess I'l have to keep my 4yo 12" power book going a bit longer. Considering my tech knocked it off my 1.2 metre high shelf yesterday it's still doing okay.
Feb 2, 2010 at 4:08 am #1568796I'm still using a Classic 2 – do you think it's time to update?
Whoo eee! Classic is right!
As to thinking if it's time to update… only if you feel you can't do what you need to do on it!
Feb 2, 2010 at 2:27 pm #1568976Feb 2, 2010 at 8:39 pm #1569158This thing also gets 150 hours of music on a single charge. Charging in an AC outlet shouldn't take that long, 1.5 hours or so to get to 95%. That is the best part of this product for a hiker imho. Lack of built in GPS is the real bummer.
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