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General discussion

Anyone get an iPad yet? Thoughts?

Apr 3, 2010 2:17AM PDT

Did you wait in line? What do you think?

Do it!
-K

Discussion is locked

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Waiting for Ipad in Malaysia
Apr 3, 2010 2:53AM PDT

I am waiting for it to come to Malaysia but at the moment i am not sure what basically the Ipad can do better compare to similar products like itself

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Mines' on order but I went and played with them
Apr 4, 2010 1:48AM PDT

for a while at the Apple store yesterday.

They are smaller than I imagined. The size feels just right in your hands and the build quality is very luxe. They are also a bit heavier than you might think which may or may not be a problem. The size of the screen and the new apps use all sorts of new interface tweaks (panes, pop overs, pulldown menus, tap and hold, etc). It certainly does not feel like a "big iPod touch". It feels like a faster, more nimble older cousin that has a whole slew of new tricks up his sleeve.

The interface is lightning fast, much faster than an iPhone. The iPad optimized apps like Netflix and YouTube are impressive as are some of the new universal ones like Pandora, and many of the games. The 2x mode on non-universal apps looks pretty crummy though. Hopefully many of our favorite app makers will upgrade to the 2-in-one universal app standard.

The lack of multitasking could be a the biggest pain. This thing is going to get a lot more use than an iPhone so you sort of expect a bit more out of it's interface. Background notifications are acceptable on a tiny screen, but theres no excuse on a device of this size. The fact that they pull you out of whatever you are doing to respond to a notification could get really annoying if you are chatting with someone. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple adds this in iPhone OS 4.0. Android is really putting the heat on them now so it seems logical that they would try to at least have basic parity with the competition.

What many critics seem to be missing in their laundry list of complaints about flash and multitasking and lack of keyboard and lack of a webcam is how astoundingly good the user experience is on this device. Its not just a tablet layer slapped on top of a standard GUI. Its an OS completely designed around touch. In that respect I think this will be a transformative device and quite successful.

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Good review
Apr 4, 2010 1:55AM PDT

Nice job. I'm more than positive it will be "successful". To me, that was never in doubt. They'll make more money than what they've spent on it. "Transformative"? Time will tell. You're talking about a paradigm shift away from keyboards/mice to touch. Sure, phones already work that way for the most part, but seriously --that's the form factor at work there.

I think once people get over the coolness factor, they'll begin to notice the things they miss in even the simplest/cheapest of netbooks. But again, that's the future, and right now we're all just guessing.

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The reason I say transformative is this
Apr 4, 2010 2:15AM PDT

is the perfect computer for the casual home user who just wants to consume media and surf the web and do light email and look at pictures... which is a hell of a lot of users out there. Imagine buying this and a 30 dollar a month unlimited data subscription and ditching your broadband?

The big drawback right now is that this device must be tethered to a traditional computer to get its updates sync media and to backup. Make it as standalone device that backs up to the cloud and you really do have a paradigm shifter.

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finally got to play with one tonight!
Apr 6, 2010 1:32PM PDT

boy is it sexy. and heavy.

i rrllllyyyy think its a big iTouch tho...

blazing fast.

keyboard is A LOT better than i thought it would be

2x mode looks like GARBAGE, but supes good to have the option.

the end.
-k