I don't see the point... right now..

[Maclver]

I recently bought a Kindle 2 and I love it. It's easy on the eyes, books are cheap, and the battery last foreverish.

I like the iPad and its a great "toy" but I can't see my self reading a book on it. I hate reading on my computer because of the strain it causes. I understand the iPad's main function is not a ebook reader, so what I have gathered from reading is the iPad is used for entertainment purposes... Whats the point, everything I can do on the iPad I can do on my iPhone or Macbook Pro, so whats the point of buying a device that would just act like a middleman..


Whats your opinion.

 

[Illuminated]

I won't really use it for reading books, as much as taking notes, making presentations, surfing the web, watching videos etc...it appeals to me because of the iWorks applications that you can buy for the iPad...

 

[ditzy]

Some people don't have MBPs, and they are significantly heavier if you do have one. Yes it is a product that fit in between others. But since last night I've been thinking quite alot, that 'This will be so much easier when I get my iPad.'

 

[ksoze]

Whats the point, everything I can do on the iPad I can do on my iPhone or Macbook Pro, so whats the point of buying a device that would just act like a middleman..

You can do almost everything in some fashion on any one of those devices. It is more a question of which things can be done better on another device. This middle being defined and carved out is new and the iPad is meant to do very well at some of the things the other devices can do less optimally. In your case, that middle may not be wide enough to warrant a sale.

The missing Moses tablet that does it all well enough to negate the need for those other devices is still on the drawing board or in the heads of some disillusioned wishers.

 

[eezing]

I have to agree... The only features I see myself using is the ebook reader. I'd rather do everything else on my iPhone or MBP. If I wanted an ebook reader that bad, I'd probably choose the kindle just because it's easier on the eyes.

But... If it was running 10.6 instead of iPhone OS, I'd seriously think about it.

 

[eezing]

Some people don't have MBPs, and they are significantly heavier if you do have one. Yes it is a product that fit in between others. But since last night I've been thinking quite alot, that 'This will be so much easier when I get my iPad.'

I don't know... I think Apple is going to have to rely more on marketing than actual tech... hence, the most advanced, magical, revolutionary, blah blah blah. What is so magical about a device that sports a full web browser but doesn't support flash?

I think the iPad is cool, but the more I think about it, the more I find I don't have a need for it.

 

[Maclver]

I don't know... I think Apple is going to have to rely more on marketing than actual tech... hence, the most advanced, magical, revolutionary, blah blah blah. What is so magical about a device that sports a full web browser but doesn't support flash?

I think the iPad is cool, but the more I think about it, the more I find I don't have a need for it.

I tried reading a novel on my mac and its very straining on the eyes so I think im sticking with my Kindle

 

[PhoneI]

I have absolutely no problems reading ebooks on my laptop or iPhone. So I would most definitely be interested in reading books on the iPad.

 

[4DThinker]

There are Kindle books. There are ebooks. There are text files.

There is also another kind of book that those books may wish they were. It's a book that would take advantage of the video processing capability of the iPad and it's large color screen. It might be as simple as little animations instead of static photos on a page. It could be as clever as a book that goes back to the publisher for updates and added content over time. Perhaps bonus chapters if it detects you've completed the original book in short time. A tap on highlghted text may open a window to web content that adds more information to the story. Was the book made into a movie? Watch clips from the movie right after you've finished the chapter they happened in. I'm only scratching the surface here. The G-sensor, compass, and GPS could come into play to make reading an iBook more "interactive" and locally relative than any static book would be.

No telling if the publishers would go to that much trouble though. There is always that potential there in a device with the iPad's capabilities.

 

[bpd115]

Why the hell do people have some obsession to run Mac OS X with a touch screen? It's a desktop OS, not a multitouch OS.

I understand the multitasking complaint. I understand the whole Flash argument.

But we knew the device was going to be multitouch and accelerometer based. I want to run apps that are designed around that premise. I don't want to run an app that was designed with a keyboard and mouse in mind.

The App Store and the 60+ Day lead time developers are getting with this are going to give you some fantastic applications with an installation method that doesn't require me to show my in laws how to mount .dmg files.

To expect Apple to create a 3rd branch of OS X with different design principles and rules is crazy.

You are going to see some amazing, easy to use, easy to find, software that you could never do on an iPod Touch or iPhone. Apple gave the creative developer market a fantastic new playground. Let's give them some time to innovate before we dismiss this thing as a 'fail' (A word that I wish would be struck from this generation's vocabulary) or a 'giant iPod touch'.

It's the future of multitouch computing and I'll be first to order when we can.