For me, and probably a lot of other people, once I have my 3G Ipad, I will have very little use for my laptop. If I have heavy lifting to do, I will use my main computer. Once the public figures out the Ipad, and other tablet type products, I think the laptop sales will go way down.
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Ipad=goodbye laptop
- Thread starter jimbo1mcm
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While I don't disagree that laptop sales are likely to shrink because those that would be "overbuying" will instead, choose an iPad - Laptop sales will still be plenty healthy. SO "way" down? I don't think so. Take a hit? Yes.
I don't know why I'm bothering to reply because most people are really defensive their purchase justifications but...
Personally I need a lot more from my laptops than a large iPod touch can give me and I don't think I'm alone there. The iPad may be enough for a lot of people but hell if it is for me. I might like the iPad (and one day if it improves I might buy one) but I am going to need a proper laptop as well.
Personally I need a lot more from my laptops than a large iPod touch can give me and I don't think I'm alone there. The iPad may be enough for a lot of people but hell if it is for me. I might like the iPad (and one day if it improves I might buy one) but I am going to need a proper laptop as well.
The notion of 'overbuying' is sort of what underlies my decision to use my iPad as my primary computer.
Having lived with my current set up (MBP as primary machine) for 3.5 years, I know pretty well what I do and do not need or want to do.
The iPad will serve me extremely well ootb, and undoubtedly better with additional apps and OS updates over time.
What I like about the iPad is that it's gotten people to really sort of ask themselves....'what do I really use my computer for?' And I think that for many, the answer is 'exactly what the iPad does really well.'
Having lived with my current set up (MBP as primary machine) for 3.5 years, I know pretty well what I do and do not need or want to do.
The iPad will serve me extremely well ootb, and undoubtedly better with additional apps and OS updates over time.
What I like about the iPad is that it's gotten people to really sort of ask themselves....'what do I really use my computer for?' And I think that for many, the answer is 'exactly what the iPad does really well.'
Not that the launch isn't an "explosion" of sorts.
But when Apple (and internet speeds/etc) make it viable to wirelessly tether to your computer and/or sync 100 percent to the cloud - then I could easily see a device like the iPad being in multiple places within one home.
When I say sync/etc I mean - OS upgrades OTA, managing music and movies OTA, full printing OTA, etc. Because if they can make the iPad NOT reliant on syncing to another device, then iPads could be used in cars, embedded in various places around the house as control panels/media devices, and a lot of other uses.
It's a baby right now (naturally) - but the potential IS great if the technology moves forward. I do hope that there's exponential growth with the device and not slow slow slow incremental.
Well you know where I come out on all this!
It's sort of too bad that the markets with infrastructure evolved well beyond our own (e.g. South Korea) are probably too small for Apple to target as a test case for this type of ubiquitous cloud stuff. That said, a controlled test environment like SK could be just what the doctor ordered.
Tablets have a lot of drawbacks such as:
* The need to hold the device makes it difficult to interact with, especially when you need to type. Don't look at people using it for 5 minutes, think how it will feel after an hour of usage.
* Small screen - this will always be a problem since you need to be able to hold the device and big wide screens are difficult to hold. That makes it less attractive for video watching.
* Absence of camera - again, very problematic to add a camera due to the form-factor's design.
I think the first 2 problems alone make it very difficult for tablets to succeed.
Anyway, I think it's too early to dismiss laptops. Laptops are going to get rid of the keyboard and trackpads and have touch screens all over them so they'll look like 2 tablets in one device. I think once that happens tablets are going to have a tough competition with laptops.
* The need to hold the device makes it difficult to interact with, especially when you need to type. Don't look at people using it for 5 minutes, think how it will feel after an hour of usage.
* Small screen - this will always be a problem since you need to be able to hold the device and big wide screens are difficult to hold. That makes it less attractive for video watching.
* Absence of camera - again, very problematic to add a camera due to the form-factor's design.
I think the first 2 problems alone make it very difficult for tablets to succeed.
Anyway, I think it's too early to dismiss laptops. Laptops are going to get rid of the keyboard and trackpads and have touch screens all over them so they'll look like 2 tablets in one device. I think once that happens tablets are going to have a tough competition with laptops.
I think it depends on ones definition of a laptop or tablet, and the user experience provided by the OS. As described by the poster above - a 'laptop' with two touch screens may very well ultimately better resemble today's iPad, simply with more screen real estate, than it would today's laptops, at least from a user experience standpoint.
well then we're talking completely different devices and semantics. Is it still a tablet if there are two touch screens that fold into each other or it that just a new type of laptop?
that's for the marketing teams to determine
I think for me it would be goodbye iPhone. I can see myself carrying a regular phone around with an iPad in my manpurse
Would this man purse be like the Jack Bauer bag, minus the gun and other cool gadgets. Then I say go for it. It will be in my camera bag when I go out to take pictures and in water proof bag when it rains. I wish I could take it on my bike, but the odd looks I would get make me reconsider that.
well then we're talking completely different devices and semantics. Is it still a tablet if there are two touch screens that fold into each other or it that just a new type of laptop?
that's for the marketing teams to determine
Exactly! And what if the two screens didn't fold into each other, but worked together wirelessly? Moses ostensibly had two separate pieces of rock which made up the whole (three if you are a Mel Brooks fan) and those were still tablets
I think at work I will still use my laptop primarily (my job doesn't require a computer, just like to have one when things are slow) mostly because I sit at a desk and using a laptop will be more comfortable/ergonomic. I think at home I will definitely be using the iPad A LOT.. Especially lounging on the couch, in bed, toilet etc... I'm pretty much a web-surfer and email checker so the iPad will most likely provide 80-90% of my main internet needs..
To further quibble with semantics, I'd be inclined to say that a "laptop" with two touch screens and no physical keyboard is no longer a laptop.
To further quibble with semantics, I'd be inclined to say that a "laptop" with two touch screens and no physical keyboard is no longer a laptop.
well that's my point, isn't it. We don't really have a name for that device. Which is why it's going to be up to marketing departments to "label" what the device is called.
DuoTablet? iPadDuo? or perhaps the laptop just morphs into one of these configs and the term laptop remains. Or perhaps it remains a tablet computer regardless of how many screens.
It seems to me that typing on a capacitive touchscreen is never going to replace typing on a physical keyboard for people who have long fingernails. I'm not vain but my nails grow fast and I don't relish having to keep them military-short all the time. I have some vague hope that the iPad will be different, but 'typing' on the iPhone is an exercise in misery and comedic autocorrection for me. Anything other than a quick forum post or email will likely continue to happen on my laptop.
My iPad will replace my netbook. I bought an acer aspire one last year and after about 6 months I started to have nothing but problems with it. I reloaded the os on it several times and have had no luck. I gave up on the machine. Will my iPad replace my imac, no but it has kept me from buying a i5 imac.
I want to try and do this too. I'll buy an ipad, and then see if I can live with it as my lazy couch machine. It'll need to do a little work, but mostly browsing.
I won't ditch my MBP but it'll go upstairs and be more tethered to my external monitor where I won't mind giving it harder things to do. Currently I tend to avoid taxing it, because it eats battery and I like it being portable (plus it gets hot on your lap)
If that works out, then when my next upgrade time comes I'll probably switch for an imac or maybe mac mini.
I won't ditch my MBP but it'll go upstairs and be more tethered to my external monitor where I won't mind giving it harder things to do. Currently I tend to avoid taxing it, because it eats battery and I like it being portable (plus it gets hot on your lap)
If that works out, then when my next upgrade time comes I'll probably switch for an imac or maybe mac mini.
That's not the intended use. It's not meant to be something you'd work on for hours. However, with a stand and a bluetooth keyboard, you could type out the next great American Novel on it if you want.
Nope, the apple case will allow it to be propped up on it's side. Perfect for watching a movie on the plane.
When is the last time you saw a laptop with a camera? I agree, it doesn't need a camera. Couldn't imagine holding that thing up like a camera to take a picture. Not the intended use of the device.
Laptops aren't going anywhere. Everything has it's intended purpose and people will realize that. I imagine those that really must have the full laptop experience will get one. Those, like me, who have an iMac and don't need a fully portable computer ,but want something they can take with them that starts up nearly instantly, can browse the web, check email, and do some other cool things will find the ipad to be sufficient.
I can see some people that already have two machines (a desktop and a laptop or a laptop and a netbook) replacing their secondary device with an iPad. It seems well suited to that role. For me (iMac + MacBook Air), that won't quite work. I use my laptop as a mobile development system, with quite a few apps that won't be on the iPad anytime soon: TextMate+GCC, Xcode, Mathematica, Matlab, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc. Even if I were to abandon these apps and only use them when at home (or at my office machine), I would still want a second Mac around in case the iMac dies. I like being able to just hook up the external backup and boot into my old OS. I like that sense of security.
If the iPad or its descendants evolve to the point where they are stand-alone machines (over-the-air OS upgrades, can compile and run original applications right on the device, direct access to external storage, apps like Mathematica and Photoshop), then I could see it replacing my secondary system. But not before.
If the iPad or its descendants evolve to the point where they are stand-alone machines (over-the-air OS upgrades, can compile and run original applications right on the device, direct access to external storage, apps like Mathematica and Photoshop), then I could see it replacing my secondary system. But not before.
My main computer is a 27" iMac i7. For the longest time, I've wanted a Macbook for access to basic things on the go, but ever since getting an iPhone I couldn't justify getting a laptop too. I've also held off buying an eReader for the longest time. For me, the iPad sounds like the perfect device, and I can't wait until it shows up on Sat.
