Why I'm getting an ipad

[wodeh]

I hate flash, really, truly, hate it. There's nothing good about it, there never was. It was a stop-gap, ahead of its time technology that has far outstayed its welcome and I admire Apple for sacrificing product sales to the cause of removing it outright from the web.

If you think the web would be boring without flash, then you've clearly been fast asleep for the last ten years. Those silly flash videos you used to giggle at? They're all rendered to video now. Fancy transitions, animation, motion tweening, physics simulation? All done with JQuery, that gracefully degrades back to a usable site even in a text browser. Flash websites are a crime toward humanity, if they set up the equivalent accessibility barriers in a bricks and mortar store as they do on Flash websites, they'd be sued out of business under the DDA.

Death to flash. Long live JQuery, SVG, Canvas and truly open, progressive enhancement technologies.

Hopefully the iPad will nudge a few more moronic designer companies to get real websites instead of inaccessible flash abominations. I've already been commissioned to replace flash elements barely a couple of months old with JQuery wonderment so the client can freakin' update them. Flash will make me a pretty penny in its death throes.

 

[Casey55]

I want a machine that allows me to surf, do some light work and listen to music.

But you won't be able to listen to your music and surf at the same time.

 

[3N16MA]

But you won't be able to listen to your music and surf at the same time.

I guess you don't realize that you can do both of those things at the same time on an iPhone/iPod Touch right now. Do you even own one of those products? If you do you should know you can do both.

 

[BreezyXC60]

But you won't be able to listen to your music and surf at the same time.

Do we know this for sure? I can listen to iTunes and surf the web on my iPhone at the same time. I can also play apps and listen to iTunes as well at the same time.

Since they use the same operating system on the iPad as the iPhone you would think you could do it on the iPad as well. Maybe you can't with every source of music like Limewire or other music on the web but you should most likely be able to surf with iTunes playing.

 

[BreezyXC60]

I guess you don't realize that you can do both of those things at the same time on an iPhone/iPod Touch right now. Do you even own one of those products? If you do you should know you can do both.

Oops, you beat me.

 

[iwillrefuse]

Hopefully the iPad will nudge a few more moronic designer companies to get real websites instead of inaccessible flash abominations. I've already been commissioned to replace flash elements barely a couple of months old with JQuery wonderment so the client can freakin' update them. Flash will make me a pretty penny in its death throes.

You're kidding, right?

It's a big leap to call designers "moronic" when NOTHING can touch the rapid development abilities of Flash. And it's hardly been a stop-gap. Flash is a 10-year plus standard that has been that way for a reason - ease of use, and a tremendous install base. Designers love it because it's a designer tool, not a programmers tool, and as long as "better" technologies don't share it's ease of use, it will continue to dominate.

But there mere thought that the IPad will get sites to "get real" is ludicrous at best.

 

[Casey55]

I guess you don't realize that you can do both of those things at the same time on an iPhone/iPod Touch right now. Do you even own one of those products? If you do you should know you can do both.

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about how people like to listen to the radio and surf/read. The article was about Pandora. Sorry for the confusion.

Yes, I have an iphone but don't have any music loaded.

 

[JoshJosh117]

.

 

[Essjay]

Not having flash is a huge bummer because if this thing had Hulu, I'd buy it immediately. Maybe Hulu will develop an application where all the videos are iPad compatible but that looks like a longshot.

 

[redknives]

When I first saw it, I was disappointed. Then I started examining my computer usage and found myself saying, "that would come in handy right now".
I love my iPod Touch but I feel constrained by the screen size.
I have a netbook but I can't stand the tiny keyboard and lackluster performance.
I get tired of balancing my MBP 13" on two pillows in my lap when I don't need the horsepower.
Who knows what iPad app developers will come up with? I think it may be pretty cool. The lack of multitasking and Flash grates on me but, oh well. For easy, hand-held access to web, email, books, music, and video and WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE, I am getting kind of psyched.
There is always a discrepancy between how I think I will use something and how I actually end up using it. I can imagine sitting on the side of my bed, turning the device on instantly with one hand and checking TweetDeck while I kick of my shoes.
And It will kick butt for fantasy football.

 

[robby818]

The lack of flash support is my main sticking point but it's still not enough to stop me from purchasing the mid or high end 3g model. The low pricing helps me forget about some of the omissions.

I don't have the same hatred of Flash as others, infact I find that I enjoy a lot of entertainment in Flash (Leo Laporte, sci fi shows, youtube) and have never had an issue with slowdowns or crashing. I run pretty lean systems so maybe that is why. Now, back in the day the RealPlayer format really pissed me off. The fact that NPR used it really bothered me and I am veyr glad that Real is gone and I no longer need to install their crappy player.

Since Apple is taking such a hard line stance against Flash maybe it will accelerate the transition to HTML5, so in that respect maybe it is a good thing that Apple holds the line.