Apple iPad: World's Most Expensive Rectangle?

Whatever you have to say about the product, I would love to be the company that sells 2 million widgets in 60 days.

Better make that 3 million in 80 days. More next week.

The interface. It is the interface that is selling this. Just as the Lisa/Mac initiated the thrust from command line to mouse/GUI, the iPad is propelling us to a whole new norm for interaction with computers. The success of the iPad has nothing to do wish no flash, walled gardens, and lack of multitasking. This is step one. The iPad will compel Apple's competitor's to write an interface from the ground up for a tablet. Up to now, tablets had a thin touch veneer over a mouse keyboard paradigm. What is next? Why voice of course. Say it......Computer....Computer.

We buy expensive toys don't we? This is an expensive toy and it also has some other utility, doesn't make it bad or good. As toys go, it's pretty nifty. If I had more money I would have more toys. He who dies with the most toys wins!

I am admittedly a bit old-fashioned- I am still struggling with why I would ever need a telephone that does more than place and receive calls...OK, maybe a GPS-enabled phone would be handy on occasion, but, then, I am not too concerned over the authorities tracking my every move, since I don't normally habituate locales that would raise suspicions...A friend showed me a neat iPhone app that turned his iPhone into a carpenter's level, but it wasn't near as useful as my laser level...I will admit, the iPod Nano has caught my eye, because it supposedly has infrared photography capabilities at a reasonable price, but I haven't purchased one yet (although THAT could be a really useful device, if it really works!).

Tablet computer? 30 years ago, I had all the computer I needed in my TI-59 programable calculator. Today, I have 4 computers, each set up for specific tasks, most of which could not be accomplished with a tablet. Or a netbook. Except for those things I use my Palm for, which is a lot easier to carry about than a tablet or a netbook. There are a whole lot more useful devices out there for me to spend my money on, if I ever come up with enough money to spend.

But, to each his own. I suppose that when the Cloud becomes sophisticated enough to offer on line data analysis or FEA analysis, maybe I might be interested in a computer really challenged for computing capability, but, then again, would I be willing to pay for a service that I now get from free software?

I think I will wait a bit. When apple has a device that can read my mind, then I'll buy in...

I enjoy having an iphone,even if I rarely use more than 50% of it's potential.

The iPad however is "just so much fluff".

I mean it doesn't even have stereo sound!

Still though,if I could use it like my iphone it could be handy on the road.Not that I would pay the rates required to do so,let alone pay seperately for each device.

J.

The chunk of change that could possibly go for a new iPad will, IMO, be better spent on new goodies for my motorcycle.

'nuff said,

Hooker

No - it is not the world's most expensive rectangle [that title belongs to other slate-type computers and industrialized touch screens] and neither is it a toy. Rather than respond to comments by others who apparently have never had one in their hands, let me relate my own experience.

When the iPad was first announced I thought, "Not for Me." After all I do a lot of CAD work in the office and in the field as well as 3D modeling and animation. Clearly not tasks for the iPad.

Then I went to an Apple store and played with one for about 15 minutes. Epiphany!! I suddenly realized that I have 3 lives. The Office and Field lives just described and a Marketing - Presentation life. Rare do the twain meet on the same trip. The iPad is perfect for that Marketing life.

Then I started to broaden my scope. We had already developed iPhone apps for internal use and were in the process of porting a crane control app to the iPhone. Of course the iPad is better suited to that. That lead to other possibilities; e.g., an embedded controller for equipment that we design rather than the conventional touch screens. It is a computer, not just a dumb display device. Consequently we can display training, operating and maintenance manuals and video right on the machine. More to come.

p.s. Quote - However swift the Apple fans are in buying up this new product, the general public is unsure of the real need for this tablet computer. endQuote. Really? Apple just announced the sale of 3.0 million iPads in 80 days. The previous sales figures were 2.0 Million in 60 days. So the pace is accelerating. I guess the 'general public' is not listening to you.

To tell you all the truth (I am an 18 year old boy), I do not think that the iPad is worth either the hype or the money that Apple claims it deserves (despite the fact that I am responding to this on an iPad). The reason for my purchasing the iPad is simply to author essays. The weight of a full notebook, the size of a net book keyboard, and the heat produced by both (and the obvious lack of solid-state hard drives in the notebook) all dissuaded me from writing anything on either. But paired with a Bluetooth keyboard, the iPad makes quite a useful tool for writing even large term papers!

I've had one for about a month. I'm here to tell you that the iPad is here to stay!

Welllll.... i got an unexpected payment for some consultancy i enjoyed doing anyway

Equivalent of $ 500. What do you think ? iPad or Bose Noise-cancelling phones ? Both about the same price??

The iPad - not even a contest. The Bose earphones are great for what they are - but they are a one-trick pony. The iPad will open new vistas and possibly even change some significant elements of your life - or at least the way you do things in your computer world.

Good choice. You will not be sorry.