[shuttertalk]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what everyone thinks of the new iPad announced by Apple? It appears to be running the iPhone OS instead of some flavour of OSX, so you won't be able to run software such as photoshop on it. I thought it would have been interesting to edit photos on a 10 inch table with multitouch and your fingers - could be a new experience! But oh well, maybe in the future?

However, there is supposedly a very funky image viewing / album app on it.

Personally I was a little underwhelmed by it. For starters, since it runs the iPhone OS, there is no multitasking (i.e. running apps in the background) and the other thing that got me was the lack of flash support. To me it was simply one giant iPhone or iPod Touch, with a whole lot less portability. I guess it remains to be seen where Apple will take it.

[Toad]

I could see this replacing my eeepc as a travel / mobile computer - but not my iPhone or desktop PC.

[shuttertalk]

Interesting view on the iPad, with a slant on the ebook industry (another one of my pet interests).
http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=12419&tag=nl.e539

Why buy a Kindle DX that is limited to reading and buying books from Amazon, when you can get an iPad for 10 dollars more that reads content for Kindle, Barnes & Noble eBooks, Apple’s own iBooks, Lexcycle Stanza, and brilliant full-color magazines from Zinio? Not to mention read blogs and websites for free that Amazon otherwise charges for to convert to its proprietary format?

I guess in hindsight releasing a Kindle / Barnes Noble / Fictionwise / etc. application for the iPhone and iPod touch seemed like a good idea, especially when they weren't direct competitors to the Kindle and other e-ink readers. Now the iPad has been released, the tables have changed.

Then again, I suppose it could be more like a razor / blades model - where Amazon and other book stores couldn't really care less where people bought their razors from, as long as they're still buying blades from them.

[Toad]

Yes - I have an eeepc 10" netbook - and I love it. I can see the whole netbook market segment imploding with the advent of the iPad, however.

[nia]

Seems so nice, I have watched now on their web site, my son would be crazy with this new one

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

Yes, it is hard to believe that they could fit so many things...

Thank you,
with my love,
nia

[Don Schaeffer]

Does the I-Pad have a screen-pointing web cam? The camera on the I-Phone points away from the user. This makes video calling harder.

[Wedding Shooter]

Does the I-Pad have a screen-pointing web cam? The camera on the I-Phone points away from the user. This makes video calling harder.

It is the one feature missing that is a deal breaker for me - I will wait for web cam before I buy. It has no camera at all at this stage.

[shuttertalk]

Agreed...

By the way, the major sites have published some reviews:

This one by PCMag is a bit fluffy:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362042,00.asp

This one by NYT is heavily in favour:
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100331/apple-ipad-review/

[Pavel]

I still love my stone tablet, but it is a little slow and you have to keep on replacing the chisels...

P

[NT73]

A few months back the TV were reporting soon to come a roll up/folding screen. So when you can have one of those on a t-shirt and the workings in a watch sized what not, then I would be more interested than now.
Of course it would have to be touch sensitive as well (when switched on) (not all the time) (could be a little embarrasing)

[shuttertalk]

Something like this??

[NT73]

Go easy with the 'B, 'N' and 'M'.

[shuttertalk]

It's been more than a month since the iPad was officially launched - it's been a couple of weeks here in Oz as well. Has anyone had a chance to play with one yet?

A few of my co-workers have got theirs and almost all of them like it, except for one who's put it on ebay because he didn't end up using it very much.

[Wedding Shooter]

I gave in and bought one after my wife saw the video for them on the Apple Website and said we should get one. I jumped in as there may have been a change of heart later Am so glad I did - the photo viewing is fantastic for clients and there are so many apps for it that I haven't stopped using it every day. Plus it can double as an extra screen for my laptop - very neat for photoshop and lightroom on the go.

Highly recommended.

[shuttertalk]

Hey Chris, thanks for the feedback! Very interesting - I never thought of the photo viewer for clients angle - I can see how it would be an awesome experience for them to swipe through your photos in your studio... very cool.

How do you use it as an extra screen? Does it do it natively?

[Wedding Shooter]

Hey Chris, thanks for the feedback! Very interesting - I never thought of the photo viewer for clients angle - I can see how it would be an awesome experience for them to swipe through your photos in your studio... very cool.

How do you use it as an extra screen? Does it do it natively?

You have to download an app from the app store - cost about $12 I think. You then download the software to your laptop as well and they are connected via wifi. It is so simple to turn on and it is perfect for the photoshop junk that hangs around on the right side of your screen and for a grid in Lightroom while you use the main window to view the image.

I use it as a portable studio for all my photos that I want to show. At any time now it is so easy to show anyone my work and the photos look so good on the iPad - plus the UI is fantastic.

[Don Schaeffer]

Maybe it's a matter of simplicity. I watched people reading from e-books on the bus. They take them out of their little case and turn them on and read. No fancy stuff.