Here is a copy of Gadgetress blog article summarizing the reviews to date!
Now that the Apple iPad is official (read the details at “Apple announces its first tablet computer: The iPad“), the skinny little machine is getting all sorts of reviews from folks who had the chance to play with it and others who’ve only read about it.
Here’s a collection of observations from the Web and the newsroom:
>>This just in: Ken Brusic, editor for The Orange County Register and an iPhone user: What they did was really smart. We will order one to see how it might help us think of producing content in the future and see what our web site will look like on such a thing. The thing that I think is really smart is … instead of creating something new, they’ve created something that is really useful and continued along the same path that they started with the development community and the millions of ( iPhone and iTouch) users. I think it probably won’t be as useful as a Kindle for reading a book. eInk technology is really great for reading books because it uses so little power and the reading experience is really great. … I think magazines and newspapers will be great on the tablet. But 10 hours worth of battery life? I’ll have to see it to believe it.
► Brent Chow, Yorba Linda resident via Twitter: the iPad could rev the use of portable comps. Y buy a macbk pro when u can get a more powerful imac & ipad for about the same $
► OCMarisa on Twitter: I’ve been hoping for this. Been holding off on a netbook. I’ll get this with the 3G
► Peacekeeper357 via Twitter: Meh. Not bad, but not great. I’ll wait 4 next rev. I waited until 3G iPhone, I’ll wait on this.
► Jon Lansner, OC Register real estate blogger at Lansner on Real Estate (and an iPod Touch user): I’m not sure this is the game changer, technology wise. But packaging-wise — assuming it delivers the expected high performance — this seems like the “next big thing.” And to bring technology up a notch to the masses, It’s always been about the packaging — not the science anyway. This may indeed be the start of the ”paperless” society many have dreamed of.
► Engadget, tech news site: “The screen is gorgeous, tilting is responsive, and the thing is super thin. Still, if you’ve used the iPhone before — and you can see the two devices side-by-side here — there’s not a lot of surprises here so far. …It’s not light. It feels pretty weighty in your hand.” (Read more)
► Leo Malone, Gadgetress commenter: Sadly it’s just a big iPod Touch. If it won’t run normal Apple laptop apps then it’s really just a toy. And when you consider it, a big uncomfortable one.
► Sonya Smith, our own beloved iGirl and major Apple user, via Twitter: The ipad has arrived. Now back to trying to sleep off this cold.
► Jason Joo, Irvine student and gamer, via Twitter:OH GOD, AT&T. NO NO NO NO. #ipadfail
► Gary Robbins, the OC Register’s “Sciencedude” blogger and iPhone owner: I recently bought a Kindle, which I like. But I’ll chuck it for an iPad because it looks like the device can do everything I want to do. Namely, surf the web, read e-books, text, email, watch movies and listen to music. I want one. Now. Today. This minute.
► Roxanne Hack, Web guru and iPhone owner here at the OCRegister, via Twitter: one way to get you boys to stop talking about iPad as if it’s a feminine product: we could actually start talking about feminin products
► Jezebel, a women-centric blog: Apple’s iPad announcement earlier this afternoon prompted a score of WTFing across the internet, prompting many to ask, “Are there any women on Apple’s marketing team?” Answer: Apparently not. (Period.) (Read more)
► David Pogue, New York Times tech columnist: Until I saw the demo, I wondered why you’d want an iPad instead of a laptop. After all, the price is about the same. And once you add a carrying case to the iPad—wouldn’t you worry about that glass screen bouncing around in your briefcase or backpack naked?—it’s about the same bulk and weight as a laptop. Now, though, it looks like Apple really has created something new. Criticisms of“Like a laptop” and “a big iPod Touch” don’t really do justice to the possibilities. (Read more)
► Adam Fucci, over at tech blog Gizmodo: My god, am I underwhelmed by the iPad. This is as inessential a product as I’ve ever seen, but beyond that, it has some absolutely backbreaking failures that will make me judge anyone who buys one (Read more at “8 things that suck about the iPad“).
►Jeremy Horwitz, editor at Apple reviews site, iLounge, who played with the iPad: The lack of an obvious tethering option for those who are already shelling out money for their iPhone service is a big miss, as well, but one that could possibly be addressed before launch. Here’s hoping. (Read more)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The first reviews of the iPad via WIRED
The early reviews for the iPad are in, and they’re certainly going to make Steve Jobs happy.
Apple handed out iPads to a few select publications a couple of days early, and the critical consensus is overwhelmingly positive.
The usual reviewers from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, as well as a few surprising newcomers to the Apple early reviews circuit, all praised the iPad for its epically long battery life (more than 12 hours), impressive speed and beautiful touchscreen.
Priced between $500 and $830, the iPad is hitting stores Saturday.
Excerpts from the eight early reviews are as follows:
Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal:
I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades.
….
All in all, however, the iPad is an advance in making more-sophisticated computing possible via a simple touch interface on a slender, light device. Only time will tell if it’s a real challenger to the laptop and netbook.
David Pogue, The New York Times:
And the techies are right about another thing: the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it — books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on. For most people, manipulating these digital materials directly by touching them is a completely new experience — and a deeply satisfying one.
Andy Inhatko, Chicago Sun Times:
In fact, after a week with the iPad, I’m suddenly wondering if any other company is as committed to invention as Apple. Has any other company ever demonstrated a restlessness to stray from the safe and proven, and actually invent things?
Ed Baig, USA Today:
The first iPad is a winner. It stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon’s Kindle. It gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money. At the very least, the iPad will likely drum up mass-market interest in tablet computing in ways that longtime tablet visionary and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates could only dream of.
Tim Gideon, PCMag.com:
Aside from Apple enthusiasts, many of us wondered who would drop hundreds of dollars for this not-quite-computer. But having used the iPad for some time, I can tell you that the device just makes sense. When you combine basic-but-essential work tools with iWork, an improved browser, e-mail, iPod, and photo applications, a well-executed e-Book platform with iBooks, and throw in thousands of downloadable apps and games, and package it all in a gorgeous, slim slate with a beautiful 9.7-inch touch screen, you have yourself a winner.
Bob LeVitus, Houston Chronicle:
It turns out the iPad isn’t as much a laptop replacement as I thought (though it could easily be used as one). Instead, it’s an entirely new category of mobile device. For example, now when I want to surf the Web from the couch or back deck, the iPad is the device I choose. Starbucks? Same thing. Think of the iPad as a new arrow in your technology quiver, an arrow that will often be the best tool for a given task.
Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing:
Just as the iPhone, Palm Pré and Android phones scratched an itch we didn’t know we had—somewhere between cellphone and notebook—the iPad hits a completely new pleasure spot. The display is large enough to make the experience of apps and games on smaller screens stale. Typography is crisp, images gem-like, and the speed brisk thanks to Apple’s A4 chip and solid state storage. As I browse early release iPad apps, web pages, and flip through the iBook store and books, the thought hits that this is a greater leap into a new user experience than the sum of its parts suggests.
Omar Wasow, TheRoot.com:
The techie obsession with specs and obscure features completely misses how most consumers will actually use the iPad. A small percentage of power users will be disappointed that the iPad doesn’t, say, have an HDMI video-out port or that it currently lacks the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously or that it fails to address some other esoteric concern. The rest of us (even most techies) will be thrilled that doing what we want to do on the iPad is generally effortless.
via Wired
Apple handed out iPads to a few select publications a couple of days early, and the critical consensus is overwhelmingly positive.
The usual reviewers from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, as well as a few surprising newcomers to the Apple early reviews circuit, all praised the iPad for its epically long battery life (more than 12 hours), impressive speed and beautiful touchscreen.
Priced between $500 and $830, the iPad is hitting stores Saturday.
Excerpts from the eight early reviews are as follows:
Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal:
I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades.
….
All in all, however, the iPad is an advance in making more-sophisticated computing possible via a simple touch interface on a slender, light device. Only time will tell if it’s a real challenger to the laptop and netbook.
David Pogue, The New York Times:
And the techies are right about another thing: the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it — books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on. For most people, manipulating these digital materials directly by touching them is a completely new experience — and a deeply satisfying one.
Andy Inhatko, Chicago Sun Times:
In fact, after a week with the iPad, I’m suddenly wondering if any other company is as committed to invention as Apple. Has any other company ever demonstrated a restlessness to stray from the safe and proven, and actually invent things?
Ed Baig, USA Today:
The first iPad is a winner. It stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon’s Kindle. It gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money. At the very least, the iPad will likely drum up mass-market interest in tablet computing in ways that longtime tablet visionary and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates could only dream of.
Tim Gideon, PCMag.com:
Aside from Apple enthusiasts, many of us wondered who would drop hundreds of dollars for this not-quite-computer. But having used the iPad for some time, I can tell you that the device just makes sense. When you combine basic-but-essential work tools with iWork, an improved browser, e-mail, iPod, and photo applications, a well-executed e-Book platform with iBooks, and throw in thousands of downloadable apps and games, and package it all in a gorgeous, slim slate with a beautiful 9.7-inch touch screen, you have yourself a winner.
Bob LeVitus, Houston Chronicle:
It turns out the iPad isn’t as much a laptop replacement as I thought (though it could easily be used as one). Instead, it’s an entirely new category of mobile device. For example, now when I want to surf the Web from the couch or back deck, the iPad is the device I choose. Starbucks? Same thing. Think of the iPad as a new arrow in your technology quiver, an arrow that will often be the best tool for a given task.
Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing:
Just as the iPhone, Palm Pré and Android phones scratched an itch we didn’t know we had—somewhere between cellphone and notebook—the iPad hits a completely new pleasure spot. The display is large enough to make the experience of apps and games on smaller screens stale. Typography is crisp, images gem-like, and the speed brisk thanks to Apple’s A4 chip and solid state storage. As I browse early release iPad apps, web pages, and flip through the iBook store and books, the thought hits that this is a greater leap into a new user experience than the sum of its parts suggests.
Omar Wasow, TheRoot.com:
The techie obsession with specs and obscure features completely misses how most consumers will actually use the iPad. A small percentage of power users will be disappointed that the iPad doesn’t, say, have an HDMI video-out port or that it currently lacks the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously or that it fails to address some other esoteric concern. The rest of us (even most techies) will be thrilled that doing what we want to do on the iPad is generally effortless.
via Wired
Monday, March 29, 2010
Steve Jobs introduces the iPad
So you missed Steve Jobs keynote on the iPad?
That's ok, because here is an edited version of all the features of the iPad in 180 seconds! April 3rd is almost here and no doubt there will be a lot of buzz on the iPad.
That's ok, because here is an edited version of all the features of the iPad in 180 seconds! April 3rd is almost here and no doubt there will be a lot of buzz on the iPad.
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