Ipad can do anything a laptop can...... RANT

[Silent_Buddha]

IMO, flash needs to fucking die instead of being embraced, because 95% of all flash on the web is just ads, and often annoying ones. Flash popups that can't be blocked by normal means, flash popups triggering from mouse clicks anywhere on a page, flash ads scrolling across the screen, ads playing sound, ads folding out and covering the contents of the entire page because your pointer accidentally moused over it...on and on the list goes of annoying shit that piece of crap does.

And it crashes, and it is fucking slow, and there's security holes galore too.

If Apple never adopts flash support for iOS it'll be too soon. If they'd ban it off of MacOS too I'd buy a powerbook tomorrow.

If you hate Flash due to adverts, you're going to absolutely HATE HTML5. At least with flash it's easy enough to just turn off Flash whenever you don't need it. I'm not so sure you'll be able to do the same with HTML5.

Personally I dislike Flash due to it being another possible attack vector over the internet.

Regards,
SB

 

[Richard]

@SB: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away when Opera didn't have a built-in Ad-block, there was an addon made by a fan that let you remove nodes from the DOM (literally remove - not hide) so that you could kill ads and so on. Opera's Dragonfly already let's you highlight any DOM node and change its properties on the fly so it's only a matter of time until all browsers have that kind of addon.

It was extra nice because when you destroyed a node Opera would re-layout the page so you didn't end up with large empty blanks on the page like with Ad-block and its ilk do now.

 

[Fred]

I personally think its great. Generally speaking, I *hate* laptops and rarely have used them in 20 years. The Ipad otoh is smaller and does everything that I would ever use a laptop for.

As a researcher, its wonderful having all your textbooks/preprints in one place so that I can pull them up in the middle of a lecture and jot notes.

I agree that it can get better (and it will), but its very promising technology and imo the best tech in the past 5 years.

 

[eastmen]

I can certianly see where the ipad or a tablet can be a nice compainion to my pc and laptop. But its not a replacement. I would certianly use it in bed to watch some videos or read some websites over my laptop at night though and on the train or a trip it might be nicer than a laptop as its smaller and less bulky. But it wont replace a laptop for along time for me

 

[Grall]

I think the main issue is that people who blow more than average need a device that can both blow and suck. For this a PC works much better as it was a device designed around blowing.

Omg, this comment is SO WIN.

I totally agree with what you say btw. If your needs are light on creation, and mainly just consumption, iPad isn't a terrible piece of kit. It could have been more though, but perhaps Apple rushed it to get it into market ahead of any possible competitors.

Now, Apple likes to iterate on their devices (sell them all over again to the same customers... ), so perhaps the next spin won't be quite as limiting. I'm sure there'll be at least a front-facing camera this time, and very likely more RAM, and a faster GPU instead of that sluggish thing the first version has.

If only Apple had incorporated something like this:

I saw this link at HOCP the other day and it's mindblowing. I tried typing on an iphone4, and I was producing like 2x the number of incorrect characters compared to correct ones. It was horrible. Of course, ipad has a much bigger screen, so the touch keyboard would be bigger too, but it would still be prone to errors at times.

Blindtype on the other hand - provided it has a dictionary of your language, and maybe it needs some training too - looks just fabulous. That someone hasn't come up with something similar yet is so depressing. And now Google seems to have bought these guys up, so now Apple are doomed forever!

 

[pcchen]

Too bad Apple still doesn't support custom IMEs on iOS IIRC. This is a problem for me because the only built-in IMEs on iOS for traditional Chinese are: ping-yin (which I don't know how to use), bopomofo (which I prefer not to use), Changjie (again I don't know how to use), strokes (cumbersome), and handwriting (slow). The company which produces the IME I'm currently using is eager to make an iOS version, but they only made an experimental version which works only on jail-broken devices because Apple doesn't support that, and this creates a serious problem for me to type any reasonable amount of Chinese on an iOS device.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

@SB: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away when Opera didn't have a built-in Ad-block, there was an addon made by a fan that let you remove nodes from the DOM (literally remove - not hide) so that you could kill ads and so on. Opera's Dragonfly already let's you highlight any DOM node and change its properties on the fly so it's only a matter of time until all browsers have that kind of addon.

It was extra nice because when you destroyed a node Opera would re-layout the page so you didn't end up with large empty blanks on the page like with Ad-block and its ilk do now.

Ooooh, that does sound like a nice feature. Sounds much better than the combination of Restricted sites + HOST entries that I do currently. In addtion to Flash enable/disable.

Blindtype on the other hand - provided it has a dictionary of your language, and maybe it needs some training too - looks just fabulous. That someone hasn't come up with something similar yet is so depressing. And now Google seems to have bought these guys up, so now Apple are doomed forever!

Google is doing a good job of mirroring the Microsoft of the 90's. Buying up all the little guys that either have what they want or are competing with them by doing something better.

Regards,
SB

 

[eastmen]

To be honest , I'm waiting for a tablet that has at least two sd slots (don't care if i have to open the back cover) and usb ports. It be great if i can take it on the raod with me , film stuff and then back it up and watch it on a tablet.

I got tired of apple's forced upgrading with the ipods.

 

[Snyder]

Precisely, most people are sucks, they just suck in content. Each day, every day. On a rare occasion they might blow, blow off a tweet or an email. But mostly, most people just suck.

The iPad work perfectly as a suck device. Allows all the interaction that is required for a suck device. And is pretty hard for someone who is interested in sucking to mess up.

I think the main issue is that people who blow more than average need a device that can both blow and suck. For this a PC works much better as it was a device designed around blowing.

So the reality is that most people mostly suck and rarely ever blow so are perfectly fine with a device that is mostly designed around sucking. OTOH, people that blow, generally need a device that doesn't just suck.

You, Sir, just won the internet.

I'd like to add: I'm ok with a single device for sucking (and as you said, it works quite well in this regard), but even for part-time suckers like me the device can become quite limiting because it is designed let you suck what apple wants you to suck. Which may be enough for satisfaction in the US and other well developed areas, but e.g. here in Austria the offer quite often leaves you wanting more...

I personally think its great. Generally speaking, I *hate* laptops and rarely have used them in 20 years. The Ipad otoh is smaller and does everything that I would ever use a laptop for.

As a researcher, its wonderful having all your textbooks/preprints in one place so that I can pull them up in the middle of a lecture and jot notes.

I wonder - wouldn't be a stylus-based interface (combined with something like OneNote) be a much better fit for this use case? You know, something like Courier...*sigh*

 

[Richard]

I wonder - wouldn't be a stylus-based interface (combined with something like OneNote) be a much better fit for this use case? You know, something like Courier...*sigh*

Courier would be most excellent with its dual screens but a tablet PC will work well for this.

 

[Mintmaster]

I think the main issue is that people who blow more than average need a device that can both blow and suck. For this a PC works much better as it was a device designed around blowing.

There's nothing wrong with a device that just sucks. My issue with the iPad is that it costs twice as much as a device that both blows and sucks (a netbook).

At $200-300, it makes sense. At $500, its success is a sad statement about Apples ability to control the consumer with image and advertising. This is not like the iPhone, which had unparalleled functionality when it was introduced at $700.

I personally think its great. Generally speaking, I *hate* laptops and rarely have used them in 20 years. The Ipad otoh is smaller and does everything that I would ever use a laptop for.

How does a netbook not serve your needs? They're only a bit larger, do so much more, and cost so much less. The efficiency gains from a keyboard alone make me baffled as to why anyone would want an iPad.

 

[Blazkowicz]

a netbook keyboard is cumbersome. I easily understand how you can hate laptops - I have trouble with small keys and layouts below 15" laptops with no keypad or giant laptops, 17" and bigger.
plus you often have lousy sound, and unreliable parts such as the power jack and the optical drive.

a modern, high quality and big laptop is a pleasant computer to use (thanks to gigs of rams, modern hard drive, and less bad display/sound than before) but not all laptops are so.
I have to reinstall software on my netbook by the way (odd and nice little machine with a rare x86 cpu, slower, cheaper and lower power than VIA and Atom), now that there are newer distro releases such as Linux Mint LXDE Edition and Ubuntu 10.10 ; but a third of the keyboard (eee PC clone) doesn't register keys. so I have to dismount it while fearing to break it down more, or have to buy a USB keyboard. (never, ever bought a keyboard)
Boring!

I would like an iPad, for the same reason a big laptop is useful : to fuck around on the web and videos. Desktop PC will always have a superior keyboard and superior display (not glossy TN) if you really want to get "Serious"!
plus a superior sound system : a 250€ desktop with 250€ of audio gear is fun and costs the same as a laptop or ipad.

well.. actually I'm using some family laptop than never leaves the house, it's a giant one (18.4"). it's very good for fucking around, an ipad would be more portable but more limited (it would be worse for typing into the forum, but may be better for some casual video). a netbook would be inferior to both for fucking around. but would be superior for some travelling usage.. which you might not need.
to use a netbook, you need to be away from a public/work/personal PC, but not away from a usable power outlet for more than two hours (as the battery life is low).

and a netbook can do everything, but are the most fragile kind of laptops.
they suck, as they can easily be that one computer you never use. most people who run them either use them as their only laptop, or as their only computer (in which case I would argue for them).

 

[I.S.T.]

a netbook keyboard is cumbersome. I easily understand how you can hate laptops - I have trouble with small keys and layouts below 15" laptops with no keypad or giant laptops, 17" and bigger.
plus you often have lousy sound, and unreliable parts such as the power jack and the optical drive.

a modern, high quality and big laptop is a pleasant computer to use (thanks to gigs of rams, modern hard drive, and less bad display/sound than before) but not all laptops are so.
I have to reinstall software on my netbook by the way (odd and nice little machine with a rare x86 cpu, slower, cheaper and lower power than VIA and Atom), now that there are newer distro releases such as Linux Mint LXDE Edition and Ubuntu 10.10 ; but a third of the keyboard (eee PC clone) doesn't register keys. so I have to dismount it while fearing to break it down more, or have to buy a USB keyboard. (never, ever bought a keyboard)
Boring!

I would like an iPad, for the same reason a big laptop is useful : to fuck around on the web and videos. Desktop PC will always have a superior keyboard and superior display (not glossy TN) if you really want to get "Serious"!
plus a superior sound system : a 250€ desktop with 250€ of audio gear is fun and costs the same as a laptop or ipad.

well.. actually I'm using some family laptop than never leaves the house, it's a giant one (18.4"). it's very good for fucking around, an ipad would be more portable but more limited (it would be worse for typing into the forum, but may be better for some casual video). a netbook would be inferior to both for fucking around. but would be superior for some travelling usage.. which you might not need.
to use a netbook, you need to be away from a public/work/personal PC, but not away from a usable power outlet for more than two hours (as the battery life is low).

and a netbook can do everything, but are the most fragile kind of laptops.
they suck, as they can easily be that one computer you never use. most people who run them either use them as their only laptop, or as their only computer (in which case I would argue for them).

A modern(Defined here as released within the last five years) x86 CPU with lower power draw than the Atom? What CPU is it?

 

[Mintmaster]

a netbook keyboard is cumbersome. I easily understand how you can hate laptops - I have trouble with small keys

And yet you prefer the iPad? Different strokes, I suppose...

When I got a netbook, I bought one that was light and had a large keyboard (94% full size or something like that). It's far less annoying to lug around than a 5lb notebook, 10x better for typing than an iPad, and I don't worry about it because it's so cheap.

and a netbook can do everything, but are the most fragile kind of laptops.

Because you had a bad experience with the odd unit you bought? Or simply because you say so?

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Even a very badly made netbook won't get damaged as fast as the ipad will. My Samsung is pretty tough I think and with the 93% normal sized keyboard it certainly much better to type on than a ipad (not to mention ergonomics).

Personally I think the ipad is a failure as a device. It is no real competition for a netbook because it doesn't offer the same speed and usability. No office suite, no software (no apps don't count as a replacement for stuff like photoshop) and your certainly not going to write a whole report on it. At the same time it also loses against your phone because as it runs iOS it can't actually do anything your phone can't, and if you own a Android or WiMo device it will actually do less, but at the same time you won't carry your ipad with you all the time like you do with your phone.

So the ipad is a oversized phone, but without the phone part. What can you do? browse the net on your couch...

 

[Scott_Arm]

As much as I think the iPad sucks, it's not even remotely a failure. It's selling fast.

 

[Malo]

Apple could make a white iPoop and it would sell fast....

 

[tangey]

As much as I think the iPad sucks, it's not even remotely a failure. It's selling fast.

I wouldn't take it too seriously, he also refers to the iphone as the "failphone", probably the most successful phone ever launched, what are we at, something approaching 100M between 2g,3g,3gs and 4g, which are variations on a theme

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1479846&postcount=140

personally, I think its an apple thing

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I'm talking about the devices itself, like I said. The fact that they sell like crazy doesn't mean the devices itself are the best. I stated above why I don't like the ipad and I think I got some good points. Though that ofcourse will depend on what you expect out of it.

Calling the iphone the failphone has to do with people accepting it lacking very basic stuff that should, IMHO, be there. Where is BT file transfers? Mounting as disk drive? being able to not use that shitty piece of software called itunes? Or other stuff that took untill the iphone 4 to get right like a character counter for text messages, HSDPA support (welcome in 2007 apple...) etc.

And yes I also don't like apple

 

[NeoTechni]

agreed, ipad cant run 99% of what my PC does