[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeusEx /img/forum/go_quote.gif And...the initial iPad reviews are out: State of the Art - David Pogue's Review of the iPad - NYTimes.com Apple's iPad is a touch of genius - Boing Boing Apple iPad Review with Video and Photos - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine Apple iPad Review: Laptop Killer? Pretty Close. | Walt Mossberg | Personal Technology | AllThingsD If you're wondering why Engadget, Gizmodo, other major tech blogs were passed over, well, go ask Jobs. Apple Screws Top Gadget Blogs: No Early iPad Review Units

We already knew that the iPad is not a hardcore techie device. It's a device for everyone else who expects their computers to work intuitively the first time using it and who would be more impressed by what it can do than disappointed by what it can't do. Them and compulsive early adopters.

Mainstream tech blogs would have likely had a more lukewarm stance towards the iPad than the select audience they sent it to. Smart move by Apple.

 

[zotjen]

It should also be noted that many of the publications (e.g. NY Times, WSJ) that were given iPads to review already have deals with Apple and are hoping the iPad will provide a large number of subscriptions to help offset their declining print sales.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit /img/forum/go_quote.gif Probably because so many of these supposedly "objective" said blogs have a perceived or historical anti-Apple bias, whether or not they actually do now.

You're pretty wrong. Engadget and Gizmodo are infamous for Apple biased. Far from objective.

 

[Spiritboxer]

Everyone's asking me if I'm getting one and I'm asking if I have a laptop, notebook and an iPhone why do I need one? Of course David Pogue, the reigning gearhead at the NY Times explained exactly why but I don't remember what he said.

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiritboxer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Everyone's asking me if I'm getting one and I'm asking if I have a laptop, notebook and an iPhone why do I need one? Of course David Pogue, the reigning gearhead at the NY Times explained exactly why but I don't remember what he said.

The form factor makes for a killer media consumption device. The locked down nature of the device also makes it far more attractive to content creators than alternate platforms.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif You're pretty wrong. Engadget and Gizmodo are infamous for Apple biased. Far from objective.

They are both much better about this bias lately, but they still go "both ways"; from Engadget:

Sick of all the Apple news? We're here for you!

Read - Engadget without Apple news
Subscribe - Engadget feed without Apple news

Same with Gizmodo:

Seriously, are you dumb enough to buy a first generation iPad?

We can all read the same thing, but then perceive different information from that same source. This is known as "Belief Reinforcement: When an individual is confronted with evidence that contradicts his or her beliefs, actually becomes even more committed to the false paradigm in question."

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit /img/forum/go_quote.gif They are both much better about this bias lately, but they still go "both ways"; from Engadget:

That's only after the readers became so tired of their multiple Apple news. Engadget even had to shut their comment system for a while. And yes, the situation changed a little bit after that but that's true, Engadget is Apple biased.

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit /img/forum/go_quote.gif They are both much better about this bias lately, but they still go "both ways"; from Engadget: Sick of all the Apple news? We're here for you! Read - Engadget without Apple news Subscribe - Engadget feed without Apple news Same with Gizmodo: Seriously, are you dumb enough to buy a first generation iPad? We can all read the same thing, but then perceive different information from that same source. This is known as "Belief Reinforcement: When an individual is confronted with evidence that contradicts his or her beliefs, actually becomes even more committed to the false paradigm in question."

You've gotta be kidding me if you think that those are examples of anti-Apple bias.

The sole reason why Engadget has a "no Apple" zone is because the site is so flooded with Apple coverage that a chunk of their user base complains about it. If they were really anti-Apple, there wouldn't be any need for a "no Apple" version of the site to satisfy those readers.

And the Gizmodo thing is clearly tongue in cheek, something that would be obvious if you read to the end and hit the *I am a scumbag and a hypocrite. I woke up at 5:30 AM in California to buy an iPad for myself, and Lisa. 3G, 32GB. line. Unless of course pointing out that a device does have some flaws counts as "bias" these days.

Now this piece (boingboing.net, Corey Doctorow), there might just be some anti-Apple bias there.

 

[Zodduska]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's only after the readers became so tired of their multiple Apple news. Engadget even had to shut their comment system for a while. And yes, the situation changed a little bit after that but that's true, Engadget is Apple biased.

Engadget is Gadget Biased.. if you want Real Apple Bias (in general) look no further than Gizmodo.

 

[Lil' Knight]

I haven't read Giz for a long time.

Anyway, I still pre-order 2x iPad 16gb for my brother. Would spend some time fooling around with it to find out how it does the job. If I feel it's really better than my iTouch, I might grab one for my own.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif I haven't read Giz for a long time. Anyway, I still pre-order 2x iPad 16gb for my brother. Would spend some time fooling around with it to find out how it does the job. If I feel it's really better than my iTouch, I might grab one for my own.

Points taken about Engadget and Gizmodo; I haven't read much on either of them for quite a while either, but I thought I remembered that they were more anti-Apple in the past. I could be getting them mixed up with other sites, or I could just be a hyper-sensitive, completely hopeless fanboy

I think I would rather have an iPod Touch myself at this point. The lack of flash support and any ports at all on this sucker would frustrate me, as this is a super cool device that has been crippled for many of what would be my intended uses, like watching Hulu while lounging on the couch, and loading my own lossless files into iTunes. If it had flash and either a USB port or an SD cardslot built-in, it would be much more attractive to me personally.

It's going to be great for people who actually want content from the iTunes store though, and accordingly for APPL's bottom line. For those that have shied away from the internet thus far, the iPad will be a great introduction as it seems like it will be their most intuitive interface yet, and that's definitely saying something.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Well, right now I have no idea why the iPad is better than my iTouch. Surely it has a bigger screen and faster processor, but those won't justify the price difference. Gotta try to make final decision. I watch the ad and admit that it's pretty cool. It *has* the SD cardslot if you're willing to open your pocket, which I surely won't.

Does anyone know how long does the battery last for music only?

 

[grawk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think I would rather have an iTouch myself at this point. The lack of flash support and any ports at all on this sucker would frustrate me, as this is a super cool device that has been crippled for many of my uses, like watching Hulu while lounging on the couch, and loading my own lossless files into iTunes. If it had flash and either a USB port or an SD cardslot built-in, it would be much more attractive to me personally.

You can load your own lossless files into itunes, and the hulu app might not be out yet, but it's coming, and netflix app, abc, cbs, etc are here already. It's not just about buying media from apple.

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can load your own lossless files into itunes, and the hulu app might not be out yet, but it's coming, and netflix app, abc, cbs, etc are here already. It's not just about buying media from apple.

If you dock it to a computer running iTunes with your lossless files, sure. But otherwise, you would have to buy/use an adapter, or e-mail the songs to yourself. I would like to just plug in a jump drive or SD card, then I could get by with the 16GB version. Another $100 just to get another 16gb of built-in memory is kind of insulting IMHO. Self-contained 32gb DataTravelers run $70 shipped!

I didn't know about the Hulu app. So it will run "Hulu Flash", but not "Safari Flash"?

Another big thing for me would be the ability to save PDF files from Safari pages for off-line reading of long articles. It's not totally clear to me yet, but the iPad doesn't seem to offer that without 3rd party apps; I want something like the print-to-PDF and open in Preview that works so well in OS X, that would totally meet my "e-reader" needs.

Well maybe not totally. It might be worth it just to have the MARVEL COMICS app; it looks pretty cool...

Apple serves up 10 billionth iTune, smiles all the way to the bank

 

[grawk]

you can print to pdf and convert to epub, or there's an app out that saves webpages for off line viewing. As to the not wanting to dock it, eh, it's not a replacement for a computer for me, it's to give me more flexibility.