iPad Launches, FCC Teardown Leaked

Apple's much-awaited iPad officially launched today, and iFixit has gotten their hands on photos from the FCC teardown. They've done an analysis of the internals and provided directions on doing it yourself, if you're so inclined. Predictably, it's a hot topic in the media. Cory Doctorow wrote about why he won't be getting an iPad, complaining about the closed, hacker-unfriendly design and what he calls the "Wal-martization of the software channel." Daring Fireball's John Gruber disagrees, pointing out that enthusiasts — even kids exercising their curiosity — are still quite capable of playing around with the iPad through app creation, and with much more of a chance to compete with big companies than in the Apple ][ days. Similarly, others are referring to it as the "bedtime computer" — technology that has a reasonable shot at expanding into completely new areas of use, like bedtime reading for kids. Such a device was predicted in 1972 by Alan Kay, the PARC scientist credited with the epigram "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." His hypothetical DynaBook bears striking similarity to what Apple finally came up with. So, those of you who have picked up or received an iPad already: how do you like it?

Comments

3...2...1... Wake up!

[suso]

People, snap out of it. Its just a tablet computer. They have been around for over 10 years and they have never been all that special. Apple has you in some sort of hypnosis that is causing you to go gaga over closed up commercial productions that you think you need to own.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[Scrameustache]

People, snap out of it. Its just a tablet computer. They have been around for over 10 years and they have never been all that special. Apple has you in some sort of hypnosis

There were MP3 players before the iPod. They sucked, Apple made one that did not suck, and from that they made billions.

This is not just a tablet computer, this is a big-ass iPod, and they're likely to make big-ass billions from it.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[discord5]

People, snap out of it. Its just a tablet computer.

Yeah, but this one is hand-made by Steve Jobs, assembled on the thighs of Taiwanese virgins. If you sniff it real hard you can still smell the reality distortion field permeating the electronics.

It will also double as a paperweight and shiny object to distract other people.

Disclaimer: Taiwanese virgins may or may not be female. Applicability as paperweight is not guaranteed by the usermanual.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[sopssa]

While iPod sure was better than the most MP3 players, I disagree that iPod was something revolutionary. Walkman players were damn good too, and they weren't as large as iPod - a really important aspect if you want to take some music with you while jogging (so that the player doesn't weight in your pocket, and so that it doesn't either pull your earplugs out of year head). One of the Walkmans that was maybe 1cm wide and 3cm long and ultra light was perfect for this.

Another aspect to think about iPod vs Walkman or other MP3 players was that iPod had no physical feedback on controls. Only flat buttons in front of it. The other players had song scrolls that were out of the player and you could feel them - another important point when you're just putting your hand in pocket and want to change a song.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[sandertje]

I don't think these were marketed in the huge way Apple does with the iPad. Consumer products never grow big unless they are marketed. The iPad --- and the clones it will undoubtedly spur --- might not be new in the technical sense of the word, but for 99.9% of the world population, it will. Perhaps the world wasn't ready for tablet PCs 10 years ago, as the netbook also has only been vastly popular for the last few years. Ten years ago, people were just getting used to mobile phones equipped with camera's, they couldn't see any need for tablet computers. These days, that's changed. E-book manufacturers make ever greater profits, our mobile phones are basically wearable desktop computers, its only logical that tablet computers are the next big thing. Apple comes with this iPad at precisely the right moment, AND it's got the right sense of marketing. ;-)

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[jo_ham]

You may not, but I wager that many people will.

I don't want a Corvette, but for some reason, they keep making them. I don't really know why.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[zappepcs]

Whoa there Nelly. Once you remove the coolness factor from it, It's not just an MP3 player, it's a proprietary lock-in MP3 player that costs way more than it needs to. The iPad will be the same. The cool factor is nothing short of sales magic. The first time I saw an iPhone, I thought to myself that it's clever and works fairly well. Then I tried to make a phone call. Ooops. Then I looked at the music capabilities... another ooops. Every time the device added lock-in or required that I jump through hoops to use it with Linux, it's coolness factor dropped by at least half. In the end it doesn't do enough to make it worth the extra cost.

The iPad will be the same, or at least has started out with all the same flashing lights and bragging. Maybe in 6 months when normal people get a look at one they will see it as the same 'magical' do-nothing-special device that the iPod and iPhone turned out to be. If there is any lock-in or I'm required to jump through hoops to use one with my home network, then Apple can keep them. All of them. I'm not likely to buy a hammer that requires I buy special gloves from the same company to use it, or restricts which nails I can use it to hit. You can go gaga all you want about how cool it is but if you do I'm taking you off the Christmas party invite list.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[zieroh]

Apple has you in some sort of hypnosis that is causing you to go gaga over closed up commercial productions that you think you need to own.

Would you like to explain the technical process by which they managed to cause everyone to go gaga? I think a more likely explanation is that some people like it. The fact that you don't has no bearing on that.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[_Sprocket_]

I'd argue that it's not a tablet computer - or at least, not in the style that we've been accustomed to in the past 10 years. Apple might have something very different here (time will tell). Yeah, sure... at it's heart, the iPad is a computer. But the interface and intended use are a different take on how we use such a device. And that difference might be just enough, implementing in just the right way, to finally alter people's perceptions about how to use and interact with data.

Think of it in Star Trek terms. There were different interfaces that worked particularly well for different tasks. They had direct access to the ship's computer through voice commands. They had terminals that also linked to the ship's computer. And then they were running around with diagnostics and signing duty rosters, etc. with these small pad devices.

The iPad strikes me as being that pad device; the right interface for a particular subset of computing. And, frankly, a type of computing that just hasn't been fully realized using the hardware and interfaces that have existed in the last 10 years.

Sure - the hype is almost palpable. The territory just isn't that ground-breaking. And I seriously doubt I'll ever purchase an iPad (I'm more interested in Android variations). But it is possible that the iPad will get people to see things differently; in ways that they're not yet understanding because they don't "get" what the iPad is. Yet.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[actionbastard]

It seems as though you are not so upset at the size of the iPad, but the size of your pockets.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[node 3]

They've been around for 10 years and yet they all failed in the consumer market. I wonder if there's some reason for that.....

And as long as the geeks who keep making them are the same types of geeks who go on about how much the iPad sucks and other tablets are so much better, they will remain a losing product.

Here's the clue: nobody, outside of an extremely small niche of geeks, want the type of tablet that slashdotters seem to want. Why companies like HP and ASUS continue down the same failing path again and again baffles me.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[Scrameustache]

Maybe in 6 months when normal people get a look at one they will see it as the same 'magical' do-nothing-special device that the iPod and iPhone turned out to be.

And then they'll buy them by the tens of millions every year? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg

I'm sorry if you think that's "going gaga over how cool it is", but I call that "looking at the bottom line". Then again, you think iPods "do nothing", while I'm still using my 2002 model as an external hard drive.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[Frequency Domain]

A more meaningful consideration is why people like it. Do they like Apple's products because of inherent, demonstrable superiority, like more functionality, better battery life, higher quality, or openness/ability to mod? Things that you can objectively examine such that any neutral, disinterested person can see for himself that it's superior to the competition? Many of us are taking a look at Apple's products and deciding that this cannot be the case.

...based on your view of what's important or provides utility. The place where you're falling on your face is in not acknowledging that other people have entirely different utility functions than you do.

Most people have never opened the case of their equipment, have no clue about the difference between memory and storage, and couldn't identify the CPU if you put a gun to their head and told them their life depended on it. They've never replaced a component, applied a patch, or compiled a program. Why would openness/ability to mod have any presence in their decision making process? They want something that works reliably and is easy to use.

As for the other categories of "objective" assessment you listed, most people are aware of tradeoffs in several categories of usability. You don't have to be best in any single category to be best overall. People want a music device which is affordable, rugged, reliable, easy to use, holds "enough" music, and has "enough" battery life. Folks who obsess about any one of those criteria won't want an iPod, but a huge number of people who are balancing several or all of them have concluded that the iPod is a reasonable choice.

I like programming, I like customizing stuff, I like doing admin stuff on my BSD boxes, but I know that most of the people I work with and hang around with want nothing to do with such things. I also don't want to hassle with such things when I'm at work and I'm supposed to be preparing classes or writing papers. A mac is a great tool for me, because day-to-day crap is trivial to do on it, and I can always drop to the command line for full-blown unixy goodness or fire up a VM for full-blown Windowsy evil.

Bottom line - people can have different values than you about what's easy/hard, comfortable/uncomfortable, or useful/useless, and it doesn't make them irrational, idiots, fanbois, or weak-minded victims of marketing.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[centuren]

While iPod sure was better than the most MP3 players, I disagree that iPod was something revolutionary. Walkman players were damn good too, and they weren't as large as iPod - a really important aspect if you want to take some music with you while jogging (so that the player doesn't weight in your pocket, and so that it doesn't either pull your earplugs out of year head). One of the Walkmans that was maybe 1cm wide and 3cm long and ultra light was perfect for this.

Another aspect to think about iPod vs Walkman or other MP3 players was that iPod had no physical feedback on controls. Only flat buttons in front of it. The other players had song scrolls that were out of the player and you could feel them - another important point when you're just putting your hand in pocket and want to change a song.

The sad, sad thing about this is the truth of it all. I have the first gen Sony Minidisc player/recorder that connected via usb and let you put MP3s onto the minidiscs (the MZ-N1, shown there in it's dock). The form factor and design of the hardware was beautiful, the remote was fantastic to use and to show off, and the player fit in my bag while the remote clipped to my bag's strap. Watching iPod users dig out their players and hold the (seemingly) giant rectangle in front of their face for a couple minutes to pick new music seemed ridiculous at the time. The MZ-N1 didn't have the song capacity the iPod did, but I enjoyed selecting music to put on discs, and decorating them. Combined with the optical input and ease of recording (just run a line from the soundboard directly into the player and hit record during a set), I loved it.

It's buried around the house somewhere now, and I still love it, even as I use my ridiculous giant triangle iPod instead. What sold me on the iPod was not it's hardware, but it's software. iTunes (pre-store of any kind), was a breeze to use. Sony used SonicStage, and the MZ-N1 didn't really play MP3s, it used ATRAC3. SonicStage converted MP3s to ATRAC3, then transferred the music to the device. I didn't mind this, as far as I was concerned they were both just compression formats. What made it so sad, was how terrible SonicStage really was. From just looking at it, to waiting to see if the files converted and uploaded successfully or your computer had crashed horribly in the attempt (one couldn't tell because the conversion and transfer often resembled a horrible crash until it was done), that program was always by far the worst software I'd have on my computer at any time. IIRC, there was even a limit to how many times you could transfer a song to a minidisc (thanks for that, Sony's record label branch).

It got to the point where I began to favor the minidiscs that already had music on them, and the more I stayed away from making new playlists, the concept of an iPod started to seem more and more useful. It never seemed to be more attractive, physically, or more functional in terms of listening to music on the go. What it did have was a fair amount of storage on the device and software that really nailed the concept of keeping a digital library, and transferring songs from the library to a device. Apple ended up selling me on an iPod despite its design and implementation as an actual portable music player, simply because the really great portable music players at the time were backed with such crappy software and silly restrictions.

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[macs4all]

But we shouldn't overlook the fact that Apple has been successful because they market locked-in solutions to largely technology-ignorant consumers. Very intelligent (but less computer-savvy) people buy iPods and iPhones because they don't know anything else exists.

ORLY?

I have been a professional (that is, paid to do it) embedded systems developer (hardware & software) for thirty years. I don't think most people would classify me as "technology-ignorant", or "less computer-savvy", or that I "don't know anything else exists" (the fact that I am posting on /. should belie that).

BUT, when not absolutely forced to use other platforms (which I sometimes am, for my development work), I choose Apple products. In all cases, they represent the epitome of good design (which is a LOT different from just putting every conceivable connector on a device).

After a hot day slogging over a coding/debugging session, the absolute LAST thing I want is to come home and mess with MORE shit, just to make my computer do the things that my Macs do without fuss and muss. It's not that I don't know how to do it; I just have much better things to do with my time than the shit that Windows and Linux people put up with from devices that should, by this time, be at the "appliance reliability" stage.

It has been THIRTY SIX YEARS since the Altair 8800 appeared on the cover of Popular Electronics, and yet, there are people who STILL think it is acceptable to have to mess with their home/work computers (for non-"development" tasks) on an hourly/daily/weekly basis.

All I can say to those people is: You will never get those hours back. Why waste them on what is, at this point, about as exciting as having to rebuild your TV set, just to watch Caprica (no flames, I just picked a random show)?

Grow up. The personal computer "revolution" was a lot of fun, THIRTY YEARS AGO. Sorry you missed it; but now, what passes for "computer geekery", case mods, overclocking, buying the biggest, baddest nitrogen-cooled video card (that someone ELSE designed) is a far, far cry from wire-wrapping your own A/D card and writing drivers for it from scratch (assuming you are not developing a "product"). That stuff, for the most part, is simply impractical for nearly everyone, and has been for about the past 15-20 years. At this point, it is FAR more INTELLIGENT to spend 4 hours researching and purchasing that A/D card than it is to spend 120 hours building same.

Or is your time REALLY worth nothing to you?

So, to bring this around to the original point, you have completely neglected (in that oh-so-predictable myopic, Linux-fanboi way) the fact that their just MIGHT be people who CHOOSE Apple products, not because they can't, but because they can appreciate when someone DOES do it right. Which Apple seems to do much more consistently than ANY other company developing and selling successful, reliable, hassle-resistant "computing devices". To deny that is to deny reality.

Which is, unfortuately, another all-too-predictable trait seen in the species Linus Fanboiius (don't flame my fake Latin. It's been too many years).

BTW, everything has some amount of "lock-in". Windows has lock-in (I think everyone would agree). LINUX has lock-in. Afterall, you can't run OS X apps or Windows apps under Linux (directly, and WINE runs about 10% of Windows apps), so Linus and RMS must be in an evil conspiracy to keep Linux from running that gigantic (much larger than Linux's) software base. I can't stick a ISA card into a PCI slot; so it must be an evil conspiracy by the motherboard manfacturers to LOCK-IN the peripheral card market, JUST to make people buy all their peripherals again!

Of course, if I DO want to "do something" development-wise with my Macs or iPhone or iPad, there are ample tools and opportunities available to do so. XCode for Mac development is FREE (as in beer). And there are other alternatives, too. Yes, iPhone/iPod Touch/iP

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[bemymonkey]

I went through the same transition, but by the time I'd outgrown my MZ-N1, many superior alternatives to the iPod had appeared, all with drag & drop music management, support for important file formats (lossless!) and better sound quality. In combination with Winamp and a well organized collection, well... if you know what you're doing, they're all iPod killers.

For everyone else, there's iTunes ;)

Oh, and now that Android is maturing, I've found that even now I'm still able to avoid Apple products... :)

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[DJRumpy]

Why would you need USB for a keyboard? Do you like the wires? It does support the bluetooth profile for such. If you had taken 2 minutes to actually read about the product before blindly slamming it, you would make a better argument.

"Wireless
With built-in 802.11n, iPad takes advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi networks. It automatically locates available Wi-Fi networks, which you can join with a few taps. iPad also comes with Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, letting you connect to devices like wireless headphones or the Apple Wireless Keyboard."

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

Re:3...2...1... Wake up!

[Wovel]

The fact that you think people who have a different opinion about a product must be ignorant sheep tells us a lot about you and very little about the product.

ipad is for humans!

[seanadams.com]

I have a 95 yr old neighbor who uses an old Windows machine and AOL dialup. He's still able to do the things he has always done with it, but he wants a faster connection and a newer computer but doesn't want to have to learn a new OS. Neither cable nor DSL is available, and he doesn't have line of sight to be able to use directional microwave technology which is what some people use around here.

However, the iPad is SO easy to use there's really nothing to learn. I have shown him how to use my iPhone to take pictures, browse pictures and read the news, and it's just so intuitive and easy.

And he DOES have 3g coverage. So he can get one device with no cables or router that does everything he needs and is easy to learn.

I think Slashdotters are for the most part woefully ignorant of how the rest of humanity actually uses computers, and would do well to understand these types of use cases. They will sell millions.

Re:ipad is for humans!

[Scrameustache]

I have a 95 yr old neighbor who uses an old Windows machine and AOL dialup.

So what you're saying is that the iPad is a way to put him out of his misery without resorting to euthanasia?

Re:ipad is for humans!

[linumax]

I think Slashdotters are for the most part woefully ignorant of how the rest of humanity actually uses computers, and would do well to understand these types of use cases. They will sell millions.

Firstly, Slashdot is not a single uniform entity. There are many different opinions which in case of iPad there are slashdotters all over the love-hate spectrum. You're not the exception here.

Secondly, in your rush to blame Slashdot, you came up with an example which not only doesn't support "sell millions" argument but also goes against it. iPad's market is much more mainstream than niche semi-disabled 95 year olds. Everyone with an interest in reading eBooks, watching movies on the go, reading news, doing lite creative work, using some productivity tools, students reading textbooks, etc. is the target market.

All of this however doesn't change the fact that Apple has declared war on tinkering and as more and more consumers adopt the "appliance computing" model that Apple spearheads, the future of computing looks less and less bright. Hopefully all alternatives will not perish.

Re:ipad is for humans!

[ScrewMaster]

I have a 95 yr old neighbor who uses an old Windows machine and AOL dialup.

So what you're saying is that the iPad is a way to put him out of his misery without resorting to euthanasia?

I wager that the iPad is a form of euthanasia. The Personal Computer Revolution is fading into oblivion ... and no-one can even feel the loss.

Re:ipad is for humans!

[IamTheRealMike]

I don't think that's really true. Whilst I'm not generally a fan of Gruber and his rampant Apple fanboyism, he's not stupid and I think the argument he makes is sound. I wrote programs for the BBC Micro back in the 80s - and it sucked. I knew, even as a child, that what I was doing wasn't "real" programming. I didn't even know what "real" programming was as I had never heard of nor did I understand the concept of assembly language back then. Maybe some kids were smart enough to teach themselves assembly language and then hack the OS itself. I just couldn't do that, I didn't have access to the materials and for an 8 year old even BASIC can be tough. I actually didn't do any OS-level hacking until I was 18 (on Linux) and I don't think it did me any harm.

I happen to think the iPhone and iPad are remarkably poor environments for children to learn programming on, mostly because the amount of crap you have to learn in order to make something fun in languages like Objective-C is enormous. JavaScript or even Java is a much better choice. However, Gruber links to some 13 year old who has written an app and published it on the app store. That's awesome and something I could only have dreamed of when I was 13.

And it's not just kids. I was reading an interview the other day with a guy who published "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES" on Xbox Live. He did it with the XNA toolkit, in other words it was written in C#. In the interview he said he was glad XNA existed because he wasn't a very experienced programmer and C++ was too difficult for him. But XNA was easy. His game costs a dollar, took a few weeks to make and is wildly profitable. It consistently sits at the top of the indie games charts - because it's excellent. In other words, even though the Xbox is the most closed platform you can imagine, it's still possible for amateurs to compete with the big boys by producing fun games. That's the sort of motivation kids in the 70s and 80s just never had and frankly, I think it more than makes up for having some signature checks here and there.

Re:ipad is for humans!

[IamTheRealMike]

Whilst I'm not arguing for having ridiculous app review processes or bootloader locks (I think Apples decisions here are retarded), I must note that you can read the source code of the compiler used on the iPad/iPhone (gcc) , and the standard library (darwin). You can also read the source of the browser rendering engine and various other parts.

Whilst that's not as good as the Nexus One where you can read darn near everything, and reflash to your hearts content, the iPad situation is not quite as dire as you make out.

And again, I think people like you are highly unusual. The idea that 10 year olds are going to be compiling their own OS builds is a fantasy for Linux geeks (of which I am one). Just writing a fully functioning, interesting program is challenge enough. Operating systems are basically boring pieces of software - given a choice between making a spinning 3D cube or tweaking the kernel scheduler, I'm pretty sure most kids would rather make a spinning 3D cube. The scheduler hacks can come after they have some years of experience and can get their kicks from solving highly abstract problems. By which point they will certainly be capable of playing with Linux.

Now I'd like to repeat that one can simultaneously believe the direction Apple is going is bad, and that the iPad does not harm the next generation of child tinkerers. These beliefs are not mutually exclusive.

Let the hating begin (on /. anyway)

[Space cowboy]

Prediction: all the usual suspects

• Those who insist on using 'fanboi', (or other variants of the word) to describe normal people who are satisfied with what they bought
• Those who are envious and/or jealous of Apple's success
• Those who are too blinkered in their outlook, who define themselves by adherence to some purist "everything must be open" credo
• Those who can't afford the device, and are jealous of those who can
• Those with buyers remorse for having paid good money down out on something else
• The infants (at least of mind) who like to characterise anyone who buys Apple as gay
• Those who, for whatever reason, just dislike Apple as a company, and can safely be categorised as 'haters'

will be out in force in this thread.

There are faults with any device. It's not perfect, and it won't be for everyone. What irks me is the "I don't like/want it therefore it's crap" attitude; the inability to look beyond what *you* find wrong with it, and see that this might just be golden for someone else. My parents, for example [grin].

But what bugs me above all is the anti-apple crowd these days. Apparently if you express even the slightest appreciation for something well-conceived and well-designed, you're a "fanboi" who's taken in by "the shiny" (whatever *that* is!). Sure there are fanboys (and girls, presumably), but not everyone (not even vaguely close - not in the same universe, let alone ballpark) who likes Apple kit should be labelled such.

I swear the anti-Apple crowd are far and away worse than the real fanboys. Even in the worst-possible scenario, with everyone who likes Apple kit being a fan (ahem, including both genders, here) , at least the fans have something they like, appreciate, and enjoy using. The haters just hate. And that's pitiably sad.

Simon

Re:Let the hating begin (on /. anyway)

[FuckingNickName]

Actually, ignoring the blatant trolls (who seem to have been quite successful on you), most of the people not showering praise on the iPad are simply commenting that it's not for them / explaining its problems / offering alternative solutions. The idea that people don't buy Apple because they "can't afford the device, and are jealous of those who can" is far more a reflection of your approach to life than anything.

It's just a tool, and it has no place in my toolkit. Just as the iMac I've recently sold wasn't good enough for me. It wasn't awful, but it didn't offer any advantage over the more powerful, cheap, configurable and supported Windows 7 box + Linux VM I've replaced it with. Thus passes the glory of the screwdriver.

Re:Let the hating begin (on /. anyway)

[wampus]

You forgot the assclowns posting lists of predictions.

Re:Let the hating begin (on /. anyway)

[jez9999]

Those who insist on using 'fanboi', (or other variants of the word) to describe normal people who are satisfied with what they bought

No; there are normal people who are satisfied with what they bought, and then there are people who will queue up for hours in New York to be greeted for a few minuted by some noisy Apple employees in a nightclub-like atmosphere to get there hands on a thing. I think the term 'fanboi' is quite a useful one in this instance.

Mine does exactly what it was meant to do

[dokebi]

As hackers, we should recognize that there is a right tool for the job. Ipad is just another tool. It does less than a laptop because it's meant to be a simpler tool than a laptop.

Eventually the market will decide if a tablet is a niche or mainstream product. But for me at least, I couldn't be happier.

Re:Mine does exactly what it was meant to do

[Obyron]

It does less than a similarly equipped laptop, and for only twice the price! As a bonus for your money, you get no USB expansion ports, and can even only run one app at a time! Apple's innovation is staggering.

Re:Mine does exactly what it was meant to do

[_Sprocket_]

It does less than a similarly equipped laptop, and for only twice the price! As a bonus for your money, you get no USB expansion ports, and can even only run one app at a time! Apple's innovation is staggering.

Which is a scathing review of the device if the iPad is, in fact, a laptop. But don't think that's what it is supposed to be at all.

Re:Mine does exactly what it was meant to do

[IamTheRealMike]

The iPad isn't competing with netbooks through hardware. The tablet form factor is a distraction - and it may ultimately prove to be a serious weakness rather than a strength. I certainly wouldn't want to do any serious work with a soft keyboard.

The iPad is competing through software, namely, the operating system. It's an attractive proposition for people because traditional computers are an epic failure (and MacOS X hasn't really helped matters).

They have confusing user interfaces, that make it easy to accidentally lose windows behind other windows and expect you to understand concepts that don't appear very often in day to day life, like nested folder hierarchies. Getting software for them is difficult - search engine results can be filled with programs that don't run on your chosen platform, and your relatives/friendly local geek is always telling you not to download stuff from the internet anyway. You live in constant fear of viruses. Your computer frequently breaks or slows down for mysterious reasons and every app seems to constantly be nagging you to update. If you have a Windows box and make the mistake of phoning a company for tech support, you'll just get bounced around different suppliers in a giant finger-pointing game. Probably your computer came weighed down with crap to shave $10 off the price. The list of things regular operating systems do badly is just amazing.

The iPad doesn't run MacOS X because MacOS X, and Windows, and Linux, are all evolutionary dead ends. Steve Jobs knows this. Think about how much progress OS X made in the last 3 years - none. It actually went backwards, Snow Leopard launched with serious regressions some of which are still not fixed. It's neglected and unloved. OS X is adrift because nobody at Apple seems to be working on it anymore. All the attention is on iPhone OS.

Many people decry the things iPhone OS lacks, and it's true, some of the omissions are pretty stupid. Inability to multi-task is something they can get away with on a phone. On a general purpose device where you're supposed to Get Shit Done(tm) I'm not sure it can be left out. But the reason people are going to want an iPad is because the iPhone OS is a fresh start. You don't have to worry about viruses. It doesn't randomly break because of third party software. It's easy to find and buy software. There's no fear because there's a big, well known company standing behind the device and saying "you will have a great experience" and they have the muscle and control to make it happen.

There is an alternative. ChromeOS netbooks are an alternative vision of the future of computing. ChromeOS is also in a sense "locked down", in that it only runs web apps. But these devices will (probably) share many of the same characteristics that makes the iPad appealing. ChromeOS netbooks will not break. They will not start slowly, bogged down by crapware that launches itself at startup just because it can. Users will have no fear of viruses. They won't have to try and remember where they saved their files. The UI will be simple and easy to understand. They will be cheap and have long battery life. They will be backed by the Google name, whilst it may not have the cachet of Apple in the hardware space, it's still an easily recognized and trusted brand.

More importantly for us Slashdotters, they are open source devices and likely to come in a somewhat hackable/reflashable form if the Nexus One is any indication. The future of computing can be less wild west without compromising its freedom or openness.

Seriously

[sonicmerlin]

The national news media has gone utterly insane over this tablet. I know it's a flashy, "cool" product that will sell well, but it's just not worth the crazy amount of attention it's getting.

I think the best example of the lunacy was illustrated on the Colbert Report. The iPad was given a full front-cover picture (free advertisement), while Amazon paid for a full back-cover advertisement of their Kindle on the same magazine.

More than an eReader...

[nullhero]

Everyone is clamoring over the iPad calling it a Kindle-Killer but the device is more than an eReader. It's not a replacement of the notebook either. I think it is Apples Netbook, an expensive one in comparison, but a netbook just the same. It has limited functionality but allows the user to access their documents via iWork (Apple is expanding iWork to the cloud, currently in beta) as well as create their own. It gives a user access to their email and then all those iPhone/iPod Touch apps. But what it really does is kind of free the user from the computer, from sitting at a desk and working at their computer, it is easier for her to go to coffee shop and just read the web. She'll then decide to go grocery shopping or do other things neatly tucking the iPad a way. If she has some ideas during the day she can take out her iPad and write up the ideas. As thin and mobile notebook computers are they still are chore to lug around everywhere. I'm not saying carrying a 1.5 pound is easier, but it sure beats having to grab the power cords, put everything in a bag. With the iPad, you just have to unplug it and go. I can't wait to get mine.

Re:More than an eReader...

[jfengel]

Everyone is clamoring over the iPad calling it a Kindle-Killer but the device is more than an eReader.

Precisely. And the question is, does the world have much call for a single-purpose device like the Kindle?

Single-purpose devices can be optimized wonderfully. The Kindle is lighter, uses less power, and is easier to read outside. It does one thing, and does it reasonably well. Not perfectly well, and it's possible that the Kindle could fail now and resurface in a decade when the screen technology takes another leap. Like the PDA, which failed as a Newton, rose again with Palm, and then sank again as the functionality was bundled into the phone.

The iPad itself is more limited than a notebook or even a netbook. But is it just the right kind of limited? We'll find out.

Cue the Slashdot negativity in 3, 2, 1...

[macwhizkid]

The thing I find so interesting is just how much negativity is out there over the iPad. While I respect Doctorow's well-written analysis, most of it (not just on Slashdot) is far less intelligent and coherent. David Pogue's initial review (which was pretty thoughtful and balanced) got slammed with comments on everything from "I already have a laptop and now I'm supposed to buy an iPad?" to "how am I supposed to do anything without USB" to "how many kids could you help in Haiti instead of buying your stupid toy".

Honestly, you'd think people are being forced to buy an iPad. The only thing I can think of is that a certain segment of the population just rebels against anything that's mainstream.

The funniest comments (to me) are where Apple is compared to being the "new Microsoft". Yeah, because a company that got and maintained its riches only because of its half-baked operating system and word processor is so much like a company that goes out on a limb (over and over again) to invent a new category of consumer device. And then the commentators are somehow surprised when that pays off.

Re:Cue the Slashdot negativity in 3, 2, 1...

[0123456]

Yeah, because a company that got and maintained its riches only because of its half-baked operating system and word processor is so much like a company that goes out on a limb (over and over again) to invent a new category of consumer device.

Wow! Apple invented the MP3 player, the cell phone and the tablet PC! You learn something new every day here on Slashdot!

Back in the real world, Apple produce moderately unsucky versions of consumer devices that have been in the market for years, and throw vast amounts of advertising at selling them. Right now they're actually managing to make Microsoft look only moderately evil.... at least Microsoft lets you run arbitrary software on Windows.

Of course there's nothing wrong with their business model so long as they're not holding a gun to your head and forcing you to buy one, but let's cut out the 'Apple is so innovative' crap which merely makes you look like another cultist.

kindle sees similarities to PP

[v1]

I think the Kindle is going to have to make some serious changes. For 2x the price you get 5x the features with the iPad. Kindle's been out awhile and prices have already worked their way down as features and size have crept up. The iPad is just hitting the market and is already a better value for the money. When the early adopters are done paying their tax and prices on the iPad drop, Kindle has a very serious problem on their hands. I wonder what they intend to do?

Same thing has already happened with the palm pilot, but against a flurry of devices. (ipods and smartphones) Who in their right mind would buy a palm pilot today? Kindle is headed down the same road. I bought a PP 4 yrs ago not because I liked it, but because it was the only product anywhere near the price for what it did. People bought the Kindle for the same reason. And they're both going to find their way to the garage sale.

The killer app

[CranberryKing]

a Newton Emulator.

How do scientific PDF documents appear on iPad?

[Ultimate Heretic]

Lacking in the early iPad reviews has been any screen shots or actual information on how a two-column small text PDF appears, typical in my scientific arena's journal articles. My use for an iPad would be to provide a convenient means to carry around and read at home (not parked in front of my computer!) my current list of journal articles. As an older person with ever increasily bad eyesight, I can really use the larger screen. So have any slashdot user + iPad adopters had a chance to use it in this context? Another contender is the Skiff reader, but it is stil vaporware and their latest press release seems to suggest they are moving to provide an OS and marketing scheme and moving away from the hardware reader. Pity, as it is just the right size for my needs. I know that one can "Kindle-ize" PDF's, but a) I am lazy and b) I bet they don't come out quite right, so that is not a solution I would want to use. Also, I see that Papers has been released for iPad just today, so maybe it is worth a trip to the Apple Store to have a look myself.

Re:No Flash - No Point

[obarthelemy]

the issue is not how many sites use flash, but haw many can't work without it, or suffer significantly. Using statistics can make you look intelligent and informed, misusing statistics reveals you as an idiot.

alternatives

[celle]

You know there's something that's out there already called the "droid". It works great and does everything and more than the Ipad and actually fits in your pocket.

design amenities + just works trumps openness

[presidenteloco]

For the "consumer" (defined in this case as the 99% of the population who are not competent programmers),
an information/entertainment appliance that:
1. "just works",
2. has a single, simple way to obtain good apps or good content (e.g. movies), and has
3. Has well-designed, human-factors-centric user interface, ergonomics and design affordances

will trump a gadget/network with openness of programming architecture any time.

If the open world wants to compete in this space, it needs to somehow achieve 1.,2., and 3. above
while also being open in some meaningful sense.

I put this out there as a challenge. Can the Android world, for example, improve to that level?

Remember, Freedom's just another word for this thing doesn't work!

Pay, pay, pay. And don't skip the ads

[Animats]

Most of the people here are missing the point. The iPad is all about paying for content. And the content isn't cheap. The Wall Street Journal costs more on the iPad than on paper. $5 a month seems to be a typical price for online magazines. The iPad creates a direct connection between content providers and your wallet.

And there's no ad-blocking. You will will watch the ads. The "app" concept means that the program, not the user, has control. If the program wants you to look at the ad for 10 seconds, you will look at the ad for 10 seconds.

Re:Lab coat pocket?

[centuren]

It seems as though you are not so upset at the size of the iPad, but the size of your pockets.

Will the iPad fit in a lab coat pocket? Or more generally in the pocket of clinical clothing for doctors and nurses? I think those pockets would be far more interesting than those in jeans.

Do the clipboards and manilla folders that doctors and nurses use now fit in their pockets? I don't really think those are professions that use pockets to do their jobs. Doctors will probably be more interested in whether or not they can scribble notes into documents.

What I found interesting was not the size, but the weight. About 1.5 lbs IIRC. I was even more interested to find that the Kindle DX is over 2 lbs, about a kilogram. These devices both boast superior form factor over options like laptops and cellphones when it comes to reading, especially the Kindle. I never read ebooks on my laptop, because I want to lie in different positions, often holding the book above me. I've found this to be really quite nice with my Android phone, but a kilogram isn't light, and when I think about it, neither is 1.5 lbs. What good is a tablet if you have to, over a long length of use, rest it on your lap or a table anyway?

Maybe the weight isn't an issue, I've never tried a Kindle DX, much less an iPad. At the same time, if I'm using something I have to hold (laptops may be heavier, but I'm not expected to carry it to use it), I don't want it to be heavier than whatever it's replacing. Books are really light, so are television remotes, keyboards and mouses (as one reclines with feet up next to desktop monitor), and even laptops resting on laps aren't so bad. If the iPad is supposed to mobilise content into your hands, it'd better not be the single heaviest thing in my bag.

1 review

[wrencherd]

1st impressions of iPad:

*looks an awful lot like the top of a 13" MacBook Pro

*weighs a bit more than it looks like it would

*probably should have popped for the case b/c it seems like one would want to carry it around like a book

*typing on-screen is easier to get used to than I thought it would be (can't say about long term though)

*"optimized" gmail works pretty well

*software-wise I already miss the feeling that open source is available ("I was wrong to break up with you, baby; please, can't we get back together? . . . well then, how about one for the road?")

*screen-orientation gyro ("accelerometer"?) is a bit testy out of the box

*not a computer, that's for sure

*also not quite Bill Atkinson's "magic slate", but almost there

I would say I probably paid about $200 too much and bought maybe 2 gen.s too early.

Nature of the beast, eh.

Re:BoingBoing article is absolutely right.

[Shag]

Apple is having a hugely harmful effect on competition and the open web.

...by pushing Acid/Acid2/Acid3 and other standards compliance, open-sourcing WebKit, open-sourcing GrandCentralDispatch, supporting HTML5, and... huh?