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iPad Progress Report
Now that the 300,000 early adopters have had a few days to play and work with their iPads, we're moving beyond the "first impressions" articles (but here's a video of a 2-1/2-year-old's first encounter with the device). The detailed reviews aren't out yet. The largest source of early complaints is a complex of problems with Wi-Fi reception. Apple has posted a technical support note implicitly acknowledging the problems and suggesting some work-arounds — specifically, changing SSIDs or encryption methods on base stations that offer both 2.4-GHz and 5.8-GHz signals. Finally, here's a detailed look at the gratuitous pain Apple imposes on those desiring to get iWork files transferred from and to the iPad.
WTF is that?
other solutions to the wi-fi problems.
Our neighbor picked up an iPad on launch day, and he has definitely experienced the Wi-Fi problem. His Acer Aspire One in his basement can connect to his wireless G Linksys router on his top floor with a good, strong signal. His iPad can BARELY connect while he is on his ground floor, and in his basement you can forget about it. His Aspire One can also see our wireless network as well as the network belonging to folks on the other side of him, but even if he shoves his iPad against the wall dividing our town homes, he still can't even see our router, much less connect to it.
Living With a Nerd
Detailed review of the iPad
Doing anything with documents on an iPad sounds awful. You apparently have to "sync" with a Mac using iTunes. In any business environment, you'd want to talk to some server.
Apparently the iPad is incompatible with Google Docs, although this may just be a bug.
It sure seems strange to me that Apple, who sell themselves as the "complete" and "it just works" experience would release the iPad before the next version of iPhoneOS comes out. This sounds like the kind of giant pay-to-beta-test sort of thing that Apple is known for NOT doing.
As someone who uses an iPhone and would like an iPad, Thursday will be very interesting.
Is anyone else reminded of the 10.0 release of OSX?
It's been hacked: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/05/the-ipad-has-been-jailbroken/
What I'm really interested to know is will the iPad allow me to write a book, save in unencrypted ePub format, and upload it to my own device, to be read by iBooks? I happen to be in the market for an e-reader, but not one that won't allow me to read self-authored content.
Nerd Rock In Progress
Soon? My first Linux tablet was in the mid 80s.
That's impressive. Especially since Linux was created in 1991.
The little girl had obviously spent a lot of time playing with an iPhone or iPod Touch. While cute, I don't think it really qualifies as much of a First-Encounter-type UI experiment.
According to PCWorld, the Apple press release citing 300k units is including those sold to Bestbuy, which is of course entirely different from the number of units sold by Bestbuy.
You must not have dealt with IBM in a business setting much. They practically invented vendor lock in.
You cant just buy your own graphics card, more hardware, or even a damn battery for iPhone. You have to buy everything from Apple, from an Apple store, with high Apple prices. This just follows the same lead.
Buying RAM for a Mac: http://www.newerram.com/
Buying a new graphics card for a Mac (Mac edition of graphics cards): http://www.nextag.com/mac-graphics-card/compare-html
Pretty much everything you need to upgrade the hardware of a Mac: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/site-map/
These aren't Apple sites, but you can upgrade your Mac with their parts. Just because its harder to do, doesn't mean it can't be done.
Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
In ten years, linux will have a support for the kernel operation time_travel which allowed someone to bring a penguiny-tablet to 1985. Hence GP's comment!
Next year Apple will announce iPhone OS 5.0 with an innovative new idea that they're calling "iFile". With this new service all of your applications can share documents by storing them in a common location. iFile will include an innovative system of organization called "Folders". Folders will allow you to group related documents together in a single location. You will even be able to create Folders within Folders.
And coming in iPhone OS 6.0, "iFile Share". Share your iFiles over any network connection.
especially sunlight. Sorry but with this type of device I was really hoping I could use it outdoors without fearing the light. No go. Sorry its abysmal. It also has the problem of not being viewable in page format with polarized lenses, landscape was fine. When I borrowed my friends Kindle I found I could read outside just fine. Let alone the weight, sorry but it really amazes me how much it gets to you over time.
I don't need another device that is trapped indoors. Summer is almost upon us and I don't want something I fear leaving in the sun, let alone using with the sun out. I guess I can sit under the umbrella but really, my marine GPS is beautiful in sunlight, why can't we have an iPad for the outdoors instead of basement dwellers?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Sometimes Apple has a period of greatness and then they have a period of... well, not so greatness. Maybe it is time again?
Personally, I don't know. The Wifi problems sound odd, but then again, who exactly thought putting an metal shield on an antenna was a good idea? But surely Apple would have tested that.
I think what we are finding is that a lot of people are putting this device under an intense microscope, determined to find any and all flaws and blow them up out of proportion. High trees catch a lot of wind, especially if they fail to fall in previous gusts of hot air. Anyone remember people scoffing the iPod and iPhone? They must be getting desperate for Apple to have one of its famous screw-ups again.
I think Apple had a simple reason to launch the iPad now. One of its uses is to go outside and use it. Who is going to go outside in the winter? And soonish they will have to announce a new macbook pro anyway (core 2 duo is getting very long in the tooth) and that makes more sense later in the year, and two must have's should be seperated so the victim eh customer has time to recover from the bloodletting that is called buying an Apple product.
Frankly, I have seen all this negativity before. I don't put much stock in it. If someone were to introduce fire in this day and age, people would find plenty of stuff wrong with it and claim that nobody really needs it.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Requires sticks. Dimmer than the sun. Lame.
It's a sad day when getting root on my own device is considered 'hacking'
Reply to That ||
See, actually, I do want a device and not yet another computer. Why? Well, less maintenance for one. Also, being instant on is nice (on computers you just don't get a weeks worth of standby on a battery). And without a keyboard, it is a better ereader. I like the whole concept.
You make it sound like a bad thing that Apple didn't come out with another netbook like the rest. I understand the desire for something cheaper than their current models, but I have to think the whole anticipation of Apple slaughtering it's own higher-end models in the race towards the bottom was naive. Plus there are plenty of subnotebooks (not netbooks, but close) which you can turn into a hackintosh. Otherwise Apple's 13" has to do.
This doesn't excuse the design flaws of the current iPad. I'll wait till the second or third generation myself.
Except how many Macs these days have user replacable graphics cards for example?
Literally nobody who's interested in buying an iPad will be surprised that the other side does not contain a second screen (or a second iPad) -- don't be ridiculous. And saying that it's designed to "look like" some MS vaporware product that nobody has ever heard of so far is just as silly. I'd say the case looks a bit odd to me, plasticky; but I've never been one for protective cases, anyway.
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
So, in true Slashdot spirit:
It's a sad day when getting root on my own device requires 'hacking'
FTFY.
Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
That is such a tired, untrue, cliched argument. Granted, you can't easily go to Best Buy and purchase a battery for the iPhone, but I assure you I can find one online in about 1 minute.
Apple doesn't even make graphic cards, so yes, you actually can go buy a third party graphic card and put it in a Mac (granted, only the Pro is expandable these days, but my G4 has had all kinds of 3rd party stuff inside).
"More hardware"? What does that mean? I've purchased all kinds of non-Apple hardware over the years: USB and wireless mice, keyboards, hard drives, wireless routers, wireless USB adapters, USB hubs, monitors, printers, and so on.
The only Apple hardware I own other than the computers is Airport Extreme and a video adapter. Yeah, the Extreme costs $100 more than some random junk at Best Buy, but Time Machine worked instantly out-of-the-box, which was well worth the extra $100 I spent.
Next argument.
Where have I heard about that before?
The future is now :)
Sometimes Apple has a period of greatness and then they have a period of... well, not so greatness. Maybe it is time again?
Apple sold 300,000 iPads on the first day. Their market cap just passed Wal-Mart making them the 3rd most valuable company traded in US markets, behind only Microsoft and Exxon-Mobil. Regardless of particular views on the merits of the iPhone or the iPad, they are re-defining their markets and forcing competitive innovation just by their very existence. This is almost by definition a "great" period for a company.
How is selling ~300,000 units in one day disappointing?
I wanted a tablet, but wasn't looking to get anything by Apple or something Windows based. Linux's touch support seems pretty dodgy, so I ended up settling on an Entourage Edge. It looks pretty horrible asthetically, but has been incredibly useful/fun. It's an android-based ereader/tablet with two screens, a WACOM-stylus eink on one side, and a typical touch screen LCD on the other. After using it for a about a week now, I definitely recommend it to others. www.entourageedge.com
If you want to be seen, stand up. If you want to be heard, speak up. If you want to be respected, sit down and shut up.
My Apple product is brand new.
My router is old and dusty.
Maybe I should get a new shiny router.
Maybe Apple could sell me a shiny new router?
The only reason it's "harder to do" is because Macs don't really advertise their internal specs. When you buy a PC, they go around boasting "DDR3 this, Quickpath that". PC marketing is atrocious, but at least you have a list of jargon that says what's inside the plastic box.
It certainly doesn't help that Apple often revises the hardware without changing the name. They've been selling Mac Pros for nearly four years, but the earliest ones were Socket 771 with DDR2 FB-DIMM memory, while current models are Socket 1366 with DDR3 ECC Unbuffered memory. To many Mac users, these models are referred as "the fast Mac Pro" and "the faster Mac Pro". As a non-Apple tech, you really have to crack the thing open to figure out what goes in it.
In the end, once you know which parts will fit, it's just a computer like any other. This is also true of their consumer devices... so what if Apple doesn't sell a battery for your iPhone ? Check a message board, you'll find a bunch of unreputable accessory manufacturers in Asia selling replacement parts. You might have to work a bit harder to install them yourself, or find a local geek to do it for you, but the gear is out there. Up where I live, we have these repugnant little shops that sell all manner of junk like XS Cargo, Factory Direct, and surely others : refurbished and unlocked cell phones, no-name gadgets, gaming accessories... it's like a pawn shop minus all the bad 80's cassettes and unloved guitars. Those guys tend to have all the gray-market modding and repair stuff you could ever want, and they often have an EE flunkie on-site to do the labor rather cheaply. The stuff Apple won't do, those sketchy guys will happily do for a few bucks - that's their business model.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
as a means of ranking one company against another. Or did we learn nothing from Enron and Worldcom? Look instead at sales, at product diversification, licensing and pipelines, and at past performance relative to market performance in terms of alpha/beta. Back in the early 1980s, when Apple launched the Lisa/Mac and Microsoft was launching Windows 1.0, Apple's employee number, market cap *and* sales were literally hundreds of times larger than Microsoft's at that time. Look where they went, and where they are now.
Da Blog
Yes, Apple is 'worth' over $210 billion dollars. Reminds me of two years ago when my neighbor said his small bungalow house was 'worth' half a million dollars.
I'm not going to venture a guess as to what Apple is REALLY worth as a company, but when something is so extremely hyped in the media, it's stock is almost guaranteed to be overvalued.
They didn't sell 300,000 units in one day, or even one weekend. They sold 300,000 on 4 months of constant hype and reporting, and finally completed those sales in one weekend.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Bah, the 8's so close the the 9. I of course meant the 90s. Was a Dauphin 486 tablet.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"