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What's Not To Like About New iPad?

Hugh Pickens writes "With 3 million sold over the last week what's not to like about the new iPad? Michelle Maltais at the LA Times does a good job of putting together a compendium of gripes about the new device, justified or otherwise. Most people thought that Siri on the new iPad was a gimme; instead it has a scaled back version — dictation. 'If you want Siri, buy an iPhone. Plain and simple.' The new iPad is a little heavier than the iPad 2, thanks to the better graphics processor and more powerful battery. At one-tenth of a pound heavier that really doesn't sound like much, but it can start to matter if you hold your iPad in one hand for long periods or have any kind of repetitive stress injury. Apps designed for Retina display can be up to five times bigger and it's not just a problem for owners of the new iPad. Legacy owners of the original and iPad 2 who have these apps get to feel the pain too, since updates aren't device specific." The list continues, below. "The hot-selling device can reach up to 116 degrees during intensive use, according to a test by the Consumer Reports. PCWorld tested 43 tablets and found that the third-gen iPad takes the longest — almost six hours — to fully recharge its battery. You'll love the blistering speed of the 4G iPad, you won't love blowing through your monthly data allotment in just 24 hours if you use streaming video. A number of customers have been complaining on the Apple Support page about a weaker Wi-Fi connection that in some cases will hold a connection for only a few minutes. And last, whatever you do, don't drop the new iPad. From waist height, the damage to the third-gen iPad is fairly extensive. 'Only a small portion of the screen survived.'"

617 comments

  1. News... by jhoegl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We make drama where there is none.
    Everything is amazing

    1. Re:News... by Hadlock · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have to agree with this.
       
      They may have paid too much for their "how to bring more traffic to your blog by creating more drama when there is none" seminar paid by Cory "World's Most Annoying Self-Promotionist" Doctorow
       
      The number of crap, negative and leading headlines, along with "the answer is no" question headlines has really spiked since Malda left slashdot. Some PHB decided that they can further monetize Slashdot as a mainstream blog by destroying what little culture Slashdot has and alienating their core long time userbase. Good luck with that, assholes. I've already started looking for a replacement to Slashdot.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    2. Re:News... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unfortunately, almost everything else is worse than Slashdot. The articles are generally worthless, but the community is still worthwhile and every now and again something worth talking about actually comes up.

    3. Re:News... by jez9999 · · Score: 0

      Good luck with that, assholes. I've already started looking for a replacement to Slashdot.

      I agree. Slashdot is such bullshit now, it was way better a year ago. And did I tell you, the other day I was delayed a whole 15 damn MINUTES on my flight before I could put my chair back and get to sleep.

    4. Re:News... by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 1

      Totally agree. Cory is a bit of a douche. I'm not sure what it has to do with the original post, though.

      Am I the only one who has a tablet that he doesn't use? My nook color gets touched once a month at most.

    5. Re:News... by bertok · · Score: 2

      Seconded.

      I've been thinking about this for a year now, and it cracks me up that there's a law that names this effect!

      Lets see some recent Slashdot headlines:

      Can Translucency Save Privacy In the Cloud?
      No.

      When Social Media Meets TV, Are the Results Worth Watching?
      No.

      Will Mobile Wallets Replace Their Traditional Counterparts?
      No.

      Is It Time For the US Government To Back Fusion At NIF Over ITER?
      No.

      Any Smart Phones Made Under Worker-Friendly Conditions?
      No. -- it's the first +5 comment!

    6. Re:News... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Next Big Future blows Shitdot out of the water. A lot of the actually important science news that gets picked up here is days to weeks old - you'll see the stories at least 24 to 48 hours earlier on NBF. The level of discussion there is better as well, mainly because the herd mentality that pervades /. is absent there. (On the other hand, it's Disqus...)

      As for tech-company news, not only are there better outlets for that, but who the fuck cares? Press releases from big electronics manufacturers are just marketing, they have no actual importance.

      As a technology and science news aggregation site Slashdot has been plummeting in quality for years and is well past its prime. I'd almost rather browse /g/.

    7. Re:News... by Hadlock · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Louis CK's segment on that doesn't really apply here though, we're discussing the long, slow slide in to uselessness and obscurity through bad editorial management. It used to be that people would complain about the occasional duplicate story, but things have really gone down hill in the quality and headline department in the last year.
       
      It's not like Slashdot or even tech blogs are a new thing, Slashdot is well over 10 years old at this point. We aren't complaining about slashdot's loading times, we're talking about editorial standards, which are something like 200+ years old (not sure how old The Times is, but I think daily publication started before 1800).
       
      Slashdot needs a strong editorial guiding hand, and Malda did an excellent job of that for a decade, which is why the Washington Post was so eager to get him on their payroll. Slashdot was as big of a fish as this pond can really support (besides the more general Reddit type sites). Some PHB MBA saw Slashdot and, without understanding it's community or userbase thought, "we can apply some standard practices like shitty headlines to double click through rate on headlines and increase overall viewership" without thinking about how to retain their core userbase. I'm not sure what the term for this fallacy is, but it seems to happen a lot, and few companies are able to survive it and get back on track before the PHB destroys the company by alienating their core userbase.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    8. Re:News... by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 1

      I use my iPad almost every day -- if only to watch Netflix and Hulu on, the small screen form factor is perfect for watching on the nightstand, dining or coffee table. Also, I keep it in the newspaper pocket of my briefcase, so it's handier to get to than my laptop if I want to do something online or use a full site instead of just a scaled down mobile version. I also use it for tablet testing my web ui projects.

      But mainly it's movies, movies, movies.

    9. Re:News... by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      Well, Cory's BoingBoing gets picked up on Google News occasionally (at least, it shows up for me) which is a great way to get huge, if temporary, bumps in traffic. I don't know if Cory pioneered the use of terrible, misleading and downright leading headlines, but his headlines seem to follow a very similar formula to what is featured on Slashdot these days. I don't know if they hired BoingBoing as a traffic consultant, or if they're using the same SEO company, but there's definitely some sort of unholy trinity loosely linking the two sites' traffic increasing tactics.
       
      I haven't seen Slashdot pop up on Google News in a long, long time. Someone posted an article 2-3 years ago saying that Slashdot is no longer a leader in driving internet traffic, and is way down from their peak of 2-3% in the early 2000's and now down to something like 0.01%. I think this has more to do with the fact that the internet is no longer full of early adopters and more mom & sis & grandpa on facebook.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    10. Re:News... by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      I'll have to check that one out. A good friend of mine switched off Slashdot and tried out news.ycombinator.com and even bought a membership on metacritic but while he was initially impressed with those, I haven't heard him mention either of them or send me a link from one of those in probably 18+ months.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    11. Re:News... by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 1

      Hmm... I don't like movies on anything hand held. I also don't carry a briefcase and I'd never carry a laptop and a tablet. That's just me, I guess.

    12. Re:News... by trolman · · Score: 1, Interesting
      Last time I posted and mentioned that Slashdot was going down hill my karma took a hit. So what the hell. Here is the said story.

      Since I lost my original TXH1138 account and wasn't allowed to have it back, I guess someone figured out the significance and didn't want to upset George, I have seen things drop to the lowest common denominator. I don't have an axe to grind here and am not holding a grudge. It is a legitimate gripe. The slashdot is so far behind the curve that I would rather spend my effort on Spiceworks and Reddit helping people.

      Of course I am old and you should all stay the hell off my lawn etc. If anyone has a replacement for this site please do tell. I will read at -1.

    13. Re:News... by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      I think your karma took a hit because, if the article you linked to is any indication, your writing has a tendency to meander all over the place without making any clear, defined points, and the few that you do aren't really backed up by the rest of your story.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    14. Re:News... by FreakyGeeky · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I've been reading Slashdot for over fifteen years. The quality has been going downhill for almost ten years. This site is unrecognizable compared with its late 90s version.

    15. Re:News... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Using the modern equivalent of a portable black & white TV set instead of a real TV just seems silly. For any of the "at home" use cases, you're much better off with a real TV and a cheaper Apple product.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    16. Re:News... by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 1

      Or no Apple product! :)

    17. Re:News... by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 0

      How hard is it to gain Karma, really? What is the value of it anyway, really? I have three mod 5 comments today, all out of a desire to not do my taxes. Just post early with a bit of critical thinking. Sure, sometimes I get modded down, but rarely. By the time I make my stupid comments, the modders have moved on to new articles. I haven't left Excellent Karma in years.

      And if the modders want to mark me down for this comment, I don't think it matters.

      Despite myriad flaws and abundant stupidity, Slashdot is one of the more thoughtful forums on teh internets.

      And to think, I started visiting in 1998. Shit. If I joined back then, I'd have totally awesome /. creds!

    18. Re:News... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's the Mods that are the biggest assholes on /. these days all so full of crack and booze you aint got a hope in hell against them

      Oh and as for that apple POS just that a POS

    19. Re:News... by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

      I agree. Slashdot is such bullshit now, it was way better a year ago.

      That's nothing, sonny! In the old days, we had Jon Katz, and he was the meanest, most bad-ass greatest content producer of intelligent FA's on slashdot, ever! And we liked it that way. Now that was quality, dammit!

    20. Re:News... by plasm4 · · Score: 1

      Ars Technica maybe?

    21. Re:News... by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      There is a cultural idea of "If you are smart then you must hate things".

      This goes for the Wine Tasters who will discredit popular wine just because it is popular and rave about the more expensive paint splitting stuff just because it is more expensive. So they can seem like they know what they are talking about.

      To Music/Art critics who complain that everything is derivative just to make a point that that they seem a commonality.

      To IT people who say that whatever popular software/hardware is somehow worse then it was before because of its improvements and it did it as a trade-off.

      I think there is a conspiracy idea that the best stuff in the world is reserved for the select few while the other stuff in the world meant for the common man is inferior.

      While some stuff is premium and is of high quality and out of the reach of the normal needs of the common person but others things are far superior although they are mass produced and simplified for the common man.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    22. Re:News... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      But mainly it's movies, movies, movies.

      Who wants to watch movies on a 9 inch screen?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    23. Re:News... by afterthought · · Score: 1

      I've been reading reading this site for about the same time and I have to agree with you. While, I do read through the comments sections, I very rarely comment. Both the comments and story sections have changed significantly in that time.

    24. Re:News... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Or no Apple product! :)

      Blasphemy!

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    25. Re:News... by tibit · · Score: 1

      It may be blowing slashdot out of the water in terms of content, but it's truly unreadable. They truly, unabashedly have no fucking clue as to designing it for usability. The sheer looks of it drive people away. I'd pay them some attention if they didn't seems to be just another ad-ridden disqus template. Yes, the reality of things is such that if you want a site that works well and looks well, you have to sit on your dumn butt and work on it. There are no shortcuts. They didn't get the memo.

      --
      A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
    26. Re:News... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Over fiftten years? I thought slashdot started in 1997?

    27. Re:News... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Well, at the turn of the century the internet was mostly nobody but geeks, nerds, and PC gamers. Those were the days when folks would ask "why in the world would you need a computer at home?" and there was no such thing as internet on a cell phone. So of course slashdot would have had a higher percentage of web traffic than now. I don't know what the numbers are, but I would guess that actual visitors are up from then, even if they make a smaller percentage of total web traffic.

    28. Re:News... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I don't carry a briefcase either. Whay would one? I see people with briefcases in my building every day, my "briefcase" is a thumb drive. Other times (like in a bar) I use my little notebook.

    29. Re:News... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Odd, I find the stories mostly to be more interesting than they were back in the day. If fact, when I first got an account I didn't post much, and went a few years without reading it at all; went to k5 instead about 2003, came back when Pete Jongular took all the fun out of it (he was a stalking troll who was also an admin).

      When I came back I'd changed residences, email, and ISPs a few times and just registered a new account. Got the old one back by emailing /. staff with my old email addresses.

      You guys who complain about the posted stories should visit the firehose more often.

    30. Re:News... by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      Agreed, but from a certain business perspective, one might ask why that percentage didn't stay flat as overall internet use went up, after all they did have an early lead. Which might cause some business people to think that there is much larger room for improvement in terms of revenue/traffic when there's really not.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    31. Re:News... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been reading Slashdot for over fifteen years. The quality has been going downhill for almost ten years. This site is unrecognizable compared with its late 90s version.

      What's better then? Any advice?

    32. Re:News... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Browse at -1 for mod-proof /. and ignore the score figures. As a bonus, feel liberated of groupthink !

    33. Re:News... by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      or use a full site instead of just a scaled down mobile version.

      Umm, you do realize you can use a "full site"(*) on an iPad or even an iPhone. At worst, some sites (at least on the phone) default you to the mobile site, but virtually always, there's a pref or link to take you back to the "full" site.

      (*) Obviously if you use Flash, that is the single major thing (purposely) missing.. However, I will yet again say that at least comparing to other tablets, the reviews of Flash on other tablets was horrible for various reasons.

    34. Re:News... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're willing to judge a book by its cover I'm not going to stop you - and we've been getting on Brian to step up his game with regard to editing and formatting, which he really needs to. I'm still willing to put up with it because the content and the articles discussed there are far more interesting than most of the stuff that gets posted here - unless Slashdot picks up a story NBF covered yesterday/last week.

      Appearances count for something, but that's really all Slashdot has going for it anymore.

    35. Re:News... by FreakyGeeky · · Score: 1

      My math was bad. I've been reading Slashdot since late 1997.

    36. Re:News... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I've been reading it since about then, too, and it affected my math similarly ;)

      Like that sig you got.

    37. Re:News... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Well, by the time the muggles started getting on the internet, we nerds were all already signed up.

  2. Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy by readandburn · · Score: 4, Funny
    1. Re:Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I didn't buy an iPad and I am quite happy.

    2. Re:Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Daddy, tell us what it was like to live in a humorless world....

    3. Re:Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy by FudRucker · · Score: 3, Interesting

      that sure brings back memories, when i was a kid i had a brother and two sisters and mom was a stay at home mom and dad worked, there was one dial phone for everybody, you know what it is like trying to get to use the phone with that many siblings (especially sisters), cellphones have not been invented, the personal computer not invented, the family car was a 1958 Chrysler Imperial and for fun there was board games or i could go outside and ride my bicycle or skateboard which was dangerous because a pebble could lock up a wheel and off you go flying like a bird without wings so the first lap down the sidewalk was slow so i could brush aside any pebbles, and in an empty lot there was a rust hood of an old car we used as a jump for our BMX style bikes,

      --
      Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
    4. Re:Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      When I was a kid, there was a pretty good sized woods at the end of the street. There was a pond in the woods, a raft on the pond, and parts of the woods were hilly. We could slide down the tall grass on the hills on cardboard in the summer and on sleds in the winter.

      People put trash out on the curb on a certain day each week and there were often enough cool things like old radios or phonographs to haul home and dismember and re-use the parts for other things.

      Phone? What the hell would I have wanted with a phone? Okay, they were okay to take apart. They had big induction coils in you could use for stuff.

    5. Re:Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I was a kid I learned about run-on sentences and how to avoid them.

    6. Re:Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you don't know happiness, you live in an illusion of sadness being your happiness because it's a less depressing version of sadness.

  3. Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course, the next yet-to-be announced version of Android, running on the next yet-to-be announced tablet, will solve all of these problems.

    Isn't that how it works?

    1. Re:Coming Soon by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except that nobody is buying android tablets because of their price point.

      The $599.00 android tablets are $200.00 overpriced. You CAN NOT charge apple prices for non apple product unless it is 200% better than the apple product.

      That is like Kia selling the new Optima for $86,500 and hoping you dont notice it's not a BMW.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:Coming Soon by cmdr_tofu · · Score: 3, Informative

      The $599.00 android tablets are $200.00 overpriced.

      How about the $400 Galaxy Tab 10.1 (lighter, bigger screen and nicer to use IMHO than iPad v. any)?

    3. Re:Coming Soon by mlow82 · · Score: 1

      I didn't know that the $400 Galaxy Tab 10.1 was priced at $599.00. Live and learn!

    4. Re:Coming Soon by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A bigger screen? It's only 1280x800, so what's the point?

    5. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep. This.

      Galaxy Tab 10.1 running Task's GalaxyTask v 14 is a delight. Compared to this, I cannot see any desire for the iPad3, even if it were $300.

      Even the lowly $99 HP Touchpad running CM9 is faster with fuller features, if lower resolution.

      Also, Dophin Browser HD with Sonar is as useful as Siri, from my testing. No extra cost, available today. For functionality, iOS devices are the techie equivalent of one of those Gucci diamond phone covers or a Hummer vehicle. Just shows, "Hey, I'm a pretentious douche! Check me out!"

    6. Re:Coming Soon by danbob999 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You must have a 19" TV right? That 60" TV is 1080p too so what's the point?

    7. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're looking in one of those funhouse mirrors...

    8. Re:Coming Soon by NatasRevol · · Score: 0

      Not sure if serious.

      Or moron.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    9. Re:Coming Soon by MisterMidi · · Score: 1

      In my opinion the iPads are overpriced. 499 is way too much for a locked down device without extendable memory, USB ports and camera flash. Apple is selling it like it's a Ferrari (oh look, shiny!), when in reality it's more like a kit car that looks like a Ferrari, but lacks basic features every other car has.

    10. Re:Coming Soon by Cederic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The $599.00 android tablets are $200.00 overpriced. You CAN NOT charge apple prices for non apple product unless it is 200% better than the apple product.

      That'll be why Asus can't make their $599 android tablets fast enough to keep up with demand.

      I'm not saying it's 200% better than the apple product, but they certainly can charge $599 and sell every unit they make the day it hits the shop.

      Except that nobody is buying android tablets because of their price point.

      Some people are buying android tablets because they're under $200. Some people would be buying android tablets at $599 if they could just find one in stock. Some people are buying android tablets at $400 because those tablets are meeting their needs.

      Choice is a great thing, and you have no valid points.

      That is like Kia selling the new Optima for $86,500 and hoping you dont notice it's not a BMW.

      No, it's like BMW selling the new M6 for $86,500 and you buying a $90k Mercedes because of the marketing and proclaiming that BMWs are all shit, overpriced and nobody buys them.

    11. Re:Coming Soon by fredmosby · · Score: 1

      It's screen is 1% larger than an iPad's screen by area. I think it for practical purposes it would be more accurate to say that its screen it the same size.

    12. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      built under worse working conditions than anything Apple makes.

      How desperate are you?
      Oh that's right, Apple is a cult, not a company.

    13. Re:Coming Soon by wanzeo · · Score: 1

      I would love for someone with insight into LCD technology comment on why the ipad3's resolution is so much higher than what is available for monitors. I would almost sell my first born son for a 30" retina monitor that could double as a TV.

    14. Re:Coming Soon by Lumpy · · Score: 2

      My ipad has a SD card slot and USB port. It's even got hdmi, DVi and VGA ports. I keep those in my laptop bag when I'm not using them.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    15. Re:Coming Soon by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      I would love for someone with insight into LCD technology comment on why the ipad3's resolution is so much higher than what is available for monitors. I would almost sell my first born son for a 30" retina monitor that could double as a TV.

      it's not lcd technology you need insight to. it's their software. you know how apple is proud of their tight sw/hw integration? well, it flows both ways - sw choices also dictating hw choices.

      you see, they fight fragmentation by sticking to same ratios and by just using a double resolution. then they can scale everything by factoring everything with two - literally! so old apps work nice and new hd versions can be made and dev's don't have to worry about it too much. they did first for the iphone and it worked well so they just used the same tactic with the new ipad. they also had enough cash and volume to secure manufacturing for it.

      apple seems really bad at coming up with dpi agnostic solutions so this is what you get. of course it's a selling point on some level, even if it means more pixels to push. of course at some version they're going to have to address this, but not this year(it's rather ridiculous that you can't configure osx to be at all usable on a screen like on the ipad though!).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    16. Re:Coming Soon by TheCouchPotatoFamine · · Score: 1

      Galaxy tab 7 inch plus 350 dollars. I actually love this form factor and would not buy anything else - can't fit in coat pocket, no deal. (and SwiftKey x for the win!)

      --
      CS majors know the time/space tradeoff, but they never get taught the 3rd, crucial, tradeoff of the set: comprehension!
    17. Re:Coming Soon by Oakey · · Score: 1

      And how much extra did you pay for each of those dongles?

      --
      "Dre don't get as high as me.... I'm Cheech and Chong" - Snoop Dogg
    18. Re:Coming Soon by moss45 · · Score: 1

      That's the same price as an iPad 2. The 10.1 may have a better screen but the iOS app ecosystem has quite a bit of percieved value. The value just isnt there for the average customer. Customers looking for a cheap, light tablet will get a Kindle Fire and customers looking for the best experience will get an iPad 3. There just isn't a market for $400 android tablets at the moment.

    19. Re:Coming Soon by exomondo · · Score: 1

      You must have a 19" TV right? That 60" TV is 1080p too so what's the point?

      You sit closer to one than the other, the closer you are to the screen the higher DPI you need. Tim Cook didn't pull off the RDF particularly well but it still sucked a lot of people in when he compared the new ipad size/resolution to HDTV size/resolution...ignoring the fact that no-one is sitting 15"s from their HDTV (a more appropriate comparison would be PC/laptop screens). DPI is only relevant if you know the distance between the screen and the viewer, a point he was quick to make when justifying the ipad's lower DPI vs the iphone.

    20. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      then they can scale everything by factoring everything with two - literally!

      as opposed to what? doing it figuratively?

    21. Re:Coming Soon by exomondo · · Score: 1

      My ipad has a SD card slot and USB port.

      Can you play movies from those or open documents and stuff? Like load up a USB stick or portable HDD or whatever, plug it in and open them on the ipad?

    22. Re:Coming Soon by jo_ham · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Every other car like the.... Xoom?

      Did they finally patch in working support for the SD card reader? The so called "killer feature" missing from the iPad that shipped broken on the Xoom.

      Just curious :p

      I agree though, the iPad should at least offer the option.

    23. Re:Coming Soon by narcc · · Score: 1

      customers looking for the best experience will get an iPad 3

      A shame, really. They can get a much better user experience from other tablets on the market for much less.

    24. Re:Coming Soon by narcc · · Score: 0

      No, he can't. But let's not spoil his game of play-pretend. It's really really important to him.

    25. Re:Coming Soon by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      I have a Touchpad with CM9. It lags, especially in the browser when you open up multiple tabs.

      Worst of all is how quickly it drains the battery. On standby it loses 50 mA+/hour. In actual use it loses 1000 mA+/hour. So it gets less than 100 hours on standby, and 5 hours in normal use patterns. I'm just praying Windows 8 on ARM will come out and be hacked onto the Touchpad ASAP so I can finally have an enjoyable tablet experience.

      I'd buy an iPad but iOS doesn't have text reflow in the browser, forcing me to strain my eyes to read forums and comment sections (which the 'Reader' function doesn't work with).

    26. Re:Coming Soon by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Since being re-jailed in order to run a more current version of PhoneOS, the old iPad is crashing so much I'm not sure an Android device could possibly be any worse.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    27. Re:Coming Soon by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      You're engaging in a lot of rhetorical flourishes but you aren't actually telling anyone anything meaningful.

      What would he be missing out on exactly?

      Do try to be precise.

      More empty rhetoric won't count.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    28. Re:Coming Soon by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      Worst of all is how quickly it drains the battery. On standby it loses 50 mA+/hour. In actual use it loses 1000 mA+/hour. So it gets less than 100 hours on standby, and 5 hours in normal use patterns.

      That should probably be mWh, as mA is just the momentary flow of current.

    29. Re:Coming Soon by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The good thing is that Apple creates a strong demand on those high-DPI monitors, so, after the first few mad months, when Chinese factories making them are basically serving Apple alone, they can finally start taking on new customers, and offer them the same monitors for which they already have factory lines and all - and then all that stuff finds its way into Android (and, soon, Win8) tablets.

    30. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, Apple's killer selling point is that they didn't bother to make their GUI libraries resolution-independent? I'm pretty sure I'm more impressed by the hardware there.

    31. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My desktop screen resolution is 1280x800, you insensitive clod!

    32. Re:Coming Soon by synapse7 · · Score: 1

      I never thought "too much resolution" could be a bad thing, and while it is not a bad thing, I think they are past the point of diminishing returns. The size, weight and heat factors alone make the 2 more desirable to me now.

    33. Re:Coming Soon by Babbster · · Score: 1

      apple seems really bad at coming up with dpi agnostic solutions so this is what you get. of course it's a selling point on some level, even if it means more pixels to push. of course at some version they're going to have to address this, but not this year(it's rather ridiculous that you can't configure osx to be at all usable on a screen like on the ipad though!).

      I think the more important factor is maintaining aspect ratio and size, at least within product lines (iPhone/Touch and iPad).

      When designing an application, being able to standardize your UI elements to a fixed display size makes things easier and is friendlier to the consumer. For example, if Apple increases the size of the iPhone display at some point, then it's possible that UI elements designed for the new display could be too small for comfort on an older one.

      This was a problem for my dad when he started using a home PC with Windows and he had to reduce the display resolution so that applications operating in a fixed resolution smaller than the size of the screen would be easier to see. This applied mainly to specific shareware programs he liked but it complicated his user experience in that he had to learn to adjust properties of the OS about which he should never have had to learn. In an OS with few customization options, those adjustments might not even be available to the end user.

    34. Re:Coming Soon by IICV · · Score: 1

      You're right, it totally doesn't matter - as long as your arms are six feet long, of course.

      A bigger screen without an increase in DPI or resolution just means you should sit further away from it, not that it's necessarily any better.

    35. Re:Coming Soon by JohnnyMindcrime · · Score: 1

      Just one thing I'd like to point out here that you seem to be missing - not everyone who uses a tablet or a portable computer of some kind is necessarily a great TV or movie buff.

      I do watch a little TV and movies but personally I spend far more time listening to music and audio/radio comedy in my spare time. At home I have a perfectly adequate 33" flat screen TV on which I watch either DVD movies or movies streamed from my media server, I've never bothered with HD or Bluray and if I'm using a computer at all then I'm generally either playing a game, reading a book or manual, doing a little programming or maybe messing about with a retro game emulator of some sort.

      Yes, there are people out there that love movies as much as I love music and who want the biggest screens, surround sound audio and all that stuff, and good luck to them. But I also think that far too many people get dragged far too quickly into the "bigger is best faction" without understanding why they actually need what they're buying.

      --
      Windows 10 is great - I used it to download Linux.
    36. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You won't be watching a 60" TV at an arms length.

    37. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The sad part was that he misspoke - he said they were retina displays because if you view them from "X inches or CLOSER", the individual pixels were not discernible. He actually meant to say "X inches or FURTHER". If you put it closer, the pixels are MORE visible.

    38. Re:Coming Soon by danbob999 · · Score: 2

      A bigger screen without an increase in DPI or resolution just means you should sit further away from it, not that it's necessarily any better.

      Yeah, just like it's better to watch a 480p video in tiny window mode instead of full screen. Wait, it's not. Not seeing the pixels is not a goal to achieve. If you are too far to see the pixels, it actually means that you are not using the full potential of your display. You don't get all the information about the picture you are looking at.

      Bigger screen *is* better.
      The problem is that smaller devices are also better. That's why a compromise is needed. A 6" iPad wouldn't be better if you ask me, even if it kept the same display resolution.

    39. Re:Coming Soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gamut on par with "new iPad"?

    40. Re:Coming Soon by Tharsman · · Score: 1

      Huge number of tablet optimized apps?
      Insane library of video games like Infinity Blade with more amazing titles than you can ever experience released on a weekly and even daily basis?
      The certainty of having your firmware updated on day one of the new OS release for at least 3 years of the generation's launch (maybe longer)?
      Larger legal sources for digital movies and music libraries?
      Wireless video mirroring to any brand TV (purchase of a $99 Apple TV settup box required but well worth it.)

    41. Re:Coming Soon by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 1

      Nineteen and sixty inch HDTVs are not handheld devices. I can't look at them more closely without getting off my couch, and moving away from the audio "sweet spot."

      But if I want to look more closely at something on my tablet, I just do.

      One point in your favor, though-- my fingers have a certain fixed size.If my ipad were larger, I might be able the smaller user interface elements without first pinch zooming.

    42. Re:Coming Soon by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 1

      I've got two monitors attached to my desktop: 1680*1050, and 1920*1080. You need an upgrade.

    43. Re:Coming Soon by toriver · · Score: 1

      Oh noes, someone is scared of iTunes, and abhor the design decision to use a sync application instead of exposing the memory and hoping the user doesn't screw something up.

      It's not hard to put a movie or an MP3 onto an iPad, whether into the document folder of a specific app or in the general music and movie folders.

    44. Re:Coming Soon by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      What, are they bluetooth style SD/USB/HDMI/DVI/VGA?

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    45. Re:Coming Soon by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      It's also an alpha. Also, I don't have those issues with my Touchpad running CM9. Since I primarily use it for debugging and testing on larger-screen devices, neither of those issues would really affect me much anyway, but I've seen dramatically reduced battery use while in standby over the old CM7 alphas.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    46. Re:Coming Soon by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 1

      Have you ever noticed that the anti-aliased text used on modern operating systems looks just a little bit blurry? Sure, there are no jaggies, but at the cost of sharp focus.

      The new iPad is different. Everything looks like it's from a glossy magazine-- no blurriness whatsoever.

    47. Re:Coming Soon by jbenwell · · Score: 1

      RE reflowing text, check out Atomic Web Browser. It almost makes Slashdot on the iPad pleasant.

  4. Now multiply this by a hundred devices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is all.

  5. "1/10 of a pound" by DogDude · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At one-tenth of a pound heavier that really doesn't sound like much, but it can start to matter if you hold your iPad in one hand for long periods or have any kind of repetitive stress injury.

    I'm shocked at how physically inept modern people are becoming. The gnashing of teeth over ounces when it comes to gadgets is truly shocking to me. How does one become so incapacitated that an ounce or two is really worth mentioning?

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      but if this trend continues, in 9 more years it could be a whole pound heavier!

    2. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Gordonjcp · · Score: 0

      How much heavier is that? I don't have any idea. Does it mean the new iPad weighs as much as an old one with a couple of stickers on it, or as much as a bag of cement?

    3. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Would be great if it actually got lighter each year, but the new model is still lighter than the original.

    4. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by prichardson · · Score: 2

      It's still lighter than the first generation.

      --
      Help I'm a rock.
    5. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by DogDude · · Score: 0

      1/10 pound = 45.3 grams, according to Google.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    6. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it matters if you hold it for a while.

      have you ever done any serious woodworking or home repair, and had to hold a screwdriver or a hammer for extended periods of time?

      trust me, after a couple of hours it can start to feel very heavy.

    7. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by tmosley · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't worry, they made it get hotter and hotter so you CAN'T hold it long enough to get a stress injury.

      This also stops you from using up the battery and all your bandwidth!

      Every bug is a feature!

    8. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by epp_b · · Score: 1

      Or that one would still be using imperial units in 2012.

    9. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by LittleBigScript · · Score: 1

      I know. Americans should gripe using grams!
      Damnit, go metric America!

    10. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Grimbleton · · Score: 2

      My HP TouchPad is .2lbs heavier than the iPad3 and I can hold it one-handed for hours.

    11. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

      Fashion goes in cycles. Sooner or later my bell bottoms and imperial units will be cool again.

    12. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny how the latest Olympic weightlifting shoes by Nike have as their lead feature that they're 50 grams lighter the previous version. Why are people who throw hundreds of pounds over their head several times a day, several days a week, so incapacitated that an ounce or two is really worth mentioning? Oh right, because an ounce or two is worth mentioning to pretty much anyone when it comes to things carried on your hands or feet. Get over yourself, tough guy.

    13. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by DogDude · · Score: 1

      That's called "marketing". Why a weightlifter would care about what his/her shoes weigh is beyond me.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    14. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      Google is wrong. You cannot convert weight to mass.

    15. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      Oh and if Metric is so great, then quick with out looking it up, how many milli-torr in a kila-pascal?

      Hell if I know. You do realise that torr isn't metric and a kila-pascal isn't anything at all?
      Of course not.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    16. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "My HP TouchPad is .2lbs heavier than the iPad3 and I can hold it one-handed for hours."

      Some of those porn videos are really long.

    17. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      slightly off topic but most athletes worry about weight in all different ways I'm a bodybuilder and every bit of weight is measured

    18. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by gstrickler · · Score: 0

      Where is the +1 "Pedantic, but funny" rating?

      --
      make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
    19. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      See, all that time spent playing one handed games finally paid off!

    20. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by thesh0ck · · Score: 1

      ?? wow.

    21. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by thesh0ck · · Score: 2

      grams measure both... what is wrong with people on this site...

    22. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      Oh you got the Winter version. The summer version will cool down.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    23. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by msobkow · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How many iPads equal the weight of an Osbourne 1?

      Just curious... both are "portable", and advertised the fact heavily. But society's definition of "portable" sure has changed!

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    24. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You do realise that torr isn't metric and a kila-pascal isn't anything at all?

      These are all units of pressure. The Imperial unit of pressure is pounds per square inch. Torr is metric. It is not an SI unit but Metric != SI. Pascal = N/m^2 is the SI unit of pressure.

      Torr

      The torr (symbol: Torr) is a non-SI unit of pressure with the ratio of 760 to 1 standard atmosphere, chosen to be roughly equal to the fluid pressure exerted by a millimeter of mercury, i.e., a pressure of 1 Torr is approximately equal to one millimeter of mercury. Note that the symbol is spelled exactly the same as the unit, but the symbol is capitalized, as is customary in metric units derived from names.

      Pascal

      But like all stupid people, that spout out about how great the metric system is, you don't even understand your own units.

    25. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      1/10 pound at normal earth gravity = 45.3 grams mass. Happy now?

    26. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Ommadawn · · Score: 1

      The difference in weight can be important for those at the edges. I think of the iPad as an iOS device for people whose eyes aren't so good as the youngsters who make up a large part of the original iPhone and iPod touch demographic.

      The heat isn't outrageous, but it is bordering on the dangerous. I know someone who burned her stomach rather badly by falling asleep with a laptop laying on her. This is now a possibility with the iPad.

      --
      Restrictions are prohibited. Be well, get better.
    27. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      grams measure both... what is wrong with people on this site...

      No they don't. If you are in free fall your weight is zero. Your mass is unchanged.

      You are what is wrong with people on this site.

    28. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1, Informative

      I/10th of a pound at less than 2 pounds is significant. If the Ipad was a 5 pound item, 1/10th of a pound would be trivial. At less than 1.5 pounds, 0.10 pounds is significant (although not quite a big deal). I would say that the Ipad is close to the upper limit of where that amount of weight difference is significant. Personally, I would think that 5% is about the point where weight difference goes from significant to insignificant for a hand held device. Less than 5% is not significant, greater than 5% is noteworthy.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    29. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      Mea culpa, but you must have imagined the part where I spouted out about how great the metric system is. As for you, you can't be that much of a not-stupid if you can't spell kilo, no?

      Hello Pot, my name is Kettle. :P

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    30. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1/10 pound at normal earth gravity = 45.3 grams mass. Happy now?

      Nope. Where on earth?

    31. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Weightlifters care because it affects their lifts, and lighter weight shoes -- even if only by 50 grams -- will be less of an impediment to clean and jerking 400+ lbs. than heavier shoes. It's not nearly the most important thing of all the different factors going into their lifts, but they'll notice the difference and definitely prefer the lighter shoe. Anyway, you seem to have deaf ears, so I'll leave you to your big, strong tough guy "weight doesn't matter, it's just marketing" mindset. Enjoy!

    32. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No. Incorrect units. Pounds measure force. Grams measure mass. Correct formulation is:

      1/10 pound = 45.3 grams at normal earth gravity.

    33. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Kazymyr · · Score: 2

      Kila-pascal must be the pressure equivalent of the Kill-A-Watt. It tells you where you're using too many torrs and how to avoid wasting them.

      --
      I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet -Stanislaw Lem
    34. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You are wrong. Pound is also a unit of mass.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_%28mass%29

    35. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by bugnuts · · Score: 1

      I'd respond in-depth, but the springs on my type M have become tiresome.

    36. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, should I wear special shoes while using the iPad?

    37. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That wikipedia page needs to be deleted. It is wrong to use grams as a unit of weight and pounds as a unit of mass.

    38. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At one-tenth of a pound heavier that really doesn't sound like much, but it can start to matter if you hold your iPad in one hand for long periods or have any kind of repetitive stress injury.

      I'm shocked at how physically inept modern people are becoming. The gnashing of teeth over ounces when it comes to gadgets is truly shocking to me. How does one become so incapacitated that an ounce or two is really worth mentioning?

      I have MS. That's how I became so physically inept. I have nerve pain and occasional weakness and numbness in my hands, and I get shock sensations at random as well. That's one reason ounces matter to some (about 2.5 million worldwide) of us. It sure was shocking to me, getting this disease. In addition, some of us are old. Some have arthritis. Shocking! Carpal tunnel is common. One way to tell you have it is tapping the wrist can cause shock-like sensations in the fingers. That makes it harder to hold things as well. Even with normal, non-shockingly incapacitated hands one can really feel the difference when holding a tablet for a long time.

      Gnashing teeth? A little hyperbolic, perhaps? Maybe there are good reasons to pay attention to weight?

    39. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm shocked at how physically inept modern people are becoming

      Pick up a pillow. I will wait while you do it. They dont weigh much do they? Pretty light. Now hold your arms straight out like you are holding a book and hold that pillow. Dont set it down. I will bet cold hard cash you dont make it 30 mins without resting it.

      There is a reason people say 'pick up with your legs and not your arms'.

      I am 'shocked' at stupid people on the internet saying stupid things....

    40. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

      Gravity isn't acting on you in free fall?

      So that's how the Wile E Coyote stays up.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    41. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Yes.
      The iPad is 50 grams heavier to account the 50 grams lost in the shoes.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    42. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      And while you're at it, how many Libraries of Congress can it hold, and what fraction of the width of a human hair do the wires in the processors in each correspond to? We need meaningful units here, folks!

    43. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have both the iPad2 and iPad3. When reading for a long time, I have at times switched to the iPad2 for relief. I've also started to prefer the iPad2 for this reason too. Unfortunately it's a tough decision. The iPad3 is much easier on the eyes. (Funny how you think I'm physically inept and so incapacitated.)

    44. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Daniel+Phillips · · Score: 2

      At one-tenth of a pound heavier that really doesn't sound like much, but it can start to matter if you hold your iPad in one hand for long periods or have any kind of repetitive stress injury.

      I'm shocked at how physically inept modern people are becoming. The gnashing of teeth over ounces when it comes to gadgets is truly shocking to me. How does one become so incapacitated that an ounce or two is really worth mentioning?

      It's about 7% heavier, that is certainly enough to notice with a form factor that is already marginal in terms of being able to hold it for a long time. I would say 7% is a big deal, especially considering why: Apple really overdid it with the screen resolution. All those pixels eat battery, partly because of the screen transistors, but mainly because of having to drive an additional GPU. Not to mention making the device run noticably hotter than the previous generation. Thirteen degrees is a lot of heat in return for what? Saving Apple the fuss and bother of engineering their software to handle a screen that isn't exactly double the old one.

      On the face of it, it looks like the Apple execs panicked about how they were going to come up with something "Jobsian" for the next iteration and all they could think of was this. I do not think Steve Jobs would have made this mistake. Of course I could be wrong about that, the iphone antenna happened on his watch.

      --
      Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
    45. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who said anything about converting weight to mass? Pound is a unit of mass you know; pound-force is a unit of weight.
      Could we please dispense with the pointless pedantry and accept that normal people use the words weight and mass interchangeably?

    46. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Moldiver · · Score: 1

      Weight is a useless thing. Only mass is relevant.

    47. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by ChuckleBug · · Score: 1

      At one-tenth of a pound heavier that really doesn't sound like much, but it can start to matter if you hold your iPad in one hand for long periods or have any kind of repetitive stress injury.

      I'm shocked at how physically inept modern people are becoming. The gnashing of teeth over ounces when it comes to gadgets is truly shocking to me. How does one become so incapacitated that an ounce or two is really worth mentioning?

      SIgh. I posted this already but wasn't logged in. Try again:

      I have MS. That's how I became so physically inept. I have nerve pain and occasional weakness and numbness in my hands, and I get shock sensations at random as well. That's one reason ounces matter to some (about 2.5 million worldwide) of us. It sure was shocking to me, getting this disease. In addition, some of us are old. Some have arthritis. Shocking! Carpal tunnel is common. One way to tell you have it is tapping the wrist can cause shock-like sensations in the fingers. That makes it harder to hold things as well. Even with normal, non-shockingly incapacitated hands one can really feel the difference when holding a tablet for a long time.

      Gnashing teeth? A little hyperbolic, perhaps? Maybe there are good reasons to pay attention to weight?

    48. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by styrotech · · Score: 1

      grams measure both... what is wrong with people on this site...

      Only if you think weight and mass are the same thing. Which is an excusable mistake for anyone who never learnt any physics at high school, but the way you then criticised "people on this site" for getting it right was kinda cute.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_versus_weight

    49. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What he's saying, quite correctly, is that grams are used to measure both weight and mass in the metric system.

    50. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless you're unsure which planet or moon you're on, it's trivial to convert weight to mass.

    51. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Bitmanhome · · Score: 1

      Sure, why not. The Library of Congress is 10 TB nominal (which is wrong, but whatever) so 1 LoC = 160 iPads. The Osborne 1 is 26.2 lbs and 2527 ci vs. the iPad's 1.46 lb and 25.7 ci, so it's 18 iPads by weight, and 10 iPads by volume.

      --
      Not that this wasn't entirely predictable.
    52. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by moss45 · · Score: 1

      I don't think the 1.2% increase in heat will actually bother many consumers in the real world.

    53. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      pound-force is a unit of weight.

      force^2 is a unit of weight? Pounds are NEVER a unit of mass!

      Could we please dispense with the pointless pedantry and accept that normal people use the words weight and mass interchangeably?

      No! Normal people are stupid and need to be corrected when they use units wrong. Otherwise they will continuously use the those units incorrectly.

    54. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Jmc23 · · Score: 1

      If it's balanced properly (which most western tools aren't) and you're holding it properly (which most people don't know how to do) it really doesn't feel any heavier.

      --
      Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    55. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grams do not measure weight.

      But we are using it in the context of earth gravity, so the equivalency is there with regard to pounds (weight) and pounds (mass) anyway, pedant FAIL!

      Oh and if Metric is so great, then quick with out looking it up, how many milli-torr in a kila-pascal?

      Non-SI Vs SI, even then difficulty in a minority of unit conversions that are commonly unneeded anyway is far better than the Imperial system. When most people advocate for metric they are generally suggesting SI, but being a pedant you have trouble grasping that :)

    56. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by grouchomarxist · · Score: 1

      According to wikipedia:
      weight of Osbourne 1 = 10.7 kg
      weight of 3 generation iPad with 4G = 660g

      so, about 16.2 iPads equal the weight of an Osbourne 1.

      Note that the Osbourne article mentions that the machine would now be considered a luggable, not a portable.

    57. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The pull of gravity is not a constant on the earth.
      http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/110406-new-map-earth-gravity-geoid-goce-esa-nasa-science/

    58. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      No it's not. It only heats up if you're engaging in heavy use with the LTE version. If you fall asleep the device will go into sleep mode and cool down immediately.

    59. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      Uh no, it's not the GPU, which is generally underclocked or goes unused outside of games.

      It's the much brighter backlight needed to get through the much higher density transistors driving the display. In fact the article you linked specifically says "twice the LEDs".

    60. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by kipling · · Score: 1

      Gravity doesn't pull. At least get your pedantry right.

      --
      -- open source? sounds like the real book --
    61. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are in free fall your weight is zero.

      And who the fuck cares about the weight or mass of an ipad when you're in freefall, retard?

      You are what is wrong with people on this site.

      Nope, clearly still you.

    62. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pounds are NEVER a unit of mass!

      Rubbish, if you really think that then you have no idea about the relationship between mass and weight.

      Usage of the unqualified term pound reflects the historical conflation of mass and weight resulting from the near uniformity of gravity on Earth. This accounts for the modern distinguishing terms pound-mass and pound-force.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)

      And the bold part of the passage is precisely the reason you can convert between grams and pounds, it's only complete idiots like you who would be so pedantic as to actually get confused about the weight of something if it were specified in grams when to any normal person it's obvious that they mean on earth where the gravity is assumed to virtually uniform.

    63. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

      If that's so, why do they wear shoes for lifts in the first place? A lot of gymnasts don't wear shoes when performing, so it's a legitimate question.

    64. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      grams measure both... what is wrong with people on this site...

      No they don't. If you are in free fall your weight is zero. Your mass is unchanged.

      You are what is wrong with people on this site.

      And when you are not in free fall, but rather are at rest, in 1G, then your weight is close enough to your mass that it doesn't matter. Except to idiots who like to get butthurt and rant over such unrelated topics in a thread about the new iPad.

      More to the point, if metric is so fucking awesome... then why do none of the advocates use metric time, and insist on relying on the imperial system of time-keeping, hmmm?

    65. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      ...and if you're on a carousel or doing a spin on ice skates, all bets are off. Damn thing *really* gets difficult to hold.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    66. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also from wikipedia:
      Although a number of variants of the metric system emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the term is now often used as a synonym for the "International System of Units" - the official system of measurement in almost every country in the world.

      So when you say metric most people will assume you mean SI.
      Otherwise it's pointless and you could say things like kpound and mgallon. Sure it's metric in that you are using the metric prefixes, but no one does this.

    67. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Torr is non-SI and therefore not metric...

    68. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      At one-tenth of a pound heavier that really doesn't sound like much, but it can start to matter if you hold your iPad in one hand for long periods or have any kind of repetitive stress injury. I'm shocked at how physically inept modern people are becoming. The gnashing of teeth over ounces when it comes to gadgets is truly shocking to me. How does one become so incapacitated that an ounce or two is really worth mentioning?

      It's because they're sold to girls and geeks, not real men. IMHO a computer should weigh as much as ana ssault pack full of wet sand. If you can't carry your own body weight on your back for a forty mile forced march, naked in the snow, you're just a wuss.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    69. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      grams measure both... what is wrong with people on this site...

      Only if you think weight and mass are the same thing. Which is an excusable mistake for anyone who never learnt any physics at high school, but the way you then criticised "people on this site" for getting it right was kinda cute.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_versus_weight

      Outside of a physics lab, no one would say "I measured myself on my bathroom scales this morning and I massed 74kg".

      In ordinary English, we use the word "weighed". A bag of sugar in a supermarket weighs 500g. If someone is skinny they are undrweight. And so on.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    70. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by kenboldt · · Score: 1

      More to the point, if metric is so fucking awesome... then why do none of the advocates use metric time, and insist on relying on the imperial system of time-keeping, hmmm?

      Please do me a favour and have the Earth orbit the sun in a number of days which is a factor of 10 instead of 365.25 and while you are at it, adjust the moon's orbit around earth to also be a factor of ten for the number of times it orbits in a year instead of 12. If you could get right on that it would be appreciated so that we can use that metric time you are talking about.

    71. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same here. It was initially a challenge to hold my Touchpad from the side for an extended period of time, but I hadn't been working out at the time. As long as I'm fit, I can hold the Touchpad for as long as I want.

    72. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      If you know the mass to weight ratio of a substance, you can.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    73. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      It's also a unit of currency...

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    74. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by styrotech · · Score: 1

      Outside of a physics lab, no one would say "I measured myself on my bathroom scales this morning and I massed 74kg".

      The pedantic physicist wouldn't say their measured their mass on the bathroom scales either. Unless their bathroom scales were actually a balance.

      In ordinary English, we use the word "weighed". A bag of sugar in a supermarket weighs 500g. If someone is skinny they are undrweight. And so on.

      Which is fine in everyday life - and that's why I said it was excusable and I never even bat an eyelid about it normally (I'll even conflate the terms in everyday conversation too).

      But incorrectly trying to correct someone who was actually correct deserves some correction of its own.

    75. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by 200_success · · Score: 1

      "You're holding it wrong" -- where have I heard that before?

    76. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What he's saying, quite correctly, is that grams are used to measure both weight and mass in the metric system.

      Then the metric system is wrong. And all those that follow it need you be killed starting with you.

    77. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When most people advocate for metric they are generally suggesting SI

      So you think all temperatures should be measured in Kelvin?

      The kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units (SI) and is assigned the unit symbol K.

    78. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Usage of the unqualified term pound reflects the historical conflation of mass and weight resulting from the near uniformity of gravity on Earth. This accounts for the modern distinguishing terms pound-mass and pound-force.

      Gravity on earth is not uniform.

    79. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So all countries that use the metric system measure temperature in kelvin then?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin

      The kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units (SI) and is assigned the unit symbol K.

      Again metric != SI.

    80. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SI != Metric

      But like all people that advocate the metric system you don't understand your own unit's. Go kill yourself so that the average IQ of the world is raised.

    81. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question232.htm

      Every time you jump, you experience gravity. It pulls you back down to the ground. Without gravity, you'd float off into the atmosphere -- along with all of the other matter on Earth.

    82. Re:"1/10 of a pound" by BasilBrush · · Score: 1
  6. what's not to like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Way too many stories about things that don't matter...

    1. Re:what's not to like? by macs4all · · Score: 1

      a DRM'd POS w/no SDHC or USB? yep, that's not to like

      I should know better than to feed the Troll; but that's patently ridiculous. You can have SDHC and USB on your iPad with any number of Apple and third-party accessories. So what if it isn't built-in. Doesn't make it unavailable.

  7. So, basically by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every great new feature has a potential con. If you don't have an iPad, it's a great iPad. If you have an original iPad, it's a good upgrade. If you have the iPad 2, you're probably okay holding on to it until the next generation.

  8. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    +1 troll point for using a buzz word. Do you even know what fragmentation is?

  9. Best Part is.. by rykin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The best part about the new iPad is that the previous versions have gotten cheaper. So if you really want a iPad 2, you can pickup a refurb from Apple for as low as $350 (or $400 new) which makes it more competitive with some of the Android tablets out there.

    Note: I am not a tablet user.

    1. Re:Best Part is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      $350 for a refurbished unit? Sorry... it isn't THAT good. Not even NEW is that good.

      Over-hyped, copycat devices by Apple are seriously overpriced and completely underwhelming.

      I'll wait until someone makes a cheaper, better performing Linux tablet computer that I know is rock solid. Fuck Apple.

    2. Re:Best Part is.. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Refurb? you can get like new ones used for $250.00 The one I bought nobody on this planet could tell it was used, and it came with a smart cover as well.

      Get over your "used is icky" feelings and buy used for even cheaper.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:Best Part is.. by gstrickler · · Score: 2

      40M+ iPad 2 buyers disagree with you.

      --
      make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
    4. Re:Best Part is.. by BanHammor · · Score: 1

      Thing is, nobody of the big guys made tablets that didn't fail until Apple did, and then everybody followed suit. Yes, they are overhyped, and I can't find a meaning to them, but they aren't exactly copycat. And rock solid Linux tablets aren't really coming - Vivaldi is more or less useless, and sorry, but KDE has never been rock solid.

    5. Re:Best Part is.. by readandburn · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, but there are probably DOZENS of Linux users that agree with him!

    6. Re:Best Part is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Refurbs have warranty. Used generally doesn't, and it's hard to get a separate warranty covering a used one you've got off of eBay. Not everyone feels like taking that sort of risk.

      Unless you mean used with a seller warranty, in which case do tell.

    7. Re:Best Part is.. by Dzimas · · Score: 1

      I bought a used iPad 2 for $300 earlier this week after placing an online "wanted" ad. I received dozens of responses - some with realistic expectations, some wanting basically new prices. Mine was a pretty specific purchase -- the rear camera didn't work, so I was able to exchange it at the Apple Store. The process took all of 10 minutes and the unit I received is indistinguishable from new. From a market standpoint, I suspect 2012 will be the iPad's biggest year. However, the fact that it's so easy to find a used iPad at a substantial discount suggests market saturation.

    8. Re:Best Part is.. by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      I really wish they would make something closer to the size of the TNG PADD. I think there's one or two tablets out there around that size but I can't be sure.

    9. Re:Best Part is.. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      I'm a Linux user and DISAGREE with him.

      The old iPad is competitive now, mainly because the Android units are way overpriced.

      A portable tablet is NOT a laptop, the point of a tablet is its a fairly stripped down mobile device for high portability, and should not cost as much as a full blown laptop.

      In the same way that a Laptop is a stripped down computer for mobility and should not be priced at the $3000 or so that a full desktop gaming rig costs.

    10. Re:Best Part is.. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Refurbished products usually come with a 30 to 90 day warranty. This is similar to the warranty you can easily get for items purchased on eBay if you purchase from the right seller.

      And generally you can purchase a 3rd party warranty for a percentage of the purchase price.

      The vast majority of the time, the warranty won't be worth it. The warranty is often a low risk for the manufacturer, because often people won't even recognize they have that option or will fail to utilize the warranty if the product does experience a non-critical issue, or if it fails, they may just purchase a replacement.

    11. Re:Best Part is.. by gstrickler · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apple refurb products have the same warranty as the original product, and for the iPad that also includes:

      We test and certify all Apple refurbished products and include a 1-year warranty.
      All refurbished iPad models also include a brand new battery and outer shell.

      --
      make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
    12. Re:Best Part is.. by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      EAT SHIT: 10,000,000,000 flies can't be wrong!

      There are hundreds of millions of Windows users out there, so obviously Windows has to be pretty good. McDonalds has sold billions of hamburgers--they must have great hamburgers! Britney Spears has sold millions of records--she must be a pretty good singer.

      Start to get the point? Just because something sells well does make it good.

    13. Re:Best Part is.. by jon3k · · Score: 1
      You might want to do some research before you spout nonsense:

      http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC979LL/A

      Covered by Apple's one-year limited warranty

      Most people don't want to spend countless hours scouring eBay and hoping to not get ripped off. My time and a 1 year warranty is worth more than the $100 difference.

    14. Re:Best Part is.. by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Over-hyped, copycat devices by Apple are seriously overpriced and completely underwhelming.

      Soooo, how many tablets last for 10 hours and have 2048 x 1536 resolution?

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    15. Re:Best Part is.. by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      What's not to like about the new iPad:

      1. its price

      2. its vulnerability to water/drop damage

      3. 116F isn't scorching, but it's a move in the wrong direction

      4. it is, after all, just a tablet and not an actual computer replacement

      Otherwise, I find it pretty sweet - still not enough for me to consider trading in our iPad-1 for (I really like that the iPad-1 doesn't get hot) but, hey, if the price doesn't bother you and you won't be putting it in the hands of kids/people who might kill it (yes, for an even HIGHER price, you can get 2x accidental damage coverage with AppleCare)... it's a fun little device, nothing I'll be throwing out my laptop computers over, but cool nonetheless.

    16. Re:Best Part is.. by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      In the same way that a Laptop is a stripped down computer for mobility and should not be
      priced at the $3000 or so that a full desktop gaming rig costs.

      Now that depends... I won a $3500 credit toward purchase of a laptop in a contest once (yes, had to spend it all on one single laptop, no buying 7 netbooks or accessory monitors or anything like that.) The $3K+ laptop market is an interesting place, a lot like a Ferrari dealership - they are all overpriced bad compromises that excel in certain things. I ended up with a 13" ultra-light speed demon - it's shockingly light and I can play StarCraft II on it at reasonably high settings (1600x900 res) - until the fans clog up with dust, that is - and even before then you can roast a small chicken in about 45 minutes using the exhaust vent air, just make sure to rotate it regularly or it will scorch to a crisp.

      Will I replace this (typing on it now) super-lappie with anything remotely similar when it dies? No... in-fact, I bought a nice cool running $600 12" Acer to use while the speed demon was off to the factory for warranty repairs...

    17. Re:Best Part is.. by gstrickler · · Score: 1

      Comprehension fail? Or just a troll?

      The GP said it wasn't worth the price, I simply pointed out that 40+M buyers disagree. I made no claims about how "good it is". Everything you responded with has absolutely nothing to do with my post.

      --
      make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
    18. Re:Best Part is.. by Jeremi · · Score: 1

      Start to get the point? Just because something sells well does[n't] make it good.

      For your own personal definition of "good", that's true. But if you were a fly, or someone who likes cheap hamburgers, or a Britney Spears fan, your tastes would be different and you would probably find those products perfectly satisfactory, and buy them.

      So the point is, prescribing your own medicine to other people doesn't do them any good.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    19. Re:Best Part is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And just because you don't like something doesn't make it suck.

    20. Re:Best Part is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you didnt read the article about the amount of human faeces found on tablets and phones?

    21. Re:Best Part is.. by chrismcb · · Score: 1

      I can get a brand new iPad2 for $399. Why would I want a refurb for $350?

    22. Re:Best Part is.. by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      So wait... are Apple "copycats", or are they leaders?

      You say you're waiting for a "cheaper, better performing Linux tablet" - so where are they right now? You know, the ones Apple is supposedly "copying"? Why not buy one of those?

      We've also been hearing the "just you wait for the cheaper, better Android tablets" line since the release of the iPad 1. We're still waiting.

      Asus Eee Pad Transformer was pretty good, briefly, (at $100 less than an equivalent iPad at the time), but the new retina iPad seems to have eclipsed it, and the iPad it matched is now the same price.

    23. Re:Best Part is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      40M+ iPad 2 buyers disagree with you.

      But look at all the people who didn't buy an ipad.

    24. Re:Best Part is.. by rykin · · Score: 1

      Why get a refurb? Because, as other users have mentioned, the refurb isn't too bad. Look at this snippet from the Apple Store:
      http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad/ipad2_wi_fi
      Apple Certified Refurbished
      We test and certify all Apple refurbished products and include a 1-year warranty.
      All refurbished iPad models also include a brand new battery and outer shell.


      Plus, you can add AppleCare if you wish. To me, this makes getting the refurb as good as a new unit, but you save $50.

    25. Re:Best Part is.. by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      Mmm...chicken...

    26. Re:Best Part is.. by Raenex · · Score: 1

      The old iPad is competitive now, mainly because the Android units are way overpriced.

      The Android units are "overpriced" because they cost a lot to manufacture. Apple kept their prices down by making big bets and locking up supply chains. For once, Apple is winning on the price/value front.

      A portable tablet is NOT a laptop, the point of a tablet is its a fairly stripped down mobile device for high portability, and should not cost as much as a full blown laptop.

      Just what parts do you think you're going to save on? The touch screen will be more expensive. The lack of keyboard isn't going to save a lot. You'll still need cpu, graphics driver, RAM, and a hard drive. And you'll have to pack it into less space than a laptop.

    27. Re:Best Part is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What? Re-use old equipment? FUCK THAT. Make me a shiny new one! Who cares about resources or how to get rid of the old stuff?

    28. Re:Best Part is.. by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      I'm a Linux user and DISAGREE with him.

      The old iPad is competitive now, mainly because the Android units are way overpriced.

      A portable tablet is NOT a laptop, the point of a tablet is its a fairly stripped down mobile device for high portability, and should not cost as much as a full blown laptop.

      In the same way that a Laptop is a stripped down computer for mobility and should not be priced at the $3000 or so that a full desktop gaming rig costs.

      In reality, a laptop is always more expensive than a desktop with equivalent spec, so I'm not sure your argument works.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    29. Re:Best Part is.. by kenboldt · · Score: 1

      The Backstreet Boys have apparently sold over 150 million records. Does make them better artists than Paul McCartney or Luciano Pavarotti at 100 million, Santana at 80 million, Bob Dylan at 70 million, or Pearl Jam at a measly 60 million?

      large sales figures != quality product

      just as

      low sales figures != low quality product

    30. Re:Best Part is.. by gstrickler · · Score: 1

      No, it means 150M people thought it was worth the price. The GP said it was too expensive, I simply pointed out the 40M+ BUYERS disagree with him. I said NOTHING about quality (good/bad).

      --
      make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
    31. Re:Best Part is.. by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      -- quote --
        it isn't THAT good. Not even NEW is that good.
      -- end quote --

      Yes it is.

      OOOOOH pwn3d!

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    32. Re:Best Part is.. by toriver · · Score: 1

      Yeah, why did Apple copy the heavy, resistive single-touch screen, expensive tablets that PC manufacturers had tried to squeeze a mouse-and-keyboard desktop OS into?

      Oh wait, they didn't.

      You need to learn what innovation means. Unless you are still using WordStar and VisiCalc on a CP/M machine.

    33. Re:Best Part is.. by toriver · · Score: 1

      At least they don't have a keyboard - those things are dirty.

    34. Re:Best Part is.. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Just what parts do you think you're going to save on? The touch screen will be more expensive. The lack of keyboard isn't going to save a lot. You'll still need cpu, graphics driver, RAM, and a hard drive.

      Well, an iPad for example does not have a hard drive; it contains a tiny amount of low-cost NAND flash; between 16 and 32gb. A typical laptop contains a 300gb hard drive. The power requirements, and therefore the requirements of the power supply circuits are much less.

      One of the huge things is a tablet does not contain a full blown desktop OS such as Windows, a tablet contains a much simpler OS, with so limited capabilities, that a Windows $200 software license fee is not reasonable. A tablet does not contain bundled Office software like a laptop does.

      Laptops contain a multitude of ports PHYs and controllers that don't exist on a tablet computer. For example, a tablet does not have a NIC, therefore no Gigabit Ethernet controller, and no Ethernet PHY. A tablet does not have multiple USB ports, therefore, no need for onboard USB hubs. There is no VGA either, no LPT, no PS/2, no DVI, no IrDa, no touch pad, no Mini-PCI.

      The CPUs and graphics chips are simpler designs with much lower specs than those used in laptops; they are less expensive designs -- the chipsets are much simpler on these embedded PCBs, there is no need for a PCI-x bus, for example. The battery in a tablet is much smaller in terms of mAH capacity and output power than that of a laptop.

      The iPad 2 has 512mb of RAM versus the 4GB in a typical laptop.

      A 10" touch screen is not significantly more expensive than a typical laptop's 15" LCD.

      There is a lot of hardware and software of substantial cost that a Tablet does not have, but that a laptop does.

    35. Re:Best Part is.. by Raenex · · Score: 1

      First off, it doesn't cost the big manufacturers $200 to license Windows. It's more like $50 or possibly even less.

      Bundled software with budget laptops, outside of the OS, is shovelware, and is often used to reduce the price.

      For the hardware, the display is the most expensive component, and it's no wonder that cheap tablets tried to save money on the display. I'll grant you that tables save some money with lower RAM and small flash drives, but it's not hundreds of dollars. Chipsets for standard ports like ethernet are cheap, and only cost a few dollars. I don't know how much they saved on stuff like GPU, but again, it's not hundreds of dollars, especially when you're talking budget laptops in the price range of $400.

    36. Re:Best Part is.. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      In reality, a laptop is always more expensive than a desktop with equivalent spec, so I'm not sure your argument works.

      You don't normally get laptops specced as high as your desktop.

      The specs of a tablet are a tiny fraction of the specs, orders of magnitude less than the specs of an entry level laptop.

  10. Re:Fragmentation by zAPPzAPP · · Score: 5, Funny

    I know there is a windows tool to get rid of it.

  11. of any of these, only the battery thing means much by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have one, the charge times are quite slow. To be honest, too slow. Don't get me wrong, you can live with it, but it does also matter in some situations. And on top of that if you decide to just use your buddies' iPhone charger instead of the included one, you could charge it all through the work day and only pick up 25% charge or something. With the iPad 2, the iPhone charger was an acceptable back-up plan to the stock charger in a pinch. Unless your battery was almost completely dead the iPad 2 would charge completely off an iPhone charger overnight.

    The weight isn't really any different, the reason it's so uncomfortable to hold for long periods is the same as any other iPad, there's simply no good way to hold it without blocking or touching the screen.

    The drop situation is the same for all iPads, even if you drop tested an older one and got different results, you just got lucky on the old one. The screen is a huge expanse of glass on any iPad, you have to be careful.

    WiFi has been the same on the iPad 3 as the 2. I even used mine side by side with a 2 for a bit and the results were the same.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  12. Par for the course? by swb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It strikes me that this is just par for the course for most Apple releases.

    iPhone 3GS, iPad 1 -- both of mine had wifi problems until software updates came out.

    iPhone 4 -- antennagate -- appeared totally fine by the time I got my 4 in March of 2011.

    iPhone 4s -- batterygate -- greatly improved in 5.01 and mostly fixed by 5.1.

    Overall, it seems like there's about 6 months after a device's release that Apple releases a serious of fixes to fix or mitigate some deficiency and that by that time the device is largely as good as it will get.

    I just wish they would add bluetooth profiles to the iPad for microphone headsets and mice, although the latter I only want with RDP apps, although I think it might be handy if you were using a full-screen editor, too.

    It kind of makes me wonder why no one has made a BT mouse adapter that plugs into the microphone port or the dock connector. With an open SDK, vendors who wanted mouse capabilities could add support for the hardware.

    1. Re:Par for the course? by Sancho · · Score: 2

      I believe that apps can now add arbitrary Bluetooth profiles (for their use only.) Ask your favorite RDP app author for mouse support.

    2. Re:Par for the course? by Barbarian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No microphone headset or bt mouse profile

      I just wish they would add bluetooth profiles to the iPad for microphone headsets and mice, although the latter I only want with RDP apps, although I think it might be handy if you were using a full-screen editor, too.

      Of course there's no BT profile for BT microphone headsets and mice. This is consistent with Apple practice.
      - A microphone headset would let you make private calls with VOIP apps, which might mean less calls on your iphone, or even not need your iphone at all if properly implemented.
      - A mouse might allow development of apps which would require you to use your macbook less and/or not even buy a macbook in the first place.

    3. Re:Par for the course? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It kind of makes me wonder why no one has made a BT mouse adapter that plugs into the microphone port or the dock connector.

      Because Apple won't allow it. If it doesn't fit with Apple's paradigm you don't get it, simple as that.

      Note that I'm not trying to troll here, that is simply a fact. If you wanted an open platform you should have bought one.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:Par for the course? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was an attempt to do just that with the docking port, but with apple using Patents to prevent interaction of other devices with it's devices... you can't have nice things unless Apple wants you to have them (and is getting a cut, if they even approve of it in the first place)

    5. Re:Par for the course? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      I just wish they would add bluetooth profiles to the iPad for microphone headsets and mice, although the latter I only want with RDP apps, although I think it might be handy if you were using a full-screen editor, too.

      If you jailbreak, you can add another Bluetooth stack that supports those devices. If you are using Citrix, this idea seems very cool (if it actually works).

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    6. Re:Par for the course? by eminencja · · Score: 1

      > It kind of makes me wonder why no one has made a BT mouse adapter

      Because it makes no sense? Steve Jobs mentioned that when Apple started the multi-touch interface they knew that all apps would have to be re-written to use this interface. So I guess mouse and multi-touch are two different worlds. Safari fires touch events, not mouse events -- touch events are used to simulate mouse events but some things do not work: (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#DOCUMENTATION/AppleApplications/Reference/SafariWebContent/HandlingEvents/HandlingEvents.html).

      So it would be totally cool if I could use not only a wireless keyboard but also a mouse with my IPAD (and on occasion turn the IPAD into a poor's man desktop replacement), but I don't think that's possible.

    7. Re:Par for the course? by voidptr · · Score: 4, Informative

      Of course there's no BT profile for BT microphone headsets and mice. This is consistent with Apple practice.

      - A microphone headset would let you make private calls with VOIP apps, which might mean less calls on your iphone, or even not need your iphone at all if properly implemented.

      Only problem with your conspiracy theory is that it's complete and utter bullshit, since the iPad 2 and up do support HFP: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3647?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US along with every other profile the latest iPhones do except Phone Book, since it can't actually dial a phone.

      You can use a BT microphone headset with Skype / Facetime just fine.

      --
      This .sig for unofficial government use only. Official use subject to $500 fine.
    8. Re:Par for the course? by macs4all · · Score: 1

      No microphone headset or bt mouse profile

      You do realize, of course, that iOS wasn't designed for mouse input, right?

    9. Re:Par for the course? by Telvin_3d · · Score: 2

      Apple wouldn't allow it? There are no mouse adapters because iOS has no cursor. The OS itself is mouse-less. What would you push around the screen? The non-existent cursor graphic?

    10. Re:Par for the course? by macs4all · · Score: 0

      So it would be totally cool if I could use not only a wireless keyboard but also a mouse with my IPAD (and on occasion turn the IPAD into a poor's man desktop replacement), but I don't think that's possible.

      So, you honestly believe that translating horizontal (mouse on desktop) movement to vertical (on-screen) movement is more efficient and direct than just reaching out an directly touching where you want the cursor to be?

    11. Re:Par for the course? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Ah, cool. So every app can have it's own mouse driver.

      I remember MS-DOS apps that worked that way....

    12. Re:Par for the course? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 0

      Back in the day, I could run Microsoft Word for MS-DOS on my old XT clone. If it was on a machine that didn't have a mouse driver installed, there was no mouse pointer on the screen.

      Actually, you can still do this with modern Windows. There are keyboard shortcuts, including heavy use of the Tab key, that let you 'get around' without a pointer.

      So a 'mouse' for an iOS device would cause a mouse pointer to emerge on the screen.

      Yeah, we know. It would horrify some designer mincing around at Apple headquarters, so it ain't gonna happen.

    13. Re:Par for the course? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 0

      So, you honestly believe that translating horizontal (mouse on desktop) movement to vertical (on-screen) movement is more efficient and direct than just reaching out an directly touching where you want the cursor to be?

      It is for any kind of drawing/graphics app. As it stands, on the multi-touch devices, you can only 'draw' or 'paint' with the resolution of a six year old with a box of crayons. Even if you buy a third party stylus, which do exist. They have a big spongy end like a crayon.

      Granted, graphic apps are not something the Apple tablets are designed to do. But people like extensible features so they have more control over their gadgets. Apple clearly doesn't like that.

    14. Re:Par for the course? by Sancho · · Score: 1

      I doubt very seriously that Apple wants a mouse driver on a touch device. The use cases are really quite small. So this is probably as good as it's going to get.

      Luckily, someone could develop the profile and then license it out.

    15. Re:Par for the course? by macs4all · · Score: 4, Informative

      So, you honestly believe that translating horizontal (mouse on desktop) movement to vertical (on-screen) movement is more efficient and direct than just reaching out an directly touching where you want the cursor to be?

      It is for any kind of drawing/graphics app. As it stands, on the multi-touch devices, you can only 'draw' or 'paint' with the resolution of a six year old with a box of crayons. Even if you buy a third party stylus, which do exist. They have a big spongy end like a crayon.

      Granted, graphic apps are not something the Apple tablets are designed to do. But people like extensible features so they have more control over their gadgets. Apple clearly doesn't like that.

      Isn't all this Apple-Hate getting a bit tiresome?

      Actually, there are lots of styli that are finer-tipped from Adonit, Kensington, Addesso, "RooCase" (who has a cool one with a "finger-size" at one end, and a very fine tip at the other), and also ones from about a zillion nameless Chinese companies (but don't let your utter laziness in not spending the 30 seconds on Google, like I just did, stop you from spreading tiresome lies) ; but if you saw what the guy from AutoDesk drew in 90 seconds on the iPad with his finger, you'd STFU about the "six-year-old" crap.

      A poor craftsman blames his tools.

      And I dare say that, far from being "restrictive" or "controlled", the iPad has been one of the single-most "enabling" devices to come along in quite some time.

    16. Re:Par for the course? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The worst part about any new Apple product is the inevitable concoction of new -gate scandal names.

    17. Re:Par for the course? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      See Android. No cursor but it supports relative pointing devices such as trackballs and mice. Some phones actually have trackballs (like my old HTC Hero).

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    18. Re:Par for the course? by tibit · · Score: 1

      It does make all the sense for devices that are not used by the OS nor exposed by the higher level APIs provided by the OS. On OS X, it's quite simple to develop user-space USB drivers that are a part of your application. Even Microsoft made it way more complicated with their user mode driver framework. On OS X, if you have a single app that runs a piece of custom hardware, you just start the app, it claims the hardware, and that's it. No waiting for a hardware detector to grab a driver, etc. It's a very nice user experience. I imagine it should be done the same way on iOS devices.

      --
      A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
    19. Re:Par for the course? by eminencja · · Score: 1

      Last time I used IPAD I tried to edit some circuits using an MTI web app (https://6002x.mitx.mit.edu/ free login required, then go to Overview | Circuit Sandbox) but it did not work -- I could not move any part on the schematics. So maybe the APP has just to be fixed for the IPAD. Just saying it did not work for me and my instinct was to reach for a mouse.

    20. Re:Par for the course? by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      It's a touchpad interface with no mouse interface, that would be the reason for the lack of mouse support...
      The SDK isn't the problem, it's just not made for a mouse. The same as a car isn't made for submarine duty, and a desktop computer isn't for cell service.

      As far as iPads with microphone headsets, that's been out since.. well.. since bluetooth was on iPad. I've been using one since iPad 1.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    21. Re:Par for the course? by toriver · · Score: 1

      I assume you would also want to be able to insert a hand crank into your car to bypass the starter motor as well...? Old input device is old.

    22. Re:Par for the course? by Wovel · · Score: 1

      I use a Bluetooth headset with Skype on the iPad all the time. Why do people think it is ok to just make things up.

    23. Re:Par for the course? by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Last time I used IPAD I tried to edit some circuits using an MTI web app (https://6002x.mitx.mit.edu/ free login required, then go to Overview | Circuit Sandbox) but it did not work -- I could not move any part on the schematics. So maybe the APP has just to be fixed for the IPAD. Just saying it did not work for me and my instinct was to reach for a mouse.

      I have run into a few websites that don't seem to "get" Mobile Safari's "click simulation". I have NO idea why; but they don't. You mentioned that it was a "web app". Perhaps it is a little slow on the uptake, and perhaps Safari's pseudo-clicks are a little too "short". I dunno. I'm not an iOS dev. But it does seem to work for 99.99% of the websites I've encountered; so I'd wager on an oddity on the "remote" side.

      Can you visit the site/app with the "desktop" version of Safari and have it work?

      For example, the online tax site I like to use absolutely REFUSES to work with Safari. It gets to a certain point in the scripts, and you can't convince it you "clicked" for NOTHIN'!!! So, I go "Oh, yeah, I remember", and fire up Firefox and continue. Both are Webkit browsers; so what's the difference? And since it is the ONLY site that does it, it is pretty much a "given" that it ain't Safari's fault, ya know?

      I know you gave the iPad the benefit of the doubt; but I just wanted to emphasize that, as we all know, the "web" is anything BUT a haven for strictly-adhered-to standards, and so, if there happen to be some "outliers", well, dems da breaks...

      I would be interested to know if it works with "regular" Safari, though.

    24. Re:Par for the course? by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Sorry to double--post; but the answer is right on the front page of the "course". To wit:

      The course web site was developed and tested primarily with Google Chrome. We support current versions of Mozilla Firefox as well. The video player is designed to work with Flash. While we provide a partial non-Flash fallback for the video, as well as partial support for Internet Explorer, other browsers, and tablets, portions of the functionality will be unavailable. So, they say "For best results, use Chrome". They don't even MENTION Safari at ALL (and this is MIT we're talking about!!!!). Heck, they even say they only have "partial support" for IE.

      I call "lazy coders"... Or ones who are Google fanbois/getting funding from Google.

      Yes. VERY odd, since these are the recommended laptops for MIT Students. And HERE is an MIT Media Lab "success-story" page on Apple's site. And HERE is MIT's iOS APP!!!

      Odd, indeed, don'tcha think?

    25. Re:Par for the course? by eminencja · · Score: 1

      Actually, the video player is amazing -- it has captions on the side highlighting phrases there are being spoken in the video. If you click on a phrase, the video scrolls to that point. I thought -- wow, who needs Flash any more? And now you are telling me that's just a fallback version?

    26. Re:Par for the course? by eminencja · · Score: 1

      Just checked -- works on a "regular" Safari.

    27. Re:Par for the course? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      On OS X, if you have a single app that runs a piece of custom hardware, you just start the app, it claims the hardware, and that's it. No waiting for a hardware detector to grab a driver, etc. It's a very nice user experience.

      That sounds nice, but it doesn't sound like it would scale well. User X has four programs that all connect to proprietary hardware. So the apps are all scrambling to grab the hooks to do this and that.

      It also sounds like a potential security nightmare. Joe Trojan slips code into a bigger app that seeks out the secret dongle. If it's there, it begins doing whatever....

  13. What's not to like about "THE" new iPad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I loathe people who refer to it as "iPad", and not as "an iPad" or "the iPad".

    It's a machine, not a person. Do you anthropomorphise your kettle?

    1. Re:What's not to like about "THE" new iPad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They do not do it by themselves, they imitate what Apple does. Apple's promotional material is completely devoid of articles.

    2. Re:What's not to like about "THE" new iPad? by oobayly · · Score: 1

      But I only read the promotional material for the articles.

    3. Re:What's not to like about "THE" new iPad? by macs4all · · Score: 1

      I loathe people who refer to it as "iPad", and not as "an iPad" or "the iPad".

      It's a machine, not a person. Do you anthropomorphise your kettle?

      It's an Apple-ism. Started with "Welcome to Macintosh".

      I believe it emphasizes the fact that you are entering another "world".

      And since it is their product, they are free to refer to it however they please. It won't affect their bottom line one little bit whether you, you and your friends and family, or in fact you and everyone you know, purchases or doesn't purchase their products based on something as petty as a part of speech.

      Don't you have better things to worry about? I know I do.

  14. From a new iPad user by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 0

    It's fast, amazingly beautiful (old pictures look much better), so convenient to have all (compatible) apps automatically copied to the new iPad from my iPhone.
    Just disappointed that the iPhone HDR is not included (??) with the new ipad camera and I don't care about Siri (the dictation option is available, i'm happy with that)

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    1. Re:From a new iPad user by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      and HDR would be... ?

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      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    2. Re:From a new iPad user by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      High dynamic range . the feature exists on the iPhone 4. The device takes 3 pics in a row at different exposures, in order to improve the dark and bright areas (takes the long exp for dark, and the brights get the short one).

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  15. It's still pointless. by x0d · · Score: 1, Redundant

    It doesn't even matter if it runs on iOS, Android or whatever. My brother actually bought into the hype and got himself a Galaxy Tab but had to sell it after about 3 months because he wasn't using it for anything other than occasional web browsing. The 'cool' factor wears off very quickly. Netbooks were better. At least those were still 'real' computers.

    1. Re:It's still pointless. by Grimbleton · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hear that guys, x0d's brother HAD TO SELL HIS, time to pack up and move on, tablets are done.

    2. Re:It's still pointless. by Rakishi · · Score: 1

      Yes, everyone is exactly like your brother. There's a giant global conspiracy that's replacing people with exact clones of your brother.

    3. Re:It's still pointless. by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      Possibly pointless for you. You know you're not the only person in the world, right?

    4. Re:It's still pointless. by Pieroxy · · Score: 1

      Your brother bought a Galaxy Tab and sold it, so the iPad is useless?

      Dude. Come on. I know we're on slashdot, but still...

  16. #1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not an Android.

    1. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To most iOS users, that's a feature

    2. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      To most iOS users, that's a feature

      In my experience, most iOS users don't even know what iOS or Android is.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    3. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      You need new friends.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    4. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      You need new friends.

      Funny enough, none of those people are people I would give a designation of 'friend' either. Now, back to the topic at hand...

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    5. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by toriver · · Score: 1

      A good OS gets out of the way. An iOS user does not need to know as much about their device as an Android user. "Hum, nice game, does my device have one of the supported graphics chips? Do I have enough memory or do I have too many 'will not install to SD card' apps? Is it a trojan?"...

    6. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      A good OS gets out of the way. An iOS user does not need to know as much about their device as an Android user. "Hum, nice game, does my device have one of the supported graphics chips? Do I have enough memory or do I have too many 'will not install to SD card' apps?

      I visited the marketplace website and I see this message "This app is compatible with your 3 Samsung Nexus S."

      Have you even used an Android phone?

      Is it a trojan?"...

      Is this like "Is this website going to automatically jailbreak my phone and install something malicious?"

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    7. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by toriver · · Score: 1

      the marketplace website

      That is one channel. Are the others the same? Otherwise the Marketplace is like the App Store and will tell you whether the app is compatible with your device or not. And who did the testing? The app developer? And you still need to check that you have enough memory.

    8. Re:#1 Thing Wrong With The New iPad by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      That is one channel. Are the others the same?

      The other app stores I have encountered tend to be preinstalled on devices, those are from the particular vendors of those devices, so it would be unlikely in my opinion that they would list software that does not work on their own hardware. I have yet to try the 'alternative' markets for all phones for Android though because the Google marketplace pretty much covers all the applications anyway.

      And who did the testing? The app developer?

      Probably, with all the VMs provided in the development kit for the different software platforms, not hard to test either.

      And you still need to check that you have enough memory.

      If my phone didn't have enough memory, that model wouldn't be acceptable as an installation target, so, no, that wouldn't mean I have to check how much memory my phone model has.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  17. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by binarylarry · · Score: 1

    That's funny. My iPad 1 takes a fucking year to charge.

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  18. I expect it has some bugs too by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I know it has bugs in the LTE connection. It's conked out before, and I even had the WiFi connection disappear after I turned LTE off (to save power). Going to airplane mode and back fixed all the problems, at least for now.

    Also, the bars in LTE mode don't make much sense, or at least aren't what you're used to. With 5 bars I get 30mbps down, with 1 I get 24mpbs down. We've been trained from 3G that 1 bar is a lot slower than 5, so they should rescale the bars so that when you are at half speed or less you get 1 bar.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
    1. Re:I expect it has some bugs too by moss45 · · Score: 1

      so they should rescale the bars so that when you are at half speed or less you get 1 bar.

      The speed you get on LTE depends on both the congestion of the cell and the strength of the signal you get from that cell. I thought the iPad can only tell what the strength of the signal, that cell towers don't report levels of congestion (excluding when they are too congested to operate). I don't think telecommunications companies would be willing to let consumers see how congested their network is either, they want consumers to see 5 bars all the time.

  19. Obligatory Troll Post by epp_b · · Score: 0

    What's not to like: it's an iPad.

    1. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by Microlith · · Score: 1

      That's not a troll post.

      I like the hardware of the iPad, but by virtue of being an iPad it runs an OS that forcibly puts you on the outside of its security model, trusting only the platform vendor.

      So yeah, I don't like it because it's an iPad. I'd also dislike it if it were crippled in the way that ASUS and Motorola lock down their tablet bootloaders and force you to surrender your warranty before you can do as you wish.

    2. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      And you think it a good idea that manufacturers build devices that can safely be utilized by a small fraction of potential customers?

      Go to your local WalMart. Look around you. Do you want to trust those folks with anything more complicated than a slip of paper?

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by Microlith · · Score: 1

      And you think it a good idea that manufacturers build devices that can safely be utilized by a small fraction of potential customers?

      Hey look, it's another all or nothing absolutist.

      Do you want to trust those folks with anything more complicated than a slip of paper?

      Ah yes, the old "these people are idiots, therefore everyone must be treated as such" fallacy.

    4. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by jon3k · · Score: 1

      I think the problem is people think of the iPads in terms of being a computer. And it is, but not a general purpose computer. I don't complain that I can't install anything I want on my DVD player or coffee maker. To me an iPad is a (3rd, or even 4th) device for casual media consumption. It's great for what it is. For a lot of people it's the price tag, so here's an easy test. If someone GAVE you an iPad, would you use it? If you would, then the problem isn't that the device is bad, or limited, just that it isn't a good value, to you, at a particular price point.

    5. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by macs4all · · Score: 1

      I like the hardware of the iPad, but by virtue of being an iPad it runs an OS that forcibly puts you on the outside of its security model, trusting only the platform vendor.

      A security model that happens to be working about 100,000 times better than the OS that puts the user in charge of security.

      Your misplaced zealotry is showing. Proof's in the pudding, dood.

      Now watch as someone completely ignores the logic and substance of this post, and instead makes a snarky remark based solely upon my username...

    6. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Ah yes, the old "these people are idiots, therefore everyone must be treated as such" fallacy.

      With some 9,000 privilege escalations on Android, the Proof is in the pudding. And Apple's much-maligned "Walled Garden" (where the "walls" are so far away as to be virtually out-of-sight) and Developer Registration Program are exactly the reasons cited as to why you can't even find a number for iOS Malware.

      And since you consider yourself to not be an idiot; surely you realize that you can trivially jailbreak your iOS device (thanks in part to the fact that Apple really doesn't work too hard to prevent that), and enjoy the same illusion-of-freedom that you ascribe to Android.

    7. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by tepples · · Score: 1

      the problem isn't that the device is bad, or limited, just that it isn't a good value, to you, at a particular price point.

      You're right: $99 per year isn't the right price point for me.

    8. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by jon3k · · Score: 1

      It doesn't cost $99 a year to own and use a wifi iPad.

    9. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by tepples · · Score: 1

      It does if you want to run applications from outside the App Store without breaking the DMCA once the jailbreak exemption expires.

    10. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by Microlith · · Score: 1

      Oh, an Apple White Knight.

      With some 9,000 privilege escalations on Android, the Proof is in the pudding.

      Which says NOTHING, not one goddamn thing, in defense of completely locking users out of their own devices with no flexibility.

      Apple's much-maligned "Walled Garden" (where the "walls" are so far away as to be virtually out-of-sight)

      They're right there for anyone who looks.

      and Developer Registration Program are exactly the reasons cited as to why you can't even find a number for iOS Malware.

      Which is meaningless in my context, and only points out that Google needs to enforce greater controls on their store.

      And since you consider yourself to not be an idiot; surely you realize that you can trivially jailbreak your iOS device (thanks in part to the fact that Apple really doesn't work too hard to prevent that), and enjoy the same illusion-of-freedom that you ascribe to Android.

      I don't care for having to fight, or give money to, a vendor that seeks to control my actions. Not to mention one that would leverage Federal laws to shut down such jailbreaking if not for a serendipitous decision by the Library of Congress.

      illusion-of-freedom that you ascribe to Android.

      Thankfully I didn't say a goddamn thing about Android. Go stuff words in other people's mouths, please. I don't care for zealots who see other platforms as the enemy and characterize any slights against their preferred platform as support for the platform they hate.

    11. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Which says NOTHING, not one goddamn thing, in defense of completely locking users out of their own devices with no flexibility.

      Sure it does. You're just being deliberately obtuse. Hell, even you argue for "more control" by Google later in your post!

      And I wouldn't call half-a-million apps "no flexibility". What exactly are you talking about, anyway?

      Which is meaningless in my context, and only points out that Google needs to enforce greater controls on their store.

      But wait! Isn't that the exact thing you were bitching about? Make up my mind, willya?!?

      I don't care for having to fight, or give money to, a vendor that seeks to control my actions.

      But, but... You just argued for more controls!!! So, which is it? Oh, I know! Google Good; Apple Bad. NOW I get it!

      Thankfully I didn't say a goddamn thing about Android. Go stuff words in other people's mouths, please. I don't care for zealots who see other platforms as the enemy and characterize any slights against their preferred platform as support for the platform they hate.

      Um, who is it that is responsible for Android? Google! So, if you weren't talking about Apple v. Android in your original post (and by reference to Google, definitely in your Reply), then what were you talking about? So you see; I "stuffed" nothing into your mouth. You're just a fucking LIAR (and a pretty stupid one at that)!!!

      And if you weren't casting Apple and iOS as "the enemy", and by inference at the very least, characterizing any slights against [your] preferrred platform...(blah blah) then I ask you what exactly what were you trying to convey???

      Caught ya!

    12. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by jon3k · · Score: 1

      You're thinking of it as a general purpose computer. The iPad is great for what it is. You don't like it because it isn't want you WANT it to be. If you use it how it's intended it's still a great device for reading and casual web browsing, among other things.

    13. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      I think he was casting Apple and iOS as turd-like. Things that one finds repulsive in some way are not necessarily 'the enemy.' You spend waaaay too much time being a White Knight defending Princess Jobs, dude.

    14. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      A security model that happens to be working about 100,000 times better than the OS that puts the user in charge of security.

      Do you have a cite for that, or can you show your work? Because it sure sounds like you pulled the number 100,000 out of your ass. In substantial logic classes, you have to show your work, or you get a failing grade.

      And.... it's very telling that you accuse somebody else of misplaced zealotry. We know how well placed YOUR zealotry is. Uh-huh. Yeah. You're boring and predictable, guy.

    15. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by tepples · · Score: 1

      If you use it how it's intended it's still a great device for reading and casual web browsing, among other things.

      And you're right: a device strictly for reading isn't a good value to me at that price point.

    16. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by jon3k · · Score: 2

      It isn't strictly for reading. Personally I use it to browse the web, email/calendering, read books, take notes at meetings, facebook/twitter, watch videos, sketch out ideas (Notes Plus is amazing), zipping through RSS feeds, facetime with family and gaming. I've also attended a number of WebEx and GoToMeeting webinars on it. The new version of WebEx on the iPad is amazing.

      I was like most "tech people", I never knew what I needed an iPad for until I got one. I already had a laptop and a multiple desktops and I didn't "get it". But they gave me one at work and next thing I knew it was my favorite gadget.

    17. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by macs4all · · Score: 1

      I think he was casting Apple and iOS as turd-like. Things that one finds repulsive in some way are not necessarily 'the enemy.' You spend waaaay too much time being a White Knight defending Princess Jobs, dude.

      I'm not defending Jobs. I'm merely pointing out when people are liars, and damned liars. Is Apple perfect? Hell no! Nothing and nobody is perfect. For example, I would dearly love it if the iPad had a microUSB connector and SDHC slot at one end, and an IR Transceiver at the other (for "universal remote" applications).

      But, it still doesn't change the fact that I think that the iPad is, overall, still an amazing product, and the best-in-breed tablet device.

    18. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      You're thinking of it as a general purpose computer.

      I don't see anything about his comment that indicates he's thinking of it as a general purpose computer. Looks more like distress about Digital Rights Management technologies to me.

      The iPad is great for what it is.

      The voucher on my desk is great for what it is.

      You don't like it because it isn't want you WANT it to be.

      To be fair, he isn't the only one with this opinion. Also, how is customer wants not applicable to a device intended for customers?

      If you use it how it's intended it's still a great device for reading and casual web browsing, among other things.

      You can do a great bunch of things with the iPad and you just made it sound lame. Good going.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    19. Re:Obligatory Troll Post by macs4all · · Score: 1

      The truth is ALWAYS boring and predictable, because it can't be changed, like LIES can.

  20. What's wrong with it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Apple's pricetag, Apple's walled guarden, Apple fanboys, Apple's arbitrary rules, Apple's $100 pricetag to make apps for your own private use...

    1. Re:What's wrong with it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The pricetag? Where else can you find a device with those specs, or even similar specs, for less money?

    2. Re:What's wrong with it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      specs dont mean much if your not going to max the device out, its like buying a 200MPH car to commute to work in

  21. You wanted high-res screens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The battery Watt/hours doubled as a consequence. So, it's a touch heavier. This are minor complaints being turned into mountains because there is essentially little else about which to complain.

    This is like bitching that a sports car uses more fuel than an economy car.

  22. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Taking a long time to charge means that it must have a really big freaking battery. Apple says you can get 10 hours of use out of the thing. That's pretty good considering how fast the processor, and how good the resolution on that screen is. It take 2 hours to charge my cell phone, and it probably doesn't even have 1/10 the amount of battery as the iPad.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  23. Re:and I'm supposed to give a shit why? by shadowsurfr1 · · Score: 2

    I'm sorry.

  24. How to feel better owning an obsolete product... by urbanriot · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... justify to everyone else that the new product is actually worse than the previous iteration. (I own an iPad 2 so this works for me!)

  25. Exactly! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can't have cake and eat too is a missing feature. Time machine still just a horribly misleading feature only available on Macs. While holding and looking in mirror, I still see a nerd staring back.

    1. Re:Exactly! by macs4all · · Score: 0

      Can't have cake and eat too is a missing feature. Time machine still just a horribly misleading feature only available on Macs. While holding and looking in mirror, I still see a nerd staring back.

      You can laugh at Time Machine all you want; but I just helped a friend/client replace the HD in his iMac that he uses for his business. Fortunately, last year I had talked him into purchasing an external RAID and enabling Time Machine. Of course, that took exactly one click.

      So anyway, here we are at the critical "restore" side of the game... No muss, no fuss. Restored EVERYTHING. Desktop icons in the same places, all apps, settings, EV-RY-THING. All I did was boot from the Snow Leopard DVD, and select "Restore Time Machine Backup", select which of the Backups I wanted (he was also backing up his Wife's Mac mini, and his Macbook Pro, and voila! 3 hours later, it was done. None of this "The following files (list of about 1,000f files) could not be restored". It Just. Worked.

      And don't EVEN try to tell me that's how backup systems work. I have used many enterprise-level backup systems, and not only do nearly ALL of them have some excuse as to why your backup "didn't happen" and/or won't "restore"; but I have never seen one that was so completely drop-dead-simple to use, both on the "backup" side, and more importantly, on the "restore" side (which, afterall, is the ONLY part that matters!).

    2. Re:Exactly! by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Time machine is for desktops... wtf is your problem?
      Get with the program.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  26. personally by nimbius · · Score: 0

    the fact that the manufacturing process has involved two plant explosions that have crippled or killed at least a dozen people. the past suicides and slave labor practices have also prevented me from buying apple products in general.
    no user servicable battery, but thats a non-issue for most mac fans so ill leave it be. its also a first-world problem unrelated to my original assertion

    Fruit ninja for the first world comes at the expense of grinding poverty and human misery. Its not part of the economic model generally.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:personally by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      "but thats a non-issue for most mac fans so ill leave it be."

      It's proven to be a non issue to everyone. I know fo iphone 2's that are still in service with the origional battery. I have a 3G here that I am prepping for sale that STILL has full battery life after 3.5 years.

      I can understand coming from crap phones like Nokia and Motorola that have batteries that need to be replaced yearly (I went through 3 batteries on my Razr, and 2 Batteries on my Nokia E62.)

      But honestly, battery tech on the apple devices and some of the android phones are a lot better than the garbage batteries we all were used to from the past.

      Replaceable battery is a non issue on ANY phone unless the phone was made to crap standards with junk battery packs.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:personally by jon3k · · Score: 4, Informative

      Foxconn has lower suicide rates than the rest of China.

    3. Re:personally by Cederic · · Score: 1

      crap phones like Nokia

      Their software's been an issue for years but the hardware's solid. I've only had one Nokia die on me (phone or battery) and that's the one that got submerged in chocolate trifle.

      I'd explain more, but what happens in the bedroom...

    4. Re:personally by grouchomarxist · · Score: 1

      So what computers or other devices do you buy? Have you investigated their supply chains?

    5. Re:personally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a brand new 4S iphone and it has the worst battery life for a phone I have ever encountered. I guess it must have been made to the junk standards to which you refer. It wont even last 24 hours!

    6. Re:personally by Vegemeister · · Score: 1

      I have a 3G here that I am prepping for sale that STILL has full battery life after 3.5 years.

      No, you don't. Ye cannae change the laws of physics.

  27. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by OS24Ever · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't you sleep?

    That's when my iPad's charge. I lay down at 12, 1, or 2AM, plug it in, pass out, and when I wake up it's charged and if it took an hour or six to charge I give no fucks. It's charged.

    --

    As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.

  28. That answers my question. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    They used the exact same super easy to break digitizer glass.

    They really need to go back to the 2X thicker ipad 1 glass. The ipad 2 is incredibly delicate due to the much thinner glass. In fact you can feel it flex while using the ipad 2.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:That answers my question. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      In fact you can feel it flex while using the ipad 2.

      I think I can safely say that you are holding it wrong. In fact, unless you are Godzilla, I'd like to see exactly how you manage that.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:That answers my question. by jon3k · · Score: 1

      No one else in the world has ever reported what you're describing. I have an iPad2 sitting next to me and I tried to bend it and I can't.

    3. Re:That answers my question. by macs4all · · Score: 0

      They used the exact same super easy to break digitizer glass.

      They really need to go back to the 2X thicker ipad 1 glass. The ipad 2 is incredibly delicate due to the much thinner glass. In fact you can feel it flex while using the ipad 2.

      And then all the whiners would bitch that it was WAAAY too heavy. Glass is probably the second heaviest component, after the battery.

      Have you ever wondered why a CRT monitor/TV is so frickin' HEAVY?!? It is almost ALL the glass front of the CRT.

      In short, you simply cannot cheat the laws of physics. Make the glass 2X heavier, and the iPad's weight baloons alarmingly.

      The fact that I even have to explain that to a slashdotter is what's truly, truly sad.

  29. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 3

    My iPad 1 takes a fucking year to charge.

    Is this one of those biblical things where a day is a year?

  30. As if Apple products alone have "problems" by Cheech+Wizard · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It is so rare that I buy any device (or even furniture, for that matter) which is perfect that I'm surprised when I buy something, anything, which I have absolutely no "Had they...", or "They should have..." comments. I read the article before it was posted here. It's just another bit of "journalism" to fill some space. As I look around my home, there are few things I can not come up with some complaint about, no matter how small. I bought an iPad 2 but read about the "next" iPad a day later and the prediction of a better display. So - I called Apple and cancelled the order. It was too late. BUT - They paid for return shipping and refunded my money. When this iPad came out I pre-ordered. So many of my friends with an iPad liked them so much I was pretty convinced I'd like it and I do. The stuff in the article is what it is. You can't please everyone all of the time. Me? No problems. WiFi - Works fine. Charges up fine. It does everything I *expect* it to do, and does it well. It may not be *perfect*, but there are few things in my life which I have bought that were *perfect*, and being in my 60's that's saying something.

    1. Re:As if Apple products alone have "problems" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Low expectations - works every time - LOL

    2. Re:As if Apple products alone have "problems" by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Not with Android - LOL

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  31. Know this is offtopic but... by neo8750 · · Score: 0

    What is a good android tablet? take consideration of price and useability. I'm serious btw

    1. Re:Know this is offtopic but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would go with Motorola Xoom, which I have. I think Motorola might have another one out too by now. Key thing (Google bought Motorola Mobility), I had the Xoom since release and its 4.0 update was exquisite. I've been using it every day since release and I love it. I would look into Motorola first before going somewhere else well because Google bought em.

    2. Re:Know this is offtopic but... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Not cheap, but Asus Transformer Prime.

      Comes with better battery life than any iPad, comes with better connectivity than any iPad, comes with better input options than any iPad and comes with a more open OS than any iPad.

      On the flipside, GPS reception is crippled by the metal case, the screen resolution can't compete with the new iPad and Asus can't make them fast enough for you to actually find one in stock anywhere. Swings & roundabouts..

  32. This one is easy, and I'm not trolling/turfing/etc by __aasehi2499 · · Score: 1

    It's made by Apple, and has iOS on it. Are people not allowed to dislike these things for the aesthetic reasons, while other people like it for aesthetic reasons?

  33. I don't refer to others as "human" by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 0

    Hello, human. What's not to like about human?

    They're referring to it by its genre, not anthropomorphizing it.

    If they're doing anything, they're just making it into a concept or a group noun.

    What's not to like about hockey? What's not to like about money? What's not to like about being tall?

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  34. Re:How to feel better owning an obsolete product.. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    I bought a ipad 2 just a few days ago. Nothing on the ipad 3 could justify the higher price point to me. Plus I was able to get a like new one used from a guy on craigs list trying to raise money for the new ipad. $250.00 for a 32 gig not 3g was a fair price, and a lot cheaper than a ipad3 that has marginal improvements.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  35. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by beelsebob · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's got a 43Wh battery, that's nearly twice the capacity of the iPad 2, and about 1.5 times the capacity of the 11" MacBook Air.

  36. Made by Samsung by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Display, Processor, Chips, Battery, ...But hey, It has an Apple logo!

    1. Re:Made by Samsung by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 0

      Display, Processor, Chips, Battery, ...But hey, It has an Apple logo!

      Do you make similar complaints about Dell or HP computers?

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Made by Samsung by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dell or HP are not pretending to be the most innovative, integrated company in the world. Apple is branding components e.g. retina display or A5X cpu when in fact it's made by other companies one of which they are accusing of copying their products.

    3. Re:Made by Samsung by macs4all · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Display, Processor, Chips, Battery, ...But hey, It has an Apple logo!

      Actually, Apple has been desperately (and it look like, successfully) trying to become non-dependent upon the technology-thieves at Samsung for a couple of years now. The latest iPad is actually stands as a testament as to the lengths that Apple has gone to cut Samsung completely out of their supply chain.

      Display: Designed by Apple. iFixit said it was "probably Samsung". No surprises there. Apple has used Samsung "glass" for years. However, leaked information makes it seem more likely that Apple has turned to Sharp for the iPad 3 Retina display.

      SoC (what you quaintly and incorrectly called the "Processor") : Designed by Apple, manufactured in Texas by Apple-owned Fab house, Intrinsity. In fact, Apple's Intrinsity is already the second-largest mobile SoC manufacturer, and ison track to pass Intel as the world's largest mobile chip fab.

      Chips: Some are Apple-designed. Most are commodity. I think the iFixit teardown (See steps #15, 17 and 19) identified a number of manufacturers; Apple, TI, Broadcom, Fairchild, Qualcomm, Avago,Toshiba, Triquint, Skyworks... Hmmm. Let's see. What manufacturer's name is MISSING...?

      Battery: Apple designed. No one else's battery comes close to size/capacity combination. Manufactured by Simplo Technology, with Dynapak International Technology as Apple's up-and-coming "preferred" source.

      But don't let facts disturb your delusions...

    4. Re:Made by Samsung by dwightk · · Score: 1

      Apple (neé Intrinsity) designs, Samsung manufactures:

      Despite charges and litigation that the tablet division of the Korean company "slavishly copies" Apple's designs and patents, thus far the chip manufacturing side of Samsung has proven to be a good fit for the iPad maker, to the point where Apple is expanding a Texas-based facility used in conjunction with a Samsung factory in Austin, said to be where the next generation of A-series chips will be built.

      (from your electronista link)

      --
      Like anyone can even know that
  37. Let me know when it can compile. by Culture20 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not interested in a computer that can't compile. I deal with it on my iPhone because it's a phone ( but it's really a computer that's faster than my 10yo box), but I'm not going to buy a Mac and a $99 development license just to make a simple RPG assistant (I've been making them with JavaScript as a result; at least they didn't strip all programs that can interpret code).

    1. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by OakDragon · · Score: 1

      Kind of off topic, but you caught my attention with RPG assistants ... have any you care to show off? I don't have an iPad, but since you wrote them in JavaScript...

    2. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by cyn1c77 · · Score: 1

      I'm not interested in a computer that can't compile. I deal with it on my iPhone because it's a phone ( but it's really a computer that's faster than my 10yo box), but I'm not going to buy a Mac and a $99 development license just to make a simple RPG assistant (I've been making them with JavaScript as a result; at least they didn't strip all programs that can interpret code).

      While your post is off-topic, I respect your principles. But most iPad users don't give a hoot about compiling code for their iPads. Also, the plenty of developers who do are willing to pay for the development license.

      You could say the same thing about cars: You won't buy any car that you can't fix without tools, because you are too cheap to spend money on tools! (But you bought a moped because you need to get around.)

    3. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by melted · · Score: 1

      Two things factually wrong in your post:
      1. You don't have to pay $99 to develop. You have to pay $99 to deploy to a device or sell your stuff on the App Store.
      2. You can run interpreters on an iPad. I have Python installed, for instance, right from the App Store.

    4. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by macs4all · · Score: 1

      I'm not interested in a computer that can't compile. I deal with it on my iPhone because it's a phone ( but it's really a computer that's faster than my 10yo box), but I'm not going to buy a Mac and a $99 development license just to make a simple RPG assistant (I've been making them with JavaScript as a result; at least they didn't strip all programs that can interpret code).

      I guess you weren't listening when Jobs stated clearly that the iPad was not intended to compete with a computer (start watching at time-index 5:19) (with the exception of those shitty little Netbooks, which the iPad promptly dispatched).

    5. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by Shaterri · · Score: 1

      I already have half a dozen different devices in my house that I can compile on, most of which have better storage and faster CPUs. Why do I care if I have another one? My iPad isn't trying to replace one of my computers and it seems silly to judge it by the same standards.

    6. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2

      "I'm not interested in a computer that can't compile."

      Sucks to be you. You must not have any electronics in your house except desktops, laptops and netbooks. No TV, no remote control, no cable box, no DSL.

    7. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because the hipster moron generation has nothing to provide or create. They CONSUME and that's it.

    8. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      What's annoying to me is you can't run emulators. I'd port a couple I've written ASAP if you could. Apple's just a wee bit too paranoid there if you ask me. Which, of course, you didn't. :)

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    9. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by toriver · · Score: 1

      You can, as long as you ship the emulated code in the app itself (not downloaded over the internet) and the emulator app maker ships legal games. Cases in point, the C64 and Spectrum emulators.Presumably, it was easier to get licenses for those games than it would be for other platforms. Plus the official ones like Taito and Atari of course.

      iPad + C64 emulator + Uridium + iCade cabinet = love. Except for the bloody clicking from the stick and the buttons.

    10. Re:Let me know when it can compile. by toriver · · Score: 1

      Seriously? You equate writing software with "create"? The hundred drawing programs, photo editing software en masse, music apps by the shedload... these do nothing for you? When professional musicians use the iPhone and iPad when composing and playing, you choose to ignore it because it's not "compiling"?

  38. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm guessing the dude means too many products for a company to manage. Like what ails Nokia. Although clearly not an issue for Apple.

  39. what's not to like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    a DRM'd POS w/no SDHC or USB? yep, that's not to like

  40. Re:Fragmentation by Culture20 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was about to say that the "user experience" has been fragmented across the different types of iPads until I realized that true Apple fans will have destroyed their old iPads (and any others they find) before buying new iPads.

  41. Re:Fragmentation by beelsebob · · Score: 0

    Apple are managing the exact same number of products – one iPad, one iPod touch and one iPhone. Where's the fragmentation?

  42. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by thesh0ck · · Score: 1

    IThe weight isn't really any different, the reason it's so uncomfortable to hold for long periods is the same as any other iPad, there's simply no good way to hold it without blocking or touching the screen.

    hold it.... you know... by the back.. in your palm.... just saying...
    its a two handed device.

  43. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by thesh0ck · · Score: 1

    and 1/2 the power the battery my laptop has and it operates for 8 hours on a charge and takes 2 hours to fully charge while using it.

  44. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't you sleep? That's when my iPad's charge. I lay down at 12, 1, or 2AM, plug it in, pass out, and when I wake up it's charged and if it took an hour or six to charge I give no fucks. It's charged.

    But that won't work for me - I like to play Infinity Blade II while I sleep.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  45. Re:Fragmentation by Ommadawn · · Score: 5, Informative

    For me the fragmentation comes down to whether it has a camera or not. As an owner of a original iPad, I was more and more disappointed at apps that didn't include me: many photography apps, and some games just wouldn't work. GTA3 wouldn't work without crashing before I even finished the first mission.

    This will only get worse as people who are developing apps aim their performance goals at the newer devices. It's similar to when you try to put a new windows on your old machine - sure, it "works" but it is slower because you're still running on old hardware.

    --
    Restrictions are prohibited. Be well, get better.
  46. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's a virgin, so doesn't really know what a "fucking year" is.

  47. iFashion Accessories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    40M+ iPad 2 buyers disagree with you.

    ...and 40M+ iPad 2 buyers are wrong in my opinion.

    For me, spending money on an iPad is a waste of money - I have no real need for it. I'd like to have one, but when I think of it, it's just a gadget - an uncessary purchase.

    Or think of it this way: the iPad is just another glizty gadget for people to waste their hard earned money in this consumer oriented economy.

    And people wonder our savings rate is so low.

    The other day, I talked a young woman out of buying an iPhone - I think. I asked her, "Why do you really need it." She just wanted a smart phone, especailly an iPhone because it's a fashion accessory.

    Gone the wrist watch; enter the smart phone.

    P.S. My wife and I are living on less than $60K/year, got a mortage and we're banking $1K/month - after retirement contributions. And we don't spend money on crap like the this.

    Just saying.

    1. Re:iFashion Accessories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've always admired the Amish.

    2. Re:iFashion Accessories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How can you say 40M people are wrong when you don't understand their financial position? All you can do is speak for yourself. $500 for a gadget is NOTHING to a lot of people. I have shoes that cost that much. I'm also completely debt free, except for a mortgage.

    3. Re:iFashion Accessories by JoeMerchant · · Score: 3, Insightful

      $60K - $10K for standard IRAs =
      $50K - $10K for taxes (guesstimated) =
      $40K - $12K for stated savings =
      $28K - $12K for mortgage (guesstimated) =
      $16K / 52weeks =
      $300 / week to live on. Piece of cake, my mom and I each lived on $100/week while I was in Grad school, cars paid off, Ramen noodles for dinner, and that leaves you $5K/year "mad money" to take a vacation or two, replace the transmission that just fell out of your car, or whatever...

      On the other hand, I know families living on $200K/year+ who are saving less money than you - they are the heat in the consumer driven economic engine, people like me and you are the sand in the gearbox.

    4. Re:iFashion Accessories by exomondo · · Score: 2

      ...and 40M+ iPad 2 buyers are wrong in my opinion.

      For me, spending money on an iPad is a waste of money - I have no real need for it. I'd like to have one, but when I think of it, it's just a gadget - an uncessary purchase.

      So people are wrong to make purchases of things that they don't necessarily need? Not everything has to be purely utilitarian.

      The other day, I talked a young woman out of buying an iPhone - I think. I asked her, "Why do you really need it." She just wanted a smart phone, especailly an iPhone because it's a fashion accessory.

      Realistically the iphone is the most common smartphone in the world, they are the Nokia of the smartphone world, it's hardly a fashion accessory when high-profile business people have the same phone as 15 year-olds at McDonalds. But even then, what's wrong with that? Your philosophy is that you shouldn't buy something unless you really need it?

      And we don't spend money on crap like the this.

      You wrote that you'd like to have one and now you're writing that it's crap and seem to be justifying that based on what you can afford.

    5. Re:iFashion Accessories by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      P.S. My wife and I are living on less than $60K/year, got a mortage and we're banking $1K/month - after retirement contributions. And we don't spend money on crap like the this.

      And I bet you're a hit at parties too.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    6. Re:iFashion Accessories by toriver · · Score: 1

      No, not Amish - I think he's more into the Buddhist "if you own more than seven things, the things own you" thing.

    7. Re:iFashion Accessories by toriver · · Score: 1

      I have no real need for it

      I just have to ask: Did you get wedding rings? I mean, what with utility and all...

  48. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by msauve · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Taking a long time to charge means that it must have a really big freaking battery."

    What it really means is that Apple has hit the limit for the amount of current they can put through their proprietary connector. They've already exceeded the spec for what's allowed through the USB end of their cables. A lithium based battery should be able to be fully charged within 2 hours, absent such external constraints.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  49. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by timeOday · · Score: 1

    The lack of Siri seems a bit annoying. Perhaps many people wouldn't use those features on it anyways, but it just rubs me the wrong way when manufacturers remove functionality they already have and could easily have included in order to segment the market or make sure people buy one of everything. For that matter removing features from cheaper models is somewhat reasonable, but the iPad is a premium product with a premium price.

  50. Everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No Visual Studio, no MSN messenger, no high-end DX11 games. That's what I use my computer for. Everything else is useless.

    1. Re:Everything by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      no high-end DX11 games

      So your game list is pretty much only:

      • Total War: Shogun 2

      I don't know of any DX11 specific games. Every other game I can think of provides DX9 support too. Like World of Warcraft, which really doesn't look better in DX11.

      no MSN messenger

      Does MSN messenger even work? I thought that was replaced with Windows Live Messenger years back.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  51. Re:Fragmentation by bluescrn · · Score: 5, Informative

    Doesn't deserve the downvotes.

    Android is a nightmare for (game) developers. So many wildly varying specs, some missing major features (no FPU, no multi-touch!)

    iOS has been a lot nicer, with only 3 screen resolutions to support, and all devices with FPUs, multi-touch, and PowerVR GPUs. But the new iPad is a big change, with it's huge resolution, making universal apps less practical.

  52. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Informative

    and 1/2 the power the battery my laptop has and it operates for 8 hours on a charge and takes 2 hours to fully charge while using it.

    Using a 3 pound 'brick'.

    Physics, folks. It runs your life.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  53. Re:Fragmentation by Flipao · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Doesn't deserve the downvotes. Android is a nightmare for (game) developers. So many wildly varying specs, some missing major features (no FPU, no multi-touch!)

    Compared to Windows it's a dream come true.

  54. Re:Fragmentation by mikael · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is a sales term called the (Adam) Osborne effect. Based in the era of "luggage" computer where a CRY screen, twin floppy Fisk drives and a transformer could fit into something as small as a suitcase, Adam Osborne proudly announced at one new product exhibition that the next model that they were going to be selling in there months time was going to have even more features. The end result was that no-one was interested in buying or developing for the current model.

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  55. Re:Fragmentation by beelsebob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When a developer targets an iPod touch, do you really think they're going to target the version 1 one which has less than 0.1% market share now? Or... Do you think they're going to target the 2 most recent generations, which covers every person who's bought one in the last 2 years? Effectively, to target iOS, you need to target an 800MHz ARM cortex A8, a PowerVR SGX 535, 512MB of RAM, and both 320x480pt and 1024x768pt. Once you've got that covered, you've got 97% of all users covered, and probably 99.9% of all users who are willing to pay for an app.

  56. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just why do you ruin an otherwise interesting post by inserting offensive language in front of it? Now you give my account a bad name!

  57. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by OakDragon · · Score: 3, Funny

    My iPad 1 takes a fucking year to charge.

    Is this one of those biblical things where a day is a year?

    If we go "by the book", hours could seem like days.

  58. Just waiting for this to all end... by erroneus · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    This "woll your eyes" moment brought to you by SlowNewsDay and SteveJobsisDead.

    The new shiny still doesn't deliver on the basics and the obviouses. Scaled back siri? Really? Why? It's such a simple mechanism right? The processing for it is actually being handled elsewhere isn't it? A central processing network? What's "not ready for new iPad" about it? This rather reminds me of the first iPhone not having copy and paste.

    And really. Why no sdhc card support? So they can sell you the same 'upgrade' from 32GB to 64GB for a bunch more money? I'm pretty sure that's why... that and we need to be able to donate our old iPads to charity so we can feel good about not putting them directly into a landfill when we buy the new ones. Seriously, the failure of Apple to include expandability and replaceable parts is so environmentally unfriendly it's sad. People want to be able to change their battieries and upgrade their memory. Why doesn't Apple deliver on that? I think I know why...

    Even the average joe is getting a little tired of it all when everyone with an Android device can do all of those things and more.

    I hate to say it... (I know you probably think I love to say it but I don't) but without Steve Jobs the mystical cool-maker who died and went to starbucks, Apple just can't live long as we know it.

    But here's what I want and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get it:

    More focus on workstations like MacPro. Those are some REALLY nice machines. Built for lots of hard drive space and lots of RAM. Interally, a JOY to work on and externally a joy to look at. And the power? They got some good guts in them. I don't have much room in my life for Mac OS X... I've tried, I really have. I support Mac users and I know my way around the OS and most of the really cool hacks. I'd rather just use Linux... but at least I can run some "mainstream" apps on Mac OS X like MS Office and such if I really needed to... I think that abomination of a "Portable Document Format" application which every PDF supporting application should be able to read and write is about the only thing that isn't really duplicated in the F/OSS world in some way.

    I've written all this drivel for no good reason -- it's stupid to reply to it or even mod it. I'm just sick of Apple's crappy consumer/entertainment stuff getting headlines when every update is just kind of incremental and it is obvious they are just holding back to keep milking the gadget lust from all those brainless people out there with more dollars than sense.

    Apple can do a LOT better than this. It's sickening and disappointing.

    1. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by Pausanias · · Score: 2

      FWIW you can easily run Linux on a Mac Pro... been doing it since '08; it's an awesome Linux machine. It's actually better because you can use MD RAID-5 support on those four HDs, something you can't do on Mac OS X without a $1K raid card that they want you to buy.

    2. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by danbob999 · · Score: 0

      Or, you could get a regular PC with better hardware for half the price. Especially if you are talking about the single CPU socket version.

    3. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, the failure of Apple to include expandability and replaceable parts is so environmentally unfriendly it's sad. People want to be able to change their battieries and upgrade their memory. Why doesn't Apple deliver on that? I think I know why...

      Even the average joe is getting a little tired of it all when everyone with an Android device can do all of those things and more.

      Please share with us the plethora of Android tablets that have removable batteries.

    4. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      No Siri cuz you can't guarantee a network connection. iPhone, you can, or at least, you can come a lot closer. iPad 3 32gb with wifi only; nope.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    5. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by DinDaddy · · Score: 1

      That's why they left Safari off it too.

    6. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      Right now you can, yes - the current Mac Pro is extremely long in the tooth and overpriced for what it is (and using server CPUs really pushes the price up).

      Assuming they do update it when the Sandy Bridge Xeons are available in much higher volume (around now) then it'll get more competitive (but still cost more).

      It does have some very well thought out features in hardware design though (although again, I'm sure it's not the only screw-less case out there, for example).

    7. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by trolman · · Score: 1
      There are lots of reasons to get the iPad. There are more reasons to go with a Droid. But it depends what you want to do and you only listed one requirement.
      Personally I have tried it all, being the IT man here I am expected to make recommendations. I also make all the purchasing decisions for 300 users.

      If you want to do work get a laptop. The Thinkpad X120e is excellent. If you go to meetings (no real computer type work) and are a consumer, get an iPad. If you need to do work get a Windows7 computer like the X120e. I don't see a fit for a droid tablet yet. I have the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the HTC Evo 4G. The Evo is better, but larger. Also have to carry a spare battery for the Evo. Currently I carry the Galaxy S2. I use the iPad for flying, as in weekend warrior pilot, and at home as a consumer. I use the X120e for work at home and business. I use the Galaxy S2 as a phone and multi media device for music, video, and still camera.

    8. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it was mentioned somewhere that 1/2 of all the iPad 3's sold had 3G/4G connections (in addition to WiFi).

      I don't get why Siri can't be an option if you either have a 3G/4G connection or an active wifi connection.

      This seems like a very very lame copout.

    9. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Odd, my Macbook pro wasn't overpriced for what it was... unless you're comparing it in abstract terms with other products.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    10. Re:Just waiting for this to all end... by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      That's because I'm not comparing the Macbook Pro *at all*. I'm talking about the Mac Pro.

      If you are lugging that around as a portable I hope you have a few future hernia operations scheduled.

  59. palm it? How big are your hands? by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 2

    When I'm holding it vertically, like in bed, I can't just palm it. I have to use two hands to hold it.

    And if I use two hands to hold it, do I just use my third hand to tap the screen to use it?

    This all could be solved with a small ridge or dent on the back, so there is a smaller feature I can span to grip it one handed. The same principle as a handle, just more integrated.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
    1. Re:palm it? How big are your hands? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "And if I use two hands to hold it, do I just use my third hand to tap the screen to use it?"

      Ewwwww. Best reason for screen cleaners, EVAR!

    2. Re:palm it? How big are your hands? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      When I'm holding it vertically, like in bed, I can't just palm it. I have to use two hands to hold it.

      Funny, that's exactly what your mom told me last night.

    3. Re:palm it? How big are your hands? by brantondaveperson · · Score: 1

      do I just use my third hand ...?

      That's not a hand...

    4. Re:palm it? How big are your hands? by mortonda · · Score: 1

      I have my ipad in a leather case that folds over for holding it upright, and it works well as a triangle surface to grip it with one hand too.

    5. Re:palm it? How big are your hands? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      This all could be solved with a small ridge or dent on the back, so there is a smaller feature I can span to grip it one handed.

      It doesn't really need a ridge so much so as something that's not as smooth and slick as aluminum. But their leather "smart covers" are just that - when folded behind, they're quite convenient to grip at.

    6. Re:palm it? How big are your hands? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not a homo sapiens, you insensitive twit!

  60. I'm curious..... by mark-t · · Score: 1

    Obviously, any app can be cracked manually, with enough time invested into it, but is there any mechanism that can be used to at least reliably defeat any automated tools that crack them?

    I know that more effort should be spent on making a good app than on trying to prevent piracy, but if it's something relatively simple to code, and easy enough to obfuscate that automated tools wouldn't find and bypass it, that would probably be good enough, IMO.

  61. Re:Fragmentation by viperidaenz · · Score: 0

    Buy the new iDevice then. It's what Steve would want (your money, that is)

  62. Re:Fragmentation by viperidaenz · · Score: 2
    Now add 2048x1536 to that.

    Apps designed for Retina display can be up to five times bigger

  63. Re:Fragmentation by beelsebob · · Score: 1, Informative

    Incorrect –note, pt, not px. Apps target 320x480pt, even on retina displays, it just happens 1pt == 2px, all you need to is provide images with the same name but @2x appended, and your app will work out of the box. Similarly, with the iPad, add @2x images (which probably exist already due to iPhone), continue to do all your UI work at 1024x768 points, and everything is hunky dory :)

  64. A negative Apple article? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This can not be. I thought negative articles were reserved for RIM ...???

  65. Time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ban all reviews on everything. Anytime something negative is posted about Apple/Android, the other side puts on the full suite of armor and takes up their horses and goes to war.

    Everything is just awesome - Does that make your day. Oh wai... The iPad poops rainbows - ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!

  66. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by mysidia · · Score: 1

    The weight isn't really any different, the reason it's so uncomfortable to hold for long periods is the same as any other iPad, there's simply no good way to hold it without blocking or touching the screen.

    Sounds like you need a case to put the iPad in or a work surface to place the unit on.

    The case could also contain some cushioning/some small amount of protection against accidental drops

  67. Re:Fragmentation by punit_r · · Score: 1

    Doesn't deserve the downvotes.

    Android is a nightmare for (game) developers. So many wildly varying specs, some missing major features (no FPU, no multi-touch!)

    iOS has been a lot nicer, with only 3 screen resolutions to support, and all devices with FPUs, multi-touch, and PowerVR GPUs. But the new iPad is a big change, with it's huge resolution, making universal apps less practical.

    True !

    There are a few statistics in the wild that explain the situation further.
    Chitika Labs iPad stats
    Marco.org iOS stats
    Chitika Insights Android Stats

    Till now, the devs only had to worry about iDevice + iOS-Version. Now, they also have to worry about iDevice-Version + iOS-Version. The market fragmentation argument claimed by Apple as a benefit against Android has just started getting nullified.

    As Apple starts penetrating further into price-sensitive and high volume markets like India where there is no concept of contract lock-in, fragmentation may become more prominent. People tend to hold on to "working" devices for longer and device upgrades are not as frequent. There is no operator subsidy to encourage a device upgrade.

    So, in summary, yes. Fragmentation "may" hit Apple and it cant be written off as only some Android specific problem now.

  68. How soon they forget by buckhead_buddy · · Score: 1

    Not a word about Flash? That was the big complaint about iPad 1 & 2.

    Hacks like iSwifter can be temporary workarounds, but c'mon the entire premium porn industry hangs in the balance.

    1. Re:How soon they forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, premium porn has switched to mpeg4, which is easy to adapt to playing on an iOS device.

    2. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      You realize Adobe is discontinuing Mobile Flash right? Why should they invest any resources into a dying product? There may have been an argument around the time of the original iPad when we thought flash on mobile devices would live on, but now? That would be nuts.

    3. Re:How soon they forget by tepples · · Score: 1

      So how do I take an existing SWF, developed by someone else, and convert it to HTML5? Or how does one author a web animation and make it playable in HTML5 without rasterizing the vectors and bloating the data by a factor of ten, as I discovered when i tried to convert SWF to MP4?

    4. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      Would it be "nice" to have flash on iOS? Absolutely. Does it make any remote sense whatsoever to invest the effort in developing Flash for iOS? No, definitely not. It makes more sense for all of us to jump of the sinking ship.

      Also your sig is interesting. Some games solve this by (eg - Age of Zombies) making the left and right controls appear wherever you place your thumbs or by using motion control by tilting the device. And obviously it doesn't really apply to the massively popular puzzle games that are hugely successful (eg - Cut the Rope, Draw Something!, etc).

    5. Re:How soon they forget by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Not a word about Flash? That was the big complaint about iPad 1 & 2.

      Hacks like iSwifter can be temporary workarounds, but c'mon the entire premium porn industry hangs in the balance.

      Didn't you get the memo? Even Adobe has given up on Flash, in favor of HTML 5...

      And every CPU fan, and every laptop battery has Apple, and only Apple, to thank for that. Next meme, please!

    6. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      My guess is that because a very large hunk of the web still uses or depends on Flash -- and likely will continue to use or depend on it longer than the expected life of the current iPad.

      Call me when Flash is ACTUALLY irrelevant.

    7. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      What large chunk is that? Because in the last year I've probably run into 5 websites that were still using flash, and probably 1 in the last 6 months.

    8. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      As of March 2012? About 1 in 4 websites use Flash.

      That's a pretty big chunk of the web, by any reasonable definition. But keep on pretending that Flash is irrelevant today if it makes you feel better about using your iPad. I don't mind. It doesn't stop me from enjoying a desktop browsing experience on a more full-featured tablet.

    9. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      You mean 1 in 4 websites has a flash ad (which gracefully degrades to an image, unfortunately).

    10. Re:How soon they forget by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Back during the several years, about 1998-2000, that I exclusively ran Linux on the desktop, I didn't notice I was missing anything on the Web or on my PC whatsoever.

      There were whole sections of computer stores like CompUSA and BestBuy that I could skip entirely because there were no shrinkwrapped boxes whatsoever that I could buy and take home and put on my PC.

      After a few years it got boring and I moved on. Windows 2000 was pretty damn good, too.

    11. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      Sigh... Give you facts, you ignore them. Oh, well.

      It's a shame that you can't access the majority of video and music sites that use flash like pandora and grooveshark (I don't need a useless app, thanks), or play the hundreds of thousands of flash games. It's also sad that you can't take advantage of all the sites that use flash to make up for deficiencies in current web standards or otherwise improve the user experience when doing things like uploading files.

      It takes some serious denial to believe that Flash is irrelevant today. What ever happened to the old "Apple is doing good by hastening the demise of Flash" excuse?

      Besides, you'd think with Apples "commitment" to HTML 5, that they'd have better HTML 5 support than RIM! (The margin is pretty wide, by the way).

    12. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      Sigh... I give you facts, you ignore them. Oh, well. You just can't reason with some people.

      Of course, I guess if you don't mind downloading an app for every site you use and don't mind losing access to thousands of video and music sites and not being able to play hundreds of thousands of games, and are okay with losing out on the advanced features on sites that use Flash to make up for the deficiencies in current web standards, then that's cool. I'll keep watching all the video that you don't have access to and I'll happily listen to streaming podcasts and music on sites pandora and grooveshark without needing to install a useless app.

      Honestly, it takes some serious denial to believe that Flash is irrelevant to the web today.

      I know Steve said that HTML 5 is the future, still, you'd think that with Apples supposed commitment to HTML 5 that they could do at least as good as RIM's browser when it comes to HTML5 support. The margin is pretty wide.

      Like I said, keep on pretending if it makes you feel better, but I strongly recommend reality -- it's a lot cooler.

    13. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately by looking at the trajectory of iPad and iPhone sales, along with the Adobe announcement that they're killing mobile flash, I don't think we'll be "moving on" to a future with flash on mobile devices.

    14. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      Sigh... Give you facts, you ignore them. Oh, well.

      And you ignore my counterpoint. Oh, well.

      (I don't need a useless app, thanks)

      So you know the same functionality is available, but you plug your ears and ignore it. Ok.

      It's also sad that you can't take advantage of all the sites that use flash to make up for deficiencies in current web standards or otherwise improve the user experience when doing things like uploading files.

      Darn, I'm really missing out on all that sweet file uploading. Oh wait just file uploading being "easier" ? I don't really upload a lot of files from my iPad, so I guess I'll survive.

      It takes some serious denial to believe that Flash is irrelevant today

      It takes even more denial to look at Adobe killing mobile flash and Apple selling about a hundred million iOS devices and STILL think that Flash is a necessity.

    15. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      And I'm not missing anything. I'm posting this from my desktop running Fedora 16 (with dwm). If I want to play flash games I'll play flash games. I don't play flash games from my Galaxy Nexus, why should I be so concerned that I can't play them from my iPad? What are these videos that I don't have access to? All of youtube works on the iPad, every major video site supports the iPad, I can listen to anything on Pandora or Grooveshark because I installed a "useless app" that was totally free. What are these podcasts that I don't have access to? Please, list so examples of what I'm missing out on. What is it, maybe 1% of the web that I actually CARE about that I'm missing? Ok I guess I'll just access that from one of my desktop computers or my laptop? Big deal?

    16. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      Yes, I ignored your "counterpoint" essentially "teh flash is all ads, lol" which is unsubstantiated nonsense.

      And, yes, there are innumerable things that my tablet is capable of that the iPad is not, merely because of the iPad's lack of flash support. This isn't something that you can debate -- the facts are in evidence.

      You also inexplicably bring up another point, a major deficiency of the iPad: The lack of a file system. Of course, that's a totally different issue unrelated to the relevance of Flash on the web. Why would mention this?

      Again, you can pretend all you want that flash is irrelevant. Is Flash dying? Sure. But it's far from dead, and will likely be a major part of the web for a few more years.

      Until flash is irrelevant, not having flash is a huge missing feature. It's undoubtedly still relevant today, considering the large number of sites that make heavy use of flash -- many are even totally dependent on it. (Right or wrong, that's the way things are.)

      Get over it.

    17. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      You can continue to dismiss my point, but if you look at the site you linked, the first item on the list of major sites using flash is "Google". I can promise you that 1 in 4 sites I visit on the iPad doesn't fail to load. Feel free to turn off flash in your browser and test for yourself. If you think 1 in 4 sites use Flash for content you are seriously delusional.

      What exactly am I doing on an iPad that I need a filesystem for?

      Flash isn't irrelevant, it's just that I don't need it on an iPad. Somehow tens of millions of iOS device owners seem to get by without Flash just fine.

    18. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      So because you don't play flash games on your tablet, no one else wants to? Lol, okay. You seem to think that you, a Linux user, are completely representative of web users!

      Too funny!

      Just off the top of my head, any site that use Yahoo's audio player component won't work (hell, most sites that have a built-in audio player won't work! They're just about all written in flash!). Sites that use Springboard for video won't work. Zillions of games sites won't work. I could very easily go on.

      What is it, maybe 1% of the web that I actually CARE about that I'm missing?

      That's for you to figure out. Even if I got lucky and hit a site that you really wished worked on your iPad, you'd just claim that it wasn't important. That's not a game I'm willing to play.

      The point is that Flash is not irrelevant to the web today. That doesn't mean that it's relevant to you but to the millions of other web users! Like I said, maybe in a few years it'll actually be irrelevant. Until then, enjoy your severely abbreviated web experience. I'll continue to enjoy a desktop browsing experience with great Flash and HTML 5 support. (Apple doesn't seem to care about HTML5 any more -- I wonder why?)

    19. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      Yahoo still exists? There is literally nothing in this world I could care less about than Yahoo's "webplayer". What are these websites with built-in audio players that are flash only? Even Soundcloud works on the iPad now. Zillions of games? Zillions of terrible games that I don't play. If I want to play games I can play one of the thousand titles available from the App Store. I could just as easily sit here and tell you you're "missing out on gaming because you don't have access to iOS games" but that would be equally ridiculous.

      The problem with your argument is the empirical evidence that TENS OF MILLIONS of people continue to buy iOS devices that do not have flash. You can argue all you want but you cannot argue with facts. We're all getting by just fine without flash on our iPads and iPhones. For the occasional thing that requires flash we can use our computers. Personally, I don't run into anything that uses Flash. It's just not as big of a deal as you make it out to be. Having Flash on an iPad is not critical. Maybe if it was your only computing device? But not for those of us in the real world.

    20. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      Okay, if you want me to take your "point" seriously, provide some real numbers. Otherwise, it's just idle speculation.

      As for Google, the use of flash in a number of their sites and services, such as gmail, to ad functionality they wouldn't otherwise be able to reasonably provide. Ads are not something that Google uses flash for.

      What exactly am I doing on an iPad that I need a filesystem for?

      Nothing. As you don't have a file system, you can't do anything that requires one. Really, it's that simple :) Again, this has nothing to do with flash. I have absolutely no idea why you keep bringing up this particular missing feature. Do you think that NOT having features is a good thing?

      Anyhow, let me know if you find something to support your parroted assertion that flash is irrelevant to the web today. Otherwise, I don't really care to continue the back and forth, it's just dull.

    21. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1
      All they're doing is looking for EMBED tags that contain a ".swf" file. Feel free to look at how they perform their analysis. No where in there does it say they comb through each site and confirm that flash is used in some critical fashion, like delivering content or navigation elements. If you think 1 in 4 sites doesn't work without flash you're absolutely insane.

      You're missing the point - not having a filesystem doesn't limit anything that I want to do with an iPad. And yes, NOT having certain things makes a device less complicated and easier to use. So sometimes not having certain "features" is a very good thing. In fact, in my life I've seen many "bugs" that were actually called "features". Personally I don't care if I have a filesystem or not on an iPad, because for what I do with it, I don't need one.

      Anyhow, let me know if you find something to support your parroted assertion that flash is irrelevant to the web today.

      Sure, take a look at iPhone and iPad sales. Apple is the largest company on the planet and most of their revenue comes from selling mobile computing devices that don't support flash. I'll wait patiently for your counterpoint as to how flash is critical and these devices aren't successful and useful.

    22. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      Yahoo still exists? There is literally nothing in this world I could care less about than Yahoo's "webplayer".

      It's a component that lot's of other websites use for audio. It's really quite common. I picked that on as it's likely one you've encountered before. Again, you'll be hard pressed to find a site that doesn't use flash for embedding audio players -- everything from news to podcasts. Flash is even used by a number of popular JS libraries that provide sound/audio API's.

      The problem with your argument is the empirical evidence that TENS OF MILLIONS of people continue to buy iOS devices that do not have flash.

      How many of those even know what Flash is? How many wonder why some of their sites don't work on their iPad? How many just accept that fact and "just use them on their computer" not knowing that a different tablet would let them use those sites instead?

      Besides, Those tens of millions of iPad's make up an VERY small fraction of web users. Of those, a vanishingly small portion use only an iPad to access the web.

      Sorry, but you haven't offered anything to show that flash is irrelevant. The numbers I have suggest that Flash is still very much relevant today.

      Get over it.

    23. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      Lol, too funny. I'm done with you. If you can't support your own assertion with actual facts, I honestly don't care what you think. Enjoy your iPad -- It's a shame that you're missing out on so much, but if that makes you happy, so be it.

      Sure, take a look at iPhone and iPad sales. Apple is the largest company on the planet and most of their revenue comes from selling mobile computing devices that don't support flash

      McDonald's sells the most hamburgers and is the most successful hamburger joint on the planet. They must be the best, right?

      I'll wait patiently for your counterpoint as to how flash is critical and these devices aren't successful and useful.

      What? I said that Flash is still relevant to the web today. No wonder you're talking nonsense, you just didn't bother to read what I had actually written!

      Yeah, Apple can sell a half-baked product missing essential features and their customers will happily apologize for them or even tell other how not being able to do x,y and z is totally awesome. Q. E. D.

      Apples ability to move products has nothing to do with the fact that Flash is relevant to the web today.

    24. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      What are these sites that don't work? Yahoo's web player and Newgrounds is all you've got? I can browse any major website, anything in the Alexa top 100 will work fine on an iPad. Please list these websites (other than flash games) that any reasonable fraction of the world cares about that REQUIRE flash.

      And you still failed to prove your analysis excludes sites that a) just had swf ads and b) didn't degrade gracefully to html if the flash plugin wasn't present.

      Your real problem is your absolutist view that a device is useless for web browsing without flash, and that any device that browses the web without flash is useless. You don't understand there is room for a device that can browse the 95% of the web the world actually uses (facebook, twitter, gmail, cnn, espn, etc).

    25. Re:How soon they forget by jon3k · · Score: 1

      Lol, too funny. I'm done with you. If you can't support your own assertion with actual facts, I honestly don't care what you think. Enjoy your iPad -- It's a shame that you're missing out on so much, but if that makes you happy, so be it.

      Again, I'm not missing anything, I own several computers.

      McDonald's sells the most hamburgers and is the most successful hamburger joint on the planet. They must be the best, right?

      Microsoft would be McDonald's in your analogy, they still sell the most computers, and they HAVE flash.

      Yeah, Apple can sell a half-baked product missing essential features and their customers will happily apologize for them or even tell other how not being able to do x,y and z is totally awesome. Q. E. D.

      Yes the iPad is "half baked". What an absurd argument. I'm done here. Keep on believing that flash is relevant all you want. The rest of the world has already moved on.

    26. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      What are these sites that don't work? Yahoo's web player and Newgrounds is all you've got?

      I never mentioned newgrounds -- though I did mention other things, such as springboard. I've also mentioned specific sites like pandora and grooveshark that you need an app to use, unlike people with tablets that are more complete (these don't count in your mind). As I've already explained to you, I mentioned Yahoo's audio component because it's widely used on a great number of sites for embedding audio. If you want more, look at any site that uses springboard or vimeo or countless other video players for that type of content. You'll find that lots of sites use these flash-dependent components.

      You mention "facebook, twitter, gmail, cnn, espn" With the exception of Twitter, You can't actually access all of the content on those sites without Flash! Sorry, but they're examples of websites that make use of Flash for actual content!

      Please list these websites (other than flash games) that any reasonable fraction of the world cares about that REQUIRE flash.

      Why? You'll just say that because you don't use them or are satisfied with the portion of those sites that do not use flash that they're irrelevant. It's a waste of my time. I've provided more than adequate examples already.

      1 in 4 websites use Flash. You seem to think that that 25% of websites are all unpopular or don't use Flash in any meaningful way. It should be pretty obvious by now how ridiculous that fact-free belief of yours actually is. Again, if you want me to take that seriously, you're going to need to back it up with some facts. (It doesn't look likely, considering the popularity of the components I've already mentioned.)

      Sorry, Flash is still relevant. Get over it. You can still enjoy your iPad even if it can't handle the web as well as competing offerings. You seem happy enough to not have flash support, after all.

      Or is that it? You can't be happy unless the iPad is clearly the best product on the market? If that's the case, I'm certainly not in a position to help you.

    27. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      The rest of the world has already moved on.

      Except the facts say otherwise. 1 in 4 websites still uses Flash as of March 2012, including major sites like Google and Facebook.

    28. Re:How soon they forget by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Didn't you get the memo? Even Adobe has given up on Flash, in favor of HTML 5...

      Where is HTML 5's backwards compatibility with Flash?

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    29. Re:How soon they forget by shilly · · Score: 1

      Are you deliberately trying to appear like an ignoramus? Surely you must know that Google and Facebook have mobile-optimised sites that work perfectly well without flash?

    30. Re:How soon they forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a fucking retard.

    31. Re:How soon they forget by Grizzley9 · · Score: 1

      It's a shame that you can't access the majority of video and music sites that use flash like pandora and grooveshark (I don't need a useless app, thanks)

      So you'd rather use a non-optimized generic web interface? Even Android has apps for those sites/services. The apps are optimized for the device, you know, to make it the best experience but for some reason you choose to be stubborn and say they are "useless". Hmm, me thinks you'll just argue about anything. Flash is dead, get over it. Although looking at your COBOL reference in your sig I now understand your difficulties with the modern world.

    32. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      If by "perfectly well" you mean "without all the features of the full site".

    33. Re:How soon they forget by narcc · · Score: 1

      Flash is dying, sure, but it's far from dead (1 in 4 websites use Flash)

      Of course, it will live on as Air -- which is basically Flash -- which Adobe is committed to on the desktop and mobile space. (A fun fact that Slashdot loves to ignore!)

      Again, talk to me when Flash is actually irrelevant. It's still important to the web Today.

    34. Re:How soon they forget by toriver · · Score: 1

      You implement it using HTML 5.

      ActionScript -> Javascript
      Vector graphics -> SVG or canvas drawing primitives

      I assume you have the source code and aren't going to rip someone else's work? Oh wait this is Slashdot.

    35. Re:How soon they forget by tepples · · Score: 1

      ActionScript -> Javascript
      Vector graphics -> SVG or canvas drawing primitives

      Camera and microphone access -> what?
      Failure to instantiate canvas on Internet Explorer for Windows XP -> what?

      I assume you have the source code and aren't going to rip someone else's work?

      Is it your opinion that all works that have gone unmaintained are valueless?

    36. Re:How soon they forget by macs4all · · Score: 1

      Didn't you get the memo? Even Adobe has given up on Flash, in favor of HTML 5...

      Where is HTML 5's backwards compatibility with Flash?

      Nowhere, thank God!

      Look when even Adobe stops pushing Flash in favor of HTML5, don'tcha think it's time to stop being a Flash Fan?!?

      But as I have learned in my years on Slashdot, some people will argue just because...

    37. Re:How soon they forget by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Look when even Adobe stops pushing Flash in favor of HTML5, don'tcha think it's time to stop being a Flash Fan?!?

      I don't see a migration plan here honestly. I don't see the highly polished tools to build HTML5 content just as well as flash content equivalents and there is no backwards compatibility - Seems to me there is something really lacking in these 'solutions' you're bringing up. I'm not convinced on the justifications of not supporting flash when there clearly isn't a viable alternative yet.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    38. Re:How soon they forget by macs4all · · Score: 1

      I'm not convinced on the justifications of not supporting flash when there clearly isn't a viable alternative yet.

      And with that mentality, there never will be.

      Here's what Adobe suggests.

      Here's 10 alternatives to Flash Player.

      Then there's the "Occupy Flash" movement, LOL!

      So, admit it. You're just plain lazy. You don't WANT to have to learn a new way.

      Tough.

      Two years ago, you had a point. But not now.

      You're beating a dead horse and you very well know it.

    39. Re:How soon they forget by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      And with that mentality, there never will be.

      Here's what Adobe suggests.

      Here's 10 alternatives to Flash Player.

      Then there's the "Occupy Flash" movement, LOL!

      None of this is a replacement for software content creation tools like Flash CS5. It's not a mentality, it's fact. I don't see any high end tools that replace it. Video support is such a small part of flash player, I'm talking about actual applications.

      So, admit it. You're just plain lazy. You don't WANT to have to learn a new way.

      For some reason you think I don't know HTML5/javascript technologies. I've written my own HTML5 applications, I've used web sockets, I've used the backing storage system - Despite knowing this, I haven't found any tools close to as intuitive to high end software like Flash CS5.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    40. Re:How soon they forget by toriver · · Score: 1

      Camera and microphone access are in the specs, but it takes time to implement, apparently. And what "web animations" use the microphone and camera anyway?

      IE on XP is broken in that regards yes, but that is frankly no different from trying to run a PS3 game on a PS2. Old mess is old.

      What do you mean by "valueless"? An "unmaintained" work is still under copyright. I cannot see how your statement can be derived from whjat I wrote, but you are probably used to building strawmen.

    41. Re:How soon they forget by tepples · · Score: 1

      IE on XP is broken in that regards yes, but that is frankly no different from trying to run a PS3 game on a PS2. Old mess is old.

      Please allow this analogy: Once a new video distribution format (say DVD) comes out, why should the public stop having access to motion pictures that were first published before the invention of the format?

      What do you mean by "valueless"? An "unmaintained" work is still under copyright.

      For one thing, I was referring to format shifting so that I can continue to view a lawfully made copy of a work that is made available in another format, which in the past has been ruled a fair use (RIAA v. Diamond), not format shifting so that I can make and distribute copies of the work, which I understand is more likely to be ruled an infringement. For another thing, are you in favor of continuing to restrict the public's access to works whose copyright owner cannot be contacted, and if so, how does the public benefit from such a restriction?

    42. Re:How soon they forget by shilly · · Score: 1

      You have this old-fashioned view that the non-mobile website is the "gold standard" and everything gets measured against it. Not so. There are features that are specific to mobile sites that are not present in the non-mobile site and vice-versa, and there is no gold standard any more -- because sites are optimised for the different experiences offered by mobile and non-mobile GUIs. Do try to keep up with the interwebs.

    43. Re:How soon they forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The rest of the world has already moved on.

      Except the facts say otherwise. 1 in 4 websites still uses Flash as of March 2012, including major sites like Google and Facebook."

      You realize that since 1 in 4 sites still uses Flash, it means that 3 of 4 sites have moved on from Flash. Like the man said, the world has already moved on. Next year you'll be telling us how relevant Flash still is because a whole 1 in 20 sites uses it. Talk about obtuse!

  69. Re:This one is easy, and I'm not trolling/turfing/ by gtall · · Score: 1

    This is slashdot, of course not. Pick a side and demonize the other side.

  70. One thing not to like by gelfling · · Score: 1, Troll

    Is the absurd amounts of craven worship it gets in the press. At Business Insider there's maybe a half dozen articles A DAY extolling the divine greatness which is the iPad.

    1. Re:One thing not to like by toriver · · Score: 1

      Yes, it is Apple's fault that other manufacturers suck donkey balls when it comes to getting press.

    2. Re:One thing not to like by gelfling · · Score: 1

      It's kind of transparent how much Apple is spending on PR. It's like watching Entertainment Tonight 'review' movies.

  71. Re:Fragmentation by SteamDot · · Score: 1

    Some developers restrict apps that can be downloaded and installed on the target device ie the store did not let me install a directional app because my iPAD lacked the gyroscope of iPAD2.

    The same restrictiveness should apply to games as well, else one is dependent upon customer reviews.

  72. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by IICV · · Score: 1

    The drop situation is the same for all iPads, even if you drop tested an older one and got different results, you just got lucky on the old one. The screen is a huge expanse of glass on any iPad, you have to be careful.

    The drop thing is particularly egregious in this article. TFA cites Square Trade, who dropped iPads in various orientations and gave qualitative descriptions.

    Their conclusion?

    The iPad 2 screen shattered badly, but not as badly as the new iPad. The new iPad screen almost popped off and suffered much more damage.

    So what? Once the screen is shattered, you're getting a new one either way; the magnitude of the shattering doesn't particularly matter. If you take it in to an Apple store, they're just going to clone the contents to a replacement; if you take it to an independent repair shop, they're still just going to replace the screen. It's not like there's much in there that'll get damaged from hitting the ground.

    And the thing is, falling face down is an absolute worst-case scenario for the iPad; I've already dropped my iPad 3 from about chest height, and it survived without a scratch after landing on its corner and sliding under the stove. (tip: don't hold your iPad while cooking until they come up with better covers and cases; the Apple Smart Case will pop off when you least expect it).

  73. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 1

    Inadequate charging current seems to be all the rage for portable devices these days. My last two smartphones have been unable to charge while in hotspot mode with the screen on. "Why would you have the screen on?", people ask. Because, "Screw you. I want it on.", I reply. With the screen off, my last phone would take 8+ hours to top off from around 40% while in hotspot mode. For about a year, I was using a Clear Spot (4G hotspot with a battery) and it would regularly run the battery completely dead while plugged into the wall. I used it for a month in Vegas as my primary connection and I had to turn it off for about 4 hours every few days so the battery could recharge.

    I think it's crazy that these portable devices are delivered with power systems that can't keep up with the drain of heavy use even when they're connected to what is, for all practical purposes, an unlimited source of power. If the device uses 10 watts running full-tilt, give us a power supply that puts out 20 watts so the battery can be charged at a decent clip while the device is being used. If that means a bulky charger, so be it. Offer a "slim" charger for people who need something smaller and don't mind waiting a year and a day for a charge. Even packaging the slow charger and selling the fast charger as a premium item would be a step up from what's happening now. It's been a long time since an 8+ hour recharge time was acceptable.

    And a more powerful charger doesn't need to be a "brick". The 19 volt 40 watt charger for my laptop is about the size of a big pack of gum, weights a few ounces, and can plug in either vertically or horizontally.

  74. Re:Fragmentation by viperidaenz · · Score: 0

    .... and that makes everything 5x bigger

    Did you not see the quote?
    Here it is again

    Apps designed for Retina display can be up to five times bigger

  75. If it needs to be Hacked.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If it needs to be hacked, that means it a fundamentally restrictive and oppressive device.
    Dont give money to companies that try to tell u how to use ur equip.; and worst of all, do their best to prevent you from extending its functionality/use on your own.

    -HasHie
    @ TrYPNET.net

    1. Re:If it needs to be Hacked.... by toriver · · Score: 1

      Why does it need to "be hacked"? My iPad 2 works fine without "hacking". Runs board games by the dozens, lets me paint and compose music, read magazines and comics, browse the web... lots of things. But no, I do not have a fucking command line shell to the underlying OS, I guess that is your pipe dream?

  76. Most flamebaited heading by Master+Moose · · Score: 1

    . . in the hstory of Slashdot. .

    --
    . . .gone when the morning comes
    1. Re:Most flamebaited heading by macs4all · · Score: 1

      . . in the hstory of Slashdot. .

      And THAT'S saying something!!!

  77. Processor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought the biggest issue with the iPad 'new' was as they say here:
    http://gizmodo.com/5895299/maybe-the-new-ipad-is-hot-because-its-processor-is-310-huger

    Every other CPU manufacturer has decreased their fabrication size, but Apple (or Samsung) is still using the 45nm which Intel and AMD stopped using a while ago. If the new CPU was 32nm it certainly would be smaller, would probably use less power, and probably generate a lot less heat. Even the nVidia Tegra 2 and Tegra 3 are 40nm.

    Maybe that isn't the biggest issue, but my guess is the iPad '2013' will have a smaller CPU and almost nothing more. I think they need to consolidate though. The iPhone and iPad are all exactly the same thing. If somebody can actually do something like the Asus Padfone right, it would be Apple. I see no reason to have to have a tablet and a phone, when they both have 99% the same functionality, just different screen sizes.

  78. It is Apple by Snaller · · Score: 2

    Well, you asked.

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  79. Overpriced, proprietary, fragile, hot, hyped! by Paracelcus · · Score: 2, Informative

    Apple's products overwhelmingly try to lock you into their marketplace and keep you out of the innards of their devices.
    Many lower end Android tablets can be converted to a main stream Linux distribution (with a little work).

    --
    I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
    1. Re:Overpriced, proprietary, fragile, hot, hyped! by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Let me break that down for you...
      --- quote --
      Apple's products overwhelmingly try to lock you into their marketplace and keep you out of the innards of their devices.
      -- end quote --

      Translation: Apple has a quarantined environment with a marketplace for apps that have been tested to work within the quarantined environment, and policies are set to keep the quarantined environment intact.

      -- quote --
      Many lower end Android tablets can be converted to a main stream Linux distribution (with a little work).
      -- end quote --

      Translation: Android has a quarantined environment with a marketplace for apps that have been tested to work within the quarantined environment, and policies are set to keep the quarantined environment intact.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    2. Re:Overpriced, proprietary, fragile, hot, hyped! by Paracelcus · · Score: 1

      $500 + to be a captive customer to a company that survives by making fragile, shiny toys for yuppies!

      I won an Apple Ipod touch v3, I found out that with considerable work I can watch video's & music that I did NOT acquire from Itunes and that I can check email and bring up web pages, I can't see the lettering until I use that finger expanding thing so that I can read one word at a time, and it only takes an hour to type in my password using the on screen keyboard, It was free, and at that it was overpriced!

      --
      I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
  80. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 1

    Work surface?

    I'm reading books in bed.

    What kind of work surface solution do you have for this?

    Come on, stop trying to look for ways this is my fault. Apple could have made the device easier to hold and really should do so. They could put a small ridge on back so I don't have to put a much larger case on it just so I can hold it.

    They figured out the slippery seed-shaped iPhone 3 was a bad idea eventually and went to something you can hold properly. Maybe they'll figure out with the iPad at some point too.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  81. Tire pressure gauge by tepples · · Score: 1

    In that case, I think I have one of those. It's called a tire pressure gauge.

  82. tethering to phone over bluetooth? by Janek+Kozicki · · Score: 1

    Since we are talking about ipad3 here I want to ask: is it possible to configure ipad3 to have internet connection via bluetooth tethered to some phone (not iphone) just a phone with bluetooth?

    I have nokia 3120c and it works great with my http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(console) to provide internet connection over bluetooth. Configuration was painless, just few clicks on pandora and entering a code (to allow bluetooth connection) on the phone. To start internet connection on pandora I only click the network icon on bottom panel and select "enable", pandora then connects via bluetooth to my nokia 3120c, and internet just works. I was amazed the first time I saw it. Now I'm spoiled because this is so crazy comfortable.

    Would nokia 3120c work with ipad3 to provide internet connection via bluetooth?

    --
    #
    #\ @ ? Colonize Mars
    #
    1. Re:tethering to phone over bluetooth? by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      "tethering" is an abstract word. In your case, do you mean "tethering" as the nokia acting as a 802.11b/g/n hotspot? If so, then yes. Otherwise, not that I have seen. Bluetooth treats devices tethered in that fashion as a serial device.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  83. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Taking a long time to charge means that it must have a really big freaking battery. Apple says you can get 10 hours of use out of the thing. That's pretty good considering how fast the processor, and how good the resolution on that screen is. It take 2 hours to charge my cell phone, and it probably doesn't even have 1/10 the amount of battery as the iPad.

    I can vouch for the battery life. After the battery got topped off the first time I used it for an hour fairly heavily and it was still showing 100%. Even using it for movies and games for hours and I mean 4 to 6 hours of use I've never had it below 60%. It does take a long time to charge but it's like saying I have a 50 gallon fuel tank in my car so why does it take longer than the tank in my old 10 gallon compact car? I've used my iPad for a week and I haven't a single complaint. The pixel doubling is amazing and my standard def movies look like HD films. The screen is jaw dropping for a handheld. Now how do I get one for my big screen TV:-) 4K movies here I come!!!!! My only kind of sort of complaint would be some of the features are hard to find but if you have a ten year old handy they can figure it out. I was a little frustrated that all my old iPhone games showed as small windows making them nearly impossible to play. I was surprised that they didn't resize. When I let my 10 year old nephew play with it he figure it out in under a minute. There's a tiny icon you have to click to upsize it. The games look a little soft but it's up res'ing graphics 4X in this case so I say good job! The iPad games look incredible.

    My requests would be for more memory and PLEASE! Open it up so it's easier to at least get content out. Moving photos and movies off the device is a headache! Apple is paranoid that you'll using it for something they didn't specifically intend.

  84. In practice, "zero gravity" means by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's impossible to tell the action of gravity near a planet's surface from upward acceleration of one's frame of reference. So in practice, "zero gravity" means "zero net accelerating force within a frame of reference", and this is the case inside a vehicle in freefall, be it the interior of an orbiting space station or the interior of a Vomit Comet aircraft in a parabola.

    1. Re:In practice, "zero gravity" means by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Just because your frame of reference is moving the same as you does NOT mean that your weight is zero.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    2. Re:In practice, "zero gravity" means by ChatHuant · · Score: 1

      It's impossible to tell the action of gravity near a planet's surface from upward acceleration of one's frame of reference.

      [Pedant point] Except that the gravitational field near a planet's surface is spherical while the equivalent field generated by constant acceleration is uniform. You can easily distinguish between the two cases without peeking out a window by measuring the force vectors in two distinct locations. Near a planet, locations not on the same vertical will show forces that aren't parallel (they point towards the center of mass). If the locations are on the same vertical, the forces will point the same way but they'll be different in value (since the locations aren't equally far from the center of mass - basically you'll get a tidal effect).
       
      Of course, this doesn't mean Einstein is wrong, just that your example should either consider the action of gravity sufficiently far from the planet's surface, or maybe the gravity of an infinite 2-dimensional plane of matter, which would indeed generate an uniform field :)

    3. Re:In practice, "zero gravity" means by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      You must mean mass. Your weight is the force you exert (or vice versa) on whatever you choose to define as your frame of reference. In a space station that would be the space station, and since it applies an average force of zero to you, your weight is indeed zero.

  85. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Taking a long time to charge means that it must have a really big freaking battery."

    What it really means is that Apple has hit the limit for the amount of current they can put through their proprietary connector. They've already exceeded the spec for what's allowed through the USB end of their cables. A lithium based battery should be able to be fully charged within 2 hours, absent such external constraints.

    Sure. No matter the capacity of the battery, it should be able to be fully charged within 2 hours.

    So, whether it's a cellphone, an iPad, or a Chevy Volt, it should be able to be charged in 2 hours.

    Citation, please.

  86. In response to the original thread title by axlr8or · · Score: 1

    It's an Apple product.

  87. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by macs4all · · Score: 1

    The lack of Siri seems a bit annoying. Perhaps many people wouldn't use those features on it anyways, but it just rubs me the wrong way when manufacturers remove functionality they already have and could easily have included in order to segment the market or make sure people buy one of everything. For that matter removing features from cheaper models is somewhat reasonable, but the iPad is a premium product with a premium price.

    And Siri is a free software service with less-than-infinite processing power and bandwidth.

    Think about it. How many times do you REALLY need the kinds of questions answered that Siri is designed for while sitting stationary with your iPad?

    "Find me the closest [fill in the blank]" makes a LOT more sense on a device that fits in your pocket. Similarly, "Check my appointments" also makes more sense "on the go", than on something that is usually not used while driving/walking.

    And oh, BTW, the iPad is actually pretty much price-equivalent with the iPhone 4s. You're just forgetting that iPhones are usually purchased on a "subsidized" basis, whereas iPads are not.

  88. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by macs4all · · Score: 1

    Work surface?

    I'm reading books in bed.

    What kind of work surface solution do you have for this?

    Come on, stop trying to look for ways this is my fault. Apple could have made the device easier to hold and really should do so. They could put a small ridge on back so I don't have to put a much larger case on it just so I can hold it.

    They figured out the slippery seed-shaped iPhone 3 was a bad idea eventually and went to something you can hold properly. Maybe they'll figure out with the iPad at some point too.

    How in the FUCK could Apple make the iPad "easier to hold" in ALL orientations?

    Get a fucking CASE. When I read/browse with my iPad in bed, if I lay on my side, I disable the auto-rotate feature, and the case turns into a "chevron", which nicely holds the iPad. When I read/browse on my back, then my case already is designed to hold the iPad at several angles. Again, not a problem.

    Having said that, I would like to get one of those cylindrical bean-bag "pillows" for using the iPad while sitting in a chair, because my case doesn't seem to have a goo angle for that use.

  89. Re:Fragmentation by beelsebob · · Score: 1

    1) What has that got to do with the discussion about fragmentation.
    2) Generally image compression is rather better on larger images, so 5 times bigger is the absolute maximum possible.
    3) Most of the @2x resources will already be included for iPhone, so 5 times bigger is extremely unlikely.
    4) Who cares if it's 5 times bigger anyway? They've increased the over the air download limit by 5 fold anyway.

  90. Re:Fragmentation by beelsebob · · Score: 1

    They can't lock to a certain device, only to certain features being available/not.

  91. Apple does NOT use child labor! by busyqth · · Score: 1

    but the rest of us know that Apple is over-priced, under-specced and your toys are made by exploiting children in sweatshops

    Now that's just not true. Apple does not exploit children in sweatshops!

    Apple products are made by enslaved fetuses.
    Yes, it's true. Apple manufactures in China because of the large available number of unwanted female fetuses. Chinese parents want a boy to carry on the family name, but because of the one-child policy it's an iffy proposition. So Apple collects unwanted female fetuses and enslaves them. Fetal fingers are very small and can do very fine precision work. And fetuses never complain about working conditions or ask for time off.

    So please stop saying that Apple exploits children. It's just not true.
    Exploited children are too expensive. Enslaved fetuses are the key to Apple's superior supply chain.

    1. Re:Apple does NOT use child labor! by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      It's good to know you concede on the over-priced and under-specced part.

    2. Re:Apple does NOT use child labor! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course it's over-priced and under-specced - but they are still selling shitloads of them, all they can make! You jealous?

  92. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Cederic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Apple is paranoid that you'll using it for something they didn't specifically intend.

    Which oddly didn't make it into the article's list of gripes, but continues to be the single biggest reason I refuse to buy one.

    I want to be able to use my devices for whatever the fuck I want. I connect my phone as a USB device and copy files to/from it. I install software from websites. I visits sites that use Flash even.

    Steve Jobs made a lot of money but he's dead now. Why is his monopolistic anti-competitiveness continuing to cripple Apple devices?

  93. How do you define weight? by tepples · · Score: 1

    We appear to be dealing with a difference of definition, so let's resolve it now. I define weight is mass times one's acceleration relative to some frame of reference. How do you define weight?

    1. Re:How do you define weight? by kenshin33 · · Score: 1

      is your frame of reference inertial?

  94. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by makomk · · Score: 1

    Sure. No matter the capacity of the battery, it should be able to be fully charged within 2 hours. So, whether it's a cellphone, an iPad, or a Chevy Volt, it should be able to be charged in 2 hours.

    Think so actually, assuming you can get enough power to it. Higher capacity lithium ion batteries can generally handle higher charging currents too. The Chevy Volt is apparently constrained by the amount of power the charging outlets it uses can supply but the website claims it takes 4 hours to charge it from a 240 volt outlet.

  95. I Like Mine by drcln · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Mine works great. No complaints here. I see a lot of complaints from people that clearly don't have one. Your opinions have been noted and will be given the consideration merited. That is all.

    --
    your gravity fails and negativity don't pull you through
  96. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I lay down at 12

    You lay down your iPad.

    Then you lie down.

  97. It should be zero by happyhamster · · Score: 1

    It also has young, gainfully employed, physically and mentally healthy employee population. Suicide rate among those should be zero. The fact that some of these people commit suicide, especially at work and in such a public way as jumping out of windows or high factory floors, speaks volumes. Apple apologists make me sick.

    1. Re:It should be zero by jon3k · · Score: 2

      It also has young employees, where suicide rates are the highest, the same as any culture. You realize there were like 8 suicides? You know that Foxconn employs over a million employees? The fact that you call me an Apple apologist and not a Foxconn apologist (or one of the dozens of other tech companies that contract Foxconn) is very telling. You just don't like Apple.

    2. Re:It should be zero by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      Seriously? Suicide among young people is generally the highest. In north America, IIRC, teens and young adults lead the pack. Most Foxconn employees are in that young adult category, or just out of it.

      The employment practices of Apple's Chinese suppliers aren't great, but they're probably better than those of the factories where the computer you typed your post on were produced, and almost certainly better than the ones where your clothing was made.

    3. Re:It should be zero by grouchomarxist · · Score: 1

      Many counties have a suicide rate higher than China. I suppose we should shut those countries down?

      I imagine many universities have a higher suicide rate. We should shut them down too.

    4. Re:It should be zero by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      You miss the point: the suicide rate is lower suggests that Foxconn is decreasing suicides, not increasing them. You can say "It should be zero," but that's naive.

  98. part of the confusion by __aaqvdr516 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'd bet part of the confusion is people charging via the USB port on their computer vs a wall charger.

    USB ports on a computer are limited to 500mA, wall chargers are typically around 1000mA, though some I've seen go up to 2000mA.

    So, someone who is saying "gee this takes forever" is likely the person who is charging via their PC.

    The capacity I have seen listed for the iPad3 is 14000mAh. If you were to do a dead battery to fully charged via PC only, it could take almost 28 hours. (though batteries charging rates are not linear)

    1. Re:part of the confusion by Psyborgue · · Score: 1

      When plugged into a PC, an iPad clearly displays "not charging" where the battery indicator normally is (although it's lying, it still does trickle charge). Apple is generally careful to make things as clear as possible to users. You are correct, tho, that the iPad charger is indeed a 1000mA charger.

    2. Re:part of the confusion by __aaqvdr516 · · Score: 1

      Roger that. I don't own an iProduct, so I couldn't exactly verify all of that. It seems about normal for someone to throw this thing on a charger at 50% and go to sleep. That should get you 100% in under 7 hours on a stock charger. That's not as terrible as some have made it seem.

      That's a hefty battery.

  99. Re:Fragmentation by tepples · · Score: 1

    But at least on Windows (before Windows 8 tablets, at least) you're guaranteed to have a physical keyboard, which means the player can locate the movement buttons by feel without having to look away from the action. An iOS or Android device's touch screen is just flat.

  100. Overpriced by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bought an HP tablet for $99 and put Android on it, does everything the iPad can do. Still kind of a useless device.

    1. Re:Overpriced by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      Bought an HP tablet for $99 and put Android on it, does everything the iPad can do. Still kind of a useless device.

      Not everything - it couldn't turn a profit for its manufacturer.

      Also, the fact that it had Android on it probably had something to do with it. (Not a critique of Android directly, just that the TouchPad was not made with it in mind)

    2. Re:Overpriced by toriver · · Score: 1

      You bought a dead product in a fire sale and somehow you think that is the normal price for a tablet? It's useless precisely because there are hundreds of apps that do not have any equivalent on the "twenty process killers to save your battery" Android.

      Plus, Android is based on Linux (with a few extras "borrowed" from the Java world) so you are running COMMUNISM. :)

  101. Re:How to feel better owning an obsolete product.. by macs4all · · Score: 0

    I bought a ipad 2 just a few days ago. Nothing on the ipad 3 could justify the higher price point to me. Plus I was able to get a like new one used from a guy on craigs list trying to raise money for the new ipad. $250.00 for a 32 gig not 3g was a fair price, and a lot cheaper than a ipad3 that has marginal improvements.

    If you think that double the screen real-estate (with better color performance to boot), twice the RAM, non-carrier-locked LTE, newest-generation Bluetooth and 4X the graphics performance for the same price as the previous model constitutes a "marginal improvement , then you are clearly delusional, or one of those typically sad people who doesn't understand the difference between "price" and "value".

    Too bad you aren't as smart as the person you bought your used iPad 2 from, HAHA!!!

  102. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Jeremi · · Score: 1

    Steve Jobs made a lot of money but he's dead now. Why is his monopolistic anti-competitiveness continuing to cripple Apple devices?

    I think Apple feels that in order to provide a high quality user experience, they need to have as much control over their products as possible, in order to avoid unintended adverse consequences.

    Whether or not that is the best strategy or not is something we'll see over the next few years, as the closed/controlled iPad model competes against the open/uncontrolled Android model.

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  103. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Since we have had no problems in the past with it, no we do not.

  104. the 4G complaint is stupid by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

    Of course if it has a faster mobile connection you'll eat through your data limit faster. What the hell were people expecting?

  105. Text Reflow by sonicmerlin · · Score: 2

    The biggest issue is the inability for Safari or any iOS browser to wrap text. Reading websites on a 10" screen can get tiresome on the eyes, especially if your eyesight isn't that great. I don't know why Apple hasn't seen fit to include the ability to wrap text in Safari. It's the main reason I stay away from Apple products and force myself to use Android tablets and smartphones. Without text reflow reading on a mobile device is guaranteed to give you eyestraight.

    1. Re:Text Reflow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is an option, "Reader". After a site loads, click the reader icon right of the address bar. It loads the page with larger text and minimal formatting.

    2. Re:Text Reflow by Grizzley9 · · Score: 1

      On many websites, Safari has a built in "Reader" option button that pops up in the address bar. It does it even on /. stories. It seems it is a simple trigger. So perhaps instead of blaming Apple, you should blame the non-mobile friendly sites you are visiting?

  106. Solar Power for teh win! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why can't these portable devices come with or the company offer an optional pack for, gee, I don't know...

    SOLAR RECHARGING?

    The tech is out there, many people do this sort of thing, some end up ruining their devices on the first or first few tries before they get it right, but seriously folks.. the time has come for portable electronic devices to include the option of and devices properly made for SOLAR RECHARGING.

    My main bitch about these devices is, I usually can't read or use the device long enough before the battery wants recharging.

    What's even worse, is sometimes I won't use a device for a day or two and the battery is almost HALF DRAINED! I've even witnessed some of these devices POWERING THEMSELVES ON! None of the device's firmware offered an option for this action so it makes me wonder how many SAT COM are probing electronic devices, especially those with FM included. (google: FM Fingerprinting)

    1. Re:Solar Power for teh win! by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Wait, so you want something on your iPad where you can lay it out in the SUN and recharge it?

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  107. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is a sales term called the (Adam) Osborne effect. Based in the era of "luggage" computer where a CRY screen, twin floppy Fisk drives and a transformer could fit into something as small as a suitcase, Adam Osborne proudly announced at one new product exhibition that the next model that they were going to be selling in there months time was going to have even more features. The end result was that no-one was interested in buying or developing for the current model.

    The reason everyone remembers this is because the Osbourne company literally went out of business because of this. The new computer was not in fact ready in three months, it took a lot longer than that, and their income went pretty much to zero. They ran out of money before they got the new computer to market.

    In more recent history, I remember that Handspring was making good money selling the "Visor" (PDA running PalmOS) and a senior executive publicly stated that phone devices were the future and Handspring wouldn't ever ship an updated Visor. Visor sales dropped like a cement block drops onto your foot. The little third-party companies selling Visor accessories dropped like flies.

  108. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .... and that makes everything 5x bigger

    Did you not see the quote?

    Here it is again

    Apps designed for Retina display can be up to five times bigger

    I don't think you understand the definition of fragmentation.

  109. Size probably doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since less than 10% of the newiPads sold are LTE, it's kind of hard to get worked up over the greater data requirements. They just won't matter to most folks

  110. Price by Kittenman · · Score: 1

    I don't need one. I'd rather spend my money on something I need more. Food, mortgage payments, fuel, books .....

    --
    "The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
    1. Re:Price by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Your not anywhere near the demographic, then...

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  111. New iPad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The best thing about the new iPad, is that mine is arriving today :)

  112. billygoatguthrie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If your wrists or arms really hurt from carrying a 1.44 lbs COMPUTER you should really re-think about your future childrens (and further generations) wrists and HOW THEY ARE GOING TO BE WEAK BECAUSE OF YOU! :)

    Only thing I'd get an ipad3 for is bjorks newest album. (needless to say, not yet worth it).

    -bgg

  113. Flat screen control by tepples · · Score: 1

    It makes more sense for all of us to jump of the sinking ship [of Adobe Flash].

    In this analogy, what do lifeboats represent?

    Some games solve [the completely flat touch screen on an iPhone or iPad] by (eg - Age of Zombies) making the left and right controls appear wherever you place your thumbs

    So the movement gesture is done by placing the left thumb at a "neutral" position and then rolling it in a direction rather than sliding. I can see how this would work, but I can foresee problems in platformers and other games where the player is expected to hold a direction for a long time, and not having an iPhone or iPad with which to test it myself, I can't see how the games end up solving them. (My current Android device is an Archos 43 that doesn't support multitouch.) And what about the other thumb? How would it work with more than one button, such as a jump and fire button, or punch and kick, or punch and magic? Or are practical on-screen gamepads limited to one button like an Atari game?

    And obviously it doesn't really apply to the massively popular puzzle games that are hugely successful (eg - Cut the Rope, Draw Something!, etc).

    There are two different kinds of block puzzle games: those that work by manipulating objects already in the field (e.g. Bejeweled), and those that work by guiding objects into a field (e.g. Tetris). I tried Tetris on a relative's iPhone and could never get nearly as fast as I routinely do on a DS, though Klax might work with downward and upward flick actions. So are falling block games worthless? And even in games with touch, there's the problem of seeing around the finger, though I admit that's more of a problem with the iPhone, where the finger is larger relative to the display.

    1. Re:Flat screen control by jon3k · · Score: 1

      There aren't any lifeboats, we're jumping from the ship right onto land (html5 video and canvas elements). Pretty much every major site has switched to html5 for video. I don't ever run into any sites that require flash anymore. I completely forgot the iPad didn't support flash until I started reading these comments.

  114. Simple answer by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

    A colleague of mine installed something on his iPad 1 the other day. It came up with the message Unauthorized application or some such. WTF? He installed it, so therefore it is authorized. Stupid Apple control freaks. That's why I own a Galaxy S2. The iPhone might be better, but Apple can fuck off telling me what I can put on there and having the damn cheek to charge 100GBP more for an extra 16GB of storage instead of giving their users an SD card slot like nearly every other manufacturer.

    1. Re:Simple answer by toriver · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I have a PC and installed a game, and it yelled something about "This game requires PixelShader 3.0" and quit. I was "what the fuck?" because I have a PC and it was a PC game. Who are they to decide that my PC is not new enough?

    2. Re:Simple answer by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      Because that's entirely the same lol. Apple fanboys are such utter sheep.

  115. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by chrismcb · · Score: 1

    I want to be able to use my devices for whatever the fuck I want.

    You only think you do. Do you visit Flash sites with your toaster? Do you connect a USB device to your DVD player? An iPad is an appliance that does a lot of things.

  116. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by jo_ham · · Score: 1

    I was surprised that they kept the 10W charger.

    The battery is massive (compared to the iPad 2), and almost half the size of an actual Macbook - and those use much more powerful chargers.

    I have to assume that the charging circuitry is simply not rated for the much higher current.

  117. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by grouchomarxist · · Score: 0

    You can play while charging.

  118. Re:Fragmentation by Shaterri · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Compared to Windows as of 15 years ago, maybe. The Windows APIs the last few years have been mature enough that while diverse hardware testing can still improve the user experience, it's gotten substantially less necessary for game developers. That just isn't the case for Android games.

  119. Screw Apple by gearloos · · Score: 0

    I had a very good rep until I posted true experiences showing bugs with the ipad 1 and IOS 5. Apple even deleted posts of mine on the Apple forums. I don't actually care about rep so from here on out, F^$%K YOU APPLE. Lying, cheating, unscrupulous dealing. People don't seem to see underneath the style and design to realize they are doing exactly what Microsoft was so guilty of in the last decade. Apple even pushes it further by trying to control every bit of your information they can. Try to play a game, You have to sign into game center. Your anonymity is unfortunately gone. Have a 12 year old child? Too bad, their real name is posted everywhere. Have an objection? The paid shill force plus the fan boys will discredit you until you look the fool rather than showing the real problem. F^%$#EK YOU APPLE.

    --
    "Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
    1. Re:Screw Apple by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Have a 12 year old child? Too bad, their real name is posted everywhere.

      What?

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  120. Re:How to feel better owning an obsolete product.. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    Yes. We know that as soon as a new model is introduced, the old Apple gear becomes instantly shitty and only a fool would continue to use it.

    What are you even here on Slashdot for? Regurgitating bullet points from Apple brochures isn't very interesting to the rest of us.

  121. Aren't tidal forces negligible? by tepples · · Score: 1

    Except that the gravitational field near a planet's surface is spherical while the equivalent field generated by constant acceleration is uniform.

    And the limit of spherical as area decreases is uniform.

    just that your example should either consider the action of gravity sufficiently far from the planet's surface

    I was under the impression that for most objects considered to be in a "zero gravity" freefall, tidal forces were negligible.

    1. Re:Aren't tidal forces negligible? by ChatHuant · · Score: 1

      I was under the impression that for most objects considered to be in a "zero gravity" freefall, tidal forces were negligible

      Freefall doesn't matter in this case - tidal forces depend on the size of the object and the gradient of the gravitational field. For small objects in a slowly changing field, they're negligible (for example, humans on the surface of the Earth). If the object is large (like the moon), or if the gravitational field changes quickly enough (for example around a black hole, or a neutron star) tidal forces can be significant.

  122. Bitmap vs. vector by tepples · · Score: 1

    Pretty much every major site has switched to html5 for video.

    That's understandable for video, in the sense of compressed sequences of bitmap images. But what have sites switched to for vector animation? Canvas still doesn't work on Internet Explorer for Windows XP.

    I don't ever run into any sites that require flash anymore.

    How did you happen to never run into Homestar Runner or Weebl's Stuff or Newgrounds?

    1. Re:Bitmap vs. vector by jon3k · · Score: 1

      But what have sites switched to for vector animation?

      I don't know, because I don't watch/use anything that uses flash, so I couldn't tell you. All I know is everything I visit works? Try turning off flash in your browser sometime. I think you'll be amazed to learn that the vast majority of the web still works just fine. The dominance of the iPad, iPhone and Android devices (even though they "support" flash, albeit poorly. I carry a Galaxy Nexus and using flash on it is awful) have basically forced everyone to migrate off of flash. I realize in theory it seems like a dealbreaker, and I used to think the same thing until I used it. Two years ago it was FAR worse than today. I can honestly say in the last 6 months I've run into 1 site that required flash. But me and about a hundred million other people browse the web just fine on iOS devices.

      I haven't watched Homestar Runner videos in probably 7-10 years. But I'm pretty sure all of those old Homestar Runner videos are available on youtube via html5.

      How much time do you spend playing flash games? I don't really know how well flash games designed to be used with a mouse really translate to an iPad's touch based interface anyway. You can of course just use your computer or laptop when you want to play flash games, I certainly don't think an iPad replaces a general purpose computer.

  123. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, images with 4x the pixels and associated metadata very well could come out to 5x the size. Remember, 2x images means 2x in both directions.

  124. Lmao by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The problem is simple, The thing has no vents or cooling. But don't expect a solution anytime soon (unless they invent nanofans and heatsinks) :)

  125. Re:How to feel better owning an obsolete product.. by macs4all · · Score: 0

    Yes. We know that as soon as a new model is introduced, the old Apple gear becomes instantly shitty and only a fool would continue to use it.

    What are you even here on Slashdot for? Regurgitating bullet points from Apple brochures isn't very interesting to the rest of us.

    So why are you expending the effort to read, let alone REPLY to them?

    NOW who's the idiot?

  126. Re:Fragmentation by jedidiah · · Score: 1

    Different hardware is still different hardware, even if it's just an annual refresh and the number of variations are relatively minor. You still have to consider that you may not be able to sell to the entire market or you might have to make a less ambitious product.

    Fully exploit the potential of an iPad3, make an iPad1 crumble.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  127. Why is increased data usage Apple's fault? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You'll love the blistering speed of the 4G iPad, you won't love blowing through your monthly data allotment in just 24 hours if you use streaming video.

    That shouldn't be on a list of complaints about the iPad, but rather the #1 complaint about US data plans.

  128. No SD card by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's worthless without one

    1. Re:No SD card by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Why? I don't really have much use for an SD card, beyond running homebrew on my Wii.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    2. Re:No SD card by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

      Not true at all. Apple says you don't need an SD card slot.

      QED.

    3. Re:No SD card by toriver · · Score: 1

      No, it's not. Their design decision is to have internal Flash memory, and it's perfectly usable with that. You sync stuff in and out using iTunes (another design decision).

      I mean how many Android users ever use multiple SD cards? Just because something is different does not mean it's wrong.

  129. Big surprise by bryan1945 · · Score: 1

    It's not perfect for all people. Who woulda thunk it?

    --
    Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
  130. re: paranoid? by King_TJ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can accept your opinion, but still can't say I agree with it myself.

    I don't think "paranoia" factors in. That's just more Apple bashing. The fact is, Apple sells their products as part of an entire "user experience" you're supposed to get from them. That's one of the reasons you don't ever see Macs for sale at the local Wal-Mart or "Joe's Computer Shop" down the street in a strip mall. Apple is concerned with the sales experience you receive meeting certain minimum standards of theirs. Even the "unboxing" experience is thought out in advance, so you feel as though your new purchase is something important, valuable and "high end" in nature. As you use their products, they want them to work in the manner they designed too. If you call for technical support, the person on the other end of the line needs to know your product has certain menu options and runs everything a certain way - or else they can't give you the type of "step by step" support answers you might expect.

    It's legitimate to disregard all of this as "meaningless" to you, or even to say in your opinion, it's not how a computer product should be sold. But it's part of the formula Apple has for their products - and it's a very successful one.

    I'm technical enough so I never need to call Apple's help line ... and sure, there are times I wanted to do something with a product of theirs that's way outside the scope of what THEY intended for it. But usually, I can do that if I so desire (such as jailbreaking an iPhone or iPad) and all is good. 90% of the time though, I actually LIKE what they've done with a given product, and I'm fine with using it within those parameters they built it with. Apple is, by and large, pretty good with that stuff, IMO -- so I keep coming back to them.

  131. Cap by tepples · · Score: 1

    rasterizing the vectors and bloating the data by a factor of ten

    I'm pretty sure all of those old Homestar Runner videos are available on youtube via html5

    The conversion process to put Flash cartoons on YouTube bloats the data by a factor of ten, which means you can't watch as many per month and stay under your cap.

    How much time do you spend playing flash games? I don't really know how well flash games designed to be used with a mouse really translate to an iPad's touch based interface anyway.

    Any game that relies only on click, not on mouseover, would translate perfectly.

    You can of course just use your computer or laptop when you want to play flash games, I certainly don't think an iPad replaces a general purpose computer.

    It'll have to once laptop makers stop making laptops that are small enough. Dell already discontinued its line of 10" laptops.

    1. Re:Cap by jon3k · · Score: 1

      I don't have any monthly data cap, and you're really reaching now. Any game that requires dragging won't work. No one is going to stop making laptops.

  132. Really?? I dare you to name one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Android tablets are garbage .... mostly because the OS is garbage.

    Kindle Fire is selling .... in the imagination of fandroids. Amazon reported to the SEC a purchase of 250K Kindle Fires ..... and they still have many in inventory.

    So what magical "alternative" are we talking about? The crappy iPad clones nobody buys?

  133. Then buy something else. by Brannon · · Score: 1

    problem solved.

  134. Re:Fragmentation by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    You can write an Android app that requires an external hardware input device, be it a keyboard or a joystick - Google won't stop you.

  135. Word for Dos on an XT clone sounds about right by Brannon · · Score: 1

    for you--you should stick with that.

    "So a 'mouse' for an iOS device would cause a mouse pointer to emerge on the screen."

    Priceless.

  136. Your microwave is a computer that can't compile. by Brannon · · Score: 0

    Yawn. I feel like Apple-haters are getting dumber over time--it didn't used to be so trivial to punch holes in their arguments, did it?

  137. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The word in Genesis is Yom.

    Yom means day.

    24 hours.

    There is no debate about this in any group.

  138. actually it does make a difference by Chirs · · Score: 1

    Holding even a small weight for hours on end gets tiring. A small increase in the weight can make a big difference in comfort over the long term.

  139. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by NoMaster · · Score: 1

    (a) heat (battery temperature & rate of rise increases with charging current, there's limited heat transfer/dissipation in a small aluminium chassis, and LiPol batteries aren't known for their immunity to thermal runaway), and
    (b) 10W = 5V x 2A, which is already 30% over the rating of the USB Type A connector (1.5A).

    --
    What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
  140. Re:Fragmentation by milkmage · · Score: 2

    why don't you provide a link to the headline you mention.. is it this one?

    http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/14/2870374/new-ipad-apps-larger-size-retina-display

    "The applications developed by Apple have been upgraded to support the Retina Display. For example Keynote was previously only 115MB but its latest version is 327MB. Numbers is up from 109MB to 283MB, Pages moves from 95MB to 269MB, and iMovie from 70MB to 404MB." (Translated from Vietnamese)"

    iMovie is the only one that went up over 5x.. and that's because they added a new feature called Trailers. there's built in themes with animations and music so most of that increase is the stored audio/video assets.. it was NOT a straight retina bump - else it wouldn't have been demo'd in the ipad keynote. you can't compare the current and previous version because they're not (feature wise) the same app. garageband also got bigger.. from 600MB to almost a 1GB I think.. but that's because they added string instruments and the ability to "jam" with other people and record all 4 tracks in the app. those string loops are big.

    here's the info about Trailers for the desktop version of iMovie - all the same features are in the iOS version.
    http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/#movie-trailers-section

    the pertinent copy from the appstore
    Create movie trailers
      Choose from nine new trailers with immersive graphics and original scores by some of the world’s top film composers*
    *Trailers are available on iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later. (probably because of RAM constraints)

    the "CMX-HD" format that Comixology and Marvel are using now caused a noticeable increase in file size.. but of all the titles I have, they average increase is about 3x.. and the ones I have (pre-HD) were around 20-25MB, now they're 75MB.

    3x may seem like a lot, but look at the difference. (photo by Andy Ihnatko)
    https://twitter.com/#!/Ihnatko/status/180865456389885954/photo/1
    (note the paperclip in the foreground)

  141. Re:Fragmentation by Gumbercules!! · · Score: 1

    Perhaps he means the issue with it breaking when dropped from waist height? Maybe fragments of it go all over the floor?

  142. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

    Steve Jobs made a lot of money but he's dead now. Why is his monopolistic anti-competitiveness continuing to cripple Apple devices?

    You're really asking why apple, having made insane amounts of money by designing desirable products and being anti-competitive, isn't immediately changing course after one guy dies?

  143. Re:Fragmentation by del_diablo · · Score: 0

    Which you only say until you realize there is different keyboards. So is the USER using a QWERTY US keyboard, a QWERTY SE keyboard, some dvorak layout, AZLEF, or anything else? A notorious example is applications that really in the tilde key being present, a key which is sometimes not present on some layouts, making for example console in games rather unaccesable.

  144. Mnyeh by dacarr · · Score: 1

    Don't care. I don't use Apple. Android does what I want the way I want. If Apple's iOS did it, I'd buy it. The end.

    --
    This sig no verb.
  145. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Pieroxy · · Score: 1

    You can play while charging.

    But it does charge significantly slower then.

  146. Re: paranoid? by cjsm · · Score: 1

    I The fact is, Apple sells their products as part of an entire "user experience" you're supposed to get from them. That's one of the reasons you don't ever see Macs for sale at the local Wal-Mart or "Joe's Computer Shop" down the street in a strip mall.

    My local Walmart sells iPads and iPods.

    --
    This ad space for rent.
  147. Re:How to feel better owning an obsolete product.. by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

    So why are you expending the effort to read, let alone REPLY to them?

    NOW who's the idiot?

    Can we get /. editors to rename his account to Captain Macs4All Obvious?

    --
    Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  148. $62 joystick by tepples · · Score: 1

    Who'll buy a $62 joystick to carry around just to play one video game?

    1. Re:$62 joystick by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I haven't tried it myself, but I hear you can use most standard joysticks and gamepads with Android (3.x+) tablets - specifically, Xbox 360 controller. Which a lot of people might already have.

      Anyway, it's not like people are forced to write for phones and tablets. If you can deal with touchscreen only, good. If you can't, then your game is probably not suitable for that environment, anyway - a good thing, then, that we still have other platforms with more complicated control schemes. Majesty looks and plays very well on my Android tablet, and I much appreciate having it there with me when travelling, but I'll stick to PC for GTA.

    2. Re:$62 joystick by tepples · · Score: 1

      If you can deal with touchscreen only, good. If you can't, then your game is probably not suitable for that environment, anyway

      What if my game is suitable for a mobile environment, in that it has short play sessions, but not for a touch screen? For which platform should I be developing it? If PSVita or 3DS, how should one gain "industry experience" in order to qualify without necessarily having to move to Austin, Boston, or Seattle?

    3. Re:$62 joystick by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      What if my game is suitable for a mobile environment, in that it has short play sessions, but not for a touch screen? For which platform should I be developing it?

      For Android with external input devices. ~

      Of course, you will probably not sell enough to cover development expenses - so if you want to be commercially sound, you simply shouldn't develop games like that. There are no suitable popular devices on the market, and I doubt there will be anytime soon - smartphones & tablets have taken over the "portable" market, and people don't want to lug around Yet Another Gadget in their pocket just to play things (hence why PS Vita has been rather an epic fail).

    4. Re:$62 joystick by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Seriously... do I seriously have to post a thinkgeek product to slashdot... wow...
        http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/on-sale/e75a/

      9-16 bucks.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  149. Bad maths by shilly · · Score: 1

    Corking quote from TFA: "The Verge noted that these apps can be up to *five times bigger*. A dramatic example of an app getting fatter is Tweetbot, which grew from under *10 MB to 25 MB* in its Retina-ready update."

    Glad to see the LA Times thinks the best illustration of "5 times fatter" is "2.5 times fatter"

  150. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry, what fragmentation issue did this introduce?

    Maybe I'm confused, when did the poster mention anything about fragmentation issues?

    Are you lashing out at him(her?) for not choosing an Apple product?

  151. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, its one of those relativistic years where he leaves it on earth while charging and travels through space at large fractions of c.

  152. Re:Fragmentation by jellomizer · · Score: 1

    When you tell people things they really should know anyways causes them to react funny.

    Just like Romney and the Etch-A-Sketch incident. This is how elections work. The candidate shifts solidly into their parities position during the primaries, then they shift into a more moderate stance during the general election. It happens, but if someone tell you that they are going to do that then you feel all pissed off about it.

    For technology sales when you have a new product ready for a release you will need to do the following.
    1. Drop the price of your current model. If they know something new is coming out at near the same price. You better drop the price of your current model to keep sales running. While a portion of the people are going to wait for the new version, others are waiting for the price drop.

    2. Offer a free/greatly reduced upgrade plan, this is for software such as Microsoft Vista systems with Windows 7 coupons, when Windows 7 release was soon to come out... That way people would buy PC until 7 came out.

    3. Don't release your timeline until the product is nearly done, where you are not risking a major loss, buy you get to build buzz for the new version.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  153. Useful review for the single man by The+Jynx · · Score: 1

    At one-tenth of a pound heavier that really doesn't sound like much, but it can start to matter if you hold your iPad in one hand for long periods or have any kind of repetitive stress injury.

    IPad3 != jerk off friendly. See this is the important information they don't seem to tell you in the shops.

  154. Intrinsity is fabless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    manufactured in Texas by Apple-owned Fab house, Intrinsity

    Intrinsity (back when it existed independent of Apple) was a fabless manufacturer that contracted out to other foundries (including and especially Samsung) to manufacture their chips. Samsung just upgraded its Austin plant for A#-series chip production; Intrinsity never had an Austin plant and Apple hasn't built one.

    Rumor has it (ugh...) that Apple was trying to shift assembly to TSMC, but they didn't have the quality/yield.

    1. Re:Intrinsity is fabless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      manufactured in Texas by Apple-owned Fab house, Intrinsity

      Intrinsity (back when it existed independent of Apple) was a fabless manufacturer that contracted out to other foundries (including and especially Samsung) to manufacture their chips. Samsung just upgraded its Austin plant for A#-series chip production; Intrinsity never had an Austin plant and Apple hasn't built one.

      Rumor has it (ugh...) that Apple was trying to shift assembly to TSMC, but they didn't have the quality/yield.

      Hmmm. Interesting. I did not know that! Why would Apple need a fabless semi house? That makes NO sense...

      Oh wait! Here's some stuff... I guess I'd always figured that PASemi was responsible for the Axx SoC design. Guess I was only half-right!
      HOWEVER, the rest of my post stands. ;-)

  155. Re:Fragmentation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Im a developer, and although the varying specs and screen resolutions do make it more challenging. Any developer worth their salt can produce dynamically scaling layouts and UI.

    The No FPU and No Multi-touch comment is just a lie. Its a function of the hardware vendor and what they ship in their product.
    For example my HTC Hero I had a few years back had no FPU, and its multi-touch was buggy.
    But my new Galaxy Nexus has both FPU and can track all 10 fingers sinultaneously and correctly.. I havent tried getting more than 10 digits on the screen as its a bit difficult :)

  156. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    That's funny. My iPad 1 takes a fucking year to charge.

    As we're on slashdot, I imagine a year's worth of fucking would be about five minutes.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  157. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Problem is it takes more time than a typical night's sleep to charge it. In fact, I believe it takes longer on average to charge than deplete. Note that the iPad cannot charge if its in use, and may even loose a (very) small amount.

  158. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by tibit · · Score: 1

    I'm sure their thinking went kinda like this:

    1. Hmm, Adobe's mobile flash plugin sucks. We can't count on them to do it right. The desktop plugin just happens to be the leading cause of crashes and beachballs while browsing using Safari on OS X. Hmm.

    2. So we should probably develop our own plugin. But hey, why develop a runtime from scratch that we're not going to be making any content for?!

    3. So maybe we should be making content for it (and maybe also tools)? Meh, why would we help anyone make content that can run on other, worse yet, competing, platforms?

    4. Screw that. We can invest all of that effort into making our own tech better. Our market doesn't seem to mind.

    --
    A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
  159. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    Steve Jobs made a lot of money but he's dead now. Why is his monopolistic anti-competitiveness continuing to cripple Apple devices?

    Taking a wild guess, the monopolistic anti-competitiveness has made them shed loads of money in the past, and is projected to make them shed loads more in the future.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  160. Re: paranoid? by crazyjj · · Score: 1

    That's one of the reasons you don't ever see Macs for sale at the local Wal-Mart

    Walmart has been selling Apples for years now.

    --
    What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
  161. it's all about perception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what's not to like ? how about the anti-innovation , patent trolling , general pushover attitude of it's maker ?
    as far as i'm concerned they will never do good enough on hardware as long as this attitude exist

  162. iPad 2 handily beats that by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    How about the $400 Galaxy Tab 10.1 (lighter, bigger screen and nicer to use IMHO than iPad v. any)?

    That's the same price as the iPad 2 now, only the iPad 2 is lighter, has a better screen, and 1000x the applications built specifically for a tablet...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  163. re: iPads and iPods by King_TJ · · Score: 1

    Yes, they do ... but not Macs, as I said above.

    They're not as concerned with your sales experience with a new iOS device or classic iPod. Those are more of "self contained" devices where most of your questions about usage come AFTER you get it home and unbox it.

    Walmart does NOT sell Mac Pro towers, iMacs, Mac Minis, Macbook Airs, Macbooks or Macbook Pros -- to the best of my knowledge.

  164. Better everything by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    You're engaging in a lot of rhetorical flourishes but you aren't actually telling anyone anything meaningful.

    That's because everyone already knows, or can use google.

    But just in case you were serious:

    * Better battery life (over two hours longer playing video).

    * Faster recharge times (by an hour).

    * 100x more applications built specifically for the iPad to take greater advantage of the larger space instead of blindly scaling up a handful of UI elements.

    I mean, the application thing along pretty much nails it if you meant to buy a tablet for anything real as opposed to just having a toy for the sake of it.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  165. Bad reason by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I want to be able to use my devices for whatever the fuck I want. I connect my phone as a USB device and copy files to/from it

    There are multiple applications (at least for the Mac) that do just that. They open your iOS device filesystem, and you can easily copy in/out.

    You can pretty much do anything you want with it as is, if you really want to get crazy jailbreak it.

    Why is his monopolistic anti-competitiveness continuing to cripple Apple devices?

    It's not.

    Your perception that it is cripples your own use of the best possible gadgets for portable computing.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  166. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by adisakp · · Score: 1

    I have one, the charge times are quite slow. To be honest, too slow.

    Try to use a charger or a powered USB port that is rated for "fast" iPad charging -- These chargers/ports supply 1.5-2.0A rather than the USB minimum which is typically 500mA for a powered port but can be as low as 100mA per port on an unpowered hub. That said, simple math will tell you the new iPad takes a long time to charge. The device has a 42Wh battery and charges at 5V which requires 8.4Ah @ 5V to fully recharge. On a 500mA connection, that takes 16.8 hours and on a 100mA connection it takes a whopping 84 hours.

    However, on a 2A connection (iPad rated), it takes only 4.2 hours. It's also worth noting that the iPad continues to charge for up to 1hr after it says it's 100% charged so real charging time is actually a little longer than what you might think.

    The weight isn't really any different, the reason it's so uncomfortable to hold for long periods is the same as any other iPad, there's simply no good way to hold it without blocking or touching the screen.

    FWIW, the iPad is much easier to hold than the smaller Kindle Fire. I have both and the Kindle Fire has such a thin boundary that thumb touches always accidentally register when trying to hold the device.

  167. Re:Fragmentation by Psyborgue · · Score: 1

    It's simple. Instead of having to include a 1024 image on it's own, i need to include a 2048 image as well. The original image in addition to one four times it's size = an app 5 times the size.

  168. What's Not To Like About New iPad? by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

    No field replaceable units (batteries, or case parts).
    What else, -- cost.

    --
    Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    1. Re:What's Not To Like About New iPad? by toriver · · Score: 1

      Non-user-replaceable battery? Same as every other modern tablet (Android devices included) then. Replaceable batteries need more space for the casing and interface, which adds to the bulk and/or reduces the battery volume (and total charge). Not worth it.

    2. Re:What's Not To Like About New iPad? by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      So you prefer to pay $300 more for a device that you will later dispose of as land-fill because of not being able to change the battery. Three years is the typical life of a tablet battery. I owned a palm pilot for 7 years with one battery change mid-way through in the 4th year.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    3. Re:What's Not To Like About New iPad? by toriver · · Score: 1

      I do expect to buy a replacement device within three years, yes. Or have the battery replaced by a technician if needed be. However, I had to replace my PSP's battery, and at least one older mobile phone back in the day. To me, a user replaceable battery says: "You will need to replace this". $300 more than what, anyway? Do you think a non-replaceable battery significantly increases the cost of the device? That it would be $300 cheaper with a user-replaceable battery? Then show me the tablets that do have that feature and are $300 cheaper. than e.g. the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

    4. Re:What's Not To Like About New iPad? by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      If you dont mind spending the money, the decision is moot. I just dont like spending money where 50% of it goes to marketing expenses, and where the cost of repair equals or nearly equals the cost of a new device. Suppose your device lasts 15 months, are you game to replace it at what you just paid?

      Sorry, I don't want to live in a land-fill throw away society

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
  169. Re:Really?? I dare you to name one by narcc · · Score: 1

    There's always the PlayBook, a fantastic OS, solid hardware, and a brilliant user interface.

    Aside from a limited selection of apps, it's fantastic. The over-all user experience is undoubtedly better than the iPad.

  170. Re:Fragmentation by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    yeah, it's called "fdisk".

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  171. Re:Fragmentation by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    It's what they left when they started using Apple.
    Hint: Not everyone who uses Apple was born into it.

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  172. Re:Fragmentation by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    We're counting the things the company is managing, not what they've made in the last decade.
    Even if that's the case, you're off by quite a few. Remember, they made eMacs, iMacs, Powerbooks, ibooks, and 2 AppleTVs.

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  173. Re:Fragmentation by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    Maybe they should invent some keyboard.. some typing device.. that uses radio waves to somehow transfer keystrokes.. hmmm... and perhaps the radio waves could be shared with other devices as well... when oh when will this tech come...
    (/sarcasm)

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  174. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    It's not working right, then.

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  175. Re: paranoid? by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    Let's leave the produce department out of this.

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    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  176. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    So play longer.

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  177. Re:Fragmentation by beelsebob · · Score: 1

    Maybe I'm confused, when did the poster mention anything about fragmentation issues?

    You're confused –read the subject and the first line again.

  178. Re:Your microwave is a computer that can't compile by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    Mostly because most of the wind went out of their sails once an Intel processor (for desktop/laptop) and a Unix-based OS went onto Apple products.
    Now it's just trivialities.

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  179. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Pieroxy · · Score: 1

    Actually, from what I've just read, when doing a CPU intensive task it may not charge at all.

  180. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by toriver · · Score: 1

    The minimum charge juice needed, for iPad 2 at least, seems to be 0,5 A though; my MacBook Pro when running Windows 7 only delivers 400 mA to the iPad 2 (Windows apparently reserves 100 mA for "something"), and the iPad 2 when connected says "not charging". Does charge the iPhone 4S though...

  181. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Wovel · · Score: 1

    Adobe gave up on mobile flash (because it sucks), maybe it is time for you to give it up too.

  182. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Wovel · · Score: 1

    This is key. They never claim it is actually more likely to shatter.

  183. Re:of any of these, only the battery thing means m by Cederic · · Score: 1

    Look at it this way. I had Flash installed on my 600Mhz PC, my 900Mhz PC, my 1.2GHz PC.. Why wouldn't I have it installed on my dual-core 1.5GHz computer?

    Just because it's mobile doesn't make it crap.

    (Admittedly, being Flash does make it crap, but tell that to the 80 million websites that use it)

  184. Cap, drag, bag by tepples · · Score: 1

    I don't have any monthly data cap

    What carrier, what country? In my country, satellite and cellular ISPs have roughly 5 GB/mo caps. Even wired home ISPs such as Comcast have a monthly data cap. And if you're outside of 3G coverage and your device has fallen back to EDGE, you will probably not have enough bandwidth to maintain an AVC stream, but an SWF can still successfully preload at that speed.

    Any game that requires dragging won't work.

    The choice of Flash or HTML is orthogonal to the choice of pointing device. Here's how it could work, whether in Flash or in HTML: A script on the page marks the interior of an element as clickable and not scrollable. Touching the surface fires a mouse over event, an immediate mouse down event, a series of mouse moved events while the finger continues to move, and a mouse up event.

    No one is going to stop making laptops.

    I said "stop making laptops that are small enough", or in other words, "stop making laptops that fit in a bag designed for a laptop with a 10 inch screen".

  185. Impulse buy by tepples · · Score: 1

    You're describing a Bluetooth keyboard or Bluetooth joystick. But in that case, it's not when the tech will become available at all as much as when the tech will become affordable as an impulse buy in the same way that a game on the App Store is an impulse buy. A $62 gamepad currently is not.

  186. Re: paranoid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "My local Walmart sells iPads and iPods." ... and what does this have to do with the comment you quoted? Neither of those are Macs, which Wal-Mart does NOT sell.

  187. From FUD to Ad Hominem Condescention by TheABomb · · Score: 1

    OR, someone who doesn't want to shell out two grand for a computer that will run iTunes just for the privilege of being able to spend $500 on an iPad, when I can just plug a USB cable into my phone and Linux box. It's exactly the same functionality as plugging in a flashdrive, and yet I'm the one who gets downvoted?

    --
    MSIE: The world's most standards-complaint web browser.
  188. Re:How to feel better owning an obsolete product.. by macs4all · · Score: 1

    But isn't it kinda telling that he never replied?

  189. Emulation under iOS by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

    That's very interesting. My emulators aren't game emulators, or at least, not per se -- they're machine emulators. For example, one is an emulation of a 1970's era 6809 system with disk operating system and so on. Only one of the companies involved was still in business at the time I wrote the emulator, and I do have permission from them to include their software. It has everything from assemblers to c compilers to basic to forth to whatever you can think of from that era, pretty much.

    Still, it's a big pushup, for a small potential audience, to go thru with a chance Apple will say "no." And it isn't like I don't have other things on my plate, either.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  190. Re:How to feel better owning an obsolete product.. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    You didn't say anything interesting to rebut or defend the notion that Apple products become instantly obsolete as soon as the new version comes out.

    Just boring meta-noise.