So, we have a Slashdot article that's using figures from another Slashdot article from when AT&T had an exclusive deal with Apple.
Not only that, but the original Slashdot article that is used as the "authority" for the Apple figures completely ignores the manufacturing cost of the iPhone.
So here, we see Slashdot click-whoring (once again!).
Newsflash! Companies make money on the stuff they sell!! Film at 11 !!!1!!!111!
The "math" in both this, and the 2007 "Apple" article is so incomplete and just plain out-of-whack that this article is an embarrassment to not only Slashdot, but to "Journalism" in general.
In typical Slashdot form, I didn't RTFA; but were there actually GROUNDS for his removal; or do we just let the "Investigated" decide who gets to speak?
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!!!
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.
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.
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.
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???
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.
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).
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...?
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.
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!).
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!!!
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.
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...
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.
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?
Slashdot Mirror
Let me rephrase...
Google do not manufacture devices. The moment an iPhone is sold Apple makes a good chunk of profit, when an Android phone is sold Google gets nothing.
So, I guess they don't make money on Nexus sales?
So, we have a Slashdot article that's using figures from another Slashdot article from when AT&T had an exclusive deal with Apple.
Not only that, but the original Slashdot article that is used as the "authority" for the Apple figures completely ignores the manufacturing cost of the iPhone.
So here, we see Slashdot click-whoring (once again!).
Newsflash! Companies make money on the stuff they sell!! Film at 11 !!!1!!!111!
The "math" in both this, and the 2007 "Apple" article is so incomplete and just plain out-of-whack that this article is an embarrassment to not only Slashdot, but to "Journalism" in general.
In typical Slashdot form, I didn't RTFA; but were there actually GROUNDS for his removal; or do we just let the "Investigated" decide who gets to speak?
But isn't it kinda telling that he never replied?
The truth is ALWAYS boring and predictable, because it can't be changed, like LIES can.
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.
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?
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.
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...
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?
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.
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.
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!
. . in the hstory of Slashdot. .
And THAT'S saying something!!!
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!
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.
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).
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...
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.
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!).
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!!!
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.
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...
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.
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?