Yes, yes, I apologise. After Kroc's story earlier today, and together with this one, we now have three stories in a row on the 
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Member since:2007-03-26
- It can't run OSX apps, but those aren't really meant to work well on netbooks either
What about other tablet/slate PCs though?
As this device is competing with them too.
(netbooks have even lower res screen and are much slower).
I think you've been looking at the bottem end of the market too much.
There's plenty of devices out there that can easily output 1024x768 and has the same screen size.
If you venture out of the "netbook" classification a moment but continue to look at simular devices then you'd see there's even more to choose from with devices as powerful as laptops but at the same dimensions (or marginally bigger) as netbooks.
It is less capable, but netbooks don't really run "real" apps like photoshop or visual studio or heavy games well.
Tablet and Slate PCs do though.
And there is a whole golf of applications between photoshop and whatever social networking frontends are popular on the iPhone.
One of my closest mates does ALL of his web development on his netbook.
My missus uses hers to write up lesson plans for the classes she teaches (if she tried to do that on a touch screen she'd quickly throw the device out of the window!)
The iPad can run apps for most things most people do better than any ($300-$1200) netbook (i.e. reading websites, with easy zoom and changing of orientation for the small screen, or going though tons of photos or emails with a multi touch screen instead of an unusable mini trackpad)
again, at a much higher price and again, your vastly under estimating what many people DO do on their netbooks.
- It doesn't fit in your pocket, but its small enough to hold without feeling that you're lugging a laptop in your palm
So where are you going to put it when you're not holding it?
In a bag? Oh well, you may as well have taken a proper fully functional (albeit compact) PC then.
- The device is a portable computer/media device, with a eBook feature.
You can read eBooks on netbooks and tablets/slates if you wanted to.
Most people don't though because backlit screens are a PITA compared to eInk or real printed media.
Good touch screen keyboards are not bad as they may seem.
touch screen keyboards are TERRIBLE. They're not even a close approximation to a hardware keyboard.
No matter how big you make the graphics, it's still not tactile. And that will always be their fundamental downfall.
Software keyboards are also a good way to induce RSI or other typing injuries as there's no cushion for your finger tips
The sole reason I didn't buy an iPhone was because I just couldn't get to grips with it's keyboard.
I don't look at the keyboard as I type normally, so why should I have to on my mobile devices just because Apple have an inherent disliking of buttons?
Extra stuff to carry around. I've already addressed this point and why it's impractical.
It's not the size that matters - it's the fact that it's tactile.
You can feel your way around the keys and instantly know when you've missed a button or can feel where your hands are on the keys (as in which letter) without having to look down every 5 seconds.
I don't read much - so personally no. But I'm not Kindles target audience either.
You're forgetting about the Android eBook readers
Desirable if you take form over function. Personally I don't. Personally I was hoping for something special but this isn't it.
Personally, I think the tablet market is still wide open.
Member since:2006-10-28
Then the iPad's not for you. Just because it doesn't do what you want doesn't mean its a bad device. Name a single hand holdable tablet with a Pixel Qi touchscreen and tactile keyboard with decent battery life, viewing angle, speed, that runs windows, and costs under $1000. If one exists, please tell me about it.
Member since:2008-03-17
-That keyboard definitely sucks. It is absolute insanity to expect essays or even a medium sized email to be typed up on this thing. It isn't about the size but about the more direct feedback you get from pressing keys and not to mention the shock absorption that comes from pressing buttons.
-There are no apps and no methods to deal with direct input from a pen (specifically designed for it or no).
So some enterprising developer comes along and says yup I have a pen based handwriting solution but i need to sell the pen and install drivers....wait not gonna happen because apple will probably deny it in the app store, let alone trying to install it by other means.
Managing documents is a no go as this device needs to b-e synced (no file manager here).
-It is too expensive to be used in education, which requires much more flexibility in a device...for starters the ability to install educational software.
-What the device does do well is play and view APPLE'S MEDIA because I can't see apple allowing any old format to work with this thing.
For audio it isn't that big a deal due to the ubiquity of mp3, ease and speed of transcoding etc. But for video it is plain silly as video takes too long to transcode and the market is too fractured under competing implementations e.g. hulu,itunes netflix and not to mention divx etc.
Member since:2006-10-28
I agree that a tactile keyboard is ergonomically better than a touchscreen, but use a larger touchscreen for a day and you'll find its not half as bad as you felt it was at first. I could barely type a word when I first tried an iPhone but within 15 minutes, I was able to do 15 wpm with my thumb on that tiny keyboard. I'm certain a larger one would be much easier.
Format support for media is quite wide, and transcoding doesn't take that long on a modern computer. It's absurd to suggest that it doesn't support non-apple media.
It does support any software in the app store, including educational apps.
No drivers are needed for the multi touch styluses, and there are already handwriting recognition apps in the app store (e.g. WritePad).
One area I where strongly agree with you is the need for a File Manager. If you plan on making many documents, it'll be much better to have a centralized file manager rather than having a unique list of documents for each app. Support for wireless file transfer will be good to. For now, Olive Toast's Files will have to do, but a proper integrated file manager would be much preferred [provided that it's not crippled in some way].
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing."The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run."There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
Member since:
2006-10-28
- A Dual Core 1 GHz ARM is about 2x faster than a 1.66 GHz atom
- It can't run OSX apps, but those aren't really meant to work well on netbooks either (netbooks have even lower res screen and are much slower). It is less capable, but netbooks don't really run "real" apps like photoshop or visual studio or heavy games well. The iPad can run apps for most things most people do better than any ($300-$1200) netbook (i.e. reading websites, with easy zoom and changing of orientation for the small screen, or going though tons of photos or emails with a multi touch screen instead of an unusable mini trackpad)
- It doesn't fit in your pocket, but its small enough to hold without feeling that you're lugging a laptop in your palm
- The device is a portable computer/media device, with a eBook feature. Would you want to watch videos or look at photos on a kindle screen?
- There are 'pens' for multitouch screens available if you like to write by hand, and handwriting apps will appear soon. Good touch screen keyboards are not bad as they may seem. The keys in the iPad are reasonable size (same size as netbook keyboards) and you can use the keyboard attachment if you want a full size keyboard. You will need an attachment if you want a full size keyboard on a netbook too.
Do Kindles excite you enough to make you even think about them? Over $250 for a single purpose book reader when even an iPod that costs less can do much more? The iPad isn't perfect but it's the most desirable tablet ever made so far.