Comments | neadods: Stop Telling Me What I Want Is Stupid

neadods

Stop Telling Me What I Want Is Stupid

Aug 25, 2010 19:21

It doesn't even exist yet, and I'm already pissed off at the number of guys who are blowing off the notion of a 7" iPad as stupid. And they're all guys so far, because it takes someone who doesn't carry a purse to bitch that something that's roughly 7 x 5 inches "is too big because it can't fit in a pocket." (As opposed to the current iPad, which ( Read more... )

rant

Comments 26

raqs August 26 2010, 04:50:58 UTC

I'd buy that form factor too.

(have not yet finished my nerd barbie icon)

swallowedbysky August 26 2010, 04:53:38 UTC

As someone with a reputation for being a Mac/Apple fangirl, I've shocked more people than I can count by saying that I don't have, nor do I want, an iPad.

Sure, if things were different, I might want one. If I didn't have a MacBook Air, I'd want an iPad. If I didn't have an iPhone, I'd want an iPad. If staring at a backlit screen while reading for extended periods didn't hurt my eyes, I'd want an iPad. If it was the same weight as a Kindle or a Nook, I'd want an iPad. If it ran OSX, I'd want an iPad. If OmniGroup would get off their butts and release OmniOutliner for iPad, I'd want an iPad. Etc., etc., etc.

It never once occurred to me to think that if it had a 7" screen, I might want one, but as I think about it? If the iPad stayed exactly the same as it is now but had a 7" screen, I'd want a freaking iPad. (Though, with my current needs, a Kindle's still a more practical choice for me.)

neadods August 26 2010, 10:49:08 UTC

I don't *really* want an iPad, and was quite dismissive about Kevin's at first... Until the touch was so useful. But yeah, at 7 inches? I'd leave skidmarks on the way to the Apple store.

(And another temptation is that buying books through iBook may be more expensive than Kindle, but it's a platform that allows you to share across all the tech connected to your iTunes account. So the book I buy and read on the Touch should be transferrable to a future pad, should it exist. I don't know if you can do that with Kindles.)

benbenberi August 26 2010, 15:01:30 UTC

There's also a Kindle app for iPad, so you can still buy books from Amazon and read them on the iPad.

As a reading device for text, I still prefer Kindle (or pretty much any e-ink device) over the iPad, esp. for the ability to read it in sunlight.

But the main reason I don't want an iPad now is that it's just so big and heavy -- I know it would give me wrist strain if I had to hold it at a usable angle for more than a few minutes, and having to prop it up on something kind of defeats the purpose of ultra-portability. If it came in a 7" size, I'd be a lot more interested.

fyrdrakken August 26 2010, 21:35:05 UTC

The Kindle apps I have installed on my Blackberry and netbook allow me to pull up any book I've purchased through Amazon as an "archived" item and download it to both platforms. I think there's a limit to how many devices I can have registered on my Amazon account (though I also think it allows you to un-register an old device you're replacing), and I make a special point of downloading them all to my netbook to keep because I don't want to trust entirely in Amazon to make them all just as available for insta-downloading three or five years from now as they are today. Also, if I buy a Kindle book not through Amazon (e.g., I've most recently being doing some buying directly from Baen Books) I'm going to have to either seek out a download link via my webbrowser or physically copy the file over ( ... )

Thread 6

shawan_7 August 26 2010, 13:41:24 UTC

By the way, I do agree with you. I would love a 7" iPad.

When I bought my MacBook Pro I specifically go the smaller one because I have small hands. People snickered. That's their problems -- it's my computer.

brewsternorth August 26 2010, 15:02:23 UTC

Heh, my Asus Eee PC has a keyboard that's 85% the size of a regular one. Most users justly kvetched, and I think subsequent models scaled the keyboard up a bit, but my skinny fingers *are* about 85% the size of regular ones, so I can type away!

neadods August 26 2010, 16:33:51 UTC

People snickered

I really don't get the size thing. Bigger only equals better if you've got wide shoulders (to carry it) and big hands.

OTOH, too small can be an issue too; I sold the EEE PC and I'm bitching about the Touch.

People come in ranges; computers should too.

brewsternorth August 26 2010, 15:00:45 UTC

*facepalm* I have no idea.

My Eee PC was touted for its portability when it first came out, and it has almost exactly the same heft (weight as well as dimensions) as a 6x9 hardback book of medium size, and I like it like that.

5x7 sounds like a good intermediate tradeoff between the iPhone and current tablet technology (thinking of the Kindle and its sequelae as well as the iPad). Were ansibles to exist, I imagine they'd be that size or thereabouts.

neadods August 26 2010, 16:35:45 UTC

I was thrilled that my Eee PC fit in my purse, but soon the keyboard wore on me - I sold it to someone with small fingers and a need for a good starter computer.

If someone at Apple has sense - and they usually do - they've noticed that the Kindle is smaller than the pad. If they want to kill the Kindle, they're going to have to go after its portability as well as its function.