three things make a post?

[pellucid]

1. In case anyone was in doubt, I think we can fairly safely assume there are no women in Apple's marketing department. The iPad?!?!?!?!? Really, boys? Jezebel is collecting iPad jokesThe idiocy of the name aside, I'm mostly interested to see what this might do to the e-book market. Otherwise, however, Apple's ridiculously proprietary attitude

Comments

[abyssinia4077]

Eh, I have sipped deep of the Apple Kool-aid and the iPad? Not impressing me. It doesn't look like it does anything my iPod Touch can't do, and while I love my Touch, if I'm going to pay more money for something less easy to carry around, I want it to have more functionality, damnit.

I want to be excited, but it's just a glorified iPod Touch + drawing tablet, near as I can tell. They claim they wanted something with *more* functionality than a netbook, but I'm not seeing it.

Though I admit I hadn't considered the name thing. *cracks up* *waits for someone to make an app for that*

[pellucid]

I think its market is as an e-book reader that also gives you the perks of an iPod Touch (minus the easy-to-carry-around part). Potentially, it's the Kindle but much better, and what it has on the iPod Touch is a screen you can actually read from.

Still, there are loads of potential kinks to be worked out before it functions effectively as an e-book reader, and I'm not sure there's enough else that it does potentially all that better than anything else for it to be quite worth it. It's just a little too expensive and a little too un-functional (only a 16 GB hard drive on the basic model?!?!?!? that's no more than my Nano!) for my tastes.

[abyssinia4077]

Except I can (and do) use my Touch for reading things. Yeah, the screen is a bit smaller than ideal, but it's still very doable. And the reason I got the Touch is it's small enough to be easily transportable. The iPad doesn't appear to be significantly smaller than my laptop, and its battery life is only a few hours longer, so I'd rather, if I'm carrying something that big, carry my way-more-functional laptop.

And as readers go, assuming it has a screen like the Touch, it's not going to be as good a reader as things like the Kindle anyway.

Yeah, especially with the harddrive sizes, it really does just look like a bigger iPod Touch to me and I really do LOVE my Touch but one of the things I love best is that it's so small.

[topaz_eyes]

"Are you there, God? It's me, Marketing" = WIN. (I suppose the Apple marketers may just be saying this, too.)

[pellucid]

HEE!!! Oh, I didn't notice that one!

[holdouttrout]

I totally agree about the iPad. Terrible name, and WHY is it so impressive? I think the idea of a tablet PC is really sweet, actually, but I'd want it to be, you know, a COMPUTER, and not a glorified iTouch.

[pellucid]

Yes, this! A tablet PC is potentially pretty cool, but in my ideal world, it would combine the ease and portability of an iPod Touch, the easy-on-the-eyes reading screen of a Kindle (preferably have some sort of capability to switch between a regular screen and eInk, as Chaila suggests below), and the functionality of a netbook. Otherwise, well, I think I'd rather have an iTouch, a Kindle, and a netbook!

[oldgreystone]

I have one First Aid Kit album that was released last October (was actually just listening to it while doing dishes) and while checking that it was still on Cdn iTunes noticed a new one came out today! Yay!

[pellucid]

Ooooh, really?! I'd been keeping tabs on their myspace page from time to time and could only find links from there to European distributors for the new one. It didn't even occur to me to check iTunes! Granted, I do tend not to buy from iTunes as much as possible, because of all the proprietary nonsense, but I think in this case that will most likely be the easiest way to go.

[gabolange]

I do so enjoy the "MaxiPod."

And . . . color me underwhelmed. I mean, I think it's going to do interesting things to the ebooks market, and the software and purchasing ability for the tablet thingy do look interesting . . . but I kind of just want an ereader that is just an ereader. Kindle, here I come?

[pellucid]

In the sense of saying "Mac's iPad" three times fast

[gabolange]

I have basically decided that since I have to spend an insane amount of time airborne in the next couple of months, and I don't really need to cart a library with me to China, I'm getting myself a Kindle and chalking it up to trip expense. I had sort of hoped to do what you are thinking--wait and see where the technology comes down--but in terms of sheer convenience at this particular moment, I figure I'll get a Kindle now, and then when the industry reorients itself in a few years, I can either replace it or not. Or something!

[pellucid]

Oh wow, I didn't realize you'd made that decision! I can't wait to play with yours when you get it and I see you, then! ;) Because I am, as you know, quite fascinated, but I will not be investing any time soon, myself.