and I say that - full disclosure - as a Mac user and shareholder since 87.
Yes, there's limits to what it can do, no camera so no video skype, the ATT contract is month to month which is great, depending on the terms of the contract, but ATT can't handle iPhone traffic in large metro areas, I can't see how ATT will take on this additional demand for bandwidth. I never have wanted an iPhone because of the contract costs combined with how little I use a cell phone except while traveling made the iPhone a gadget I didn't see much benefit in for me personally. The month-to-month contract option might be attractive, and the chance to use SIMS on the 3G models is intriguing, I will be searching for more details on all Mac sites for weeks, I'm sure.
I will have to wait for the international issues to get cleared up, that's important for me. I'm betting that Boingo will figure out a way to offer trans-national wireless service of some sort that won't be as ruinous as ATT's international data plans.
I like the dock and the screen cover, both look elegant and lightweight.
Considering its use as an e-reader, it does have the Kindle beat hands down. For years I've wanted some sort of e-reader that had a color display for birding books, tourist guides and the like. I have some good apps on my iPod touch, such as bird guides which really need to be in color to be useful in the field. Plus the pocket-sized iPod Touch fits in pocket or purse, although battery life on the Touch is problematical.
My laptop enables me to do a lot of different things on the road that aren't going to be covered by the iPad. So I see this an adjunct gadget, not a replacement for a laptop. (I really want a new laptop, the Powerbook is 5.5 yrs old now. But I've been waiting as new models appeared over the last year or so, and nothing new has really fit my specs, I'd like a lighter weight 15", with firewire ports, so that strikes out the Mac Air, and leaves me looking at the Mac Book Pro which still weighs over 5lbs). At 1.5 pounds, I could carry a whole library of big fat fantasy books around with me everywhere, and that would save a lot of room in my carry-on. Perhaps publishers would offer a digital copy along with a hardcover purchase free or for a few dollars more - maybe that would increase the desirability of buying books rather than pirating books on the web.
I think it's going to be a hit, but its full impact won't be seen for at least a year or two. Much like the original iPod. It sure does look gorgeous, and from what Leo LaPorte was saying, it sounds like it feels good in the hand, and is very very fast.
Yeah, I want one, and come this summer, I just might buy one after the first few hundred thousand have gotten into the hands of end users and we learn more about specs, features, options. Do you think that the recent push by some publishers to claim e-rights to titles that were contracted long before there was a internet was in part motivated by the holiday sales of the Kindle and their e-book titles and their knowledge that Apple was about to unveil the iPad?
Someday we'll be at the same convention in a town with and Apple store, and we'll have to go and geek out together.
it's pretty damn good
Yes, there's limits to what it can do, no camera so no video skype, the ATT contract is month to month which is great, depending on the terms of the contract, but ATT can't handle iPhone traffic in large metro areas, I can't see how ATT will take on this additional demand for bandwidth. I never have wanted an iPhone because of the contract costs combined with how little I use a cell phone except while traveling made the iPhone a gadget I didn't see much benefit in for me personally. The month-to-month contract option might be attractive, and the chance to use SIMS on the 3G models is intriguing, I will be searching for more details on all Mac sites for weeks, I'm sure.
I will have to wait for the international issues to get cleared up, that's important for me. I'm betting that Boingo will figure out a way to offer trans-national wireless service of some sort that won't be as ruinous as ATT's international data plans.
I like the dock and the screen cover, both look elegant and lightweight.
Considering its use as an e-reader, it does have the Kindle beat hands down. For years I've wanted some sort of e-reader that had a color display for birding books, tourist guides and the like. I have some good apps on my iPod touch, such as bird guides which really need to be in color to be useful in the field. Plus the pocket-sized iPod Touch fits in pocket or purse, although battery life on the Touch is problematical.
My laptop enables me to do a lot of different things on the road that aren't going to be covered by the iPad. So I see this an adjunct gadget, not a replacement for a laptop. (I really want a new laptop, the Powerbook is 5.5 yrs old now. But I've been waiting as new models appeared over the last year or so, and nothing new has really fit my specs, I'd like a lighter weight 15", with firewire ports, so that strikes out the Mac Air, and leaves me looking at the Mac Book Pro which still weighs over 5lbs). At 1.5 pounds, I could carry a whole library of big fat fantasy books around with me everywhere, and that would save a lot of room in my carry-on. Perhaps publishers would offer a digital copy along with a hardcover purchase free or for a few dollars more - maybe that would increase the desirability of buying books rather than pirating books on the web.
I think it's going to be a hit, but its full impact won't be seen for at least a year or two. Much like the original iPod. It sure does look gorgeous, and from what Leo LaPorte was saying, it sounds like it feels good in the hand, and is very very fast.
Yeah, I want one, and come this summer, I just might buy one after the first few hundred thousand have gotten into the hands of end users and we learn more about specs, features, options. Do you think that the recent push by some publishers to claim e-rights to titles that were contracted long before there was a internet was in part motivated by the holiday sales of the Kindle and their e-book titles and their knowledge that Apple was about to unveil the iPad?
Someday we'll be at the same convention in a town with and Apple store, and we'll have to go and geek out together.