Mobile phones & tablets thread

[Daniel]

Firstly Steve it should be called an iPod Touch jumbo because that's what it is and secondly Tablet PC's are crap unless you're using it as a replacement for a clipboard and how often do most people need clipboards?

[Jag_Warrior]

The analysts are saying that you can mark this as the day that Apple changed the E-reader market forever. First year sales are predicted to be about 3 million a year. I've been looking forward to this (like many people) for awhile. I was going to get an iPod Touch last year. But I decided to wait until after this thing came out. I'll definitely get one, but I'm going to wait for the second generation, so that the bugs will be mostly worked out. The only area of concern is its size and without a way to hold it better, seems like it would be easy to drop. Someone (or a whole bunch of someones) will probably make a case or holder for it.

Good job by Jobs and Apple on hyping this. I continue to be a happy AAPL shareholder. Next stop, $230/share (I hope).

[Daniel]

The analysts are saying that you can mark this as the day that Apple changed the E-reader market forever. First year sales are predicted to be about 3 million a year. I've been looking forward to this (like many people) for awhile. I was going to get an iPod Touch last year. But I decided to wait until after this thing came out. I'll definitely get one, but I'm going to wait for the second generation, so that the bugs will be mostly worked out. The only area of concern is its size and without a way to hold it better, seems like it would be easy to drop. Someone (or a whole bunch of someones) will probably make a case or holder for it.

Good job by Jobs and Apple on hyping this. I continue to be a happy AAPL shareholder. Next stop, $230/share (I hope).

Personally I see this as the first flop for Apple after a long string of successes. With the iPod it was such a fantastic replacement for early MP3 players and CD players, (misguided) people see the MacBooks and iMac's as great replacement for a PC, an iPhone is a great way to replace your phone and have a decent MP3 player etc etc

What does the iPad do that people want it to do? When did someone last say "you know what? I want a laptop that I can't write with accurately with quickly (it's got no keyboard of course and you can't use a stylus) and that I can't fold up and that I can't just plonk on a desk and use like a laptop. OH and what I REAAAAAALLY want is to pay for a data plan for my iPhone AND my iPad! That'd be so awesome!!!!"

See here for some impartial criticisms
http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Deliv...ticle17459.htm

[Jag_Warrior]

We'll have to see. One thing I've learned over the past 20 years or so is not to underestimate Apple, even when it produces something that's not a raging success. I think the Kindle goes for about $300 +/-. Even the entry level iPad (at $499) does everything the Kindle does, does it better and does a LOT more. It seems superior to a netbook. And you can get it with or without a data plan through AT&T. I don't know, but that's all from the Bloomberg report.

The iPod didn't take off in its first year but Apple built it into a monster. If I believed this was going to tank, maybe I'd short AAPL or at least get out. But shorting AAPL usually proves to be a good way to empty out your trading account.

You look at something like Apple TV. Now that hasn't done so well - and Jobs doesn't care. But Apple tends to learn from things that are seen as little more than hobbies to keep the engineers busy. So I figure what the iPad will be by 2011 or 2012 will be somewhat different than what it is now.

If I'm good this year, I expect Santa will bring me an iPad this Christmas.

[DexDexter]

Personally I see this as the first flop for Apple after a long string of successes. With the iPod it was such a fantastic replacement for early MP3 players and CD players, (misguided) people see the MacBooks and iMac's as great replacement for a PC, an iPhone is a great way to replace your phone and have a decent MP3 player etc etc

What does the iPad do that people want it to do? When did someone last say "you know what? I want a laptop that I can't write with accurately with quickly (it's got no keyboard of course and you can't use a stylus) and that I can't fold up and that I can't just plonk on a desk and use like a laptop. OH and what I REAAAAAALLY want is to pay for a data plan for my iPhone AND my iPad! That'd be so awesome!!!!"

See here for some impartial criticisms
http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Deliv...ticle17459.htm

I've never understood the hype behind Apple and its products. For me they offer nothing really new and everything is somehow restricted/controlled. For example it's year 2010 and you cannot even add memory to the iPhone and I'm sure the iPad has some sort of restrictions as well. Maybe they are nice for many people, but for a tech-freak like me they do nothing.

[Daniel]

We'll have to see. One thing I've learned over the past 20 years or so is not to underestimate Apple, even when it produces something that's not a raging success. I think the Kindle goes for about $300 +/-. Even the entry level iPad (at $499) does everything the Kindle does, does it better and does a LOT more. It seems superior to a netbook. And you can get it with or without a data plan through AT&T. I don't know, but that's all from the Bloomberg report.

On a netbook you can

A) Use flash
B) Type as fast as your fingers can manage
C) Put it on a table and adjust it to a perfect angle and type with both hands

It's not a kindle competitor either because it's not got an "e-ink" screen so it's not as comfotable to read as a Kindle or one of the Sony readers. The whole point of a reader is to give the experience of reading a book, the iPad won't do that.

Read some of the comments on that page, they summarise the failings of the iPad pretty well.

[Daniel]

I've never understood the hype behind Apple and its products. For me they offer nothing really new and everything is somehow restricted/controlled. For example it's year 2010 and you cannot even add memory to the iPhone and I'm sure the iPad has some sort of restrictions as well. Maybe they are nice for many people, but for a tech-freak like me they do nothing.

Amen to that

I had an iPod G3 and to be fair when I got it it was great even if iTunes was a collosal turd of a thing to use. The rest of the Apple products however I don't get at all.

The people who generally buy Apple stuff are usually not the most educated of people and seem to think that Apple invented a lot of technology when all they did was repackage it.

[Dave B]

So it's like an e-reader without the battery life or like a laptop without the flexibility? Only it costs slightly more than either or indeed both? Hmm, where do I collect my black polo neck?

[Daniel]

So it's like an e-reader without the battery life or like a laptop without the flexibility? Only it costs slightly more than either or indeed both? Hmm, where do I collect my black polo neck?

To quote a Mapple store employee...... “Who dares question the boss we fired 10 years ago and then brought back!”

[Mark in Oshawa]

A lot of people have underestimated Steve Jobs and his ideas Daniel, but on this one, I think you are right.