iPad definitely a threat to Windows

I agree with what you're saying, and I think as time goes on, more people will migrate to other OS's. Just to ask your opinion, do you think the HP slate will help? or the windows 7 phone?

The HP Slate has been cancelled, and they are instead working on WebOS based tablets at HP...

As for the content of the article... I certainly hope that it isn't the iPad that becomes the dominant platform. They're the farthest thing from developer and consumer friendly over there. The PalmOS, and Windows platforms both embraced third party apps doing things better than built in apps, encouraged innovation and improvement of the UI. Apple is so arrogant that they think people couldn't possibly improve their perfect system. I'm looking forward to Android, Ubuntu, and WebOS tablets...

I was always wondering why Frogboy would always complement GPG on things, never raising complaints when updates were buggy as hell.

But now I understand, Frogboy is to nice and is critical of nothing.

iPad is for people with more money then thought processes.

This article is just...Oh the Mac user mentality!

I know this sounds like a troll piece, but the truth is Steve Jobs could release an overpriced hair drier that looks oh so smooth and people would que up and eat that stuff up.

Enjoy your pay for everything, no 3rd party apps, itunes crap, oversized iphone in order to view emails and no flash machine that can't have memory expanded hipster machine. Have fun multitasking too, maybe you can take a picture on your 4:3 ascept ratio machine and send it to me, oh wait, it can't multitask or take pic-....Never mind, sorry.

It's not just iPad that he's talking about, but the whole instant on/micropayment/fast user experience thing that all of the modern tablet OSes will probably have. It's a powerful idea for a portable unit. One many devices have had before, but the iPad was the first out the door to combine these 3 traits with the utility of a larger screen and fully capable web browser. 

That is definitely a plus. Wanting to just check something is a pain when you have to wait for the PC to turn on or come back from hibernation. Throw in the time it takes to open Internet Explorer or Firefox and before you know it you are late if you were on you way out the door at the time.

As above, having to wait for apps to start can be boring considering the power PCs have these days when you just want to look at the Internet or check a date on your calendar software or even check email.

While freeware is good, having to install and then wait for it to start up does defeat the purpose when you want something fast. But free does not always mean better than paid. $2 programs that do exactly what you want sounds like a great deal and a great way to maintain our economy.

That is definitely a plus. Wanting to just check something is a pain when you have to wait for the PC to turn on or come back from hibernation. Throw in the time it takes to open Internet Explorer or Firefox and before you know it you are late if you were on you way out the door at the time.

As above, having to wait for apps to start can be boring considering the power PCs have these days when you just want to look at the Internet or check a date on your calendar software or even check email.

While freeware is good, having to install and then wait for it to start up does defeat the purpose when you want something fast. But free does not always mean better than paid. $2 programs that do exactly what you want sounds like a great deal and a great way to maintain our economy.

Most of the apps on my iPad are free, and from 3rd parties....

You should try reading the article.

My bad about the 3rd party app thing, although I feel like it is a matter of time before apple breaks down on that. However I still stand by my other points. I was just thinking about apple in general rather then just the iPad.

Nice trolling Koush...

"iPad is for people with more money then thought processes."

Obviously you need more money

Anyways my thoughts on the ipad and No im not a Macshole.....  The worst thing about owning an ipad is taking it in public where other people see me with an apple product and presume i'm a stuck up jerk-off (a fair assumption).  The worst thing about purchasing the ipad was having the douchey apple dick give me his look of shock when i told him i didn't know what "Mobile Me" is and that i don't own a Mac Console.  The way i saw it, i was infiltrating enemy territory to steal their tech. 

So obviously I own an ipad and unfortunately i love it.  I picked mine up about 3 weeks ago as well.  The day after the slate got canceled.  I would've preferred to have a slate due to:  codec compatibility (mkv, xvid), webcam for skype (for my kids and their grandparents), upgradeable storage and windows OS.  But alas the slate is no more.  I thought about waiting for an android tablet but decided to go for the ipad anyway.

Please note that I also have a Motorola Droid, ipod touch and my wife has an iphone through work so i am intimately familiar with these devices. 

The main reason i wanted one was simply movie watching.  I get tired of watching my kids shows and love the portability of PMP devices.  They also help pacify my toddlers at dinner and wherever else kids get antsy.  Originally i would watch movies on my PSP.  Downgraded screen size to increase portability with an ipod touch (jailbroken of course).  Replaced my touch with the Droid phone which offered increased screen size and resolution, which relegated my ipod to music. No i didn't get the 3g.  I can root my phone to make it a wifi hotspot or just wait for android 2.2 which is being released to developers this week (and hopefully to consumers sometime this summer)

Now i had always thought to myself that if a larger PMP came out i would be very interested in it.  I looked at the archos players but they weren't all that great.  So then i was faced with the decision, wait for another player or just grab an ipad now. 

Now i love my droid, but the interface isn't as polished as apples.   I love customization though so i prefer the droid over the iphone.  I've also replaced my droid once since it was released due to it crashing without recovering.

The android marketplace sucks in comparison to the appstore though.  (not the apps, just the store itself)

Anyways check out this article, it's basically saying that apple's strength is the 'appstore'. (and I agree)

http://pcper.com/article.php?aid=917

First jailbreak available:  July 8, 2007.
First 3rd Party Game:  August 2007
(hundreds of FREE apps available in Dec of 07.)

Appstore opening July 10th 2008.  

Just based on those dates it is a very reasonable conclusion that Apple did not intend to run third party apps on the iphone during it's development.  The appstore is therefore a direct result of the hacking community's jailbreaking of iphones with the desire to run 3rd party apps. 

So my point here is that I bought the ipad due to its evolutionary increase in screen size, resolution & storage capacity. It is truly a nice piece of hardware, but not without some SIGNIFICANT faults. If Stev-o added a webcam, additional storage options, and replaced the shitass connectivty options then these faults would be alleviated. The device supports up to 720p video files, but NOOOooo you can't port that out to a TV without the resolution being downgraded *at this time. Seriously? i mean SERIOUSLY?  FFS Steve-Jo....

SO what changed my mind from thinking that the ipad was just another step in evolution to being a truly revolutionary product. Here is a list of reasons:
1. Korg & looptastic 
2. Ice Hockey
3. Mixr
4. Plants versus Zombies

1. korg, a well respected electronic music device manufacturer has released an app that is basically one of their high priced synthesizers for $10. This frontier is absolutely amazing. There are already a number of synthesizer applications on the ipad market that are typically high priced hardware proprietary. This gets these expensive hobbies into everyones hands. I followed a product called tenori-on for quite some time but just didn't want to swallow the $1k+ price tag. Looptastic is the way electronic music should be done live... Now i have a multitude of choices and can spend a lot less money to get better results. No im not a music producer but this sure seems fun.

2. Ice hockey and other basic 2 player games. It's a wonderful thing to break out the ipad and play some basic yet fun games with my kids, wife, coworkers etc. Reminds me of being at the ole arcade playing on those 8 bit cocktail table machines.

3. Mixr, portable DJ Mixr, i'm not a DJ - yet.

4. Plants versus Zombies, the large screen allows us to be able to play this popular game. My 3 year old son loves this one.

And yes, this device has such a wonderful interface that my 3 year old can navigate it.

If i want to run the free cydia apps, i can just jailbreak it.  I'll wait until i have a good reason to do that.

  Im looking forward to the release of the android tablet.  I may get one of those as well.  (then my wife can have the ipad)

I still remember WEB-TV.

I can't keep up.

I still have my Windows7 upgrade discs for my PC and have been afraid to install them.

I see everything going the way of Apple. Not to sound naive, but it seems to me that Windows needs to reinvent itself if it wants to keep up. One of the things I feel that really helps to keep Windows going strong in the market place at all is affordability.  Even families with no money can get refurbished PC's for free through certain programs. I don't see free MACS anywhere or even ones that can compete with say a COMPAQ for 299.00.

And to be honest...the recent talk about keeping Apple porn free is kind of refreshing to hear, though hardly possible.

I'm sorry, but are you talking about a decline in Windows based mobile devices, or the end of the desktop environment?

The device is technically excellent. And is much more usable than other gadgets by clients with low technical knowledge. Which means a huge yet to be exploited market. The potential for success is enormous.

Apple's closed enviroment is actually good for many uses. It's quite useful for people without the knowledge or time to choose the application best suited for them among thousands of uncontrolled offers which might contain trojans or other nasties. Rather than choose yourself let Apple review applications and choose a preselection for you.

But that is not reason enough for their monopolistic and likely illegal ways. If I were to buy an iPad I'd want it to be MY iPad. With the option to turn off an hypotetical "Apple switch" so I am able to install or modify anything without going through Apple's store. I'd recommend most people to never turn off the "Apple switch" though.

I just hope the competition steps up and makes as good an offer without the mandatory closed environment.

I had one of those. My first taste of yahoo chatroom-like communication. I even got the wireless keyboard to go with it. Great device at the time.

3rd party apps are what drives the iPhone and iPad, they are a huge part of it and Apple isn't eliminating them.

It will have its nitch, and Dell/HP will come out with Windows version 9and windows will catch up), but it is not a full blown PC killer.  It has some nice advantages, but one thing it lacks is the all in one.  Even Laptops come with enough USB ports to be nice, but still no replacement for a desktop when it comes to having it all without having to swap cords or hunt for devices.

Instant on?  HP laptop in Hibernation (boot up less than 1 minute).  Speed?  latest CPU with 8gb of RAM, excellent! App store?  That is what the GNU license and Freeware is all about (pay for stuff you want to have support on).

It will take its share of the mobile market, but I do not think the laptop market has to worry yet.  Desktops still have a place as well (I use mine as the central file server and backup for the laptops).

I have lots of little apps on my iTouch.

It is convenient because I could not see them being practical on a laptop. My touch is so small that it's kind of like a primitive tricorder when you custom load it with the practical and productive stuff you need for work.

I do want an iPad to replace my iTouch's role, mainly for the bigger screen and books, so I can pull up technical data on demand.

So... Development at a desk with a Windows PC, maintenance in the field with iTouch/iPad.

Work on PC, consume content on iTouch. Yep, nail on the head.

I think Microsoft is still stuck on 100% (or nearly 100%) backwards compatibility.  I almost think they should have 2 versions of consumer windows: the version we all know, and another version unbound by backwards compatibility.  It would risk becoming the OS equivalent of Itanium, but may be worth the risk.  Right now the Linuxes and Androids of the world risk dominating the non-traditional PC landscape...which is where the real money is longer term.

I agree it's good for some of the cases you talk about: consuming data for 30 seconds. Longer periods, or consuming and producing data (reading and answering emails or things like that) and the thing becomes a pain. Also, it clashes with most modern smartphones which are pretty good too for consuming data for a short time (but they have a much better mobility).

I'm curious if following your argument, the ones that should be really worried are Macs and not PCs...

They are the whole reason behind the 3.3.1 iPhone OS license chance... Apple knows it's the most important thing to beat Android and WP7, and they want to keep that advantage if they can.

Agreed. 

I would Love to see more of the Windows indie games developed for the ipad.  ie. World of Goo, Monkey Island etc. 

I won't sit at my computer and play those games (why bother when i have AAA titles, demigod etc)  but on this and other highly mobile platforms they become a lot of fun. 

I can see every one of your points, Frogboy. My wife has a netbook for checking email and web but the damn thing does everything you mentioned. Slow to boot, force feeding updates on every app (java, adobe, windows) when all you want to do is check something quick. It's far easier and quicker to use a Blackberry, iPhone, or even an iPod touch with wireless. I just bought an iPod touch for one of my kids and that thing is SLICK!

At home I'm tech support for all the PCs. If I die my wife has vowed to bury all the PCs with me. I'm tired of it too. If easier solutions keep getting developed I may jump ship too. An app store may even make up for gaming on a PC too.

I'm definitely keeping an eye on these instant on devices.

Yea, Adobe is one of the biggest offenders in making the Windows experience crummy. 

Even on my machine right now as I type this:

It's a zillion little things like this that slow down the Windows experience.  If I just want to quickly check the weather for this weekend on my laptop, I'm going to lose a couple minutes waiting to get it up and going (assuming it reconnects to my WiFi without having to mess with something).  By contrast the iPad (and presumably any of these light-OSs like Android and WebOS) I'd just pop it up in seconds.

Reminds me of AmigaOS 

Sometimes small is good