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Old 07-25-2010, 05:04 AM   #1
Waynem
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iPad

(for Phil - actually Cathy)

I picked up an iPad for Earlene as a Mother's day gift. Last year it was the Kindle after she had seen Cathy's. Earlene is an avid reader so the kindle has saved me a few pennies in hardbacks. So with the savings I got her the iPad.

She is enthralled with it. My brother keeps sending me text messages from his iPad to Earlene's expecting me to answer. I have to call him on the phone to answer his question because I cannot wrench it out of Earlene's hand.

I saw last evening that they now have a CoPilot app for it. The Apps keep growing and growing, with many of them free, or 99 cents. Some can be up there around $20 but hey, only if you need it.

Cathy, there is even a Kindle App so you can just take one piece of electronic along with you for those bored times with Phil.

I'm looking forward to using Wikihood App the next time we go out. It will pin point your location and then tell you all the interesting things to see and do in that area.

Anyone else using iPad, and what for?
 
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Old 07-25-2010, 05:27 AM   #2
CasaDelSol
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oooh oooh....I want one!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 07-25-2010, 08:31 AM   #3
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Gee Wayne< I thought an Eye Pad was a piece of gauze they put under an eye patch after you scratched your cornea, learn something new everyday!!!! Dave
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Old 07-25-2010, 11:10 AM   #4
Waynem
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If you have iTunes, you can go to the Apple Store and click on Apps to see what they have. There is quite a growing list. Just about anything you can think of is there, or being developed for the iPad. If you can think of it, they can build it.

Joanie, go for it. You will not regret it.

Earlene sits there and gets her email, and does a lot of other things with it. When we are traveling down the road she even brings it out to prove her point (solve and argument).
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Old 07-25-2010, 02:25 PM   #5
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I'm glad Earlene is getting good use from her iPad, but it may not be a good purchase for too many others without a lot of investigation into what they will do with it, as indicated in this posting from a Director of the Digital Society:

What Is The iPad? The Fundamental Problem
By Turk on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 6:02 pm
To me, the ultimate and unresolved questions are “What is the iPad?” and “What does it offer that is substantially better or different from its likely competitors?”

At dinner Tuesday night, I was discussing those points with a bunch of guys I consider to be very bright technologsts. One of the guys at the table argued the iPad isn’t meant to replace a laptop for business use, it is meant as a consumer device – a user friendly extension of yourself, I suppose. I agreed, explaining that the iPad is useless as a mobile office solution because it is limited in applications to what is web based, or what is available at the app store.

I like using Office, I really don’t like OpenOffice/GoogleDocs. I’ve tried them and found them incredibly wanting. Say what you will about Microsoft, they make a hell of an office product. (Don’t get me started on how inferior Entourage is to Outlook, though. That’s another post in itself.)

But here’s the problem, as I explained to them. The iPad isn’t really a good platform for personal use either.

What do you use a personal device for?

A personal device, especially one expected to become the standard for such devices, needs to have a lot of capability for personal media.

The iPad is clearly based on the assumption that everything is in the cloud. That’s not the case for most users, though. Most users still install applications, download mp3s, play DVDs, etc. With only 16GB on the low end device, the amount of space available for any of that media is minimal. Even at 64GB, the iPad is seriously underpowered for storage compared to a 160GB to 250GB netbook – especially at two or three times the price.

Assuming you want to get everything online, you still have the problem of actually achieving that. Since the iPad doesn’t do Flash, you’re going to have problems with a staggering number of websites, especially if they use it for video delivery. Flash is installed on the overwhelming majority of computers. There is rampant talk of HTML5 replacing it, and many big names are looking at implementations to replace Flash, but there are significant hurdles.

George Ou at Digital Society (of which I am a Director), looked at YouTube’s implementation of HTML5 and found it lacking. In addition, you have the issue of battling codecs that has made adoption by browsers inconsistent.

Assuming the iPad only allows Safari, and since Apple has significant concerns with the lack of patents on the Ogg Theora codec, it’s possible that some site video won’t work even with HTML5.

Absent a reliable streaming solution, and without enough storage space to handle stored media, the iPad falls short on the media front.

What is the iPad’s Value Proposition?

The other problem with the iPad is the fact that it is unlikely to function well as a standalone product. The lack of any type of drive prevents the direct install of applications and requires the iPad be connected to something else. So now you have to shell out the $500 to $700 for the iPad, and you still have to have the $300 netbook, or the $1,000 laptop to connect it to. The iPad was billed by Jobs as an intermediary device with the best features of a smartphone and a laptop. However, since it is far too large to hold up to your ear, and way to underpowered to replace the laptop, you have left neither of those behind, and instead spent $600 for a device that does little the other two don’t.

If you will still need a laptop/computer as well as a phone, there is a serious question as to what the iPad gives you that makes it a unique value.

When the iPod came along, most people were still listening to CDs. The value of the iPod was in a) the storage capacity to keep larger amounts of content with you at any time, b) a menu system that made accessing that content quick and easy. While other mp3 players were in the market, the iPod made digital music easily accessible. The best mp3 available offered significantly less as a value proposition.

Similarly, the iPhone put more power in the phone. The Blackberry was the smartest widely-deployed smartphone available at the time of the iPhone’s release. Yet the iPhone rose quickly to dominance because it gave you more power, more capability, and more storage at a similar price point, and in an easier to use package.

The iPad Has None Of That

A few years ago I helped organize an event at which Marc Andreessen spoke. He had requested a white board for an audience participation event. With almost 800 people in the room, that just wasn’t reasonable. So I arranged with a Dell sales rep the use of their first tablet. We connected it to a projector, and turned Andreessen loose.

Midway through his remarks, he started talking about convergence, and the tendency to take things that work perfectly well on their own, and jam them together. He commented that his first cellphone was a brick – big, bulky, heavy. But he had just gotten to a very small, very lightweight phone, and now here come smartphones to make us carry the brick again.

Then he held up the tablet and said, “A paper tablet is cheap, you can get it wet, you can use it in broad daylight… this thing has none of that!”

And that’s the problem with the iPad. It’s not robust enough to be either a business device or a consumer device. It relies on Apple’s closed architecture, has far too little capacity, and limits your ability to consume the media you want as you choose. Further, it has far greater limitations than a netbook, but at a substantially higher price point.

A netbook has similar battery life, but also allows you to add your own software. A netbook has a larger hard drive, and doesn’t require another more expensive computer to run. A netbook costs half, but does twice, as much. Are they perfect, no. Will they get much better over time, yes. But I would still pit even the worst one against the iPad.

The iPad simply doesn’t offer any value compared to what else is on the market. Cheaper, but more powerful netbooks, or slightly more expensive, but far more capable Macbooks offer much more. Even the iPod Touch and iPhone give you most of the same functionality, but with a smaller screen at half the price. There is simply nothing that differentiates this product. And that’s the fundamental problem with the iPad.

I hope this is helpful.
Larry
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Old 07-25-2010, 05:39 PM   #6
Waynem
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Gee Larry, it's all negative. Do you have anything good to say about it?

You are absolutely correct in your diagnosis, but there are those of us out there, my wife being one of them, that is absolutely satisfied with the way the iPad works. Yes, I have a laptop, I have an iMac, I have a desktop. I was smart enough not to pay for an iPhone. Did I miss something there.

We don't use it as an office device, so there is no need to download software that would perform as an office device. I did download the "GoodReader" App for it. That worked great. I was wondering how to get all of my wife's email address into the iPad since I was not home when I purchased it and I could not Sync it to her email client. No problem. Exported her email to a CSV file, sent it in an email, and opened it with GoodReader. Once opened, just click on a name and it popped up a dialog asking if it should be added to the address book.

As you stated, it is not designed as an "office work platform." It has shortcoming, but so doesn't my iMac, Laptop, Desktop, cell phone, and many other electronic gadgets that we have. You can make some of the people happy some of the time, but you can't make all the people happy all the time, as the saying goes.

Yes, MS Office is a very well developed program, and if you want it on your laptop or mac, expect to pay upwards of $350. If you are in an office environment that requires a lot of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, then MS Office is definitely the way to go. However, I use Open Office, along with Thunderbird on the laptop as an email client, and have absolutely no problems with any of the Open Office programs, and it's free. That's why I could afford the iPad. And Open Office will open all MS Office files. Did I mention it's free.

Outlook for the iMac doesn't exist so I use Eudora. I've gotten used to it, and since I'm not an "enterprise," it has satisfied my needs, sending and receiving email. Mac Mail is in itself a very good client and I just might transition over to it for easier synchronization to the iPad. (It does sync to Entourage)

So for all the "bads" in a program there are a lot of "goods" in that same program. Each person needs to do their research to find what is an acceptable "gadget" for themselves.

For us, the iPad has satisfied a small portion of "our" world.

Edited: If you are thinking of purchasing an iPad, do your own research. A search on the words "ipad pros and cons" will get you some interesting reading.

Again - we enjoy it.
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Old 07-25-2010, 06:38 PM   #7
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I resisted geting an iPad waiting for HP to come out with the Slate. Broke down and bought iPad. Love the thing. I did not go 3g as wireless is working fine for me.
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Old 08-02-2010, 03:42 PM   #8
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I have had mine for a couple of months. Yes, I use it in conjunction with my laptop. There are a lot of great apps on mine for RVing. It is especially great with my mifi.
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Old 08-02-2010, 05:10 PM   #9
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Ron & Terrie,
Did you get the RV Companion? I think it's only a buck or two. Neat APP. Especially the "Other" that give you a bi-plane level and tells you how many inches you need to raise any side or front/rear.
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Old 08-02-2010, 05:57 PM   #10
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Yes, it was free. Open the door and check level both directions. I am using it for books on flights (using the Kindle app), love Sky Walk, and the music, movies and general apps are handy. I use a program called e-wallet by ilium software to store passwords, credit info, etc. The instant on feature, lack of heat and thin size make it great on an airplane (where I find myself more than I care). It isn't for everyone, but it's how I do email, web browsing, and the MOC. My last trip, the clock in the room was 20 min slow. Now I use my Ipad as a clock/alarm. It's also my portable photo album. Most of the apps were free. Sky Walk was the most expensive at $4.99. I also synch work and home laptop with my cell phone. Then I synch my iPad. So, it also has my calendar and contacts up to date on both laptops, both cell phones and the iPad. If I write something on one, it ends up on all.
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Old 08-03-2010, 04:34 AM   #11
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It sounds like you have complete control. I'm not quite there yet, mainly because Earlene will not let me wrestle it out of her hands to experiment with and set up that way. Besides, I'm a PC knowledgeable person, and even though we have an iMac, I just never got into it the way I did PC's.

The iMac here at the house had 4 accounts on it. One day recently I accidentally connected the iPAD and synced with my son's iTunes account. Unknown to me, when updating the apps, it asked for the password and I kept typing in my password. After many tries I noticed the the User ID had his email. So it was synced to his account. Still unknown to me I downloaded sever apps, all free except on at 99 cents. He, in the meantime, saw the 99 charge on his account and called iTunes and told them he did not make the purchase.

To make this very, very long story short, we are still trying to get the fraud alert off his credit card so he can continue to update and download from the same account. What a total mess. It's been over a week and we still don't have it resolved. Getting the first "person" out of the barrel at iTunes has not been a help.

Thanks for the APPS list.
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Old 08-03-2010, 07:30 AM   #12
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Gosh Wayne you sure like to make things difficult! I recently obtained an iPod Touch machine and am still trying to figure out how to turn it on! There are some neat APPS I keep reading about..... Just wish I could feel more confident. Each machine and App is a huge "learning curve" for me. But they are great fun and very helpful.

Later,
Dennis
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Old 08-03-2010, 07:49 AM   #13
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Hamrad -
If you need help, let me know. We actually have Terrie's 80+ year old Dad using an Ipod Touch. He doesn't have a PC and "borrows" Internet from a neighbor. He mainly uses it for email and stocks. I'm a diehard Windows user, but these devices are slick. (Sent from my Ipad)
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Old 08-03-2010, 12:20 PM   #14
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Dennis,
If you need help, contact Ron. (Hee hee!)
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Old 08-03-2010, 06:30 PM   #15
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Hey Guys,
If I can still recognize anything that looks like a computer at age 80 I'm gonna jump with joy! Wellllllllll I'll let you imagine what my 80 year old jump would look like! You can send the get well cards to Bakersfield Memorial Hospital!

Thanks for the offers of help. I suspect I'll just keep muddling along and maybe learn a couple of apps.

As difficult as new technology may be I find it fascinating and will keep playing with it as long as they keep putting out new stuff.
Thanks,
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Old 08-04-2010, 08:29 AM   #16
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The nice thing is for us "vocally" challenged folks, there's more room for larger print. Was running out of real estate on my "Touch".
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Old 08-04-2010, 04:25 PM   #17
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What did you see....err... say?
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