General Discussion

Very interesting to hear some of the early iPad impressions as they come in from reviewers, curious if anybody else has been following them and what they think.  I guess the critics have pulled an iPod and gone full circle on the device (from hating the device at announce to absolutely loving it at release).   
 
Some interesting tidbits seem to be a general consensus on battery life is actually BETTER than Apple announced, which really surprised me.  I'm used to everyone, especially Apple, grossly inflating these numbers.  Tests of running straight video with full screen brightness and wifi on (as well as constnat e-mail updates) is getting a little over 11 hours (Apple claims 10) which is really good, especially considering that is probably one of the more intensive battery functions you can do.  Early impressions of reading on it are actually more favourable than the Kindle, which is also very surprising for me.  Mossberg, for example, who is a pretty big fan of the Kindle (Though also of Apple, to be fair) claims the iPad was actually a more pleasant experience for him to read on.  Boingboing was also very favourable in their review, and reports from less official sources that get them early (like Stephen Fry) seem to be greatly enjoying the experience. It seems to be considered great for content consumption, but middleing for content production, which is about as to be expected I think.
 
I wonder when Tested will be getting one, I am guessing you guys didn't get an advance copy, so maybe after you get one on Sat?  

I don't understand the purpose of the device. Why would I want to listen to music or watch a movies or TV shows on it when I can listen to music on my iPhone and watch video on my 58" plasma. I don't commute and even if I did I wouldn't pull out a 9 inch tablet on a bus or train, I'd use my iPhone. I'm not going to browse the web on a device in my house that doesn't support flash when I could use a laptop. I'm not going to set up my calender or write an email on a large touch screen keyboard when I can do that on a laptop a lot faster. The only purpose I could see for it is reading and I hate reading books on LCDs. I just made a thread about Kindle. You should read that.

Well, it's probably not a good device for you.  I have over an hour commute a day, I travel a lot (on planes with over 16 hr flights) and do lots of in-field photography without my computers around me, all of which are things that iPad does really well.  As far as reading, if I want to read magazines and newspapers, the ipad will be great for that.  The Kindle will still be better for ebooks I feel, but specifically ebooks.  It's hard for me to justify carrying such a specialized device around with me.  At home?  I'll probably still use my Kindle.  

@Addfwyn said:

" Well, it's probably not a good device for you.  I have over an hour commute a day, I travel a lot (on planes with over 16 hr flights) and do lots of in-field photography without my computers around me, all of which are things that iPad does really well.  As far as reading, if I want to read magazines and newspapers, the ipad will be great for that.  The Kindle will still be better for ebooks I feel, but specifically ebooks.  It's hard for me to justify carrying such a specialized device around with me.  At home?  I'll probably still use my Kindle.   "

But Kindle doesn't support ePub. I guess what you could do is install the Kindle iPhone application on your iPad and read books on that.

I believe amazon is making a full on iPad version of their kindle app as well.  That's precisely what I intend to do as well, I'll probably mostly still buy stuff from the amazon store over the iBookstore for multi-device purposes.  Unless the book is only available or available cheaper on the iBookstore.

@Addfwyn said:

" I believe amazon is making a full on iPad version of their kindle app as well.  That's precisely what I intend to do as well, I'll probably mostly still buy stuff from the amazon store over the iBookstore for multi-device purposes.  Unless the book is only available or available cheaper on the iBookstore. "

I just hope amazon starts offering books in ePub. I can't stand DRM, it takes away your freedom to move between devices freely. I know you could just use the Kindle app but it would just be convenient if everything was ePub, kind of like MP3.

Apple is to young people what Nintendo is to old people. Everyone knows about it, not everyone is into it. 
 
Bam.

The videos from the people who got early review units are very intriguing. I'm much more interested in it now than I was yesterday. 
 
Regardless, we'll have full coverage on Saturday when we get our hands on a few.

@Addfwyn: Oh, it's also worth noting the publications that they sent early units to. Mainstream pubs, not enthusiast pubs. Either they want to cast a huge net or they're worried that the enthusiast press is going to eat them alive. Probably both.

@will: I think that's generally pretty standard practice for Apple, they're always pretty super selective with who they send the early models out to I think. 

I'm not sure that Apple has made the case for this product yet. 
 
Like the Ipod and Iphone I got it pretty quickly.  Oh 5 gigs of music (I think that's what it was back in 2001) the size of a deck of cards....oh okay i get it.  The Iphone it was like holy crap this thing looks awesome and well designed...right away  I get why I wanted it. 
 
I don't necessarily look at the Ipad and understand why I need this.  The price issues are  boilerplate and are always there when anything new came out but i'm still a bit unsure what makes this thing amazing. 

@Addfwyn: 
 
I really wouldn't take anything Walt Mossberg or David Pogue say about an Apple product to heart. I'm interested in what Paul Thurrott has to say about it, though. Despite being a Windows guy, he generally digs Apple's tech (hell, he's one of the ten people in the world that actively uses the AppleTV), so he should have a good point of view on it.
 
My general impression of the iPad is that you already know if you want one. It could be really great for a few specific applications, and if those appeal to you, you'll want it regardless. I don't think it's very compelling for the average user, though, and I imagine it'll end up being a "second-tier" device like the ATV or the Airport.

Great read from Stephen Fry over at Time on the iPad/Apple - worth reading even if you're not a fan of either, he covers the Apple design philosophy well. 
 
Quite touching:

One melancholy thought occurs as my fingers glide and flow over the surface of this astonishing object: Douglas Adams is not alive to see the closest thing to his Hitchhiker's Guide that humankind has yet devised.

I think the iPad looks too much like an iPod for it's own good. I appreciate consistency across the different platforms, but people seem to be writing it off for just that reason: it looks like a big iPod. Personally, I think they should have gone with a more MacBook-like aesthetic. 
 
The reviewers seem to like it. Not sure how much that matters, but it's something.

@will said:

" @Addfwyn: Oh, it's also worth noting the publications that they sent early units to. Mainstream pubs, not enthusiast pubs. Either they want to cast a huge net or they're worried that the enthusiast press is going to eat them alive. Probably both. "

Yeah, I really can't take iPad reviews from publications like the New York Times seriously since there betting their whole future on the success of tablets and e-readers.

You know what I will admit that I'm starting to warm up to the piece of tech, but it's still way out of my league when it comes to price.

@ZombiePie said:

" You know what I will admit that I'm starting to warm up to the piece of tech, but it's still way out of my league when it comes to price. "

I don't think the price is that bad. $500 seems about right for the cheapest model. Go any lower and it will be in the price range of their iPod Touch line.

I like the concept, but we all know owning the first generation of anything Apple (or really any manufacturer for that matter). I will probably get one when the third or fourth generations come out and the hard drives are a decent size.  
 
However Justin Mcelroy of Joystiq fame posted his iPad hand-on video. It's pretty awesome.  
 
  

@Wolverine: Yeah...alright so you have disposable income...I don't. $500 is about $1000 too much for me right now.

@will:  
Are you buying your own iPad? 
 
@FakePlasticTree:  
That video was pretty good. :D