Other companies have tablets out as well. After this iPad frenzy dies down a bit some people will be upset when they see the full Windows tablets. I'm eventually going to get one and I will go out of my way to get Windows Voice commands working on it. Just because I know Apple douche bag fanboys will try to make fun of my tablet.
See, I used to think that way when the iPod came out, and it had a very limited featureset compared to all the other MP3 players out there... and it cost more.
But it turns out most people cared more for form, and EASE of function as opposed to feature-laden, cumbersome to use devices.
Who knows if the tablet industry is going to see a similar takeover... but it isn't like PC vendors haven't been trying to get the tablet into the mainstream; they just haven't had a quality product yet. And I have been using convertibles/slates for years now.
syndalis on
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Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Other companies have tablets out as well. After this iPad frenzy dies down a bit some people will be upset when they see the full Windows tablets. I'm eventually going to get one and I will go out of my way to get Windows Voice commands working on it. Just because I know Apple douche bag fanboys will try to make fun of my tablet.
See, I used to think that way when the iPod came out, and it had a very limited featureset compared to all the other MP3 players out there... and it cost more.
But it turns out most people cared more for form, and EASE of function as opposed to feature-laden, cumbersome to use devices.
Who knows if the tablet industry is going to see a similar takeover... but it isn't like PC vendors haven't been trying to get the tablet into the mainstream; they just haven't had a quality product yet. And I have been using convertibles/slates for years now.
See bolded. I use WinXP tablet laptops at work and they do the job they need to, but had to be tweaked and messed with to do the job well. Nothing wrong with that if that's what you need stuff to do. For a computing appliance though, which really I think the ipad is, I want something that just works. I don't want to have to set it up, install rain meter and tweak it all to heck. I have my desktops for that. I just want to set it on the end table and have it do what I want it to.
Maybe the HP tablet will have an excellent UI, but seeing win7 on such skinny system specs has me worried a bit. I won't be buying anything until I can see some of the win7 options though. I love the way apples UI works on my iphone and the ipad that Ive played with. The other tablets have to equal that in my eyes if they want my business.
Thank You. Finally, someone else who actually recognizes that there were tablets before a few years ago when the iPad rumors started. And more importantly that they are actually something completely different from an upsized PDA
Here's the thing; these devices have not taken off previously (if they had, we'd all have one already): Why not?
Is it because they aren't made by Apple and no-one buys things that aren't made by Apple? Don't be such a goose.
Is it because they are overpriced? Not in comparison to similar solutions.
Is it because they are/were under-marketed? Quite likely, since only people who were looking for them previously have ever heard of such a thing.
Is it because the five people who actually bought each one spent five minutes* with the device and found it broadly unusable due to poorly integrated touch controls shoe-horned into a mse/kbd based OS? Fuck yes.
Specifically, it's these last two that have previously kept the convertible/slate netbook/laptop markets niche and that niche slow-growing. What the market needs is someone with the clout and, frankly, the brass balls to just go out there and sell a device no-one has ever used before to people who hate computers.
*Metaphorical five minutes; typically the user will spend several hours n the first day, setting everything up the way they want then a couple the next, trying to get their usual day's work done, then fits and starts the third day trying to find something the new toy does better then the old ones then giving up in disgust on the fourth day when the charge dies and it never gets charged again...
People who actually wanted tablets could have easily gotten them. Wacom has many different specialized tablets available. You should see the medical tablets that are liquid proof, have bar code scanners, & are sensitive enough that doctors can use the styles to sign digital forms on them.
Which is exactly what Spoit said; if you wanted a tablet, you could get one.
The thing is that until now, practically nobody has wanted a tablet/slate device. That is to say, they were a slow-growing niche market. And all of the one's I've seen have been crippled by terrible interfaces that are either too mono-task to appeal to a non-specialist (medical tablets are especially guilty of this) or hacked together from Windows and some poorly-written interface extensions.
Even Microsoft has as much as admitted that Windows' default interface is far too tied to the kbd/mse paradigm for use on a tablet. Which is why they are developing a total re-vamp for the Courier. All I want is for the other generic/multi-purpose tablet manufacturers to wake up to this and start trying to get a handle on what makes a touch-only interface work.
Thank You. Finally, someone else who actually recognizes that there were tablets before a few years ago when the iPad rumors started. And more importantly that they are actually something completely different from an upsized PDA
Here's the thing; these devices have not taken off previously (if they had, we'd all have one already): Why not?
Is it because they aren't made by Apple and no-one buys things that aren't made by Apple? Don't be such a goose.
Is it because they are overpriced? Not in comparison to similar solutions.
Is it because they are/were under-marketed? Quite likely, since only people who were looking for them previously have ever heard of such a thing.
Is it because the five people who actually bought each one spent five minutes* with the device and found it broadly unusable due to poorly integrated touch controls shoe-horned into a mse/kbd based OS? Fuck yes.
Specifically, it's these last two that have previously kept the convertible/slate netbook/laptop markets niche and that niche slow-growing. What the market needs is someone with the clout and, frankly, the brass balls to just go out there and sell a device no-one has ever used before to people who hate computers.
*Metaphorical five minutes; typically the user will spend several hours n the first day, setting everything up the way they want then a couple the next, trying to get their usual day's work done, then fits and starts the third day trying to find something the new toy does better then the old ones then giving up in disgust on the fourth day when the charge dies and it never gets charged again...
People who actually wanted tablets could have easily gotten them. Wacom has many different specialized tablets available. You should see the medical tablets that are liquid proof, have bar code scanners, & are sensitive enough that doctors can use the styles to sign digital forms on them.
Which is exactly what Spoit said; if you wanted a tablet, you could get one.
The thing is that until now, practically nobody has wanted a tablet/slate device. That is to say, they were a slow-growing niche market. And all of the one's I've seen have been crippled by terrible interfaces that are either too mono-task to appeal to a non-specialist (medical tablets are especially guilty of this) or hacked together from Windows and some poorly-written interface extensions.
Even Microsoft has as much as admitted that Windows' default interface is far too tied to the kbd/mse paradigm for use on a tablet. Which is why they are developing a total re-vamp for the Courier. All I want is for the other generic/multi-purpose tablet manufacturers to wake up to this and start trying to get a handle on what makes a touch-only interface work.
No, no one knew wtf a tablet was. People that bought an ipad didn't buy one because it filled a spot that other tablets can't. They bought one because it has an apple logo on it. Everyone damn well knows that if something with the exact same specs was released by Toshiba or Asus it would not sell worth shit.
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syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
No, no one knew wtf a tablet was. People that bought an ipad didn't buy one because it filled a spot that other tablets can't. They bought one because it has an apple logo on it. Everyone damn well knows that if something with the exact same specs was released by Toshiba or Asus it would not sell worth shit.
Probably because neither of them have made a convincing touch OS, or a wildly successful software ecosystem, or any of the other reasons apple devices have been successful as of late. Hardware specs are one piece of a much bigger picture. And trying to run windows on a machine with these specs would blow.
syndalis on
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Let's play Mario Kart or something...
No, no one knew wtf a tablet was. People that bought an ipad didn't buy one because it filled a spot that other tablets can't. They bought one because it has an apple logo on it. Everyone damn well knows that if something with the exact same specs was released by Toshiba or Asus it would not sell worth shit.
Probably because neither of them have made a convincing touch OS, or a wildly successful software ecosystem, or any of the other reasons apple devices have been successful as of late. Hardware specs are one piece of a much bigger picture. And trying to run windows on a machine with these specs would blow.
The best tablet made to date runs windows with 1gig of ram. No one knows about it at all and it has 5 star reviews..Been around a few years I think
EliteLamer on
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
No, no one knew wtf a tablet was. People that bought an ipad didn't buy one because it filled a spot that other tablets can't. They bought one because it has an apple logo on it. Everyone damn well knows that if something with the exact same specs was released by Toshiba or Asus it would not sell worth shit.
Probably because neither of them have made a convincing touch OS, or a wildly successful software ecosystem, or any of the other reasons apple devices have been successful as of late. Hardware specs are one piece of a much bigger picture. And trying to run windows on a machine with these specs would blow.
The best tablet made to date runs windows with 1gig of ram. No one knows about it at all and it has 5 star reviews..Been around a few years I think
Thats a $1500 tablet...dang. I want more ram for that much.
Well, to be honest, people like the iPad because of the App Store -- tons of programs that are designed specifically for using with a touchscreen device.
It's the App Store that makes the difference for the iPhone, and it's one of the reasons I think the iPad shouldn't be compared with the iPhone's numbers for early sales -- the iPhone had a big disadvantage as it didn't launch with all the apps ready to go. The iPad does. And other tablet PCs still have that problem, in that most of the applications you install assume your finger is just like a mouse. Windows 7 is better, sure, but there's still no Windows-based ecosystem for apps that are designed solely around touchscreen use. That's why tablets never took off. Really, I think until an Android-based tablet comes out, there really isn't going to be much iPad competition.
Which is why I hope the iPad makes e-reader companies wake up. People like Apple stuff because there's a TON of stuff on it. Personally, I love e-ink; I think it's great. I borrowed a kindle from work for a few months and loved it, I read a ton of books and found it very enjoyable.
But then I ran out of books I wanted to read. I still had a very long list of books, mind, but they were all not available on the Kindle platform. So I checked them out from the library instead, which is cheaper all around. So the Kindle inspired me to read more, but not from Amazon
Seriously though, for people who want to just read books, I think the extra features of the iPad might be compelling mostly because you can access all your e-books as well as any touch-oriented Apps. The shortcomings of e-book availability is therefore counteracted by access to various e-book platforms and a use for the device when all of the books you're interested aren't available.
On the plus side, I do seriously hope that the iPad causes a significant price drop in platform-based e-book readers, as I certainly would like to own a Kindle (there's "enough books" now that I would be sated for a while). The big thing holding back the iPad is that if someone is primarily interested in e-books, $500 at a minimum is pretty damn spendy -- especially compared to just buying a book.
Yeah buy an Apple products just to pay for more software to compensate for the lack of features in the Apple product.
Sorry but Windows & Office are the only non-game software I will pay for. Everything else I get by with using free apps.
I also feel that people who boast about how many apps a phone platform has are idiots. You're paying for the device & service and then you have to pay extra for more software.
Yeah buy an Apple products just to pay for more software to compensate for the lack of features in the Apple product.
Sorry but Windows & Office are the only non-game software I will pay for. Everything else I get by with using free apps.
I also feel that people who boast about how many apps a phone platform has are idiots. You're paying for the device & service and then you have to pay extra for more software.
Why? there are tons of free apps for phone platforms that are functional as well. Whether it be apple, android, the kindle, nook and whatever win mobile uses. The amount of software available for a given platform can be a huge selling point.
also no matter what platform if someone is selling a piece of software I find useful I'm an idiot for buying it?
Yeah buy an Apple products just to pay for more software to compensate for the lack of features in the Apple product.
Sorry but Windows & Office are the only non-game software I will pay for. Everything else I get by with using free apps.
I also feel that people who boast about how many apps a phone platform has are idiots. You're paying for the device & service and then you have to pay extra for more software.
I don't even see the reason to buy MS Word when I can use OpenOffice for free.
Yeah buy an Apple products just to pay for more software to compensate for the lack of features in the Apple product.
Sorry but Windows & Office are the only non-game software I will pay for. Everything else I get by with using free apps.
I also feel that people who boast about how many apps a phone platform has are idiots. You're paying for the device & service and then you have to pay extra for more software.
Why? there are tons of free apps for phone platforms that are functional as well. Whether it be apple, android, the kindle, nook and whatever win mobile uses. The amount of software available for a given platform can be a huge selling point.
also no matter what platform if someone is selling a piece of software I find useful I'm an idiot for buying it?
Because other platforms offer way more free software.
EliteLamer on
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Yeah buy an Apple products just to pay for more software to compensate for the lack of features in the Apple product.
Sorry but Windows & Office are the only non-game software I will pay for. Everything else I get by with using free apps.
I also feel that people who boast about how many apps a phone platform has are idiots. You're paying for the device & service and then you have to pay extra for more software.
Why? there are tons of free apps for phone platforms that are functional as well. Whether it be apple, android, the kindle, nook and whatever win mobile uses. The amount of software available for a given platform can be a huge selling point.
also no matter what platform if someone is selling a piece of software I find useful I'm an idiot for buying it?
Because other platforms offer way more free software.
free or not the amount of apps or software a phone, or e-book platform has can be a serious selling point.
I guess I'm different in if I find a piece of software I really like I'm willing to pay a buck or two for it. doesn't really bother me. I might do a cursory search to see if something free will do it but I'm not going to spend a lot of time. Now I am a big fan of free trials.
I feel like apple nickle and dimes a user to death after they buy the product. I really don't like the idea of spending money on applications after I buy the product. The only thing I have ever spent money on for my desktop are games from Steam and thats entertainment. Not function.. I dual boot linux and even without Ubuntu there are tons of free stuff for windows. I don't feel like I have this app store there to make money off of me needing a function.
I have a palm pre and I have not paid for one app. I have some pretty damn usefull apps such as Boxxe Remote, VNC, Ampache, Keychain, SNES EMULATOR!!!! All the SNES GAMES AT MY FINGER TIPS.. Doom..
I can skin my phone without the use of apps. I can do everything for free.
I prefer my eReader to be a dedicated one. Once you start adding in other apps it detracts from what I actually bought the device for. If I want a Tablet lite ill get a iPad. Otherwise its not a real eReader to me.
Yeah buy an Apple products just to pay for more software to compensate for the lack of features in the Apple product.
Sorry but Windows & Office are the only non-game software I will pay for. Everything else I get by with using free apps.
I also feel that people who boast about how many apps a phone platform has are idiots. You're paying for the device & service and then you have to pay extra for more software.
Why? there are tons of free apps for phone platforms that are functional as well. Whether it be apple, android, the kindle, nook and whatever win mobile uses. The amount of software available for a given platform can be a huge selling point.
also no matter what platform if someone is selling a piece of software I find useful I'm an idiot for buying it?
Because other platforms offer way more free software.
free or not the amount of apps or software a phone, or e-book platform has can be a serious selling point.
I guess I'm different in if I find a piece of software I really like I'm willing to pay a buck or two for it. doesn't really bother me. I might do a cursory search to see if something free will do it but I'm not going to spend a lot of time. Now I am a big fan of free trials.
Right -- how many people stick with Windows because it has the programs they want to use? Either games, office software, creativity software, etc. I always look for a free solution first, but lots of software isn't free. Lightroom is a superior photo developing application, and I can get it on student discount for $99. I bought Logic Express, which is a very high-quality audio program, for $199 (but haven't upgraded to the latest version because it costs money). My wife spent $3 on Plants vs. Zombies on her iPhone and has had a lot of fun with it, and Apple lets me easily put the same game on my iPhone without making me pay again for it.
But I also have little trouble buying MP3s from an artist I like or even donating to freeware websites/software that I enjoy using.
But this is a stupid argument anyway. The vast majority of people are not buying e-readers so they can read public domain books. They're buying them to access an e-book platform that contains modern works that they can purchase. Hence, the "apps" are book titles, and the variety available is precisely the attraction!
The availability of free software is directly related to the age and adoption of the platform in question. Linux has been around forever, and 10 years ago it was a pain to consistently mount optical drives, let alone rip CDs. Thanks to Ubuntu the world of Linux programs have become much more available and that's driven a fair amount of development for home desktop use, but its adoption is still low for average users due to the lack of software. And much of the software that's lacking is software that must be purchased on Windows.
But yeah, I think the path for e-readers is really going to be access to a strong e-book platform with the widest availability of titles, rather than adding in extra, superfluous features. Especially if adding those features keeps the prices high, or makes them higher.
To all Canadians: Chapters has announced their eBook, the kobo.
The info is as follows: $149 dollars Canadian, 1GB memory with up to 4GB additional with a SD slot, 2 week/8000 page turn battery life, 1 year warranty, Windows and Mac compatible, sync either with USB or with select smart phones via Bluetooth (unsure if this means you can download the books with the phone over 3G and sync over to save the cost of throwing in 3G tech and getting a carrier onboard like the kindle) and 100 free classic books included.
It looks almost exactly like a Kindle with this blue navigation thing and a quilted back added and the keyboard removed...
Yeah, the big white space at the bottom looks weird. But the price is pretty good, and it's cool that our Canadian friends are getting something aimed at them (first).
I just hope that Kobo doesn't seal its bookstore off from other eReaders, like the nook and Sony.
Right, I knew there was another visual difference between it and the kindle besides that blue thing and weird quilted back. Edited my post.
As for the Sony readers, I don't think they do but I'm not an expert.
EDIT: It appears that their eBooks are in a protected ePub format (Like a lot of books on the iBookstore) so unfortunately unless I'm misreading this it only works on the Kobo, smart phones with an app, desktop or online.
With more and more devices (and platforms) being released, I really wish there was a way to compare what was actually available through the various platforms. If the Kindle has, say, 100% of the ebook market, and the Nook has 75% of what Kindle has and iBookstore has 55% of it and Sony has 35% of it, etc., that would be good to know. It's stupid to get involved in an e-reader if you won't be able to, you know, actually get your books on it.
With more and more devices (and platforms) being released, I really wish there was a way to compare what was actually available through the various platforms. If the Kindle has, say, 100% of the ebook market, and the Nook has 75% of what Kindle has and iBookstore has 55% of it and Sony has 35% of it, etc., that would be good to know. It's stupid to get involved in an e-reader if you won't be able to, you know, actually get your books on it.
Keep in mind that the iPad (and consequently, the 4.0 iPhone), has the nook AND the kindle as apps, so if it is purely being driven by volume of material available, the iPad wins every time.
syndalis on
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Let's play Mario Kart or something...
With more and more devices (and platforms) being released, I really wish there was a way to compare what was actually available through the various platforms. If the Kindle has, say, 100% of the ebook market, and the Nook has 75% of what Kindle has and iBookstore has 55% of it and Sony has 35% of it, etc., that would be good to know. It's stupid to get involved in an e-reader if you won't be able to, you know, actually get your books on it.
Keep in mind that the iPad (and consequently, the 4.0 iPhone), has the nook AND the kindle as apps, so if it is purely being driven by volume of material available, the iPad wins every time.
Until Apple removes those Apps from their service.
With more and more devices (and platforms) being released, I really wish there was a way to compare what was actually available through the various platforms. If the Kindle has, say, 100% of the ebook market, and the Nook has 75% of what Kindle has and iBookstore has 55% of it and Sony has 35% of it, etc., that would be good to know. It's stupid to get involved in an e-reader if you won't be able to, you know, actually get your books on it.
Keep in mind that the iPad (and consequently, the 4.0 iPhone), has the nook AND the kindle as apps, so if it is purely being driven by volume of material available, the iPad wins every time.
With more and more devices (and platforms) being released, I really wish there was a way to compare what was actually available through the various platforms. If the Kindle has, say, 100% of the ebook market, and the Nook has 75% of what Kindle has and iBookstore has 55% of it and Sony has 35% of it, etc., that would be good to know. It's stupid to get involved in an e-reader if you won't be able to, you know, actually get your books on it.
The great thing about the nook and the kindle is you can go to the bookstore and see if they have the books that you like. Its that simple. It is about reading books right?
With more and more devices (and platforms) being released, I really wish there was a way to compare what was actually available through the various platforms. If the Kindle has, say, 100% of the ebook market, and the Nook has 75% of what Kindle has and iBookstore has 55% of it and Sony has 35% of it, etc., that would be good to know. It's stupid to get involved in an e-reader if you won't be able to, you know, actually get your books on it.
Keep in mind that the iPad (and consequently, the 4.0 iPhone), has the nook AND the kindle as apps, so if it is purely being driven by volume of material available, the iPad wins every time.
LOL "There is an app for that!" = "It does it better!"...
I got an iPad yesterday and spent a while reading on it. Books in the iBooks app look pretty good and the screen was pretty comfortable to read on. I read pretty fast so the LCD screen having a fast response time is a lot less jarring then the eInk screen of the Kindle and the like. Obviously some people don't mind the slow eInk screen refresh but it annoys the crap out of me. It's especially annoying on the readers that only have portrait mode meaning you only get one page of "book sized" text at a time. I didn't have a problem looking at the screen for long periods as the iPad's LCD is pretty nice.
I'm really happy with GoodReader which handles PDF books really well. I've got several RPG books in PDF form (hello Pathfinder core rules) and they looked fantastic. Being able to read and browse through PDFs like this is really cool. It's a PITA to read them on my net book because the landscape orientation doesn't work well for portrait PDFs.
Then there's stuff like Alice which shows the sort of stuff that can be done when your reader device is more than just an ereader. Obviously all books don't need to be and shouldn't be wild interactive things but it is cool.
Keep in mind that the iPad (and consequently, the 4.0 iPhone), has the nook AND the kindle as apps, so if it is purely being driven by volume of material available, the iPad wins every time.
Pretty much any eReader can go to the other stores as long as the book formats are supported. The Sony readers are very open. Apple on the other hand is already loading DRM into their "ibooks."
Keep in mind that the iPad (and consequently, the 4.0 iPhone), has the nook AND the kindle as apps, so if it is purely being driven by volume of material available, the iPad wins every time.
Pretty much any eReader can go to the other stores as long as the book formats are supported. The Sony readers are very open. Apple on the other hand is already loading DRM into their "ibooks."
I wasn't saying apple is being open with their content; I was saying that the iPad will be able to read every ebook out there due to the apps available for it.
Without resorting to less than legal methods, you can't buy nook books on a kindle.
syndalis on
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Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I got an iPad yesterday and spent a while reading on it. Books in the iBooks app look pretty good and the screen was pretty comfortable to read on. I read pretty fast so the LCD screen having a fast response time is a lot less jarring then the eInk screen of the Kindle and the like. Obviously some people don't mind the slow eInk screen refresh but it annoys the crap out of me.
What version of Kindle are you comparing it to? I've got a v.2, and I have iPads at work that I can play around with, and the page turn duration is actually damn near identical. The Kindle just refreshes the page, while the iPad goes through the animation of turning the page.
Also, having to drag my finger across the screen every time I want to change a page would get damn annoying.
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But it turns out most people cared more for form, and EASE of function as opposed to feature-laden, cumbersome to use devices.
Who knows if the tablet industry is going to see a similar takeover... but it isn't like PC vendors haven't been trying to get the tablet into the mainstream; they just haven't had a quality product yet. And I have been using convertibles/slates for years now.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
No, I'm pretty sure this is why they use location numbers instead of page numbers. There are a fixed number of locations per book.
See bolded. I use WinXP tablet laptops at work and they do the job they need to, but had to be tweaked and messed with to do the job well. Nothing wrong with that if that's what you need stuff to do. For a computing appliance though, which really I think the ipad is, I want something that just works. I don't want to have to set it up, install rain meter and tweak it all to heck. I have my desktops for that. I just want to set it on the end table and have it do what I want it to.
Maybe the HP tablet will have an excellent UI, but seeing win7 on such skinny system specs has me worried a bit. I won't be buying anything until I can see some of the win7 options though. I love the way apples UI works on my iphone and the ipad that Ive played with. The other tablets have to equal that in my eyes if they want my business.
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The thing is that until now, practically nobody has wanted a tablet/slate device. That is to say, they were a slow-growing niche market. And all of the one's I've seen have been crippled by terrible interfaces that are either too mono-task to appeal to a non-specialist (medical tablets are especially guilty of this) or hacked together from Windows and some poorly-written interface extensions.
Even Microsoft has as much as admitted that Windows' default interface is far too tied to the kbd/mse paradigm for use on a tablet. Which is why they are developing a total re-vamp for the Courier. All I want is for the other generic/multi-purpose tablet manufacturers to wake up to this and start trying to get a handle on what makes a touch-only interface work.
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DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
No, no one knew wtf a tablet was. People that bought an ipad didn't buy one because it filled a spot that other tablets can't. They bought one because it has an apple logo on it. Everyone damn well knows that if something with the exact same specs was released by Toshiba or Asus it would not sell worth shit.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
The best tablet made to date runs windows with 1gig of ram. No one knows about it at all and it has 5 star reviews..Been around a few years I think
Thats a $1500 tablet...dang. I want more ram for that much.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
It's the App Store that makes the difference for the iPhone, and it's one of the reasons I think the iPad shouldn't be compared with the iPhone's numbers for early sales -- the iPhone had a big disadvantage as it didn't launch with all the apps ready to go. The iPad does. And other tablet PCs still have that problem, in that most of the applications you install assume your finger is just like a mouse. Windows 7 is better, sure, but there's still no Windows-based ecosystem for apps that are designed solely around touchscreen use. That's why tablets never took off. Really, I think until an Android-based tablet comes out, there really isn't going to be much iPad competition.
Which is why I hope the iPad makes e-reader companies wake up. People like Apple stuff because there's a TON of stuff on it. Personally, I love e-ink; I think it's great. I borrowed a kindle from work for a few months and loved it, I read a ton of books and found it very enjoyable.
But then I ran out of books I wanted to read. I still had a very long list of books, mind, but they were all not available on the Kindle platform. So I checked them out from the library instead, which is cheaper all around. So the Kindle inspired me to read more, but not from Amazon
Seriously though, for people who want to just read books, I think the extra features of the iPad might be compelling mostly because you can access all your e-books as well as any touch-oriented Apps. The shortcomings of e-book availability is therefore counteracted by access to various e-book platforms and a use for the device when all of the books you're interested aren't available.
On the plus side, I do seriously hope that the iPad causes a significant price drop in platform-based e-book readers, as I certainly would like to own a Kindle (there's "enough books" now that I would be sated for a while). The big thing holding back the iPad is that if someone is primarily interested in e-books, $500 at a minimum is pretty damn spendy -- especially compared to just buying a book.
I find almost EVERYTHING open source.. There have been one or two programs that I cant find..
YAR!!! Pirate
Sorry but Windows & Office are the only non-game software I will pay for. Everything else I get by with using free apps.
I also feel that people who boast about how many apps a phone platform has are idiots. You're paying for the device & service and then you have to pay extra for more software.
Why? there are tons of free apps for phone platforms that are functional as well. Whether it be apple, android, the kindle, nook and whatever win mobile uses. The amount of software available for a given platform can be a huge selling point.
also no matter what platform if someone is selling a piece of software I find useful I'm an idiot for buying it?
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I don't even see the reason to buy MS Word when I can use OpenOffice for free.
Because other platforms offer way more free software.
free or not the amount of apps or software a phone, or e-book platform has can be a serious selling point.
I guess I'm different in if I find a piece of software I really like I'm willing to pay a buck or two for it. doesn't really bother me. I might do a cursory search to see if something free will do it but I'm not going to spend a lot of time. Now I am a big fan of free trials.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I have a palm pre and I have not paid for one app. I have some pretty damn usefull apps such as Boxxe Remote, VNC, Ampache, Keychain, SNES EMULATOR!!!! All the SNES GAMES AT MY FINGER TIPS.. Doom..
I can skin my phone without the use of apps. I can do everything for free.
PS Cause of the LCD.
Right -- how many people stick with Windows because it has the programs they want to use? Either games, office software, creativity software, etc. I always look for a free solution first, but lots of software isn't free. Lightroom is a superior photo developing application, and I can get it on student discount for $99. I bought Logic Express, which is a very high-quality audio program, for $199 (but haven't upgraded to the latest version because it costs money). My wife spent $3 on Plants vs. Zombies on her iPhone and has had a lot of fun with it, and Apple lets me easily put the same game on my iPhone without making me pay again for it.
But I also have little trouble buying MP3s from an artist I like or even donating to freeware websites/software that I enjoy using.
But this is a stupid argument anyway. The vast majority of people are not buying e-readers so they can read public domain books. They're buying them to access an e-book platform that contains modern works that they can purchase. Hence, the "apps" are book titles, and the variety available is precisely the attraction!
The availability of free software is directly related to the age and adoption of the platform in question. Linux has been around forever, and 10 years ago it was a pain to consistently mount optical drives, let alone rip CDs. Thanks to Ubuntu the world of Linux programs have become much more available and that's driven a fair amount of development for home desktop use, but its adoption is still low for average users due to the lack of software. And much of the software that's lacking is software that must be purchased on Windows.
But yeah, I think the path for e-readers is really going to be access to a strong e-book platform with the widest availability of titles, rather than adding in extra, superfluous features. Especially if adding those features keeps the prices high, or makes them higher.
The info is as follows: $149 dollars Canadian, 1GB memory with up to 4GB additional with a SD slot, 2 week/8000 page turn battery life, 1 year warranty, Windows and Mac compatible, sync either with USB or with select smart phones via Bluetooth (unsure if this means you can download the books with the phone over 3G and sync over to save the cost of throwing in 3G tech and getting a carrier onboard like the kindle) and 100 free classic books included.
It looks almost exactly like a Kindle with this blue navigation thing and a quilted back added and the keyboard removed...
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/kobo/kobo-promo.html
edit--I guess the Sony readers don't have a keyboard, do they?
I just hope that Kobo doesn't seal its bookstore off from other eReaders, like the nook and Sony.
As for the Sony readers, I don't think they do but I'm not an expert.
EDIT: It appears that their eBooks are in a protected ePub format (Like a lot of books on the iBookstore) so unfortunately unless I'm misreading this it only works on the Kobo, smart phones with an app, desktop or online.
Keyboards are not the future. On samnsungs ereader you can write on it.
Yeah but the Kobo will be getting ereaders into the 100 dollar range.
This is true.
Keep in mind that the iPad (and consequently, the 4.0 iPhone), has the nook AND the kindle as apps, so if it is purely being driven by volume of material available, the iPad wins every time.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Until Apple removes those Apps from their service.
Its not an ebook.
The great thing about the nook and the kindle is you can go to the bookstore and see if they have the books that you like. Its that simple. It is about reading books right?
LOL "There is an app for that!" = "It does it better!"...
Not! Sorry I had to.
I'm really happy with GoodReader which handles PDF books really well. I've got several RPG books in PDF form (hello Pathfinder core rules) and they looked fantastic. Being able to read and browse through PDFs like this is really cool. It's a PITA to read them on my net book because the landscape orientation doesn't work well for portrait PDFs.
Then there's stuff like Alice which shows the sort of stuff that can be done when your reader device is more than just an ereader. Obviously all books don't need to be and shouldn't be wild interactive things but it is cool.
Pretty much any eReader can go to the other stores as long as the book formats are supported. The Sony readers are very open. Apple on the other hand is already loading DRM into their "ibooks."
I wasn't saying apple is being open with their content; I was saying that the iPad will be able to read every ebook out there due to the apps available for it.
Without resorting to less than legal methods, you can't buy nook books on a kindle.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
What version of Kindle are you comparing it to? I've got a v.2, and I have iPads at work that I can play around with, and the page turn duration is actually damn near identical. The Kindle just refreshes the page, while the iPad goes through the animation of turning the page.
Also, having to drag my finger across the screen every time I want to change a page would get damn annoying.