Poll: iPad

[grizzle]

Frankly, I prefer the screen and size of the Kindle to the iPad. Trying to say the iPad is better than the Kindle because of its size is like saying, "Hey, why carry around a small, light-weight, pocket-sized paperback book when instead you can tote around a huge, thick, heavy hardcover book!" Doesn't really make sense.

I would prefer to stick to a machine, like the Kindle, that does one thing and does it really well, as opposed to a machine that does far too many things at a mediocre level.

[Diggles]

Worst and stupidest name ever. When your product gets confused with feminine hygiene products, you need to fire your marketing team

AppTab, Apple Tablet would have been thousands of times better. Someone needs to beat whoever came up with 'i' line to death already

[Grieve]

iPad Oscar ad

I'll take one of these over a Kindle any day...

[Breand]

I never understood the "Kindle is in black and white OMG!" arguments...umm arent books in black and white? The battery power is a significant difference. I dunno, the Kindle seems like something better for the serious reader, the iPad for someone who may pick up a Dan Brown book every once in awhile. The Kindle is a book replacement, the iPad is a device that can display books.

For $500 you can get an awesome netbook that has far more functionality than an iPad. Sure you won't look as "cool" but you can multi-task non Windows apps ;p

[Grieve]

I never understood the "Kindle is in black and white OMG!" arguments...umm arent books in black and white? The battery power is a significant difference. I dunno, the Kindle seems like something better for the serious reader, the iPad for someone who may pick up a Dan Brown book every once in awhile. The Kindle is a book replacement, the iPad is a device that can display books.

For $500 you can get an awesome netbook that has far more functionality than an iPad. Sure you won't look as "cool" but you can multi-task non Windows apps ;p

Most books are black and white, but what about magazines? Textbooks? Kids books? And battery life is 10 hours of video or 140 hours of music (with books somewhere in between). That's plenty. I have no problem putting the pad in a dock each night to recharge it.

And yes, you can get a netbook, but does it have multi-touch? That's the killer feature. So many things are so much easier with that. Plus the games are much more innovative...

[Slamz]

The Kindle is a book replacement, the iPad is a device that can display books.

^ this.

The Kindle doesn't need games because it's a book replacement, not a gamepad.
The Kindle doesn't need "multi-touch" because the only two buttons you REALLY need are "prev page" and "next page".
A color display could be good in some cases but approximately 99% of the things I read are black-and-white text.

(and even for the things I read that are color, I'm not convinced that, say, a Neil Gaiman graphic novel would look good on an iPad. The iPad is large but his books are larger still, which means you'd either be shrinking the images or having to scroll, neither of which is ideal. e.g., the hardback Sandman is 15.8" x 8.9" -- significantly larger than the iPad. I think I'll just continue buying graphic novels on paper.)


"Kindle vs iPad" is like "iPad vs laptop". If you pay about twice as much and don't mind getting something larger, you'll get a lot more functionality. If you don't need the functionality, then don't pay twice as much.

[Jakensama]

Even most of my apple fanboy friends are saying what a joke the ipad currently is. Grieve is just farther entrenched up steve's buttcheeks than your average fanboy.

But, it is obviously a superior reader because it has the animation when the pages turn.

Textbooks are about the best idea to make an argument for an ipad being good, but since every university student was already carrying around laptops when I was at school, I can't imagine them not doing it anymore. And why downgrade?

[Vanraw]

Dont fool your self Grieve is a PC head that just happens to own Apple stock!!!

Seriously though, I dont get why people are comparing Kindle with iPad. They really are not directly competative.

iPad seems like a very cool device to sit on the coffee table in front of the TV. Kindle is a cool device to replace the paper based book.

[Vllad]

Seriously.

I can't understand the need for all this crap. You guys should be spending more time gaming.


Vllad

[Fretty]

Give me a device that can go to the bathroom for me and I'll consider it. Until then, paperback is still going strong (and won't malfunction due to any kind of "splash back" incidents that may occur).

[Jakensama]

I use mine kindle to read on public transportation (or on airplanes, so I have something to do on the 6 hour flight to NYC thursday), if the ipad added some functionality I didn't have on my blackberry that justified spending more money on something bigger than my kindle, than I would consider buying it.

Take in the bathroom or bathtub? If you can't use a kindle or a book on a toilet without getting it wet then you have some serious problems... If you are an adult who still takes baths, you also have a serious problem

[Fretty]

Take in the bathroom or bathtub? If you can't use a kindle or a book on a toilet without getting it wet then you have some serious problems... If you are an adult who still takes baths, you also have a serious problem

Ha, true enough.
I was thinking about the Kindle, but then I realized that as much as I like the idea of carrying around a smaller device with MANY books on it, that I really would miss the feel of a paperback in my hands. Not to mention the fact that I rarely am reading more than one book at a time, two MAX, so the need to carry a 'library' of books with me at all times is not a necessity. I grab my book in the morning and go. If I am reading two books at once, I grab one of them and read that one for the day and will never be disappointed that I grabbed book A instead of book B that particular day.

I like bookmarks, yellowed pages, worn spines, curled edges, creased covers and everything else that comes along with a good paperback, like seeing how far into the book you are when it's closed and the bookmark sticks out...sure beats seeing "Page 123 / 549" on a screen imo.

[Jakensama]

Yeah, the big seller for me was being in Germany my options for English books are generally limited, so the kindle store is great. Although to be honest I have found reading on it goes really quick when you have the font set perfectly and are just clicking through, before the last Robert Jordan came out I burned through all of the other books at record speed. Plus with the leather case it folds back like a book cover so it still has that feel

Also, you can read sci fi and fantasy on the train without looking like a complete dork

[Breand]

At least we can all agree, based on the poll, that Steve Jobs is 'not the man.'

[Grieve]

First of all...take not my Lord Steve's name in vain, for he shalt surely strike thee down with great fury for thy transgressions!! Lord Steve, please allow me to humbly apologize for my heathen companions...they know not what they say.

Now as to the whole "a book reader doesn't need to do more than read books" argument, well...that's the same argument they made about the iPhone ("I don't need my phone to do more than make calls!"). And that turned out pretty well.

I suspect in a couple of years a few of the naysayers here will own iPads, but I'll be happy enough if I just prove Maul wrong about the stock.

[Snowreap]

in a couple of years it will be at a price point where it's handy to have laying around as an internet browser-on-demand, if nothing else.

-ken

[Jakensama]

that's the same argument they made about the iPhone ("I don't need my phone to do more than make calls!"). And that turned out pretty well.

Who is they, iphone was hardly the first smartphone. Its just the first toy one that got really big.

The point is paying 800 bucks (plus a data plan) for an e reader (which is what you need for it to actually take advantage of its other than e reader features with any efficacy) that doesn't fill any particularly usefull niche is silly.

If someone gave me one i'd probably play with it, but once the novelty wore off it would be gathering dust in the corner with my useless ipod touch I won. "yay, a music player that sacrifices the ability to hold more than a fraction of my music library"

[Zirak]

One of my favorite moments in the short lived 'Sarah Connors Chronicles' was when she went to purchase a cell phone. The salesman was going on and on about all the fancy features the phone had. She looked at him with a semi confused look on her face and asked what for me is the only pertinent question regarding a freaking telephone - "Can you make phone calls on it?"

I personally still don't own a cell phone. The service costs too much for just making phone calls.

[Jakensama]

Hell I haven't had a land line since 2000.

I don't like the iphone (hate touchscreen phones), but they have done well getting the retards like my mom hooked on it because its neat and fairly easy to use.

[Diggles]

One of my favorite moments in the short lived 'Sarah Connors Chronicles' was when she went to purchase a cell phone. The salesman was going on and on about all the fancy features the phone had. She looked at him with a semi confused look on her face and asked what for me is the only pertinent question regarding a freaking telephone - "Can you make phone calls on it?"

I personally still don't own a cell phone. The service costs too much for just making phone calls.

Cricket wireless has unlimited talk and text for 25~ a month, but no voicemail, which is a killer for me. I switched to AT&T gophone prepaid because I wasnt using 450 minutes a month so overpaying for their lowest tier subscription $50/mo. Its 25¢ a minute and you can get a phone cheap. I'm able to use my contract phone since I'm out of the 2yr contract.

[Slamz]

I wonder what's next for Apple...

   

Hmm. Kinda stuck in a rut.

[Vanraw]

lol the iMat

[Zirak]

Meh to Cricket - if I am reading their website correctly, it is unlimited only if you are in one of their premium coverage areas. They still have roaming charges when you travel and other restrictions. Of course it is moot for me because their service is not offered at all where I live. I use VoIP - I can take my VoIP router anywhere I go, plug it into a broadband connection, and I've got phone service. I can call just about anywhere in the world for one low monthly fee. Plus I get all the bells and whistles like caller id, voicemail, etc. When a cell phone can do that for me then I'll consider buying one.

[Snowreap]

the only thing I need from a cell phone is the ability to make phone calls. for me, prepaid works fine for this purpose (I use Tracfone). it's not a primary communication method for me, I only use it when I need to make a call and no other phone is nearby or convenient (like in the car, for example).

but if I'm at home, then VoIP (Vonage) is my primary choice. but being a VoIP user gives me a secondary reason to have a cell phone -- I need to be able to call the power company if my power goes out (technically I can still do this over VoIP since I have all that stuff on UPS power, the only thing stopping me is the cordless phone base station isn't also on UPS, and it's too much trouble to keep a line-powered phone hooked up for this very rare situation), and I need to be able to call my ISP if my Internet connection goes down (technically I can do this too since I have a DSL line as a backup in case the cable goes out).

but if you don't have your Internet/VoIP hardware on a UPS, and you don't have redundant Internet connections, it's probably a good idea to have a cell phone so you can still make calls even if your VoIP isn't working. the cost to maintain a prepaid cell phone that you rarely use is very low.

back on topic: the iBoard looks pretty interesting, actually. but I think it would be better if they made it two to three times as big, and gave it feet so you could use it like an interactive coffee table. wouldn't that be a novel idea? although in my house it would never work because it would (like all horizontal surfaces) be covered with other stuff.

-ken

[Jakensama]

Its also necessary to have a cell phone once you become a corporate whore like me so your Korean clients can wake you up at 4 am.