Apple iPad 2
 

Well this *is* the competitor's forum afterall.

As you may or may not be aware, Apple has just announced the iPad 2.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget....3--img4599.jpg
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/the-ipad-2/

It seems to have a mild spec bump from the previous generation:

• A5 proc (dual core)
• HDMI out via special cable ($39)
• 8.8mm thick
• rear facing camera
• front facing camera
• iOS 4.3

Interestingly, the new iPad *cover* looks to be the most exciting bit!
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/i...a-smart-cover/

Quite innovative. In this man's opinion: I still wouldn't want it; that's what capacitive screens and gorilla glass are for.

Tighter app integration and new upgrades are also a welcome sight!

However, there seems to be a significant point of differentiation amongst 2011 tablets. Android tablets are distinctly more PC-like in their functionality, and iPad is distinctly more iPhone-ish. One could argue that they're further competitors than they once were.

Anyway, discuss.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Out of the blue, my computer illiterate parents are very close to pulling the trigger on an iMac. I'm gonna try and steer them away from that and towards a $499 iPad 2. If they like it, they can get a second one and still spend less than the cheapest iMac.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

well... meh...

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

There really isn't anything on the new one that would make me drop the one I have right now and purchase the new one. I'll wait for screen upgrade that should definitely be present on the 3rd generation.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I think this would be a wise move. It seems that most casual users are more effective with their iPads than with computers. The maintenance free OS certainly helps!

If all I had/knew-how to do was type emails and surf recipes, I would be all over a tablet device (likely iPad).

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

But you would be sick as a pig if you'd just bought one when the new iPad2's got double the power, 9x graphics, front & rear camera's, allowing Facetime, plus HD and is now thinner than an iPhone 4!

You can't knock the progress that Apple have made between ipad 1 & 2. It will be interesting to see if the iPhone 5 makes anything like a similar leap in progress.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

im just going to be an A** and say that i have been fiddling around with the IPAD (1) and i have never been so bored in my life, only cool thing about it is if you where to see a movie than at least you have a big screen............ and thats it............. YAWN......

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I bought ipad for my mom and grandma. They love it. That is how Apple wins people over by making it IDIOT proof!

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Still 15m people who must like it!

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Who gave the Tag.. Bada Rox ??

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Sorry to play the Sheep/herder card.....

But i will admit if you just want a plate that can show you whats on the telly tonight and do a bit of surfing than it's just peachy.
EXPENSIVE but peachy

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

There is 'progress' but relatively little forward facing innovation. It's not really a big difference from the last iPad in terms of features/functionality, and certainly nothing that hasn't been done before on a smartphone or competitor tablets.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Here are some iPad videos for you to enjoy:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/i...irst-hands-on/

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

The 3G version supports GSM and CDMA. I'm guessing this will trickle down to the iPhone 5. What's weird is, supposedly the Verizon iPhone 4 isn't getting iOS 4.3, while the AT&T iPhone 4 is. Maybe they'll only be one hardware version of the iPhone 5 and thus no fragmentation.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I love Apple's approach to innovation...most of those features should have come as standard in the orginal Ipad (e.g facetime).

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

why buy that now?
just wait another 6 month and we'll get the ipad 3, i guess.

besides that, i dont know what all this tablet-fuzz is about. this form-factor just seems useless to me.
its too large to be a phone, but also fails as a proper netbook.

but obviously its just me, since 15mio people bought the original ipad

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

yawn.... next

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

iPAD 2

- no flash
- no browser tab
- no scrollable view of homescreen, no widgets, shortcuts...
- no usb, DSCARD, hdmi
- lower res screen and screen size is not native to watch HD video
- no 4G
- no Google map and Youtube dedicated app

iPad 2 <---loser

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I am curious to get some idea of the performance of the A5.

I am somewhat disappointed with this release. While the thinness is very nice, the rest of the specs are rather disappointing. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

I sincerely doubt that Apple will have the highest spec'd tablet, or even the nicest design this round. Though, I have no doubt that they will sell a ton!

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

It depends of the user. For example all I do on mine is surf the web, take it to class since my schoolbooks are on it and play the iPhone games I bought when I still had an iPhone, for serious gaming I have a wii(:D), a ps3, a ds, a psp and of course my gaming laptop. So the additional graphic power is lost on me since I don't use my iPad for gaming. I'm planning to get GarageBand and that's the only thing that might task the CPU but even there I'm pretty sure that it won't be a problem.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Exactly, and I am more dissapointed that all these extra spec but the same old software provides no good additional benefit.

The dual codre chip which is "9 times faster" - well I dont think I need more speed as the original iPad was pretty good itself for the kind of software i runs and the passive multi-tasking that it does.

Yes the only good additional benefit would be the front-facing camera with facetime. But this was a serious lack in the first gen iPad, so this just makes up for it.

The lighter is good to have, the thinner is not a must. Sometimes its ok to have a easily holdable device.
So unless iOS 4.3 brings some radical change to take advantage of the dual core power, I don't see how just a spec bump is a advantage at this moment.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I don't get what is so special. It's an iPad with upgraded specs. I predict computers will get better specs and smaller size you can quote me on that one. Also people are saying the iPad is the death of PC's, isn't the iPad a PC? Besides why would Apple want to kill their business.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Add a USB port and an SD card reader then drop the price of the base model to $200 and I would buy one, however that is not the case.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Il take n900 over ipad if i was offered either one.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Ipad with Maemo 5 software installed on it and il buy it.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

You forgot GPS?
USB?
micro/SD Card?

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

You're supposed to see what's good from the competitors and assimilate that into your own camp, rather than ***** about them to make you feel good about yourself.

(and not learn anything in the process, and still stay 'unsuccessful/unpopular')

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

And when the majority of what's good from the other camps is taking advantage of human traits that are arguably not good for humanity as a whole in the long run?

The desire for shiny, mind-numbing simplicity, and it being okay to not have the slightest understanding of one's technology beyond the fact that it works, are not good for human progress in the long term. Yet that's what Apple constantly encourages.

Not that I disagree in general, and there are things to be learned from the success of Apple devices to be sure, but I would argue that with Apple-style marketing many of the devices on the market (even Maemo 5 if more had been invested in it and freedom to install just about anything clamped down to prevent the horrible barely-testable complexity of so much software interacting together, which is arguably the cause of most bugs on the Maemo 5 platform) could have been similarly successful. At the end of the day Apple's success did have to do with great UI smoothness/fluidness (I would disagree with it being any more intuitive than Maemo 5 or Android, and personally I find the only-one-button concept an impediment rather than an advantage), the fact that the controlled and horribly limited OS/ecosystem helped keep bugs from happening, and so on, but the majority of it, from what I have seen, lay not in the actual advantages of their platform, which are limited, but in the fact that they were happy to advertise it in a way that made the masses accept it as the best, without fundamentally stopping to question whether or not it really was.

(Which was easy enough in the US market because I admit that at the time, it was just about the only phone that did touch screen UIs and the like well. But the point is that their popularity was a mix of social engineering and circumstantial - being first to market a device that combined a bunch of features no one else put in a clean package, essentially - primarily, and inherent strengths of the platform only as a secondary effect.)

As for *****ing, personally, when I ***** about Apple, or any other company's, products, I have little interest in making myself feel better. I'm rather happy with my N900 (a bit annoyed with the latest spontaneous reboot bug I developed that I can't seem to find the cause of). For me personally, it's a matter of countering points I find to be flawed, or, in the case of recommendations, attempting an actual objective overview of each platform (and there ARE times I actually recommend people iOS devices - doesn't make me happy, but I recognize it's right for them, as much as it bugs me that it can be right for anyone). ..obviously I don't speak for some of the other people on here, but one can hope most of the posters who ***** about the iOSs flaws do so for reasons other than insecurity.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Reacting harshly (and prematurely) on false presumptions?

I would argue that the 'good' traits from the iPad can be harvested and reimplemented on an open system without compromising being open (or FOSS compatible).

Examples:
- It's been mentioned a few times about having a fluid and customizable top layer(s) while leaving the door open to the CLI or whatnot.
- A simpler sync method to replicate your data across your chosen devices (say rsync with sane defaults and a nice ui)
- All the good ui/ux points from iOS (which are hopefully not patented)
Etc.

I also think that packaging technology for the masses does not hinder people who inherently want to dive deeper into the technology out of their own desire. Do you think throwing everyone in the world into a bash dominated tech platform is good for humanity? That they should manage their appointments with cron scripts?

No. This expands the technology adopters.

And making basic things simpler frees them up to worry about 'higher level' stuffs. It doesn't work the other way around. I think you got it backward.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

And generally, iPad users are the type of people who worry about 'higher level' stuffs, right?

I apologize in advance for delving in to stereotypes.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

'higher level stuffs' = things that matter in your life.

If they don't make their living from doing things that directly benefit from '*nix advantages' (managing servers, networking, coding, etc), then I'd argue that learning about the "*nix's basement" is a waste of their time.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I understand, i thought you meant - Higher level stuffs = something that benefits the human race and not what kind of cat food to buy, since that was the argument of Mentalist Traceur

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

You can have the best and most idyllic concepts, but if you can't flesh it out to be spread far and wide; adopted by the community at large, then it wouldn't make any difference.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I don't mean to start a flamewar, but here's an interesting bit of iPad 2 news:

The iPad2 cover, is not really a first:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget....-fight-600.jpg
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/a...agazine-jacket

I wonder if this will spark litigation?

iPad 2 adds the magnets which is a very nice touch (but sucks for carrying it in a bag around sensitive materials - eg credit cards), and is undeniably more sleek.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I champion the fact that the iPad 2 maintains the 1024x768 resolution.

While newer tablets are pushing 1280x800, it seemingly has a large effect on interactive framerates which hurt the user experience. Based on what I've seen (and what I know of these two resolutions), the gains in resolution are not worth the compromise in performance (IMO, of course YMMV).

I suppose I would have to see two devices running side by side, but I would rather have a 1024 running at 60fps than a 1280 running at 30 (yes, I know these numbers aren't real, I'm just trying to communicate my preferences).

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Seriously? The iPad2 does have its flaws, but we should at least be accurate about its flaws. (note: I am buying an iPad2)

Flash can be added via Frash last time I checked, or using the Skyfire browser. Though I do agree that no flash is a pain.

There's several alternative browsers that do tabbing. No different then say microB on the N900 versus Fennec or Opera.

Agreed on the widgets. But there are shortcuts, they're just essentially all the application icons.

No USB or SD card. I believe there's a hardware plugin for that. But you do have to pay for it. Same with the HDMI out now.

Agreed on the lower res screen and same for 4G.

They do have a dedicated Google Maps and Youtube application provided by Google.. It's just not the same Google Maps you get on Android (which is disappointing, but oh well that's why you get an Android smartphone :) ).

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I still prefer a laptop over an iPad. It's probably just a nice toy to have, but to meet day to day use, I'd rather get a Toshiba Portege R700/705 or the AC100 (Android). Now who's with me??? :D

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

I would argue that the cavemen had a very poor understanding of bow-and-arrow physics. I bet they were completely dependent on a point-and-shoot environment.

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

Calling your mom and grandma idiots is not cool man!


</jk>

Re: Apple iPad 2
 

so ipad is a propagation of traits that are inferior in the human race ?

talk about arrogance - what makes YOU the authority on what is desirable and good in the human race ? good grief

hubris anyone ? another serving of moral righteousness pudding please

here is a clue - Apple will once again rake in the $$$ (which is its job) and Apple devotees will once again be happy (which is their right) and both groups are happy ...

... and all the while you can stand on your virtual soapbox at the TMO intersection and spew out multipage diatribes on how ipad represents all that is base and vulgar in man ...

... you dont happen to have a wild bushy beard - carry a megaphone and wear a white robe with a sign drapped over it in real life do you ?

not a apple fan (never owned apple products after the apple 2e) but the arrogance exuded here is nauseating