NEW Apple iPad saves the world!

[DontTreadOnMe]

...well at least maybe the New York Times :)

I can't wait to buy one,

[Donnachaidh]

1. what's the price tag?

I need to giggle about something.

[FBaggins]

7. Apple tablet costs $600 to $800, says beta tester

'Best gadget ever made,' says Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo.com

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9149618/Apple_tablet_costs_600_to_800_says_beta_tester

[Donnachaidh]

9. just googled $999

Too expensive by ten. :shrug:

[FBaggins]

14. You want one for a fraction of the iPhone subsidized price?

Wouldn't you prefer to own hardware from a company that would still be in business to support it six months later?

[onehandle]

30. Here's what you want. 12 bucks.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2395785

[Donnachaidh]

32. hey -- resale value on iphone is *$17* bucks --

that would make the etch a sketch a DEAL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDZUk67FpB0 :rofl:

[Romulox]

44. It says "starting at $499" on Apple's page.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

[Touchdown]

47. Nowhere close. $499-829

Basic wifi w/16g flash drive $499

Top of the line 64g w/ 3g $829 and a $15 a month AT&T plan with free hot spot access.

6 different models.

I think they learned their lesson

[gmoney]

36. Starts at $499 for wi-fi model (only $10 more than the Kindle DX, which doesn't do shit)

The base kindle is $249 with a shrimpy 6-inch diagonal screen. The supersized DX has the same size screen as the iPad at about 10-inches diagonal, but the DX unit is substantially bulkier due to the buttons and keyboard being outside the screen area.

Of course, the Kindles somewhat display books. In 16 shades of grey. The Apple iPad displays books, photos, videos, has a web browser, e-mail, iTunes, and about 140,000 apps in amazing color.

Plus, with Apple, I'm guessing you'll manage your books the way you do audio files, in that you'll back them up to your computer, so if the iPad gets lost or broken, you don't lose all your content, the way I've heard you do with Kindle.

I'd say that Apple wins this one hands down.

[Statistical]

50. Here is hoping that makes Amazon lower prices. consumer for the winz.

Nothing like some comeptition to for amazon to lower prices.

BTW:

The advantage of the Kindle is that the battery last forever. There is no backlight so unit only draws power when changing the page unlike a laptop/tablet/ipad screen which draws power all the time. Battery life is about 14 days (not hours) with wireless off and still over 7 with it on.

Also you never lose books. The books are to your account not the device. If your kindle is lost, stolen, destroyed, needs replacement(warranty) or you simply upgrade all content is transferred to new device automatically.

I heard build cost in Kindle DX is about $200. Amazon has been fleecing consumers.
I hope the ipad pressure makes them get realistic about book reader prices.
Kindle ~ $149
Kindle DX ~$249

[Touchdown]

51. "You never lose books" ...Unless you bought 1984 or Animal Farm.

amazon took those off of everybody's Kindle last year. What's to stop them from doing it again?

[Statistical]

58. For a full refund.

What is to stop you from losing books when your house catches fire? Guess you shouldn't buy paper books either.

The 1984 situation was unique. Technically amazon had no right to sell the books in the United States to begin with.

[Touchdown]

63. Technically or not, it still happened

Amazon handled it poorly, and I do hope that they do not do the same thing in the future. For a company to have been in business since the late 90s selling copyrighted material, someone at Amazon should have seen that they had no right to seel those books before they hit the web page... but I'm just nit-picking now, aren't I?:eyes:

The 1984 situation is only unique until it happens again. I see nothing but promises to indicate that it won't.

[Statistical]

65. Well you can backup your kindle books.

Well you can backup your kindle books.
You can also manually turn the wireless off.
http://www.knoxviews.com/node/11740

The issue that affected Amazon could just as easily affect apple, or sony, or barnes & noble. Copyrights and publisher agreements are often complex with different publishers having authority based on country. Sometimes different publishers exist for both normal edition and special edition of a book.

In the case of 1984 Amazon had right to sell physical books in the US. It also had right to sell physical and digital books in Europe.

Digital books are reletively new (in terms of mainstream and large scala adoption) mistakes will happen. If it concerns you stick with dead trees because the same licensing snafu that affected 1984 could affect ANY etailer selling ANY digital product (song, book, video, software, app, etc).

Then again you could just download (for free) one of the 1.8 million digital books in public domain.
http://www.archive.org/details.php?identifier=texts

[DJ13]

2. Im waiting for the Maxi iPad

[kwassa]

4. does it have wings?

:rofl:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. SUPER solar ABSORBENT, too!

[MineralMan]

12. Plus, I understand you can read the future on those,

if you're one of those padomancers.

[AnnieBW]

82. You can only use it 5 days a month

:D

[rd_kent]

3. Link?

[blogslut]

5. pic

I liberated it from engadget's liveblog

http://engadget.com

[rd_kent]

6. Cool! Looks like a giant iPhone!

[Tesha]

10. That's the intention. 1GHz, 16 to 64 GB, 802.11n, all the bells and whistles. (NT)

10 hours active use, *ONE MONTH* standby!

Runs all the iPhone apps, pixel doubling if you wish.

[Iggo]

64. Does it come with a belt clip? (n/t)

[gateley]

11. It's amazing -- and I'm just following along on a live blog. .5 thick, 1.5 lbs,

9.7" display, and it does so much -- and Jobs hasn't finished, yet. I'm impressed.

[slutticus]

13. Bwahahahaha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1BUH9eXy18

[MadBadger]

15. I cant figure out whats so special about it. So when would I be using the iPad?

[Tesha]

20. Any time you want to read or browse the web but don't want your laptop computer...

...clogging up your lap. I can very easily see myself relaxing
on the couch or in a chair using thus gadget.

Let's see who the network carrier is and what the price-points
are -- then I'll know if it goes on the wish list or not.

Tesha

[Critters2]

56. It's AT&T, again. So people in rural areas with no At&T coverage

are cut out again. Monopolies suck.

[Touchdown]

83. It's coming. It takes time to build a new network

There's a lot of people here that are building out the 3G and building 4G elements. It just takes a lot of time to build out an advanced network. AT&T's 3G network is later tech than Verizon's, and more advanced (3.5mbps upgradeable to 7, as opposed to Verizon's capped 1.25mbps), which is why our 3G network is not as big and red as theirs. We waited until the tech was worth it. The wait is painful, I know. It just takes time to do the work. We can't hire anymore people because our CEO needs his $13M bonus.

Your friendly AT&T tech guy without a dorky gold striped helmet.:hi:

[tomm2thumbs]

73. please tell me they will eventually support flash -otherwise it is a large iphone as far as web goes

'no cam' seemed like a big drop given how they are in most decent netbooks of even minimal cost

[bikebloke]

16. I'll wait for the second generation.

When it can make pizza.

[Tesha]

18. No, no! It's panini! See today's "Doonesbury"!

[Nite Owl]

17. It's a beauty

I want one. First I need to have the money to pay for it though:(

[Dogmudgeon]

19. Why are these things STILL so expensive?

Even netbooks are still around $400.

$50 for a netbook, and $100 for a bleeding-edge item with snob appeal, is more in line with what Jobs is certainly calling "revolutionary".

If you want an ubiquitous technology, you have to make it possible to treat it like a kitchen or automotive appliance.

I bet Indians could make functionally identical products (with Linux instead of MacOSX) for around $25 ("netboox") to $50 ("tablux").

--d!

[smalll]

21. Duh. They DON'T want an "ubiquitous technology" -- they DON'T want what you mean by "revolutionary"

Apple continues to be about ridiculous cost for snob-appeal exclusivity.

[onehandle]

23. Why are cars STILL so expensive?

I can pick up a cardboard box off the street, draw wheels on the side, get inside and go 'vroom, vroom!' for free.

[Dogmudgeon]

26. But it won't work the same -- or at all

I'm talking about a work-alike.

It may not have the Apple logo, but that's extra. An inexpensive tablet computer could be produced at a much lower cost and fill the same niche as an i-tablet.

--d!

[Tesha]

24. Unfortunately, big high-pixel-density LCD screens and very dense Flash ROMs are still...

...quite expensive. The Bill-of-Materials list for this gadget
will cost even the Indians a lot more than $50.

And yes, the Apple logo costs something as well, but as with
BMWs versus Scions, at least some of that comes back to you
in the form of "you get what you pay for".

Tesha

[rucky]

25. because they can. n/t

[Dogmudgeon]

27. Kind of like why dogs ...

:evilgrin:

--d!

[onehandle]

22. Anyone who wants a Kindle cheap should start perusing eBay starting today. nt

[1awake]

28. Sounds like a netbook without the keyboard,

but alot less powerful.. which is saying something. I love my iphone.. but what does this offer me?

[Tesha]

29. What's it offer? The ability to read The New Yor Time, in bed, WITH video, ...

...without ever recycling another newspaper ever again!

That alone might be enough to sell me.

Seriously, this may finally do for "print" what the iPod
did for little plastic discs with music on them: drag them
kicking and screaming into the future.

By the way, did you notice that the book that was headlining
the iBooks part of the demo was Ted Kennedy's memoir?
THAT is another reason to support Apple; they're true blue
while Dell is red as Hell!

Tesha

[onehandle]

31. Michael Dell, Business Visionary, 1997.

And at the Gartner Symposium and ITxpo97 here today, the CEO of competitor Dell Computer added his voice to the chorus when asked what could be done to fix the Mac maker. His solution was a drastic one.

"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders," Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives.

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-203937.html

How's that Dell stock doing, Michael?

[Ellipsis]

40. ...and Sculley almost did.

I remember when the stock dropped to 7 bucks a share... fuck!

[Tesha]

41. As of yesterday: Dell market cap: $27B. Apple market cap: $183B.

I'll take Steve Job's (and Al Gore's) business advice over
Michael Dell's ;-).

Tesha

[crispini]

42. I can read the NYT in bed with my laptop.

This thing you have to hold. My laptop, I can pet a cat or two while I read.

I'm just not getting the love for this. Now, if it was a bit SMALLER, like a slightly overphone iPhone I could tuck in my purse, that I might understand. This -- too big for me.

[Critters2]

57. If you want to read the New York Times in bed, you can do that with the paper version.

Which is cheaper than this thing.

[TeeYiYi]

33. I wish Apple would make a netbook. ..nt

TYY

[Tesha]

38. And hey!, if you want, it offers a real hardware keyboard! (NT)

[Touchdown]

62. Mattel makes real hardware?

A flimsy keyboard fit for any 4 year old.

[Tesha]

69. My! What a clever put-down!

It's okay if you don't want to buy one; millions will.

Buy something that appeals to you more; *SOMEBODY*
has to buy the computer equivalent of Yugos so it might
as well be you.

Tesha

[Touchdown]

75. ummm, what were we talking about again?

I was putting down netbooks, because I think they're flimsy, underpowered and have cramped keyboards that look and feel fragile and cheap.

I don't know how well built this iPad is, but I do know that Apple as a rule doesn't produce shit, and they don't do slow processing. I'm going to try it.

I'm not sure what your getting at with the Yugo comment, since netbooks are clearly the computer equivalent of that old commie car.

[Tesha]

76. I took your comment as being aimed at the iPad keyboard; sorry! (NT)

[onehandle]

34. Priced from $499 to $829, depending on model.

[Ellipsis]

37. Cool... early adopters won't have a problem with that pricing.

Jobs loves his step pricing.


My understanding is he likes to take care of the manufacturing costs in a device's first release, pay for the die as it were... hence the higher plateau price


It looks a bit bulky and tough to hold on to, lots of repairs and funky third party thingies will appear for protection and safe handling.


Soon they'll be giving them away... they'll pay for themselves by the content you buy or the services you subscribe to and Apple will take a slice.

[NICO9000]

49. Step pricing - Ain't that the truth!

My 30GB iPod from 2005 died last spring, so I replaced it with a 120GB model for $249.00, $50 less than the old one was. No problem with that, but I was in Costco last week and they had 160GB one for around $230. Wish I could have waited, but I'm such a music nut, I really can't live without my iPod.

My wife has always had been an "Apple person" (or "Mapple person" for all you Simpsons geeks out there :) ) and I have to admit, I love their stuff too. However, the snob appeal aspect seems ridiculous to me, but they did build a better mousetrap, so to speak. In fact, I'm typing this on her new MacBook. I've never had a laptop before, and I love being freed from my desk. Plus, I agree with the poster who said it leaves lap room for a cat or two!

[Initech]

35. It's literally an iPhone with a bigger screen. Same exact OS and everything.

[Tesha]

39. Note, though, that as far as we can tell, it *ISN'T* a phone (except maybe via VOIP). (NT)

[gmoney]

45. Right, it's more like an iPod Touch expanded, with 3G internet

I'm starting to not mind that it doesn't have a phone or camera built in.

[Romulox]

43. Looks like hardware searching for a compelling application. Not ready for prime time, imo.

And I'm a fan of the Iphone.

[gmoney]

46. it's $10 more than the Kindle DX and does a million more things. what's the problem?

[Romulox]

60. Well, Kindle comes with free lifetime 3g, so that's not really an apples to apples!

Nor does the Ipod have E-Ink. So no, Ipad can't do all the things Kindle does! :hi:

[Statistical]

67. It is like saying a high end boat and low end house are same price.

The kindle and ipad are not in the same league.

eink is something you simple have to see. Once you get use to it the idea of reading on a backlight LCD seems downright primitive.

eink also allows vastly better battery life. Kindle lasts about 2 weeks when wireless is turned off (and there is no reason to turn on wireless except to purchase books).

Also the wireless is free.
They aren't in the same category.

The ipad is more like a netbook with a 3G card in it.

However amazon has huge markup on kindle. I saw a tear down article which indicates the components for Kindle is about $100 and the Kindle DX is about $160. Even adding 20% for labor, packaging, and shipping that is massive markup. Also eventually the kindle will be the razor and the books the razorblades. Amazon could give kindle away for cost and still make 30%+ of ebooks.

The good news is I hope the ipad will result in price drops on Kindle.
My guess is that Kindle sees a price drop after ipad launch. Likely to $199/$349. Another price drop in 6 months in time for Christmas to somewhere around $149/$299. Within a couple years we could see an improved "Kindle 3" at $99/$199 pricepoints.

[Touchdown]

48. It doesn't have to search hard for a use. 120,000 apps ready when you open the box

A new iWork (Slideshow/word processor/spreadsheet) geared for touch use ready for $10 at launch.

As for compelling... 10" screens are much more compelling for gay porn than 3" screens.:evilgrin:

[Romulox]

74. All those apps work on the device they were designed for...

"A new iWork (Slideshow/word processor/spreadsheet) geared for touch use ready for $10 at launch."

Every OSX user I know who is serious about word processing uses MS Office for OSX already. At any rate, not much word processing will be accomplished on a device without a keyboard.

"10" screens are much more compelling for gay porn than 3" screens."

Yeah--you know those 120,000 apps? The graphics/fonts/text for them are all scaled to that 3" screen. Stretching them onto a larger one won't magically increase their resolution!

[Touchdown]

77. But the gay porn! 10" is always better than 3"

:rofl:

You have a point about the resolution, but Apple has approached many of it's app developers last fall to upgrade their most popular apps to provide for higher resolution. I could see most of them finished and ready for download by the end of March when this thing arrives.

Anything done iWork is fully readable by MS office, and each one has a converter icon just to click. .pages to .wd or .num to .xls in a couple of seconds. This isn't the 80s anymore.

Besides, I seriously doubt that anybody would be looking at this thing to do serious word processing. More like hospital workers, doctors, contractors, real estate agents, photographers (like me who want a RAW enabled editing device away from home. iPhoto has it). Usually people who jot things down a lot, or carry a clipboard, like efficiency experts you run away from when they come around... which would make this a tool of the Devil!

[KonaKane]

52. A thousand bucks, when I could spend a hundred more and get an iMac

with a 27 inch screen and TB of space?

Let me think on it....


mmm, No.

[onehandle]

59. $499. nt

[Touchdown]

61. Now, now. Let them have their fun.

Besides, it's funny they use outdated 2 month old rumors after today's actual price announcement and still have the gumption to claim cleverness.

It's really kind of darling!:rofl:

[onehandle]

72. Even funnier. The $999 price was probably official Apple disinformation.

Evidence that the disinformation campaign worked.

[Zynx]

53. There really isn't a compelling reason to buy one if you already have a smartphone and a computer.

[alarimer]

54. just what we need- more useless junk.

More electronic garbage for landfills, more waste of resources, just to have the latest whatever.

[Touchdown]

55. Ok Gramps! I'm off your lawn now.

:eyes:

[Mudoria]

66. Looks like much ado about nothing..

[KharmaTrain]

68. A Glorified Netbook...

I thought they'd be integrating the faster 4G networks into this thing. Some of the reviews I heard called it a glorified netbook as the two do the same thing but the netbooks have USB connections that the IPad doesn't...as well as going for less.

But it's a new toy and Steven Jobs knows how to roll out a product. I'm interested in a portable toy, but this doesn't look like what I want.

[Touchdown]

80. 4G isn't going to be widespread until 2013.

I work for AT&T. Yes. It takes that long to deploy a new technology across the country.

Sprint may be bragging about their 4G, but a handful of elements in a couple of cities isn't what most phone companies would call a "Network"

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

71. Hey! This is APPLE, GODDAM IT!!!!

It's never about nothing and there is never, EVER to much Ado.

You've been warned. I'm giving you the Evil Eye...

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

70. Can I use it while riding my Segway?!

That way I can revolutionize transportation AND whatever the hell it is than an iPad does...

[Libertas1776]

78. Great

another shiny new toy to distract the people from their crushing debt (despite, ironically, putting them further into crushing debt)and dwindling savings accounts. :eyes:
I can see the news stories now: "Tonight, Foreign corporations and other limited liability entities now have the ability to give unlimited amounts of capital to influence elections but frankly that does not concern you since right now you are preparing to change the channel and go watch American Idol. It's on channel 5 by the way. Wait! You can probably use your i Slate Pad thingy to watch it. Oh man i hope that Kelly Sanjaya Lambert guy girl wins..."

[Shagbark Hickory]

79. If won't fit in my underpants.

yuk yuk yuk

[Cali_Democrat]

81. Why not just carry around a laptop? What's the difference?

:shrug: