The iPad is selling like ice in the desert

[4phun]

iPad App Developers More Optimistic Than Ever




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[col.bris]

I said it before this is only the beginning of a whole new market. Not a laptop with win 7 or snow leopard not a cut down net computer with xp or basic win 7
It is a device the masses will buy because it is easy to use and so cool to use mark my words the ipad is a winner for Apple



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kheldour]

I totally agree......we can be proud to be part of that development.
In 20 years people will remember the year 2010 as the year, where Apple revolutionized the computer industry......

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8]......wait, what did Apple do 1984 ?[/ame]​

 

[dabears]

I agree. The best I've done so far is not listening to my friends about not getting the iPad. They are really missing out this technology. I love this thing and it is easier to use and a lot quicker to do just basic stuff.

 

[Seadog]

The iPad is what the public wants. Not what the techies thinks the public wants.

 

[iVan]

I would add that pirates don't like it either because the iPad is restraining to the easiness of their doings.

 

[figmo10]

I spent the first fifty years of my life without a mobile phone. I spent the first forty-five years of my life without personal access to the internet. Before this iPad purchase, the most significant technological breakthrough in my life has been the universal application of remote control to every TV in my house. It's exciting to see new technology brought to consumer use.....but in ten years (maybe less) this iPad, to those in grade school now, will be quaint.

 

[mac]

The iPad is what the public wants. Not what the techies thinks the public wants.

I bet it isn't. It'll be a niche product. Just like the iPhone (c.2.6% of total mobile phone sales in 2009)

Those Chitika Labs numbers are total nonsense.

I'd love for tablets to take off. My business would benefit enormously, but I don't think they will. They just have too many physical limitations for the average punter.

Many of the new features found in iPhones and iPads had to be added in order to make up for their physical limitations. Stuff like touchscreens, internal gyros, a simplified OS make up for the limitations of the form factor.

I suspect the spread of the tablet will be stymied by the appearance of devices that will have all of these goodies included within a package that doesn't have the physical limitations of a tablet.

Something with the dimensions/weight of an iPad, but with a keyboard/screen protector attached that swivels to allow the device to be used in tablet or 'laptop' mode. The guts will be below the keyboard putting the weight at the bottom so the machine will sit up. The screen will be backed with carbon to create a stiff yet wafer-thin unit. It'll have 10+ hours battery life and enough processing power to allow you to choose between running a mobile phone type OS or a full desktop OS.

The next MacBook Air (hopefully)

 

[gentlefury]

The iPad is what the public wants. Not what the techies thinks the public wants.

I bet it isn't. It'll be a niche product. Just like the iPhone (c.2.6% of total mobile phone sales in 2009)

Those Chitika Labs numbers are total nonsense.

I'd love for tablets to take off. My business would benefit enormously, but I don't think they will. They just have too many physical limitations for the average punter.

Many of the new features found in iPhones and iPads had to be added in order to make up for their physical limitations. Stuff like touchscreens, internal gyros, a simplified OS make up for the limitations of the form factor.

I suspect the spread of the tablet will be stymied by the appearance of devices that will have all of these goodies included within a package that doesn't have the physical limitations of a tablet.

Something with the dimensions/weight of an iPad, but with a keyboard/screen protector attached that swivels to allow the device to be used in tablet or 'laptop' mode. The guts will be below the keyboard putting the weight at the bottom so the machine will sit up. The screen will be backed with carbon to create a stiff yet wafer-thin unit. It'll have 10+ hours battery life and enough processing power to allow you to choose between running a mobile phone type OS or a full desktop OS.

The next MacBook Air (hopefully)

Ummm, touch screens and accelerometers and the OS are not meant to counterbalance flaws in the design!! They are meant to enhance the user experience. That's like saying a mouse is just a fad meant to enhance the user experience due to limitations in a keyboard. Touch screen is the new mouse and in 10 years will be the standard.

As for swiveltops they have been around for years and have never really done too well...the keyboard is no longer needed for casual use. Remember...iPad is a netbook replacement...not desktop.

 

[Seadog]

When I was at The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference a few years back, someone asked Bill Gates what he most admired about Steve Jobs. Gates answered that he wished he had Jobs's sense of design and style. Jobs is one of the few people in our industry who understands style and design as well as technology.

There are four key reasons why Jobs considers the iPad his most important achievement. The first has to do with making the computer experience transparent to the user. When I use the iPad, I don't feel like I'm using a computer. I have been working with mainframes, mini-computers, and PCs for more than 30 years. The iPad is a very different computing experience. I recently showed an iPad to a senior citizen who couldn't understand that the device is actually a computer. She kept looking for a keyboard. When she used the tablet, she instinctively touched the screen to get an item she wanted to read. In fact, once she figured out the basics of its touch navigation, it was hard to get the device back from her.
The second reason that Jobs is so jazzed about the iPad is that he believes the device will usher in the era of touch computing. When Apple unveiled the Mac and introduced us all to the mouse, it was pointed out that the device is not a natural way to navigate computer data. In fact, someone I know said that using a mouse is like using a potato to move data and images around a computer screen. But however unnatural the mouse might be, we soon learned to use it to navigate through graphical user interfaces. Computer scientists have known for decades that touch is a far more natural way to interact with computers.
What Jobs seems to understand about consumers is the fact that most of the time we're on our computers, we're consuming information, not creating it. The third reason Jobs considers the iPad so important is the fact that the device is optimized for consumption, accommodating 70 percent of what we actually do on computers. The tablet form factor makes it much easier to consume data in all manner of positions. The same can't be said for laptops and desktops. You can use the iPad on the couch, lounging by the pool, or even lying in bed.
The fourth reason Jobs is so convinced of the iPad's importance is the fact that the device is a chameleon. In most cases, it's a bad idea to design a device that attempts to be all things for all people. But the iPad truly excels at four or five things, including Web browsing, picture display, movie watching, playing games, and running apps. The device is easily customizable to meet the needs of individuals and vertical market. In the two weeks it has been out, its diversity has become apparent.
The iPad may well be utilized by the medical, police, education, military, and publishing fields. It could conceivably fit into the background of all types of vertical applications and industry specific computing needs. (A side prediction: the iPad and its ilk could become major computers for troops in the field. With its 3G, GPS, mapping and data communications, and a light weight, if they could be ruggedized, the tablets could have quite in impact in military field operations in the fut ure.)

I have done quite a bit of editing to keep it compact, but this is where I think the iPad is going to shine. I rely on my desktop to complete a lot of work, but that is only a part of what I use a computer for. I rarely use my radio or CD player at home, my computer or iPod does what I want. I watch movies and TV on my computers as much as on my 42" HDTV. Mainly because I find better shows on HULU classics. With internet and books on computers, there is little media that is not available on the iPad. Yes a movie is going to be nicer on the 42", music better through my surround sound, and a book is always a good feel in my hands. But I can do all these things from one device that is easy to use, and easy to take with me anywhere. If I am lounging under a tree, I can read a book. If I decide to check my e-mail or look up the price of anything, or take a nap listening to my favorite music, I do not have to get up to do so. The possibilities are endless and traveling just became more bearable.

 

[Superbike81]

Actually the Chitka Labs numbers aren't total nonsense. Remember when they announced OS 4.0? The numbers on that website said just over 600,000. What did Jobs say in the intro? Yup, 600,000 units sold.

 

[Seadog]

Their methodology of estimating the number of iPads is much better than version 1.0. I would not bet the farm on it, but you can rest assurred that it is pretty close.

 

[mac]

Ummm, touch screens and accelerometers and the OS are not meant to counterbalance flaws in the design!!

That's not what I'm saying. It's not about design flaws. It's about physical limitations. Mobile phones are by definition small. You can't pack much in there right now (computing power, buttons, etc). So a touchscreen, accelerometer, simplified OS liberates the form factor. Allows it to do more.

They are meant to enhance the user experience.

Not just that. They make that small, pocketable device more useful.

When you make the device bigger (and so potentially more capable) why burden it with the same physical handicaps?

That's like saying a mouse is just a fad...

I'm not saying that anything is a fad. I'm saying that technology developed to make devices with physical limitations (size) more useful can make devices without those physical limitations even more useful.

...meant to enhance the user experience due to limitations in a keyboard.

That's exactly what a mouse does.

Touch screen is the new mouse and in 10 years will be the standard.

I agree. They make a great mouse/trackpad solution (did you ever see those pictures someone made of a theoretical MBP with an iPod touch screen with an image of what was on the mainscreen where the trackpad is today), but for at least 90% of the population they don't make very good keyboards. Yet.

And a keyboard makes a great scratch protector for a computer screen.

As for swiveltops they have been around for years and have never really done too well...

You can say the same about tablets. But new tech and hype have given them a bit of a boost.

The same tech, plus some new structural thinking can do the same for swiveling screens, and cater to the mass's desire for a keyboard/screen protector/something-to-prop-the-screen-up-with (and aversion to buying lots of extras)

the keyboard is no longer needed for casual use.

But it's the preferred text input device by most right now. And if it has those other functions. And you can have one, and still have a super-slim, super-light machine then why not.

Remember...iPad is a netbook replacement...not desktop.

What's the difference between a netbook and a desktop these days? To your average Windoze user, very little. And in a year or two?

To us Mac users (7.5% of the laptop market by volume) the iPad is a big deal. Our laptops cost on average $1400 and are all slick and shiny. But to a Windoze user their laptops cost on average $569 (that figure doesn't include netbooks).

Cheap, powerful, 10 hour battery life, super skinny Windoze convertibles are already starting to appear. And they're going to get skinnier.

I just have a feeling the masses are going to want the deluxe tablet with the multi-purpose screen protector already attached (and included in the price).

 

[mac]

Actually the Chitka Labs numbers aren't total nonsense. Remember when they announced OS 4.0? The numbers on that website said just over 600,000. What did Jobs say in the intro? Yup, 600,000 units sold.

They are I'm afraid. They reset the number significantly downwards whenever Apple announces a figure (they were reading 620,000 iPads sold when Apple announced 450,000 sold - and have revised their number downwards at least 3 times to my knowledge)

I'm sure that whenever Apple hits the million they'll send out a press release.

 

[Seadog]

Apple will not send out a press release when they hit a million because they will not know for certain for several days. The main thing is that the estimates are much better now than they had been.