The "Apple Inc." Thread iPad Mini

[robwebster]

Any guesses on when either Jobs or other people will say Apple keeps revolutionizing the industry even though tablets have been out for years?

In fairness, popularising it IS a revolution. Who's heard of a two-person revolution? If their invention is the one that's taking off and turning the tablet into a familiar consumer product as opposed to a bit of more specialist kit, they've revolutionised the market.

I'm not planning on getting an iPad, think it's a bit pointless unless you shit money, but it's not an unfair claim. They've made it interesting. Made it cool, taken it out of its niche, and marketed it successfully in a way that appeals to people. I mean, even myself - a moderately tech-savvy, modern fella - I have no plans to buy it, but now I recognise it as a viable piece of kit which real, human people use and buy and live their lives with. And it's only been out a few days. Will be even moreso when I start seeing mates with 'em. I'd never even thought about a tablet before the hype. If I'd seen one it was under a perception filter, 'cause the notion of a tablet never entered my head. Now I take it as given. That's pretty good.

It's as much a feat of PR as a feat of innovation (and it is both, to various extents), but it's a bit of a revolution. A mini one. A revolutionlet.

[Scurvy!Dreams]

How many times can I say it: THE iPAD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO REPLACE COMPUTERS.

No, but the current products and features that exist have raised the bar for what it's expected to be capable of.

What products are these?

Harry has hit the nail on the head, our entire point blankngold is that this is not a new device, it is simply a giant smartphone / portable media player. And as such, to me it is ridiculously oversized and impractical. I already have a smartphone, and between the iPod Touch and iPad, which both do exactly the same thing, I'm clearly going to pick the one that is easier to use and that I can actually fit in my pocket.

And I'm going to pick the one I can actually see shit on. But you're right, having a choice fucking blows.

Communist.

[blackngold29]

How do you recharge your MP3 player when you're traveling? You plug it into the wall.

If cloud computing is useless, then how are you accessing these files on a netbook?

How many times can I say it: THE iPAD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO REPLACE COMPUTERS.

Most MP3 players don't come with an AC adapter so no.

This. Not even iPods come with the AC adapter.

And when you're traveling you could buy the adapter oooor don't waste any money and charge it with a netbook.

My iPod came with an AC adapter, I know you can buy them.

Regardless, I'm sure most people don't use their netbook just to recharge other products.

[MetalManiac666]

It's not a computer

No, but it sure as hell is priced like one.

[Dimitrius]

How do you recharge your MP3 player when you're traveling? You plug it into the wall.

If cloud computing is useless, then how are you accessing these files on a netbook?

How many times can I say it: THE iPAD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO REPLACE COMPUTERS.

Most MP3 players don't come with an AC adapter so no.

This. Not even iPods come with the AC adapter.

And when you're traveling you could buy the adapter oooor don't waste any money and charge it with a netbook.

My iPod came with an AC adapter, I know you can buy them.

You obviously bought your iPod more than 5 years ago. Ever since they made the iPod that can play video, now called the iPod Classic, they don't come with the adapter.

[AcidLameLTE]

Regardless, I'm sure most people don't use their netbook just to recharge other products.

No you're right but what's that got to do with anything? I'm talking about how useful it is to recharge products while on the move, not purposefully buying a product to charge electronics and do nothing else.

It's not a computer

No, but it sure as hell is priced like one.

Particularly in the UK

[blackngold29]

Regardless, I'm sure most people don't use their netbook just to recharge other products.

No you're right but what's that got to do with anything? I'm talking about how useful it is to recharge products while on the move, not purposefully buying a product to charge electronics and do nothing else.

I just don't see that as a game breaker, as that isn't its purpose.

[AcidLameLTE]

No, there are plenty of other reasons for me not to get one. Plenty of which have been mentioned in this thread. You're just choose to ignore them.

[blackngold29]

No, there are plenty of other reasons for me not to get one. Plenty of which have been mentioned in this thread. You're just choose to ignore them.

I don't ignore them, I just don't agree that they are big enough that it's still not an amazing device.

[ariich]

You're just choose to ignore them.

You no use good grammar.

[AcidLameLTE]

No, there are plenty of other reasons for me not to get one. Plenty of which have been mentioned in this thread. You're just choose to ignore them.

I don't ignore them, I just don't agree that they are big enough that it's still not an amazing device.

You certainly didn't respond to them while you've been constantly responding to the USB thing.

Also, Super Dude bans American iPads:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/194320/israel_bans_ipads_from_america.html

[antigoon]

dammit super dude!

[MetalJunkie]

[antigoon]

HEYYO!

*rimshot*

[Sigz]

[AcidLameLTE]

iPad printing problem solved:

[emindead]

Fuckin' iPad, how does it work?

[blackngold29]

Every device printing problem solved: https://mashable.com/2010/04/16/google-cloud-print/

[Sigz]

ugghhh cloud computing

[Adami]

Fuckin' iPad, how does it work?

Imiracle.

[blackngold29]

ugghhh cloud computing

Google is starting to put a lot into it, so good luck with trying to take them down!

[Sigz]

Did I ever say I wanted to take Google down?

[orcus116]

I'm with Sigz. I don't really care that it's around but I don't feel comfortable having a lot of my personal files solely on servers across the country.

[Sigz]

Exactly. It has it's uses, but this whole 'in the future every computer will just be a terminal that links into THE CLOUD where we'll keep all of your stuff safe, trust us' thing is really neither exciting nor welcome. Is it really that hard just to carry a flash drive around?

[blackngold29]

Did I ever say I wanted to take Google down?

No, but with them behind the concept it'll be tough to avoid it.

I think that things are headed that way, more hardware emphasis on speed, less on memory -- for all things, especially portable devices. I can understand the personal documents thing, but for stuff like school work (which is the majority of things that I'm saving) I don't really care if Microsoft or Google can see it, though they say that they would never look at it.

As for the flash drive thing, I haven't used one for months and it actually does speed up the process of saving things quite a bit. And it's one less thing to worry about. You spend $45 on a good one and it could break or get lost.

[Sigz]

It's not just a privacy issue (though that is a major part of it). Now your ability to do your work is reliant both on Google or (god forbid) Microsoft maintaining their servers well and you having access to a good internet connection. Internet speeds still aren't at the point to where you can stream large bandwidth reliably, so trying to exchange anything more a few pictures or a .doc file takes time.

For example, last quarter I was in the circuits lab a lot, and had a shitload of screenshot from the digital oscilloscope. Each one was a 3mB tiff file, and there were dozens of these. I could try to upload and then later download 200 mB of TIFF files, or I could throw them on my flash drive and be out the door 30 seconds later.

As for the flash drive: https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Micro-Flash-SDCZ6-8192-A11/dp/B000UZN2ZK 13$, and it's spent the last three years on my keychain and it still works perfectly.

I just don't see what having a cloud setup would do for me. I have 8 gB of storage with me at all times and transfer rates that are at least 20 times faster than even the best internet connections.

[blackngold29]

I guess I never use stuff that big. It's always very quick with word, excel, powerpoint files and pictures.

Don't really buy the whole thing about servers crashing, sure it's happened, but there is always the chance that your flash drive dies too (which I've had happen and it isn't fun). Best thing to do is have the important stuff in multiple places. Who knows when your house could catch on fire.

If you're collaborating with other people, especially with any distance between you, cloud is far better than flash drive. Heck, I've used Google docs (which updates in real time) with people in the same room and it speeds up the process.

[Sigz]

If you're collaborating with other people, especially with any distance between you, cloud is far better than flash drive. Heck, I've used Google docs (which updates in real time) with people in the same room and it speeds up the process.

Oh it totally is. I'm not saying it doesn't have it's uses, but having this cloud-only setup which google seems to want to move to just seems stupid to me.

[ariich]

I completely agree, the whole notion is insane. Fortunately a lot of people feel the same way so it'll never happen.

[AcidLameLTE]

Heck, I've used Google docs (which updates in real time) with people in the same room and it speeds up the process.

Was it that difficult just to walk over to their desk?

To be honest, there's only going to be a very small niche for this, since most devices can print wirelessly anyway.

[blackngold29]

Heck, I've used Google docs (which updates in real time) with people in the same room and it speeds up the process.

Was it that difficult just to walk over to their desk?

To be honest, there's only going to be a very small niche for this, since most devices can print wirelessly anyway.

When you are writing an single article with multiple authors, everyone is doing research in different places it is a lot easier to say, "Paste that link [or those 17 paragraphs that you wrote] in the Google doc" than saying, "Read off that ginormous URL!"

The printer thing is that all the printers will be connected to the internet, so you can print on any printer anywhere from any device at anytime. You could have public printers or something like that... if we still print things out in the future.

[Sigz]

if we still print things out in the future.

We will.

[kári]

It's not just a privacy issue (though that is a major part of it). Now your ability to do your work is reliant both on Google or (god forbid) Microsoft maintaining their servers well and you having access to a good internet connection. Internet speeds still aren't at the point to where you can stream large bandwidth reliably, so trying to exchange anything more a few pictures or a .doc file takes time.

For example, last quarter I was in the circuits lab a lot, and had a shitload of screenshot from the digital oscilloscope. Each one was a 3mB tiff file, and there were dozens of these. I could try to upload and then later download 200 mB of TIFF files, or I could throw them on my flash drive and be out the door 30 seconds later.

As for the flash drive: https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Micro-Flash-SDCZ6-8192-A11/dp/B000UZN2ZK 13$, and it's spent the last three years on my keychain and it still works perfectly.

I just don't see what having a cloud setup would do for me. I have 8 gB of storage with me at all times and transfer rates that are at least 20 times faster than even the best internet connections.

If you're capitalizing the Bs, you might as well capitalize the ms and gs too. m = milli, M = mega and giga = G.

[Sigz]

Yeah, I'm not sure why I did that.

[emindead]

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