You know I find it interesting that here is a single threaded, 1 gigahertz machine that is designed to fill a niche... NOT really designed to compete with PC's or MACs... Does not have memory protection... To fill a niche somewhere in between.. Sound familiar?

A machine that requires applications to be written specifically for it.. (Obviously not PC, MAC or Linux compatible), runs on proprietary hardware... (And I believe it is a Power architecture)

Am I the only one that thinks this sounds AMAZINGLY close to the description of what the new Amiga COULD have been? Does no one see the parallels here?

Here is a prime example of Apple brilliance.. Not the machine itself, but the background infrastructure that has allowed this machine to be feasible in the first place. (Itunes marketplace and the apps that are being written daily.)

Like the IPAD or not, like Itunes or not, the folks that masterminded the whole thing are friggin brilliant.. Given the same infrastructure and backing, the X1000 could be a huge success... Without it though, it will struggle to even reach hobbyist status...
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I saw that yesterday, looks nice, but is quite heavy for a device that shouldn't be
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Captain Picard had one of those!!!! They must have nabbed it from the 1980's sets!

Seriously, these touch screen things have been around in Sci-Fi for decades - we've just been waiting for the technology to catch up.

It's basically a tablet PC using recent advancements. Or a scaled up iphone or ipod.

Apple these days are better than Microsoft at remarketing old ideas - I'm sure they will be remembered for pioneering this device, even though it's just a tablet PC with Apples software and brand slapped on.

All the best to them - they have a strong marketing brand that people trust as a reliable technology partner, and indeed this could very well have been Commodore had they had the same 'umph' behind them.
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Apple have done their usual great job of making it look really nice, and the software looks and acts in a slick way similar to the iPhone. The photo gallery, image viewer etc all look great and move smoothly in the familiar touch screen interface.

However it is restrictive and locked into an Apple only world, which isn't good. No multitasking is mad in this day and age. For such a device I would want to be able to have more than one application open and running at the same time. My phone can do it, so this definitely should! It cripples the device for anything serious. It means you couldn't even have some music downloading to the device while you write an email!

And what about the software for it? All locked into Apple and the partners they have signed up for the iPad. Want to read a book on the device? You have to pay Apple to download it in the format they wish, from the publishing partners they allow. Same for music, applications, video etc...

I hate such restricted devices, locked into a single service provider. I want a device you can put whatever you want onto and play around with.

OK, you could argue it is fool proof. Everything is already installed on it and ready to go. You don't need, and can't have anything else. And all media is accessible to pay for and download at the click of a button. Great idea. Poorly implemented.

As Bloodwych said, its been around a very long time. Apple have just repackaged the idea, polished up the interface, cut down the hardware, and stuck a higher price tag on it. Usual story.
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I wonder who will be first to make an LCARS theme for it?
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Here's an interesting article on the iPad - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...web-users.html

Personally, as soon as I heard the name I thought of feminine hygene products. I agree with all of Harrison's points. The device has no appeal to me as a developer/tinkerer/hobbyist/hacker/thinker but without a doubt Apple will convince the world that they need it and can't live without it.
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I don't know if that is true. Existing Apple Fanboi's are split over it being the next best thing, or saying it is pointless and just an oversized iPod Touch, which is actually able to do pretty much the same things as the iPad.

The feminine hygiene products reference seems to be one a lot of people have instantly thought of, which can't be good for Apple's marketing. Wait till M$ pick up on that idea and run with it, or the spoof Apple vs PC ads. Should be fun.
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If it was more of a full computer it'd be great, but it's too limited. It's a great web browser an media player I'm sure, but it's expensive for what it does, which seems to be little more than my iphone but bigger and maybe slightly more comfortable to read text heavy sites.

I can see the potential for sure, but at the moment it doesn't really appeal to me that much. Maybe in a fe years, if apple can run with it and all the competitors follow suit and get everyone to up their game....

As it is, I think the ipad is a little bit crap.
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The problem with all tablet PCs to date, including the iPad, is that it has been a device that doesn't really fit into an existing market and users don't actually need or require. On the move they want something small and portable, so a smart phone or PDA of a similar size will always be preferred. And for anything more serious on the move users want the features of a full notebook with keyboard for working on the move.

So tablet PCs just don't really fit the requirements for anyone.

The way they are portrayed in fiction makes much more sense. Reference to Star Trek has already been made, in in that universe their portable tablets are used to read books, and to transfer data onto for checking between areas. Also in recent films, such as Avatar, they show tablet style PCs being used, with the data from the main computer screens being dragged onto the tablets, making it portable.

All these show the tablet as being used as an extension of the main larger computer, being able to move data between the 2 when you need portability. Once they make this work seamlessly tablet PCs will have a much more obvious practical use. In Hospitals for example, a doctor being able to drag a patients records and xrays onto a tablet ready for the consultation, or an engineer being able to drag data and schematics.

I think Apples idea of aiming for the same entertainment markets as the iPod and iPhone for the iPad is where the problem lies.
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And I am just looking at this as an interim step... The real appeal to this unit is the interface and the large display.. I think other manufacturers will follow suit with full fledged PC's utilizing this type of interface, large screen with no keyboard and it won't be long before ALL mobile PC's will be like this. I think the "Laptop" as we know it will soon be a thing of the past...

Hey Harrison, did you get my PM from last week?
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