The Apple Announcement Thread: iPad2?

[greenmedic88]

dharh said:

Mummelmann said:

Still no Flash and; how is this in any way useful to someone who owns either a smartphone or a good laptop or, heck, someone who owns both (there are kind of a lot of people who own either or both, after all)?

It amazes me how Apple are able to convince their customers that they need such a redundant product (all consumer electronics are, strictly speaking, but this one more so than most). I'm sure they make some cool stuff but I will never understand how anyone can become so utterly entranced by products made by a company the same way that Apple fans do.

End of sour and grumpy post.

It's primary use has been and probably always will be the apps. Browsing the web on a tablet can be fun and all, but even I (a programmer and web developer) don't really see the use or appeal of using the iPad (which I own) to view web content in anything but a very minor fashion. Click a link, read some text, close browser. Even better when apps use the internal apps browser module instead of actually launching safari.

Believe it or not reading or watching video in super ralaxed in the bed mode is one of the best uses for the iPad, something I would never use a laptop for.

But back to the apps. Some of the games are killer fun and given the huge increase in performance of the iPad 2 (even though the iPad 1 was pretty limited to start with) I am hopeful in seeing a dramatic increase in complexity of games. There is a star map app that allows you to _point_ your iPad anywhere and see the stars that should be there. Clouds, buildings, the EARTH itself does not block the view. Truly an awesome app that would suck having to view through the tiny box of a phone.

If you believe in the potential of tablets then the iPad is still the best game in town by far. If you don't, well that's your opinion, but I think you are seriously missing the point of a device like this.

The size of the display alone distinguishes the iPad from the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The handhelds work; you can actually browse on them, particularly with the Retina displays that allow you to see an incredible amount of tiny text very legibly, but are they optimal for viewing content? Not at all; they're just extremely convenient.

I know I personally don't go anywhere without my keys, my wallet and my iPhone. I'm pretty sure tens of millions are in the same boat.

But, the other distinguishing feature is the fact that there are many apps that only run on the Mega iPod that is the iPad. Many of those apps are extremely useful and/or extremely cool like that virtual star chart app you mentioned. The cameras will also mean more augmented reality apps, and probably not just games. To be able to do the same thing with streets, cities, roads, etc. as you can with star maps would be considerably better than Google maps on an iPhone.

And yes, the iPad works great as a media player for watching video in bed rather than resting a laptop on your chest or stomach and it works great as a book reader, magazine reader, illustrated book reader, etc.

The uses are definitely there; 15 million didn't buy them because they're "brainwashed zombies" "Apple Fanboys" "because they're Cool" etc. There are plenty of legitimate uses for them. It doesn't take a great stretch of imagination to see the practical uses. They're used in classrooms, hospitals, on commercial airplanes, etc. etc. Far more practical than laptops when a full computer simply isn't needed.