iPad

[pbwalker]

I don't understand what the iPad's niche is. Can or does it run anything equivalent to Word or Excel? It doesn't have any USB ports. I read an article that posed the question about whether or not the laptop is dead with the iPad's arrival. I know that's not the question here, but I just don't see it replacing anyone's laptop yet.

Yes, there are apps for Word, Excel, and PPT. It has no USB ports but there is and add on to plug in your camera via USB or by SD card.

They're called "Keynote," "Pages," and "Numbers," and they can open/edit/save Powerpoint, Word, and Excel documents, as well as saving them into the Mac native file formats. The package is called iWorks, and it costs $79.00, which is just a wee bit cheaper than Microsoft Office (for Mac or PC).

Thanks TAM! I couldn't remember the names and almost called them by their Star Office equivalents!

Best part is that each of these apps are only $10 on the iPad. So if you're like me, you only need Keynotes and Pages, it costs $20!

By the way, TAM, how do you like iWorks? MS Office on the Mac has been my only Windows crutch, and from what I hear, they are releasing Outlook for Office 10 for the Mac. That'll likely keep me as a Office user...but I am always up for suitable replacements. How does iWorks handle the task?

-bw

[chabouk]

I don't understand what the iPad's niche is. Can or does it run anything equivalent to Word or Excel? It doesn't have any USB ports.

First things first: stop thinking of it as a competitor to your computer. It's not. It is a whole new niche of "personal entertainment device" that has not previously existed at this level.

Apple didn't invent the PC.
Apple didn't invent the mouse/GUI paradigm.
Apple didn't invent "windows" as an interface theme.
Apple didn't invent portable personal music players.
Apple didn't invent cellular phones.

Apple didn't invent a lot of stuff... and yet, they still managed to totally turn the markets upside down when they introduced their own products. They drive innovation, and perfect many products where others have failed.

Who else has sold 300,000 tablet PCs in total, let alone in 24 hours?

The iPad isn't supposed to be a replacement for anything. It's not a phone, it's not a camera, it's not a laptop/notebook/netbook, it's not a PC (except by the most pedantic definition).

The target niche? I suppose it's people like my family and I, although we don't plan to buy one. Like lots of modern media consumers, we can barely watch TV, let alone movies, without a computer at hand to access IMDB and Wikipedia to settle arguments about who played whom in some obscure show. Our house is a pretty "open plan", so our Roku- and DirecTiVo-connected TV in the living room is within sight of two desktops and two laptops, with only three adults to use them.

For other folks, I can see the iPad being a handy combination of remote control (lots of apps for that), secondary computer for looking up trivia while watching TV, excellent presentation device for sales folks, etc.

Or, in honor of Opening Day, I can see lots of baseball fans using iScore or other scorebook apps to give live updates. Speaking of... Woohooo, Rangers! Great comeback!

[gigag04]

Holding out for 3G....

[pbwalker]

Holding out for 3G....

I thought of doing the same, but now that there are Apps that turn your iPhone in to an Access Point, there's no point in paying double for data...

[The Annoyed Man]

By the way, TAM, how do you like iWorks? MS Office on the Mac has been my only Windows crutch, and from what I hear, they are releasing Outlook for Office 10 for the Mac. That'll likely keep me as a Office user...but I am always up for suitable replacements. How does iWorks handle the task?

-bw

Well, I'm like you in that I'm a transitional user. I've been an MS Office user going back to Windows 3.11, and so when I bought my first Mac back in 2004, I bought Office for Mac to go on it and never really considered iWorks until just this last year. I had a little money to spare, and I decided to give it a try. It seems to work OK, and I have recently started building a Keynote presentation for marketing my business instead of doing it in Powerpoint. But for the most part, I remain an Office user out of habit. That said, when my wife needed an office software suite, I installed iWorks on her MacBook Pro (I bought a family license for multiple machines) and she is using it and happy with it — although she's still learning everything that you can do with it. She is not a techie, and she always found using Word (and virtually any other application except for email and browsers) to be confusing, so she doesn't have any "software habits" to unlearn.

[The Annoyed Man]

I don't understand what the iPad's niche is. Can or does it run anything equivalent to Word or Excel? It doesn't have any USB ports.

First things first: stop thinking of it as a competitor to your computer. It's not. It is a whole new niche of "personal entertainment device" that has not previously existed at this level.

Apple didn't invent the PC.
Apple didn't invent the mouse/GUI paradigm.
Apple didn't invent "windows" as an interface theme.
Apple didn't invent portable personal music players.
Apple didn't invent cellular phones.

Apple didn't invent a lot of stuff... and yet, they still managed to totally turn the markets upside down when they introduced their own products. They drive innovation, and perfect many products where others have failed.

Who else has sold 300,000 tablet PCs in total, let alone in 24 hours?

The iPad isn't supposed to be a replacement for anything. It's not a phone, it's not a camera, it's not a laptop/notebook/netbook, it's not a PC (except by the most pedantic definition).

The target niche? I suppose it's people like my family and I, although we don't plan to buy one. Like lots of modern media consumers, we can barely watch TV, let alone movies, without a computer at hand to access IMDB and Wikipedia to settle arguments about who played whom in some obscure show. Our house is a pretty "open plan", so our Roku- and DirecTiVo-connected TV in the living room is within sight of two desktops and two laptops, with only three adults to use them.

For other folks, I can see the iPad being a handy combination of remote control (lots of apps for that), secondary computer for looking up trivia while watching TV, excellent presentation device for sales folks, etc.

Or, in honor of Opening Day, I can see lots of baseball fans using iScore or other scorebook apps to give live updates. Speaking of... Woohooo, Rangers! Great comeback!

Those are all excellent points. Thanks for posting that. Our home appears to be like yours in many respects. Like you, my wife, adult son, and I cannot watch a movie together without a laptop and IMDB. And between a (Verizon) DVR, a Blue Ray box which can connect to Netflix for streaming movies from the 'Net, and there are multiple laptops and a desktop within line of sight of most of the TVs in the house. (We rarely go out for entertainment anymore, unless it is to socialize with others, and even then, we most often host the socializing in our home. )

I think that what would anchor an iPad purchase for me would be if it can connect to my other Apple computers using Airport for the purpose of file sharing. If it can do that, then I can justify it as an alternative presentation device for my particular business as well as for its personal entertainment value.

If you're a Ranger's fan, you might want to check out http://timetomakeyoungcaptain.com/, a website I built recently for a friend of mine. Vote if you want to see Michael Young made captain of the team.

[grumble]

Holding out for 3G....

Me too.

[Abraham]

People yearn for different technologies...

I want a new wood splitting ax.

I want a new handle for my sledge hammer.

I want to replace the four large outdoor caster wheels for even larger pneumatic tires to fit the heavy metal cart I manually pull to haul brutally heavy items over broken terrain.

The list goes on, but an ipad, well, gurrrrrrly men want those things!

Of course, I don't understand 'fantasy' sports teams either, I guess they're another gurrrrrrly man thing I'll never understand...

[marksiwel]

why dont you just use a chainsaw to split wood, never understood that

[The Annoyed Man]

... well, gurrrrrrly men want those things!

You don't get out much, do you?

[Keith B]

why dont you just use a chainsaw to split wood, never understood that

Apparently you have never split a lot of wood.

Using a chainsaw is WAY too slow and would end up eating the chain up over a short time.

[marksiwel]

why dont you just use a chainsaw to split wood, never understood that

Apparently you have never split a lot of wood.

Using a chainsaw is WAY too slow and would end up eating the chain up over a short time.

I see.
and yes, I have never split wood (we had electricity at my house )

[Abraham]

What chew talkin bout, I'm outdoors ALL day every day!

I use a chainsaw to cut the wood I then split.

Some of the cut logs are more than 30" in diameter and cutting them into wooden cookies for a fire isn't as much fun as splitting them with a mall and steel wedges. Although if you've never had the pleasure, how could you know...? (bear in mind this sort of thing creates sweat, calloused hands and is most heartily enjoyed while chewing tobacco or dipping while also listening to the winds blow through the trees)

A cord of split and stacked firewood is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, ah, until it's burned.

[pbwalker]

The list goes on, but an ipad, well, gurrrrrrly men want those things!

Of course, I don't understand 'fantasy' sports teams either, I guess they're another gurrrrrrly man thing I'll never understand...

Do you feel better about yourself making fun of other people?

[marksiwel]

The list goes on, but an ipad, well, gurrrrrrly men want those things!

Of course, I don't understand 'fantasy' sports teams either, I guess they're another gurrrrrrly man thing I'll never understand...

Do you feel better about yourself making fun of other people?

I know I do