I am surprised, and pleased, about the number of newsagents who have contacted me with news that they received iPads for Christmas. Nice.
It is great hearing about the apps they have discovered and sharing some of my favourites. Better than this, however, is their reaction to the device itself. For most, the reaction is I get what the fuss is all about now … wow!
Once they go beyond the initial discovery, there is the pleasure of the productivity boost for the newsagency business from the device. Great stuff!
I still can’t get into iAnything… I don’t find them appealing on a personal point of view.
This basically sums it up;
http://www.dula.tv/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/stone-vs-ipad.png
That’s gold Aaron.
I’ve had an ipad for a few months now and i’ve got to say it was a complete waste of money and hasn’t been used much at all. It’s currently on ebay so hopefully that’ll recoup most of my losses.
I had the previous 2 versions of the iphone and have the lastest one as well which does everything an ipad does but just does more. I can see the appeal for those who haven’t had much to do with this technology and those who haven’t had an apple product before but for me it’s much easier and convenient to carry something around in my pocket that you can actually call/sms on than lumping around my ipad.
iPad came for Christmas and it’s had a thorough working out every day since. I find many apps very useful and convenient to use at home (wifi only model, set up on the network at home). Plus, the books I thought I would hate reading cos they aren’t paper … I was wrong. Only issue I have is because I spend so much time looking at it, I’m starting to get sore eyes. Must see optometrist. lol
I have looked up the popular apps via iTunes and Google, but are there any apps anyone reading here would highly recommend?
Having discussed the iPad with quite a few people, I have noticed that people who already have an iPhone are not so keen on the iPad. Likely because, as Steph pointed out, it’s easier to carry the iPhone around, plus it has calling and texting capability. I have never used or owned anything Apple before, but, for me, the iPad is an amazing thing.
Love my iPad, and think Mark is bang on to be, well banging on about it.
I devour all the US mags that cost a fortune retail on it. I find now that I am reading/purchasing more of the editions than I previously did. So retailers will miss out on probably ten to 20 airfreight international purchases from me this year while I triple my edition purchases. As soon as CN Traveller is on there that subscription will lapse.
Vanity Fair and T&L US are highlights imo, but I am a mag junkie.
The local iPad versions are poor by comparison, suffering from a lack of investments as a direct result of tablet sales to date.
Sorry Steph,
As a long time iPhone user and a very new iPaduser (thank you Santa), comparing these two devices is like comparing a Mini-Minor to a Statesman – sure I can park the Mini in places I wouldn’t dare take a Statesman but that’s about it’s only advantage. Wanna get from A to B in a hurry, want to carry a decent payload, want comfort, want everything a Mini can offer (except the ability to park in small spaces) give me a Statesman any day – likewise with the iPad – you can’t compare the two.
As has been blogged by Mark and many others, the iPad is a mindset changing device that will challenge the current print model like no other device has (or will, at least in the way we currently perceive news media). I don’t believe the iPad was ever touted as a phone replacement so those comparisons are irrelevant, the portability issue is also a furphy – the iPad removes (for those with a technology bent) the need to carry cumbersome shoulder-destroying laptops replacing them with a highly functional, useable, readable device which, when coupled with some smart software,gives use the device we have dreamed of for years.
Bottom line – comparing iPhones with iPads is like comparing canaries with cats – both beautiful depending on the fancies and whims of the beholder – but I will back the cat any day!!
I’ve tried out the iPad and I still don’t see the big fuss about it. A lot of what it does is already done on current technology, and done better by a lot of other things.
This is speaking from a personal point of view, although I do agree that the iPad and other tablet sort of devices may have their benefits for a business or the like, but I can’t justify the cost of the iPad to say a netbook/laptop, which would usually have better techinical specs at a lower cost, and you wouldn’t need all the meaningless crap that Apple basically forces you to buy.
On holidays and walking around the caravan park I am staying in, there seems a lot of people using IPads ,they are mainly in their 30s and 40s (maybe only people able to afford them). Being a lucky recipiant myself I can see why people love these,they are simple to use and easy to navigate around
Clients who have these are telling me companies they are on boards of are buying theses for send out agendas and minutes etc for meetings.
Nobody I have spoken to have spoken ill of this device
A convert
David,
I’ve been hearing the same thing from suppliers with on-road teams. If any newsagents visit the gift fairs watch out for suppliers using tablets these over the next few years.
Aaron,
Over the next 12 months we’ll see a highly price-competative tablet market. The iPad, like all apple devices (except for the iPad) is pitched as a premium device with a premium price tag.
Yes, a lot of what the ipad does can already be done on other technology. But i would think most people agree that doing it on the iPad is often faster, easier and more engaging for the user. Its doing the same thing with a different experience. Technical specs are basically irrelevant as no-one is pitching tablets as power-computing devices.
woops – those brackets should read “(except for the iPod)”
‘pitched as a premium device with a premium price tag’
Or an average device with a bloated price. (in regards to other apple products)
Aaron,
Total sales of 14.7M units in its first 3Q would indicated that the market disagrees with you.
An old article, but I still agree with the final point.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/old-media-expects-too-much-from-the-ipad-2010-04-02
The 14.7m units would include Apple fanboys who would buy used toilet paper if it had the Apple icon on it. Impressive sales figures I agree but I’m sorry the iPad can not seriously be described in any way as a premium product though it certainly has a premium price. Apple have been very smart in marketing and creating sexy products and are without peer when it comes to creating desireability from it’s followers. I agree that it is a device that is the first of the game changers but like most technological products others will do it as well and in most cases much better than Apple ever could.
Any person who looks beneath the glamorous surface of the iPad would find there is nothing very premium at all. You can’t print from it, it has no real ability to have additional usb devices plugged into it, it can’t use Flash Player etc, etc. I could go on and a lot of serious tech heads do. I know some of these things will come with the 2nd Gen model and 3rd Gen will be probably add more features however this is what Apple are great at doing i.e puting out a simple device with game changing fundamentals though lacking a lot of basic features whilst creating desire and making people reach into their pockets to buy their products. I have to admire that but it doesn’t change my conviction about the product.
If you’ve guessed I’m anti Apple you’re right. Give me substance over style any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
I’m not denying these devices are gamechangers, far from it, but I don’t think it does too much more that what can be already be done on a simple netbook.
For the avoidance of doubt I have played with one for a number of weeks and quite frankly aside from some novelty in a large touch screen it’s not exactly blowing up my skirt.
Angelo,
I’m certainly no apple fanboy. I hate Apple and will find any excuse to ditch their products and platform. But conversely I love my iPad. That’s not to say I won’t ditch it once the android tablet market matures over the next 12 months.
A netbook and a tablet can do the same thing – but the experience is different (better) on a tablet. I use my iPad more than I use my laptop. It’s not ment to be a laptop replacement but a complimentary piece of tech.
Oh, and when it was released the iPad was a premium device because it was basically the only tablet on the market. That naturally changes as competitors enter the market with better offers. But that doesn’t change the where Apple pitches the product. Premium of not, that is how Apple market their products and so that is where they sit in the minds of consumers.
From the moment I got my first iPad I realised that this is not a computer and should not be compared to a computer.
Beforehand I wanted to use it to replace my workhorse laptop. That’s not what the iPad is about.
So, I think we need to not be comparing it with traditional computing requirements.
2011 will see considerable change. Think about the first iPod. The iPod range has continued to change as more competitors entered the space. the same will happen here.
I say this as someone who has just purchased a new laptop and stuck with a Windows based sexy (and blindingly fast) Sony.