One I met in a meeting enthused to me that "it's such a lightweight replacement for a laptop, really. I love it", while struggling to arrange his case in the proper prop-up position.
My Sony Z11 for a purely idle comparison is 1400g.
710g iPad + 350g Apple keyboard + ~200g case = hmmmm.
I like the iPad as an entertainment device, but as I said to the guy - I'm not in the habit of digging for potatoes using a stick of celery. He looked confused.
Discussion about
I'm seeing a lot more people carting around elaborately cased iPads with an Apple keyboard.
Now I'm confused.
You asked this gentleman for his opinion and he gave it to you, however flawed it is, it is still his opinion. He is happy with his device, and the job it does, regardless if he imagines that his sole happiness is due to it being lightweight, he still is satisfied.
Now you come along and effectively consider his opinion, that you solicited, irrelevant. It would be as if you pointed at something red and said, "what color is that?"' I say red, and you say, "no it's not, it's black.".
I carry around my iPad naked, but it's not the weight that I am concerned about. Why would I need you Sony Z11 when I have something that boots up quicker after sleep, launches email/web quicker, and performs ever function that I require of a portable device without all the hassles of windows.
Heres the point, yesterday, three people from my family, couldn't get a $300 portable net book to connect to the Internet. Buried in the settings, you had to remap the network, and reboot the computer, and then reenter the password for it to connect, and it still runs slow. I fired up the iPad, it detected the wireless, after the password was entered, it ran nice and smooth.
Now I know both you and I are computer savvy enough to know how to fix a buggy network connection in windows, but every computer I see AND every version of windows has a different method of doing this. On an iPad, you never have to mess with anything, just enter pass and go, don't you think that is much easy for those who don't understand tech as much as we do?
You asked this gentleman for his opinion and he gave it to you, however flawed it is, it is still his opinion. He is happy with his device, and the job it does, regardless if he imagines that his sole happiness is due to it being lightweight, he still is satisfied.
Now you come along and effectively consider his opinion, that you solicited, irrelevant. It would be as if you pointed at something red and said, "what color is that?"' I say red, and you say, "no it's not, it's black.".
I carry around my iPad naked, but it's not the weight that I am concerned about. Why would I need you Sony Z11 when I have something that boots up quicker after sleep, launches email/web quicker, and performs ever function that I require of a portable device without all the hassles of windows.
Heres the point, yesterday, three people from my family, couldn't get a $300 portable net book to connect to the Internet. Buried in the settings, you had to remap the network, and reboot the computer, and then reenter the password for it to connect, and it still runs slow. I fired up the iPad, it detected the wireless, after the password was entered, it ran nice and smooth.
Now I know both you and I are computer savvy enough to know how to fix a buggy network connection in windows, but every computer I see AND every version of windows has a different method of doing this. On an iPad, you never have to mess with anything, just enter pass and go, don't you think that is much easy for those who don't understand tech as much as we do?
I've just read that and the only thing I have to say is: perhaps you should consider retiring your techie card, if you consider yourself as one.
First of all, I didn't solicit his opinions. Like most people like this, he solicited my solicitation.
Second, you're forgetting the issue of what productivity is actually possible after a bootup that *may* be protracted by a few seconds in a professional context.
Third, I have everything I make positive or negative comments on - and I don't carry an iPad for work because I have tried to do so, and it doesn't work once you get past the novelty of having it. It is actually counterproductive, because you spend most of your time figuring out workarounds to get x to happen on the iPad. Unlike the issue of an occasional wireless problem (a rather spurious example but we will let that slide) these are fairly fundamental things germane to the use of the device even in a fairly casual work context.
Fourth, and this is a personal point, I don't ascribe functional deficiencies to a device when they are the result of my ignorance - I realise I am extremely rare in that respect. I only ascribe functional deficiencies to devices when they can't keep up with me - as my row of Dislikes for recent Apple computers can attest, for example.
First of all, I didn't solicit his opinions. Like most people like this, he solicited my solicitation.
Second, you're forgetting the issue of what productivity is actually possible after a bootup that *may* be protracted by a few seconds in a professional context.
Third, I have everything I make positive or negative comments on - and I don't carry an iPad for work because I have tried to do so, and it doesn't work once you get past the novelty of having it. It is actually counterproductive, because you spend most of your time figuring out workarounds to get x to happen on the iPad. Unlike the issue of an occasional wireless problem (a rather spurious example but we will let that slide) these are fairly fundamental things germane to the use of the device even in a fairly casual work context.
Fourth, and this is a personal point, I don't ascribe functional deficiencies to a device when they are the result of my ignorance - I realise I am extremely rare in that respect. I only ascribe functional deficiencies to devices when they can't keep up with me - as my row of Dislikes for recent Apple computers can attest, for example.
Let's cut to the chase and hit on the real issue.
You either lack the imagination or intelligence to be able to use the iPad to its full potential, which in some cases is even greater than any computer that is available today. So which is it?
I have to figure out work-arounds all the time with my Windows device, I don't call this a limitation of a particular platform OR device, I call this LIFE.
I am a scientist who interacts with computers for a variety of different objectives on a daily basis. Let's look at three, data entry, bioinformatics, and presentations.
#1. I would never use the iPad OR a laptop for data entry/manipulation in excel. For that matter I wouldn't use "Numbers" for data entry either. I was schooled in excel and am familiar with the macros and interface, it wouldn't make sense to switch. Writing a paper also involves Word, although it can be created in Pages, I use Endnote which interfaces with Word, (not seamlessly I might add), but it does. Now, I wouldn't do either of these on a laptop, EVER. I have two 20 inch screens and those don't have enough real estate, as I would add a thirds screen in a heartbeat.
#2. I have to install a whole different operating system on my Windows machine (VMWare with Ubuntu installed) because Windows is noticeably deficient when programing in PERL for a number of reasons I won't explore. THIS IS A WORKAROUND. OSX is a bit better because it is built on a Unix platform, but not by much. Here is another example of something I would not use a laptop for, since it requires hours of work, and processing and memory power, that aren't available when crouched over a laptop.
#3. Presentations. These require creating graphics, tables, and figures through several photo and vector manipulation programs. The old standby has been Powerpoint, but I don't use it because it is deficient. I need a workaround which is Keynote, using my home computer (iMac) to both create the graphics and prepare the presentation. After completion, I need to use a Mac Laptop or equivalent (hello iPad) to show the presentation, because when you port it to a Win machine with Powerpoint, you lose the feel of the presentation. Once again this is a workaround for both Windows AND the iPad/Laptop/Desktop argument.
You see, I don't let the limitations of software and hardware bring my productivity or expression to a standstill. I don't complain about what something can't do, I pioneer in efforts to use new technology, which doesn't always have a user manual attached defining everything it is capable of doing. I have found this characteristic extremely useful to me during my entire career and I don't expect this to change.
Ok, ok, ok. If you don't want to listen to me, why don't you take a look at this link.
www.tuaw.com/2010/07/05/found-footage-creating-pho...
Instead of sitting around and complaining that one's finger isn't suitable enough to draw a detailed digital picture, it appears this person found a workaround, provided in the form of an App, that allowed him to create, and his imagination, which gave him the desire to try.
People need to stop complaining about what things aren't and don't do, and show some more effort.
Would I do data entry or type a word document on my iPad? No. Would I be surprised if someone did? Not at all. However, this doesn't mean its not a computer, so continually defending the fact that its not a laptop is not an opinion that I put any respect towards.
You either lack the imagination or intelligence to be able to use the iPad to its full potential, which in some cases is even greater than any computer that is available today. So which is it?
I have to figure out work-arounds all the time with my Windows device, I don't call this a limitation of a particular platform OR device, I call this LIFE.
I am a scientist who interacts with computers for a variety of different objectives on a daily basis. Let's look at three, data entry, bioinformatics, and presentations.
#1. I would never use the iPad OR a laptop for data entry/manipulation in excel. For that matter I wouldn't use "Numbers" for data entry either. I was schooled in excel and am familiar with the macros and interface, it wouldn't make sense to switch. Writing a paper also involves Word, although it can be created in Pages, I use Endnote which interfaces with Word, (not seamlessly I might add), but it does. Now, I wouldn't do either of these on a laptop, EVER. I have two 20 inch screens and those don't have enough real estate, as I would add a thirds screen in a heartbeat.
#2. I have to install a whole different operating system on my Windows machine (VMWare with Ubuntu installed) because Windows is noticeably deficient when programing in PERL for a number of reasons I won't explore. THIS IS A WORKAROUND. OSX is a bit better because it is built on a Unix platform, but not by much. Here is another example of something I would not use a laptop for, since it requires hours of work, and processing and memory power, that aren't available when crouched over a laptop.
#3. Presentations. These require creating graphics, tables, and figures through several photo and vector manipulation programs. The old standby has been Powerpoint, but I don't use it because it is deficient. I need a workaround which is Keynote, using my home computer (iMac) to both create the graphics and prepare the presentation. After completion, I need to use a Mac Laptop or equivalent (hello iPad) to show the presentation, because when you port it to a Win machine with Powerpoint, you lose the feel of the presentation. Once again this is a workaround for both Windows AND the iPad/Laptop/Desktop argument.
You see, I don't let the limitations of software and hardware bring my productivity or expression to a standstill. I don't complain about what something can't do, I pioneer in efforts to use new technology, which doesn't always have a user manual attached defining everything it is capable of doing. I have found this characteristic extremely useful to me during my entire career and I don't expect this to change.
Ok, ok, ok. If you don't want to listen to me, why don't you take a look at this link.
www.tuaw.com/2010/07/05/found-footage-creating-pho...
Instead of sitting around and complaining that one's finger isn't suitable enough to draw a detailed digital picture, it appears this person found a workaround, provided in the form of an App, that allowed him to create, and his imagination, which gave him the desire to try.
People need to stop complaining about what things aren't and don't do, and show some more effort.
Would I do data entry or type a word document on my iPad? No. Would I be surprised if someone did? Not at all. However, this doesn't mean its not a computer, so continually defending the fact that its not a laptop is not an opinion that I put any respect towards.
Haha, I feel the same way. I can't get any real work done with the thing, but as a consumption based device, video streaming, news reading, comic book reading, general browsing and checking emails here and there, it does a fantastic job. But for any real work, I use a real computer. People who think otherwise are lying to themselves.
Laptop replacement? No ... and it was not designed to be one either. You can get a lot done with it, but it's a peripheral, not a full replacement.
Having said that, in landscape mode I can pretty much touch type out notes. I am not going to write the next great novel on it, but for sitting in a meeting taking notes using the virtual keyboard, it is perfectly capable.
Moving beyond that ... it's not a laptop replacement for producing rather than consuming content.
Having said that, in landscape mode I can pretty much touch type out notes. I am not going to write the next great novel on it, but for sitting in a meeting taking notes using the virtual keyboard, it is perfectly capable.
Moving beyond that ... it's not a laptop replacement for producing rather than consuming content.
