ponderingturtle
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I knew it might not be for you as you are enough of a power user that it might not have enough muscle. But for most people it will be OK.
Tablets - toys or tools?
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I knew it might not be for you as you are enough of a power user that it might not have enough muscle. But for most people it will be OK.
ponderingturtle
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Those came out at about the same time as the Ipad though.
quadraginta
Becoming Beth
One of the things I liked about Motion Computing's 'slate' approach with a detachable keyboard/cover was that it was incredibly durable. It had the same ease of convertibility, but everything didn't depend on the survivability of a single, complicated hinge with pass-through wiring. Plus, it was noticeably less bulky as a result, and even skinnier still if you used the other screen cover.
I don't know who else is marketing that approach in a full-function tablet PC. Sadly, Motion is still geared strictly toward vertical market applications, and is priced accordingly ... that is to say, NOT cheap or even moderately expensive
. OTOH, their most recent offering, from last June, is mil spec (MIL-STD 810G) and IP52 tested and is a lot more robust than the average laptop.I sure can't afford one, but if I was buying for a company, or if I could spare the gelt, I'd certainly think real hard before blowing it off.
I didn't realize that using an adaptor doesn't count.
I haven't actually figured out why I'm supposed to need cameras on every device I own.
Linda
ponderingturtle
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I didn't realize that using an adapter doesn't count.
No, it changes the form factor, that is why while any other phone has that expansion capability the iPhone never will.
I also dislike their goal of a vertical monopoly.
Also USB ports would be nice but not be practical for an oversized phone with out the phone.
Fast Eddie B
Philosopher
I'm also dismayed that none of the devices mentioned have floppy drives!
And no SCSI ports so I can use the floppy drive I used on my earlier Macs.
What are they thinking?
ponderingturtle
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I'm also dismayed that none of the devices mentioned have floppy drives!
And no SCSI ports so I can use the floppy drive I used on my earlier Macs.
What are they thinking?
????
Why put storage on the device at all right? Just use the cloud.
The thing is that they want to screw you so you can't use a $20 card to expand memory, but instead have to buy their higher end model for $100. But hey spending 5x as much for cool is what apple is all about.
not daSkeptic
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not daSkeptic
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Yes, because no other company makes hardware that only runs a blessed set of software, some or all of which is only available through their own online store.
not daSkeptic
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That's actually a good idea.
quadraginta
Becoming Beth
You've been very keen on insulting the users of this product by referring to the idiocy of the product (don't worry, I have a thick skin
I have to think that you are not as thick skinned as you believe you are if you find an opinion about the relative capabilities of one electronic device compared to another one to constitute a personal insult.
I have offered no opinions about the users of the iPad, and would not attempt to. For one thing such an effort would be a generalization and a stereotype by definition. For another I have nothing but positive regard for people who take advantage of the potentials of new devices. This does not alter the simple fact that the devices are not always equal in capabilities.
I have said many times (and not just in this thread) that I do not condemn the iPad on the basis of its features alone. I don't really condemn it at all. I was disappointed that it was not more capable than it was, and I feel that those limitations have (at least for the time being) done a disservice to the tablet concept by creating general impressions like the one exemplified in the title of this thread. I don't think that those mis-impressions will endure, but it is unfortunate that the extra impediment had to be added to the progress of the technology.
Perhaps you should re-read what I have written. I get the impression that you are attaching significance to the content which I did not offer.
Sure. The tablets my company purchased in 2004 would run any software compatible with Windows XP Pro, or for that matter the Intel chipset it used. If I had chosen to I could probably have managed LINUX implementations.
Can you load AutoCad on your iPad? How about the latest HP Photosmart printer driver? Books from the Gutenberg Project? That ancient DOS copy of Infocom's HHGTTG that you found on the web?
That's just one example.
How many USB ports has it got? Can you plug in your favorite keyboard and mouse when you want an alternative input method? (I use a Logitech Trackman. Can you load the driver for that?)
Etc.
Aside from size and expense what features does your iPad provide to you that a full-function tablet PC would be unable to?
I don't have any way of knowing what is better for you personally, or for anyone else as an individual. I wouldn't presume to think that I did. This really has absolutely nothing to do with the point I have been trying to make here. I've been commenting on past technology, existing technology, future technology, and trends relating to that.
Your personal sensitivity to my comments is rather baffling to me.
not daSkeptic
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Why would one want to? Is there demand for walking around while designing? I can see perhaps wanting to present models to people using an iPad, but I wouldn't think that necessitates a full CAD system.
Unnecessary with IPP.
In several formats from what I understand.
This one is interesting. I'd be curious to know how much demand there is for such things.
'Cuz descriptors like "dumbing down", "crippled", "infuriatingly hamstrung", and "lobotomized" couldn't be expected to convey inferiority? Okay.
Yeah. I just think that it's okay that there is a range of capabilities available on various devices.
Why would this impede technology?
But it doesn't appear that the average consumer wants or needs this.
I don't have or use AutoCad.
There's an app for that (free). I just haven't downloaded it because I don't happen to have an HP Photosmart printer.
Yes. Either from the website, or from iBooks.
Probably not (although I'm not sure just what that is).
One with an adaptor to accept pictures/video.
Yes, although I don't use a mouse on the iPad (seems a bit pointless).
It isn't something I've needed.
Your device is too expensive, too heavy, lacks connectivity and a non-stylus touchscreen. The battery life is short and it doesn't have access to an app market. But I should prefer it because it runs programs that I don't own or use?
Linda
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The Infinitely Prolonged
I, for one, demand it!!!
I see no reason why one can't develop a full DOS emulator for the iPad, like an iPad version of DosBox. There are no computational limits to involved.
There is at least one in the midst of being developed for the Android:
http://androiddosbox.appspot.com/
But, I still go with the Real Tablet, because it does plenty of other things the others can't.
not daSkeptic
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Which is fine if one has a need for that. It's just a toy otherwise.
There was one, unfortunately Apple put the kibosh on it.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20020759-56.html
quadraginta
Becoming Beth
Well, my reason was that I could extract Cartesian coordinates from the contract drawings drawings using AutoCad and import them into my data collector for doing field layout with a total station. I could also compare actual design dimensions against the dimensions indicated by drawing labels. It's a bit surprising (at least it was to me) how often a careless edit does not leave the two in agreement. A couple of very baffling layout conflicts were resolved that way.
The real point is that I didn't only use my tablet while I was walking around. I also used it as a laptop and as a desktop machine.
That's what I've been saying from the start.
It isn't a matter of how much demand there is for any particular example I happened to choose in response to the question I was asked. I was asked,
" Can you give an example of features which should be present, but are not ..."
That seems like a fair example of a feature to me.
Wowbagger
The Infinitely Prolonged
And, it looked like such a nice one, too!
I don't think that will happen for the Android version.
quadraginta
Becoming Beth
'Cuz descriptors like "dumbing down", "crippled", "infuriatingly hamstrung", and "lobotomized" couldn't be expected to convey inferiority? Okay.
Sigh.
What part of "one electronic device compared to another one" do you not understand?
From a practical perspective the iPad simply does not have all of the capabilities of a full function tablet. I don't understand why you insist on assuming that this constitutes some sort of personal attack on you.
A tricked-out golf cart doesn't have all the functionality of a real car. It is not a personal insult to people using such a golf cart to acknowledge that. Unless they insist that their golf cart is just as good as a BMW sedan. I don't believe that is what you were doing. Maybe I was mistaken.
Me too. I don't believe I ever suggested otherwise.
Are you responding to the points I've actually tried to make, or just to the ones you want to think I was?
Heavy sigh.
I keep explaining this, and it is as if I am responding to a different thread. I have to think that you are intent on defining my opinions for me, and have little interest in understanding what they actually are. If this is the case you don't need me, you can just argue with yourself.
"Progress". You left out that word. I used it on purpose.
Half a decade ago (or more) tablet PCs were only just becoming technologically feasable at any remotely affordable price point. Their very rarity kept them from making much of an impression on the larger consumer PC market. This was gradually ... but very slowly changing.
The introduction of the iPad changed this. It put the advantages of the tablet approach firmly in the public mind, and lent it a legitimacy which its earlier rarity could not. It was no longer limited to vertical markets and gadget geeks.
This was a "good thing". But there has been a downside. Because Apple chose to offer this device as an adjunct to, rather than a replacement for a fully featured PC ...a glorified peripheral, if you will ... the public perception of tablets as a class has still been colored by the appellation of "toy". I did not select this appellation. In fact, if you'd been paying attention, instead of so vehemently arguing against positions I haven't taken, you might have noticed that I deplored it as much as anyone else here, and more than many.
In this sense the progress of the technology has been impeded. I have every confidence that full function tablets will become mainstream, and sooner rather than later, I expect. But I believe that Apple's unfortunate choice of product placement has delayed that.
Like I keep saying. Look at the title of this thread.
The average consumer hasn't been given the choice ...
...yet. The average consumer has yet to discover what alternatives are available, or what could be available. When they do, they're gonna want 'em.
You didn't ask me about what you wanted. You asked me, "Can you give an example of features which should be present, but are not ...". My point is that the entire galaxy of software for the world's most prevalent OS is available to a real tablet PC. Are you arguing that this is true of the iPad? I feel confident that the list can be made much longer. Since you were dodging the question you yourself asked I don't suppose that matters, though.
Is that because you can only use it as a tablet of limited utility, and nothing else?
My point is made.
See above.
You have once more demonstrated a fascinating ability to see what you want to see and hear what you want to hear. Note the highlighted lines, above.
I have already discussed these aspects of the question. Why do you insist on ignoring that?
Most of the new tablet PC offerings provide both touch screen and stylus input. (Perhaps you didn't look at the specs on the several which have been mentioned in this thread.) Having used both I have to say that if forced to choose between one or the other I would not hesitate to choose the stylus. Touch input is like finger-painting by comparison.
But you see, with a full function device you can have both.
Battery life is certainly a consideration. How much battery life would Apple have sacrificed by provided a more full featured OS in the iPad?
Your applet argument is ridiculous on the face of it. People write those things because the platform they're addressing won't support all the software that's already out there for a more capable device.