Willmark:
No really? The Apple worker thinks this is the best thing under the sun? Colour me surprised. Clearly I can take such an unbiased account as the sole basis of my perception on this.
At least you said you worked for Apple. Kudos.
I'm only half serious BTW, but sometimes a *little* less bubbling enthusiasm would be nice. You slap a half eaten apple on the case and suddenly people treat it like you've just invented fire. Or the wheel.
snowblizz
Interesting how things get read:I Like cool technology and like Linux as well. If it fits my functions then I'm using it. I use MS Office daily when I have plenty of freeware I could use instead.
Interesting to read that you think you can guess if someone is a blind fan from one post as the door opened. I had a minute to post trough the site might be interested to know. Seems a bit much to presume but thats just me.
Moral of the story is that lumping people into a group because you think you know who and what they are...
Anyways back to work soon as I'm finishing lunch.
Willmark
Just so we're clear I don't have a problem with you personally. I don't mind macs per se either, though I prefer my apples to be the kind where I get to bite them, but people are way too defensive of the Apple stuff. But when you post about something you just used I do expect to hear something more substantial than "way cool". That just comes over as blatant fan(atic)ism.
snowblizz
Then here's an idea: assume positive intent especially when it comes to this site and me in particular. Ask Swiss who probably knows me the best in RL if you want to get a idea of who and what I am. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt, assuming only leads to trouble. And I can tell you its something I'm always trying to get better at, so I'm not immune either.
As far as people being defensive about Apple consider:
- "Macs are just toys."
- "They have no games"- ironic in light of the fist statement
- "Macs are to great of a security risk to plug into the network (yet people bring their PCs in to plenty of businesses I know loaded with god only knows what."
- insert gripe.
In short the Mac side has had to endure "X" for 25+ years, so are they a tad hyper defensive? Can't imagine why. I passed that a long time ago, if you want to use "X" whatever X is: I'm not stopping anyone. There are plenty of fanatics on both sides of the debate. Look no further then when the merits of the PS3 vs X-Box get debated.
The interesting thing is most Mac users will have tried a PC; the flip usually inst true. Makes it hard to judge the relative merits. Use what works best for you, I'm not going to tell people what to use. Show them and if they like it that's what they will pick more power to them.
Will I defend a company that I work for? Sure to a point. But I'm not going to apologize for a quick post at launch right before I got swamped which you took to be a fan boy post. But here's the thing: I work there part time. My full time job has be overseeing 100 PCs and 85 Macs. If I couldn't have a MBP for work I'd go for a Lenevo ThinkPad. If I couldn't have my own iPhone I'd go for a Samsung BlackJack II, but WinMo stopped me; Linux or even Symbian and it would be my phone in a heartbeat.
In closing I'm willing to give you or anyone the benefit of the doubt, I expect the same.
Cornixt- "Its just fart apps and flashlights" does a disservice and is not accurate. And it isn't about quantity, there are some very good to excellent apps out there. I used FTP on the Go for quite a while to remote into the server and fix the html folder when out host was bringing us down intentionally. Zombieville is the best 99 cents I ever spent. Shazam, Safari Mobile... (anyone who has tried to navigate through pocket IE on WInMo) knows what I mean. Dungeon RM and Treasure Box for RPGS ideas. Parallels to connect to my Windows partition of my MBP, iDisk, Pandora. There are plenty of excellent apps out there that have nothing to do with the a fore mentioned fart apps.
Thommy- evil as in every other corporation that's prime objective is to make money?
Like said before, the Ipad just isn't something. It doesn't fit any were. The screen is to smal to realy enjoin the internet, so there goes there statement that it is the best way to view the internet.
furrie
So you've actually used one then? Actually picked one up and tried it? I had multiple people tell me they were surprised with how well the screen displayed the web. I'm not knocking you however: I was in the same boat until I tried it. Anecdotal? Sure but I'd say try one out and then see what it feels like. If it still feels small, hey that's your take on it. These weren't just old folks either in a one hour gap there were people of every spectrum when I was answering questions.
One thing I've learned is to
(try) reserve judgment (especially in tech) until I've actually used something. Same reason why I withheld judgment until I tried a the Droid, or Palm Pre, same way I'm withholding judgment till I see WinMo 7 in action.
Oh yeah? IMO, its totally pointless as it doesn't offer any direct use/purpose, especially if you've got an iPhone or a laptop/netbook computer. So, try to sell me on it....
GRNDL
Now that I have a moment I think the single biggest potential is the iBooks store. Its so integrated with iTunes (love it or hate it). They fact that its simple for people to use and a single point to store media will appeal to a lot of people. Looking farther out college textbooks. In my neck of the woods prices border on highway robbery.
Games- surprising its got very decent graphics and a nice feel for the few games I've tried. If I get one one of the first apps I buy will be Streefighter @$7.99. Considering how many quarters I wasted in the 90's on it I can afford the app many times over.
I was hoping it would be a cool, generic e-book reader (kindle-killer, anti-nook book, etc), but with a backlit screen it'll suck for reading.
GRNDL
A few people discussed this and to be honest glare could be an issue depending on what lighting, however most of the people interested in the iBooks store and reader were older (50+ go figure) and most were surprised by its reading capabilties. A few kindle users I spoke to were impressed.