Yeah, you clearly have missed my point entirely. I never questioned that many, many people would buy them, even said so in the pre-release thread here. What I said was that I don't believe that the iPad solves any real problems for most of those people the way that it might do so for GadgetFreak for example.

Again. millions of people bought the 'pet rock' back in the 70's so I am still not convinced that simply selling something to a lot of people is any indication of the relative worth or lack thereof of any given product.

Why are Apple fans such a sensitive lot? As I said I currently use a Sony VAIO TT because at the time I was shopping it best solved the problems I needed it to, yet I have no particular loyalty to Sony [none at all really, awful company], and if Joe-Bob's Computers comes out with a better product next time I am in the market then I will happily switch to the product that works best for my needs.

It seems as though with Apple products so many of their owners seem to have a heavy personal investment in the purchase, as if they see owning an Apple product as saying something, reinforcing something positive about themselves personally. Never understood that. It strikes me as a lot like hardcore political party ideologues; we are a unique and special group and our group is better than your group, weird...

Nope, not saying that at all - the only general point I was making was that a fair number of other people seem to feel the same way about the iPad in bed. just since you've mirrored an opinion I've heard elsewhere at times when it wasn't really practical to ask in depth questions, trying to ask generally both you (and other folks here who might share it) why the iPad form factor is better for that for you.

Yes, it's absolutely subjective; "it just is easier for me" is a perfectly fine answer, but it could be interesting to compare usage patterns when/if people are comfortable discussing them at greater length.

For one example: do you use anything to prop it up, or are you holding it pretty much continuously?

Just completed my first business trip without a laptop. iPad works very well and can handle most of what i need on the road quickly. I can access my files from my laptop with dropbox so I have not missed my laptop at all. I have the 64 with 3G and I like it a ton so far.

It is not perfect but I think it is well worth the grand I dropped on it.

Kayak has a solid app for flights hoping that more travel apps will be launching in the coming months.

So, to summarize, you buy products that solve problems, but most Apple consumers only think their purchases are solving problems, but actually they aren't....

Here's a thought: people buy, and use products they find meet their needs. No need to over-analyze.

But if you do want to over-analyze, consider this opinion: Apple is the Nespresso of the tech world, the BMW, the Bose etc. Real purists object because these products are safe, accessible and minimize the knowledge and experience required to use them when compared with legacy competitors.

As much as that's a positive for me, it's a turn-off for others. Which is ok, as last time I checked Apple weren't forcing their products upon people against their will!

Those are your words not mine, don't put your words in my mouth.

I have nothing against Apple other than their quasi totalitarian business practices [see handicapped woman who was not allowed to purchase an iPad because she only had cash, no credit card] just as I have nothing against Sony save their rotten customer service, etc.

I currently have and have had several Apple products over the years.

My observations here concern the iPad specifically and what I see as humorous rhetorical gymnastics to try and defend, for many, not all, the purchase of a product that was for the most part designed and created to [a] look cool and create consumerist desire for an object [which is fine, nothing new here] and [b] spur increased sales from the iTunes store.

As I have said, all of that is cool, I just get a chuckle out of those [not restricted only to or targeted specifically to anyone here] who try and suggest that, in the broad strokes, the iPad uniquely solves any sort of real problem or just generally makes life more worth living...

[shrug][/shrug]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

Is that opinion or fact?

Can you quote a source to demonstrate that the iPad was created for the purpose of form over substance (to "look cool" as you put it)?

Do you really think you know better than the people who bought the product why they bought it and what utility they are getting out of it?

(just to be clear that is what your post says, no need to put words in anyones mouth).

Apple and some of their customers do seem to have a chip on their shoulder. They are hyper sensitive to criticism. Even when they ran those commercials making fun of windows, it struck me in poor taste. Tell me what your product can do for me, not make fun of someone else.

Personally the iPad is not worth the cost for me but I do have other Apple products such as the MacBook Pro and an iPod. And will be getting an iPhone soon.

I love my iPad
 

I've had my 32gb WiFi model for about 5 weeks now and used it for my recent trip to Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. For use on vacation, its wonderful. For a business trip, if you only need to send and receive emails, do simple documents or presentations, then it will suffice. For any more intensive work requirements, then you may still need a laptop.

My feedback -

Pros:
- much lighter than carrying around a laptop
- enough battery life to watch 5 or 6 movies on a plane
- you can rent/buy movies from Itunes instead of being stuck with what is available on the plane. its also easy to burn your dvds from home and transfer the movie to the ipad. I was able to download and watch the final episode of Lost and 3 episodes of Justified via itunes while I was on my trip. I also bought original "The Odd Couple" movie from iTunes for my flight only to find that United was showing this movie on the plane - what was the chance they would show a 40+ year old movie?!?!? Found it hilarious. Also rented Sherlock Holmes which was also showing on the plane. Strange.
- great to carry around just one 1.5lb handheld instead of a laptop and the typical 2-3 books I take on vacation. I was able to buy the last Stieg Larsson book and read it within 3 nights. That book is like a brick - 600 pages and only available on hardcover in the US. It would have weighed more than the ipad itself.
- quite easy to use and turned out to be a good conversation starter when I was using it in cafes or restaurants. People were definitely curious about the ipad. Even got a couple of offers for it but since it was the beginning of my trip, I couldn't help them out. If it was at the end, I would have happily sold it and bought another one back in the US
- WiFi signals came in strong and clear when available
- With the camera/SD card reader accessory, i was easily able to save my pictures onto the Ipad and upload into facebook and Flickr.

Cons:
- although the battery life is good when watching a movie with headphones, i was a bit disappointed when surfing the net or reading a book. I think it would only last about 5 or 6 hours when reading on a plane while it would last much longer watching movies. I was able to upgrade to business all the way through my trip so was able to recharge the batteries in the UA lounge at NRT. Also I was able to hook it up to the in seat power on the 747 biz class seat as well. But if I was stuck in coach with no power options, then I would be judicious on using the ipad so it could last the entire flight.
- Since its an electronic item, I had to turn it off for take off and landing. With no other book or magazine in my bag, I was stuck reading the Hemisphere mag for the 1 hour or so of taxi, take off and landing for each flight. I recommend you bring at least a magazine with you for just these times.
- Netflix does not work outside the US so itunes is the only real option to watch shows/movies. You cannot use the ipad to download files from bittorrent or any file sharing site, AFAIK
- Incredibly, I found 32GB to be not enough memory. I had about 10gb in music loaded which I will probably remove for my next trip. I never listened to music with the ipad - i used my iphone for that instead. With all the shows and movies I downloaded, I ran out of memory within 2 weeks. If you plan to travel long distance and watch a lot of movies, then I recommend the 64gb ipad. I ended up deleting some content during the trip. Also, if you rent the movies, the files will disappear from the ipad after 24 hours of first viewing, so if you rent as opposed to buying, memory should not be much of an issue.
- When booking hotels, I had to make sure it had WiFi available in the room. I stayed in nice places so this was not a problem, and most places included free wifi, but I can see this being a problem with smaller or 2/3 * hotels and hostels. I found the wifi speed at most places still a bit slow so this was annoying. Since there is no option to connect the iPad via a wire connection, you need to do some research before booking hotels.
- The word processor and presentation software available in the app store would have been good enough if I needed to work, but the spreadsheet app does not export files in the Excel format. I imagine many of us would need access to Excel, so until the Numbers spreadsheet app is improved, you can't really use the ipad as a laptop replacement.
- A bit heavy to read for hours since it does weigh 1.5 lbs. I needed to support my arms a bit or shift it between hands often.
- The Apple case sucks - it tended to tip over when i placed it on the tray table while watching a movie. But there are better cases out now I believe. Also, its hard to find a place to put the ipad to watch a movie during meals.
- the volume to a regular headphone is not loud enough for a plane ride, even when cranked up the the maximum - I still had a hard time hearing all the dialogue due to engine noise. It was fine with my in ear noise blocking Etymotic headphones though.

Overall, I was very happy with the ipad. If not for the damn SLR with 3 lenses and gifts I insisted on taking with me, I could have easily one bagged the entire trip. The ipad, headphones and power pack added very little weight and volume to my bag. I'm hoping the 2nd or 3rd generation of the ipad will be lighter and have a bit more battery life while reading. Also an option to connect to a wired network would be nice but not critical. I did not miss accessing Flash content at all during the trip, but others might find this a deal breaker.

I actually brought along the wireless bluetooth apple keyboard in case i had to write long emails or word documents. its very light so the weight is not much of an issue. I only used it once but did not mind having it in my bag. I found the touch keyboard easy to use and quickly got used to typing on it and did not bother with the wireless keyboard most of my trip.

On jailbroken models, this can also be used to load/offload movies, which would help with the memory issue.

You can get a small travel router for this.

A friend got a plastic decorative plate stand for viewing movies on his at home; it was about $3 and very light - I'm not sure if the angle is any use for reading or movie watching in coach, though.

I've also been curious when someone is going to build a stand which will hang it off the seatback in front of you - probably better for movie-watching than reading, though.

Both. it's in the apple ipad case, and you can lay it down on an angle with that case, sometimes I lay it against some pillows, sometimes I hold it. Sometimes it is propped up on me. I'm not doing any serious text/data entry with it in bed. If I feel the need/desire to look something up in bed, no problem. Want to see what that incoming email is? No problem. Want to play flight control hd? No problem.

I thought it would stay docked most of the time, but it won't even fit in the dock with that case. So most of the time, it's either plugged in or laying on my bed.

-David

We might get the iPad for my mother, one of her presents for her 60th birthday. She is not a technophile but has recently expressed an interest in a "small laptop" for ease of traveling. She primarily wants something small that can easily handle internet and uploading pictures. Seems the iPad does well on both size and internet (excluding the Flash issues).

But I don't see any SD slot for uploading pictures directly. Do you still have to sync via iTunes then? Seems to negate many of the "mobile" benefits if that is the case. But once the photos are on the iPad, it's a nice way to view them and show them to others (she loves to share).

Any fixes?

Interesting. Thanks!

The iPad camera connection kit.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC531ZM/A

LOL, probably because for the last twenty years we've heard the same two things:

1. "Eh, that thing is stupidly overpriced. I can build the same thing myself by going to Radio Shack and buying the parts for $5."

2. "You idiot fanbois!" (Note the letter 'i')

Just sayin' :D:D

Why was an SD slot not directly installed in the iPad itself? Seems like a useful addition, considering the ubiquitous nature of the SD card. Also saves from having yet one more accessory (having a small, light iPad or anything becomes a white elephant if you have a bag full of accessories IMHO). Or did Apple not like the idea that an SD slot might infrigne on the clean design? Or was it simply not possible at this stage?

All very good questions, and I have not been following it closely enough to have any "why" answers.