Why do you need an iPad?

Well I knew the iPad didn't have the stuff you mention before I bought it, and I also know all that stuff is available on my MacBook Air and I can just use that if I need it badly enough.

fiosron wrote:
The reason I ask is because as I have started using my iPad, I am realizeing some magor deficiencies such as inability to watch flash-based content on websites, no USB, no camera, etc..

Your thoughts?

My question is how could you have bought the iPad not realising the above ? Did you even look at it before buying it ? They are not deficiencies in that these features were well publicised before launch and it is exactly as advertised, and the deficiencies come in the eyesight department !

Bottom line is that I didn't and don't need one. It's a nice to have for me. If I can get to the point of doing "some" work related tasks, all the better. I'm hoping Pages and Numbers issues get resolved quickly.

I travel weekly and it's far easier to pull the iPad out as opposed to my MBP...especially in coach! I can read reply to email, work on status reports, review coworkers documents, movies, books, ..and probably other things will come up. It's not going to replace my laptop and I'm ok with that.

Lack of Flash is a pain but I'm already used to not having it on my phone. I really don't miss it and if html 5 becomes the new standard, Flash will be obsolete...my opinion of course, I don't really follow html standards!

USB, would be nice but again, I don't miss that either.

I'm glad it has no camera. I never wanted one. If I want to take a picture, I'll use my dSLR or my point and shoot. Having a camera on my iPhone is ok and I do use it sometimes but it's not a camera.

I took my iPad on my trip last week and was very happy with the battery life and it came in handy for some work items...It's not going to replace my iPod though either. One of my flights is on a small regional plane and it's just easier to use my ipod rather than take out the iPad..

fiosron wrote:
...I am realizing how much they can deter an actual true computing experience. Clearly it is a very high-tech toy. And of course it's a fun toy to have, as I have enjoyed some of the games, etc.. But the truth is, I have learned that, unless you are satisfied with being severely limited in what you can do with it(from a computing standpoint), that you have to embrace what it can do. What it does do, it does well, and can be a lot of fun.
IT simply will not and can not replace a computer and will remain a fun (albeit expensive) toy to have.

You have to realize that the iPad is not a general purpose computer. Yet you seem to be viewing it as severely limited because it does not do everything that a general purpose computer can do. But that is the point of the iPad.

Many people, like myself, have no need for an iPad because we need the functions that general purpose computers provide and the iPad does not. But there is a very large number of people for whom a general purpose computer is overly complicated overkill. Until the iPad came out, these people had to deal with the complexities of a general purpose computer because they had no choice. But they now have a choice since they can get an easier to use device that may do everything that they need it to do.

You need to be careful when talking about a "true computing experience". For you, such an experience requires something more than an iPad. However, other people can receive their version of a "true computing experience" with the iPad. For them, the iPad is not a toy but is actually a perfect tool for their needs.

My wife who's laid up in bed these days after being in hospital for 6 weeks finds the iPad a great deal easier to use than our MacBook Air (MBA).

Compared to the MacBook Air it's lighter, smaller, it's easier to hold and angle for better viewing and the integrated KB is a great feature.

For things like Email, Movies, Web browsing, photo slideshows, some games to while the time away with, Music, Web news, Pages, iBooks/eBook, Voice Recording via 3rd party App, Battery use (awesome) and so on, it is so much easier for my wife than using the MBA.

I also find the sync-ing is very very fast with data moving to the iPad at around 22.5 Mbytes/sec.

It is meeting all of our expectations so far.

Mind you, I'm not letting the MBA go -- it's just that the iPad is so much better for all-round casual use that does not require/needing traditional computer work tasks.

fiosron wrote:
How does an iPad serve your needs compared to say, a macbook air, or something similar (ie. another small netbook or laptop) ?
The reason I ask is because as I have started using my iPad, I am realizeing some magor deficiencies such as inability to watch flash-based content on websites, no USB, no camera, etc..

Your thoughts?

My iPad has completely replaced my MBP in one week. I still need the MBP for horsepower in some massive spreadsheets, but that's about it. I now use the iPad for about 75% of my work, and it makes it easy. I still type faster on a normal keyboard, so I await the keyboard dock. And the iPad does things better than a laptop. Reading books for example. I just sold my Kindle, because the Kindle App is near perfect (I may or may not switch to iBooks depending solely on pricing).

As for your other points:

• Flash. I never liked it, and I don't miss it. I didn't miss it with my iPhone. I block Flash content on Safari. I really don't consider this a deficiency, I consider it leaving being 90's technology for the dustbin of history. In fact, because iPhone and iPad users are, in general, wealthier and more tech savvy than the average consumer, an intelligent advertiser will realize he's missing 100 million iPhone and iPad users (and growing) by not having flash. Lots of websites are dumping flash. Adobe is crying. Who cares about them.

• USB port. I cannot imagine why this matters. I can print over wireless. And....what else do I need? This is a canard put out by individuals on the internet to put down the iPad. They were the same ones that whined and laughed when Apple went to Firewire (then dumped it), then to USB 2.0, or removed the floppy disk (who misses that format?), or pushed wireless over ethernet. Please show me one thing that I'm missing because I don't have a USB port?

• Camera. I'm almost with you there, but I really don't care. Pictures on the iPhone (or any mobile phone) are horrible because they're being taken with a $25 part in the phone. The images are terrible. But, even if there is some use for the camera, it's going to be very odd to hold up the iPad to take a photo. I guess you can use it for iChat, which might be nice. But there is no way I'm going to get cleaned up, shaved, and get my haircut just so I might chat with my girlfriend on iChat. 😀 BTW, there is a 99 cent app that allows your iPad to control your iPhone's camera. Check it out.

For me, I haven't found one deficiency of the iPad, except that it's a tad too heavy for reading over a longer period of time. But when I'm in bed, I just place it on a pillow, and I'm happy. I use my iPhone less, but I do need a phone, and it has 3G for email. Hopefully, someone will figure out how to tether my iPhone to the iPad, but I'll live for the time being.

For a option see this on the upcoming HP unit: http://tinyurl.com/yao7joe

For an interesting retrospect that include the Apple Newton (first commercial tablet?): http://tinyurl.com/yd4ulvs

I bought my iPad as the perfect companion to my Toshiba Netbook. With 9 hours of battery life on one and 10 hours on the other, I am traveling lighter than I have in years.

If I did not need to configure equipment, and drive some presentation displays with web 2.0 apps, I could probably get away with just the iPad.

I especially like having one skinny thing to take with me into my airplane seat that let's me play games, watch movies, read books, respond to a few emails, and review documents.

Having spent nearly the same amount on PDAs in the past, that got me a whole lot less satisfaction, I am pretty darn happy with this nice to have, not have to have, product. How spoiled have we become that we need to have flash video on demand from everything we touch. Read a book, write a blog, watch YouTube, and get over it.

to the o.p who started this thread.

In my opinion only - you do and you don't need the ipad. if i look at the ipad from the perspective of device choice it fills the "choice between using your computer or phone niche market nicely". If i had a choice of logging on to my computer or using my phone to review emails and the ipad was there (it would be a no brainer and i would grab the ipad instantly). It also opens the communications (news) theoretically replacing the newspaper as we know it during down time, having tea or coffee.

If i was in a car with a wifi-3g model, I would have a easy to read map or if i was commuting i would have a larger easier to use device to read a book, do emails, text or watch a video. I also
have the cloud (evernote, mobileme and google) that i use today.

Do i have the same capability with my win/imac notebooks and various phones (yes) but now i have a easier device source. so it serves a purpose

As for the slate and other usb based devices in the planning stages for this year. I have to ask myself what are my needs... more capacity, more add ons (do i need to have a drive with 200 g of music and videos) connected to the tablet - maybe if im replacing a notebook and want to use external hard drives or flash drives with it....

I guess my point is it fills a device niche market place nicely