iSlate/iPad/iTablet?

[Steel_Wind]

$499-$699 Wifi only models. Note: there will be physical keyboard with a port to dock your iPad to recharge it and use it at home as a "monitor"/PC.

(Do not underestimate the importance of such a dock. It may just end up redefining what we mean by "PC" in 5 to 10 years time.)

As for the costs? *BAM*, that's the sound of the ball flying over the Green Monster and leaving the park. Home run.

In my estimation - Apple nailed the price point with this offering.

e-book readers? Netbooks? Adios. Hell, Dell laptops, even? I think Dell, HP and Microsoft are all in for a very unhappy decade.

These competitors had better revise their sales estimates for this year. Every single one of these competitors is about to take it on the chin. Frankly, I don't think there will be a meaningful competitor left in the netbook and e-book market in 36 months time.

At the supposed $1,000 price tag rumor (which I never believed) - Apple would have left lots of competitors and been one player among many. But at the $499-$699 price tag? Apple will lay waste to the competition. Add $130 for 3G or not - as you may prefer. My bet is that most people won't bother with the 3G and will leave that feature for their Iphone or similar cell device.

Either way, the market will be theirs.

And yes, it has iPhone compatability, has a SDK which will rope in current app devs and will tie into the app store through iTunes.

Books, movies, magazines, newspapers, web, music, games... it's all there.

Is it just a glammed up laptop with a touch screen? Yes it is. But "just" is, in this case, an understatement.

 

[heruca]

3G models will cost about £80 extra each and there's contracts to consider.

It's my understanding that there are NO contracts involved. It will use pre-paid plans that cost $15 or $30 per month (depending on how much bandwidth you want), which you can cancel any time.

 

[Felon]

$499-$699 Wifi only models.

*BAM*, that's the sound of the ball flying over the Green Monster and leaving the park. Home run.

In my estimation - Apple nailed the price point with this offering.

e-book readers? Netbooks? Adios. Hell, Dell laptops, even? I think Dell, HP and Microsoft are all in for a very unhappy decade.

Positioned as some kind of premium-priced e-reader....maybe there's something there.

But "adios netbooks and laptops"? Let's slow down here a minute and work from the premise that this device has the same basic functionality as the iPod Touch (which seems to be the case). Given that, we're talking about a device with a host lot of limitations that a $400 Windows 7 netbook doesn't have.

It doesn't let you download and install anything except through iTunes. Anyone who isn't familiar with the term "jailbreak", might wanna start doing research.

Jobs points out that you can watch Youtube on the iPad. You can watch anything you want on a netbook, with an honest-to-god full-fledged browser that supports Flash, Java, and other basic features we take for granted. No Hulu or Netflix on the iPad, nor does Apple or AT&T want you to have them, as evidenced by how they're condemning the Hulu iPhone app to oblivion.

It won't let you install drivers for devices that aren't iPad-specific. Don't expect to be slapping on a DVD drive or media readers for your SD cards. Don't even bank on it accepting your keychain flash drive. And that brigns us to the most glaring deficiency: 16 GB of storage for $500. Load your mp3 library up, and if you're anything like me you'll have about 4GB left over for everything else.

It's my understanding that there are NO contracts involved. It will use pre-paid plans that cost $15 or $30 per month (depending on how much bandwidth you want), which you can cancel any time.

The big question here isn't whether or not we can pay as we go, but rather what are our alternatives for getting 3G (or 4G) on this device? Because if AT&T's contract is the only way to get data, then allowing you to quit their plan at any time is kind of a canard. You didn't pay the $130 extra to not have 3G.

I already have a data plan for my home and my iPhone. Can I take a 4G modem that I can get as part of a "home-and-roaming" package deal from Clear or Comcast, plug it into a USB port, and install the proprietary software? Can I tether my smartphone to it? How about letting me use the data plan I already have for my iPhone? If those options are on the table, I can milk data plans I'm already paying for. If not, I don't see paying an extra $130 bucks and then shelling out for yet another data plan, and that places it behind a netbook again.

Btw, AT&T's iPhone data plan blocks you from downloading anything over 10MB. Notice I didn't say throttle, I said block. "Go connect to a wifi hotspot if you want this podcast, you schnook" is the message you'll get.

Contrary to what pundits assert, the iPhone didn't take off just because it had the magical Apple brand, but rather because it offered a killer combo of features than you couldn't get from any other device that could fit in your pocket or on your belt. It's easy to forget that now because iPhone has some competition, but they're stuck playing catch-up.

Not so much the case here. There are TONS of Windows 7 slates coming out. I don't see the iPad doing anything they can't outdo (GPS maybe?). Keep your eyes cast on that Lenovo Thinkpad, folks. You heard it here.

Bottome line: Whew. What a relief. I do not need to need another thing.

 

[Blastin]

Wow Steel Wind.....I didn't know your first name was Steve
It sounds ok, but three BIG reasons I won't be jumping on bandwagon: no card slots/expandable memory, no removable battery, and as Felon mentioned, no flash support. I'll wait for the windows 7 pads and stick with my Nano for now....

 

[Steel_Wind]

I do not believe that Flash will continue to be unsupported by Safari for iPad. Their principle concern to date has been virus related.

iPhones were one thing; they won't let that continue for iPad.

As for the USB and SD card connectivity, those are supported by a dongle - for now.

They also suppory a bluetooth keyboard.

The $499 for 16GB is not that far off the market place price for a Netbook. Your "ow" is misplaced. The eeePc was released with what only 4gig 2.5 years ago at a $399 and $449 price point?

Think about that for a moment please. Compare the eeePc 9" Netbook to the iPad. These are similar devices, aimed at a similar market.

As the Netbook market has expended and vies now with the lower end latops - the NEtbooks have upped their hard drives to the point where several of them really aren't Netbooks at all anymore. They are laptops.

Whatever the case, I think the 16/32/64 price point will be fine for users of the iPad. Those numbers iwll change over the years as static HD memory changes.

I think one problem with techies reviewing this gadget and wondering whether the lack of a feature is a problem or not relates to the kind of device the iPad is and who it's aimed at. This isn't aimed at the kind of guy who types on a Dell 17" widescreen dual nVidia graphcs card gaming laptop. (which is what I use at work, btw).

No, this device is aimed at somebody else. This is being marketed at Ms. Consumer. The read on the bus, read in bed, surf/read in Starbucks kind of people. And yes, I absolutely believe that they will be incredibly successful with this product and will own the netbook market. Own it. Outright. No meaingful competition to speak of in 36 months.

As for laptops - I didn't suggest they would own that market - but this WILL put a dent in it and it will herald the battle that is about to take place over the course of this decade as feature creep starts to blur the edges of this category. The place where that line is drawn will erased and re-drawn in a series of skirmishes over this decade. It's a target "line" that will be ever-changing.

I'm not an Apple fan boi. The closest thing to a Mac I own is an iPod Touch. I own 6 PCs.

Doesn't matter. I think the iPad ver 1.0 will be a game changer, and the brand will spew forth a multi-headed Hydra, yielding another dragon slayer or three as the various models unfold and evolve over the coming years. But now we know what it's going ot look like and the rough price points which battle will take place within.

At that price? This is a complete winner. It will change the market in a manner similar to the way the iPod changed music this past decade.

There are winners and losers with this kind of significant technological change. I'm not sure who ELSE will be a winner, but I believe that Apple will be the main winner.

You are, of course, free to believe something else.

 

[Remus Lupin]

I love everthing Apple does, and this is sure purty, but I just don't get the attraction of tablet PCs outside of a particular niche market. I, for one, am happy to keep my iMac, Macbook Air, and iPhone for my various and diverse uses. I can't currently envision a need for an iPad (and yes, I know that the whole point of Apple products is that you WANT them, not that you NEED them).

 

[pedr]

EU people remember those $ prices are pre-tax.

With 17.5% VAT (for the UK) $499 is about £362.76 today, I think. Given that the $199 8Gb iPod Touch is available here for £149 (and converts at today's exchange-rate + VAT as roughly £144.67) I'm reasonably confident there'll be sensible pricing here, but unless you can import it from the US and avoid VAT and duty, you'll be looking at more than the £310 or so that a straight $-£ conversion would suggest.

(My rough calculations: Wi-Fi only, 16Gb: £365; 32GB: £435; 64Gb: £510. 3G add £100.)

 

[Felon]

I do not believe that Flash will continue to be unsupported by Safari for iPad. Their principle concern to date has been virus related.

iPhones were one thing; they won't let that continue for iPad.

As for the USB and SD card connectivity, those are supported by a dongle - for now.

They also suppory a bluetooth keyboard.

The $499 for 16GB is not that far off the market place price for a Netbook. Your "ow" is misplaced. The eeePc was released with what only 4gig 2.5 years ago at a $399 and $449 price point?

So my "ow" is misplaced by virtue of what existed two years ago? Is Apple going to sell these things using the wayback machine? The eeePC's I'm looking at on Amazon today have 160-250GB or more. That's quite a large discrepency in the here and now. A very real "ow".

Speaking of here and now, we have no evidence that Flash is coming. What we have is Jobs talking about Youtube just like he did on the iPhone years ago. We also have Apple's refusal to allow apps that provide competition for iTunes, like the Hulu app.

Think about that for a moment please. Compare the eeePc 9" Netbook to the iPad. These are similar devices, aimed at a similar market.

As the Netbook market has expended and vies now with the lower end latops - the NEtbooks have upped their hard drives to the point where several of them really aren't Netbooks at all anymore. They are laptops.

Since a netbook is just an imprecise term coined to idenfity cheap laptops, this is simply a baffling assertion. They're getting better over time like all technology does. So what? I'll think about it for a moment. Still baffled.

As for laptops - I didn't suggest they would own that market - but this WILL put a dent in it and it will herald the battle that is about to take place over the course of this decade as feature creep starts to blur the edges of this category. The place where that line is drawn will erased and re-drawn in a series of skirmishes over this decade. It's a target "line" that will be ever-changing.

When you said "the market will be theirs", what market were you referring to? Netbooks? Slates? Smartphones?

Doesn't matter. I think the iPad ver 1.0 will be a game changer, and the brand will spew forth a multi-headed Hydra, yielding another dragon slayer or three as the various models unfold and evolve over the coming years. But now we know what it's going ot look like and the rough price points which battle will take place within.

At that price? This is a complete winner. It will change the market in a manner similar to the way the iPod changed music this past decade.

The iPod and iPhone were game-changers because they actually offered something that changed the game.

What does the iPad do that makes it special?

That's the question that the tech-unsavvy Mr. Consumer will ask. "What does this do?" The answer will be "a bunch of stuff Apple already targeted with their iPhone". And then they'll say "well, my smartphone already does that and it fits in my pocket". What is Apple's response going to be?

 

[Morrus]

The tech-unsavvy Mr. Consumer will ask "what does this do", and the answer will be a bunch of stuff Apple already targeted with their iPhone. And then they'll say "well, my smartphone already does that and it fits in my pocket". What is Apple's response going to be?

It'll be "we've sold 10,000,000 units".

They're not selling a tabet PC - they're selling a user interface. One should never mistake what Apple is actually selling. The iPhone is beaten by dozens of phones in terms of flexibility and power - but still outsells them because of its interface.

Quite simply, in answer to you question - I AM the "tech-unsavvy Mr. Consumer" and my reply to you is: "It's purty. I want it."

It's easy to adopt the cynical tech-savvy POV. Everyone did with the iPod and the iPhone. And they were wrong - they sold 75 million of the things. I don't think there's any mileage in trying to outguess Apple's marketing experts and predict dire failure; it'll sell, and we all know it will.

 

[Pyrex]

I've been pondering this some after reading some of the articles and watching the official video.

And to a significant extent, both Felon and Steel Wind are right.

There is effectively nothing the new iPad does that an iPhone (or my Windows Mobile phone) doesn't already do.

Except for the fact that it has on the order of 8x the screen real estate.

Which, all by itself, is pretty compelling for several scenarios. Compelling enough that it's probably going to gut the ebook reader market.

Also, it does just enough to be considered as a viable replacement for a low-end laptop. Enough so that it'll certainly make a noticable dent in that market as well.