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The iPad is an invention on my personal wish list for quite sometime, yet I am disappointed. Here's what I found:

Con 01: No multi-tasking!

• I am streaming Pandora and I would like to open a PDF for viewing. I have to stop Pandora and read in silence.

Con 02: No Flash support!

• No flash games, no flash movies, no flash period.

Con 03: The cost is tremendous!

• To get a functional iPad with 3G coverage will cost you about $630.00 USD. And, that's the "cheap" version.

Con 04: Needs 3G coverage.

• Unless I sign a contract and agree to pay a $10.00 USD monthly bill, I wont be able to use the Internet.

Con 05: Built-in Battery.

• The battery dies, you're screwed.

That being said, I wont be getting one anytime soon. What's your slant on the subject?

Con 01: No multi-tasking!

• I am streaming Pandora and I would like to open a PDF for viewing. I have to stop Pandora and read in silence.

Next OS update will support multitasking. Whether or not that'll go to the iPad is another story, but to not do so would be stupid.

Con 02: No Flash support!

• No flash games, no flash movies, no flash period.

So a scourge of the internet isn't available. Let's all cry about it.

Con 03: The cost is tremendous!

• To get a functional iPad with 3G coverage will cost you about $630.00 USD. And, that's the "cheap" version.

And a fully functional equivalent tablet is at least twice that.

Con 04: Needs 3G coverage.

• Unless I sign a contract and agree to pay a $10.00 USD monthly bill, I wont be able to use the Internet.

Or use wifi. Seriously, how else are you getting out of this one?

Con 05: Built-in Battery.

• The battery dies, you're screwed.

I agree.

osdnlo wrote:The iPad is an invention on my personal wish list for quite sometime, yet I am disappointed. Here's what I found:

Con 01: No multi-tasking!

• I am streaming Pandora and I would like to open a PDF for viewing. I have to stop Pandora and read in silence.

Con 02: No Flash support!

• No flash games, no flash movies, no flash period.

Con 03: The cost is tremendous!

• To get a functional iPad with 3G coverage will cost you about $630.00 USD. And, that's the "cheap" version.

Con 04: Needs 3G coverage.

• Unless I sign a contract and agree to pay a $10.00 USD monthly bill, I wont be able to use the Internet.

Con 05: Built-in Battery.

• The battery dies, you're screwed.

That being said, I wont be getting one anytime soon. What's your slant on the subject?

• 1: Multitasking is coming in the iPhone OS 4.0 update.
• 2: I consider this a good thing as the popularity of flash-less devices will encourage developers to use alternate technologies which are platform independent like Javascript+HTML5
• 3: Price is subjective. I think for a decent well engineered tablet it is quiet cheap. Tablet computers without well designed software have been out for quite a long time and have always commanded a high price.
• 4: It has both WiFi and 3G support. Obviously if you are away from WiFi access you will need a mobile data plan of some sort.
• 5: Not entirely screwed. You can run it off AC power through the adapter. You then get the battery replaced.

Oh and Pandora used to be awesome but now it's just this:

Dear Pandora Visitor,

We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

edit: Beaten by pcmattman who also manages to make the same points as me

pcmattman wrote:

Con 01: No multi-tasking!

• I am streaming Pandora and I would like to open a PDF for viewing. I have to stop Pandora and read in silence.

Next OS update will support multitasking. Whether or not that'll go to the iPad is another story, but to not do so would be stupid.

It better begin multi-tasking real soon. That's a major flaw with this device.

pcmattman wrote:

Con 02: No Flash support!

• No flash games, no flash movies, no flash period.

So a scourge of the internet isn't available. Let's all cry about it.

What was that? Some sort of attempt at being cool?

pcmattman wrote:

Con 03: The cost is tremendous!

• To get a functional iPad with 3G coverage will cost you about $630.00 USD. And, that's the "cheap" version.

And a fully functional equivalent tablet is at least twice that.

My point is that the iPad is not currently worth the tremendous price.

pcmattman wrote:

Con 04: Needs 3G coverage.

• Unless I sign a contract and agree to pay a $10.00 USD monthly bill, I wont be able to use the Internet.

Or use wifi. Seriously, how else are you getting out of this one?

Yep, wifi sounds good. Why not? What do you think that it will be hard to find a hot-spot?

pcmattman wrote:

Con 05: Built-in Battery.

• The battery dies, you're screwed.

I agree.

Do you really? That's great.

pcmattman wrote:

Con 03: The cost is tremendous!

• To get a functional iPad with 3G coverage will cost you about $630.00 USD. And, that's the "cheap" version.

And a fully functional equivalent tablet is at least twice that.

My point is that the iPad is not currently worth the tremendous price.

I haven't seen anything that cheap apart from an eee pc, and the eee's are AWFUL.

pcmattman wrote:

Con 04: Needs 3G coverage.

• Unless I sign a contract and agree to pay a $10.00 USD monthly bill, I wont be able to use the Internet.

Or use wifi. Seriously, how else are you getting out of this one?

Yep, wifi sounds good. Why not? What do you think that it will be hard to find a hot-spot?

How else do you propose you'll access the internet? You either find a wifi hotspot, or pay for mobile internet. It's the same with any other device -_-.

Several people have mentioned multitasking in the next version of the OS. That's not completely true. Multitasking means you will be able to pause applications while you run others, except for a few things that will be able to continue running (yes, sound is one of them).

I had no idea that it had WIFI abilities too. Then that sways me a bit. I will wait till they fully implement HTML5, finish multi-tasking, and lower the price a little, I think. It's just too soon to be buying it now, I guess. I am definitely excited about it though. It will literally be a dream come true to own one. As gay as that sounds.

The fact remains that it's still simply a tool that allows you to get something done. There's no point getting all excited.


Ooh! A new teapot made from carbon fibre! I've just got to buy it...

JackScott wrote:The fact remains that it's still simply a tool that allows you to get something done. There's no point getting all excited.

Ooh! A new teapot made from carbon fibre! I've just got to buy it...

What kind of guy talks like that? Is that how you talk? You sound like a women from New York City. haha

Anyway, fella. I happen to be excited because it is a new technology that I have been wanting to come into existence for a very longtime. Finally it is here and I am not allowed to show some enthusiasm? Please, I'll do what I want.

Learn how to spell fibre.

FTFY: JamesM

..|..

I'm Australian (British). I'll spell fibre how I want it to be spelt.

I'm demonstrating a point... there's no point being excited about a tool. The iPad is hardly a revolution, tablets have existed for ages. Indeed, I know at least one forum member develops his operating system on a tablet (or did, at least, back in the dark depths of time).

Also, I'm a tea-drinking guy, and I'm proud of it. I'm not a women, and even if I was, I'd be a singular woman.

Learn how to spell fiber.

For the record, it can be spelt either way (fibre or fiber).

neighbour, favourite, colour, centre... I could go on.

One big flaw with the iPad: The need to go through Apple's hoops to publish apps in the App Store. The result seems to be a lot of sub-par apps and a long wait for bug fixes. IMO the excuse for this ("apps might crash the phone system!") is wearing thin, and doesn't apply to the wifi-only model.

No multitasking? sure it does, just 'jailbreak' it.. you'll have a fully functional device, promise.
No Flash? - that's clearly a feature.

Oh, and fibre is the correct spelling.. colour on the other hand, is bad forum netiquette.

Heh. It's a device aimed at the general public - the lack of Flash is not a feature. I'm not sure what kind of logic everyone here is following but if all operating systems suck (and they do), would you rather not have one at all?

All the words spelled here are correct. There is of course osdnlo's grammar mistake which was awesome because it rendered his picking on JackScott moot.