Apple unveils thinner, faster, camera-packing iPad

Ship Date: March 11th (USA)

Garage band app releases same day..........look out !!!!!

CNN had a live stream that I watched on my iPad 1. Some new cool features including a more powerful dual core processor.

iPad2

Scott and Mikey will you upgrade? I tend to think my current iPad does everything I need it to do, I really have no need for built in cameras, not to mention our current versions can be upgraded to iOS 4.3 when released.

So now what everyone who jumped omn iPad original ....
now has to buy another?

Donny the damn things are just like arrangers when it comes to gotta have the latest......... one difference they sell millions vs. thousands of arrangers.

Steve, I still love the one I got and use it every day. I consider it one of the best gadget investments I've ever purchased. I tend to concur with the assessment you gave:

Steve did you order the new one yet? you know you gotta have it

Donny, I'm passing on this one. I don't need the cameras and iOS 4.3 that's installed on the new iPad will be available as an update. It's too early to really tell but this maybe a marginal upgrade? Talk to me after I see at the Apple Store in a couple of weeks.

I just talked with Mikey he asked whether I'd buy one, I said I'm going to pass, Mikey seems to think once I go to the Apple Store I'll walk out with one. ................hmmm

Stay away from 'all' Apple Stores!

At least that's what I'm attempting to do.

Scott great advice, but you know what they say about curiosity........

I dont have Apple anything in my life ......maybe thats a very good thing.. :);)

Did they make IPAD2 any bigger, NO Doh!

Better wait for the Asus Eee April this year, perhaps buy cutting edge stuff, and play cutting edge stuff, buy a new Wersi Wing and a Asus Eee, beat that JR. Look good and sound good.

Tony, it's actually thinner, but i'm disappointed they made it very slightly shorthervand narrower, iwish it was 3" larger. 8.5x11 would be perfect.

I was hoping for a Smart Card slot...

Oh well.

not all at once........3rd generation next year

I've had a $550 Apple Gift card sitting in my drawer since the end of November, waiting for the Ipad 2.

It doesn't look like that big of an upgrade to me. I probably wouldn't have waited this long if I had known.

I guess I'll be asking people for guidance about what I can do with the damn thing. I know I can use it for sheet music, but I don't know if I need a special app.

I'll probably use it for word processing a little bit - I'll probably get a keyboard to go with it.

I know I can watch videos with it.

It's a little big to replace my GPS. If I use my wireless internet dongle through CLEAR, maybe I can use it to stream Pandora in the car. However, I don't want too much crap going on that I'm going to get in an accident.

We'll see.

If you are right Micky and the screen is smaller then Apple never considered people using it to read music for in any numbers,
they think the market in general is somewhere else. If you want to read music at speed with a screen nearly A4 then IPAD isn't the tool and there is so much more coming out this year (ASUS TABLET) that will do the job far better than IPAD or MPP. I think APPLE bought a job lot of screens and they are stuck with them, only joking.

Tony

I'm with al on the increased size, just a little bigger would have been nice!

Card slot too!! But as Donny mentioned, maybe in iPad3. I do agree this is not a great as upgrade as I would have expected.

Beaky, in addition to lead sheets, do you read books at all? It makes a great book reader. I subscribe to 3 electronic magazines on it as well. No more accumulating piles of magazines I hope to get back too. NY Times and other newspapers are available as well. They are all stored on the iPad. I can store my e-photo collection on it as well.

I also use it as a remote for Fios TV, the list goes on. Oh yea it is great for watching You Tube clips as well. I think of all computer like devices my wife and I have purchased thru the years, this has to be the most all around useful device. Not a day goes by where we're not using them. Not sure how much you enjoy technology but if you do, you'll love the iPad. I don't know of anyone who purchased one and did not.

You do not know what you're missing. I also was reluctant to buy the first Mac. Only then I met another level of ease and security. I keep my Asus I7 only for use in my school of music, without using the internet because Pcs are infinitely more vulnerable than Macs (IMO)

Here's what Kim Komando says about the Ipad 2. If you don't want to read it, she says don't buy it.
http://www.komando.com/ipad2/index-page2..._campaign=end-j

DonM

This is all you need, this is the smallest but they do full size laptop screens.


http://www.okobe.co.uk/ws/product/ASUS+E...17094?ref=1q4bs

http://www.okobe.co.uk/ws/browse/ASUS+iPads+Tablet+PCs/1020676,1020493?sq=b:10320&ref=pp_sdb_mcb

iPad Trade In Ecomony May Yeild a Great Deal on iPad1

E-bay and Craigslist may have some great deals on used iPads too.

Why the hell pay £500 Ipad when you can have a full blown PC and tablet in one for the same money and a better OS, look at the DEL INSPIRON DUO. Screen as bif as MPP.

My cell phone does more then the iPad

I think it's the apps...

Roll on the Windows Tablets.
I got to try out an Exopc two weeks ago. Man that thing was seriously sweet. Bigger screen than the iPad and it ran Windows 7. Install what you want. I'd take one in a heart beat over a closed system like the iPad.

I also hear that Acer will be releasing a tablet very soon that has a 3D Screen that doesn’t require Glasses. Just like the screen that will be in the Nintendo 3DS that's being released in two weeks world wide.

1 year from now the technology we will have is going to be sooooo cool. !!!!

James.

Great info James.....maybe waiting is the best bet regarding these tablet thingys?..

Personally, I'd wait.
The iPad is a lovely device but for function it's never going to even come close to what's on the way. The Exopc is already miles ahead of the game, but this is only the beginning.
Here's an old video of one of the prototype.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFoNAXGQ3nc

It's now released, and you can find more video's on youtube.

As I said though, this is only the beginning. Over the next 6 months there are going to be at least 15 new Windows 7 Tablets released and with that we will see the prices drop as well.

The beauty of windows is you can install what you want, and it does not have to come from an App Store that's vetted and dictated by someone like Apple.

Regards
James

Anyone see this ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Nfss0jC90&feature=related
It's a Dual Multi Touch Screen Laptop.

James just watched the video ...wow that thing is kool and so much more the iPad at this time.
Question...... why would one need a PAD device like these vs a small netbook?

This stuff is way kool !!!! I wonder how this technology will trickle down into the music industry regarding arranger keyboards and other gear in the near future!! ?

That certainly is a cool device and I look forward to when it is released. I'm assuming it is not available today?

Non-Apple manufacturers have been promising alternatives to the iPad for quite sometime , to date I've yet to see anything actually on the market that I can actually use like I do the iPad. Competition is great if someone releases something better than how the iPad serves me now ,I'll be one of the first in inline.

Closed system on the iPad yes it is! In the meantime, based on how life can sometimes give us unexpected surprises, today I'm alive and enjoying my iPad as a media consumption device, not a day goes by when I don't get a few hours of use of the iPad. Tomorrow I could be dead so why not enjoy what's available today.

It's a bit too expensive to read music off at £1500.00, there are plenty more about bigger than IPAD better than MPP at lower cost.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-iconi...ai&istBid=t

Tablet PC's running Windows have been around for well over 10 years, long before Apple even knew what an iPod was. As for cheap version of them, the Archos 9 was out before the iPad. It costs less, does way more, and it runs Windows 7.

Apple are not doing anything “new” here, they are just good at marketing a device to people who don't follow technology.

Regards
James

No doubt as it would be total overkill too.
But it is damn cool.

James

One more for ya guys...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaiRLpuwDZ0

I actually used this myself at NAMM this year.

Regards
James

James, pardon me, I work and have worked in the tech sector for the last 12 years, I'm the MIS manager of medium size law firm with 3 offices in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area. I have worked for storage giant EMC EMC and also for UPS giant ( uninterruptable power supply) American Power Conversion So I guess I can say I follow technology very closely. Apple may be marketing the device to those who don't follow technology, I'm not one of them.

In civilian life, I'm also a consumer of media and I'm familiar with the Archos, considered purchasing one some time ago, but it didn't appeal to me............and yes tablets have been around for a long time. But it's only the marketing genius of Apple that took the bull by the horns and made the tablet category very successful. I will also admit I'm an Apple fan boy and may be a bit biased........but I also work in a Windows environment at my day job and I've dealt with the vulnerabilities there. If tablets of 10 years ago and forward on Windows were so great why have they not been successful? Why is everyone now chasing Mr. Jobs aka Apple?


I did not purchase the iPad for reading lead sheets. That turned out to be a bonus. And $ for $ I'm getting plenty of use as does my wife from our iPads.


Just a sampling of what I use the iPad for:
Reading Kindle, Nook or iBook electronic books
Reading magazines, PC World, MacWorld, MacLife, PC Magazine, Popular Photograhy, National Geographic
GoodReader for all my owners manuals
Calendaring for keeping track of gigs and other appointments
Contact lists for Assisted Living/Nursing Homes and personal contacts
My Photo Library
Wall Street Journal
New York Times
Scrabble for when I have a few minutes downtime

Training on various software programs via lynda.com. Very convenient I can even watching while stretched out on the couch relaxing.

The list goest on and on........I can only speak for myself and possibly the millions of others who have purchased iPads ( some are members here too LOL) Currently I don't think there is anything better in the form factor that the iPad comes in. And yes in the future I believe Apple will have a fight on it's hands to maintain the market share they enjoy now with the iPad. Yes, the Samsung Galaxy is meeting with some success, it will be interesting to watch the Motorola Xoom as well.

And with that I won't write another word for some reason I'm being drawn into a mine is better than yours contest and I don't enjoying being part of those. To quote my friend DNJ "use whatever you like and enjoy it" I know we are enjoying our iPads.

Do you buy an arranger NOW, or do you wait a year? And you'll be asking the same question in a year's time, too...

Holding off on the iPad, while you wait for a Windows equivalent, with the same ease of use, security and app selection shows a level of restraint I don't see here at SZ too often re. arrangers! I say get what you want NOW, and then, if something demonstrable better, cheaper, more secure and with better apps comes out in a year, get it THEN. (your iPad will have a decent resale value)

That is, unless by then, Apple improve the iPad to at least Windows tablet standards.

Steve,

I think you are right, use what you feel is good for you, I tried the Ipad and it will work and do the job, after the MPP which has gone back to the USA for a fix, it is small, if you buy a stand that will put the IPAD closer to your face you could live with it a bit better. The price is high when you see what's coming, DEL, Fujitsu etc etc, the quality will go up and the price down and you can get almost A4 screen for less than IPAD. I will wait until my MPP comes back, the battery life will always be crap I know that.

Hi Stephen.

Sorry, I didn't know you had a career in IT. Your original reply didn't suggest it either as the original iPad is not even 1 year old and you talk about it as if it's years old and people have been promising tables to compete with it for a long time.

Apple are by no stretch of the imagination ahead of of the game here. The iPad is only 11 months old and Windows Tablets existed for a decade. Archos even had their first ATOM / Windows 7 one on the market many months before Apple had the iPad. There's also a lot of Android Tablets out already that do more for a lot less money.

The main reason why I'm saying the next few months are going to be exciting is purely down to the fact that the industry giants like ASUS, DELL ACER and many others are all on the way with their own tablets, and as far as sales go on computers, these guys outsell Apple many times over in the full desktop OS market. Remember Apple only hold a 5% share in the market and Windows owns 95%.

iOS is not going to compete with a full desktop OS. It will have it's place, but it will be very small in the grand scheme of things as time goes by.



I see this a little differently. They have only seized an opportunity buy taking an old idea, locking it down, and taken away all the decisions the end user needs to make. Effectively simplifying the device to the point were a child can use it. That's all Apples marketing genius is. Simply put....You don't need to know anything about computers and you can use one straight out of the box.

Apple will always have it's customers who are happy to let Apple control their product, but the rest of the world will want the freedom to do what they want.



Good for you too. If it does what you want and your happy with it, then that's all that matters.



Try watching FLASH on it or going to a website that uses JAVA for interactive content, or buying a program for it that does not come from the App Store.

That's not choice is it ? To me it's like your given a list of things your allowed to do, not because the things that you can't do are impossible, but because Apple doesn’t like Adobe any more, or because they only want people to buy software of them and nobody else, and only programs that they approve you are allowed to use.

Sort of like how I control what DVD's my kids watch on TV. Daddy looking out for the kids to make sure they only do what I know about and approve.

Regards
James

James,

Not a problem, you had no way of knowing I was in IT since I've never really said I was.

You do make some very valid points re: flash and java.

I'm with you i do look forward to what the future holds for tablets especially with the big guys playing. Time will tell, no matter what these are exciting times for everyone whether it's in music or technology.

Good discussion. I'm going to replace my little Acer Web book, even though it is still great and is serving its purpose well.
I find I'm needing a little larger screen and a little larger keys. Old age stuff probably.
I was considering IPad, but I feel I would miss too many of the full-fledged computer functions.
My wife has generously offered to let me use her laptop for a while, at least until I see what is on the horizon. She seldom uses it because her I Phone is permanently attached to her ear now. She loves it so much that I might get one too. But I'm waiting until summer for the new version.
I have more patience with these things than I do with arrangers, Diki. I feel about arrangers as I used to about women. Wish I could've kept 'em all. T.G. Shepard had a song about that btw.
DonM

The only thing that would compel me to upgrade would have been either a larger screen (did not happen) or a mini-USB port (did not happen).

Apart from that, there is no reason why I need/want to upgrade at all.

My 16gig Ipad does everything I need, perfectly

Dennis

+1

Man, am I behind the times or what? I don't even have a cell phone...actually, I really don't want one either.

I remember seeing Dick Tracy comics and the "wrist radio" and the "wrist TV".

Now we got 'em!

Ian

I have to say I honestly use mine everyday. It has helped me be more productive while away from the office and also helped me be amused by silly nonsense all at the same time....some of the little silly apps are a guilty pleasure....who doesn't like launching birds at cartoon pigs?.......lol

Some times having a closed OS is good because it could make the product look and feel very easy to use for the masses.
But is it wirth it getting the 3G version of the I pad 2 especially if yu do not have ATT or verizon. That would be one of my major concerns in deciding to get an Ipad 2. Would wi fi be able to take care of all your needs?