It's a niche product that doesn't fit into your niche. But it's the same with AppleTV, for many people it's an expensive white box that was pointless, for me I use it every single day. I do a lot of video editing and it's the best way to watch HD video on my plasma. My wife also listens to a lot of music whilst playing with our daughter and this is on all day with the photo screensaver. So for me AppleTv really fits in my niche.
this pad will also fit in my niche. I work from home so although I have an iPhone I rarely use it outside of the house. I use it in the evenings when I am in my living room for internet browsing and watching lots of video (movies and TV) because I mainly hate most of the stuff my wife wants to watch on TV. I also watch something every night in bed.
For all of these uses this pad is going to be way better than my iphone because the screen is bigger, and way better than a laptop because it's easier to hold, thinner, lighter. In bed I can lay down and hold it etc.
so it really fits my niche!


This is exactly the use for it.
I totally agree with everything you say, and if I had money to spare, I would almost certainly get one. It is perfect for lazing around, watching a few films, browsing The Guardian site, showing mates photographs, it's perfect.
Take it out of that environment and it's no where near as practical.
Mocked my friend, but only in a friendly way.

How can simplicity be so bad? (especially when there is so much complexity hiding below the surface if you want it)
Also, Amp34 "LED backlit screens are only better in weight, size and power" only the three most important attributes you want in a mobile device.
I have to admit, I'd hoped the iPad would be more revolutionary but then again the iPhone doesn't look too much until you use it. Unfortunately for me though the iPad or any other tablet falls into the category of 'want' rather than 'need'.
There is such a thing as too much simplicity!
I just can't get on with it. Next time I use my girlfriend's iMac I'll take a mental note of things that annoy me about OSX. Or snow leopard or whatever the bloody hell it is
* No camera
* No multitasking
* No flash
* £100 extra for the 3G version
* 16GB storage for a laptop replacement?
* FPS gaming w/o a controller.
* eBooks on an LCD screen.
iPass
This Microsoft
courier looks like a better device imo
Wow...
I would buy both. I'd buy an iPad for home use, and then for everything else, this. It is literally the perfect yin to the iPad's yang.
lol, iPass, I like that
i'd buy a microsoft tablet if I knew it wasn't going to crash and seize up every 5 minutes
Windows 7 hasn't crashed once since I installed it about a month ago.
The reason windows crashes is because its users are stupid and clog it up with crap. Windows is like a kitchen. Keep it clean, and you'll have a pleasure using it. Small, regular clean ups, tidy everything away properly, organise your pots and tins, wash the dishes and put them away. If you let the chaos and the mess and the dirt pile up, you'll hate it. It will be useless. You'll have to spend hours sorting it out, cleaning everything top to bottom, re-organising stuff, before it works properly again.
The difference is with Apple is that while, yes, the freedom to clog your machine up with crap is available, it's so bloody difficult to do so.
That is the only thing that Apple has over Microsoft. It's difficult to break.
I know exactly how Windows works and how to make it work at its prime - as I just described. A lot of people unfortunately don't and that's where this myth that Windows ALWAYS crashes came from.
agreed, they will both co-exist quite happily. Microsoft will continue to make products that fit well into buisness category and Apple will continue to make products that fit into the entertainment category. Apple will just grow and take share from microsoft in the entertainment and home use category but it won't take over the business space where microsoft will happily exist.
The education space however is a different place entirely where I think microsoft will lose share, not just to apple but to Linux. Schools are already getting fed up with paying so much money for operating systems they are looking elsewhere more and more. Ubuntu will gain more and more space in this field
I dunno... A similarly specced Mac will have a 33% premium to a Windows model...
I have no evidence to prove this other than that my computer is about 4 times faster than my girlfriend's brand new iMac, which cost her £1100.
Mine cost just under £600, screen and all.
Same goes for my Dad's laptop and my friend's brand new Macbook Pro (£1600 to £600).
someone else mentioned sky plus before. I think that comes in again here. There are other vendors that do TV, like NTL and virgin but have you ever used them? They suck. Sky have the best menu navigation system and the easiest product, it's a breeze to use. The other pail in comparison.
Sure there are other mp3 and mp4 players that are cheaper and maybe have more features, but in general they just aren't as nice to use as ipods. The menu systems, the little nuances that make ipods and iphone so great are missing from these other devices, thats what you pay for when you buy an apple mobile device
Absolutely, the interface is superb on their portable products, you literally can't beat it no matter what you do.
Some manufacturers have given up trying.
No where near as many MP3 players now as there were (apart from cheapy crappy ones for people who can't afford a shuffle or a nano).