I almost want one, but not sure what i'd do with it: iPad 2

[engine]

It looks great, the presentation was great, the price is no more than iPad 1, so, what's holding me back?

I'm not exactly sure what i'd do with it.

What would you do with yours?

[jecasc]

I think it would make a good electronic picking list. Can you plug in a barcode scanner?

[SevenCubed]

Have they included a USB port into this one, I don't think the previous one had that very basic functionality?

[lawman]

My wife wanted one for Christmas. I told her a newer model was coming soon. Now that soon is about here, I guess I'm obligated to get her one. :)

[LifeinAsia]

Just tell her the iPad 3 is in the works...

[lawman]

If I thought I could get by with it I would. ;)

[Demaestro]

You know Apple is doing amazing marketing when you have people saying they want one but have no use for it.

[StoutFiles]

Rumor is still just 256 MB of RAM. All that new processing power and a huge bottleneck to go with it...

[wheel]

Ah, it's like BMW's. A car's a car, some people want 'nice' cars. Stuff by apple (pick any product) are just plain nice stuff.

They're not selling ipads. They're selling pampered technology - and doing a heck of a job of it. I thought they were dead after the IIe, but here they are decades later and I'm still buying their crap.

Without apple, I wouldn't have a tablet yet. But I do, and I've found new uses for it. I'll be bringing my ipad to pubcon austin next week instead of a laptop for example.

[weeks]

Just tell her the iPad 3 is in the works...

I tried that. It's not working.

Tip: Both carriers appear to have a la cart G3 service. That means you can get a deal where you only have to pay when you can't get wifi. Yes, there are the standard deals, too, but in my life, there is almost always wifi. But, not always. So, I'll probably spring for the 16GB with 3G for $629. And the cable. And the cover. And lord knows what else.

The Xoom? I'm going to look at it. But, the wife want an iPad and, so, well, a happy wife is a good thing.

[Swanny007]

I'm going to buy one. I found the original iPad to be of no real use to me. After all I have an iMac on my desk and an iPhone in my pocket.

However my wrist has been hurting from my mousing action all day, so I will be buying an iPad 2 so I can still be on the 'net all day but I can be sitting in a comfy chair in the living room and not be hurting my wrist.

Besides, I don't want anything with the name Android (Google) attached to it, so I'm becoming an Apple fanboy, even though I never thought I would be one. Apple is like the lesser of two evils for me :-) They do have great products and aren't trying to take over the world (spying on my wifi, taking pictures of my house, etc.)

[StoutFiles]

The Xoom? I'm going to look at it. But, the wife want an iPad and, so, well, a happy wife is a good thing.

Happy wife, happy life!

But really, if an iPad 3 comes out in September, just eBay this one before they do the official announcement. You'll see around a 80-85% return on your money.

[incrediBILL]

Friend of mine has been hissing and spitting about tablets for ages, the usual "what good is it, what can it do my netbook can't do, like hold itself up" sort of techno-drama-queen nonsense.

Finally his wife insisted she wanted the new Android Color Nook and now they're all hooked on it. She just wanted an eBook reader, but next thing you know she's playing games on it, so on and so forth.

It's not a "what would you do with it", it's a "what wouldn't you do with it?"

It's like I've got a desktop with dual-monitors but you can't use it sitting in the recliner in the living room, netbook time. The cell phone is adequate for keeping up with twitter, WebmasterWorld, AdSense and doing some email while tossing pints at the local pub, other times I drag the netbook along if I intend more keyboard intense activity.

The iPad kind of fits in the middle and I'm not sure when I'd pick one over the other, but my suspicion is the phone would still get the same amount of use but the tablet would start to chip away at or replace the netbook entirely depending on how productive it is.


If I didn't have a netbook it would be a no-brainer, I'd get a tablet.

If the tablets didn't cost so much more than my netbook it would also be a no-brainer.

[wheel]

True enough Incredibill. We originally bought an ipad because it was the easiest way to get our email last year while on vacation. For anything else we had to buy a year or two internet contract. The ipad was the only device I could realistically buy on a pay as you go internet connection.

Now we've got it, I read the BBC news on it every morning at breakfast. And I read on it in the evenings. And I'll screw around with games on it if I take a break. And I'm taking it to pubcon instead of my laptop; I'll download a couple of books for the plane ride and the ipad + wifi means I can access my email; all without hauling out my antique laptop.

I'm not a big mac user, but I can see why people become fanatics. It's not all promotion with them, some of it's backed up with good stuff.

And it's surely limited in really poor ways, but that's for those of us that tinker. My wife would just look at it and it is what it is, and it does what it does.

[Innovate]

I have a netbook,laptop, desktop, iPod touch, and android phone. I don't need anything else except a break from all the technology.

[wyweb]

What would you do with yours?

Throw it out the window as I was driving down the road.

I'd wait til I had a long stretch of highway and could get her up to about 70 or 80. Then chunk it.

The explosion of parts would look pretty cool in the rearview.

That is not a gadget I need.

A souped up desk top for work. A big monitor because I can't see well anymore and it looks cool in my office. A laptop with current files on it for travel. A cell phone that can check email and has every number I could conceivably need stored in it. A fax machine because some backward thinking companies still insist on faxes. High speed printer because some backward thinking companies still insist on hard copies. Cable connection so I can get things done fast. Phones in every room of the house, and even the garage because I do not want to miss your call. You're probably wanting to give me money.

Adding to the picture is not what I'm really trying to do. I'd just as soon get rid of some of this stuff but for now it's required.

[bakedjake]

The iPad kind of fits in the middle and I'm not sure when I'd pick one over the other, but my suspicion is the phone would still get the same amount of use but the tablet would start to chip away at or replace the netbook entirely depending on how productive it is.

Pretty much Bill. We have an iPad and I wasn't a believer at first, but instant on is great for a quick web surf to check stats or in the kitchen for recipes... it's wonderful in the kitchen, in fact.

Any UNIX server admin work or emails though and the netbook (and/or laptop) come out. Netbook/laptop gets about half the use.

Phone still gets the same amount of use.

I'll download a couple of books for the plane ride and the ipad

The iPad is a great device but here we diverge, wheel. I can't read on the thing. IMHO the iPad seriously falls down for me in two places:

1. Extended reading, like a book
2. Composing email

I have a Kindle for #1 (you can pry my Kindle out of my cold, dead hands... I'd get rid of everything else before it), and still use my BlackBerry or PC for #2.

[incrediBILL]

2. Composing email

Short of Apple including a Swype keyboard replacement, typing on an iPad or iPhone blows, and that includes a blackberry, those little keyboard kill me but I can Swype almost as fast as I normally type.

That's probably the only reason I'll get an Android tablet is just for Swype alone.

Apple keeps getting close to taking my money with the iPhone and iPad but they went with AT&T and now Verizon, and then they don't have Swype or Flash. Maybe someday they'll figure out they have to cave in to capture the rest of the market just waiting for them.

[wyweb]

those little keyboard kill me

Oh no doubt. I've tried a few of them out. Bought them, took them home, tried to get adjusted, couldn't do it, took them back. I've got big fingers and they're not always that accurate at what they're poking at.

[Samizdata]

I do not want to miss your call. You're probably wanting to give me money.

I wanted to give you money for your unwanted iPad as I could probably find a use for it.

But now it's roadkill I have changed my mind.

...

[wyweb]

Oh Samizdata I was just trying to be funny.

If someone had given it to me, I'd have given it back.

If I'd have bought one I'd have taken it back.

They're just not useful to me. They certainly are to others though.

If they ever come up with a toaster that has a phone installed and can get ESPN, and maybe even microwave a cold plate of spaghetti, I'll be the first one in line to buy one.

If it can dispense beer also I'll hire some kid to be first in line at BestBuy when they release them.

I'm more into economy of motion these days than I am adding more things to lose, or misplace, or break, or get stolen in my life.

[edited by: wyweb at 5:54 pm (utc) on Mar 4, 2011]

[weeks]

They're just not useful to me. They certainly are to others though.

This was me until I got a NookColor to test out page designs on a touch screen. I love reading books on it. And reading the NYT and some of my favorite blogs before dinner.

But, yeah, I do resent having one more tech thing in my life. Enough already.

[incrediBILL]

They're just not useful to me. They certainly are to others though.

How do you know until you've used one?

You sound like my beer drinking buddy that said all the same things until his wife insisted she got one and now that he's been exposed to it, he wants one as well.

Used it for more than 5 minutes, took me a few days to "get" the smart phone once I figured out all it could do from anywhere in the world it was "wow".

And don't you dare use that "my old eyes" nonsense as an excuse, that's why people over 50 get reading glasses.

[engine]

I still don't think I could justify the cost, and the need for another gadget. The wife, OTOH doesn't have a smartphone/laptop/tablet. Although she does have her own desktop computer. I give Mr J his due, he does know how to make things that people want.

My laptop does it all, except it perhaps doesn't look so cool and trendy as the iPAD. Not that it bothers me as most of the stuff I do is typing, and that's not a great thing to do on a tablet.

The kindle is great for reading, no question. The e-ink technology means you can actually read with it in daylight. I've not got one of those, either.

Does this all mean i'm a technical luddite! hehe

<thinking out aloud>I'm wondering how much I can get an iPad 1 for. Second hand would do.</..>
' heads off to ebay. ;)

[wyweb]

@Bill

that's why people over 50 get reading glasses.

And I am over 50. I have reading glasses also. They've gone from 2.00 to 2.75 in recent years but my eyes still get tired. Stuff gets blurry whether I've got glasses on or not.

How do you know until you've used one?

Well, I know what they do. I know what they're used for, what their functionality is. I don't need one. I don't move around as much as you guys do. Most of my business is conducted right here in the office and I can get away with a desk top and a land line. I do not friggin' need one.

The question was:

"What would you do with yours?"

And I updated my answer to say that I'd give it back to you.

I would not literally throw an expensive piece of hardware out the window of my truck at 80MPH.

Although I might think about it if it kept misbehaving.

[graeme_p]

I want one of the Archos tablets: if I decide I do not like Android I can install Angstrom Linux on it, and they are reasonably cheap.

[StoutFiles]

Well, I know what they do. I know what they're used for, what their functionality is. I don't need one. I don't move around as much as you guys do. Most of my business is conducted right here in the office and I can get away with a desk top and a land line. I do not friggin' need one.

Nobody really needs a lot of things if you think about it. But I do think you'd enjoy one if you were given one. It just doesn't the justify the high purchase price for you, which is understandable.