There's an App For That

[Xiphos]

There's now an app for feminine hygiene thanks to Apple's just released digital tampon the iPad.



Seriously though,

* No ability to play Adobe Flash animations, widely used on the Web.
* No camera, still or video
* No non-Internet phone function
* Unclear whether you can bundle your AT&T iPhone plan with an iPad data plan
* No removable battery for a device that can suck a lot of power
* No removable storage

Only Apple could overcharge $499 for crippled hardware and people would buy it.

[Jenna]

I thought you made up the word "iPad" until I googled it! Truth is stranger than parody!

[APA]

It looks kinda like those things they used in Star Trek, but not quite as cool.

[Xiphos]

I could see paying $200 but $499 when you can't even multitask awful.

8 Things That Suck About the iPad - apple ipad - Gizmodo

No HDMI Out
Want to watch those nice HD videos you downloaded from iTunes on your TV? Too damned bad! If you were truly loyal, you'd just buy an AppleTV already.
The Name iPad
Get ready for Maxi pad jokes, and lots of 'em!
No Flash
No Flash is annoying but not a dealbreaker on the iPhone and iPod Touch. On something that's supposed to be closer to a netbook or laptop? It will leave huge, gaping holes in websites. I hope you don't care about streaming video! God knows not many casual internet users do. Oh wait, nevermind, they all do.
Adapters, Adapters, Adapters
So much for those smooth lines. If you want to plug anything into this, such as a digital camera, you need all sorts of ugly adapters. You need an adapter for USB for god's sake.
Update: Why stop at 8? Here are more things we are discovering that suck about the iPad.
It's Not Widescreen
Widescreen movies look lousy on this thing thanks to its 4:3 screen, according to Blam, who checked out some of Star Trek on one. It's like owning a 4:3 TV all over again!

[2 Blue 4 U]

Sure it is made by Apple and not Kotex? Do you think the next version will be called Maxi iPad.

Must have only males on the committee who decided on that name. But then again iKindle+ was out of the question!

[Xiphos]

[Ducky]

Sounds like your average Blackberry may have more functionality.

[Autumn2009]

Whats the point of it?

[Xiphos]

Whats the point of it?

Apple thinks it is going to kill the netbook. You know the laptops that have networking built in, faster processors, the ability to multitask, easy to type on, with all the normal connectors, for half the price.

[Second Chance]

Just a larger version of the iphone......imagine putting that to the side of your face to make a call............;-)

[Xiphos]

Just a larger version of the iphone......imagine putting that to the side of your face to make a call............;-)

It doesn't make calls. Unless Apple approves a VOIP app.

[Odd]

Changed my mind, I'm recommending this iProduct far and wide! Don't buy one. Really. This isn't subliminal advertising. It's hard to type under your breath is all.

"Why?" you ask? And what's this about changing your mind? Darn, failed to post an iFlop note of my own when this thread was new

As much as I think this is a beautiful, revolutionary, magical stupid overgrown iPod Touch device, my decision to support it is simply the enemy of my enemy reasoning. Flash video needs to GTFO, and while the iPhone wasn't much of a lever for prying it off the web, there seems to be some momentum gaining for HTML 5 that aligns nicely with all this pad jibber jabber. To borrow from another trite phrase, HTML 5 may be the devil we don't know - but the one we know is rubbish.

So, join me in recommending the iPad to friends and family alike. Just not ones you actually like

Bit that was holding my support of HTML 5 video back was this OGG video format nonsense. Sorry OGG fans, your audio compression is great, but useless in the real world. I'm all for community developed royalty free software, but not if it doesn't work with anything.

So it was with interest I read this morning :

Web video gets H.264 royalty reprieve

In a decision that deprives open-source foes of some rhetorical fodder, the group that licenses patents for the widely used H.264 video-encoding technology chose to renew a streaming-media freebie through 2015.

MPEG LA licenses more than 1,000 H.264-related patents on behalf of 26 companies that hold the patents. The group's existing policy, which runs through the end of 2010, has been not to charge royalties to Internet sites that streamed video using the technology--as long as the video was free for viewers.

Many have been waiting to hear what MPEG LA would announce for the licensing terms beyond 2010. On Tuesday, the group said it extended the free-streaming policy until December 31, 2015.

Not sure what the actual consequence of that is, if any. The psychological consequence as it affects the Flash vs HTML 5 video is the part I'm tuning in for. May be tea leaf reading in the manner of those deciding Apple and Google have gone to war because Google enabled multitouch on the Nexus I. In this case it's one minor indicator and welcome support along the path of freeing our CPUs. If the wallets of Apple fanbois become cannon fodder in the Flash/HTML5 war, well...all the better!

[Odd]

Whats the point of it?

Ah, now I see.
It's a $500 cat toy

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9NP-AeKX40]YouTube - iggy investigates an ipad[/ame]

[4 Turns]

The ladies would walk kind of bow-legged with that thing between their legs. Doesn't look very absorbent, either.