[NTLK] OT: iPad vs. MS Courier: Sound Off

[Jon Glass]

On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 10:38 PM, Ryan <newtontalk at me.com> wrote:
> Maybe the iPad is more hype than anything else?
>
> I just did another sweep of reviews and now almost all of the latest reviews complain about the weight.  It's too heavy.  This leads me to believe that it is something real, not imaginary.
>

I've tried to say from the start that the tablet concept is flawed,
and that the iPad may very well be a flash-in-the-pan, in the end.
It's simple. A tablet large enough to use/see/read must necessarily be
relatively heavy. And large enough to read also makes it more
difficult to actually enter data. But, with a tablet, you lack the
prop for the screen that the built-in keyboard provides the
laptop/netbook. You _must_ hold it, if you will. It goes beyond the
software interface, and comes down to that simple slate that, while
seemingly simple like a book or pad of paper, becomes more unwieldy
with time.

Personally, I have very real concerns that the iPad will not be a
long-term success.

The iPhone, on the other hand, addressed genuine problems that cell
phones had up until its debut--and still have, despite having three
years now to improve themselves. Yes, there is competition to the
iPhone, but none are as complete as the iPhone ecosystem. The thing
is, the iPhone scratched a genuine itch. The iPad, on the other hand,
scratches a hype. In fact, as far as it goes, I believe that the
_Newton_ was a better solution to the perceived problems people have
with laptops than the iPad is. By forgoing the keyboard entirely for
HWR, it solved very convincingly the need for data entry. Granted, it
isn't so fast as a keyboard, but try typing while standing--and the
Newton's HWR _is_ faster. If the Newton OS could be taken from where
it left off (not the actual code, but its GUI and way of operating),
and updated to today's technology--especially the hardware-, I am
convinced it would be superior to all else that is out there. I guess,
though, there are still the issues with the resistive touch screen vs.
capacitive...

-- 
 -Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass at usa.net>

"I don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals." --Jack Nicklaus