Something big is going down at Apple

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Emrys

Emrys

Espy said:
Lets just get it out of the way since we are making declarations of what is and isn't useful for everyone based on our own personal preferences: Skim Milk. WTH?
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Exactly! 3.25% or nothing! Everything else is for twisted, godless barbarians.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

I only heard about this (vacation thing) just today. I know today was the release of the new application store, dunno what else Apple might have planned for Jan (if anything).

--Patrick
 
Fun Size

Fun Size

My wife's iPad has largely replaced our desktop PC altogether, not to mention giving the kids access to a huge range of excellent educational software that they would otherwise have missed out on. And I drink soymilk, as consuming the bodily fluids of some random mammal has somehow lost it's lustre. So there.

Also:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple
 
linglingface

linglingface

I thought the iPad was silly up until I got one from mom... >.> It's become a part of my daily life too and I realized the other day that my computer is being used significantly less than before.
 
strawman

strawman

One story this last week speculated that Apple is going to let Verizon announce the Verizon iPhone, with the idea that since they aren't giving anything new (ie, it has all the same old features as the iPhone 4 announced last year has) then Apple doesn't have as big a reason to do the announcement itself. It makes sense, because then Apple doesn't have to have a big to-do about what is essentially a single announcement (iphone on verizon, wooo! Uh, ok, that's it, bye everyone) and they don't have to bad mouth AT&T (they'll let verizon do that for them).

Still, they may be keeping the staff on for both events, but the big apple announcement is liable to be the next iPad - and I'm curious what they're going to announce aside from the cameras and gyroscope. I'm hoping for a retina display (not 300dpi as with the iphone, but a much higher resolution than the current iPad). Looks like the form factor is different (thinner, rounded edges much like the iPod Touch).
 
J

JCM

If its a new iPad, I'll get a SteveJobs voodoo doll or something, as I got the iPad 2 days after it launched here in Brazi..

Which was $%^#@ December.
 
Espy

Espy

Azurephoenix said:
What do people actually use the iPad for? Seriously... because I just don't understand the frenzy over these things.
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...I can't think of anything. It's not like you can use a word processor or make presentations or work on spreadsheets on it or edit photos or play games or watch netflix and youtube or read ebooks or surf the web or listen to music on iTunes or Pandora or download a movie on iTunes or get on facebook or anything else. ;)
 
strawman

strawman

To some degree it's like a GPS navigation device. Until you use it a few times for things you want to do (ie, not just playing with it but using it) you really don't have a good grasp on what it can do for you.

Not everyone will find it useful enough to justify the cost though - it's expensive.

But now I don't have to be in front of a computer to get things done.
 
C

Chibibar

my wife and I are a mix crowd users(we have both PC and Mac in our home). When I got my wife an iPad, she was nuts about it. It is actually pretty useful for her. She got apps to draw with (with an iPad stylist), watch netflix and play games on it. It is pretty nice and lightweight so she doesn't have to lug around her laptop anymore. When we were traveling to China, she upload a bunch of movies (legal digital copies) to her iPad to watch on the plane. It is pretty nice.

It is pretty easy to use and a lot of my co-workers gave them to their parents. They are loving it since it is much easier and intuitive to use compare to a laptop or something. Just turn it on and go.
 
strawman

strawman

Instant on, and instantly using any given application is actually a huge usability increase over the standard computer or laptop.

I can still do some things faster on the computer than on the iPad (Notably reading these forums - Open new thread link, middle click on everything of interest so they all appear in new tabs, read them all, and close them - on the iPad it's a much slower linear process). But those are really "power user" type things most people don't do or care about (notably the people on this forum are not "most people" for this statement).
 
Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

First Lady Puffinstuff said:
notably the people on this forum are not "most people" for this statement.
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Ain't that the truth.

Espy said:
It's true, people have different preferences about what technology they prefer. :)
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Most definitely... i love having my office and home theatre with all their high powered technical doodads.

Yeah, I can understand the ease of use of the iPad and I honestly do think it's a slick little piece of technology. I just personally don't see much utility in it for my own purposes. Note, I do have an iPhone 3Gs which kind of covers a lot of what the iPad can do already. That's probably why I don't get all the buzz. I also don't fall into the group of people you see lining up outside the apple store to buy the newest apple device... even though they already all have iPhones and iPads.

I also refuse to watch movies on anything but my bigscreen TV at home... or the theatre :D.
 
strawman

strawman

Pretty much everyone agrees that Verizon's event tomorrow in NY is announcement of the iPhone on their network. It's probably exactly the same as the iPhone 4 but with a Verizon network compatible modem/voice module. Verizon's network technically doesn't support voice and data at the same time, however they recently rolled out their latest network upgrade in a number of major cities, and some speculation suggestions that the modem might be able to support the new technology for data and the old technology for voice simultaneously. That would be great, but honestly I rarely end up in a situation where I need both at the same time, and if I do I simply us the iPad for dat and iPhone for voice.

At any rate, the announcment is tomorrow, but the release is probably going to be February 3rd - when Apple has been canceling the vacations.

I haven't found anything online regarding a live stream, but Apple seems to be in control of the event (the people who are being invited are a regular who's-who of Apple events, *not* verizon events) and Apple's been streaming their most recent conferences, so I can only hope I'll be able to see it live. If not many outlets will be live blogging it.

My AT&T contract ends in spring, so I won't be first in line (plus new releases always have problems - best to wait for the first software revision), plus the next generation of iPhone should be announced this summer, so I'll probably just wait until then. If it's sexier than the iPhone 4, I may end up staying with AT&T, or waiting for Verizon to get the next upgrade.
 
C

Chibibar

personally I hope, wish, dream, and pray that maybe iPad (whatever version) will have a phone builtin features. I wouldn't mind having a bluetooth headset and keep my iPad in a bag. That would be awesome (at least for me) instead of having two devices.

but that is just my personal preference.
 
strawman

strawman

Apple knows what people want, and conversely how to get them to fork over as much cash as possible.

The iPod touch has a low resolution camera. Want a good camera? Get the iPhone 4.

The iPhone 4 only goes up to 32GB storage. Want your whole music collection? Get the iPod Touch.

The iPad has 3G, but no phone. Want a phone? Get the iPhone.

The iPod touch doesn't have a real GPS receiver. Want to know your position to within 20 feet? Get the iPhone or iPad 3G.

The iPad supports many more simultaneous touches than the iPod or iPhone, and the larger display makes it much more suitable for multiplayer games, and reading.

They purposefully limit what each device has in order to get the same people to buy two, or even three devices. This is most noticeable on the iPod Touch where they could easily add the better camera and real GPS, or the iPhone where they could easily double the memory.

There haven't been many rumors about the iPad, but honestly I expect them to add something unexpected that the other two devices don't have. It's a given they'll add cameras and the gyroscope, and I'm hoping they'll to bump the screen resolution up a bit. Given the large form factor there's got to be something they can leverage - there's a ton of empty space inside the case.

Time will tell.

But yes, Apple is doing this on purpose.
 
Covar

Covar

It's my understanding that most the space inside the iPad is the battery. I'd love to see what they can do to the new iPad as long as they don't kill the amazing battery life.
 
strawman

strawman

Covar said:
It's my understanding that most the space inside the iPad is the battery. I'd love to see what they can do to the new iPad as long as they don't kill the amazing battery life.
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Yep. It has two large lithium polymer cells, and I literally used the ipad all day yesterday, and it lasted all day long. I would be surprised if they hurt that...
 
C

Chibibar

note: check with your local retailer that MOST education institution offer 25% discount on Verizon's services (and some equipment)
 
Bones

Bones

congrats, i shudder to think all the sprint jackhats I am going to have to deal with that have jailbroken their phone for the sprint network.
 
strawman

strawman

They also often have discounts on Apple products, so you might be able to get a discount on the initial cost, as well as the service cost.
Added at: 12:51
Bones said:
congrats, i shudder to think all the sprint jackhats I am going to have to deal with that have jailbroken their phone for the sprint network.
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They won't swamp sprint yet - they can't cheaply get the phone without a service contract, so only those that are truly dedicated will attempt it.

I'm disappointed they only have a 3G chipset in there, and gave us nothing beyond that to differentiate it from the AT&T iPhone 4.
 
J

JCM

You guys are lucky with replacement programs and et al, heck here the Brazilian iTunes doesnt even have music, not to mention, no album covers to download at all.
Azurephoenix said:
I guess I fall outside of their target demographic as I would rather use a different device for everything you listed.
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My best mate thinks the same, and has his laptop always near him, but for me, the battery life, small size, 3G internet and the speed it loads up is pretty much why I use it (movies, games, web, books, writing down stuff), not to mention that its also handy to have around when you need to cook and need some recipes fast.

Never take my laptop with me to work or trips anymore.
 
Shakey

Shakey

I like how they moved the volume buttons by just 2 mm. Just enough so that the old cases don't fit right. I'm surprised they didn't announce a Verizon iPad though. Maybe it's still locked into AT&T.
 
C

Chibibar

Shakey said:
I like how they moved the volume buttons by just 2 mm. Just enough so that the old cases don't fit right. I'm surprised they didn't announce a Verizon iPad though. Maybe it's still locked into AT&T.
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It is just matter of time.
 
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