I love my Iphone, I like the apps, movies, music and other functions that do come standard on it, Planner, phone, camera.
Why do I as a consumer what a bigger one, that does not fit in my pocket?
I have a laptop, it comes with a keyboard, and various other support hardware / software.
Why do I as a consumer what a smaller one, that doesn't come with alot of what a laptop does?

Guess I'll have to go into the Apple store by my house and see how the sales person can Jedi mind trick me into buying one.

 

Looks to me to be a slick mix of my iPod Touch and my Kindle. I'll pass. The Kindle connects free to any 3G network while Apple wants me to sign up with AT&T for $30/month to download. Unless the iBooks are priced that much cheaper than Amazon, not worth the added expense. Maybe a future iteration with more true computer functionality will get me over the top but for now it's just a slcik gadget that I don't really need.

 

You can't blame the iPad for your puny little pockets Time for a pocket size upgrade

 

The unit doesn't even come with a USB port and requires adapters to enable that. This device is supposed to "integrate" and create a new multimedia experience yet limits your options to "integrate" with some sort of mini sd slot. Of course they will make more money charging you for the separate adapters instead of integrating it into the unit..

 

One of it's very many limitations, just like the iPod and iPhone have. You're meant to overlook them because it's pretty and shiny though. Enough are dazzled by that and they'll sell millions and Steve Jobs will again be hailed as a genius for giving people what they want. They don't see that if they got it right, instead of selling 10 million, they'd sell 50 million. I'd buy an iPod, an iPhone and probably an iPad if they got it right. For every happy i-gadget user, there are another 3 or 4 who'd buy that gadget if it wasn't for it's numerous deliberate design flaws.

 

RedEYEdj - Why does it need a mini-USB port? It has the dock connector, which does, of course, enable a connection to your PC or laptop via, you guessed it, USB. It has already been confirmed that the Apple wireless keyboard will connect with the iPad via Bluetooth, you don't need the iPad keyboard dock if you prefer to use Bluetooth.


DD_545i - with all due respect, given the hardware that you have bought (most particularly the Archos, Samsung), you're rather obviously more of a low-end consumer happy to settle for lower cost generic products - and there are plenty of products out there for you to choose from. If you're happy with an old Samsung MP3 player or an Archos video player, these products really aren't aimed at you. All of us vote with our wallets, and you can buy cheaper if you're so inclined. The fact that a product isn't right for you, or the fact that you're not a consumer in the target demographic, doesn't mean that the product has a design flaw. It simply means that the product wasn't built with you in mind. Apple isn't after those who settle for the bland or those on a budget. I'll concede that the very latest generation of Archos players are an improvement but the prior generation (the 604, 605, 704 and 705 etc), which have only recently been discontinued, were clunky, unintuitive and crippled by a shockingly poor user interface.

kscarrol - you don't need the data plan to stock up on eBooks. The device will of course sync over wifi or through your computer and you can load up on content without a data plan. Also, it is only $30 for the months you use it, you can stop or start at will - there is no contract. If you're not a heavy user, there is a $15 plan, again with no commitment. By the way, there is an Amazon Kindle app on the iPhone (and now the iPad) and you can sync Kindle content to and from the Apple devices (including your bookmarks) in addition to accessing content from Amazon's eBook store.

 

I would like to see one that folds in half. Then it could fit in a large pocket. It would take a clever design to make a folding LCD screen but I bet it could be done. IE simply build the screen in two halves and design hinges that bring the two halves down flat.

 

Microsoft has a concept that (almost) does just that, the Courier. It has two thin LCD screens in a folder format. I think there is some video footage on YouTube, it's actually very cool!

Edit: here you go - and

 

That looks like 2 separate views, not one screen. Also, I'd hate using that SW. It just seemed like each time an object was expanded or dragged, a different result occurred. In other words its way too context sensitive.

 

The more I look at the iPad the more I want one...now