Posts: 10,815
Name: Steven Bradley
Location: Boulder, Colorado
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I bought one and I'm very glad I did. I think Ed summed it pretty well. Surfing the web on it is great as is pretty much any media consumption. The iPad is not (at least at the moment) meant to be a replacement for a laptop. It's another device.
Is there anything I can do on it that I can't do on my laptop or phone? No. But other than making phone calls there's nothing I can do on my phone that I can't also do on my laptop. What I've found with the iPad is that the more I have it the more things I prefer to do using it. It does some things better than my phone and some things better than my laptop. I've also been using it as an eReader more and more. The last 4 books I bought were all through the iBooks store.
I think in time as we see versions 2 and 3 and as apps for the iPad mature people will be using it for a lot more than consuming media. People will be creating more with it. Many people already are.
The iPad is not perfect. I understand Apple's reasoning behind no file system, but I wish there was one. It doesn't matter in consuming, but it will in creating. I also wish it were easier to move things back and forth between iPad and other devices. Going through iTunes isn't the right way to transfer files and we shouldn't have to rely on app developers for solution.
I know people complain about it's lack of Flash, but never once have I wished the iPad could display Flash files. Very rarely do I encounter a video that doesn't play. I'm not into Flash based games. And I'm happy not to have Flash slowing down the processor.
If you're thinking of getting one the best thing you can do is visit an Apple store and spend some time playing. You should get a feel for whether you like it within a few minutes. Much of your experience though will come down to what apps you ultimate get for it. They're are plenty of useful free apps and plenty of useful paid apps. Most of the paid apps are under $10, which seems reasonable to me.
Again it's not something you need, but it's likely something you'll use if you have it. As for those people who think it's going away, think again. Tablets are here to stay. The iPad may not always be the most popular tablet, but tablets in general aren't going anywhere. It's pretty easy to see how in time they'll replace laptops once the hardware is more capable.
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