technology

[Faust]

No comments on the iPad day? Lowrey, bring in the NYT comment you posted on Facebook.

[lowrey]

Apple’s most devoted fans congregated on Saturday morning at stores around the country to pick up their latest object of desire: the eagerly anticipated iPad.

Lines stretched for a few blocks in the morning hours at Apple stores in New York and San Francisco. Blue-shirted Apple employees passed out free snacks in the chilly early air. At 9 a.m., they greeted each buyer entering stores with an applause and fanfare normally reserved for athletes winning medals or championships.

“It’s beyond technology. It’s a culture. It’s a community,” said Rey Gutierrez, a die-hard loyalist with a tattoo of the Apple logo on his left hand, who had waited outside the San Francisco Apple store since 4 a.m. “No other company can drop a device and generate this much energy. Every big brand is envious of what Apple can do.”

Many of the people waiting for the iPad had a vague sense that they were involved in yet another big Apple moment, although they could not precisely say how they would use the tablet computer, which shares features of both laptops and mobile phones.

“I have no idea what he’ll do with it,” said Jessica Panzica, 30, waiting in line at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco for her husband, who could not pick up his iPad because he had a ham-radio class. “I’m sure he’ll use it a lot, whatever it is. He told me I’m not allowed to open it.”

Mathieu Thouvenin, 26, was born the year Apple introduced the Macintosh but predicted that the iPad would be just as revolutionary.

“I think all PCs are ultimately going to be like this,” he said, citing the tablet’s touch-screen capability. “I think I’m going to use the iPad at home on my couch instead of my laptop.”

By all accounts, the lines for the iPad were shorter and more subdued than those three years ago for the iPhone — although this time Apple has allowed people to order the device online and have it shipped to them.

Nevertheless, lines still stretched for blocks at most Apple stores in major cities.

Most Apple fans passed the time in line bonding with one another, and with their devices — iPhones, iPods and Mac laptops. Some dressed up for the occasion, bringing a circuslike atmosphere to the proceedings.

“We’re totally excited. It’s going to change everything,” Tracy Kahney said while her son, Lyle, 9, fidgeted uncomfortably in the cardboard iPad costume she had made for him.

Isaac Henderson, 39, who lives in Manhattan and waited outside the Apple store in the meatpacking district, compared the gathering to the lines for eagerly anticipated science fiction movies. “This is like ‘Star Wars’ for Apple geeks,” he said. “I just hope it’s more rewarding than ‘The Phantom Menace.’ ”

Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham Research, said he expected that Apple would sell more than 300,000 iPads this weekend. He said the introduction “says more about the role Apple is playing in our culture and little about the ultimate success of the iPad.”

The iPad has been generally well reviewed, although there are features noticeably absent: the ability to run more than one application at a time, for instance, and lack of support for Adobe’s Flash, which means video on many Web sites will not play.

After Apple started handing out iPads to people who had pre-ordered them online, most buyers expressed a certain amount of satisfaction — if not quite with the device, but with the process of getting one.

“I met people all over the world,” said Maria Morales, 51, from San Francisco, adding that it was the first time she had waited in line for a gadget. “It was bonding.”

[theetruscan]

The only people I know who got iPads work in comic book publishing. They're excited about it as a distribution mechanism.

So far it seems like a shitty laptop combined with a shitty e-reader in a nice form factor. If it were pleasant to read on like a kindle, good to type on like a laptop, or better for watching movies on like a laptop, I would get one.

As is, it looks like Apple managed to inexplicably boost e-book prices above that of paperbacks, and then release a device no one would want to read a book on. Oh well.

[YoungM]

The comic book stuff is really the only thing exciting me about the iPad.

I really dislike where Apple seems dedicated on taking the personal computer. All this talk about touch and the intuitive interface ignores that fact that the interface is also super fucking slow to navigate. I've had several iPods, culminating in my latest touch, and the thing that annoys me most is the touch controls. Beyond the gimmick, what the fuck is it useful for? With my old classic, I could get to songs in 1/10th the time the touch takes me. And I have to look at it. This is semi-acceptable on a small device, but anything claiming to be part PC that attempts to do that exclusivally is retarded.

Second, the closed system mindset is scary. Again, it's something I'll deal with on a small device, where the ability to tinker and do what I want doesn't rank high, but I don't want it on anything larger (which includes the iPad).

[endersgame]

300,000 sold first day?
what the fffff..

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/technology/06ipad.html

[whitney]

got this for a good friend who unfortunately is going to be bed ridden for the next few months due to illness..not my idea but it was brought up as something light in her lap while she's resting in bed..

i don't think ipad is it, but it seems like everyone's looking for the next big thing in technology. there was the pc, the laptop..mp3 players specifically the ipod..not sure if netbook gets a place up there..but now i guess it would be ipad to stimulate the economy..

[BeauIXI]

Get it straight, pal. It's not a netbook... It's an XL phone.

[munch]

but you can't do phonecalls with it?

[lowrey]

I don't think anyone was comparing it to a netbook

and no, you can't make calls. if I understood correctly, Apple is doing a 3G version fairly soon. I suppose hypebeasts will then buy another 300,000.

just to clarify, I'm sure its a nice gadget and someone might have reasonable use for it (like whitney mentioned), but the NYT article really highlights the tragicomic state of consumerism where people go nuts over a product they don't have any use for.

[Faust]

/\ exactly.

I liked Pogue's review of it too - "For the lovers: iPad is basically a huge iPhone... For the haters: iPad is basically a huge iPhone."

[YoungM]

As far as I can tell, that's a perfect description. I'd still like to see one though.

Will be interesting to see how the Slate does up against the iPad. I'd like to see some good phone competition for Apple too, hopefully HTCs new 4g will provide that.

[lowrey]

I think HTC already has excellent alternatives, theyre just not marketed properly. I switched from an iPhone to a nexus one and am very pleased with it, much more straight forward, less dumbed down. The simple feature of being able to drag and drop content into it from a PC is incredibly rewarding after cursing over iTunes for the past years.

[YoungM]

You're probably right. I actually have a Palm Pre, and besides the ability to combine my phone and iPod, I prefer it to the iPhone.

The 4G HTC looks absolutely awesome. Gigantic, but incredibly impressive.

[Faust]

I think HTC already has excellent alternatives, theyre just not marketed properly. I switched from an iPhone to a nexus one and am very pleased with it, much more straight forward, less dumbed down. The simple feature of being able to drag and drop content into it from a PC is incredibly rewarding after cursing over iTunes for the past years.

Gasp...

Going to play with an iPad tomorrow morning. Will report back.

[dji]

I have an xperia x10 preordered, if only SE would stop delaying it.