# iPad



## ArcaneSpringboard (Jan 27, 2010)

$499 for the 16GB WiFi version?

SOLD.

I can see tons of these around gaming tables very soon.


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## weem (Jan 27, 2010)

For sure.

Watched streaming video of the announcement - looks great. I might have to grab one


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## Piratecat (Jan 27, 2010)

There are going to be great for gaming; I can see a battlemap app where you put your figurines right on top of the ipad, and just move the map when the PCs move.


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## dvorak (Jan 27, 2010)

/yawn

I remember buying this really cool (at the time) phone due in part to new digital services (majority of phones back then were analogue).  Today it just sits in a drawer collecting dust along with the charger, a pager and whatever "must have" devices back in the day.  Sometime later I (hopefully) came to my senses and stopped feeding from the trough.

While I appreciate consumerism/capitalism, will it really impact my life if I get one or not.  I already have a cellular phone (provided free from the carrier), I already have a laptop (160 GB HDD, 1 GB RAM, DVD/RW, WiFi, used for 1/10 the original price), I have a digital camera (ever sucking up batteries), an iPod yadda yadda yadda.  These items have done me a world of good (truthfully) but do I really need one more thing.

Yes yes this <insert gadget here> can save your life.  But did one save those other 150,000 unfortunate humans or a few years back when the tsunami struck?

When these devices use a universal charger, the company has a policy to recycle their old products for new ones and humans don't feel tethered to objects then I just might take notice.


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## Jeff Wilder (Jan 27, 2010)

If this thing doesn't multitask, I think Apple may have found something their customers won't swallow.


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## Tale (Jan 27, 2010)

Piratecat said:


> There are going to be great for gaming; I can see a battlemap app where you put your figurines right on top of the ipad, and just move the map when the PCs move.



 That's about the only use for it I can see myself having.  And it's just neat enough a use to warrant a consideration if I have the spare cashes.


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## Piratecat (Jan 27, 2010)

This strikes me as nifty but not essential, but I'll note that my iphone is my favorite piece of technology I've ever owned. If the ipad ends up doing what my laptop does only significantly better - consume written and cinematic media, write, play games - then I'll probably end up owning one. Being useful for RPGs will just be icing. I'll note that I'm one of those people who get the paper delivered every day, to the tune of about $50 a month. I hate news aggregation sites, and like reading the actual paper too much to have gone to the online version of the Globe. If I could get the online version on something like a tablet, I'd reconsider that position - which means some savings.

I have the suspicion that the second and third iterations will be significant improvements, though; I will probably be waiting a year or so. Multitasking and a front facing camera top my "it should have this" list.

If I can design and test iphone/ipad apps on this, instead of a full Mac, then I'll probably get one sooner.


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## ArcaneSpringboard (Jan 27, 2010)

Well, here's the thing.  I wanted a device I could easily hold in my hand that would allow me to read books, pdfs, surf the web, and use for D&D.  I don't currently have an e-book reader and I don't have a laptop.  (Well I do, but the wife is hogging that playing Evony. <g>)

Now you might say that a netbook could do that...and it certainly would.  But I don't have one of those yet.  For a bit more, I can now use the stuff I've got for my iPhone, easily use the same media I have for that.  The netbook wouldn't work very well for reading books/pdfs...I hate trying to do it on the laptop, but would love to do so with the iPhone.  It's just that the screen is too small.

This is pretty much what I need.


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## Scribble (Jan 27, 2010)

It can run your iphone apps... but BIGGER!



Count me as not so impressed. 


I'll be excited when the non apple touch pads come out that are... you know... real touch pad computers, and not just a big ipod touch.


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## kenmarable (Jan 27, 2010)

ArcaneSpringboard said:


> Well, here's the thing.  I wanted a device I could easily hold in my hand that would allow me to read books, pdfs, surf the web, and use for D&D.  I don't currently have an e-book reader and I don't have a laptop.  (Well I do, but the wife is hogging that playing Evony. <g>)
> 
> Now you might say that a netbook could do that...and it certainly would.  But I don't have one of those yet.  For a bit more, I can now use the stuff I've got for my iPhone, easily use the same media I have for that.  The netbook wouldn't work very well for reading books/pdfs...I hate trying to do it on the laptop, but would love to do so with the iPhone.  It's just that the screen is too small.
> 
> This is pretty much what I need.



Same here. Considering I don't have an iphone, netbook, e-reader, or even laptop (wife has taken over mine as well, though, but more for Facebook), this is exactly something I would love.

I recently restarted grad school and reading journal articles and textbooks on my ipod touch is convenient in the "I have the books anywhere", but seriously inconvenient in the "I'm reading a 2 column scanned journal article on something smaller than my hand". 

Include the gaming possibilities, and I am sold... once I can spare the money to get one, of course. Or like Piratecat maybe wait until version 2 because Apple has a tradition of great improvements in version 2 of their products (and version 3's tend to be yawners). It's the old toss up between buying a low end version 1 I can afford now, or saving for a year and buying a high end version 2.

Plus I can't wait until publishers wise up and realize "e-book" doesn't have to mean a PDF (or whatever printbook-wannabe format each uses). The NY Times having embedded video in the news article is small step in that direction.


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## ArcaneSpringboard (Jan 27, 2010)

Scribble said:


> It can run your iphone apps... but BIGGER!
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Don't discount form factor.

Which would you rather watch a movie on?  A 13" CRT or a 50" HDTV?

So it's not a Windows based machine.  So it's not a MacBook.  But it wasn't supposed to be.  If you want those...those are already available.  Some of us wanted something different.


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## Pyrex (Jan 27, 2010)

I will probably be able to resist.  Until WotC ports the Character Builder to it.  Then I'm doomed.


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## Scribble (Jan 27, 2010)

ArcaneSpringboard said:


> Don't discount form factor.
> 
> Which would you rather watch a movie on?  A 13" CRT or a 50" HDTV?
> 
> So it's not a Windows based machine.  So it's not a MacBook.  But it wasn't supposed to be.  If you want those...those are already available.  Some of us wanted something different.




Shrug. I'm sure it will do well with the Apple fans.

But I'm still not impressed- Again I'll be impressed when the rest of the touch screens start hitting the shelves.

Those I think will start to revolutionize mobile computing.


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## Umbran (Jan 27, 2010)

Gizmos are nice, but I don't have the disposable income for early-adoption.  After a year or two, I'll look over my computer use, my income, and we'll see if a tablet makes sense.

To be honest, it seems to me that home use is not where tablets will prove to be killer-useful.  I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.


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## Wycen (Jan 27, 2010)

Umbran said:


> I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.




Something like a medical tricorder.


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## Jeff Wilder (Jan 27, 2010)

kenmarable said:


> Same here. Considering I don't have an iphone, netbook, e-reader, or even laptop (wife has taken over mine as well, though, but more for Facebook), this is exactly something I would love.



If the device turns out not to multitask ("no multitasking" seems to be the consensus, but I'm withholding judgment,because it seems like such a serious mistake to drop these without multitasking), give it some serious thought before buying one.



> I recently restarted grad school and reading journal articles and textbooks



But not a textbook and the web at the same time.



> Include the gaming possibilities



What, exactly, and how useful without multitasking?

I don't mean to harp on this, but ... I was _this close_ to buying an iPhone, only vaguely aware of its lack of multitasking.  But as a Palm loyalist, I waited for the Pre and I am so glad I did.  It turns out that I almost never have only one app open on my Pre, and usually it's three or four.  (Email with a PDF attachment sends me to PDF Viewer, Friendsbook sends me to YouTube, and so on.)

For gaming, I could see having open two or three books, an app to play sound effects, a dice roller, and so on.

You may very well be different in how you use devices, so all I'm advising it that folks give thought to the importance of multitasking for them.


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## Blastin (Jan 27, 2010)

Umbran said:


> Gizmos are nice, but I don't have the disposable income for early-adoption.  After a year or two, I'll look over my computer use, my income, and we'll see if a tablet makes sense.
> 
> To be honest, it seems to me that home use is not where tablets will prove to be killer-useful.  I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.





 Yup. I work with one Doc that opened a private office and this is what he did...all records electronic and uses a pad. He loves it.


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## Ruined (Jan 27, 2010)

Umbran said:


> I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.




If someone makes an app that mimics the special medical coding diagrams ER's use, that would be awesome. I used to work in medical billing, and you would not believe the cost for those sheets.

Anyhow...

I'm not an Apple fanboi by any means, but this is good timing for me. I've been watching the Kindle and other projects like the Skiff Reader. The big sell point is seeing how easy it is to get my files (pdfs, docs) onto the device.  (and the unknown price point for the Skiff)


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## Tale (Jan 27, 2010)

Jeff Wilder said:


> What, exactly, and how useful without multitasking?



 A battlemat program.  Include the image file for the area.  Overlay it with image files for player tokens.  Have effect tokens to overlay ontop of them or to click in a check box.  Scroll and zoom functionality.  That'd be sweet.  That'd be incredibly useful, with or without multitasing.


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## deganawida (Jan 27, 2010)

Umbran said:


> Gizmos are nice, but I don't have the disposable income for early-adoption.  After a year or two, I'll look over my computer use, my income, and we'll see if a tablet makes sense.
> 
> To be honest, it seems to me that home use is not where tablets will prove to be killer-useful.  I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.




Ack!  The HIPA ramifications of that are giving me convulsions.  I'd hate to be InfoSec for the first hospital to adopt tablets.


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## Festivus (Jan 27, 2010)

I think it's neat... but I also think there is going to be better stuff along these same lines in a year or two. Look at the evolution of the iphone, the first iteration was okay, but the second and 3rd were both far better. That it doesn't multi-task is extremely limiting, but probably just an os limitation that can be corrected later. Certainly I would prefer this over a kindle. I saw 10 hours of batterylife, but is that while the system is running or is that how long till you need to recharge it? My iphone battery life sucks, and I have to always charge it every night. 

For me, I have my eye on the Lenovo Ideapad U1 (Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid hands-on and impressions -- Engadget). It's more my speed... and it runs Windows 7.

Edit: Oh, at $499 I might pick one up just to have one for reading books on.


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## coyote6 (Jan 27, 2010)

I've already seen doctors using tablet PCs -- and that was a few years ago.

I want an awesome iPad, but I don't know if Apple's releasing that yet. Might have to wait a few iterations. 

Heck, I haven't even gotten a smartphone yet, since I can't find one that has all the features I'd like to see (microSD or some other expansion memory, multitouch, multitasking, etc).


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## Kzach (Jan 27, 2010)

I can't believe they wasted all their energy on this sort of suck.

I was hoping for a MacBook Pro update and instead got this. Bleh.


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## Scribble (Jan 27, 2010)

deganawida said:


> Ack!  The HIPA ramifications of that are giving me convulsions.  I'd hate to be InfoSec for the first hospital to adopt tablets.




Most of your medical info when you enter a hospital/doctor's office is already in digital format... The HIPAA concerns shouldn't be any different.

My company is actually working on some really cool initiatives though that puts the medical info in the hands of the patient... so essentially when you go from doctor to doctor they're using the same info- tablet computers would be great for something like that.


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## Plane Sailing (Jan 27, 2010)

I think I was hoping for more from the iPad than a bigged up iPhone. The flash memory doesn't seem enough (it is scarcely more than the iPhone, so what if I want to have lots more music or (especially) video on it?)

The screen resolution isn't so great. 1024 x 768 or thereabouts, so it can't do top HD, only the lesser 720p HD for movies etc. 

Plus, when used in portrait mode many websites won't display properly (like ENworld for instance!). 10 years ago websites were largely designed to a width of under 800px, which would work fine, but far too many websites nowadays work to a minimum width of ~1024, which means it is landscape mode or cropped portrait (or shrunken webpage).

I'm stuck thinking where it would be of most use personally. If I'm at home and I want to watch a movie, it wouldn't replace my TV (or PC). If I'm on the go it is too large to always be in my pocket like my iphone, so when exactly do I use it?

It is also primarily a consumption device rather than a producing device; I'll not be doing programming, web development or writing on it any time soon. As a touch typist I'm probably much happier doing my email on something with a real keyboard too. Even posting on ENworld would be much more awkward than with a PC.

I'll watch it with interest, but I'm not sure whether it will be a real game-changer or not.

I suppose it all comes down to the content, really.

Cheers


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## Jason Anderson (Jan 27, 2010)

Festivus said:


> I saw 10 hours of batterylife, but is that while the system is running or is that how long till you need to recharge it?



The 10 hours was continuous use (eg: watching a video), and 1 week if it is just running on standby. Of course every manufacturer lies about how long the batteries last in their devices (when did a laptop ever last the length of time that's quoted?), so take that with a grain of salt until the reviews come in.


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## Slander (Jan 27, 2010)

It's definitely a nice piece of equipment. And I really wanted to love it. I've been waiting for a quality, affordable tablet since 1987. I thought the day had finally come when I could pick up the iPad, a bag of dice, and a 2-liter of Dew and have everything I needed to run a game. No laptop bag, no power bricks, no physical books (landscape monitors aren't as convenient for reading books) ... 

But no go. Can't run Maptool (or any Java apps); even if it could, can't have it, all of my go-to books, my browser, background music, and my campaign organizer open all at once. I had hoped for a laptop with a tablet form factor, good price with the trademark Apple experience. What I got was a beefed up iPhone.

Still might end up getting one (what's a tax return good for if not to splurge a little), but it won't replace my laptop.


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## Plane Sailing (Jan 27, 2010)

Slander said:


> What I got was a beefed up iPhone.




Arguably not even that - more like a beefed up iPod Touch since it doesn't have a camera* or a phone attached.



*so that is a big 'no' to any augmented reality apps, eh?


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## DaveMage (Jan 28, 2010)

I love my iPhone, but the iPad doesn't wow me.

I think I'd be more likely to buy a netbook for half the price (or less) than this device.

However, with a couple more iterations, I may change my mind.


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## Umbran (Jan 28, 2010)

Scribble said:


> Most of your medical info when you enter a hospital/doctor's office is already in digital format... The HIPAA concerns shouldn't be any different.




But most of the current tech is hardwire.  Having it available over wireless will create the occasional conniption, I am sure.  But it seems to me that it'll be so darned useful that they'll solve the problems involved.


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## Jeremy Ackerman-Yost (Jan 28, 2010)

Plane Sailing said:


> The screen resolution isn't so great. 1024 x 768 or thereabouts, so it can't do top HD, only the lesser 720p HD for movies etc.



In fairness, at that size, anything better than 720p is irrelevant.

You can make a solid case based on the human eye at normal viewing distances that 1080 is entirely unnecessary until you hit something like a 36 inch screen.  It's just window-dressing at smaller screen sizes.

I think the thing is wicked cool.... but put me firmly in the "waiting for 2nd or 3rd generation" camp.


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## Sammael (Jan 28, 2010)

No camera. No multitasking. Ridiculously small memory (and yes, I know SSDs are still expensive; does it have USB support, at least?). Relatively poor battery life (Toshiba has netbooks that offer 12 hours already; MS is promising 2 days for its secret project). No GPS. 

I really wanted to like this thing, but I'll wait for Microsoft's offering (likely before the end of the year). Sure, it won't be so sleek and sexy, but it'll probably have a crapload of features I'll use (instead of, say, the compass).


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## DrunkDutch (Jan 28, 2010)

Then I would take alook into the Always Innovating Touch Book. Just google it and take a look, I think it might be what you need.


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## Morrus (Jan 28, 2010)

Festivus said:


> That it doesn't multi-task is extremely limiting, but probably just an os limitation that can be corrected later.




It'll be jailbroken within a couple of days of release.  Then you'll be able to multitask to your heart's content!


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## Ktulu (Jan 28, 2010)

Umbran said:


> But most of the current tech is hardwire.  Having it available over wireless will create the occasional conniption, I am sure.  But it seems to me that it'll be so darned useful that they'll solve the problems involved.




Not really so; the company I work for is based entirely around this idea already.  We supply an EMR/prescribing system for clinics all over the country that are directly interfaced to lab and radiology facilities, along with direct access to hospitals.

This can all be done from a wireless netbook/laptop system (PC only, because of the market share, obviously), and can be accessed from anywhere (i.e. you go to the ER in the middle of the night and the ER doc can pull up your chart from the heart specialist instantly).

While this isn't available everywhere (due to state requirements), washington has quite heavily adopted, as is Phoenix, California, and Ohio.

The market for something like an iPad would work for hospitals/clinics, but most would need a dual-boot to windows, as most EHR systems run in windows/Ie only.


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## Kzach (Jan 28, 2010)

Ktulu said:


> This can all be done from a wireless netbook/laptop system (PC only, because of the market share, obviously), and can be accessed from anywhere (i.e. you go to the ER in the middle of the night and the ER doc can pull up your chart from the heart specialist instantly).




I find it odd that you refer to market share for an essentially closed system. I don't see how market share would have any influence over something like this.

If you had said price, that would be different.


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## kenmarable (Jan 28, 2010)

Umbran said:


> To be honest, it seems to me that home use is not where tablets will prove to be killer-useful.  I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.



I keep telling my boss that (I work in a university radiology department), but so far no go. 



deganawida said:


> Ack!  The HIPA ramifications of that are giving me convulsions.  I'd hate to be InfoSec for the first hospital to adopt tablets.



Sorry, but it's too late. Hospitals and especially individual multi-doctor offices already started  adopting similar technologies years ago. That genie is long out of the bottle. With the iPad (and eventual other similar products) you can just do this even more and better.


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## im_robertb (Jan 28, 2010)

dvorak said:


> /yawn
> *snip*
> 
> Yes yes this <insert gadget here> can save your life.  But did one save those other 150,000 unfortunate humans or a few years back when the tsunami struck?
> ...




This, absolutely. We could fix many of the world's problems without much difficulty, but we'd have to give up our laptops, steaks, and waste of electricity. Someone should make us.


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## kenmarable (Jan 28, 2010)

Jeff Wilder said:


> But not a textbook and the web at the same time.



For my own use, it's not remotely an issue. If I'm reading a journal article and need to look something up, I can go to the Home screen, fire up Safari, look up the web page, go back Home and load back into my PDF reader which saves my place and starts me back up where I left off. There's some extra navigational steps (going to the Home screen) that slows the process slightly from my desktop (although we're talking an extra second or two). But everything loads fast enough that not multitasking has had ZERO impact on my use. Loading  a lightweight app can be almost as fast as switching windows on my Windows PC when it's having a bad day.



Jeff Wilder said:


> What, exactly, and how useful without multitasking?



I'm sure our usage is different, but really, it's not a big deal for me. I can see it being extremely useful without multitasking. Furthermore, concerning web apps, it can effectively multitask there with multiple tabs. So I can jump between various websites instantly.

But app to app to web page to app... yeah, that's not instantaneous, but _for me_ it's a non-issue.



Jeff Wilder said:


> For gaming, I could see having open two or three books, an app to play sound effects, a dice roller, and so on.



Music playing is the one app that you can "multitask" (at least on iPhone/iPod Touch) and can jump in and out of while your other app is still running. I presume the iPad will work the same way. And, I love me some technology, but I'm a grognard when it comes to dice. Heck, I won't even let my wife or friends roll my dice, why should a computer! 



Jeff Wilder said:


> You may very well be different in how you use devices, so all I'm advising it that folks give thought to the importance of multitasking for them.



This I certainly agree with. Sounds like it won't work for you, but it will work for me. And I'll certainly admit that multitasking would be an improvement. It's just not a show stopper for my use.


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## Ktulu (Jan 28, 2010)

Kzach said:


> I find it odd that you refer to market share for an essentially closed system. I don't see how market share would have any influence over something like this.
> 
> If you had said price, that would be different.




Cost of systems isn't our issue.  Our system was designed utilizing I.e. as the outlet, and many of our features function through .Net framework.  Is it possible for our system to run on a Mac?  Yes, technically.  However, due to limitations on our end for having developers focusing on other browser and system configurations, we've limited ourselves to the most commonly purchased and used OS and browser.

That's where I was coming from in market share.  Not an insult to the Mac, either, because things like the iPhone would be a nifty system to run our product off of, if we could right now.


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## ArcaneSpringboard (Jan 28, 2010)

DaveMage said:


> I love my iPhone, but the iPad doesn't wow me.
> 
> I think I'd be more likely to buy a netbook for half the price (or less) than this device.
> 
> However, with a couple more iterations, I may change my mind.




In the end, as much as I like the iPad, this is the way I'm likely to go, considering the price.  I do have an iPhone, so that can handle my music/portable net stuff, and I'd use it mostly at home anyways...so I'd be watching TV on...TV.  

In a few years I'll probably get one, once the price drops a bit and the features increase a bit more.

Who knows, by that time maybe the "Global" from Earth:  Final Conflict will finally be reality.


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## Nai_Calus (Jan 28, 2010)

Not impressed at all. It's a giant iPod Touch. Meh.


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## JDragon (Jan 28, 2010)

Well I had been watching the rumors on this one for a long time and even went to work early today so I could see the event. (it was during my drive to work)

I had been laying the ground work at home for getting one as close to release date as possible.  I was talking with the person that wrote the i4e app for the iPhone about working on some apps for it together for Pathfinder/3.5.


And now after finding out it doesn't do multitasking and I would be stuck with AT&T for data outside of Wi-fi I'm having a hard time getting excited about it.

So now I plan to wait and see what they do in the next few years with it and find a nice Win/Android/Crome OS  slate to do my gaming work on.

JD


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## Plane Sailing (Jan 28, 2010)

After further thinking, I've realised that what I was hoping for was essentially something with the Wow factor of Microsoft Surface.

While obviously the Surface multitouch method wouldn't work on a tablet, I think a tablet with the a 'Surface' style interface, usability and such would be a big win. Will Microsoft go there? I don't know; their marketing and PR savvy is pretty poor compared to almost everyone else ))

Time to wait and see, eh?

Cheers


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## Vicente (Jan 28, 2010)

This is a big iPod Touch  No multitasking, limited HD, limited apps,... Honestly, I can't see why anyone would want to buy this instead of a real TabletPC.


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## Edgewood (Jan 28, 2010)

Umbran said:


> Gizmos are nice, but I don't have the disposable income for early-adoption.  After a year or two, I'll look over my computer use, my income, and we'll see if a tablet makes sense.
> 
> To be honest, it seems to me that home use is not where tablets will prove to be killer-useful.  I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.




I can also see applications in police use, especially for maintaining federal, provincial/state and municipal laws and acts, as well as for a means of filling out the tremendous amounts of paperwork that has to be done on a daily basis.


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## Scribble (Jan 28, 2010)

Plane Sailing said:


> After further thinking, I've realised that what I was hoping for was essentially something with the Wow factor of Microsoft Surface.
> 
> While obviously the Surface multitouch method wouldn't work on a tablet, I think a tablet with the a 'Surface' style interface, usability and such would be a big win. Will Microsoft go there? I don't know; their marketing and PR savvy is pretty poor compared to almost everyone else ))
> 
> ...




Here are 9 other tablets comming out soon: Tablets!


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## kenmarable (Jan 28, 2010)

JDragon said:


> And now after finding out it doesn't do multitasking and I would be stuck with AT&T for data outside of Wi-fi I'm having a hard time getting excited about it.



Technically, it's unlocked but GSM only. I'm not up to date on mobile technology, but doesn't that at least allow T-Mobile in the US as well, theoretically? (I don't think they currently offer data only plans yet, but I have never bothered to look.) The AT&T plan is just able to be activated right from the machine, but it's not necessarily tied to AT&T no matter what. It's not CDMA (which is pretty much EVERY other carrier in the US, right?), so it's certainly not rosy. But technically you should be able to choose between AT&T and T-Mobile for what that's worth. And for those outside of North America, I think GSM is far more common, so it's a much better deal there.


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## Janx (Jan 28, 2010)

Umbran said:


> Gizmos are nice, but I don't have the disposable income for early-adoption.  After a year or two, I'll look over my computer use, my income, and we'll see if a tablet makes sense.
> 
> To be honest, it seems to me that home use is not where tablets will prove to be killer-useful.  I'm thinking medical professionals will eventually find them key - access medical records over a clinic or hospital network, every staff member having one to carry around.  Now that's valuable use.




actually, nurses and such at modern facilities have to carry a "smarter" cell phone with beefy texting plan and installed medical software.

My friend's wife is a nursing student doing her clinicals.  He told me about all the stuff they had to get.  They chose a blackberry curve for her, it supports the special software she had to get and it has a decent keyboard.

They're not allowed to take calls on the phone at work, but texting is majorly used to communicate information to each other.


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## Thornir Alekeg (Jan 28, 2010)

Looks nice, and I think it has a lot of potential.  I was surprised that it is just going to run on the current iPhone OS.  I honestly expected they would release a new OS that would include the issing multitasking capability.  It is possible that is not far away, but it seems crazy to release the iPad without adding this to it.  

I was talking with a friend last night about the iPad, and were discussing a way to make this a worthwhile investment as an e-reader: create an app that allows you to aggregate pages from multiple e-books you own into a single folder.  Think about it for gaming: a folder with the relevant pages for your PCs powers, skills, spells etc. all together rather than opening four or five different books to reference each one as needed.  It would also be nice for students while studying or gathering materials for research.


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## Scribble (Jan 28, 2010)

If you grab the HP touchpad, you can also install the DDI stuff...


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## Janx (Jan 28, 2010)

Thornir Alekeg said:


> Looks nice, and I think it has a lot of potential.  I was surprised that it is just going to run on the current iPhone OS.  I honestly expected they would release a new OS that would include the issing multitasking capability.  It is possible that is not far away, but it seems crazy to release the iPad without adding this to it.
> 
> I was talking with a friend last night about the iPad, and were discussing a way to make this a worthwhile investment as an e-reader: create an app that allows you to aggregate pages from multiple e-books you own into a single folder.  Think about it for gaming: a folder with the relevant pages for your PCs powers, skills, spells etc. all together rather than opening four or five different books to reference each one as needed.  It would also be nice for students while studying or gathering materials for research.




I don't see your page aggregation as being much different than managing bookmarks to important pages, which nearly all e-book software has in varying implementations.

I do agree that multi-tasking/task swapping would be extremely valuable.  I'm not surprised that Apple used the same OS, that was actually smart from a development standpoint.  It wouldn't take much for them to add task-swapping and enable it only for the iPad (though there's some value on the smaller devices).  For the most part, humans don't need multi-tasking as much as task-swapping anyway.  At that point, a task manager/task bar feature would let the user flip to "loaded" tasks, and when they switch, it would save the app-state to "disk" and load in the next one.  We'd then need functionality to "exit" and app as the Home button currently does that.  the key to it would be making it smooth.  But given the current model of clicking Home to exit the app to pick another app and load it to navigate to the spot we needed to be to paste something, and then repeating that process when we want to go back...

One thing I'm surprised WotC did was do DDI as a download.  It should have been a web-based application.  Nothing to install.  Thus it can run on nearly any client with a modern browser. As a developer, I avoid client-side applications.  Browser-based is the way to go for most situations.  Especially anything accessing a database (which DDI would need to do).


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## coyote6 (Jan 28, 2010)

If the Character Creator, Monster Builder, et al, were web-based, you could only use them with a live Internet connection; which you might not always have when you want to use those tools, or those sites might be blocked. Users also wouldn't be able to use the tools unless they had a current DDI subscription, which is less useful for the end-user -- it might be better for WotC (more people keep active subscriptions), but it could be worse (fewer people bother to use the tools at all, given the expense).


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## grizzo (Jan 28, 2010)

No Flash support.


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## Relique du Madde (Jan 28, 2010)

OMG!  IPad!!  THE FUTURE IS NOW!!!  PCS need catching up!!!!!!!!!1111

No wait....

Tablet PCS already exist and some currently run on WINDOWS 7.   iPad would have been a real game changer it is ran on OS whatever (and not the iPhone/iPod version)and had a huge hard drive.  SIGH  If it wasn't for Apple trying to take down Amazon it would quickly became a one trick pony.  Luckily, KINDLE has a API so KINDLE readers can be placed onto EVERY tablet computer.


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## kenmarable (Jan 28, 2010)

coyote6 said:


> If the Character Creator, Monster Builder, et al, were web-based, you could only use them with a live Internet connection; which you might not always have when you want to use those tools, or those sites might be blocked. Users also wouldn't be able to use the tools unless they had a current DDI subscription, which is less useful for the end-user -- it might be better for WotC (more people keep active subscriptions), but it could be worse (fewer people bother to use the tools at all, given the expense).



If the Character Creator, Monster Builder, et al, were stand-alone software, you could only use them on the macines you have them installed on; which you might not always be at when you want to use those tools, or you might not have permission to even install them on the machine you want to use.

There's certainly pros and cons of both sides, even for the users. 

As for the access on expired subscriptions, if WotC wanted, it would be easy to implement in the web-app as well. Just tie the data to certain release sets, and users only get access to releases sets of a certain date and earlier. It's just another field on the WHERE clause.


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## pukunui (Jan 28, 2010)

Piratecat said:


> I have the suspicion that the second and third iterations will be significant improvements, though; I will probably be waiting a year or so.



This. Both the iPhone and iPod touch had significant changes and improvements between iterations. I see no reason why the iPad won't get changed and improved once or twice as well. As nifty as it might be, I too am going to wait and see what they do with it next year or the year after.


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## jaerdaph (Jan 28, 2010)

*iPad?*

iPad, huh? 

[This space RESERVED for the feminine hygiene product joke I will eventually come up with...]


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## Zaukrie (Jan 28, 2010)

Underwhelmed, but i'm sure V2 will be sweet.

No camera - can't use it as my skype video phone like I wanted, or play games that rely on my movement....

No USB (w/o some kine of thingy you have to pay more for)

$499 is for 16GB, what is that? That's not a music library, let alone games, videos, books.....it's not really $499.

Old fashioned aspect ratio.

No multi tasking

No GPS (does the version with the crappy AT&T service come with GPS?)

I had more, but I'm tired of typing the list on so man websites.....


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## jaerdaph (Jan 28, 2010)

*iPad - no wait, I got a joke!*

Okay okay okay....

What's an iPad? 

What somebody from New England listens to music on while driving in their cahhhr or working in the yahhhd!


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## Marius Delphus (Jan 28, 2010)

jaerdaph said:


> iPad, huh?
> 
> [This space RESERVED for the feminine hygiene product joke I will eventually come up with...]



Scooped by failblog dot org. Would link but for the existence of plenty of grandma-unfriendly material. Here is the image itself, however:

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/ipad.jpg?w=500&h=500


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## jaerdaph (Jan 28, 2010)

Marius Delphus said:


> Scooped by failblog dot org. Would link but for the existence of plenty of grandma-unfriendly material. Here is the image itself, however:
> 
> http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/ipad.jpg?w=500&h=500




I gotta start incorporating PhotoShop into the process...


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## Zaukrie (Jan 28, 2010)

Um, there have been iPad jokes for some time....try googling iPad and Madtv.....


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## Jeff Wilder (Jan 28, 2010)

Anybody know a Feist lookalike?  There is Tosh.0 comedy gold potential in a spoof commercial for iPad.


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## DaveMage (Jan 29, 2010)

Scribble said:


> Here are 9 other tablets comming out soon: Tablets!




That's a lot of tablets....

Hopefully the competition will lead to some kick-butt products.


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## coyote6 (Jan 29, 2010)

That Notion Ink tablet sounds kind of awesome. I'm going to have to keep an eye out for that.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 29, 2010)

I'm one of those Mac Forever! types, but I don't think I'll be buying an iPad in the near future.

1) It doesn't quite do what I want.

2) I'm not a fan of AT&T in particular, nor of subscription models in general.  As recounted elsewhere, subscription prices are but one of the reasons I have a PDA and a cellphone as opposed to a smartphone of some kind.

3) I'm not a First Adopter Fanboi- I'm content to wait until there is a price drop.

4) I just bought a loaded 21.5" iMac a couple of weeks ago.


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## jmucchiello (Jan 29, 2010)

Janx said:


> One thing I'm surprised WotC did was do DDI as a download.  It should have been a web-based application.  Nothing to install.  Thus it can run on nearly any client with a modern browser. As a developer, I avoid client-side applications.  Browser-based is the way to go for most situations.  Especially anything accessing a database (which DDI would need to do).




Originally DDI had as its centerpiece the virtual tabletop that never came to fruition. Peer-to-peer communications and webapps are an inconvenient mix. Once HTML5 is fully implemented somewhere it will only be less inconvenient. But since a full 3D virtual world environment was part of the original plan it is easy to understand why they went with a standalone app.


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## Truth Seeker (Jan 29, 2010)

-Not reading the entire thread-

Sorry, no frakkin' RPG tabletop tech is worth a half a grand.

For GM use...highly possible.

For players, not right now.

I really don't want to spoil the dreams of many...but let the TRUE plain reality of what can be feasible stand before you.

Who (here) has a half a grand to chuck out, for 6 to 8 hours of play, per week or per month?




ArcaneSpringboard said:


> $499 for the 16GB WiFi version?
> 
> SOLD.
> 
> I can see tons of these around gaming tables very soon.


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## Beginning of the End (Jan 29, 2010)

Thornir Alekeg said:


> I was talking with a friend last night about the iPad, and were discussing a way to make this a worthwhile investment as an e-reader: create an app that allows you to aggregate pages from multiple e-books you own into a single folder.  Think about it for gaming: a folder with the relevant pages for your PCs powers, skills, spells etc. all together rather than opening four or five different books to reference each one as needed.




It doesn't sound all that intriguing to me, specifically because I can't have them open at the same time.

This is one of the reasons I still don't use my laptop or Kindle at the gaming table: When I DM I will frequently have a half dozen or more references simultaneously visible in the area around me.

Maybe when Surface-style interfaces become readily available.


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## Doc_Klueless (Jan 29, 2010)

Truth Seeker said:


> Who (here) has a half a grand to chuck out, for 6 to 8 hours of play, per week or per month?



:::Waves hand::: But the reason I have that kind of money laying around is because:


I make better then pretty good money 
I'm semi-careful about what I spend my cash on
I don't spend it frivolously on stuff that won't make my gaming or hobbies more enjoyable 
I spend what I do have on things that have maximum impact (Netbook vs. iPadand)
 For that money, I could buy my daughter her own Xbox so she stops using mine. 

In all honesty, I suspect that in a couple of revisions/updates the iPad will see my money, but it's gotta do more than it currently does.


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## kenmarable (Jan 29, 2010)

Truth Seeker said:


> -Not reading the entire thread-
> 
> Sorry, no frakkin' RPG tabletop tech is worth a half a grand.
> 
> ...



People who want to buy it only for gaming? I'd expect very few (but as you can see, at least Doc_Klueless would consider it).

People who would find it useful for many things including gaming? I imagine quite a few, myself included.

So I certainly wouldn't buy it solely for gaming, I don't have that kind of money around. But I would find it useful for school (VERY useful), blog reading, video watching, reading messageboards like this, many gaming uses, etc. - in fact, I think I could do 90% of what I regularly do with my home PC (and then use LogMeIn.com for the other 10%). In that case, yes, I am considering it (and am mostly debating the utility now vs potential improvements in a year). But, yeah, I wouldn't buy it just for gaming unless I had double my current income.


Also, another thought occurred to me - wouldn't it be great if Apple getting behind the iBookstore would help WotC feel comfortable about selling digital books again?


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## Aeolius (Jan 29, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> I'm one of those Mac Forever! types, but I don't think I'll be buying an iPad in the near future.



   I've already signed up to be notified when they are shipping. Yes, the first generation of the device reminds me of the first iPod; clunky, limited storage, and an awkward interface. Did I mention that I bought the first generation iPod the day they came out? 

   I intend to test the limits of the device in a few ways; a home automation remote control (bigger screen than the iPod Touch is a good thing), as a replacement for the "40-Pound Backback" my kids in highschool have to lug about, and as a nifty means to read books in the throne room.


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## Piratecat (Jan 29, 2010)

Aeolius said:


> I intend to test the limits of the device in a few ways...



And concerning your particular interests, underwater!


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## Alan Shutko (Jan 29, 2010)

I'm actually ok with the aspect ratio.  It's a compromise between the aspect ratio of movies and the aspect ratio of paper.  It's also an aspect ratio that is common and, therefore, cheaper to produce.


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## Janx (Jan 29, 2010)

Aeolius said:


> ... as a nifty means to read books in the throne room.





dude, remind me never to touch your iPad or iPod touch...


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## Scribble (Jan 29, 2010)

Janx said:


> dude, remind me never to touch your iPad or iPod touch...




Sir, this iPad has been flagged!


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## Aeolius (Jan 29, 2010)

Janx said:


> dude, remind me never to touch your iPad or iPod touch...




iPeed?  

Here's hoping that [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wagnalls-Standard-Dictionary-Folklore-Mythology/dp/0062505114/ref=pd_sim_b_1"]Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend[/ame] , [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-American-Museum-Natural-History/dp/0756636922/ref=pd_sim_b_1"]OCEAN[/ame] , and a few other gems like [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Beings-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143039938/ref=pd_sim_b_3"]The Book of Imaginary Beings[/ame] are available on the iPad. It'd be nice to duplicate the small library of books I keep in there...


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## Plane Sailing (Jan 29, 2010)

Alan Shutko said:


> I'm actually ok with the aspect ratio.  It's a compromise between the aspect ratio of movies and the aspect ratio of paper.  It's also an aspect ratio that is common and, therefore, cheaper to produce.





I wish more things were done in the 1 : root 2 ratio as per the A-series paper used in Europe and elsewhere. That would be the ideal compromise between movie aspect ratio and paper aspect ratio for me


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## Plane Sailing (Jan 30, 2010)

Speaking of MS Surface, I see that a lot of development has gone on the D&D gametable proof of concept, seen here

SurfaceScapes Gameplay Session on Vimeo

Cheers


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## Charwoman Gene (Jan 30, 2010)

Plane Sailing said:


> I wish more things were done in the 1 : root 2 ratio as per the A-series paper used in Europe and elsewhere. That would be the ideal compromise between movie aspect ratio and paper aspect ratio for me




The iPad uses an A4 chip is that good enough?


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## Nai_Calus (Jan 30, 2010)

Charwoman Gene said:


> The iPad uses an A4 chip is that good enough?




Your avatar made my reaction for me.


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## ProfessorCirno (Jan 30, 2010)

So after grabbing everyone's hype as strongly as they did, Mac wheels out a clunkier iPhone that doesn't fit in your pocket, and can't do as much as the actual iPhone.

Huh.

Incidentally, I'm one of the people who still doesn't own an iPhone, because they're insanely overhyped and overpricey ;p

Honestly Apple, when *Pee-wee Herman* is taunting you...?

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman and Eric Appel - Video


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## tylerthehobo (Jan 30, 2010)

A few good ideas, to be sure, but I'm not sold.  The iPad won't make reading PDFs any easier at the gaming table than a 10" net book - if anything things will still be shrunken down too much.  Had they made the thing as big as apple's tablet-style laptops oh 5 years ago, this would be a slam dunk of a device.  But at the size of a large iPhone, I really don't see this changing things all that much.  Regarding laying the iPad flat and putting minis on it, in practicality being able to use a real - much larger - actual battlemat seems to be more useful for combat in rooms wider than 5 squares by 7 squares or so...  (and if you're playing 3rd or 4th edition d&d, those scenarios will be rare at best...)

No native support for a camera or SD card for PDF's...  That's kind of the piece that seals it for me.  I like the idea of integrating technology with gaming - heck, that's the point of my blog - but this device seems like style over substance for me, as it relates to my hobby.


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## Ant (Jan 31, 2010)

Having been down the whole, "But technology will make our gaming so much better!" path I've now gone full circle and found that nothing beats a nice 2B pencil and some scratch paper.


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## dmccoy1693 (Jan 31, 2010)

As a publisher, allow me to chime in. My verdict on the iPad, though I personally am not going to own one in the near future, I will be making products for it. Why? *Because that is where the future is.* Every major book publisher is on board and they are offering college text books for it. A healthy majority of college students are going to be very familiar with iBooks and will feel it completely natural to read books on such a product. So yes, my material will be available on the iBook store, and not all of it will be in PDF format. 

And no, not everyone will own an iPad, but many will own some kind of device to read books on. I'm sure Dell and all the other computer companies are ramping up tablet prototypes and will be rushing production for something similar. But they will prominently feature an ebook reader. So why not be on those as well.


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## Theo R Cwithin (Jan 31, 2010)

Ant said:


> Having been down the whole, "But technology will make our gaming so much better!" path I've now gone full circle and found that nothing beats a nice 2B pencil and some scratch paper.



Glad I'm not the only neo-luddite 

2B or not 2B.  That _is_ the question, indeed.


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## Nai_Calus (Jan 31, 2010)

It annoys me for my RL game that I have to sit there with a laptop because I don't have a printer to print off my CB-generated character sheet.

...And I use a pencil and a small pad of sketch paper to track my HP, conditions and powers used. XD

I've never had interest in eBooks of any kind, I have to admit. I don't like reading PDFs. I just got a Blackberry and Amazon's like 'zong we will has kindle app for blackberry soon sign up and we'll email you when!' and my reaction is 'so?' (Although I wouldn't sob in despair if someone made some 4e apps for BB. iPhone was totally out of the budget and I frankly like the BB better, even if it has a smaller non-touch screen and doesn't have a zong compass.  I like having actual keys to click. Call me old-fashioned.)


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## nedjer (Jan 31, 2010)

Oops! Out of step again, as the press put the iPad in it's place. Except they're thinking of it as a hardware spec, not a convergence device. For those with an interest I blogged about what the iPad can deliver to gaming (in general) last night. Check it out and tell me I'm wrong


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## Gilwen (Jan 31, 2010)

the main thing that kills this for me as a product in general and specifically for education and RPG usage is that it doesn't have a stylus, there is no way or software to take handwritten notes. This was hugely important to me as a student to be able to quickly and on the fly jot down ideas, notes, diagrams, and not to mention annotation of files. Same thing with RPG's. 
I don't really use my current tablet at the game anymore (not enough space and it jsut didn't feel right) but i use it for game development quite heavily. I use onenote to organize my games and print out what I need at the table. 

Other main reasons why, while exicted about the product, I probalby won't buy one is that it using the iphone OS. I am locked into that platform and app store. This device also ties me into iTunes which I do not like at all. Also no word processing support (at least that I know of; please correct if I am wrong) except for iWorks. I also don't like the cost of the data plan (this is an issue with all data plans. They are way overpriced) but it is awesome you can go month to month with no contract. With about 5 tweaks and full support for common business office software this product would be quite useful to the business/education world and could open up those market's to apple. 

It will be interesting to see how the iPad works out for apple since it's not quite a laptop (even netbooks offer more flexibility on some fronts) and way more than an ebook reader (no matter what they say this is not a direct compeitor to Kindle or Nook).  By the end of the second day after the announcement apple's stock  had dropped 10%. Quite different from what normally happens after their announcements.

Gil


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## nedjer (Jan 31, 2010)

Gilwen said:


> the main thing that kills this for me as a product in general and specifically for education and RPG usage is that it doesn't have a stylus, there is no way or software to take handwritten notes. This was hugely important to me as a student to be able to quickly and on the fly jot down ideas, notes, diagrams, and not to mention annotation of files. Same thing with RPG's.
> I don't really use my current tablet at the game anymore (not enough space and it jsut didn't feel right) but i use it for game development quite heavily. I use onenote to organize my games and print out what I need at the table.
> 
> Other main reasons why, while exicted about the product, I probalby won't buy one is that it using the iphone OS. I am locked into that platform and app store. This device also ties me into iTunes which I do not like at all. Also no word processing support (at least that I know of; please correct if I am wrong) except for iWorks. I also don't like the cost of the data plan (this is an issue with all data plans. They are way overpriced) but it is awesome you can go month to month with no contract. With about 5 tweaks and full support for common business office software this product would be quite useful to the business/education world and could open up those market's to apple.
> ...




Nothing I'd like more than graphics table in a touch tablet but that'll arrive (at a price). The Nintendo XL already has pen input (of a sort) and an almost functional screen size.

As for contracts. How many people actually have an iPhone and an iPhone contract out of the population as a whole. Far more have a mobile from another provider or a portable (which seems to be functional enough for WiFi).

More people seem likely to end up with something like a Google Pad with cheap online shared off their home computer and offline access for walkabout. Carrying all your manuals, diaries, dice, PC Gen, records, . . . to pass around isn't going to be prevented becasue there's no 3G on standard models.


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## Gilwen (Jan 31, 2010)

nedjer said:


> Nothing I'd like more than graphics table in a touch tablet but that'll arrive (at a price). The Nintendo XL already has pen input (of a sort) and an almost functional screen size.
> 
> As for contracts. How many people actually have an iPhone and an iPhone contract out of the population as a whole. Far more have a mobile from another provider or a portable (which seems to be functional enough for WiFi).
> 
> More people seem likely to end up with something like a Google Pad with cheap online shared off their home computer and offline access for walkabout. Carrying all your manuals, diaries, dice, PC Gen, records, . . . to pass around isn't going to be prevented becasue there's no 3G on standard models.




Well to get new service at most carriers you will sign a contract for x amount of time. At ATT the standard is 2 years. With the iPhone a data plan is required for the life of the service and cannot be removed from the service plan. Even if you get a connect card for you laptop there is a 2 year contract. Both phones and connect cards come with the option of a no commitment price but then your are going to be paying for the full cost of the device instead of it being largely discounted or free. Even then the no comitmment price isn't avilable on every model; it's not avilable on the iphone.  So to answer your quesiton every iPhone user is on a contract with a data plan that they cannot remove from the service even after the contract period is over unless they terminate the service. Also it is a recent occurance (within the last three years) that carriers have left the wifi features of cell phones that had the feature turned on when the phone was sold to the end user without some sort of data plan.
ATT allowing the iPad to be month to month with no contract which is not really the norm, yet, in this industry. This means Apple is subsdizing ATT and then Apple is passing along those costs to the ppl who buy the 3g enabled ones. The difference in price across the board is $130 for 3G enabled ipads, which is at the very least what apple is paying for the cell device but seeing Apple's pricing for the last decade there is likely a premium being tossed in with that $130.



Gil


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