Practical Uses for Practical Users

[cainnovacaine]

I want to preface this by saying that it didn't meet my every expectation; The tablet is a niche product. I will still be buying one. I'm not a fanboy, but I am the niche that Apple is looking for. I want to know what YOU want to use it for.

For anyone that has a Mac Mini serving as a media server, this thing is the balls. I can't wait to use this as a portable server front end.

I also enjoy writing and editing fiction and I think this device completely trounces a laptop for portable editing. With a bluetooth keyboard, or keyboard dock I can easily see this becoming an amazing distraction-free long lasting writing environment. I use Dropbox and Evernote to keep this writing synced and both have absolutely stellar iPhone applications which would have enormous potential on the iPad.

I enjoy reading eBooks, but don't spend an enormous amount of time reading them. I see an eInk low-power device like the Kindle aging very fast. I also don't suffer from easy eye strain. The 1024x768 LED screen would make things look very sharp and crisp if you can tone down the backlight.

To me, this device seems incredible, and I'm not a fanboy (I have an Android Phone and I am writing this on a netbook)

I also love to tinker, imagine the potential of this thing with a jailbreak! I can't wait to see where the UI and functionality spin out of Apple's control when these become common practice!

But I also see great potential for people who would normally be calling for tech support from the family (like my girlfriend's mom who has a MacBook). Apple has it's **** together when it comes to simplicity, and the user interface is incredibly transparent. By adding iPhoto, Pages, QT, iBook, and iTunes in one package you make this incredibly accessible to the computer illiterate.

What do you plan on using it for?

 

[Ruahrc]

I would really like to see the following:

The concept of the dock connector accessory that becomes an SD card slot is great. Unfortunately I know it will be limited to jpeg only. But what I want to see is someone to write software to handle importing RAW files. The iPad then becomes a great photo dumper which might preclude the need to bring along a laptop on a trip, particularly a photo trip. The iPad app need not be a fully featured editor a'la photoshop, but some basic controls and more importantly great sorting/reviewing/tagging/culling capability. You can download your pictures onto the iPad and then start doing some tagging/culling on the iPad. All in a very light, very portable device.

As I'm a Lightroom user, and we're in dreamland, I say Adobe writes "iLightroom" which transfers over the UI and core functionality, and automagically links up to the LR catalog on your main computer. Import some photos on the iPad, and when you next connect it to your computer, your LR database is updated with the new pics.

You could release an additional accessory that turns the dock connector into a CF slot for the high end cameras. The dreamland implementation would be some kind of wifi transfer, provided DSLRs gain this ability in the future.

Even better would be the ability to somehow calibrate the IPS screen. The high quality display would benefit from calibration and its color accuracy would make it competent enough to do color work (probably even better than the MBPs due to the IPS panel) and the big size would make it usable enough to supplant a laptop for this basic first-pass kind of thing.

A subsequent revision with 128GB of storage would likely have enough room on it to both hold a plethora of content, plus provide ample dumping space for even a long photo trip. It would probably satisfy the storage needs of most fairly serious hobby photographers, although maybe not for a diehard pro although they would not really be in the market for this anyway.

A well implemented solution to this would be what would make me preorder an iPad today. Basically I'm looking for a beefed up version of what is likely already implemented via the SD accessory and iPhoto, with the ability to do it with RAW and have some good integration with my existing LR workflow.

Since we're in dreamland... the 128GB (or more) model is inevitable. Time (and money really) should concievably take care of the software, I only wonder if the iPad is powerful enough to handle modern ~12MP+ RAW files with a decent speed. I don't expect it to outrun a Mac Pro (or even a MBP) but so long as it is usable.

Ruahrc

P.S. for serious reading I think there will not be a substitute for e-ink technology. Especially the glossy screen and backlit display will hold this back as a serious e-reader. However, for someone like me who would not really read "books" but rather papers/documents, this might be good enough.

 

[cainnovacaine]

I agree, but I don't think using RAW is very practical given the limited storage on the device.

It's very easy to see someone like Belkin or Griffin to come out with a dock to include CF and SD built in.

I do think that an EyeFi Card with the right app would be an awesome idea.

You could probably use Photoshop from the iPhone app store to make that work.

 

[Ruahrc]

64 or 128GB isn't enough? I was on a photo trip recently which was about 2.5 weeks long. We shot every day and on my 10MP D80 I think I shot about 25GB (~3000 photos). With a 128GB iPad, and assuming you dedicated half of it for photo storage, that's 64GB of dumping space. At the rate I was shooting, I could travel for a month or more and still have enough room to dump onto the iPad.

I'm not saying to keep a complete copy of your RAW library on the iPad at all times, just use it as a storage device until you can get back to your computer with a large HD on it.

Again though, nearly every photographer who is even semi-serious shoots RAW. I'm positive that there is enough demand for a 3rd party to write a RAW app. Provided the iPad has enough horsepower to make it feasible.

Ruahrc

 

[admanimal]

I see it as a device to kind of have around the house for casual uses. Checking email/web in the living room, reading in the bedroom, recipes in the kitchen, etc... Stuff that I frequently use my iPhone or laptop for, but which the tablet would be better suited. If I was a business person I could see using it as an enhanced PDA kind of thing (enhanced relative to the iPhone, for example).

I think it's usefulness will become more clear once more iPad-specific apps and content come out.

 

[Milfette]

im a note taker but me and paper dont get along so this will be my everything. There are alot of things that you can use a blackberry for or an iPhone for but alot of those things give me eye strain thinking about it. This will be my eBook, Child video player at the mall, Brag book with baby pics, note taker in meetings, Google cal sync point and podcast streamer. Most of this stuff i do daily and somethings i wish i could but i KNOW im getting a 3G.

this could be the ultimate mom gadget! - the return of the PDA

 

[w00tini]

I spend all day doing sales presentations in front of customers. This device is going to make my professional life exponentially more productive and also lighten the load of paper I have to drag around.

I can also use this device to enter orders for those same customers in our company's online ordering system via 3G. It will also allow me to check inventory in real-time without calling in to an inside sales rep.

The fact that I can also jump online to see what's going on at MacRumors, watch movies, and read all of those text books my MBA program is going to be throwing at me is a huge bonus.

+1 iPad sold!

 

[happyslayer]

#1 - eBook reader to replace my (much used) Kindle2
#2 - Editing my self-written fiction (Probably with Pages)
#3 - Internet Surfing & fact checking while editing - Wiki app.
#4 - Probably games.. always found the iPhone screen too small.. this will be perfect I think.

#5 - Some as yet written app that will make us all say "Damn that's cool"

 

[cliffardo2001]

64 or 128GB isn't enough? I was on a photo trip recently which was about 2.5 weeks long. We shot every day and on my 10MP D80 I think I shot about 25GB (~3000 photos). With a 128GB iPad, and assuming you dedicated half of it for photo storage, that's 64GB of dumping space. At the rate I was shooting, I could travel for a month or more and still have enough room to dump onto the iPad.

I'm not saying to keep a complete copy of your RAW library on the iPad at all times, just use it as a storage device until you can get back to your computer with a large HD on it.

Again though, nearly every photographer who is even semi-serious shoots RAW. I'm positive that there is enough demand for a 3rd party to write a RAW app. Provided the iPad has enough horsepower to make it feasible.

Ruahrc

I think the iPad is a great product for the niche it was developed. Having said that, it would be a horrible idea to do anything remotely serious with photography on it. There is no need to use raw files on it. Save that for the workstation. Save the iPad for a reading break.

 

[marksman]

Plus is there a 128gig version?

I thought 64 was the biggest?

How long have I been asleep?

 

[Chaos123x]

It would be a great gift for a giant who always wanted a iPod.

 

[cainnovacaine]

64 or 128GB isn't enough?

There isn't a 128GB version. Besides, won't apps take a large portion of it? RAW files can be pretty huge, especially when you are taking long photo sessions worth...

 

[cainnovacaine]

A friend of mine mentioned a great application for it, brushes with a pogo stylus. I can see myself using this A LOT!