Bill Gates: The iPad Isn't All That

[tacoslave]

[citation][nom]g-systems[/nom]...and get arrested for voter fraud lol[/citation]

damn straight lol

 

[m-manla]

I agree with Gates. For me, iPad will most likely be a letdown, and me not owning an Apple product still. I just will wait until Sony, Asus, or other companies do with a Slate PC.

 

[surfer1337dude]

[citation][nom]dman3k[/nom]jokes are meant to be funny. take the ipad for example.[/citation]
XD


Seriously though...I am not a fan of Bill Gates (or Jobs)... but I do like that Gates is modest enough to say what he feels.


Meanwhile, Seriously did a third grader come up with the name? Plus why the "i" part of iPad? I thought this was suppose to be a new product not just a new iPod? All apple products do not carry the "i", only the products that have to do with the iPod (I let the iPhone slip since its half iPod to a point). Sorry for the rant.

 

[climber]

I think with Steve Jobs, it's "iPad" myself on the back.

 

[doron]

Apple's next product:

Youtube link

 

[back_by_demand]

The problem with any kind of tablet is that even though Bill Gates demo'd one 9 years ago, MS only does the OS that can support a tablet. They could have gone into the hardware market like they did with the Xbox but instead waited for other hardware vendors to have suitable tablet creations. Plenty have come along and all have been fairly dull. Now that the hardware exists to make a good looking and running tablet, Apple release one and instead of having it run an OS that can make it "be all it can be" they downgrade the software so it is nothing more than a grownup filofax.

People have been asking for a tablet for years that can do what the OS is capable of and wanted the hardware to catchup. We wanted OSX or Windows and the golden rule of customer service is to give the customer what they want.

 

[tapnick]

I just don't see the use in one (Ipad). When you could get a "tablet" packing a real OS, tegra 2, web cam, ect.. from HP or MSI or one of the many others coming out with one.

 

[omnimodis78]

[citation][nom]SneakySnake[/nom]@ omnimodisDo you know how frustrating and annoying a borderless touchscreen display would be? It's not borderless for a reason[/citation]
I didn't really think of that, I guess you're right - but they could have designed it so that it doesn't look like a digital picture frame. Ok, I don't want to sound like a broken record - but isn't the iTouch/iPhone also touchscreen, but they managed to give it a slick design instead of giving it a wide border all throughout. Maybe the border could have been seemless, meaning it would only become apparent when it was turned on, and make the border textured so you'd know when you're reaching it. I'm just sayin'

 

[drksilenc]

not for apple its not back. its make all the money you can off of a cheep and pritty product

 

[apache_lives]

this is a product everyone will badmouth but will still sell like hotcakes *shrugs*

 

[LORD_ORION]

If it comes out for "free" @ $29.95 a month with a data plan from a wireless carrier... people will be buying them.

I would get one. I already use my Touch everyday... I would love to have a Touch with a 3G network connection and screen big enough to read e-books.

Hell, with a 3G network connection and a VoIP app (not skype, I mean real SIP apps registered to an ITSP), I would never need to use a voiceplan again from my carrier. Win.

 

[eyemaster]

Sadly, I believe the iPad will be a success. I think Apple can succeed where other companies failed because of the strong love/hate the tech community has for Apple. Either you don't like Macs or you love them, which causes lots of strong emotions for it. Strong emotions towards a brand/product relates to sales.

In essence, we here call it fanboyism, but no one likes to be called a fanboy!

 

[angelofprogress]

If they would have put OS X on this thing instead of the crappy iPhone/iPod OS, this thing would be awesome. Being able to run any program you would in OS X at that size...now that would be worth looking into. But no, they screwed the pooch on this one.

 

[aford10]

I agree with him for the most part. But what else is he going to say? The man who banished Ipods from his house isn't going to praise the Ipad.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]drksilenc[/nom]not for apple its not back. its make all the money you can off of a cheep and pritty product[/citation]
Thank you for proving my point.

 

[Regulas]

[citation][nom]stravis[/nom]Sarah P. can probably find a good use for this iPad - beats writing on her hand like a 12 year old..[/citation]
At least she doesn't stand in front of a group of grade school kids using two TelePrompTers to speak to them and I bet she can pronounce corpsman too.

 

[fulle]

Take the iPad, add mult-tasking, add VOIP programs, 3G/4G support, bluetooth (I can't recall if it already has this, but doubt it), a higher res screen, slightly smaller form factor, and less-strict application support, and you have a really awesome device.
-Luckily, we'll see ANDROID based devices like I described pretty soon.

Think about it. A device that you can read books on comfortably on your couch, then use as a remote for your entertainment center, capable of doing things like stream music to your surround system, or just telling your DVR to record something... that you can browse the web, and watch flash movies on, and acts as your main phone over something like google voice. It'd be freaking awesome!
-Apple's device... well. It sort of sucks.

 

[kenwheeler77]

[citation][nom]oldgeek143[/nom]I agree with Gates for a device the size of the I-Pad. If Apple had introduced a smaller form factor I could see the utility.[/citation]

They did, it's called the iPod Touch...

 

[roagie]

With Microsoft being a major share holder in Apple I'm fairly sure Bill is expressing his true feeling here. Kind of interesting that he would say so publicly, most of us are thinking it but for someone who owns interest in the company he must be truly disappointed with the product. Personally, the processor is too slow, there's not enough RAM, and it doesn't have a grown up OS... So I'll pass on this one. But then again what would I know?

Apple Certified Support Professional 10.6
Apple Certified Technical Coordinator 10.6

 

[jgiron]

jokes are meant to be funny. take the ipad for example.

Now this is a great joke!
Thanks for sharing!


As for the article, everyone wishes they would have came up with that idea first.

 

[wildwell]

Ditto, Bill.

 

[candrwhite]

[citation][nom]oldgeek143[/nom]I agree with Gates for a device the size of the I-Pad. If Apple had introduced a smaller form factor I could see the utility.[/citation]

You mean like oh, I don't know.... and iPod Touch?

 

[IXfearlessXI]

Bill gates is right on. The ipad will not be as big as they think. No new features exct that it is a iphone that is bigger.

 

[nottheking]

[citation][nom]omnimodis78[/nom] Ok, I don't want to sound like a broken record - but isn't the iTouch/iPhone also touchscreen, but they managed to give it a slick design instead of giving it a wide border all throughout.[/citation]
Actually, the iPod Touch and iPhone can have a thin border for a reason: they're narrow enough you can grip both edges. After all, you (probably) don't put your fingers on the front of a candybar phone, only the sides.

With the iPad, you have a distinctly wider device; hence, unless you have inhumanly HUGE hands/fingers (such as those necessary to hold original-style Xbox controllers circa 2002...) You're going to need to grip it between the front and back, rather than side-to-side.

[citation][nom]eyemaster[/nom]Sadly, I believe the iPad will be a success. I think Apple can succeed where other companies failed because of the strong love/hate the tech community has for Apple.[/citation]
Personally, I don't think it'll even do as better as the first-gen iPhone. (which DID actually make a couple million sales in the year before it sputtered out...) Simply put, Apple's trying to create a market again here, but this time, it doesn't make as much sense; the 2nd/3rd-gen-iPhones succeeded in selling outside of Apple fanboys for a reason. That reason, apparently, is that Apple managed to convince people who didn't need a smartphone that they did. Virtually EVERYBODY online has or needs some sort of cell phone, so they were able to tap into a small portion of that to still create a large market, especially once they added attractive 'gimmicks' (not using this in a negative sense) like the famous App Store.

With the iPad, there really isn't anything they can tap into that'll work; they CAN'T sell to the tablet market, since it isn't a good tablet. It pretty much leaves it trying to step on the toes of their own iPod Touch... Only it's far too bulky to have the ever-so-portable convenience of the iPod, more expensive, etc. It can't even compare to the iPhone, since the iPad really has no capabilities from the iPhone that the iPod Touch doesn't have as well.

To be honest, the device's design and place in the market has been JUST as much of a headscratcher as the fact that Apple really DID go with the name 'iPad'. My prediction is that it'll probably sell around 600-800,000 units by the end of the year, by which time its sales will be on a downward incline. At that point, Apple will quietly pull the plug, (as it would still be a multi-million loss) though I'd put a 30% chance that, like I noted before, they'll come up with a REAL product, (a sort of entry-level tablet PC, that has more than cell phone hardware, and runs real OS X) and sell it pretending it's a "second-gen iPad." Such a device would sell well; then everybody will ever forget about the original, laughable iPad, just like they forgot how poorly the first-gen iPhone fared.

 

[surfer1337dude]

I think that simply said; Apple could release a pile of dog !@#* and the public would eat it up...