mightychurch.com

It’s pretty great :D

(I actually got it because I can use it when health sucks too much to use main mac, but yeah, check them out if you get a chance!)

I’ll probably sit out this one ... is it much different from the iPhone?  Apart from it being bigger and being able to read books/newspapers?

Well I’ve had it for about a week now, and yeah it’s pretty magical, lol :)

It really is a case of you get out of what you put into it—for me it’s great for reading stuff, following twitter, watching occasional youtube vid, checking out cool apps, and v casual gaming. My ipod touch feels mighty small after using it.

That said, if you play games on a console, and don’t commute or find iPhone (or whatever) fine when commuting, then it might not be something that gets a lot of use. Great for mucking around with for fun in front of the tv, or before bed for some quick pinball or whatever, though :)

I wouldn’t mind the iPad’s larger screen for playing minigames as I commute quite a bit (well when I get a job I will be).  But will hold off til my phone dies - then I might get both an iPhone and iPad (iPhone being the first priority).  It’s been an amazing six years and my phone still works as new!

I hear the iPhone will come out with version 4 by the end of July, with massive improvements.  Lost the link but it includes faster processing, more ports and folder management.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Google-Apple-Microsoft-ebooks-iPad-iPhone-pd20100611-6B72G?OpenDocument&src=kgb

What iPad revolution? - Business Spectator, Paul Budde, 15 June 2010

Over the last few years my consultancy, BuddeComm, has been rather subdued in its comments about devices such as the iPad and eBooks. Relatively few people have actually purchased them, and recent market trends only serve to confirm this view.

The main reason seems to be confusion by consumers around where these products actually fit in with their other personal technology devices. A lack of standards for eBooks has resulted in customers being concerned about which books and other study materials can actually be used on which devices. Those who have iPads are equally confused and commonly use it as a type of media computer.

Tablet computers have now been in use for well over a decade and they have an interesting niche market of faithful followers who so far have not replaced their three, five or 10 year old tablet with an iPad.

So for the time being, BuddeComm will remain rather cautious about the potential of iPads and eBooks. There may be developments in niche markets but they are unlikely to occur in mass markets.

Now that the hype around eBooks has settled down, the promised flurry of new products to hit the market in late 2009 and 2010 has so far failed to eventuate. While the sale of 2 million Apple iPads may be the reason for this, BuddeComm remains unconvinced that they will be anywhere near as popular as the Apple iPhone, which is currently one of the biggest breakthroughs in mobile communications.

The Apple iPhone single-handedly unseated the entire mobile operators market, and together with the apps providers is now dictating consumer behaviour in this market – a position that the mobile operators had for 20 years but subsequently lost because they did not understand the new business models in the new internet environment.

However, because the iPhone is a closed system it will lose out against open systems based developments. It certainly is superior in its user friendliness but ultimately it will sit in a (very comfortable) niche market similar to where the Mac products are now sitting. Apple does charge premium prices for its products in general, and that of course is one of the benefits of operating in a niche market.

Google’s Android is currently outselling the iPhone, but it still has a long way to go to reach a similar market penetration. Nevertheless, together with other open systems operators it will soon obtain a larger share of the smart phone market than the iPhone.

BuddeComm recently wrote that all companies which become dominant start to develop monopolistic tendencies. While Google’s recent activities in the WiFi market cannot be condoned, more long-term faith should be held in companies which support open systems than in companies which support closed systems.

Unfortunately this leaves Microsoft far behind others in the field, as it has failed to improve its operating system to accommodate the new developments in the internet. Its operating system remains clunky, slow and far too complex for the sorts of devices which are needed and many consumers are not satisfied with its products. While cloud computing is still a long way off, the lack of improvements from Microsoft might actually stimulate developments in this area.

Many consumers admire the Mac and its user friendliness, but the majority prefers the more open PC system. This will also be the case with the new generation of smart phones and other smart devices.

The first four paragraphs make some good points.  I wonder when the iPad will get mass market penetration in a similar vein to what the iPhone did.