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[perkiset]

... We haven't heard in quite a while. How is the iPad treating you? I just saw that VLC for the iPad was released today (although it's not getting good marks, apparently because the lack of compression makes for a little too much work on the pad and you get skips, stutters and audio desync...) Seeing VLC made me think of you.

According to CNBC and ACSI, the iPad has the highest consume satisfaction index of any product ever tracked.. Now it's true that there is certainly a load of fanbois in that mix, but DAMN that's quite a watermark. The other pad/tablet makers really have their work cut out for them. So given all that, i was wondering just how much you were liking/disliking it. Has it replaced any of your notebook's missions? Has it taken a place in your day-to-day or just an occasional toy?

Enquiring minds want to know...

[isthisthingon]

Hey perks,

I haven't posted about my iPad because the situation is kind of embarrassing.  To clarify, I'm unbelievably grateful for winning such a valuable prize for competing in the Chatter Hackathon at Cloudforce 2010: http://blog.sforce.com/sforce/2010/07/we-have-a-hackathon-raffle-winner-1.html.  Yes I've revealed my identity, without a business plan to justify the move.  That's because I'm retarded. 

Additionally, I've got nothing to hide and live right next to the Googleplex where bicycles are free to borrow and url trackbacks are required for all but forbidden at www.google.con.  But the deal is this.  The more I try to get into this device, the more I realize how much I love my desktops and laptop.  One time I was viewing pr0n on it and realized on next use that closing previously viewed Safari pages was less intuitive than what I'm used to.  In general I'm really not a fan of a touch screen, now based on continued experience.  So I want to remain grateful for this gift and felt that getting $450-$550 on Craigslist was not worth losing such a meaningful trophy that I'm proud to have won at the Chatter Hackathon.  But increasingly, it just collects dust.   

Great moment though:



 

[Phaëton]

You seem much happier hanging onto something organic: nice pic, btw

[isthisthingon]

I agree.  Different strokes...

[Phaëton]

well, the perks biker shorts are there ( )but that doesnt look much like him!

[perkiset]

 

That's too bad ITTO. Or perhaps not. IMO if you find the tools that really work for you, and you dig them, then you win. Clearly it's either not the right tool for you at this point or you've not discovered where that form factor fits into your life. Converesly, I have come to the point that it is literally with me at every moment, performing a wide range of duties in every aspect of my life.

Gathering dust though? It really does THAT little for you. Hmmm. Could it also be an allergic reaction? 

[isthisthingon]

Gathering dust though? It really does THAT little for you. Hmmm. Could it also be an allergic reaction? 

It could do more but all the things I want to do are better handled with my existing devices.  It's literally my backup in case my laptop dies and I need mobile until I repair or buy another laptop.  Everyone brings their laptop to meetings at my company, and most of those are MacBook Pros owned by people who also own iPhones and iPads.  I'm the lone Ubuntu kid with the dunce cap on in the back of the classroom.  One guy brings his iPad to meetings but he isn't an engineer.  Outside of work, I get nervous carrying my iPad around town and when mobile computing is in the plans I just need a full-featured, keyboard/mouse driven (but otherwise hands-free) gateway to the net.

The day I see Eclipse or similar produce a functional and productive IDE for the iPad with a Force.com plug-in, assuming a wired/wireless mouse was available as well, I'd be in heaven.  I don't see that happening but if it did, that would be ITTO's killer mobile solution.  The screen's beautiful and the wireless is smokin fast on it.  Oh well.

[perkiset]

Interesting point - and I think you're missing an interesting conversion.

I have all of my compilation, IDE, Windows, Linux and Mac tools available to me at all times. On my 'pad I turn on the VPN and Poof, I am ICAing, RDPing, SSHing and VNCing my butt off. The conversion point here, and I think we see Apple getting it quicker than most, is that the Apple TV has no storage. Well, it will have 16G of local (which it has been guessed at will be for forthcoming apps) and everything else is streaming. Everything. The notion of local storage, or even local processing power is becoming deprecated, perhaps eventually even an anachronism. Except when I am sitting at my MP desktop I am completely cloudified and it has been GREAT because regardless of the tool I have in hand, I have access at full speed to everything. I don't store much anywhere anymore except for the cloud. Documents we use are in the cloud. My websites (not all, but getting there) are in the cloud. Thin clients are all that's necessary in most situations. Our VM array is a *very* strong cloud. Remote access to all of my resources is effortless. The 'pad fits perfectly in my shoulder bag. So with almost no addition to what I carry anyway, I have the whole world with me at all times.

And again, this is all doable with your notebook - or in fact, ANY notebook, 'pad or computer. That's why the form factor itself, regardless of OS will be something of real importance now and in the future. Not because it provides more than other factors, but can provide a reasonable experience for way less weight, size and requirement. Nutballs, I believe, has actually thrown his notebook away and exclusively uses his pad when away from his desk. Although that's probably a little extreme, it's indicative of the capability of that device when paired with the proper connectivity and destination.