I am surprised that many of the comments so far are the equivalent of "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."
I'm excited at the very distinct deviation this is taking from the keyboard/mouse/monitor paradigm in something other than a strictly portable device. I think the OS looks pretty damn good and I can't wait to try using one myself.
I'm mainly surprised at how quick people are to post their opinion on a device they've only seen demoed on a stage.
It seems like you'd have to try to read some things on it, type, and surf the web before you could have an informed opinion about how useful/useless it is. I'm looking forward to reviews by people who have had a chance to spend a few days with one of these things.
Absolutely. I haven't even seen a list of specs yet.
Wait and see, that's the only sensible thing at this point in time, and try one as soon as you can get your grubby hands on it to see what it really feels like and works like.
Then we get some real information. All this hype goes nowhere, not for making decisions anyway.
...and as someone who uses an iPhone/13" laptop to get stuff done on my commute, this seems like a very nice middle ground (also seems like it would be good for using casually at home too - I rarely use my laptop at a desk now unless I'm getting work done).
I agree. I can't complain about the iPad until after its been released, I've gone into an Apple store, picked it up with my own hands and tried it out.
Judging it for good or bad via pictures isn't particularly sensible.
It worked fine, but it wasn't especially cheap and it only worked with a relatively late model Mac. And in 2001, this meant something like 95% of computer owners wouldn't be able to put any music on it.
True, but I can still fit most of my music on a single original iPod, carry it around in my pocket, and use the cool wheely interface to navigate through it, which is loads more convenient than what everyone else did in 2001 (either listen to one CD all day, or carry around a binder filled with CD's on a long road trip, or carry the equivalent of one or two CD's around on a Rio).
Clearly there is a long history of people complaining without knowing what they are complaining about. As someone else put it the iPad is already so hyped up that no matter what Apple has put into it people will still complain.
I bought an acer netbook that came with an SIM slot that I didn't even know about until after unpacking the thing. (check behind the battery if you have one, maybe you got lucky :) )
Worked like a dream too using ubuntu NBR and a 3G capable sim card.
Currently it is on loan to the father of a buddy of mine that is stuck in a hospital on 'extended stay'. Surf the net and stay in touch with the family.
Until I've had a chance to try one out for a while without commitment I'll stick to the little form factor PC, especially because I'm not locked in to some 'phone os'.
But I don't think it will take very long before someone gets ssh running on this device.
I'm excited at the very distinct deviation this is taking from the keyboard/mouse/monitor paradigm in something other than a strictly portable device. I think the OS looks pretty damn good and I can't wait to try using one myself.