And lo On Sun, 16 May 2010 05:26:53 +0100, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> did  
spake thusly:

> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> Except ... there's no backup
>
>   There is.
>
>> the disk is tiny, there's no external storage,
>> there's no printer connection, no scanner connector, no way to put  
>> music on
>> it without buying it, no way to put music you already bought onto it,  
>> ...
>
>   The iPad is not being marketed as a laptop.

No it's being marketed as "The best way to experience the web, email,  
photos, and video. Hands down" So you're going to get people thinking "I  
just my laptop to surf the web, get my email and look at my photos. Hey I  
can get this cool iPad instead" or even as Darren suggested possibly get  
it for someone who does really just do that. At which point you discover  
you're tied to using the Apple Store to get your music, you can't import  
any of your existing music, you can't get your photos to it unless you use  
the optional "iPad Camera Connection Kit" because using a standard USB  
slot would be way to easy. You can't backup those photos or email easily.

Yes it's an accessory, but it's not really being marketed as that either.  
If they'd proclaimed that it was a big iPhone without the ability to make  
calls people would probably grasp that it had limitations, but they're not  
so it's a reasonable question to ask and a reasonable thing to expect.

>   Do you buy an XBox360 and expect it to be a PC? There are similarly  
> many
> thing that can be done with a PC that cannot be done with an XBox360.

Do you buy a PS3 expecting it to be a PC? Yet I can surf the net, view my  
photos, get videos, import my CDs, I can hook up a mouse and keyboard and  
even print from it. In theory there's nothing stopping anyone from  
creating a PS3 word processor or spread sheet that runs off a disc.  
Nothing stopping Sony adding such as a permanent app in the same way as  
VidZone or iPlayer was added. The lines blur and what defines a product is  
less what it can do, but what it can't do. An iPad fulfills the criteria  
needed for a casual laptop user until you hit the restrictions.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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