Take 5. Breathe. See what the other companies produce. If they look like crap, buy an iPad 2G which will hopefully have Flash support if Apple and Adobe can stop bickering.

The iPad probably weighs as much as your netbook anyway . . .

Wait. HP will be coming out with a tablet with WebOS that will likely meet some of your requirements, things are still kind of fuzzy there what with the Palm buy and all.

More importantly, 3rd quarter this year we're supposed to see this:

ADAM Tablet

No idea what the pricing will be BUT:

- Runs on Android

- About the same form factor as the iPricey

- Runs on ANDROID

Wait. HP will be coming out with a tablet with WebOS that will likely meet some of your requirements, things are still kind of fuzzy there what with the Palm buy and all.

More importantly, 3rd quarter this year we're supposed to see this:

 

ADAM Tablet

 

No idea what the pricing will be BUT:

 

- Runs on Android

- About the same form factor as the iPricey

- Runs on ANDROID

sorry.... you seem to be saying "runs on android" like its a good thing.....

I'm no expert (as Eric well knows from the questions I have asked him). So, it's a generality when I say "wait". See what the competition has to offer before you decide. Prices will decline when the competitors arrive in the market. Also, early adopters are often early regretters.

Wait for some of the Android/Chrome OS tablets. You have already stated your standards on what you expect from a tablet and while Apple may unlock add features in later generations, we both know a few things that apple will never do:

-Apple will never use Adobe Flash in it's iPad. They will stick to HTML5 till its more widely used by content providers. Plus apple customers (right or wrong) have been conditioned to use the web without flash, and are betting that users will not demand more from the iPad.

-Apple will never be an open platform. Apple has made its mark because of all the control they get to make their products into what they want it to be. The closed system also is sold to consumers (however inaccurately) that this closed system is a sort of "gated community" of the web, where content comes to them and they are safe and protected in this environment.

This device will never replace a computer. A laptop and even netbooks use full scale application software you are free to install and delete at your leisure. On the iPad you are completely and utterly dependent on Apples App store (which apps get pretty pricey) for their small scale applications which currently lack the functionality needed for serious computing. Don't expect Microsoft Office to go on the iPad anytime soon-if ever. I'm sure you already know about the synch requirements for the iPad so IMO your are way better off with a netbook than an iPad.

What netbook do you own that you would actually consider it to be cumbersome? I never thought I'd hear those two words in a sentence. Depending on what you have perhaps you should get a new netbook or even a CULV laptops?

If you decide to get this thing and you have to type a lot, I would recommend getting a keyboard because the ergonomics on the touchscreen keyboard is horrible. Also you should know that this device gets quite heavy over time when carrying it so your going to have to hold it with both hands. Also the cases kinda suck.

In short, stick to a netbook until a worthy tablet comes out.

Hope this helps,

Caedus

West:

Okay I'll clarify that "runs on Android" really means "not the closed ecology imposed on Apple users by Apple" and that I think Android/Chrome stand the best chance to really win the market for web applications on tablets.

Also, and I think this is really important to Eric, Android is open source with a wide playing field. Microsoft and Apple are not going to win the H.264/HTML5 market.

Apple just recently pulled the rug on any developer NOT using Apple tools. This is pushing those developers who were hoping to use Flash or other non-webkit tools on the iphone/ipad OS to Android as the platform of choice. Apple consistently refuses to allow any app that duplicates existing functionality in the app store (which is why you don't see anything like Firefox or Chrome for iphone - they don't want to step on Safari's market share).

We're not there yet but you're going to see a real house cleaning in the Apple app store and a significant rise in the number of apps and maturing products for the Android market.

So yeah, I say "Android" like its a good thing because I, as an iphone user, don't like being tied to AT&T as a cell carrier, don't like having Apple dictate how content will be presented to me, and I really don't like the way Apple treats its developers.

They did this before. It was right around the time Steve Jobs got dumped on his ass by John Scully. Apple would have been long gone had Steve had his way then, and they're headed that way again.

My thing is this, I love my netbook dearly but because I'm always moving around and find it cumbersome to whip out the netbook at the office, apartment, in-service days, etc when I'm juggling about a thousand things at once (think papers, forms, meds, etc).

I like the idea of a pad/tablet because it's thinner then my netbook, easier to carry around and provides more stability then my netbook. Also the reason why I'm leaning towards the ipad is because of the no contract built in 3g card. I'm always on the move and don't always have access to a wifi spot (I'm lucky that the apartment I'm generally in at work has an open wifi spot thanks to the neighbors).

Also I deal a lot with medicine, behaviors, psych disorders and such so it would be nice to be able to look things up on the fly (I.e does asprin interact with drug b?).

So those are my reasons as to why I'm leaning towards the ipad, but I think I'm goin to wait till the fall before being certain.

Now on a side note I use android on my netbook sometimes because I like to mess aroud with it and I like it, that's why I'm hoping google comes out with one like the ipad.

Thanks for you input guys and keep it coming!

Eric

West:

 

Okay I'll clarify that "runs on Android" really means "not the closed ecology imposed on Apple users by Apple" and that I think Android/Chrome stand the best chance to really win the market for web applications on tablets.

 

Also, and I think this is really important to Eric, Android is open source with a wide playing field. Microsoft and Apple are not going to win the H.264/HTML5 market.

 

Apple just recently pulled the rug on any developer NOT using Apple tools. This is pushing those developers who were hoping to use Flash or other non-webkit tools on the iphone/ipad OS to Android as the platform of choice. Apple consistently refuses to allow any app that duplicates existing functionality in the app store (which is why you don't see anything like Firefox or Chrome for iphone - they don't want to step on Safari's market share).

 

We're not there yet but you're going to see a real house cleaning in the Apple app store and a significant rise in the number of apps and maturing products for the Android market.

 

So yeah, I say "Android" like its a good thing because I, as an iphone user, don't like being tied to AT&T as a cell carrier, don't like having Apple dictate how content will be presented to me, and I really don't like the way Apple treats its developers.

 

They did this before. It was right around the time Steve Jobs got dumped on his ass by John Scully. Apple would have been long gone had Steve had his way then, and they're headed that way again.

Well, i disagree that apple are heading for failure.... in fact it forms a good slice of my own investment portfolio and has provided good returns over the last few years. devices that run on iOS (iPad, Iphone, Ipod touch) seem to have captured a lot of imaginations..... which has lead to a significant grab of market share. This leads to developers creating content in number unheard of on any other device. And despite reports of developers deserting apple for other platforms - the volume of apps being submitted to apple each week do not bear this out in fact.

Apple employ very strict standards.... and as a developer myself, i find these constraints incredibly annoying. However, when i produce custom software for my employer or clients.... I have fairly strict standards too. your example of why you don't see chrome or firefox on the iphone does not bear scrutiny. the fact is these apps WOULD be allowed if they could follow the guidelines set out by apple, and use apple APIs. Want proof? search for "opera" in the app store. They found a way to run their app without running native code, and so the opera browser is available for the iPhone.

I do not subscribe to the view that open source is better. I think open source dilutes quality. my justification my view is as follows: what open source software, in the last 30 years, has overtaken a closed source rival?