I weigh in on the iPad
There is little doubt that the top geek chic item this year is the iPad. It’s the fad.
I haven’t talked about the iPad here before. (I don’t talk about Apple much at all. I’m not an iPerson. I don’t own any iGizmos.) But lately, I have been asked my reco on them quite frequently, and I have worked on a few. So.. if you are considering buying an iPad…
Tech Paul’s iPad Reco —
Don’t buy it. Wait for version 2.
(That’s a good policy for pretty much any tech thing, btw. Hardware and software. Longtime Windows users users phrase it “wait for the Service Pack”.)
So there you have it. Short and sweet. No, not yet. This ZDNet article describes it better: The truth about iPad: It’s only good for two things
“The Apple iPad is a landmark product, but it’s also imperfect and fairly limited. In fact, there are only two areas where it really shines.“
I don’t think the iPad is a passing fad, like Apple’s Air was, but… well, read the article.
Related: CNet has a very thorough review, here. (Click on “expand full review”.)
Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. 
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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Tech - for Everyone 
Right. It is only the fastest product sold ever.
I use it for many, many things each day. More than 6 hours per day.
You have no clue of what you are saying.
I am not an Apple fan. I have had Windows machines all my life and only one Powerbook.
The ipad is a game changer. You do not believe it ?
Stop using it or talking about it. Your loss, our win.
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George Koklan,
Let me be clear: I am glad that you are enjoying, and getting good use from your iPad. And yes – touchscreen technology in general, and the iPad specifically, are “changing the game”.
But I stand by my advice on this “revolutionary” and “game changing” item of technology – Don’t Buy The First One – just the same as I apply it, and advise it, to any and all new technologies. (The name brand is irrelevant.)
The primary reason for this general policy is – version 2 usually fixes the bugs that were unknown before the product went into mass production and general use.
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My girlfriend has an iPhone and loves it. When the iPad announcements started coming, she got very excited and felt she was the perfect target for one. She’s six feet tall, but has a bad shoulder, so although she keeps her laptop next to the couch and uses it a lot while watching TV to look things up, check email, etc., her shoulder starts to hurt as she picks it up and sets it down several times. The iPad seemed like heaven to her with it’s size and weight. When it came out, I bought her the 3G/WiFi one and she was thrilled. Three weeks later, we made the trip to the Apple Store and returned it.
It was awkward for her to type on as the size made it too large for her to type like on a phone, and setting it down made it difficult because the keyboard and what she was typing into were on the same plane. When we first started talking about it, I brought up the lack of multi-tasking which she pooh-poohed but it quickly became a major annoyance for her. What? I can’t listen to my music and then surf the Internet? In the end, she was sad, but couldn’t justify keeping something that expensive as she found herself using it less and less and going back to lugging the laptop again.
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Matthew Brock,
I thank you for sharing that story.
I don’t know if any aspect of her experience would have been improved by waiting for the next version, though…
Many people see the iPad as a replacement for a laptop, and it really isn’t.. not quite. Same goes for the category “netbook”.
Perhaps the category of “ultra-portable” laptop would be more suited for her needs. This might be something to look at, http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/collection/1660/top_10_ultraportable_laptops.html
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