I don't own one and haven't purchased and eBook (ever), but you sound like the right person to ask:
Is an accessory wireless keyboard available?
Does it accept accessory high capacity drives?
Is an accessory disc burner available?
Is an accessory card reader available?
Is Word compatible software available, or word processing software which can turn out Word compatible files?
I'd jump on the iPad bandwagon in a New York minute if I could use it as an alternative to a laptop when traveling. But I need to download large quantities of photos and store them, plus burn discs for clients and backup discs to mail home. I'm also a newspaper columnist and need to be able to file a couple of times a week in Word format.
I'm pretty young and tech savvy, so I think I can answer your iPad questions: There is an Apple accessory keyboard, though there are limitations. Workarounds are being created.
No accessory HD
No accessory Disc Burner
iPad Does have a camera connecter dongle which connects directly to the camera or accepts an SD card
iPad does have a Word workaround which should suit your needs.
In response to your iPad storage queries - the answer is: It's all in the cloud man.*
*cloud computing - aka storing it on the web. You'd be able to write something on your ipad in your gmail account for instance, and you (or whoever) could convert it via google docs (in theory). In practice I've had a lot of formatting issues and things never seem to sync up perfectly. As for uploading photos, it has a camera connector which is a sweet little dongle, but the 64gb (highest storage version) would get filled awfully fast in the days of .RAW. You could of course upload them to the aforementioned cloud but at this point it would be a lot easier to use a laptop. Give it a year or two...
Hank...
yup a bluetooth wireless keyboard can be used.
the iPad isn't a traditional computer so there is only one Apple specific USB input. An external disc burner would not be possible to hook up directly, but it does sync content to your traditional workstation/laptop for content to be burned.
There is a card reader add on that can be purchased. Do keep in mind though the capacity of the iPad comes in 16, 32 and 64 GB for the time being. Again it's not a traditional computer. In addition you wouldn't use the iPad to process photos. (more on that in a bit)
Apple puts out "Pages" which is a Word equivalent. Similarly you can use cloud based services like Google Docs as well via WiFi.
To your last comment see my review of the iPad and if you don't have time to read it this sums it up. The iPad is first and foremost a consumption device (consumption of data) not a traditional computer to process data, but it can do so just not in ways you might be accustomed to.
The iPad is first and foremost a consumption device (consumption of data) not a traditional computer to process data, but it can do so just not in ways you might be accustomed to.
That's exactly the kind of summary I was looking for Jim. Thanks.
We're all about going smaller in our gear, both for travel and location shooting. I can manage nicely with a smaller camera bag that in the past, but it's too small for even an 11" laptop, even as I need the listed features in the field and on location.
I take this from it: iPad is a big step in the right direction size-wise, but it's not there for us in features and function. Even so, one may end up living beside my laptop, as for most users.
Thanks again!
Posted by Kent Staubus on May 19, 2010 at 10:48 AM
Hank--
I've been eyeing "netbooks." They are very small. So far I'm thinking the $300 price tag is more than I want to pay for one though.
Jim, I took your survey, but you would please let us know what it is you are trying to learn from this information?
Posted by Jim Goldstein on August 14, 2010 at 12:48 AM
Carol I'm way over due in responding, but I didn't forget. Part of the delay was the arrival of my first child (a boy named Blake).
Anyhow the reason for the inquiry was to better understand comfort level and online reading behavior. At the time I was evaluating whether to pursue creating an ebook and in what form.
Thanks for everyone's participation. I'm happy to answer any other questions :)
Thanks for the update Jim. Congrats to you and your growing family!
Following your useful feedback I panned the iPad, (and responding to you, Kent) I bought a netbook instead- around $400 including an accessory disc burner. That's with a 250G hard drive and all. On its own I get roughly 14 hours of battery life, and when copying to a portable drive or burning discs it only drops to half that. Three of us just returned from a 4-day bear photography venture and we all used it, backing up to our individual portable drives after downloads. We only needed to start a generator and recharge it every other day. I couldn't be happier, and it's the death knell for my purchase of an iPad for any reason. It's just way too useful and replaces most of the functions I'd have for an iPad.
Still no on the iBooks, too. If I had access to faster connections I'd be sorely tempted by the Kindle, but still wouldn't buy an iPad. Once iPad comes up to that level of book function I'd be tempted once the price dropped by 75%.
Discussion
11 repliesDo you own an iPad?
How many eBooks have you purchased in the past 12 months?
Thanks
Pete D.
Is an accessory wireless keyboard available?
Does it accept accessory high capacity drives?
Is an accessory disc burner available?
Is an accessory card reader available?
Is Word compatible software available, or word processing software which can turn out Word compatible files?
I'd jump on the iPad bandwagon in a New York minute if I could use it as an alternative to a laptop when traveling. But I need to download large quantities of photos and store them, plus burn discs for clients and backup discs to mail home. I'm also a newspaper columnist and need to be able to file a couple of times a week in Word format.
I'm pretty young and tech savvy, so I think I can answer your iPad questions: There is an Apple accessory keyboard, though there are limitations. Workarounds are being created.
No accessory HD
No accessory Disc Burner
iPad Does have a camera connecter dongle which connects directly to the camera or accepts an SD card
iPad does have a Word workaround which should suit your needs.
In response to your iPad storage queries - the answer is: It's all in the cloud man.*
*cloud computing - aka storing it on the web. You'd be able to write something on your ipad in your gmail account for instance, and you (or whoever) could convert it via google docs (in theory). In practice I've had a lot of formatting issues and things never seem to sync up perfectly. As for uploading photos, it has a camera connector which is a sweet little dongle, but the 64gb (highest storage version) would get filled awfully fast in the days of .RAW. You could of course upload them to the aforementioned cloud but at this point it would be a lot easier to use a laptop. Give it a year or two...
Hank...
yup a bluetooth wireless keyboard can be used.
the iPad isn't a traditional computer so there is only one Apple specific USB input. An external disc burner would not be possible to hook up directly, but it does sync content to your traditional workstation/laptop for content to be burned.
There is a card reader add on that can be purchased. Do keep in mind though the capacity of the iPad comes in 16, 32 and 64 GB for the time being. Again it's not a traditional computer. In addition you wouldn't use the iPad to process photos. (more on that in a bit)
Apple puts out "Pages" which is a Word equivalent. Similarly you can use cloud based services like Google Docs as well via WiFi.
To your last comment see my review of the iPad and if you don't have time to read it this sums it up. The iPad is first and foremost a consumption device (consumption of data) not a traditional computer to process data, but it can do so just not in ways you might be accustomed to.
That's exactly the kind of summary I was looking for Jim. Thanks.
We're all about going smaller in our gear, both for travel and location shooting. I can manage nicely with a smaller camera bag that in the past, but it's too small for even an 11" laptop, even as I need the listed features in the field and on location.
I take this from it: iPad is a big step in the right direction size-wise, but it's not there for us in features and function. Even so, one may end up living beside my laptop, as for most users.
Thanks again!
I've been eyeing "netbooks." They are very small. So far I'm thinking the $300 price tag is more than I want to pay for one though.
Kent in SD
Anyhow the reason for the inquiry was to better understand comfort level and online reading behavior. At the time I was evaluating whether to pursue creating an ebook and in what form.
Thanks for everyone's participation. I'm happy to answer any other questions :)
Following your useful feedback I panned the iPad, (and responding to you, Kent) I bought a netbook instead- around $400 including an accessory disc burner. That's with a 250G hard drive and all. On its own I get roughly 14 hours of battery life, and when copying to a portable drive or burning discs it only drops to half that. Three of us just returned from a 4-day bear photography venture and we all used it, backing up to our individual portable drives after downloads. We only needed to start a generator and recharge it every other day. I couldn't be happier, and it's the death knell for my purchase of an iPad for any reason. It's just way too useful and replaces most of the functions I'd have for an iPad.
Still no on the iBooks, too. If I had access to faster connections I'd be sorely tempted by the Kindle, but still wouldn't buy an iPad. Once iPad comes up to that level of book function I'd be tempted once the price dropped by 75%.