Across the Country, Fans Gather for iPad | Hacker News Reader

Across the Country, Fans Gather for iPad

nytimes.com

7 pointsbtipling15 comments

I'm going to use this with Dropbox to create compilations of Reference materials. (PDFs of music and programming references.) I'm also going to use this as an eReader and a test machine for iPad development. (EDIT: Correction, I am using it as an eReader with the Kindle App.) I'm going to use it as an electronic travel guide. (I can use the flap from the Apple case to help me with daylight readability, if needed.) I have a 3G mobile WiFi hotspot, so I'm also going to use it to research products while in the store -- far more comfortably than on the iPhone's small screen.

Basically the iPad will be put to most of the tons of uses I've found with my tc1100 Windows Tablet, but in a form factor that's half as light, much brighter, a battery life of "don't worry," and unencumbered by a stylus.

Skype works great on this thing! Having a jailbroken iPhone 2G with the Google Voice app on it as a companion is great. I'm notified of a call when my phone rings, and I can just switch to Skype on the iPad in time to receive the call. (Did this when my Dad just called.) Can't get my Plantronics 510 to sync with it, though. This thing is going to save me prepaid T-Mobile minutes!

I just purchased goodreader for 99 cents and it is better than dropbox alone. (I love DropBox by the way) this lets you import data from multiple places in your filesystem. Not just from the dropbox folder hierarchy. it will even let you use the app to download stuff from the web into your iPad. Well worth a buck.

Editorialize the title much? Can you just switch this back to the NYT's title?

The title is a summarized quote. I wanted to use the entire quote as the title but there is an 80 character limit. Here is the quote:

"Many of the people waiting for the iPad had a vague sense that they were involved in yet another big Apple moment, although they could not precisely say how they would use the tablet computer"

So no I didn't really editorialize, because it's the quote that I thought was significant.

I guess my objective was to spark a discussion about why people are buying this thing if they don't know how they will use it. Because it's a big apple moment?

You should write a blog post with your thoughts about the launch in it, and submit that, instead of submitting other stories with a spin on it.

Spin implies misrepresentation. As the other comment noted I did not misrepresent anything.

Sure you did. You presented one minor aspect of the article as if it were the theme of the article. It wasn't.

To me, "could not say how they would use" is entirely different from "could not precisely say how they would use." Call it editing for length, but it does change the title's meaning significantly.

The first implies - potentially - that I may have no use for this thing, but I'm such a fanboy that I'm spending the $500+ anyway.

The second version says to me, since the iPad is a cross between an iPod Touch and a netbook/laptop, I may have a bunch of ideas on how I will be using this thing in the future. However, I cannot nail them down precisely because I haven't owned anything like a tablet computer in the past.

And we wonder why so many public figures get annoyed when they are misquoted or their quotes are taken out of context.

When I saw your title, I read, "People waiting in line for the iPad could not say how they would use the tablet computer" is very different from "many people waiting in line". One implies there were many people who did know what they would use the iPad for (in fact, it implies most people knew what they would use the iPad for, as many < most). The other gives no sense whatsoever of how many people don't know, and could just as easily be two guys or 90% of the people there. It is also very easily misread as "The people waiting in line...", implying all, or almost all. The title you chose also implies that that paragraph is the emphasis of the story, which it isn't. The emphasis is on the enthusiasm of the people. I don't think you meant to misrepresent the article, but I do think you inadvertently did. Even minor changes in titles can change their meaning drastically. The simple thing to do is not change them.

The sentiment is expressed in the article's fourth paragraph, so at least it's not a misrepresentation.

It is not, however, a very interesting article.

I really want one too, but most of that is indeed from the fact that all my buddies are picking them up, and it seems like a nice gadget. For someone like my mom, grandparents, this is a perfect device. My grandpa has a shitty old WebTV for his email, because it uses a familiar interface (his la-z-boy and tv dinner table), but I could easily see him picking this up, opening emails with his finger, etc...

For me though... it's a novelty. I live in my Macbook Pro, so I don't need another webkit device to play around with on weekends. Although.... it would be really nice on plane trips. That 10hr (12hrs by David Pogue at the NYT) battery life (playing video) is going to be a game changer for sure. Tie that in with Netflix streaming, and you've got a pretty sick portable movie machine! Hopefully they do some kind of client-side caching "offline" mode, so you can get a streaming movie stored for a flight.

There's a NYT article from Thursday with better man-on-the-street sentiments: “Where am I supposed to use it? Am I supposed to use it on the bus — and get robbed?” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/technology/personaltech/02...

People waiting for the first Mac didn't know how they would use it either. Look how far we've come.

Personally, I can't wait to use the iPad to research and write up my speculations on Apples next device.

Submitter must be working for Fox News.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com