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Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

> I've found a bunch of use cases where the iPad excels

What are those ?

edit: why would a genuine question out of curiosity be modded down? I'm really weirded out by that. The ipad is a reasonably new form factor and new form factors bring new use cases, and I'd like to know what those are.

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In my opinion, the ipad excels when you're reading anything more complex than a linear novel.

I used to own a DX, & I'm sure you can find posts of me praising it... until I got an ipad. The DX is just barely big enough to read arxiv pdfs, so I'm sure the kindle2 is much too small. More importantly, e-ink refresh rate is so slow it's a pain just switching books, or even flipping around a reference book. Then the kindle has a very bad music player & browser, & can't play video. I keep trying to tell people the ipad backlight is a complete non-issue because you can darken it http://imgur.com/h5NEi.jpg . The reflection is a bit of an issue, but you can definately work around it given the other advantages.

What is it with those glossy screens these days ? It's almost like we're going back to the pre-matted glass CRTs.

I go nuts when reading light text on a dark background on one of these (yes, I'm that old ;)), it's like looking straight in to a mirror.

In practice, the screen is completely fine from a glare perspective, when used indoors. Fails completely in direct sunlight, but it's fine indoors.

The Bloomberg app is light text on a black background and it's very easy on the eyes.

It makes video & color come out much better, i think.

Don't worry, I'm sure the downvotes you saw were from a reading of your comment as snarky. There are a lot of Apple haters out there and "what are those?", can easily become "oh yeah? well, what are those use cases smart guy? paper-weight?" in some people's mind.

Your question is totally relevant. The iPad has been presented as being great as many things, but I'd also be curious to know the opinion of people who've used it extensively. During a brief test with one, I just didn't what to do with it. It's the kind of device that you need to really use to see the benefit I think.

The one use case that I've seen so far that I really didn't anticipate was the 'toddlers computers', that was totally original.

There must be countless others. I'm still in 'wait and see' mode about the ipad, especially with the way Apple has been behaving lately but there is bound to be competition and form factor related applications are likely going to be portable from one platform to another.

I've found that most of the things I do for fun and to "waste" time on the internet are easier and more fun on the iPad. Twitterrific, Instapaper, Net News Wire, checking HN, and several different games are what I have used it for the most so far. I mostly find myself turning to using my traditional computer for coding and watching hulu.

This is why I'm afraid of getting one, though I could see how separating work (MBP) from play (iPad) might increase productivity/fun.

I spend part of last week at a conference (TNW), and it's the first time I really loved my iPad: It's the perfect conference device for some browsing, tweeting, quick emails, etc. Way lighter to carry than a laptop, faster to 'start', and using it for a full day only took some 30% off the battery. It's quite easy to use without a table as well. Last year I brought my laptop, which was way heavier, and lasted only for a few hours.

Use case where the iPad truly excels: Multi-touch control surface for digital music creation. A Lemur multi-touch control surface from JazzMutant - http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php

Cost: $1,999 Euros.

For that price I can buy 4 iPads and hook them up through Wifi to control any MIDI devices or DAW.

Sure, you could do all that with iPads and Wifi, but have you actually tried it? I suspect the usability will not match up, due to a slew of technical issues and lag.

Judging from this video, the iPad seems very responsive.

He is using both an iPad and an APC40 to control Ableton Live using a custom Max/MSP app that was built inside Ableton.

http://binaryally.tumblr.com/post/557336763/apple-ipad-akai-...

With summer coming up soon (for those of us in the northern temperate zone), I'm especially looking forward to trying the iPad out as a 'vacation computer'.

Netflix on the train. I figure an episode of any half-hour tv show is perfectly matched for my commute.

My most common iPad uses to date:

- read my RSS feeds and Bloomberg News with my coffee and breakfast, just like I read the newspaper. I never did this with a laptop (too large, too vulnerable) and it's nice to start the day with all my news in one spot. (I also make my scrabble moves during breakfast now.)

- taking notes while in meetings / at a conference. Again, I never liked using laptops for notes because they create a physical barrier between me and the other people in the room. I didn't love paper because I didn't get a digital copy of it, unless I used my logitech pen and special paper, and it was annoying to write with and had mediocre battery life.

- auxiliary information. I now use it in lieu of printing recipes, and I use it constantly while watching sports (there's a great F1 timing and scoring app, and I love having some basic live sports data available while watching sports.)

- 'just in case' laptop. I've taken to bringing it with me in situations where I don't think I need a laptop, but where I could conceivably need better electronic communication / internet / etc than is provided by a blackberry / iphone / etc.

- 'keep the kid occupied' pad. my daughter has some quasi-educational games installed on it, and I have a few videos on it for her. Good for emergency entertainment.

Things it sucks at:

- being a full laptop. It's too small. I haven't tried using a keyboard with it, but I'm also not tempted to do so.

This is the kind of use I've envisioned having an iPad for, sort of a digital newspaper with the possibility to extend the information base with apps. Looking forward to the iPad landing in SA. Better take a bib to the iStore so I don't mess up the demo unit...

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