Anyone here use a tablet computer

by maksym 56 Replies latest jw friends

  • SweetBabyCheezits
    SweetBabyCheezits

    I want to echo what Snare said, except I'm only using the iPad 1. I got it as an early xmas gift and feared the "novelty" would wear off quickly. It didn't. I am just as fond of it now as I was day one, of not more so. If I were told that I could only keep one piece of electronics for personal use, it would be the iPad. I use it more for education (personal and kids) and business than I do as a toy, but it's just a pleasure to use all around.

    Oddly enough, I prefer reading books on my iPad over print. Now that they're putting out some quality multimedia ebooks (including textbooks), I have little interest in buying bound books. I know I've praised it on another thread but the app/book of Dawkins' The Magic of Reality is awesome to read with the kids. Well worth the money, considering I'd have paid about the same $13 for a print copy but wouldn't have all the cool interactive stuff with it that they enjoy.

    If interested in saving a chunk and you don't need the latest version, I highly recommend Apple refurbs. They are refurbished in China with original parts and ship to you indistinguishable from a new one. Not a scratch, new box (marked refurb), shrink-wrapped, with same 1 year warranty that you'd get buying a new one. But you can save a chunk of change.

    FTR, I'm a PC user otherwise (by upbringing/culture - ha).

  • SixofNine
    SixofNine

    gaaaaahhhh, you guys are making me consider an iPad. I have an android tablet and I like it but don't love it.

    Hey Cheez, do you have The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore on your iPad for your kids? Apparently it is one of the top 5 selling book apps of all time for the iPad. The motion control system I build was used on it and my employer did all the set cinematography.

  • SweetBabyCheezits
    SweetBabyCheezits

    I don't have that app, Six, but that's awesome that your system was used in its creation! I googled it and it looks pretty sweet. I'll have to snag it and check it out.

  • cantleave
    cantleave

    Nugget uses an iPad to post on JWN.

  • maksym
    maksym

    Excellent advice all,

    Two days left before the new ipads come out. It may mean that the ipad 2 will be discounted much like the previous gen phones are from apple.

    BTW...I think android is pretty cool but I don't think it is as solid as ios. I'm just wondering what Apple has done to push the envelope of user friendliness and features. Only Wednesday will tell.

    Wouldn't it be great if tablets could do everything exactly like a laptop in regards to software. According to Mohrs law I think this will happen in the next 5 years or so.

    Thanks

    Maksym

  • djeggnog
    djeggnog

    (left blank because of a JWN issue - sorry)

  • djeggnog
    djeggnog

    @maksym:

    Just curious here who uses the new tablet computers, whether they be android based or ipad ios from Apple. Does anyone here use a phone to post and what is your experience with that?

    If your curiosity only centers around what Android or iOS apps folks might be using to post here to JWN with a view to your deciding upon the kind of tablet you might buy, I suppose some shopping decisions might be made based on accessibility to a website, but other than web browsers, you might also want to consider what other apps you might want to use on such a tablet as well, since, for example, you might want to annotate PDFs, access Word or other documents via FTP, create databases, remote access your PC at home, tune into radio stations, news networks like CNN or MSNBC, stream movies from HBO or Netflix, you might want to play multiplayer games like Chess or Scrabble, or you might want to be able to create Word- or Excel-compatible documents.

    I don't know if the iPad 3 to be released in a few days will support flash, but there are a few apps available now that support flash on the iPhone 4/4s, iPad 1/2 and iTouch 3rd/4th generation. I don't know if you are familiar with or have ever used iSilo, but the iSilo app I use on all of my iOS devices is very important to me, and it is available for both iOS-powered and Android devices.

    Also, whether your tablet will provide wifi only or both wifi and 3G (or 4G) connectivity might be something you would want to consider, not to mention (but I'll mention this anyway) how much internal storage you would want to have for things like music, videos and pictures although there are iOS apps that support streaming via wifi MP3s and movies from a server or from your home computer to an 8GB iPad, so that what internal storage you have may turn out to be less important.

    I'm curious as to how much more time there will be before these devices are the main computers for people. I envision a cloud system either at home or commercially to access files and such.

    It's possible that from some, such tablets could totally replace their need for using desktop PCs, but for most people, I don't think we're there yet. It is often too daunting of a process to batch transfer files to such tablets and file management is a must on any computer, one must also organize the files that one uses on devices like these and one of the best ways to keep things organized in my opinion is by using one's tablet with a PC or a Mac.

    I'm also waiting until Wednesday to see what the new ipad will entail.

    Right.

    Any thoughts?

    Here's one: Many people are hoping that Apple doesn't decide to announce the iPad 4 three months after the release of the iPad 3, which is rather annoying to those of us that are forced to buy the latest Apple offering in order to provide support to the folks that buy them.

    In addition to the thread mentioned by @CofC, you might find something in this thread helpful.

    I realize that these devices have a hard time doing flash videos but I think some other kinks need to be ironed out, like you mentioned.

    What "kinks" do you mean?

    @msjones5:

    I mostly use my iPad when I come here. It has it's drawbacks (right now I'm having a problem posting pics and I can't post clickable links) but I like using the iPad and it serves my needs otherwise.

    I know what "clickable links" are, but since I never use the iPad's "Safari" browser here on JWN, I cannot really be sure if what you are telling me here is just that you have found it difficult or impossible to create clickable links using Safari (I don't think there is a straightforward way to create such links using Safari, but it is possible to do so). Here's how using Atomic Web (and this same technique works using Safari, but when posting to JWN using Atomic Web, I don't worry about the blank lines that separate paragraphs from one another in my posts being stripped as has occurred in the past using Safari):

    In the "Post a reply ..." edit box, after highlighting the word(s) you want to associate with a link, move the edit box down somewhat so that you will be able to see the "Insert/edit link" icon when the "Cut/Copy/Paste" subdialog (if you are using version 4 of the iOS) or the "Cut/Copy/Paste/Suggest..." subdialog (if you are using version 5 of the iOS) is displayed, and then tap the "Insert/edit image" icon first, which will cause the "Insert/edit image" dialog to be displayed, and immediately tap the "Cancel" button. (BTW, I've been able to create a link using Atomic Web in the part without having to take this first step, but if the "Insert/edit link" icon is not active, this does need to be the first step.)

    At this point, you should notice that the "Insert/edit link" icon has now become active. Tap the "Insert/edit link" icon to display the "Insert/edit link" dialog and enter or paste the desired URL into the "Link URL" edit box. You may also change the target and use "Open in new window (_blank), so that this link will open in a new window without disturbing the parent window), and access the options on the "Popup," "Events" and "Advanced" tabs if you wish. Lastly, tap the "Insert" button and you're done.

    Yeah, thanks for mentioning that...I hate that I can't do flash on this iPad.

    I use the Puffin Browser (described on the Apple Store as "Puffin Web Browser ") to play flash movies that I both created and uploaded to Dropbox. There is Skyfire for both the iPhone and the iPad that can be used to view some of the JWN threads (the ones that don't require a member login), but this browser is an alternative to the Puffin Browser since it, too, provides flash support. I won't explain how to convert movies to a format supported by iOS devices, but I recommend the Puffin Browser for flash. For your convenience, I've provided some links to a few flash shorts and a few flash movies that may be used for testing purposes in any flash-enabled browser:

    jwnshort1 (1:13)

    "Georgia on My Mind" - Casey Abrams

    jwnshort2 (3:03)

    "It's a Man's Man's World" - Christina Aguilera

    jwnshort3 (3:38)

    "It's a Man's Man's World" - Seal

    jwnmovie1 (28:42)

    Cracking the Code - Episode 1

    jwnmovie2 (28:37)

    Cracking the Code - Episode 2

    jwnmovie3 (28:28)

    Cracking the Code - Episode 3

    I use Atomic Web's "Browser Identified As" setting of "Internet Explorer 8," and while @under the radar uses the "Browser Identified As" setting of "Firefox 5" to post to JWN, perhaps there are others that will come on here and give you additional suggestions that work well here with iOS devices. For flash support, I suggest you give Puffin Web Browser Free a try, but I like and use the paid version of Atomic Web Browser on my iPad.

    Atomic Web Browser (universal app) - $0.99

    Atomic Web Browser Lite (universal app) - $0.00/free

    Puffin Web Browser (universal app w/full feature set) - $2.99

    Puffin Web Browser Free (universal app [provides only 14-day full feature set, including flash support]) - $0.99/free

    Skyfire Web Browser for iPad - $4.99

    Skyfire Web Browser (for iPhone/iPad) - $2.99

    @djeggnog

  • Crisis of Conscience
    Crisis of Conscience

    @ under the radar - No problem at all! Just doing my part.

    CoC

  • maksym
    maksym

    Dear djeggnog,

    It's late here and I would like to thank you for the input. I'll touch base and write up something on what you said tomorrow.

    Thanks for the long post and details.

    Peace

    Maksym

  • maksym
    maksym

    Dear djeggnog,

    I think what you wrote is spot on. I have noticed that people using tablet computers are finding them more handy and useful than what they previously though they would. I would liken it to a mechanics tool box in which you can grab an adjustable wrench and and an interchangeable screwdriver to do most tasks at hand but the specialty tools are still there. In much the same way these tablet computers are great for many things but the specialty functions of a desktop or laptop are needed to get down into tasks that require more hardware or software performance.

    I have decided to wait until fall of this year so that I can use a tablet computer on the next school year. I will purchase one then.

    Speaking of flash. I know that flash is on it's way out but we seem to be in the transition period now. Even Microsofts Metro and Windows 8 will not cater to flash and will be using HTML5. This kind of reminds me when Apple took the first step in removing the floppy drives from their computers many years ago. People thought it was crazy but just look at the situ now. Floppies were a standard and now they're gone.

    I honestly believe that mobile operating systems will become stronger and more resourceful over the next decade and will probably displace the majority of the old desktop operating systems.

    I'm anxious to see how this pans out. I will make my switch this fall, but still keep my old laptop as backup for awhile.

    I also noted that most people who have never used Apples products really seem to like the Ipad whereas before they would not have considered it due to faithfulness and familiarity with Linux or Microsoft products.

    I think Android will improve and I'm guessing we will have two rivals competing in the "post pc" era, much like Microsoft and Apple compete in the pc era. However, I believe that the game will be more evenly matched.

    It should be noted that I also tend to think that the first system to really integrate this new "way" of computing and take the lead, will probably go to the one that seeds itself into the corporate world. Apple seems to have the edge here at present. Ipads are being used by professionals much more than Android tablets in the business and professional sector.

    On the other hand Apple's achilles heal tends to be lack of hardware customability, which Android can port to several manufacturers making their market much deeper to the variables that exist with users.

    Thanks again for that information you posted.

    Maksym

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