iPad

[carolen]

http://www.funnyordie.co.uk/videos/167d70800c/the-ipad

[Misfit]

Looks like no book store at launch for the UK version as the UK iPad pages are exactly the same as the US pages on the apple site except for this one omission.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/01/28 ... uk_ibooks/

[flookster]

Looks like no book store at launch for the UK version as the UK iPad pages are exactly the same as the US pages on the apple site except for this one omission.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/01/28 ... uk_ibooks/

Hmm that takes the shine of it a little. I'm gonna go for the basic 16GB model for v1 then - there are so many ways apple can improve on this in future revisions that I cant imagine this is the last iPad I'll buy. As it is the $499 model will cover 90% of the use it is likely to get in this house, the rest of which are covered by iPhone/MBP/eReader. The books will come to the UK eventually although I cant really see something with this form factor replacing my pocket reader for bedtime reading.

Edit: cant for can

[Ollie]

£300...you DO know how this works don't you? It'll be £499.

Nah, Apple aren't as bad as most companies in this respect. Looking at the UK prices of the iPod touch for comparison, I'd be disappointed if this was more than £400 for the basic model. (Definitely over £300, though; just adding VAT brings it to around £360.)

[RiK]

I think the key thing is simply this. Apple haven't really designed the iPad for geeks like us with a higher than average technical knowledge, and hence demand from our devices. They've firmly pitched it at the casual sofa surfer who probably hasn't even considered the potential for more advanced applications. They just want a bigger version of the iPod touch. Indeed, ever since the touch came out I've been saying I just wanted one with a screen the size of a DVD case and that's pretty much what we've got coming with the iPad so they are delivering exactly what I asked for.

Sure, we can all think of super-geeky advanced applications that it could do *if* it had X/Y/Z additional features but just look back at what's happened with the iPhone and iPod Touch. I don't think anyone was really aware just how big a deal it would turn out to be a couple of year back. It's easy to be critical at this stage when nobody has even touched one but I'm betting in a couple of months time when we do we'll all be thinking very differently and this time next year when it's begun to show it's true potential then I'm sure we'll all be chuckling as we buy the version 2 hardware and think "yeah ok Steve, you did it, again".

[Misfit]

£300...you DO know how this works don't you? It'll be £499.

Nah, Apple aren't as bad as most companies in this respect. Looking at the UK prices of the iPod touch for comparison, I'd be disappointed if this was more than £400 for the basic model. (Definitely over £300, though; just adding VAT brings it to around £360.)

Ahh VAT. One of the few perks of having your own company is being able to get the VAT back on our purchases. If the price is £400 inc VAT then it will make it very easy to approve the spend as clearly we need an iPad or two to test the sites we build....

[RiK]

Ahh VAT. One of the few perks of having your own company is being able to get the VAT back on our purchases. If the price is £400 inc VAT then it will make it very easy to approve the spend as clearly we need an iPad or two to test the sites we build....

Providing you don't use flash that is....

[WiteWulf]

I'm curious to see the edu pricing when they finally hit the UK store, seeing as Apple is allegedly gonna be targeting this pretty heavily at students.

[Misfit]

Ahh VAT. One of the few perks of having your own company is being able to get the VAT back on our purchases. If the price is £400 inc VAT then it will make it very easy to approve the spend as clearly we need an iPad or two to test the sites we build....

Providing you don't use flash that is....

We don't now!

Seriously though, they need to be as accessible as possible. So flash is a no go.

[Misfit]

I'm curious to see the edu pricing when they finally hit the UK store, seeing as Apple is allegedly gonna be targeting this pretty heavily at students.

Yes, I was considering buying it using one of our client uni's networks....

[t0ne]

Looks like no book store at launch for the UK version as the UK iPad pages are exactly the same as the US pages on the apple site except for this one omission.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/01/28 ... uk_ibooks/

Hmm that takes the shine of it a little. I'm gonna go for the basic 16GB model for v1 then - there are so many ways apple can improve on this in future revisions that I cant imagine this is the last iPad I'll buy. As it is the $499 model will cover 90% of the use it is likely to get in this house, the rest of which are covered by iPhone/MBP/eReader. The books will come to the UK eventually although I cant really see something with this form factor replacing my pocket reader for bedtime reading.

Edit: cant for can

Worse, it clearly suggests iBooks is for material acquired through Apple and not e-books you may already possess

This might be enough to make me not want to bother

[Cloudane]

Ugh, if you can't at least put your own ePubs on there (I wasn't expecting PDF or LIT support), it could be No Deal for me as well. Surely if you can add your own music and movies you can add your own books...

[flookster]

If Apple are selling epubs through the store hopefully the drm will be stripable and I'll be able to put them on my pocket reader too. I'm new to ebooks and have only purchased 3 so far - I'd like to be able to put them on the iPad but its not a huge loss if I cant.

I think this will be sorted out eventually, one way or another.

[WiteWulf]

I'm curious to see the edu pricing when they finally hit the UK store, seeing as Apple is allegedly gonna be targeting this pretty heavily at students.

Yes, I was considering buying it using one of our client uni's networks....

Top Tip: you don't actually need to be on a Uni network to access the Edu store, it's only necessary to access the 'lobby' page where you tell it what institution you're at! Once you've got through to the store page proper, ie:

http://store.apple.com/uk_edu_5002639

You can access that from anywhere!

Go on, click on that link and you'll get through to the Loughborough store page

[Misfit]

Top Tip: you don't actually need to be on a Uni network to access the Edu store, it's only necessary to access the 'lobby' page where you tell it what institution you're at! Once you've got through to the store page proper, ie:

http://store.apple.com/uk_edu_5002639

You can access that from anywhere!

Go on, click on that link and you'll get through to the Loughborough store page

Nice one! Thanks.