Got an iPad to replace an ailing Powerbook

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Got an iPad to replace an ailing Powerbook

(Atlanta, GA, USA)

...and I don't miss it one bit (even as I write this while I watch TV).

With the iPad came true portability, I don't think twice about checking my e-mail, surfing the web, or running the random app. As an engineer, it has even replaced my trusty HP48 calculator (which now gathers dust at home) and the paper notebooks and print-outs I used to carry around.
It is instant-on portable computing with no worries about battery life, power cords, size, and weight. It has gotten to the point that I find myself reaching for it to look at website, even as I am sitting in front of a computer.

It is no computer though, I would not use it to write the great American novel, but how much of what we do nowadays requires a full fledged computer?

Comments for
Got an iPad to replace an ailing Powerbook

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Nov 07, 2011

iPad Sales Are Impacting MacBook Sales
by: Anonymous

So now that it's been awhile since the iPad has been out, Apple's own sales results are showing that it in fact IS impacting their computer sales.

Whether or not us technophiles understand how the average person thinks, the fact is that a lot of people are buying tablet computers INSTEAD of buying a laptop. If you're not creating a lot of content, but rather doing a lot of reading, watching, listening, etc., you really can get away with a tablet like an iPad, and the battery life is much much better.

Now if the price of the iPad were to come down, I think a lot of people would simply buy both, but at the current prices, an iPad is a lot more expensive than a lot of much more capable laptops (Apple laptops excluded of course because they're so pricey!).

The tablet really is a whole new game that is just starting to play out!

Oct 06, 2010

iPad Tablet PC as a Replacement Computer
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Good feedback! I completely understand the benefits you describe, and how useful instant-on can be. I often find myself using my smartphone to check weather, email, or do a quick Google search even though my laptop may be available. Even when my laptop is actually on and ready to go, sometimes a smartphone (or in your case a tablet) still has less steps.

Particularly with a large vibrant screen, a tablet PC like the iPad is even more compelling for a lot of tasks than my small smartphone.

I think there's a large population of people like you who can easily replace one of their computers with an iPad or other tablet device. I've read a lot of articles recently about tablet computers likely impacting not just netbook but also laptop sales in the next year or so. I believe it!

While I personally am almost always typing something even when the primary activity is to catch up on the news, and hence I really prefer a laptop or convertible tablet with a physical keyboard, I can see how a lot of people would be perfectly content with a tablet PC with a virtual keyboard. And I don't doubt that many people will learn to use and love the virtual keyboard on these things. For me, it's been a huge challenge though; perhaps I'm just too set in my ways to focus enough energy on it to get good at it! That said, after using Palm's Graffiti text entry for years, I said I would never use a small keyboard when they first started appearing (i.e. the original Handspring phones), but now I'm happily typing away on my small smartphone keyboard, so you never know!

Anyway, the point here is that I think that while tablet PCs lack a lot of power/functionality (at least for now!), there are definitely some great uses for them, and they are no doubt changing the computing paradigm!

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