<p>No…you only need 1 computer…you need itunes and a Quicktime version 7.6 or higher.</p>
<p>The first computer for some reason wouldn’t take. I think the wireless connection was too weak. I switched to another computer and a wired connection to the internet and it worked.</p>
<p>So anyway…you need itunes and quicktime downloaded on your computer.</p>
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<p>The iPod Touch was an iPod and a small computer. iPods play music and videos and you have to store these on a computer. The iPhone was in the same vein. Some may think of the iPad as a standalone computer but it is really meant to be used with a computer; if for nothing else, then for setup.</p>
<p>If one doesn’t have a computer, then you’d at least need a friend that has one or access to a system that you could use for setup.</p>
<p>You could always go dumpster diving or just walk into a few companies and ask if they’re throwing any out. We throw out a lot of computers on a regular basis and have to pay a recycling company for disposal. I did a little dumpster diving for computer parts once. I was throwing something out and noticed a computer and grabbed a bunch of circuit boards out of it.</p>
<p>One needs iTunes to set up and sync the iPad so one can move his or her movies, music, email accounts, bookmarks etc. to the iPad. One can buy Apps from the App store directly from the iPad; no need to sync to do that.</p>
<p>“I was throwing something out and noticed a computer and grabbed a bunch of circuit boards out of it.”</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Kajon…now that the IPAD works…I think if you’ll be fine…
I had issues…but I think they were my issues. Most people are not having the youtube issue.</p>
<p>Ok. I have owned the iPad for a few days. I think it is a great product. If you need Microsoft office, I can see a problem. The iPad doesn’t multitask. You can buy a keyboard. The iPad is very easy to use. The graphics are great. I have only downloaded the free version of Winnie the pooh…very cool. </p>
<p>I’m very happy with the product.</p>
<p>On Thursday Apple is previewing the new iPhone OS (used as well in the iPad). It will be available in the June/July timeframe. It is rumored to have many new features including multitasking. It will be interesting to see what they do.</p>
<p>I think my laptop is going to get very little use.</p>
<p>I can lie in bed…surf the web…I think the product lives up to the hype.</p>
<p>There was a question up thread about why the iPad only works with AT&T… actually that is not the case. The iPad works with GSM networks - so both T-mobile and AT&T will be useable along with hundreds of other GSM providers around the world. What AT&T has done is create a couple of monthly billing packages to allow iPad users to use their networks under the rules of a subscription. </p>
<p>What the iPad won’t do is work with the CDMA networks of Verizon and Sprint. Long complicated answer would be possible here - but the bottom line is that there are two major types of cell phone networks around the world - CDMA and GSM. Each has a special set of computer chips that has to be built into the device. Since GSM is more widely deployed, Apple has focused on GSM chips in their devices. Building a CDMA phone would require a different chip set to be included in the phone hardware - and additional R&D work to make it work and then test it.</p>
<p>BTW - there are also a number of other types of networks in other countries that are also not compatible - especially in Japan, Korea and China. The telco standards bodies are converging on yet another standard which will replace all of these networks five or so years from now - the so called 4G (which is not what Sprint is deploying right now despite their advertising - its another small step after that).</p>
<p>Personally I am waiting for the 3G version of the iPad. I travel internationally and would love to have it for the long airplane rides for watching movies, reading books, and generally killing time. Having something that works nearly everywhere I go would be a major plus.</p>
<p>I spoke to my friend with a daughter with electronic textbooks for her AP classes today.</p>
<p>He told me that it is a very nice device but the applications were immature or that websites are trying to monetize the device.</p>
<p>They could not find a way to store the electronic textbooks on the device. The company that makes the textbook hasn’t ported their application to the iPad yet but they are expected to have a solution. They also have the PDF option but they didn’t find a way to store PDFs on the device. They can read files by storing them in gmail but they’d need a net connection to use this approach. So for now, the electronic textbook idea on the iPad is a non-starter.</p>
<p>He also mentioned that the daughter needed a sparknotes review for work that she was doing in literature. The site charges about $5 for downloading - they were surprised that it was only for one work. All of the information is available on the website for free but it could take five to fifteen minutes to copy it down to your own machine. I guess that they’re charging for convenience. He did buy it for his daughter.</p>
<p>I have a feeling that websites, magazines and newspapers will be trying to monetize their content though the iPad. The quality of many newsites, magazines and websites is awful because they are loaded with ads or placement of news is poor if you want to just get to the news. It’s like large department stores - they layout the store so that you can’t get through it quickly so that you will look at more things. I don’t think that this is necessarily bad - it may mean the resurrection of journalism.</p>
<p>I think that the device will become more useful as content ports to the device and as some common things that don’t work (like local storage of PDF files) are fixed. My guess is that content companies will expect iPad buyers to have more disposable income compared to the average web visitor and work harder to sell into that potential customer base. I think that the landscape will look quite different in about six months.</p>
<p>Brophy College Prep in Phoenix has been doing this for several years now. Every freshman gets a Toshiba tablet M-4 fully loaded with software that the school uses to load the textbooks, etc. The students seem to like it. It takes a serious effort on the part of the school for all of the tech support.</p>
<p>A coworker came in and asked me where he could get the iPad. I checked the Apple Stores within 50 miles and they were all sold out. I checked Best Buy and they have one 64 GB model. He has relatives visiting from China and they can’t get them there so he wanted to buy one here for them. He knows another relative that bought one or two here and resold them in China for a profit. International sales have been moved back because apparently the US demand is outstripping production capacity. The 3g launch has been moved back to May 7 from late April though customers that pre-ordered will still get them in April. This is the nuttiest thing that I’ve heard: they sell out of a luxury limited use product that costs from $500-$700 in a recession.</p>
<p>I read that they sold 500,000 units in the first week.</p>
<p>I still like the iPad. I’m not surprised sales are good. When the next version comes out, an updated version, i will probably buy that too. I did hear though that HP is coming out with a similar device. I wonder what that one will be like.</p>
<p>For those of you with pdf’s there is an application called good reader which looks like it will deal with this issue. I was playing with it at the Apple store last night and could manipulate multiple page pdf documents right on the device. Good Reader allows you to store on the device.</p>
<p>I’m waiting for an HP Slate based on Windows 7, which now is rumored to be coming out in June. It will be more multi-functional than the Ipad as it will have the full-blown Windows operating system, Flash, and two cameras, front and back, for Skyping etc. The multi-touch screen works well according to reviews and it has a deal with Amazon and of course will be able to run and download anything a laptop can now. The best part is that it will be competitively priced with the Ipad…starting at $549. Yippee!</p>
<p><a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/20100406/tc_ytech_gadg/ytech_gadg_tc1480[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/20100406/tc_ytech_gadg/ytech_gadg_tc1480</a></p>
<p>[Some</a> colleges report problems with the iPad](<a href=“http://www.technewsdaily.com/universities-blocking-apple-ipad-0445/]Some”>Why Is My iPad Charging So Slow - Tech News Daily)</p>
<p>Israel banned iPads and is confiscating them upon entry. Apparently the wireless on the iPad may be causing some issues - </p>
<p>[Israel</a> bans imports of Apple iPad - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100415/ap_on_hi_te/ml_israel_ipad_ban]Israel”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100415/ap_on_hi_te/ml_israel_ipad_ban)</p>
<p>I looked online and Best Buy had the 32GB models. I called them and asked them to reserve one for me but they said that they won’t reserve iPads for customers. They said that they got ten in this morning. Drove down and one associate was ringing one out for a customer. I managed to find a sales associate who referred me to another one who referred me to another one. Apparently only certain of the sales guys can sell these things. While I was waiting for him to get one, a lady wandered over to my area and asked another associate for one. Basically others must have looked online and saw that they had them and come in to buy them.</p>
<p>I set mine up in the office and it’s displaying financial stuff next to my desktop. I love the device, if only for browsing. I think that my daughter is going to try taking it to classes instead of her laptop. That will save a fair amount of weight.</p>
<p>Regarding competing products: most of them will be running Windows and this may put them at a cost disadvantage as they have to pay Microsoft for the OS. I don’t think that Microsoft will want to discount prices as they have with netbooks as tablets are considered premium products. A third of the iPad’s cost is the display - apparently they use an expensive, high-quality display. I don’t know if Windows competitors can afford to put those in their devices. Apple has worked pretty hard on the cost stuff including bringing in the processor development in-house.</p>
<p>I just found out that the iPad has a great interface to iTunes University where you can download course videos directly onto the iPad from iTunes University. I guess this sort of thing might be useful for the kids to watch on long car drives.</p>
<p>My daughter has taken over ownership of the IPAD. I was trying to steal it from her…but she won out…</p>
<p>I’ve used the iPad for several weeks now and I like the ability to watch movies, tv shows, surf the web and do email and even post to CC but sometimes I just want to write and the popup keyboard is just not conducive to a lot of writing.</p>
<p>I have an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard - it’s a bit wider than the iPad and it is very small and light. It came off our iMac - our daughter prefers a wired keyboard to the Bluetooth keyboard so I grabbed it today and connected it to the iPad and it’s wonderful for writing on the iPad. It also has media keys so that you can use it as a remote control. The wireless Bluetooth keyboard weighs 11.4 ounces so that the iPad + keyboard is a little over two pounds.</p>
<p>The keyboard also supports a few emacs editing keys which are convenient for software engineers.</p>