great article. In on of the last ZA tech shows you talked about the WIFI version being the better option for you as you create WIFI’s on the go.

How exaclty does that work?

Thanks

Ben

Thanks

I follows the link on amazon.com for “To ship Kindle outside the U.S., view important information specific to your country”, selected South Africa and clicked the link that said I had to use to ship to south africa. On that link, I don’t get an option for a white one, just the graphite one.

How do I go about getting a white one?

Thanks,
Ryan

>I still can’t help but think that you wanting an iPad to perform more “truck”-like functions?

I just want an iPad with the power of a Netbook, like Steve promised Not a big ask, I don’t think.

On a side-note, I loved Ballmer’s reply to Jobs’ “truck” analogy, he said “There’s a reason they’re called MAC trucks.” Oh snap. Stupid analogy though, saying that iOS is like a car, because trucks are more general purpose, and then in the next breath saying iOS is awesome cos there’s an app for everything. Um, what?

Like I said, I’ve spent 10 mins on one. So really looking forward to getting my own when they eventually launch here. Then again, maybe I should stick it out until the next one.

I still can’t help but think that you wanting an iPad to perform more “truck”-like functions?

I do have an iPad, and after using it for a while, it’s apparent that the long-term game of tablets is to replace laptop functionality, not phone functionality. And a device used for that purpose is horribly crippled by such a watered-down OS.

You want to be able to install what you want on it. It *NEEDS* multitasking – without this it’s hard to take seriously as a productivity device. I’m talking Windows/Linux/OSX multitasking, not the half-baked iOS4 app-switching, or as Steve says “the best multitasking solution ever made!!!!!”.

> All files are accessed through their respective apps. So, is a file system then really needed?

BIGTIME! It’s a toy without it. Think of what you do on your desktop/laptop; you grab files from usb, www, emails, etc – edit them in apps, then move them to other apps, print them out, attach them to other emails and so goes the average workflow. All really basic things you’d expect an OS to provide.

>Thankfully with iOS 4.2 printing is coming to the iPad.

Yes, only on a handful of brand new HP printers. Lovely. Again… desktop OS needed to do real work.

>I think they’ve done a splendid job with the first generation iPad. Can’t wait for the second and third generations to see what they going to be adding.

For what it is (a big iPod touch), it’s great, but I hope that iOS/Android isn’t the future of tablets. I’d happily sacrifice half the battery life of my iPad to be ablet o put Win7 on it. Then I could pop on a *REAL* browser, not the watered down Safari Mobile browser, and get the full web experience with (the necessary evils of) flash and silverlight, etc. There are arguments against having that freedom on a low power device, but frankly it should be my decision, not someone else’s.

I think they’ve done a splendid job with the first generation iPad. Can’t wait for the second and third generations to see what they going to be adding.

@Steve why do you need a base for it? Just prop it up against anything. A pillow, a cup, half an uneaten pie. It’s really a non-issue. I think the iPad form factor is a great netbook replacement, I cant wait until the win7 ones come out. It REALLY needs a desktop OS on it.

Go do some homework on the iPad. It has never confessed to be a laptop. Regarding the lack of “base”. Again, go do your homework.

“Yawn” @ people who don’t do their homework.

The one aspect missing from the article the KDK (Kindle Development Kit) – it is in closed beta but games are coming and I expect to see more apps being developed which should resolve a number of issues. Doubt it will compete with Apples mighty appstore, but it is the last missing piece in what is otherwise a perfect device.