New iPad

[luvtolean]

Apple's war on flash and lack of HP to run it is a decided knock against the device at this stage in the game (HTML 5 retorts aside, you need flash for some sites still) and leaves a crack in the market others will be exploiting.

Apple is not changing anything, tablets are an old idea whose time is just arriving. This device stands at the convergence of cloud computing, enhanced Wi-Fi access and maybe someday a decent wireless network (hello AT&T, is this thing on?) and semiconductor advances (mostly in packaging). This is the result of advances across the whole industry. We still could really use a step ahead in battery power density/cost to really make the tablet segment run.

Every serious computer AND cell phone company is working on a competitor. There's going to be blood in the streets on this one, and likely Apple will not own the segment real long. But iSuppli has been hiking forecasts, and they're certainly enjoying the just desserts of being firstest with the mostest right now!

...and my iPhone 4, sucks. Pretty cool web surfing toy though.

[vahtryn]

Honestly I believe flash should die a horrible and painfully slow death. It's not a standard. I remember when it came out and on my linux or solaris desk tops I couldn't use it. I tend to avoid most sites that have it or just block it out all together.

With the advent of AJAX and now HTML5, which are both standards, why use something that isn't a standard? I can't honestly think of one web site that I go to that uses flash anymore. Everyone is moving forward. Boo-hoo to adobe, but they have other products to keep them afloat until GIMP overtakes photoshop

I don't believe the iPad is a tablet at all. It's more of a MID than anything else. It's a device to access data and used to become productive on the cloud. Those tablets in the late 90s and early 2000s are the ancestors. Much like dinosaurs are to birds and reptiles today.

[luvtolean]

Apple's elitism has never stopped at practical realities, or the need to re-write history...

So while they wage this battle, far more open (and security conscious) Android devices, or who knows, maybe even MS or PalmOS based, will probably quietly overtake them and win the war.

I just wish his Steveness would quit blaming how I hold my phone and fix the f'in antenna.

EDIT: BTW, I hear ya on Adobe in general and GIMP (and for that matter on Reader and FoxIt!). I have an old version of Photoshop on my work computers I use pretty frequently, but I haven't had the need to pay for it at home. I just wish the GIMP level correction and unsharp mask tools worked as good as Photoshop's!