Apple iPad (1GHz, 64GB)

[DRTigerlilly]

heavy, loud, hot??? depends on what tablet pc you're looking @.

[ethan_hines]

10" LCD Web browser that can't do Flash? Are u f'n kidding me?

I'm sure Flash support can be "Jailbreaked" into it....
What I don't get is why isn't it upgradable....why force users to choose RAM size...why not allow upgrades?

[DRTigerlilly]

right the way flash has been jailbreaked into the iphone.....right

[Bael]

True. And it's also heavy, loud, and hot relative to what Apple is offering.

Tablet PCs have not found their place among creative communities like the Cintiq or even the iPhone, and there's a reason for that.

Because they're expensive and still seem to almost exclusively cater to business professionals? Find me one tablet built with creative professionals in mind - the closest you'll find is probably the Modbook, which is doing relatively well considering it's a unofficial modification to an Apple product by a small 3rd party company, with seemingly zero marketing budget. It's not that it can't be done, it's that we're not a large enough market to justify the current cost for most companies.. and until a specialty shop like Wacom takes up the cause we likely won't see one anytime soon.

I believe it'll be 5 years or so before we can get the 'photoshop' power into something with the dimensions of the iPad. (+ pressure sensitivity)

There are phones with more computing power than PCs I used to run Photoshop on. If there was a ARM version of Photoshop even the iPad would run it with no problem. It's not that taxing of a program (especially on a device like the iPad, which isn't running a real OS concurrently).

In 3-5 years we'll probably have HD video editing power in something with the dimensions of the iPad.

[adriandd]

Well, it's definitely a personal thing. I've tried models ranging from Portege M200 to a Fujitsu T5010. Never could fit any into my workflow.

Then again, I've read comments saying they found the iPad heavy. To each their own.

And no, I don't see Flash coming from a jailbreak unfortunately. Multi-tasking, most likely.

[adriandd]

we're not a large enough market to justify the current cost for most companies.. and until a specialty shop like Wacom takes up the cause we likely won't see one anytime soon.

It's true, the 'artsy' demographic doesn't factor into any corporate projections.

I told myself if Jobs mentioned the Brushes app or doing creative work on the tablet, I'd take a real good look at it. And he did.

From a financial perspective, it wasn't a wise move. 99% of viewers were probably thinking 'So I can draw some stick figures on this thing? So?'

I'll give him credit for promoting to a niche market at product launch. (and an event the world was watching..)

There are phones with more computing power than PCs I used to run Photoshop on.

I had Shogmaster's spec of 3000*4000 in mind. Don't think an ARM processor would do too well on that? Even my desktop right now is a little daunted by those numbers.

[Bael]

I told myself if Jobs mentioned the Brushes app or doing creative work on the tablet, I'd take a real good look at it. And he did.

From a financial perspective, it wasn't a wise move. 99% of viewers were probably thinking 'So I can draw some stick figures on this thing? So?'

I'll give him credit for promoting to a niche market at product launch. (and an event the world was watching..)

I told myself a similar thing - if it had a pressure sensitive stylus I'd probably get it as a sketch pad (and do some development for it on the side). There are some good light-weight sketching apps already in the store that'd be great with it. I had a big grin on my face when they announced the Brushes presentation, which was quickly replaced with a puzzled smirk when it became clear they intended you to finger-paint still.

And actually, I think my non-artist friends were the most enamored with the Brushes demo. Most of the artists were in my camp, wondering why they'd promote a painting program at the event without a stylus!

I'll go out on a limb and say I think (hope) that by v2 of the iPad, it'll have some type of stylus. I think the initial feedback on the device is negative enough that they'll somewhat re-think their strategy for the product and start trying to find it a more solid niche.

[adriandd]

My fingers are crossed for a real stylus as well.
I have a Pogo Sketch, and it will do for now, but it ain't no Wacom.

[Shogmaster]

Reality check time: Real EMR stylus from Wacom would require thickening of the casing (Wacom's EMR sensorboard goes BEHIND the LCD and the backlight assembly). Steve would never allow for that.

[Chocobo]

I've never found the thickness of a device of that class to be a particular problem. It's the width and height that you're going to have to account for, and an active digitizer won't change those.