First thoughts on the iPad? Meh.
It's basically just a supersized iPod Touch No OS, so it can't run programs, which pretty much kills any desire I have to own one -- I was hoping for a pressure-sensitive machine that could run Photoshop and Manga Studio. It'll be a great media-player, and very likely a Kindle-killer. A lot of other people will like it very much. Me, personally, I don't like having a lot of separate gadgets. I like having one gadget that does everything. And right now, for me, that gadget is my Fujitsu convertible tablet laptop. I love the damn thing so much it's a little ridiculous. There are things I'd change about it, like giving it more RAM, a bigger hard-drive, and making it about three pounds lighter. All these are minor quibbles, and it has an awful lot going for it, starting with the hot-swappable hardware bay: it holds a cd-player, a spare battery -- this is the option I use most often; with both batteries fully charged, I get close to 5 hours of drawing time -- or an empty spacer if I want to shave off a pound or so. If I want to get all crazy-nostalgic, it even came with a 3.5" drive.
It does everything. I did all the touchups for Clockwork Game on it, and I'm learning how to draw on it from scratch -- it even takes SD cards, so working from photo reference is a snap. I do all of my writing on it. I programmed my website on it. I read books on it, so having a separate machine specifically for ebooks is redundant. I watch movies on it, and use it in my office as a spare TV, by streaming Hulu and Netflix. Best of all, it's downright *cuddly*, and I really enjoy working with it. Again, my only complaint is that it's a little chunky -- but so am I, so there you go.
I never thought a piece of hardware would turn me away from my long love affair with Apple products, but Fujitsu makes a damn fine tablet -- and Apple's gonna have to turn out a much more universal product than the iPad to make me give it up. I still have (and love) my iMac, but the iPad leaves a lot to be desired.
Yeah, I'm in a similar state of mine. I'm looking at options to replace my rapidly aging 12" PowerBook, and something I can draw on would be ideal. I guess what I want is a MacBook/Cintiq mashup, but that's not what the iPad is. It's obviously designed for media consumption, not creation.
I've half considered eBaying a wintablet, despite my preference for OS X. I hear Win7 is surprisingly tolerable, but I wouldn't have any software for it.
Meh, anyway, who knows what the future will hold. iPad looks neat, but doesn't meet my needs, but then again, so it was with the original iPhone, and now I have one. We'll see. I wonder if this design will influence future MacBooks and OS X interfaces? We'll see.
Color me intrigued, but not buying.
Which Fujitsu do you have?
A slightly earlier version of this one:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/10/fujitsu-lifebook-t4220-convertible-tablet-reviewed/