Ipad Mini

[digitalintrigue]

Such adapters are under $35

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XFaf1BhplA

http://shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-of...isplay-Adapter

[jtm6]

Originally Posted by tom.w.bn

Soon Surface wirh Windows 8 Pro will be available. Maybe that will be the first real high powered tablet

This morning I sat outside at a Starbucks that has a view of the Apple Store and the Microsoft Store that is directly across the parking lot from it. I witnessed two interesting events:
- On the way to Starbucks I had to walk down the length of the line. A tall person approached people in the line and said, "Hey, if you guys are in line for the new Apple stuff, they are over there...." and pointed across the parking lot. He was trying to be helpful. People picked up on it and were civil.
- While at the table outside, the next person in line screamed and threw his fists up in the air when it was his turn to go into the store. He was the only person to do that... and he did the same thing once more before I left.

[jtm6]

Originally Posted by digitalintrigue

Such adapters are under $35

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XFaf1BhplA

http://shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-of...isplay-Adapter

Thanks! I was surprised to hear they cost $150 since it didn't make sense. I asked four different people at different stores and they all told me that. I guess if they don't know, they must not exist.

(Edit: the next message below isn't referring to mine. )

[gilpen123]

Uh oh so what was your last purchase?

[photomoof]

Originally Posted by jtm6

Which version do you have? The second and third (current) AppleTV have HDMI out and digital audio out only, which is great as long as your projector isn't limited to VGA. A few people I talked to said an HDMI to VGA converter would be more than the price of an AppleTV. Does anyone else besides those I talked to know of a better solution?

The one that Apple sells is $59 -- Kanex ATV Pro HDMI to VGA Adapter with Audio Support, but there are cheaper ones made. There are some strange reviews on the adapter on the Apple site -- one reviewer complained it did not work when moved constantly while in use?? -- but it works.

[photomoof]

Originally Posted by jtm6

- While at the table outside, the next person in line screamed and threw his fists up in the air when it was his turn to go into the store. He was the only person to do that... and he did the same thing once more before I left.

The Tablet and Windows 8 is really the first exciting products that Microsoft has ever produced. Good for them that there is a line!

I have not looked at the Tablet yet or Win 8 close up, only online.

Sadly the ads are awful, showing an OS with people you don't know on your desktop, but surely those are examples of images not the actual OS? http://res2.windows.microsoft.com/re...1b56804_34.jpg The tablet itself is a beautiful design, especially the keyboard.

Anybody used this OS? Why are those people on the desktop?

[photomoof]

Originally Posted by tom.w.bn

Microsoft needs some success again. Monocultures are not good.

Those people? I think you see this when you link to facebook or other social media accounts and then you see your "friends"?

That was my guess, an example of what one might bring up from facebook, but like most ads the people smile like they are on stimulants.

The OS looks very promising. I find the Android OS unfocussed. Operating system developers get lazy.
My only reservation is -- will Microsoft be rigorous, or will the "Outlook" complication creep back in?

The MS Tablet is following (leading?) on what Apple's Schiller recently said in an interview after the release of the new Macs:
"rotating hard disks, for instance, use more power and are more likely to have reliability issues than solid-state storage.
"These old technologies are holding us back," he said. "They're anchors on where we want to go.""

[rxmd]

To be honest I'm unimpressed. It feels a bit as if Apple was back into the early 90s again, when after producing really outstanding products for a while, they now produce products that are more or less the same as everybody else's with a different label on them.

I recently bought a Nexus 7 tablet. It fills all my tablet needs, the hardware is great, the display is better than the iPad mini's, and I like the Android software ecosystem much better than the iOS lock-in I know from my iPhone days. What sealed the deal for me was that (thanks in part to the less pronounced lock-in) I can use the Nexus as a field monitor for DSLRs in live view and get the controls on the touchscreen, as much a large format experience as you can get with digital.

[NickTrop]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Nick you are always pushing just good enough - to save money, and that is another more philosophical discussion.

Bottom line -- I want wireless and you don't care. I like being able to watch movies, photos on my TV directly from my tablet wirelessly. I like using it in class connected to an overhead video projector. And my iPad did not cost a ton of dough.

Photomot - the tablet is "good enough". And good enough is good enough. The tablet I posted has wifi (didn't think I needed to mention that), it streams Netflix, Xfinity (Comcast on-demand app), "TED Talks", Youtube, etc. And it plays 3D games.

It also has HDMI out, so you can hook it up to your TV. (Haven't used this yet...)

And it has two USB ports, and a microSD drive. (In case you didn't get it the first time).

I don't think it's smart to blow dough on emerging technologies. I purchase based on the value proposition. But if you want to spend more for the same (and in this case less functionality) be my guest. It also accepts a 3G dongle.

Some are suckers for emblems of little red dots or little green apples, I reckon. Personally, I'd rather have the ability to stick a thumb drive or microSD drive into my tablet and keep a few hundred bucks in my bank account for essentially the same functionality. But to each his own.

[digitalintrigue]

Originally Posted by NickTrop

But to each his own.

This about sums everything up. Competition offers something for everyone.

[digitalintrigue]

Originally Posted by rxmd

To be honest I'm unimpressed. It feels a bit as if Apple was back into the early 90s again, when after producing really outstanding products for a while, they now produce products that are more or less the same as everybody else's with a different label on them.

It actually seems that the pale imitations are the cheap plastic android tablets. They work, of course, but they are built to a price point.

I recently bought a Nexus 7 tablet. It fills all my tablet needs, the hardware is great, the display is better than the iPad mini's, and I like the Android software ecosystem much better than the iOS lock-in I know from my iPhone days. What sealed the deal for me was that (thanks in part to the less pronounced lock-in) I can use the Nexus as a field monitor for DSLRs in live view and get the controls on the touchscreen, as much a large format experience as you can get with digital.

Cool feature!

[photomoof]

Originally Posted by rxmd

To be honest I'm unimpressed. It feels a bit as if Apple was back into the early 90s again, when after producing really outstanding products for a while, they now produce products that are more or less the same as everybody else's with a different label on them.

So not true, and all without Steve Jobs. Apple was very interesting, if not financially successful in the '90s.

Here is what I owned in the '90s
'91 Powerbook
'93 Quadra 660AV with a writeable CD drive, Newton Message Pad
'94 Powermac 7100

All that was coming out of DELL in the '90s were lot of cheap pre-Win 95 boxes running DOS. I played games on them.

As far as Jobs, I also owned a 1992, NeXT "Turbo" NeXTcube, bought used a few years later, running what would later become OS X. An amazing computer.

Not your fault, but for some reason the history of Apple has been retold by the analysts on Wall Street -- and everyone buys into it. Jobs certainly saved apple on August 15, 1998 with the release of the iMac.

I wrote the first BBC Americas web site with that 660AV.

[digitalintrigue]

True. They had some really good stuff, the Powerbook 540c was great. I also had a 660AV, excellent machine, really good speech recognition. It even had a DSP chip.

[photomoof]

Originally Posted by rxmd

I can use the Nexus as a field monitor for DSLRs in live view and get the controls on the touchscreen, as much a large format experience as you can get with digital.

That I would like to see. What software, what DSLR are you using? I have seen Chainfire demonstrated with Canon, but have not used it personally. I have also seen onOne Software's wifi DSLR software for the iPad, but also have not used it.

I still use a desktop for tethering, since I only use it in the studio.

Here is a great resource for current software: http://www.tethertools.com/plugging-in/software/ Right now "Capture One Pro 6" is the solution for iPad or iPhone -- IMO.

[dave lackey]

Well, I see this has generated the usual interest in a lot of posts. But tell me, what would a tablet of any sort (maxi, mini, whatever) do for me? Will it make money for me?

This is not a grumpy old sob's response. I just can't figure where an iPad will be anything more than a toy and I bet you cannot either. Prove me wrong.

Oh, and before you answer, maybe you find out a little about me before answering with the typical "canned" answers about all the apps and all the entertainment and all the wonderful things they do for you. I am not you.

[photomoof]

Originally Posted by dave lackey

This is not a grumpy old sob's response. I just can't figure where an iPad will be anything more than a toy and I bet you cannot either.

Dave I can show you a way to make 10 million dollars a year using a wooden club, but certainly can't guarantee you any success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNOkGT17KyY

[dave lackey]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Dave I can show you a way to make 10 million dollars a year using a wooden club, but certainly can't guarantee you any success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNOkGT17KyY

Fred, that is not helpful. This was and is a serious question. For you and most others, buying an iPad anything is no big deal financially. In the last three months, our insurance costs have risen $3000, half because of Medicare and the other half due to rising healthcare costs overall...not including all the medications and doctors/hospitals we have to visit periodically. So, adding additional costs for anything must be financially sound.

I have thought long and hard about how to use an iPad for anything other than as a toy. I have been unsuccessful.

If anyone can show me where the benefit of a tablet is, where it can actually be a positive financially rather than another consumer cost, I would be very interested.

I am actively seeking answers.

[photomoof]

Originally Posted by dave lackey

Fred, that is not helpful. This was and is a serious question. For you and most others, buying an iPad anything is no big deal financially.
I have thought long and hard about how to use an iPad for anything other than as a toy. I have been unsuccessful.

If anyone can show me where the benefit of a tablet is, where it can actually be a positive financially rather than another consumer cost, I would be very interested.

I am actively seeking answers.

Dave mine was a totally serious answer. I could not begin to determine how much money my iPad has generated, but one thing is for sure, the cost of ownership is small because it is my primary portable computer, I do not use a laptop -- so if nothing else it saved me the expense of buying a Mac Book.

What are some things I do on mine?

1. Entertain myself, thus lowering stress and putting me in a better mood. Toys are good at any age.
2. Use it to show work to prospective clients.
3. Teach class with it.
4. Make phone calls with it using my Skype number.
5. Keep hours on it.
6. Use it as primary email computer.
7. Read a great deal on it (I love Amazon Kindle books!).

On the other hand, if you bought one, it might do nothing for you except lower your bank balance. it is after all just a portable computer -- and it will not change your life.

Edit: I do not believe one buys tools to make money. To me that is like buying a taco truck, when one has not yet learned to cook. Tools should be bought in the natural stream of things.

So, if you don't see an obvious need for an iPad now is not the time to buy.

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by dave lackey

Well, I see this has generated the usual interest in a lot of posts. But tell me, what would a tablet of any sort (maxi, mini, whatever) do for me? Will it make money for me? ...

Before I bought my iPad 2, I didn't know what it would do that could be advantageous.

I waited and bought an iPad 2 originally because I wanted to learn how to create apps for it. I felt that if I could get back into the software creation world, I might add to the meager living I was making at that time working as a freelance photographer.

A curve came up when a lucrative position was offered to me doing technical writing. I didn't foresee that, but I took it. By that point, however, the iPad had already proved its value to me as a communications tool.

Since then, I find I use it for more and more things, both work and personal. It's my principle writing tool, I manage meeting notes and presentations with it, I do most of my document review and research with it. I wrote most of my first book with it, and have edited and published a book with it. It's my calendar and address book and ... all that stuff. And I also use it for photography, for reading, and for sharing photos.

Whether any of these things will make money for you I cannot answer. But for me, it it proves an invaluable tool.

[dave lackey]

Fred, Godfrey...thanks. So far nothing that I cannot do on my desktop has been show to be a strong point for a tablet (or a laptop).

Perhaps, Fred is right. I am just not in the market group that is the target of vaunted Apple. Or anyone else.

If I were on the move all the time, it may have some small advantage but that is a moot point. My son's family has three iPads....that I know of, including two for the granddaughters aged 4 and 7. I have no idea why.

As I look at the tablets, I see nothing yet that works for me. But, then, how many people are there that cannot leave the house to work? My old Dell computer will need replacing as it is working at the ragged edge, barely able to handle what I need everyday. Doesn't look like there is a cheap alternative in Apple products at this point.

[jtm6]

Originally Posted by photomoof

The one that Apple sells is $59 -- Kanex ATV Pro HDMI to VGA Adapter with Audio Support

Thanks for the info! I'd pick one up but one of the people who told me the device would be $150+ and that Apple didn't carry it was an Apple sales rep. I bought one without audio from Amazon. As much as I'd like audio, I probably wouldn't use it often anyway.

[digitalintrigue]

Cheap and powerful Dell replacement- latest Mac Mini.

[jtm6]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Operating system developers get lazy.
My only reservation is -- will Microsoft be rigorous, or will the "Outlook" complication creep back in?

No worries... the beautifully simple, tiled, metro UI is just some of the new code thrown in with all that glorious legacy Windows code. While they have finally "eliminated" the Start menu, there is a "Shutdown" menu. If you want to restart, "you can simply select Restart from the shutdown menu or run shutdown /s /full /t 0." Can't get much simpler than that!

Seriously though, I am not a Microsoft fan but I am looking forward to it and I hope it does well. They all need some competition.

I do think the surface/tablet hardware design is fantastic.

[FrankS]

Originally Posted by dave lackey

Fred, Godfrey...thanks. So far nothing that I cannot do on my desktop has been show to be a strong point for a tablet (or a laptop).

Perhaps, Fred is right. I am just not in the market group that is the target of vaunted Apple. Or anyone else.

If I were on the move all the time, it may have some small advantage but that is a moot point. My son's family has three iPads....that I know of, including two for the granddaughters aged 4 and 7. I have no idea why.

As I look at the tablets, I see nothing yet that works for me. But, then, how many people are there that cannot leave the house to work? My old Dell computer will need replacing as it is working at the ragged edge, barely able to handle what I need everyday. Doesn't look like there is a cheap alternative in Apple products at this point.

It's all about wireless mobility for me. Can't walk around or sit wherever you want with a desktop. If that's not important then you can be happy with a desktop.

[Thardy]

Originally Posted by dave lackey

Fred, Godfrey...thanks. So far nothing that I cannot do on my desktop has been show to be a strong point for a tablet (or a laptop).

Perhaps, Fred is right. I am just not in the market group that is the target of vaunted Apple. Or anyone else.

If I were on the move all the time, it may have some small advantage but that is a moot point. My son's family has three iPads....that I know of, including two for the granddaughters aged 4 and 7. I have no idea why.

As I look at the tablets, I see nothing yet that works for me. But, then, how many people are there that cannot leave the house to work? My old Dell computer will need replacing as it is working at the ragged edge, barely able to handle what I need everyday. Doesn't look like there is a cheap alternative in Apple products at this point.

I think I read an article very recently about the ability to wirelessly transmit images from a DSLR to the iPad. A much better way to check angles, lighting, etc.. The client can have the pad and ok shots on the fly.

Of course you would need a compatible DSLR.