Apples "Ipad" for photographers?

[LightBright]

I was wondering if Ipad (what a strange name) will be able to use light room and other photography software? It seems interesting to edit photos on location with out the need of a heavy laptop. Hopefully It might speed up work flow with its touch interface.

[SmartWombat]

I think it's an oversized iPhone, so no it won't run LR or PS

[Franglais]

No card reader.

Not even a USB port to plug a card reader or the camera into (it's extra).

[jetrim]

Don't know about the new tablet, but I do have a friend that's managed to get LightRoom up and running on an acer netbook.

[mwfanelli2]

I was wondering if Ipad (what a strange name) will be able to use light room and other photography software? It seems interesting to edit photos on location with out the need of a heavy laptop. Hopefully It might speed up work flow with its touch interface.

The iPad is not a full laptop replacement. Stick with a small laptop.

[LightBright]

I was really hoping it would do LR. Thanks for the replies.

"Don't know about the new tablet, but I do have a friend that's managed to get LightRoom up and running on an acer netbook."

Sounds good, those mini laptops are very affordable.

[Franglais]

I'm amazed that the iPad has a single-task operating system, like the iPhone or the iPod. That's bad. It means you can't do several things at once (remember MS-DOS?). It isn't a computer where you can do what you want. It's a front-end onto iTunes. Smart move on the part of Apple.

You want a 800g tablet device that is a computer and can run your applications under Windows 7, take the ARCHOS 9 :

http://www.archos.com/products/nb/ar...try=us&lang=en

Personally - I think these small lightweight devices (example: NetBook Pc) don't yet have the power and memory to run our applications comfortably. I've downsized to a 13 inch portable - with 4GB of RAM and a 64-bit twin-core processor. OK the battery only lasts 4 hours but at least it's fast. I use it to simulate several EXCHANGE servers under VMWARE for testing

[mwfanelli2]

I'm amazed that the iPad has a single-task operating system, like the iPhone or the iPod. That's bad. It means you can't do several things at once (remember MS-DOS?). It isn't a computer where you can do what you want. It's a front-end onto iTunes. Smart move on the part of Apple.

Its a lot more than an iTunes front end. Obviously. But Apple did not have to just reinvent yet another laptop computer. They did not have the silliness to invent another in a long line of market-failure tablet computers.

The iPad will do almost everything that most people need it to do. It will read electronic books, it will read email and download photos of the grandkids. It will browse the web, play games, produced large maps, IM friends, use Twitter and Facebook... And it does it with a lot of style and ease. Most people don't even care about multitasking, see how well iPhone has done. People are happy even if they aren't techies.

Not everyone needs a MacBook Pro or a Windows 7 machine or multi-core CPU. I just gave away my old Pentium 4 desktop with Ubuntu 8.04 and the guy is thrilled that he can do less than all these iPad things. It is very easy to forget how the vast majority of people use computers.

[LightBright]

Thankyou Franglais. Thats just what I need. Ill shop around for other tablets as well just to make sure. Now I dont find the ipad of any use if it wont edit my photos like my laptop.

[GB1]

Yeah, right now it runs the same OS as the iPhone, which is still quite limited compared to a full PC.

I personally found that iPad underwhelming.. it's basically a larger iPod Touch. Maybe it'll be more impressive in person, and I will go check it out at the Apple store here once it makes it, but when you go right down the list of specs and cost, there's really very little reason to buy it.

Some manufacturer was working on a tablet that looks like an opened book, each side with an LCD. On one side there's text of a book and the other is used for internet to look things up as you read. I can't remember the name of the manufacturer, but that seems a lot more useful than the iPad.

[Franglais]

Thankyou Franglais. Thats just what I need. Ill shop around for other tablets as well just to make sure. Now I dont find the ipad of any use if it wont edit my photos like my laptop.

I've been an ARCHOS fan for ages - their HQ is in the next village - but I think you might find the ARCHOS 9 is too restricted if you try to run a heavyweight application like Lightroom on it:

- Lightroom needs a 1024x768 screen and the ARCHOS 9 one is only 1024x600 so it won't all fit
- Lightroom needs a system with 1GB of RAM minimum. The ARCHOS 9 has 1GB of RAM so that's OK - but I think that more would be a good idea for speed.

However it's a real PC with the possibility to connect to Internet so I'm interested in it. If it had 2GB of RAM and Intel's next generation of Atom processor with dual-Core then I would be VERY interested.

[daq7]

I used to use Archos mp3 players until apple finally got ipod capacity, battery life, and price into a range where I cared about it.

That is a nice tablet. I have been thinking about a net book to carry on my motorcycle for culling pictures on the road and for documenting travel.

I think the best thing the ipad will do for me is to drive down the hardware prices on Kindles. I love reading books on the Kindle, but the devices are just too expensive.

[Photo-John]

I already have an iPhone. And I hate that it doesn't support Flash. Why would I want a bigger version of the same thing? And why would I want a second laptop that can't do much of anything I really need a laptop to do? I thing the iPad is bogus. But I'm sure the Apple faithful will be snapping them up like hotcakes.

[mwfanelli2]

There is an argument on another web site as to whether the lack of Flash is good or bad. Personally, I hate Flash as the vast majority of Flash applications seems to be advertisements of the most annoying sort. Plus, it is a massive resource pig.

The other side of the discussion likes Flash because they are either Flash developers (!) or because some of their favorite sites use Flash. They are willing to put up with the high demands because they have enough memory and CPU to handle it.

You can't please everyone!

[Photo-John]

I have been told that Flash is a resource hog. That may be. But it doesn't really matter. It's used all over the Web - both for advertising and for content. Any device or operating system that doesn't support it is just not doing its job - that job being accessing Web content. Apple needs to get off their high horse and get with the program.

[Dylan8i]

i don't own any apple devices. but i am highly intrigued by the ipad. the biggest down side is the lack of flash thus limiting the web surfing, though no multi-tasking would be annoying. it does everything i'd want a portable device to do. if i want to edit my photos i take them home and do it on a desktop.

[StudioBin]

I heard of a application on the iPhone that will control the camera functions, kinda like tethering. If this could be done using the iPad I can see some people getting this.

[Anbesol]

Single tasking in this case is good - it allows all applications to maximize performance, and to utilize system hardware much more efficiently. Multi-tasking unneccesarily causes applications to have hindered performance, and give less system resources to each individual application. Further - there is such a thing as application cache, so when you move from one program to another, then come back, you can have the point you were at restored. The criticism over IPads lack of multi-tasking is unwarranted and poorly understood. Franglais - comparing it to MS-DOS is quite the extreme hyperbole, its still a very modern GUI.

My only gripe with apple here is that they offer the 3 different models with 3 built in memory differences. It would have been much more reasonable for them to produce it with one size, then offer flash memory expansion, the way they do it now is just to pretend they are catering to a wider market. IF they do offer flash expansion, it would be severely limited and in no way able to expand or enhance the system drive. And why? Marketing. They do this with their Macbooks too, I think its stupid.

[FishMan473]

I think we have to remember that the iPad is a first generation device and as such its a bit limited. There are a lot of capabilities a that people like us wish it had, but it doesn't. Yet. I find it ironic (or appropriate?) that no one here complained that the device lacks a built-in camera. Lets not forget that the first iPhone didn't have a camera, GPS, 3G network support and only had 8(?) apps and no support for third-party apps... all of which I consider essential aspects of my iPhone 3Gs which came out 2 years later.

I expect future versions will have better connectivity with at least one USB port and, if we're lucky, we'll have an option for a card slot (but don't hold your breath). OTOH, cameras are starting to include WiFi support to upload data to computers, and that could integrate with the iPad in the sort of slick manner that Apple would prefer.

I don't ever imagine this device as ever being able to be a full-powered photo editor/manager, but it could be a good device to upload my photos to after a session so I can store/back-up the images until I am able to take it to my main workstation. In the mean time, I could sit on the couch or around the campfire and do the basic cleaning of the wheat from the chaff sort of photo management. It has enough processor power and memory for this sort of function, but, as of right now, lacks the software and connectivity, both of which I expect will come in the next year or two. It will be interesting to see exactly what direction Apple takes this new device in.

[mwfanelli2]

The great part about the iPad is that it created, even before it is released, a wild frenzy of pad-form devices. Some are terrible, some look great, some are just quick mock-ups with no substance. Best of all, the low Apple pricing has caught everyone with their pants down. Wait until summer: there will be something out there for everyone at extremely reasonable prices.

Also expect the Kindles and Nooks of the world to plummet in price. They won't be able to compete as is against The Coming Onslaught..

[GB1]

I have been told that Flash is a resource hog. That may be. But it doesn't really matter. It's used all over the Web - both for advertising and for content. Any device or operating system that doesn't support it is just not doing its job - that job being accessing Web content. Apple needs to get off their high horse and get with the program.

The whole Flash / No Flash debate is interesting but I wonder how much control Apple has over what Adobe does and doesn't do? Assuming they don't want to block it, how can they make Adobe develop a Flash player for that OS? The Palm Pre has the same problem.

I use Flash on my personal home page because it's much easier to add new images. I don't have to create any new HTML, just upload the image to a directory and add a line of code to an XML file (two XML files, actually). There's surely other ways to do the same thing (Perl comes to mind), but it works and I payed only $20 for the app. There's also a variant where you don't even have to modify any XML .. just drop it in.

[stagi]

Its a lot more than an iTunes front end. Obviously. But Apple did not have to just reinvent yet another laptop computer. They did not have the silliness to invent another in a long line of market-failure tablet computers.

The iPad will do almost everything that most people need it to do. It will read electronic books, it will read email and download photos of the grandkids. It will browse the web, play games, produced large maps, IM friends, use Twitter and Facebook... And it does it with a lot of style and ease. Most people don't even care about multitasking, see how well iPhone has done. People are happy even if they aren't techies.

Not everyone needs a MacBook Pro or a Windows 7 machine or multi-core CPU. I just gave away my old Pentium 4 desktop with Ubuntu 8.04 and the guy is thrilled that he can do less than all these iPad things. It is very easy to forget how the vast majority of people use computers.

Great points!