My main computer, 2004 versus 2011

A much better comparison would have been between a G3 and a MacBook Air. At least the AIR is a Macintosh.
Yes this is a ridiculous comparison.
Hell the first iPhone 3 had about the same power as a G3. Most of todays PHONES have more power.

BTW once I did the first "sync" of my ipad. I almost never connect it to my computer.
I am able to save any and all documents created on the iPad (form drawings to photos to written documents to video files) either to my computer (without connection) or to offsite servers (ie cloud). It's easy.

If I were looking for a Laptop. I would buy one.
If I were looking for a Pad based computing device I would buy an iPad II.

The advancement in technology seems to surprise The author.
I can't imagine why.

My first PC was an Eagle PC with 640K of ram that took 4 days to draw the Mandelbrot set.
I have an iPhone +APP that will do the same thing in seconds.
Is that a fair comparison?
No just an illustration of the advancement of some parts of the technology in use.

Have no doubt folks.
Your future may include a home based computer BUT it will not function without a connection to the world of servers beyond your doorstep.

Everything from applications to music to media of all sorts will live elsewhere...and be available anywhere.
Your "desktop" will be with you anywhere and everywhere.
There will be no need for local storage of anything.
If you things have changed since 1994 just wait until 2024.
YMF

The limits of the iPad (why we hesitate to call it a computer) are entirely a problem of the software (more precisely: problems with the fact that apps need to be certified).

When you compare devices, why don't you compare what you can do with it?

Because i just tried to find a way to see emails, calendar, weather, news and the time in 1 go on the iPad, and that damn thing cannot even do that. Not because of bad hardware, but because Mr. Jobs seems to hate the idea.

The iPad is many great things...but its no Mac.

It's funny how often some old grouch will complain that these new-fangled pad gadgets don't measure up to those wonderful Macs of yester-year ("Hey, get that tablet off my lawn!"), because they can't do absolutely everything that the old clunker could do! Of course it won't do *everything* a "real" computer will do, but it serves all my professional needs: I use my iPad 1 almost exclusively at the university where I teach art history, and after two semesters and using more than 200 separate Keynote presentations on my iPad (half of which I ported over [with no problem] and half of which I made from scratch [ditto]), I have had zero glitches; for any professional whose work is presentation-based the iPad is definitely a solid substitute. Oh and um IT WEIGHS NOTHING . . . .

All my-iPad-is-my-computer infuriate me. The first thing I wanted to do with my iPad2 is create a simple document. However, this document needs specialized fonts so it matches up with a theme from previously created documents. This is when I found out that you are only able to use the pre-installed fonts. NO WHERE does anyone mention this litte fact that in all the awesomeness of replacing a laptop/computer with an iPad that you still need to use another computer to do something as brain dead as using an unusual font that Apple decided to not include.

I don't care about iTunes tethering or lacks of Finder.

I do everything with an iPad, even some remote Linux fixing with ssh and x11 tunneling.

I don't care if the iPad is not a magical computer , I do everything I need to do anyway and it's a lot more easier to travel with it than a MacBook.

The device is also straightforward. Zero fuss, zero distraction, minimal interface chrome.

The iPad is a general "computing device" and a peripheral i.e. extension to your main computer of choice. It is not designed or sold to be anything else. It is primarily for consumption, quick ideas, and staying up to date with assorted web services of your choice.

If someone only has one device to buy, and they want the largest selection of computing choices, software, usage scenarios... for Dawgs sake... buy a "computer" like the MacBookAir or Pro! Quit b***ing that you bought the wrong device for what you want to do, or where YOU are regarding YOUR tech knowledge.

There's a whole world out there that doesn't have the slightest inclination to write a book, program an app, game or website, configure their server or router, write a pop-hit... whatever... but they DO want to consume those things as comfortably and as easily as possible, with as little knowledge of the goings-on behind the scenes as possible. For millions of them, as evidenced by it's popularity and being sold out for the next 2 years, the iPad is the PERFECT choice.

BTW: good luck with "popping in a disk" in any portable device in the future. Optical drives will all but disappear by 2015.

A hardware comparison like this is largely irrelevant. What counts is what you can get done with the tool, and right now the iPad doesn't measure up to for people who do more than dink words for a living.

I love my iPad, but every so often, I need to create or modify an Excel spreadsheet or a Word document. iPad, no can do. And don't squawk about Pages and Numbers, they are NOT ready for prime time.

Or, I'll need to manage an Airport Base Station. Sorry, iPad won't do it. Or I might on occasion need to run a DOS app or a Windows app for a bit. Here again, the iPad takes a pass.

There's more, too. I might need to review a Photoshop or InDesign or Acrobat file, or a Filemaker or 4D database; all things I was doing on my Powerbooks in the '90's.

Of course, the iPad is a brand new baby, and many powerful tools will be migrating there as it grows in strength and depth. Which it certainly will. It's a gorgeous piece of work. But right now it's nowhere near replacing a full-fledged Mac, for anyone but writers and readers.

I've been an iPad user since the beginning, and now use an iPad 2. I could compare it to my first Mac, a PowerBook in 2001, but even there the iPad has some critical failings. The major deficiency in the iOS platform is the primitive and inflexible support for file management. I can't open the same version of a file on the iPad with two different apps. Each has o have its own copy of the file, or I have to juggle the file back and forth by copying it *off* the iPad and back, using an app like Dropbox. Where's the sense in that?

Other things that keep the iPad from becoming a "real" computer for me:
- The lack of print drivers, to support the wide variety of printers out there. No, they don't have to be loaded all at the same time -- just the few I need
- The need for a host computer to update the OS, perform backups, and other functions
- More file system issues, like the inability to just copy data on and off, upload files directly to web sites, lack of user-configurable folders.

It's close to being a real computer for me. They've got to lose the reliance on another computer. If this thing is so much more powerful than a laptop of a decade ago, then why can't it function on its own? And then there's the file management. That's just a huge hole in the flexibility for the user.

Why is everyone ignoring the one MAJOR IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION.

This guy bought a SIX YEAR OLD COMPUTER in 2004.

SIX.
YEARS.
OLD.


That'd be like if I went out and bought a PowerBook G4 RIGHT NOW.

I am reading the article correctly, right??