It's literally just a bike roller which allows you to ride your own bike indoors.>> ^Ghostly:

I wanna know what exactly that bike treadmill thing is and how it works. Does anyone know?

Wasn't a very long workout. :-/

I actually just read in A.J. Jacobs "Guinea Pig Diaries" that multi-tasking is bad for your brain. I can't remember the specifics and I'm too lazy to go get the book but, interesting notion.

On the multi-tasking question:

My understanding is that it can multitask. They just don't allow third party developers to run background applications. This is sensible as they can not police every submitted piece of software enough to ensure that none of the third party developers are killing the advertised battery life without the user being aware. This is, for instance, why they didn't allow an aim app. Constantly polling the network for messages kills the battery life, and most users wouldn't know to consider that when launching an app.

Apple apps, I believe, can multitask. So yes, you should be able to listen to music while surfing the web, or whatever.

The no flash thing is also sensible. Flash is a well known security risk, and applying some industry pressure for them to fix it is worthwhile.

I think what a lot of people need to realise is the world of computers doesn't just consist of you hardcore nerds who actually care about stuff like multi-tasking, playing with insides and any other pointlessly hopeless reason you have for hating something you haven't touched.

The thing is and I know this is going to be difficult to grasp, many people DON'T want needlessly complex interfaces to do what they want to do on the internet, neither Windows, OS X or Linux is an appropriate tool. It's great if you love working in a terminal with your 100 memorised key commands but this is not for everyone.

You need to understand that there are people that can NOT grasp the idea of a "tab" in a browser, there are people who think a browser IS the internet, there are people when you tell them to open another window, will minimize to desktop to re-click the application icon. You may call them stupid in your high chair but there is absolutely no reason these people should be deprived of enjoying the same entertainment you do. The simplicity of the iPhone/iPad OS is entirely 100% intentional, it doesn't multi-task on purpose, multi-tasking is utterly confusing! Again not for you that's great but you already have 10000 other devices you are free to choose from.

People miss one key fact, not everything is for you, not every product is going to cater to your needs. I can tell you around my circle of friends and family, not a single person could give two damns about a webcam and I challenge anyone to show me some kind of report that shows how amazingly popular video chat is. Not a single person cares that they can't "stream Pandora and write an email at the same time!", not a single one has ever even heard of Pandora, I in fact had never heard of it until I heard people whinging about it with the iPad.

Also please stop comparing this to the iPod/iPhone, if you think a bigger screen is a "small change", you need to take a course in Human Computer Interaction and then come back and repeat that sentence. I also bet you think that porting a desktop application to a mobile is just shrinking it down? Please.

Good point. I suppose if Dell had designed this there would have been an actual handle I'd get a Windows tablet (if it was cheap) to use as a media extender. The storage on these things including the ipad is very small. I'd keep some working documents on it but most data would be on my main PC.

>> ^dag:
Yeah, I was pretty disappointed in the bezel too- have to think there is a method to their madness- and a valid UI reason why it's there. Even if you had a "temporary bezel" and let it go full-screen, it would be too hard not to touch the screen, triggering the controls.
The bezel on this thing is the handle. You need a safe place to grip it- where it's not going to inadvertently display your porn collection while you are carrying down the street. >> ^Deano:
Question.
This thing about the huge bezel or bevel or whatever.
Could you not have the screen extend to the edges but draw a border when you need it? If your fingers are on this virtual border nothing happens. Then the display could change to use the whole screen when playing a movie.
But I'm guessing the screen compromise is er a compromise.
Overall this is too locked down and lacks excitement. It's also expensive for what you get. It's an internet appliance not a multi-tasking personal computer without a keyboard.
Like others have said this would actually be a nice "My First Computer" for the PC illiterate.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed in the bezel too- have to think there is a method to their madness- and a valid UI reason why it's there. Even if you had a "temporary bezel" and let it go full-screen, it would be too hard not to touch the screen, triggering the controls.

The bezel on this thing is the handle. You need a safe place to grip it- where it's not going to inadvertently display your porn collection while you are carrying down the street. >> ^Deano:
Question.
This thing about the huge bezel or bevel or whatever.
Could you not have the screen extend to the edges but draw a border when you need it? If your fingers are on this virtual border nothing happens. Then the display could change to use the whole screen when playing a movie.
But I'm guessing the screen compromise is er a compromise.
Overall this is too locked down and lacks excitement. It's also expensive for what you get. It's an internet appliance not a multi-tasking personal computer without a keyboard.
Like others have said this would actually be a nice "My First Computer" for the PC illiterate.

Question.

This thing about the huge bezel or bevel or whatever.

Could you not have the screen extend to the edges but draw a border when you need it? If your fingers are on this virtual border nothing happens. Then the display could change to use the whole screen when playing a movie.

But I'm guessing the screen compromise is er a compromise.

Overall this is too locked down and lacks excitement. It's also expensive for what you get. It's an internet appliance not a multi-tasking personal computer without a keyboard.

Like others have said this would actually be a nice "My First Computer" for the PC illiterate.

Alot of commenters have expressed the lack of conviction, nay, BALLS that we were hoping this product would have. Nominally the expectation was that Apple was going after the netbook market but logically then it would still have a keyboard. No this is their plunge into a market that hasn't really worked out for anyone and even Apple with their mass-market appeal may not crack it. Laptops compete very effectively with this and are better featured and more flexible. I concur with the tech shortcomings and no multi-tasking? Wow.

People may like this but the shortcomings will be apparent quite quickly if you've previously used a laptop. The market for this thing will be as an additional web-browser to whatever you already have and composed of buyers who don't mind being corralled and guided towards a controlled and sanitised environment. I might not object either but if only for the convenience and purported ease of use. That said it would still have to be cheaper; I can see this thing getting dropped as it journeys between the lounge and kitchen.

As to what this should have been or the market they COULD have invented; well that's what really interests me. They could have defined the kind of everyday tasks/chores that this device could have taken on. It would have required a camera and alternative input and even scanning options. The possibilities are exciting. Bring the real world into the device, solve real problems, meet real needs. But the iPad is just about taking some netbook share. That's all it is.

"Apple says you can only decode H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 48kHz. The only containers supported are .m4v, .mp4 and .mov."


Why purposefully limit this thing so much? The video resolution I can understand, but surely it could support more file types without much trouble. Low resolution, no multi-tasking, no flash, few file types... can it at least play music while using the browser?

Skype video chat is really great once you get used to it. Multi-tasking is fine if you ask permission.

I use 1280 on my 24" monitor because I don't want to use up the ENTIRE screen.. I usually multi-task while sifting.

I've been seeing more articles about this lately. Many of them say that multi-tasking is bad for concentration because over time your brain becomes less capable of focusing solely on one task at one time. Which seems logical, but on the other hand with the mass of information that we have to process each day we have to multi-task or we would never get through all of it.

awww hell viewer_666, s'called multi-tasking and hating the fuck outta the thought of a job-JOB......AAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Kind of a sad story, but worth reading. I would've finished it sooner, but, you know, multi-tasking interrupts people.

-yeah, that's what multi-tasking'll do sometimes-

hell man, get a hacked copy with a keygen, save yer schtuff, and reload windows-and never pay full-price for software again-


make sure and save a file on a disk er two, with all yer drivers-fishing for those can be a bitch-