I think the iPad is going to rock as time goes by as well but flash isn't needed by next year though I mean the net is changing to HTML5 by then right? So maybe apple is thinking for the year in advance which is rare for a company to do since most I believe think of here and now great example what we have done with our gameboys and NES and Famicoms.  Did nintendo think that this would happen no  maybe with the HTML5 it'll be easier to hack. But this is just my opinion...

I remember when the first iPod came out. "No body is going to buy this bull shit" "It's a fail, my tiny iJam is all I need". Well look at where the iPod is now. They just sold their 250,000,000th iPod right? Obviously the iPod crushed, it crushes because as the years went by it got better and more powerful. This is the future for sure, the fact that people are arguing it's a giant iTouch is just silly cause apple wants that. People use their iPhones and itouches for things like movies, emails, browsing, etc as much or even more then they do with their computers, so why not have a bigger device that does all that even better. I was a little disappointed on what they did with it, but i get it now, and the iPad is gonna rock as time goes by. I still wish there was flash. Just wait guys. Besides, you all know that if this gets successful Microsoft will make a shitty Zune Pad or something... oh wait thats right they have a fucking iPad the size of a table!

this is what i has excited me about the ipad. i can imagine similar products being produced by other companies and eventually being as advanced as laptops.
i also think the ipad has potential as it is. there's alot of cool things that could developed for it.
not that i would get one though.

im not an apple guy at all.
but i do think it has potential. the features that make it a full sized
"mobile" web browser, and entertainment center (video/audio) are
the obvious appeals. but i really think the world has been waiting
for a decent *BACKLIT* ebook reader for a while now. i can
see this being a hit for that market alone.

and everything gets hacked or jailbroken these days.
and cant see why this would be any different.

You don't need Visual Studio to write Windows programs, though, there are dozens of alternatives (many of them cross-platform too) - I wish developers would move away from MFC etc. It rather takes away from the point of open source software if it can only be built with a $300 closed-source compiler.

More on topic, iPad owners aren't going to worry about spending maybe $5-ish (?) on software which gives them the power of a $1200-ish Jazzmutant Lemur, so while it would be nice to have open source and free development on principle, it's not going to make any difference to musicians. I'm with Neil Baldwin and Trash80 in the "this has lots of potential" camp, even if I don't really like Apple as a company.

I don't think anyone at chipmusic.org has to buy one and 'hack it' though, I imagine lots of useful musical apps will arrive in due time anyway.

Wrong. You had to be licensed by Nintendo, which cost a lot of money. Not to mention the dev tools and hardware.
As of this post it's free to download the developer tools from Apple, though right now the stuff for the iPad is only in beta, which you need to pay to be part of their program. $99 for standard, $299 for "enterprise" ... Which is still a bit cheaper than Microsoft's Visual Studio.

Edit: and yes I'm aware of the crippled "Free" version of Visual Studio. I think I spent 300 for the simplest version of VS to compile Famitracker.

In an ideal world, I take your point.

But Apple are the publisher and distributor (as well as gatekeeper) in the relationship with iPhone developers. Like I say, they demand in return for that service certain controls over the content of your applications (and a few of your hard-earned $$$) to protect the integrity of their business. OK, it's perhaps a little ham-fisted but it works for most, not for some.

Nintendo in the old days? Dude, console development is *STILL* like that on every platform to varying degrees.

This is the exact same model that left independent developers out of publishing on any Nintendo platform. Devkit controlled by Nintendo, "Nintendo seal of aproval" bullshit and what not. I bet by now we all like "black market" dev kits right?

What if you spent a whole deal of time on your app and Apple doesn't approve it? You'll be pissed at the amount of time you wasted. Because many times, it's not about quality control, but content (like the C64 emulator that wasn't allowed to be distributed). I appreciate there's quality control and support from them, but not content filtering and control of distribution.

I'm just saying, I understand your point, but it shouldn't be that way AT ALL. The Apps store shouldn't exist.

Heh

I agree with you there akira, it is a shame that development is not more open on this (and iPhone etc.)

But then they do provide a comprehensive set of tools/API/library to aid fast development and also (rightly or wrongly, stories of failure aside) support/testing/approval process to get your software to market as quickly and smoothly as possible. To my imagination, I'd say this level of support would be almost impossible with a completely open development environment as instead of checking that you're using an Apple-supplied API correctly, they'd also have to scrutinise your API at a low-level and that multiplies the time and money input from Apple by a big number.

It's this approach that gives them their business model for the iTunes Store. Think about it: there is no returns policy. To be able to get away with that Apple need a watertight approval system. They have to have a system where they can control and understand 100% what your application is doing. Otherwise they're opening themselves up to hidden problems with applications that could turn into a customer nightmare. Same reason that most applications (though that's changing) run in a sandbox. They can't have Apple-approved applications mingling with "rogue" software or it could destroy the kind of customer confidence that has made the iTunes Store the success it has been.

I'm not saying they're right or wrong but that's one aspect where I understand their approach - it's very similar to console development.

Same here, but guess what: developmet is OPEN in OS X That's the difference.

NO, Neil, I really don't want this, I rather buy other stuff

But photoshop with hands is much more cool! Also editing videos and stuff! Maybe an IPad Pro will run it.

Last night my roommate comes into the kitchen and starts bitching about the ipad and how his whole graphic design class, including himself, hate the ipad, especially since "it can't run photoshop"

I feel like people are completely missing the point of this thing, at least the intended point, but you seem to get it.  What you said is pretty much what I told him.  He didn't care much though.

got no hate for this thing but understand certain people's lack of interests, people who overextend the concept of a consumer, people who need more.  But why are they paying so much attention in the first place?

Irony : chipmusicians asking me what kind of use I can have of a G3. HAHAHA!
(Seriously, it happened a couple of times.)

Well, Intel chips should be used to flimsy surroundings by now, they've been installed in windows PCs for years!

Jesus people, lighten up a little eh? The irony of a bunch of people who make music on 20 year old retarded hardware (and I include myself in that group) arguing about the iPad... 

Oh, and akira clearly wants an iPad so bad it hurts....