Fondle Slabs

[Hinfrance]

Hugh, pictures look great on the iPad - the screen is bright, sharp and near perfection out of the box. and if you clean it every few minutes it'll always look brilliant. If you don't clean it, it looks like you're looking through a shower curtain.

I'll have to leave it to one of the owners to answer the calibration question.

I'm just trying to prise the netbook away from neanderteen to see what my flickr stream looks like on that. 

[hevans]

Hugh, pictures look great on the iPad - the screen is bright, sharp and near perfection out of the box. and if you clean it every few minutes it'll always look brilliant. If you don't clean it, it looks like you're looking through a shower curtain.

And the cleaning aspect makes me wonder about standard hygiene. Does the user take it into the toilet? Do they wash their hands afterwards? Just what is smeared all over the screen? Yuck!

It's even worse with the iPhone, when you stick it up against the side of your face.

H.

[birel101]

Calibration I have no idea about sorry but I wouldn't have thought so, I only no how to use it not work it:). If you have young kids who will use it expect to clean it at least twice a day, they get very dirty and it's probably shocking what germs live on there especially if you don't clean it regularly.

[Hinfrance]

You only need to lick them a few times a day and they're fine 

One of my relatives used to own a company that disinfected telephones and computer keyboards  Similar concerns really.

Right, managed to acquire the netbook , which is actually a Packard Bell, from its owner for a few minutes.

It has 10 hour battery life, 320gb hard drive, dual boots Ubuntu 10 and Windows 7, has 3 USB 1 monitor 1 ethernet ports and obv headphones and microphone sockets.

And although smaller top to bottom, on account of being widescreen, the brightness, tones, contrast and sharpness are virtually indistinguishable from the iPad. Which means that it is better than the Asus, because I thought that looked rather dull and lifeless in comparison.

In answer to an earlier question about the HP Touchpads, there is a team allegedly developing a way of converting a version of Android to run on them.

[Jonathan]

> Calibration

Yep - one of the firms (maybe EyeOne) have created an app for calibrating the iPad screen.  You use the hardware you already bought from them and a special app.  You then need to play pics through a special app to have them "calibrated".  This was launched 3 -4 months ago with a lot of hype (recycled press releases) and I spent some time explaining to people why it was a stupid idea.  "Pics look great on my calibrated iPad but look horrid on yours because you didn't calibrate it - it's your fault".  Since it's a closed system and screen to screen variation seems tiny there's an argument that we should be calibrating our computers to match the iPad....

>> Does the user take it into the toilet?

Anecdotal evidence suggests lots do.  I expect it to be a major vector for disease pretty soon.  If it's not already.

[hevans]

>> Does the user take it into the toilet?

Anecdotal evidence suggests lots do.  I expect it to be a major vector for disease pretty soon.  If it's not already.

In retrospect, they might be cleaner than a keyboard, as they will get cleaned much more regularly. Unlike keyboards and mice that get cleaned....well....never.

[Graham]

 Anyone else get the feeling the worlds left them behind?

[jinky]

Interesting! Been away and buried in photography bookings/ queries  so all good but some will know I asked about netbooks / ipads on another thread for my newly early retired wife to play with. I wanted to persuade her to get a  tablet for me to use to show pics to clients but in the end went for an 11.6 inch laptop as:

1. Every Ipad I see in flickr Leeds seems virtually impenetrable to the human eye through the greasestains / finger marks and she would be cleaning it every two minutes
2. Not having an iphone or other apple stuff I have no knowledge of / nor want the fuss of itunes for use
3. Having looked at the Galaxy tablet I liked it but same issues re: screen and others warned of it being slow and hanging
4. Netbooks seemed ridiculously with their low memory / limitations and she wanted a pink one

All in all the small laptop seems to be best for us and she is happy with it. Last night I had to laugh as Mrs J was on her laptop mesaging my eldest, my youngest was on hers and I was the only one not linked to something / one. Having been regularly told off for spending too much time editing pics and surfing it felt very smug to point out how antisocial they were being 

[greypoint]

Anyone else get the feeling the worlds left them behind?

...every day...every day...

[Hinfrance]

Out of interest I just tried loading Andrezj Dragan's web site on the netbook (Ubuntu 10, Chromium browser) and it loaded and ran instantly - slightly faster, in fact, than it does on this W7 64bit lappie. So the idea that flash makes netbooks grind to a halt is in this case rather thoroughly dismissed.

Also I had a look at the prices of iPads. Good grief, I thought they were expensive, but I had no idea that they were that expensive.

[hevans]

Out of interest I just tried loading Andrezj Dragan's web site on the netbook (Ubuntu 10, Chromium browser) and it loaded and ran instantly - slightly faster, in fact, than it does on this W7 64bit lappie. So the idea that flash makes netbooks grind to a halt is in this case rather thoroughly dismissed.

Loaded and ran on my android phone as well.

Why would Apple block the site for Ipads, though?

[picsfor]

In answer to earlier questions...

You can't get Photoshop for the iPad, but you get a stripped down app called Adobe Express.
I use Photosmith to import images - this app syncs perfectly with Lightroom and allows me to tag and rate files with a few minor bits of processing. I have another app called PiRAWna which can process RAW files to the same level as Lightroom, but does suffer a bit with my 21mp RAW files - but it does warn you anything over 16mp might cause performance issues at present.

My iPad is used as back up storage at a shoot whilst also allowing me to get a much better idea if the pics have come out successfully (much better than a 3inch screen). I have no intention if using it as  main processing platform and didn't buy it to do that. With at least 50gb free, my trip to Vegas will comfortably allow me to store 1200 images comfortably, whilst also allowing me to review and delete the obvious failures. It will allow me to annotate my pics and record the trip with as much detail as i feel necessary whilst giving me full access to my contacts, e-mail, Twitter, web and internet. I have a good selection of  music to listen to and several books to read, with some simple games to play such as Backgammon, Mah Jong & Solitaire etc - the few minute time passers.

It does exactly what i need it to, and because i use an iMac and iPhone, it gives me the full synchronised work system that i desire, whilst providing great levels of back up.

Now that issue of the hygiene of touching a screen. Whilst i accept some may take it to the toilet, i never do - and i always wipe down the screen before letting others touch it - it is after all a platform bought for ME! But let's compare that with the hygiene issues brought about by getting on public transport, trying clothes out in shops, eating food from a fast food take away, working in an office on keyboards and mice and eating from a desk that rarely if ever gets proper sanitation treatment. Did i mention being around people who sneeze and cough in your general direction - or people who pass you their phone to talk to some one briefly.

I have no problem with hygiene, but you can go too far. Whenever i hear about people wanting absolute hygiene, i always think of the novel 'War of the Worlds' where the technologically brilliant martians were defeated by the one thing they couldn't manage - the common cold.  Organisms on this planet have evolved to manage large numbers of germs and bacteria - and we should be careful about erradicting them altogether.

Apple do not support flash on the iPad for some silly political reason. They say HTML 5 does the job every bit as good, so why are developers not jumping on the band wagon to use it?

[birel101]

You only need to lick them a few times a day and they're fine 

One of my relatives used to own a company that disinfected telephones and computer keyboards  Similar concerns really.

Right, managed to acquire the netbook , which is actually a Packard Bell, from its owner for a few minutes.

It has 10 hour battery life, 320gb hard drive, dual boots Ubuntu 10 and Windows 7, has 3 USB 1 monitor 1 ethernet ports and obv headphones and microphone sockets.

And although smaller top to bottom, on account of being widescreen, the brightness, tones, contrast and sharpness are virtually indistinguishable from the iPad. Which means that it is better than the Asus, because I thought that looked rather dull and lifeless in comparison.

In answer to an earlier question about the HP Touchpads, there is a team allegedly developing a way of converting a version of Android to run on them.

Now that sounds decent, I always thought netbooks were like the ones they give away free with a new mobile phone contract, didn't realise there were better ones out there.

[Beaux Reflets]

Anyone else get the feeling the worlds left them behind?

I get that feeling quite often Graham, although I tend to only embrace that which is useful to my situation. I'm more than happy to cuddle my children as they embrace new technology and advise them to only spend money upon things that will truly benefit their situation. When my Ma lost her voice before she died, she revelled and raved with a speaking keyboard that allowed her to communicate over the telephone; so I guess it is the matter of ones lifestyle and what fits the bill. 

[Markulous]

As a computer savvy pro 'tog mate of mine said "Bought it on the business and just can't find a use for me - but the 3 year old daughter loves it, so it's not true to say I've not found any use for it"