3/12    I am curious what others think of tablets like iPad. They don't seem
        useful to me, but I use my computer for more than web browsing,
        Facebook, and Twitter. Why would I buy one instead of a laptop?
        They seem like a disabled laptop to me, but at a higher price.
        \_ You are most likely a coder.  iPad is not for coders.  They are
           what you get your non-technical friends.  Or musicians.  Look at
           the amplitude app.  Saves a tonne of gear shlepping.  Wolfram Alpha,
           etc: http://csua.org/u/sr0 and http://csua.org/u/sr1
           And i'm not even going into how i used mine to replace a shelf of
           technical books that I realized were kinda annoying without an
           automated grep mechanism.  But to write code on?  never.
        \_ http://csua.org/u/sr2 - this is a replacement newspaper for upper
           management.  The guys with the families, with the mistresses the
           100k/yr golf memberships etc.  EG. not you.  They would like to
           replace their daily printed reports with the latest in male jewelry
           and hey if they can get interactive graphs showing your coding
           teams' productivity whilst on the golf course in real time
           so much the better.
           \_ Lol i remember reading these 70s fiction books about "electronic
              clipboards".
              \_ Upper mgmt read those too, as twenny somethings.  Natch, they
                 want ipads now.
        \_ I am curious what other think of cookers like the microwave. They
           don't seem useful to me, but I use my oven for more than heating up
           leftovers, boiling water, and making brownies. Why would I buy one
           instead of an oven? They seem like a disabled oven to me, but at a
           higher price.
           \_ microwave owners would trade good tasting food for a quick meal.
              if you're making fun of the poster not understanding that
              different users have different computing needs I'm right with you
           \_ Interestingly, I don't own a microwave either for exactly those
              reasons. I don't find it useful for cooking anything I would
              want to eat. It's an unnecessary expense and takes up
              counter space. Mine (received as a gift) broke a few years back
              and I have no desire to replace it. I would buy an iPad if
              it cost a lot less than a laptop, but it costs the same.
              Would you buy a microwave if it cost the same as a range?
              \_ define what you want the ipad for? and what you want the laptop
                 for?
        \_ Here, these popular programs might show you who wants to use iPads:
           http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/12/ipad_for_work
           http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/07/apple_ipad_as_business_device
           http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/09/top_ten_free_ipad_apps