What does Apple’s new iPad mean for travelers?

I believe that the weight of the iPad will be less than a typical Lonely Planet.

The real question I have is how TSA will handle the iPad. I try not to travel with my laptop unless on business simply due to the checkpoint annoyances. If this device can slide through in any of my bags like my iPhone, that would be amazing.

I have a few questions concerning the iPad. First, how much would it be? Most netbooks are around $350 and ereaders around $200. If it was priced around there, I would consider it. Second, how long is the battery life? 8 hours seems to be typical, but I would want it to last longer between charges. Setting it up to charge almost every night would be a drawback. Third, what about internet access? Would it be similar to the iPod Touch, or would you have to buy into a data plan? Would it run solely on WiFi?

To me, this just looks like a iPhone on steroids. I would expect a lot from the iPad. As to some reports that it will be a Kindle Killer, that is comparing apples (no pun intended) to oranges. It would have to be an almost necessary device in order for me to spend the money on it.

I don’t think I’ll be getting one:
1. I mostly travel for business and don’t relish the idea of carrying a lap top and some type of e-reder. Plus, like Megan B. said, how will the TSA handle them?
2. I guess I’m old fashioned, but I prefer actual books and magazines to reading off of a screen. I work on a computer and stare at a screen almost all day long, and don’t like the idea of recreational reading being done on yet another screen.

I am a big Apple fan. I had an Apple IIc, for heaven’s sake! I have an iPod and iPhone. But this to me is an oversized iPod Touch. Jobs made fun of netbooks during his presentation so I was expecting something more. If it’s a tablet, and only a tablet, why no handwriting recognition? It’s got less memory than a Kindle, if I read correctly and a weak processor. It’s elegant as an e-reader but that alone isn’t enough to sustain its price point. It just seemed a big disappointment to me. I’ll read more about it and maybe I’m hasty in my conclusions.

When I was watching and reading CES coverage, one product really got me excited and that was a new hybrid tablet/laptop. It’s got TWO OS’s!! :D You snap out the tablet and it runs Snapdragon and then when you pop it back into the case, it runs Windows 7. This looks good and appears to operate well, given Lenovo’s name. This appears to be a perfect computer for travelers. Here’s a link: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/lenovo-ideapad-u1-hybrid-laptop-by-day-unhinged-tablet-by-nigh/

You can read all about the iPad at http://www.apple.com/ipad

It weights 1.5 lbs, is 0.5 inches thick, has a 1GHz processor, can have as much as 64GB of solid-state storage, and can come with both WiFi and 3G vi AT&T (for $15 or $30 per month, with no contract). It will sell for as little as $500 and as much as $830, depending on how you’d like to configure it. It does everything the Kindle can do, plus everything your MacBook can do, plus it has a 132 pixels per inch for a very high-resolution screen and an estimated 10 hours of battery life.

The only thing this device doesn’t seem to have is handwriting recognition (which, funny enough, is what helped sink the Newton). But who knows…maybe there’s an App for that too!

I still think that the Skiff Reader (http://www.skiff.com/skiff-reader.html and http://www.skiff.com/images/reader_photos/shot05_enlg.jpg) will present some serious competition once it’s released.

I agree with @Megan B. – I hope I can just throw this in my carry-on without having to put it through the Truth Systematically Avoided (TSA)’s conveyor belt separately.

Or perhaps the Terrorism Support Association, Tyrannical Scam Artists, Thieving & Stealing Agency, or Transparently Senseless Aggravation!

Apple has now posted the Keynote on its website to see how the unit can be made to work. Its battery life is a suggested 10 hours, but for watching movies I’d suggest 8. Its screen allegedly eats netbook screens for breakfast and its Apple developed CPU (A4) is superfast compared with netbook CPUs. I can see some airlines giving it out for 1st and Biz class passengers, with a collection of magazines and movies on them (edited for airline use) thus saving quite a few kilos. If more airlines pick up wifi and powered seats, its market further increases – I hav a 15″ Macbook Pro but reading pdfs on it would be less satisfying that the tablet and I do a lot of reading on planes given my average journey is 12 hours. That I can also work on my presentations compatible with me desktop software is a bonus feature. Above all, remember it’s a version 1.0 device, and like the first iPhone was somewhat crippled. Chris, ask the same question in a year’s time.

As it stands, it’s not even going to be a decent e-reader for anyone living outside the USA. According to the Apple site, iBooks are only available in the US.

It probably won’t affect this traveler at all, because I won’t be getting one any time soon. I’ll either get a netbook or keep hauling around my Tecra M4.

I don’t have a e-reader because a lot of what I read is not available digitally. I went to Thailand, Cambodia and Hong Kong in December and took my Dell Latitude Z. It did everything I needed.
Check out this funny editorial cartoon in today’s AJC: http://blogs.ajc.com/mike-luckovich/

I’m a travel writer who spent all of last September traveling around Europe with a netbook and iPhone. So when assessing the initial information that came out about the iPad yesterday, I tried to visualize how I might have used it during my trip.

While lacking the processing power of a full-sized laptop, the netbook worked well during my trip for wordprocessing, e-mail, and Web surfing, especially when I had a Wi-Fi connection. Its built-in video camera let me do Skype video calls while I was in Europe. I used it in my hotel rooms, in airports, and aboard planes and trains. The keyboard is less than full-sized, but is built in, and was fairly easy to type on. And because of its size and portability (virtually the same as the iPad), I could have tossed the netbook into my day pack and carried it around with me when I was out and about in European cities, if I had been inclined to do so.

My iPhone gave me access to the Web and e-mail nearly everywhere since it connects to the Internet via both Wi-Fi and phone company data networks. The location-service based applications helped me find my way around on foot and using public transportation. I could easily read the New York Times and my Rick Steves London guidebook on the iPhone. I could use the iPhone camera to shoot video or still photos if I didn’t want to use my point and shoot digital camera. I could jot down information in the Notes application instead of my Moleskine notebook. I had my complete itinerary available at all times, both in the Calendar and Documents to Go applications on my phone. And, of course, I could even use the iPhone to make phone calls. I could do all of these things while walking down the street or sitting in a cafe or on a bus by just slipping the iPhone out of my pocket; I couldn’t have done these things quite so easily with the larger iPad.

Like Steve, I don’t see the iPad as a replacement for my netbook or iPhone. And so far, I can’t think of anything the iPad would allow me to do while traveling away from home that would justify the expense of buying it and the additional weight and bulk it would add to my already over-stuffed “traveling light” luggage.

If I had to trudge off to an office everyday, I could see using an iPad to read the news or surf the Web if my trip was an hour or longer each way, and if the mode of transportation permitted Internet access via Wi-Fi or 3G networks. But, I could do the same thing with my iPhone, and save a few hundred dollars.

So if Santa wants to bring me an iPad for Christmas in 2010, I’ll be happy to leave him a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, especially if the gift includes another $30/month for 3G network access.

Call me crazy, but I like reading a real book. I like the feel of the pages and the smell of the ink. Reading an e-book or listening to audio book is okay on occassion, but having something like this or the kindle wouldn’t stop me from bringing a book or magazine with me because I like the experience. I do like reading news online, but I also love reading a real newspaper. My ipod nano, ds and LG cell phone will just have to be enough!

The iPad is an oversized iPod Touch with no better memory. Anyone who has used an iPod Touch can testify that if you actually use it with a brightness level that makes it usable, the battery isn’t much more than 3-4 hours. With the advertised battery life of 10 hours this equates to 5-6 hours maximum usage time. That is barely your flight from New York to California (considering you were not foolish enough to use it while you were waiting for your flight). The price is way to high for an oversized iPod Touch and matches the price of ultra-portable laptops (much more powerful than netbooks), which aren’t much heavier and are much more powerful. This is nothing revolutionary. As an e-reader it’s almost pointless. Anyone who has spent 6 hours reading a computer screen can testify that it strains the eyes. There is a reason why the other e-readers use a black and white screen (and it’s not to cut down the cost). Those screens are made specifically not to strain the eyes. Die-hard Apple fans will buy it, but we’ll soon see it go the way of the Newton and Apple TV.

It’s an overgrown, overprice iPod Touch. What’s the big deal? The only thing it will do for travelers is give us something to talk about — it was the buzz of my TPA-DFW and DFW-BUR flights last night.

Give me my Asus netbook, my iPod, and a novel, and I’m happy.

Dear Elliot,

Such an interesting perspective on technology from a pragmatist, though I am still laughing at comment from Soultraveler calling himself a minimalist and frugal traveler, with three computers. I can only imagine their packing sessions, as I find it hopeless to ever pack anything electronic without losing something along the way. Is there any hope for a peripatetic luddite who needs technology, but can’t seem to ever get it right?

Re: make better calls – if you mean the 3G option, that’s strictly for Web browsing and downloading new books, as an alternative to wi-fi. I still don’t get it.

Great tool for simple tax and maybe some work during a relaxing period, but won’t be very useful for working due to the keyboard style and non-multitasking.

How nice to come back so many months later, and see what crystal balls I had at the time ;-)