Lyion wrote:I think for the average user the Ipad is a great laptop replacement, and is a lot simpler to use. Outside of gaming which most people do not do, and with a keyboard which is cheaply available, the ipad is pretty much a complete laptop replacement with far more functionality.
Quote the whole paragraph. For the average user who wants to surf, watch videos, and check email on the go the ipad is a complete replacement. It pretty much does what most people want on the PC.
As far as more functionality, that would be from the multi touch, gyro, and accelerometer which can do more things than the average laptop, not to mention ibooks, the appstore, and GPS for the 3G models.
brinstar wrote:I'm not entirely sure what the limit is (or if there is one) but i can tell you the cap is >8GB since i haven't reached it yet lol
anyway here's how it works: you take your machine that stores all of your music files (my desktop, for example) and you install the desktop app. run the app once and point it at your music folder/drive and it uploads the entire contents to the cloud - and as long as you leave the app running, it will do the same with anything you put in there (not unlike dropbox). once it's there you can stream it from literally any computer that lets you log onto google. there's obv also a companion android app that does the same, and does it WELL. what i don't know is if/how you can share streams with others - but honestly IDGAF, because for me, "crud which 2GB of songs do i want to put on my evo this week" is no longer a relevant question since my unlimited data plan lets me stream anything my desktop PC has uploaded, whether it's online or not.
so even aside from the awesomeness of having my entire music collection only a login away on literally any online computer, i also have a smartphone that can not only out-storage any mp3 player on the market but also renders the whole storage argument moot to begin with
Sounds a bit like Picasa for photos.
I think the cloud is going to start being more and more popular for videos, photos, and music now that everyone and their brother is moving to smartphones.
I just saw this from my news this AM: Here's a good round up of the music services, I hadn't heard of the google one before:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=13776621By The Associated Press
June 7, 2011 (AP)
iTunes in the Cloud by Apple Inc.
PRICE: Free to add purchased iTunes songs, $25 per year to scan your hard drive for songs acquired elsewhere, which are then added to your iCloud locker.
MUSIC SALES: Through the iTunes store.
AVAILABILITY: Now as a "beta," or test version. Hard drive scanning, known as iTunes Match, coming in the fall.
LICENSES WITH RECORDING COMPANIES: Yes.
DEVICES: Up to 10 — Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad or Wi-Fi capable iPods.
STORES CONTENT BESIDES MUSIC? Broader iCloud service, which is free, also synchs contact, calendar entries, photos, documents and other files.
PLAY MUSIC YOU OWN BUT DIDN'T UPLOAD: Yes, as long as iTunes can match it with one of the 18 million songs in its music store. If it's not on iTunes, you can upload it.
Google Music Beta by Google Inc.
PRICE: Free "for a limited time." No pricing announced.
MUSIC SALES: No.
AVAILABILITY: Currently by invitation only.
LICENSES WITH RECORDING COMPANIES: No.
DEVICES: Up to eight — Mac, PC or Android smartphones or tablet computers that run Flash (no iPad).
STORES CONTENT BESIDES MUSIC? No.
PLAY MUSIC YOU OWN BUT DIDN'T UPLOAD? No.
Amazon Cloud Drive and Cloud Player from Amazon.com Inc.
PRICE: Free up to 5 gigabytes, yearly plans range from $20 a year for 20 gigabytes to $1,000 for 1,000 gigabytes. U.S. customers qualify for free 20 GB storage with an album purchase through Amazon.com.
MUSIC SALES: Through Amazon.com.
AVAILABILITY: Open to anyone, requires an Amazon account.
LICENSES WITH RECORDING COMPANIES? No.
DEVICES: Up to eight — Mac, PC or Android smart phones.
STORES CONTENT BESIDES MUSIC? Documents, photos and videos.
PLAY MUSIC YOU OWN BUT DIDN'T UPLOAD: When you buy a song on Amazon it can be transferred directly to the cloud and played immediately.