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My 2-year old netbook recently went kaput and ever since I have been scouting the market for a new buy. It’s about the same time that Apple launched its iPad. It’s hard to resist the buzz and the glare of the new iPad. I am not a rich kid to afford multiple devices. It had to be a netbook or an iPad and not both. So, I went on this detailed market study to find the strengths and weaknesses of these two and ultimately choose the right one. The way I went about doing this is to list down all the important features that matter to me and then find out which one of the two really does well.
Cost
Most netbooks fall between the cost range of Rs 16,000-Rs 20,000 and some of them come stocked with amazing features. Compare that with an iPad where the costs ranges from Rs 30,000-Rs 45,000. And what’s worse is that you need to buy additional accessories that come inbuilt in netbooks.
Winner Clearly, netbooks
Coolness
This is important to me. I meet a lot of prospective clients and speak at conferences and I have noticed that the gadgets matter. They play an important part in creating the first impression. While there are some really nice looking netbooks, nothing holds the candle to the iPad. Added to this is the novelty factor, especially since it isn’t yet sold in India.
Winner: iPad, by a mile
Availability
I know I can walk into a computer store and buy a decent netbook. Unfortunately, I can’t do that for iPad. It’s not launched yet in India and the bad news is no one knows what that date will be. Not even folks at Apple India. It’s this or they know how to keep a secret really well.
Winner: Netbooks
Entertainment
Apple rules this territory. Watching a movie is sheer pleasure. The clarity is outstanding. Try watching a movie in the tiny netbook screen and you won’t have a problem until you get exposed to iPad. After that, its no turning back. The iPad also doubles up as an ebook reader. You have the Amazon Kindle apps that let you read the books and the experience is even better than the Kindle.
Winner: iPad
Emails
That’s the number one use for me, in addition to using Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 tools. Factor in the columns I write, the books I author and I have lots of typing. Start using the iPad and you’ll quickly find out that its not conducive for tying for long hours. Sure, its virtual keyboard is slick and dandy but its no match to the purposefulness of a normal keyboard.
Winner: Netbooks
Web browsing
I simply adore the touch features in the iPad. The ability to flip pages and zoom in adds to the wonderful surfing experience. Even with the disadvantage of iPad not supporting Flash, I still like it better than the surfing experience in the netbooks.
Winner: iPad
Storage
The iPad comes in three versions: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. That’s chicken feed for most netbooks where the average storage is 160 GB. Some have twice that size for a nominal price rise.
Winner: Netbooks
Weight
This is an important feature. The lesser the weight, the better. The iPad is less than half the weight of most netbooks. It’s also super-slim. In fact its so slim that if it got any slimmer, it might disappear!
Winner: iPad
USB ports
This was a big turn-off that worked against the iPad. I still can’t believe why Apple hasn’t added these. They should realise that a huge chunk of the world does not have Wi-Fi. I shoot a lot of pictures and videos and keep transferring them all the time. To me, USB is a hygiene feature.
Winner: Netbooks
Multiple applications
I can multi-task on the netbooks and we are so used to doing this. On the iPad that can’t be done and that’s a bummer.
Winner:
Netbooks
After carefully going through the features, I find that the netbooks give much bigger bang for the buck. Apple iPad, no doubt a great machine, loses on very critical areas. I have reached my decision. My hard-earned money will go to a netbook. Sorry, Apple.
Source- http://www.financialexpress.com/news/faceoff-apple-ipad-vs-netbooks/634704/0
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First big leap since the original iPhone” that’s what Apple said about iPhone 4.
According to Apple, iPhone 4 will be more powerful, easier to use and more indispensable than ever. iPhone 4 comes with a new design, screen, processor, and also a new operating system (OS).
MG Siegler, who writes at Tech-crunch.com says in his review that “The biggest thing that stands out in my mind one day later is that immediately after I put down the iPhone 4 and went back to my iPhone 3GS, the latter felt kind of like a toy in comparison”. Now that’s says all about iPhone 4. But what makes iPhone 4 different from its predecessors? Lets look at the features in detail.
Face time: Through iPhone 4, video calling will become much easier. The Retina display on iPhone 4 is the sharpest, most vibrant, highest-resolution phone screen ever, with four times the pixel count of previous iPhone models. This technology makes the text amazingly crisp and images stunningly sharp. No wonder, Steve Jobs joked in the keynote, “Once you go Retina Display, you can’t go back.”
In iPhone 4, you can multitask by running your own apps and this will not affect the performance of other apps or drain batteries. Great news for people who are mad about video recording, one of the key features of the camera is the ability to shoot HD (720p) video. iPhone 4 comes with advanced backside illumination sensor and built in LED light. One can shoot and edit videos using new iMovie app.
iPhone4 has a 5 mega pixel camera with a 5x digital zoom, and the ability to focus on something—a function not previously available on the iPhone. It has built in LED flash. The advanced backside illumination sensor captures great pictures even in low light. And the new front-facing camera makes it easy to take self-portraits. iPhone 4 is the first phone with a built-in three-axis gyroscope. When paired with the accelerometer, iPhone 4 will give a better gaming experience. While most phones have only one microphone, iPhone 4 has two. The main mic, located on the bottom next to the dock connector, is for phone calls, voice commands and memos.
The second mic, built into the top near the headphone jack, is for Face Time calls and for making your phone calls better. It works with the main mic to suppress unwanted and distracting background sounds, such as music and loud conversations.
Source – http://www.financialexpress.com/news/this-changes-everything-again/631644/3
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It’s not often that one gets to attend a TED. The combination of exclusive and expensive makes it hard to get. After I attended TEDindia at Mysore, I was so smitten by my experience that I made it my goal to attend one more TED. So, when I got an invite to participate and speak in TEDActive in Palm Springs, CA, I dived in head first.
Here’s how my schedule roughly looks like.
Feb 7 & 8 – Los Angeles
Feb 9 – 13 – Palm Springs at TEDactive
Feb 14 – 16 – San Francisco
At both LA and SFO, I’m looking forward to meeting up with friends and interesting people. Please ping me at Kiruba@Kiruba.com or +91.9841597744 if you would be game for a meet up. At LA, I’m also looking for a couch to crash at.
While I’ve been to California before, I never really took the time out to see around LA or SFO in detail. I’d love to hear from you on interesting places to visit. I generally tend to avoid very touristy places. In addition to places, I’m also very eager to meet achievers that I’d like to profile at the Cerebrate book.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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Email:Kiruba @ Kiruba.com
Phone :+91-44-42733619
Mobile : 98415 97744
Snail Mail :(Home)
Virugambakkam,
Chennai, INDIA
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