Thread: The iPad's role in your car?

Originally Posted by chunkyks

Don't forget - tablets have been around for a while. I can't help but notice that people aren't using tablets as car PCs so far. Why is that going to change just because apple make one?

Well I've been around for a while, too, as well as Turbocad6, and several others. Hopefully what will change is additional feature/options. See my post in the other iPad thread for details, but suffice it to say they are paying attention to see where the users want features and functionality.

Thanks for the feedback everyone and I agree with a lot of your points. So starting off, of course this device will not live up to the CarPC, but if the right apps come along maybe from people and developers in these types of forums (which can happen faster if more people stop dissing what they know very little about; it hasn't even come out yet) it could at least dish out the basics. Basics like Music, Video, Nav, and some form of hands-free communication through the unit all at once without causing pauses in service. I'm not trying to say the iPad is a replacement for CarPC's, I'm saying for the average Joe Schmo, who maybe can't afford, lack the skills, or doesn't have the patience to get a CarPC running, could at least purchase an iPad and get a limited version of what CarPC owners experience.

I really don't see what's so strange, far fetched, or Apple Fanboish about this. Touching on other responses made throughout:

1. iPad will come out with a wifi and 3g version; meaning if you purchase the iPad Wifi or 3g version you can tether your phone to it. Of course you have to have the right phone. I own a Palm Pre, I tether my home PC and laptops whenever I need to. I might be misusing the word tether, but my Palm Pre turns into a wifi spot that is visible to others. I connect to this through my computer and bam I have internet. Maybe tether means connecting through dialing into the phone through #keys and such, I'm not sure. But if this is what people refer to as tethering then yes, the iPad cannot tether.

2. A-GPS will be included in the 3g version. From many sources, A-GPS is considered better than plain GPS but this can be argued.

3. Regarding price, it currently sits between 500-830 bucks. I really think the price is quite fair seeing how an iPod Touch costs about $250 bucks. Sure you can go out and get a netbook for a lot cheaper and more features but to each his own.

4. Looking at jailbreaking the iPad, its not out so no one knows if it can be done or not...I'm betting on it happening very quickly seeing how people want more functionality out of it.

5. Plan for 3G: There is no contract, $29.99 for unlimited or $14.99 for 250mb. This seems reasonable to me. So you end up paying $360 for a whole year of unlimited 3G or a lot less if you use in sparingly by calling at&t and canceling it for a couple of months. OR you can just "tether" through your phone's plan for free.

6. App Store and iPad: Every last one of the apps available to the iPod Touch will be available on the iPad. They can maintain their original aspect or expand into full screen mode. Refer to the iPad keynote for more info.

7. If all else fails and the iPad will not live up to my wishes: I still will mount this bad boy somewhere and use my current iPod Dock to play music and browse the internet on the go.

Originally Posted by chunkyks

Don't forget - tablets have been around for a while. I can't help but notice that people aren't using tablets as car PCs so far. Why is that going to change just because apple make one?

Aside from the rabid zealotry, seriously, what would make the ipad better than any of the other tablets for the task? Because the way I see it, there are some downsides that leave the ipad crippled at best compared to other tablets:

1) More expensive

2) Must be jailbroken to do something useful for a CarPC
2a) like multitasking [specifically, what f**king good is your nav app when it gets turned off just because you get a phone call?]
2b) or letting you run apps that apple doesn't explicitly approve [and remember, kids; whatever you download now may get purged from your ipad next time you turn it on just because apple felt like it]

3) Bezel wide enough spill a burrito on and still leave the screen completely visible [because dashboard real estate is there for the wasting]

4) Can't be tethered to your iphone

5) Can only talk to OBDII dongles in the 150 dollar price range rather than the 80 dollar price range. Can't talk to most external hardware you might want to add.

I don't usually use smileys, but this one fairly explicitly describes the ipad:



Of course, for all my ranting... people are going to buy the ipad in their droves and it'll be a runaway success. But as hobbyists and otherwise rational people, carPC owners should be able to look at this stuff fairly objectively and say "you know what? Maybe this *doesn't* meet my needs as well as some alternatives".

Gary (-;

Bravo, you hit the nail right on the head. All of a sudden after god knows how long tablets have been out, and are 300% more powerful then the iPad, suddenly everyone wants to use a tablet because it has a big shinny Apple on it. The thing isnt even powerful! You can most likely get an awesome tablet PC for less, then put MAC OSX on it and at least have a full MAC type computer. Not some half a$$ed tablet based on a phone!

Firstly, im not trying to be an apple freak, but...

Originally Posted by chunkyks

Don't forget - tablets have been around for a while. I can't help but notice that people aren't using tablets as car PCs so far. Why is that going to change just because apple make one?

Aside from the rabid zealotry, seriously, what would make the ipad better than any of the other tablets for the task? Because the way I see it, there are some downsides that leave the ipad crippled at best compared to other tablets:

1) More expensive

2) Must be jailbroken to do something useful for a CarPC (if its like current ones it takes 2 seconds)
2a) like multitasking [specifically, what f**king good is your nav app when it gets turned off just because you get a phone call?] (the iPad isn't for making calls therefore this won't happen)
2b) or letting you run apps that apple doesn't explicitly approve [and remember, kids; whatever you download now may get purged from your ipad next time you turn it on just because apple felt like it] (Thats never happend to me and i have like 20 jb apps)

3) Bezel wide enough spill a burrito on and still leave the screen completely visible [because dashboard real estate is there for the wasting] (its wide so you have a place to hold it without touching the touch screen)

4) Can't be tethered to your iphone (yes it can, and the iPad doesn't even need to be jb to do it. just ur iPhone, which again, takes 2 seconds)

5) Can only talk to OBDII dongles in the 150 dollar price range rather than the 80 dollar price range. Can't talk to most external hardware you might want to add. (the port is open, people just need to do the work)

I don't usually use smileys, but this one fairly explicitly describes the ipad:



Of course, for all my ranting... people are going to buy the ipad in their droves and it'll be a runaway success. But as hobbyists and otherwise rational people, carPC owners should be able to look at this stuff fairly objectively and say "you know what? Maybe this *doesn't* meet my needs as well as some alternatives".

Gary (-;

Easy? Maybe I'm stupid (no surprise there, but there you go), but I can't yet jailbreak my 3G iPhone based on the latest 3.1.3 firmware and snowbreeze. I got error (2) or (160x) when restoring. Maybe it's because I'm using win7 64bit now? Who knows. Maybe I should try redsnow instead?

All that stuff is pretty unstable, to tell the truth. Last time I tried, it worked, but it made the iPhone waaayyy slow.

And Optikalefx, just to put the iPhone in the DFU mode, it takes 10-15sec alone...lol. 2 secs is way off the mark.

With that said, I like tablets, and I like iPads. Different strokes for different folks. However, I'm building a support for a tablet in my Sequoia that I plan to also be able to switch to the iPad, wife said she is thinking of buying one for me, so I'm not going to say no to that, of course!

So we'll see by April how this is going to work. Since there's no plan attached, I believe it's going be super easy to resell it too. Or use it as a couch web browser.

You are correct about 3.1.3. But like all major updates to iPhone firmware, dev team releases their JB after the release of the product (iPad), that way, apple can't patch a hole before a release. And i've been using blackra1n which takes about 35 sec to download, about 3 seconds to click the button and about a 45 seconds to reboot the phone. So yep my 2 seconds estimate was a bit exaggerated lol.

I just don't like having to jailbreak just to make something do what I want. The "you can jailbreak it" argument is always fundamentally flawed to me; the manufacturer doesn't want you doing something, has a history of producing five hundred dollar bricks when you do it, and a history of banning developers who do it. Why would you do that, when you can just buy something from a manufacturer that doesn't treat you like crap in the first place?

Then there's the fact that once you've jailbroken it, you can't upgrade the firmware until a new update is out. So you're left with either not having a jailbroken phone, or not having the features in the new firmware you want.

Multitasking thanks to the phone bit is gone. That just leaves every *other* time I want to run more than one app at once [eg, rev logging a trip and running gps navigation at the same time]. I was actually assuming that likeobama was describing a real feature, "Bluetooth Phone Connectivity".

Apple hasn't pulled many apps so far, but they have taken a stance that has been actively hostile to some developers - doing things that might be useful in *your* car. For example, my wife enjoys podcasts on her way to work, but Apple have a history of rejecting podcast apps that she might want to use. The road is littered with examples of applications that have been rejected.

I understand the motivation for a thick bezel. My point is that this is just one more thing that makes it not ideal for a carpc. Apple obviously realise that it's shamefully large, otherwise their spec page would show it. I'll also wager that the width of the bezel will get smaller. Next iteration, the jobsspeak will be "it's the same size, but the screen is 18% larger!"


In this day and age, the port being open... ok. But the world has firmly established that USB is a valid way to connect devices together. Microusb is the established standard for modern phones, it's eighteen different kinds of skinny. Even miniUSB would have fit in the ipad.

But no! That would be easy for people to work with, and cheap! So apple throws out a big ol "f you" and chooses not to. You can bust out the soldering iron, or you can pay for the ridiculously overpriced dongle. That's what we call "real consumer choice"!


There comes a point where you look at it, and it just isn't that great. For every little downside, there's an alternative out there that doesn't have these problems! Why spend several hundred bucks on a resoundingly mediocre block of hardware when there's other blocks of hardware out there that meet your requirements much better?

"Hey Steve, can the ipad tether with the iphone?"
"No"

Gary (-;

PS I suspect this is one of those times where no-one is going to convince anyone else that their argument is right. I probably won't reply again, as I realise I'm adding very little to this conversation. But one last thing:
Have you ever seriously tried to defend ****ty apple policy? If you have, perhaps you need to reconsider whether you really are considering everything evenly [examples: flash, multitasking, app store].

i guess to me jailbreaking is like buying a house that isn't exactly what you want. You wanted a fireplace, but the owner isn't going to put one in for you. They may not even want you to do it. So you could get a different house with a fireplace, or because is widely available, you could put the fireplace in yourself. Thankfully you can just drop the fireplace in because some nerds already did the hard word. And yea, you might** damage your house putting the fireplace in, but your house will never be bricked. Anyone that has bricked their house by installing a fireplace is lying. It doesn't happen. They make houses so you can always go back no matter what happens.

I'm just saying, since its widely available, public, and easy, why can't i use it? Why can't I say that i have multitasking and tethering just because It does't come on the device. Your argument is that just because apple doesn't want you to do it. Which, i mean, c'mon if we only ever did what our parents said we could, then we aren't human. In my eyes, there is nothing wrong with it, i'm simply extending the usability of my device. Just like when someone hacks an SD card to put wifi on it for a non wifi laptop. Just because it didn't come with wifi doesn't mean i have to live without.

The argument is because the device cannot. Yeah you can put a fireplace in, but if it is a 200sqft condo, put in a fireplace and the whole place ignites and dies. Then every month or so the previous owners come by and try to disassemble your new fireplace because they told you they didnt want one there in the first place.

The ipad is extremely underpowered, just like the ipod/iphone. It does what Apple wants well, start multitasking and it slows to a screaching halt. It just wasnt designed for it.