Soundbites

Have you been seduced by the capabilities and looks of Apple's new iPad?

PE

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Apple has launched another upgraded version of its iPad tablet device. Is it just a technological fad that will soon be superseded by something else?

I have avoided the lure of an iPad. I prefer to be a technological late adopter rather than paying a premium price to find the bugs in a new piece of technology. 
John Rutledge, Peterborough

Hands up those who needed one before it was known about! 
James Paterson, Chester

Tablets have changed the way I use computers. I now only use laptops or desktops for work. At home I browse using the tablet. I rarely watch TV and never buy a newspaper as I can get all the information I want instantly through the tablet. Strangely, I still use the radio which feels very compatible to tablet browsing. 
Richard Haydock, Singapore

Science fiction warns us to expect further complexities in the simplification of our user interfaces. As we approach independent machine intelligence, we can look forward to a time when we don’t even have to use the latest telepathic interface because our personal robots will do all the thinking for us. 
Timothy Chance, Aberdeenshire

I’m sure it will end up on the same heap as my old Commodore 64, my pocket PC and sandwich toaster. It seems we are presented with gadget after gadget that we cannot live without, by companies that are developing whatever they can to take your money off you. 
Anonymous

Not yet but I might be tempted, if more by fashion than real desire or necessity. Ultimately it will be superseded as Apple will have to evolve to survive. Longer term, more open standard devices should have wider utility. 
Neil Sparshott, Farnborough 

The only use for an iPad that I can see is as a back-up for when my broadband connection fails, but it’s too expensive for that. Otherwise, I don’t see the point. I only buy technology when I have a need. 
Les Pook, Sevenoaks 

I adore my iPad and use it every day at home instead of the PC! It is so versatile and portable that I would use it for work but it hasn’t quite crept into regular use in the office so I feel a bit self-conscious. Tablets are definitely the future. My two children (ages four and six) are adept at using it and view the humble PC as old-fashioned and cumbersome. 
Clare Joyce, Tring, Herts

Within 10 years the desktop, laptop and even tablet device will have been replaced by flexible screens that we can carry in our pockets and unfold to tablet size or even 3D projection devices. Maybe the day will come when we start to have implants. The future is bright, the future is Borg!
Brian Clieve, Lancashire

Apple have excelled, until now, by delivering very user-friendly and well-styled products. However, Apple is steadily being challenged by increasingly strong competition. 
Michael Reid, Peterborough

It’s a stunning piece of technology – just think, Apple only started packaging a mouse as standard with its PCs in 1984 and now look where we are! Along with the iPhone and equivalent Android systems, these small, light, versatile personal digital devices are changing the way we work and interact socially.
Peter Harding, Hitchin

Yes I have been seduced. They seem to come up with ideas no one else would think would sell and then it becomes the norm. The new iPad screen definition is what Apple is all about, pushing the technology forward where lazy PC manufacturers would not go unless they had to deal with Apple.
Paul Saunders, London

Perhaps if someone could explain how I could manage without one? Oh, I do! And probably will until it becomes a solution to a problem. 
Mike Croker, Steyning, Sussex

I’ve been seduced. For the first time in my life I have become an “early adopter” and was amongst those buying the first batch of iPad3. The screen quality matches the hype. Time will tell if the rest of the iPad does too. 
Peter Howells, Tamworth

Even 10 years ago computers were large, bulky and desk-bound. The iPad concept makes them mobile and inexpensive which, for many applications, is a great step forward. Performance has massively increased and, once input devices (not the finger) are added, functionality can match that of desk-based computers.  
Barry Kempster, Newcastle-under-Lyme

The iPad has nothing to offer me. When I need a computer, I need more processing power than they are capable of giving. When I need mobile information, they don’t offer anything that my phone doesn’t. 
Mathew Pouncey, Runcorn

I have an iPad2 and I love it. It is small, sleek, sexy (in an engineering way), and does almost everything a computer does. But not quite. We still need our laptops, which means we now carry an iPad and a laptop, so bigger bags and aching backs!
Pete Drinkwater, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey 

I have a 12-year-old PC, an 8-year-old mobile and a 22-year-old car as workhorse, so I’m the last person to ask about being seduced by the latest technologies for everyday use. I’ll side with fitness-for-purpose every time! 
Ian Weslake-Hill, Cardiff

The only tablet I have ever been interested in was a Scottish confectionery. 
C Murray, Basel, Switzerland

  • Do you think the iPad3 is a must-have or do you think it's overrated? We would like to hear your views on this topic. Please leave your soundbites below
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