iPad 3 out!

[russell]

That doesn't mean the software is reliable... for all you know your request is sent to 4 servers and the first one to give a good response is what you see, while one of the others could crash.

That's still reliability, but massive-scale parallel server apps are not the same as an application which has to run for weeks or months without re-starting... Google could re-boot each server every few hours if they had memory leaks!

And how is the request sent? By little tiny elfs? Or could it be by software they have written? From the users point of view its reliable, that's all that matters, do you think the user is thinking "hmm I wonder if my request was handled by a reliable piece of code or by one of 100 worker processes". I hope to god you and Nickfitz are not in Software Development, if so no wonder Bobs are taking over.

[russell]

All the MAJOR sites have worked on iOS for years. YouTube is the only one that matters anyway really... most of the Flash on the web is ads. Anyone with a Flash-based app quickly made an iOS app version... the only ones who seem to see lack of Flash on iOS as a problem are the people who don't use it.

Oh right all the Major sites, that's OK then everyone uses only the major sites.

[Sysman]

That doesn't mean the software is reliable... for all you know your request is sent to 4 servers and the first one to give a good response is what you see, while one of the others could crash.

That's still reliability, but massive-scale parallel server apps are not the same as an application which has to run for weeks or months without re-starting... Google could re-boot each server every few hours if they had memory leaks!

Some report I read about 10 years ago claimed they had full time teams just replacing dead systems.

Yes, their recovery procedures obviously work.

That could also mean that they don't care if stuff falls over.

[Spacecadet]

Some report I read about 10 years ago claimed they had full time teams just replacing dead systems.

Yes, their recovery procedures obviously work.

That could also mean that they don't care if stuff falls over.

I think they run commodity, low cost kit
They also run so much of it that even with a low failure rate, it would still take a team of people to keep on top of failures

[Sysman]

The cynic in me says they're all big global mega-companies

Aye, there's no disputing that, and they are Yank global mega-companies to boot, with the tendency towards control-freakery.

[Platypus]

Only apple fanbois would pay an extra £100 for some metal casing worth about £10

True for any manufactured product where the perceived value is greater than the cost of materials

[amcdonald]

Of course things can be functional and art at the same time.

Like Nigella ?

[doodab]

The ipad is an excellent product.

Apple have succeeded in taking a promising concept that had a number of flawed implementations and turning it into a viable mass market product. They timed it perfectly to take advantage of advances in battery technology and decent wireless access and their execution raised the bar techically, aesthetically and in terms of user experience. Their claims of technical innovation might be slightly exaggerated, they may not have been the first, but they have defined the genre and caught the public imagination. The ipad is the first tablet computer that joe public actually went out and bought.

[Spacecadet]

Like Nigella ?

or Anthea Turner

[Durbs]

I've got meself one, flogged my iPad 1 and gone for a new 32GB as my old 16GB one ran out of space too quickly.

I reckon Android will be sidelined to oblivion in the tablet market by Win 8 and iOS sooner rather than later.