Your Comments: Debating the iPad

By Lorianna De Giorgio

On Wednesday, Apple finally launched its long-awaited portable computer, the iPad.

The iPad is about the size of a hardcover book, half an inch thick and with a 9.7-inch multi-touch screen, similar to the iPod Touch and iPhone. It can surf the web using its Safari browser, send emails via an on-screen QWERTY keypad, play music, videos and games, and display e-books.

The iPad also has several wireless connectivity options, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, can run all iPhone apps and boasts up to 10 hours of video battery life, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced Wednesday in San Francisco.

We wanted to know what you thought of the newest Apple creation with our Jan. 27 poll.

Would you buy it?

A record number of 6,460 votes came in between 2 p.m. ET on Jan. 27 and 2 p.m. ET on Jan. 28.

And the numbers were close.

Forty-two per cent of those who voted said they would buy the iPad while 41 per cent said the Apple product wasn't for them.

Seventeen per cent were undecided.

Comments on the iPad ranged from discussing the name of the gizmo to questioning whether it is a useful product.

"They could have chosen a better name than iPad," wrote JayJay from Ottawa. "Makes it sound like a high-tech maxi-pad."

"This is like a jack of all trades that isn't good at anything except looking pretty," said tdot34 from Vancouver.

Comments on our Facebook page regarding the iPad were also mixed.

"No [I won't buy the iPad] — not until Apple comes up with a way of completely recycling all of the e-waste they are generating," wrote Tania Gottschalk from Winnipeg.

Micro-living

A Vancouver development company announced earlier this week that it has a solution to the high rents many downtown residents are paying.

Its idea? Micro-lofts that are 270 square feet and rent for about $300 less than the average bachelor suite.

The micro-lofts will be about the size of two parking stalls and will include a bathroom, kitchen, workspace and large windows that provide natural ventilation and bright views of the street.

They are expected to rent for $675 to $750 per month.

In our Jan. 26 poll, we wanted to know what you thought of the micro-lofts and whether you would rent one.

More than 320 people voted, with 58 per cent of the respondents saying they wouldn't rent a micro-loft.

Thirty-seven per cent said they would while four per cent were undecided.

So, are micro-lofts a feasible way of living downtown?

"For students and young professionals, these are a great solution," said Vancouver-based gloriousamok. "We can take up less space. We don't need to stretch our consumption to the maximum we can possibly afford. When I was starting out, I'm sure I would have much preferred one of these to the dirty party houses I shared with five-six roommates — and at the same price."

A commenter from Bridgewater, N.S., using the name TruthPlease disagreed.

"Coming soon to a neighbourhood near you: rent a closet," TruthPlease said.

Pie-throwing tactic

The animal rights organization PETA went too far when it had one of its members throw a pie in the face of Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea in Burlington, Ont.

That was the overwhelming response from users to our Jan. 26 poll.

Shea was delivering a speech at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters on Monday when Emily McCoy of New York City stood up in the front row, walked up to Shea and pushed a pie, made of soybean curd, into her face.

PETA claimed responsibility, saying McCoy, 37, was protesting against "the government's ill-advised sanction of the seal slaughter."

She has been charged with assault.

Sixty-one per cent of those who voted in our poll said PETA went too far with its pie-throwing tactic.

Thirty-five per cent said the stunt didn't cross the line while four per cent were undecided on the matter.

User wonodagoodgize from Yellowknife suggested that PETA should be labelled a terrorist organization, and AlyssaMohino from Toronto said it should lose its charity status.

"PETA should be taken off the list of charitable organizations," wrote AlyssaMohino. "They blow their money on photo shoots for attention-starved stars, ridiculous media campaigns that often involve half-naked or naked women (talk about demeaning to the ladies) and on the legal fees of their foolish followers, who vandalize, destroy or assault anyone or anything for a few minutes of attention."

How do you get your news?

In our Jan. 28 poll , we wanted to know how you get your news. Do you surf online? Watch TV? Or are newspapers more your thing?

The issue was raised when a group of journalists announced Thursday that they will try using only Twitter and Facebook as news sources for five days in an effort to see what kind of fact and fiction they receive through these limited means.

The reporters, including Montreal-based Radio-Canada reporter Janic Tremblay, will confine themselves to an isolated farmhouse in the south of France.

As of 3 p.m. ET on Jan. 29, 36 people had voted in our poll.

Forty-two per cent of them said they used a combination of news sources while 39 per cent said they primarily used the web.

Fourteen per cent of the vote went to TV while newspapers received six per cent.

Thus far, no one has said they get their news through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Comments on our Facebook page regarding how you get your news were also mixed.

"CBC Radio One, online (the [Toronto] Star, Globe and Mail, blogs), TV (The National) — in that order," said Kathryn Gallacher.

Allan Kelly also chose a diverse mix.

"Television, radio, newspapers and the web, and the occasional magazine," he said.

While Kellianne Hutchinson said surfing the internet was more her thing.