Flash is not the best written nit of code. There are some much better ways to do video in web browsers and Apple is once again trying to force the issue and get the market to move to a new standard. Also Flash is controlled closely by Adobe and Apple doesn't like being beholden to another company.

Yeah, Flash is non-starter -- there's a whole little dance that's been going on since the first iPhone announcement that goes roughly like:

Tech Bloggers With No Actual Access To Information: It would be cool if it had every one on this whole list of features that Apple totally never said it was going to have. Like Flash!
Apple: We're never going to do Flash
Techbloggers: Apple is brilliant and godlike! Of course they'd never shoot themselves in the foot businesswise by releasing a device without Flash.
Apple: We're never going to do Flash
Techbloggers: Hey, watch me bump my hit count by starting a totally unfounded rumor that they're finally going to do Flash!
Apple: We're never going to do Flash
Techbloggers: OMG! I can't believe it has no Flash! I have this whole list of features that it really needs to have or else the device will suck!
Apple: t rakes in money from techbloggers

A camera is a matter of time. Flash just ain't gonna happen; it's not about it being something that they couldn't make work for the first release - they're seriously committed to making Flash not be the dominant thing it used to be, and they've been succeeding at it ever since they got YouTube on the non-Flash bandwagon with the first release. They have no reason to want to do it now.

So, you're saying, no Flash, then?

hahaha.

Not just iphone or ipad that doesn't have flash. As of some time ago, NO phone had flash. Has that changed? Are there now phones with flash? Quite frankly I'd be thrilled if flash died. As ND says there is nothing you can do with flash you can't do with programs that work better. And I hate sites that use flash for text and menus and anything but video. And I dislike flash even for video and slide shows, but if that was all it was used for would dislike rather than hate it.

hee.

But I'm so glad to see that my ridiculous problems keeping my browsers running are not solely my own problem.

The biggest problem I have with the iPad keyboard is that I have to flip to another "screen" to get a damned apostrophe. The other non-letter characters I might be okay with having separate (although since many of my passwords have letters *and* numbers, typing passwords is an adventure on the iPad!) but I want the damned apostrophe. Sigh. I refuse to give in to lazy txt-typing!

Also, I am VERY surprised that I had to sync the darn thing with a computer just to set it up. Even though I had no desire to sync it at all. So basically, the iPad is a peripheral. You absolutely cannot use it unless you already have a computer, WTF.

(happy to report, however, that using the $29 Snow Leopard "upgrade" from Tiger worked well!)

Anyone know an easy way to get PDFs onto the iPad and read them? That's the one thing I *would* sync to the computer for.

Una,

I use Goodreader for pdfs (esp. large ones) on the ipod touch. There is a tablet edition:

[link]

John August recommended GoodReader also.

You absolutely cannot use it unless you already have a computer, WTF.

WTF indeed.