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iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth

By | May 9, 2011, 3:38pm PDT

Summary: The 85-year old monarch can’t wait to start surfing the Web, listening to music, playing games and downloading app on her own iPad 2 — just like any other hip granny.

Here is something us commoners have in common with Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom: an iPad 2. A royal insider told the UK-based Sun newspaper that the 85-year old monarch wants to “browse the internet, watch music, play games and download apps” on her own device after trying her Prince William and Harry’s iPads. So she has asked her staff to purchase one for her. (It would be unseemly for a Queen to line up overnight for an iPad, after all.)

Her Majesty is said to be particularly impressed with the device, “”She was particularly taken with how easy it was to use, the large screen and how light it was.” According to the source, “[The Queen] thinks [the iPad] will be great to keep her entertained on all the long trips she has to make.”
This latest i-gadget will add to her growing collection of all things Apple, including three iPods (one from President Obama in 2009) and a cellphone (not sure if it’s an iPhone though).
Any app or game recommendations for “Ma’am”?
[Source: The Sun.co.uk]

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Apple iPad, Gloria Sin

Gloria Sin is a freelance journalist based in New York City.

Disclosure

Gloria Sin

I have no stocks or investments in any companies or interests which may lead to a conflict of interest in my coverage.

Biography

Gloria Sin

Gloria Sin is a New York-based freelance journalist who writes about the tech toys that you can't live without for ZDNet. She has little patience for poorly designed user experiences, and is not afraid of opening the guts of her own machines for repair or hacking her gadgets for new uses.

She has written for FastCompany.com, Popular Science, Olympic News Service; she currently covers the startup scene in the Tri-State area for NYConvergence.com.

Prior to ZDNet, Gloria was the online editor for Dance International, and dabbled in web design and social media consulting. When she is offline, you will find her at an ice rink living out her figure skating dreams. Follow her on Twitter.

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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
alasiri5 27th Jun
@Mister Spock I am tired of people and government telling businesses how they are su pposed to run. You have many choices so let them do their thing and you can go elsewhere. To be clear I am not a business owner.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Peter Perry Updated - 9th May 2011
I feel like I am reading a tabloid, more and more, when I read this site! I am going to say, The queen and her iPad might be the zdnet equivalent to Jumping the Shark!
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I agree that it is quite odd that they will make such a fuss
Mister Spock 9th May 2011
@Peter Perry
over the fact that the Queen enjoys using the iPad, but will nmake no mention of what her feelings are on her cell phone.
Is it Android, does she play "Angry Birds", and so on, yet point out that she is using an iPad.

I find it intereseting.

plain
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
alasiri5 27th Jun
@Mister Spock I am tired of people and government telling businesses how they are su pposed to run. You have many choices so let them do their thing and you can go elsewhere. To be clear I am not a business owner.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
kenosha77a 9th May 2011
@Peter Perry

Let's see, the President of the United States uses an iPad. The Queen of England uses an iPad.

And Pakistan just reported that they found a XOOM left in OBL's lair. Apparently, even SEAL Team 6 didn't think it was worth taking. Who knew. Grin.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Peter Perry 9th May 2011
@kenosha7777 You guys miss the point, I could care less what she uses, this is something I expect to see in a Gossip Column not a Tech Site!
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
nickswift498 9th May 2011
@kenosha7777 Woah, bin laden used a xoom?
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I think you misunderstood ....
wackoae Updated - 9th May 2011
@nickswift498 the Xoom related to the Bin Laden was the sound he heard when a bullet "zoomed" by .... just before the next bullet blew up his head.
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About that OBL XOOM tablet.
kenosha77a 10th May 2011
@nickswift498

Please note "wackoae's" comment.

My "XOOM" newsflash is something that might only appear on Saturday Night Live's Weekend News Update.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Pete "athynz" Athens 9th May 2011
@Peter Perry What's the matter there Nancy, ticked off that the iPad is royally approved while the Xoom sits somewhere on a shelf unwanted by anyone in the monarchy? You say this is "jumping the shark" because the iPad is the choice of a Queen (and evidently 2 Princes... which brings to mind a Spin Doctors tune but I digress).

You know, I have to wonder what your reaction would have been had the headline read "Xoom is fit for a Queen"? I do not beleive that you would be posting on ZDNet forums claiming that ZDNet had "jumped the shark" - in fact I have no doubt at all you'd be posting in multiple forums about how the Xoom is so much better because the Queen of England is using one instead of an iPad and that makes the Xoom so much better and makes the iPad suck all while typing one handed...

You claim that your point is missed, I say the observations by Mister Spock and kenosha7777 are spot on. Your rabid frothing at the mouth zealotry of all things Android and inexplicable hatred of all things Apple is so blatantly obvious to all. This must really be a sad moment for you indeed. Buck up Nancy, I'm sure someone grabbed the Xoom Osama left behind...
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Peter Perry 10th May 2011
@athynz It has nothing to do with the XOOM, can you honestly read this and tell me it is not Gossip column Style Writing? Seriously, I will peruse some papers and provided you links if you want.

Now here is something you probably didn't know about me, I have a Macbook Pro (No Windows Installed) and we own an iPad 2 as wellas several Windows Machines running Windows 7.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Pete "athynz" Athens 10th May 2011
@Peter Perry I assumed that since you were always so critical of anything Apple that you were a total open source Linuxhead... then again you assumed at one point that I hated Android when that is simply not true. I will agree that this reads more like a gossip column than real tech news but like I said above I assumed your issue was with the Queen wanting an iPad... and I'm honestly still not 100% convinced that it is not.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Peter Perry 10th May 2011
@athynz I don't have Linux running on a single PC, my apps do not work on that platform.

I do think Honeycomb is getting shanghai'd by ZDNET as other sites are nowhere near as harsh and one review even echoed my thoughts that the Core OS is Stable and functional but some apps are flakey.

As for Apple, I don't believe Jobs or anyone should be allowed to limit technologies, I didn't think it was right when MS did it and it isn't right now. I also hate that they limit me in many ways, I try to download files that Apple sells and I can't but if I download something they don't sell (PDF or JPEG) I can download it just fine on the iPad and I cannot fathom why that doesn't upset more people.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
T-Wrench 10th May 2011
@athynz
Don't know if you'll be back to read this, but I have to say: Spot on! All I've read on these different forums is Mr. Perry always bashing first the Ipad, and even then said he owned one. Which could be quite true.

But then he hated it so much that he suppossedly bought an Ipad2, which he also hates, and can't come even close to being as great as his Xoom? All I can say is amazing, isn't it?
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Peter Perry 11th May 2011
@T-Wrench I don't hate the iPad or iPad 2 and never said I did... I have said all along it is Apple's politics I hate!

As for the XOOM, it is simply more feature rich and getting a bad wrap by ZDNet... These are just facts yet most here refuse to see it.

And, we owned 2 iPads but sold them both and bought an iPad 2 as we have apps that run on it and movies... My wife uses it more than I do.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
nbkz81f 10th May 2011
@Peter Perry You may not like that Apple limits technologies, but I am a firm believer that businesses should be allowed to run their companies as they see fit. If that is Apples model, good for them. It seems to be working. I am tired of people and government telling businesses how they are supposed to run. You have many choices so let them do their thing and you can go elsewhere. To be clear I am not a business owner. Just a minion of a large company. I don't like some of the things they do but it is their choice to do them and my choice to accept the salary they pay me. It is a trade off. I am willing to put up with minor inconveniences for a product I like. For the most part it is minor.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
Peter Perry 11th May 2011
@nbkz81f Well, if it is done in a manner that deliberately hurts another company or consumers then I think it should be off limits.
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
T-Wrench 12th May 2011
@Peter Perry@
I apoligize, Mr. Perry. You're quite right, I used the word hate, and don't know for sure if you've said that or not. my mistake. However, I have read your repeated bashing of Apple and the IPad.

What I don't understand,( so please forgive my stupidity) is why someone such as yourself that has bought the Zoom, has constantly put down the IPad and Apple, and Steve Jobs, because you prefer the zoom over the IPad.

Why not just say the IPad doesn't suit my needs, but the Zoom does and Zdnet should have more tests and comparisons done to show all of the assets that it has over other tablets?
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
alasiri5 Updated - 27th Jun
@Peter Perry regarding Apple and it's products. That and anything that gives Pe ter Perry the fits is fun:P Still I have to admit I found the Royal Wedding not the least bit interesting. Nor do I find the Queen of England an interesting subject. Still yet another iPad sale is a good thing:)
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
blind obedience 9th May 2011
Woll why naught? Oy!
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
nickswift498 9th May 2011
I would say they should send her a littleamerican flag with it, but those things are made in China...
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iPad owes a lot to at least one Brit
jaypeg 9th May 2011
@nickswift498

iPad owes a lot to at least one Brit, Jonathan Ives, he's been a big part of Apples secret industrial design sauce for over a decade now.
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In general I do enjoy all good news
James Quinn 9th May 2011
regarding Apple and it's products. That and anything that gives Peter Perry the fits is fun:P Still I have to admit I found the Royal Wedding not the least bit interesting. Nor do I find the Queen of England an interesting subject. Still yet another iPad sale is a good thing:)

Pagan jim
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
T-Wrench 10th May 2011
@James Quinn
Well said Mr. Quinn. Well said.
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Internet Buttons for the Queen
naturefly 10th May 2011
Well done to HRH. Reckon these might be the sites she'll be using http://twitpic.com/4vt29n. Someone should help her get some Internet Buttons - created by the not-for-profit We Are What We Do, they help make the internet easy for people who're scared of the web.
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Age of Empires - Diamond edition
johnfenjackson@... 10th May 2011
NT
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RE: iPad 2 is fit for Queen Elizabeth
jaqfrost 10th May 2011
Well, if it's good enough for me, I don't mind if she gets one. Royal Gala are good apples too.
Jaq
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More editing woes
DeusXMachina 10th May 2011
@Gloria Sin

"This latest i-gadget will add to her growing collection of all things Apple, including three iPods (one from President Obama in 2009) and a cellphone (not sure if it?s an iPhone though)."

If the phone is in her collection of "all things Apple" it IS an iPhone, per se. If it is NOT in said collection, it does not deserve mention in that particular clause.

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