So I finally got around to watching the whole video on the iPad and I’m still not that impressed. I’m sorry but I’m not and IMO you shouldn’t be either. Lets get the obvious cons out of the way:
- No flash support still!
- No USB
- No CD/DVD drive
- No stylus pen
- It’s a big iPod Touch… no really, it is!
Now the reason for no USB and CD/DVD might not seem apparent at first but let me explain why I consider this con. Computer makers have been trying to break into the Tablet market for a long time now. There’s the traditional slate design which the iPad follows, the laptop hybrid/convertible style, and the Ultra-Mobile PC. All of these have been tried and for the most part flopped with the exception of a small following (doctors/physicians). Why they failed is up for debate; weight, portability, design, software, take your pick. Of the different variety of tablets most of them have USB support and a few actually have the CD/DVD drives. And then there’s Apple who wants to break into the market and doesn’t have either one?! Seriously? Apple, the guys who made one of the lightest, if not the lightest notebook around which has USB support and they suddenly couldn’t put it in a tablet computer? What’s up with that? Oh yeah, it’s a big iPod Touch! The iPad isn’t running OSX, it’s running the iPhone/iPod OS. This is the biggest reason why I’m not impressed! Apple takes pride in inventing and revolutionizing the industry and then they release a blown up iPod Touch and call it ground breaking… No.
Now let me change gears a little to the stylus pen. Why a stylus pen when it’s touch based? Well, believe it or not some people would actually like to use a tablet computer like a tablet. Meaning if you’re going to design a “computer” that can be held like a notepad and written on perhaps you’d want to give the users the ability to write! Sure you can lay it on your lap and type with the keyboard but if I’m a doctor or an ‘on-the-move’ assistant I don’t have time to sit down and type, I’m writing on the notepad I have with me on the go. This is a critical design flaw in my opinion. There is no out-of-the-box incentive for people who want to replace their notepad to pick up and iPad. Instead they’ll still rely on whatever means they already rely on be it their current tablet PC, pen and paper, or their phone/PDA.
Now I don’t completely hate the iPad. I will say it’s nice to see how far companies are taking touch based computing and using the accelerometer. I think the Kindle and other eBook readers are in a world of hurt now. Apple did their home work with their new “book store” and they could probably corner a good portion of the market. It’s also nice to see solid state drives really taking off. Give it another year or two and they’ll be standard in computers.
Will the iPad sell? It’s an Apple product so yes it will. Apple could wrap up dog poop, put a pretty case on it, and call it the iPoop and people would still buy it…. Flame on Mac Zealots, flame on.
