So I’ve just sat through the hour-and-a-half keynote that was Apple’s introduction of the iPad.
First thoughts? Cute coffee-table computer. Good for web surfing, eBooks, iPhone-style games, email, etc.
If I didn’t already have an Apple laptop, and an iPhone 3GS, I would definitely jump at the top-end iPad.
Is it the magical device that Steve Jobs claims it is?
Absolutely not.
Having had a bit of a chance to read around, and think about what I’ve read in the keynote, I have a few thoughts:
- Data plans in Australia suck, and I’m sure there won’t be anything interesting for the iPad.
- No flash. While this isn’t really an issue on the iPhone, here we have a “computer” which can’t even play facebook games.
- No camera / no videoconferencing.
- Awkward to hold/use while sitting on the couch, or laying in bed.
- Big ugly bezel.
- iWork usability on the touch interface seems awesome. I really like it. Hell, I’m umming and arrhing about buying an iPad, just so I can use iWork on it.
- Photo slideshow when idle on the charging dock. Now I won’t buy that digital photo frame I’ve always been thinking about.
- Ever watch StarTrek? How cool are those PADs?
Let’s say for a moment that this was my portable device of choice, and I carried it instead of a laptop.
I could no longer transfer pictures from my digital camera. File transfer from me to other people would be a lost art, unless I was in a 3G zone, and I could email them over, and most importantly, there is no built in GPS, so the Google Maps become infinitely less useful.
What exactly is the iPad for?
It’s way too big for any pocket, so it’s not the always-with-you portable device that the iPhone is.
It’s not open enough, fast enough, or able to run “normal” OSX programs, so it’s certainly not your main computer.
The only use that I can think of is coffee-table, or showing off to your friends in a cafe.
I’ll have the 64gb 3G model for my coffee-table, thanks.
Supposing what life would be like if you used it as a main laptop is futile, because it will never be one.
Because it doesn’t run OS X apps, I can’t even write software using it. Hell, I can’t even hack a text file without getting some SSH client on it and shelling into some other OS which might not fail so hard.
There’s an idea though, I suppose you could use it to VNC into a real Mac.
You have to love Apple for getting the world to hold their breath for months on end for this less than perfect “geeky gadget” .
Striker,
Yeah, the iPad was a bit of a disappointment. I think we all had an idea (and yeah, start trek got out hopes up) and what we’ve got now is a fairly ordinary, enlarged iPod Touch.
Hopefully the next generation will be beefed up and deliver some of our tabletted desires.
Cheers,
Anthony.