iPad: Maybe for thee, but not for me.
I have to admit, I am really disappointed in the iPad. The short summary: I want a small Mac, not a big iPod.
The form factor is great. I have always thought the MID market was wrong on the size factor. 7-8" screens are too small. 9.7 is just about right. The battery life -- Apple says 10 hours, so I am figuring 6 or 7 in the real world -- seems OK, but not great. Everyone on the interwebs is talking about how fast it is, that is good.
There are, however, MUTLIPLE deal breakers for me on the iPad:
First, storage. 64GB is the top end, and that is worthless for a device of this class. It would have been much better if they had added another pound to the weight and put in a bigger battery and a 300GB HD. Yeah, you got a 720p screen, but you can't store more than 4 or 5 HD movies on the device. That wouldn't be bad, except, WAIT! Unlike the Apple TV, you can't do network syncing/streaming, so moving content onto the device requires doing to your desktop.
Second, the fracking App store. The App store crap is 60% of the reason I left the iPhone for an Android phone, and I don't regret it at all. I certainly don't want to get into another platform where Apple rules with an iron fist. Is Apple going to reject the "Kindle for iPad" because it duplicates the functionality of iBook? I don't need this shit.
Third, iPhone OS: No multitasking and background apps on this "Tablet class" computer? Drive around.
Really the question for me is, "Where does this fit in my life?" I have a phone, a Kindle, an iPod and a laptop that make the trip to and from home everyday with me. If the iPad could replace two of those devices, sure. As it is, I can't see a single function that the iPad can perform better than one of the devices I already have.
There are of course other questions: Why is there no user facing CCD and iChat support? Why is there no WiFi syncing? Why is there no HDMI port on the thing?
Listening to Leo Laporte, his usual stable of idiots are saying this will kill the MacBook Air. Whatever. The Air is a computer, this is a PDA. Actually, if the iPad was an Air sans keyboard, THAT would be an exciting product.
Comments
As for storage, I don't
As for storage, I don't really think it's that bad. Hell, I only had 80 on my PowerBook G4 up until about 20 months ago. I'm also not sure we agree on what "class" it's in. You know what I think this is, really? The PADD. And no, I'm not being flippant here; I really think this is pulling a page from Star Trek.
But really, what do I mean by this? I mean that it's not a "portable" computer in the same sense that a laptop is. It's "portable" in that you can take it around your house, or maybe to the coffee shop. It's a media portal, not a "computer". Look at the promotional videos, or even Jobs' stage dressing: everyone is lounging around, watching the iPad. Want to watch a movie on the couch? Want to curl up in bed with a good book? This is your device.
So: just like the PADD, the iPad plays a peripheral role. You have your desktop (or laptop) which does "computing", and serves as the repository for all your media (or the gatekeeper to the repository, if you have a nice big backup device behind your computer). Then you have your iPad, which you can carry around the house and use to interact with your media.
Of course, you may well disagree with the usefulness of this model, but I think that's Apple's intention.
80 on your PowerBook G4. And
80 on your PowerBook G4. And did expect to carry your music, movies and photos around on it?
That is my point. Don't sell me something as a media device -- "WATCH HD MOVIES!" -- then give it so little strage, it won't hold my MP3s, let alone my movie collection.
Put me in the disapointed column
I might buy the 499 one just to have around for lap browsing, but it is definitely a niche product. The lack of an SD card interface is just marketing and insulting. It guarantees you will have to buy a new one in a few years.
Oh and don't brag about this fancy new cpu if it can't multitask. It's hard to believe they can sell an $800 device that won't let me listen to an internet radio station and browse the web at the same time.
Finally, ATT - really??? Who in the hell is going to pay another $30 a month to suffer through no 3G connections? Sure the web browser may be super snappy on a 802.11N network, but how snappy will it be trying to pull data across the ATT edge network?
Thankfully I haven't heard
Thankfully I haven't heard LaPorte on this one ;).
In all I agree with you, for YOU it doesn't make sense. I was going to post an article about it myself, basically with the same issues for ME (storage, closed platform, os/apps, camera, battery life) but since you have I will just add my take.
Even though it doesn't make sense for me, or for you, because we don't want a glorified oversized iPod Touch, we want a computer, it still does make sense for the mass commercial market - me thinks.
In a few years I believe we will see many tablets hooked into their respective "app stores." Apple, Windows, Android, maybe even Oracle/Java (hey, I can be overly optimistic with the best of them, even though I still have never even *seen* the Java store). Now some of these might leverage both camps, Android for instance, I an do a fair bit of hacking there, get to the terminal, install my own apps or anyone else's, etc, and it still works as a consumer device for those that don't want to get into that. Far more computer-y. Maybe someday the Apple stuff will open up some too, but for now, the point is, it's not my device or your device, but still a *great device* for the market they are targeting.
If your mom can sit on the couch and check her email with it, watch a rented movie from iTunes, read a book on it, surf the web, and install the oversized fart app - she is good to go. Just blowing up the iPod makes sense for a lot of reasons, even though it's never going to impress the tech crowd (well, beyond the LaPorte level that is ;)).