Apple's "latest creation" event held today unveiled the iPad. The iPad is Apple's tablet, the latest product from the mind of Steve Jobs. It seriously is one of the most beautiful pieces of technology I've ever seen. The problem for me is that beauty only goes so far. My opinion of the iPad is a mixed bag of praise and disappointment, which is likely not Apple's fault but my own dream not coming true.
So I don't end this blog post on a sour note, let's start with my disappointments. When we first heard of Apple's event to be held on the 27th of January, 2010 I started thinking of a MacBook replacement. When the iPad was unveiled, I saw a more refined and much larger iPod Touch. I already have an iTouch so why would I want another one? Sure it's bigger, beautiful and there are some applications for it that have been redesigned for the iPad. Sure it could potentially become a primary system for business executives and designers but I'm not a designer or someone that lives in email/internet/documents/photos only. I'm a software developer. I can't run Eclipse, XCode or anything that I do day to day on that pad so it's awesome form factor is of no benefit to me. I don't have an ebook reader so it could fill that niche but I read books just fine on my iTouch and MacBook. I got myself excited about an Apple NetBook or laptop replacement and instead I got a newer, bigger iTouch. The problem with this is that some of the big complaints about the iPhone/iTouch like no multitasking/background applications, no built-in camera, etc. There is some good news about this that I'll mention below.
My complaint is really a nit and most could say I did it to myself. I just can't help but see the iPad as a bigger iTouch that only serves as an ebook reader since I never bought a Nook or Kindle. But honestly, those are my only complaints. The iPad's form factor and design is breathtaking and based on the software suite available, I can see this device being the go to device for designers and business executives. The iPad comes with the usual business suite of apps you have on the iPhone but redesigned specifically for the iPad. Simplistic applications like Calendar, Contacts and Mail on the iPhone/iTouch have been redesigned for the iPad so that the user experience is like nothing you've ever seen. Seeing the iPad's software in action is truly a site to behold. Apple really knows how to create touch-based user experiences that do not hinder.
One of the biggest surprises today was the iPad's price point. People expected a device costing roughly $1K but the base model is only $499. All iPads comes with WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth, Flash drives for storage, microphone, built-in speakers, a 1GHz Apple A4 processor, a 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132DPI screen and it all fits in a 7.47"x9.56", 0.5" thick form factor. (For more information on pricing and technical specifications, go here: http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/) It's amazingly compact and it's multitouch display was impressive during the keynote. (One of the first things people noticed was the lack of a built-in camera. The good news is this can be remedied by plugging an external camera into the device.) The iPad is even said to have 10 hours of battery life. Wow! Since I feel like I can't do the hardware justice, let's move on.
As expected, this device runs the iPhone (3.2) operating system. This means that an iPhone application can run directly on this device. As a matter of fact, not only does the iPhone App Store's 140K+ applications run on the iPad, they can be resized on the iPad to utilize the extra screen real estate. Also as expected, there is a version of iTunes so buying multimedia will be possible with the device. What's new is that there is a third store on the device called iBooks, which is an ebook store. All of this is great news for iPad owners because you can utilize a large list of great applications in the App Store on the iPad on day one. This is very exciting news.
In the end, the iPad is a huge hit, especially among those that can see using it in their daily life. The innovative software delivered with the device is stunning but being able to install iPhone applications means that many will be able to replace their iTouch with this device if it makes sense for them. I'm not sure I'll be buying one but it isn't because the device isn't worth my money, I just think the device was designed for a different type of user.
Comments
I had similar feelings,
I had similar feelings, although I am not too let down because I knew that at the end of the day there was no way the device could do much more than this. If it could do all the things we want, it would probably have 2 hours battery life and run too hot to touch. I suspect Apple knows it is not possible to build a good tablet device that can replace a laptop, so they went the other direction and thought about how they could make a better consumer device for the iTouch market.
Even that said, I am still not sure what I think about this device. I am not sure it is even better than the iTouch. I think it depends what you want to do with it. For example, why would anyone want to listen to music on this device? If I were taking it on a trip, sure it would be nice to be able to just have this device, but my iPhone is probably better. I am sure watching video is better, but without being able to use sites like Hulu or Netflix the value is kind of low for me and their movies and TV shows are overpriced, IMO. Personally, I still want to watch video on a TV. I could care less about pictures. This seems like it would be OK for books, but I have zero desire to use a device like this for books.
The iTouch is already a nice gaming system and it looks like this system could be even better. We'll have to wait and see. I wonder if it will not be too big to hold in your hands and also interact with the screen though. Your thumbs can only stretch so far after all.
I think what they have done for email and web is nice, but for them to call it the best experience that exists is insulting. Compared to the experience on a regular computer, I'd say it sucks. Just because you are on a tablet does not mean you suddenly do not need tabbed browsing. And good luck going through 500 unread emails, most of which you just want to delete.
I am still really surprised by the lack of video iChat. I thought for certain that would be there. The camera connector kit only lets you import stuff, it says nothing about letting you use it for video. Plus there is no application to use it. I am sure someone will have something eventually that connects to the dock connector, but this one seems like a miss to me. My guess is that it is related to the fact that the device has no specific "top". So putting a camera in the bezel would have to declare a specific edge as the standard top. I am sure battery life is a factor too.