Call me crazy. Call me an Apple Scrooge. Call it geek blasphemy, but I seem to be one of the few who is unimpressed with Apple’s newest creation: the hallowed iPad. But before I go any further, I should explain that I love Apple products. I’ve got an iMac, an iPhone 3GS, a Mac Mini, and a MacBook Pro. But that is just the problem…where does a device like the iPad fit into my life?
At the media event today, Steve showed a graphic of an iPhone and a MacBook Pro with a gap in between them desperately aching to be filled by some iPad-like device. For me as an iPhone and MacBook Pro owner, I’m unconvinced that such a gap really exists…at least for me. And if that gap did exist, at a cost of $500-$830 for an iPad, is the gap between an iPhone and MacBook Pro really worth filling?
Sure, there are some who are already foaming at the mouth over the iPad. And there are always some people whom the iPad is perfect for, but I really think that once you get over the coolness quotient, it leaves much to be desired. Here’s just a few items to keep in mind:
No Cameras Anywhere
The long-awaited feature of a front sided camera for video conferencing is still M.I.A. In fact, not only does it not have the ability to video conference, but it doesn’t even have the basic ability to take a photo like a first-gen iPhone!
No New OS
You’d hope that if Apple is going to pimp my iPhone, they’d pimp the OS too. Nope. Not only did we not get a new OS to run the iPad, but we didn’t get any of the tasty, long-awaited features that would come with one. It appears you can still only run one app at a time, and gestures appear to be limited to the basic pinch/swipe/tap gestures of the iPhone.
Still Chained to AT&T
For those of you who were hoping for a Verizon capable device, you’re out of luck. For those of you who feel AT&T has not done the best job of handling these data-intensive devices, today wasn’t your day, either. If there is any good news here, it is that users can buy an iPad with no contract. This is wonderful news, but that also means the device isn’t subsidized for those who can’t afford to shell out a minimum of $500 on one.
Less Features than the iPhone?
Of course, there are the basic questions of whether the device is capable of doing all of the cool things the iPhone can do. Push notifications? Alerts and badges? Jailbreaking? Tethering? Video out?
I’m not trying to spit in anyone’s hot chocolate here, but after all the hype of a new device and the flash of a new form factor, the sober-minded among us who think critically about parting with $500 must ask ourselves what exactly it is that Apple gave us today. If it was just a hyped up iPhone or a pimped out Kindle, it may be cool, but certainly not revolutionary. Oddly enough, if the iPad had been introduced just a couple of years ago (prior to 2007), it would be the most amazing device ever, but after the iPhone revolution, the iPad simply falls flat for me.
But ultimately, whether the iPad finds its niche between the iPhone and MacBook Pro is up to you. So what do you think?
I totally feel you on this point… I mean I really don’t need one personally but I am trying real hard and coming pretty close to convincing myself that it will be a perfect add on to my family of 5; each with their own mac at home but sharing 3 laptops and one mini del when on the roadl.
When we are out and about and mobile, me thinks we could really use this thing; or can we?
hmmmm.
now you’ve got me thinking, and if it can’t even video conference…..
but what the hay… it can run on the AT&T 3G Network so we won’t be running around looking for HotSpots.
Darlene
It’s not even a Plimped up iPhone. You can’t make or recieve a call on that thing. It’s just a large iPod touch.
With the announcement of VoIP over 3G data, this might not be an issue much longer.
Lots of negative comments, and it seems like people were expecting a whole lot more after reading the out of control rumors.
I’ll buy one for me and the wife. Why?
Me:
* I can use it to watch movies at work. Laptops (and Netbooks) are forbidden, but iPhones and portable DVD players are OK. (don’t ask…)
* I watch movies in other places too, and usually have my backpack with me. My MacBook is a little heavy sometimes, especially when all i want to do is check email on the go.
Wife:
* Loves the stand/case and says it would be perfect in the kitchen while she’s cooking. She uses a lot of recipe apps.
* Loves ebooks and was thinking about a kindle dx until she saw the iPad.
* Her medical office likes them too. Plenty of interest in it from the health care community, where the iPhone has been crazy popular.
I think we can probably expect to see an iPhone centric event in the next couple of months debuting iPhone 4.0 which will probably uncover some new software features within the iPad as well.
They probably wanted the sole focus and hype to be on the iPad so they say nothing of 4.0 and its features today, let the hype build and those who are skeptical can complain, and then BAM! in March or April they will have an iPhone even announcing 4.0 and its new features and then the hype will reinitiate. From a marketing perspective, that would be the way to do it. And I think we can probably expect carrier announcements at that event.
Thoughts?
Jordan, I think you are probably right. An iPhone event is sure to come soon. Maybe that will unveil some new iPad features and OS 4, but software is just software. I am still aghast at the lack of hardware on the iPad. You know?
I agree; I was totally let down by the lack of hardware, but I do think a lot of people’s big complaints (including my own) could be fixed with software.
The lack of cameras in my opinion is THE single biggest mistake they could have made (other than calling it the iPad… It sounds like iPod with a Wisconsin accent or a digital feminine product).
But the new software is rumored to provide some new form of multitasking and will hopefully also be followed by a freeing from AT&T.
With those big flaws out of the way, I think the iPad will be much closer to the revolutionary device that Jobs and Co. were aiming for. And then in version 2 when they correct some of the hardware mistakes, voila!
But, I must agree that today’s presentation was absolutely underwhelming. I just have high hopes for what they might be able to do with it.
I’m having serious doubts we’ll see a new version of the iPhone OS so soon… Think about it: the new iPad begins shipping in 60 days, which brings us to April for the first devices availability.
the iPhone OS 3.2 just announced is still in BETA SDK and probably won’t be out much before April. Would Apple really announce a new SDK for OS 4.0 between now and April? Certainly not: it wold not make sense.
I think if they were planning a deployment of OS 4.0 anytime soon, they would have done so already and the new iPads would have shipped with it pre-installed.
I must admit I find the timeframe weird here… I mean, a new major version of OS usually comes out with the introduction of new iPhones revision in June and are announced a couple of months in advance.
I hate the big black edge all around the iPad. It should have been like the iPhone and iPod touch: much thinner on the sides, at least.
Hayden!!! Where have you been all my life? Boy did you hit the nail on the freaking head. I didn’t know what I needed, but when I heard the word magical I almost jumped out of my seat. I exclaimed, “Apple, you did it again, another product that I didn’t know I wanted but now can’t live without.” Let down was an understatement. I mean at the very least I thought it would be cool to watch internet TV on, oh wait, no flash. Are you kidding? If I’m on the go I have my iPhone, if I am at home I have a much larger screen to see more of the internet. The problem is this thing is not pocketable, it’s not even purseable, so it takes some effort to carry it around, and there is not so many advantages. It should have been the Mac operating system redone, not the iPhone. I want to run all my mac apps on this thing, not all my iPhone apps.
Hey Apple, you want the revolutionary product we all hoped for? This thing is a media device, a personal theatre. 64GB is not that big for movies and TV, 1 full season of an HD TV Show? Use the Lala technology you bought and let us stream stuff from the cloud. Let me pay for a itunes subscription and let me watch everything in iTunes streaming on my iPad. Wow, that would be cool.
I was thinking the same thing… until I read an article on another blog.
I recommend reading it.
http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-research/blog/grumpy-bloggers-ipad-will-win-big-thanks-to-mainstream-america.aspx
http://i.gizmodo.com/5458404/a-visual-guide-to-the-apple-ipad-interface/gallery/11
Look it says Push at the top.
I absolutely agree. It’s a sexy device, no doubt and yes, I want to play with one. But really, I don’t see how it fits in my life between the iPhone and MacBook Pro. I also think some of the missing features are odd, such as the camera and no multi-tasking. It’ll sell because it’s Apple but it’s not a revolutionary product.
“It’s just a large iPod touch.”
Yup. Its a large one that doesn’t fit in your pocket. No thanks.
Not everyone has a laptop. I have a desktop where I cut my films and I’d REALLY like a capable internet device that doesn’t cost me $1,000+. The iPad is perfect for me. Sometimes doing e-mail on my iPhone, while convenient, can be a pain if I’m trying to send a lot of things out. And the way I have my work Mac Pro set up, it’s not really a good “surf the web and e-mail” type of device.
I don’t think it should be compared to an iPhone. But a front-facing camera for video chat would have been the most amazing thing ever. I might just get the 16GB iPad just for web browsing, e-mail, note taking, calendar organizing, stuff like that.
Fun toy, but way too limited for anyone who wants to do more than read books and play games. Big letdown.
no, your right. it’s a major let down and I don’t think today was one of Apple’s finer moments, in fact I would call it failure. People aren’t going to be flocking after these pads.
It might be a failure at first. I felt the same way when the first iphone came out. It was already outdated without a real GPS and only EDGE. Then the iphone 3G came along and now I cannot put dpwn my 3GS. I would wait until the iPad v2 and maybe at that point they will fix this new device shortcomings (Voice Calls, Camera, no multi tasking, etc…). Feels like they rushed it out the door to have something to sell…
One thing people seem to be forgetting is that all software for the iPad has to go through the… Duh, duh, duh….. AppStore. Meaning that you can’t just get “any” software you want. It has to be vetted through Apple first. So, if Apple doesn’t want you to have a different email program, you are stuck with the email app that comes with the iPad.
As pretty as the iPad is, it’s no Mac Tablet. As pretty much everyone else has been saying, it’s just a really big iPod touch. I wouldn’t turn one down if one was given to me, but I’m not all that interested in buying one myself.
I couldn’t agree with you more. The only good this brings to the table is 802.11g and no-contract lower monthly 3G rates. Against a lousy name, no flash support, no camera, and no GPS, this thing is a joke. An iPod Touch with mic, camera, and GPS, or a cloud based iTunes, or OS 4.0 with multitasking and push notifications for native apps, or allowing Google Voice apps into the App Store, any one of these would have been more impressive than this.
The real reason the iPad is underwhelming?
Because all the speculation preceding today’s ‘event’ were pretty much bang on. The media and hype ruined the experience. There was no ‘wow’ factor and those who did go gaga over the iPad are Steve Jobs’ sheep.
So the fascinating thing is in the marketing world this is called “buzz”. Try created a taste, a minute portion of what this thing cam do to get you guys as apple enthusiasts to chat! With that being said I think they did not want to talk about 4.0 for a reason so apple gave us a “bite” in which later when it releases and has 18,000 more features than you thought it will make the product even better. Apple is very good at Marketing products and I think the big plot twist happens in say 2-3 months!
I think it’s great. But I also understand that “where does it fit into my life?” is the key question here. For some of us, it will create a new spot precisely as Steve said, it’ll be a new kind of device that does something the iPhone does and something a laptop does and even take a couple pages from a desktop, but in a different way. And it will not do some things each of these do. Is this wrong? That really depends. The iPhone didn’t really fit into the “smartphone” cathegory, nor as a pda, not even as a phone. But it does things all these devices do in a different way, and while everybody is playing catch-up to it, Apple is already thinking of using the paradigm for something else.
The iPad will require of the user to “make room” for this new thingamajig that isn’t quite anything you already know. I never thought of buying a subnotebook or a netbook to have PC-grade email/office/video on the go, but I am seriously considering getting an iPad now that it has been announced, precisely and specifically because it’s not a netbook/notebook, because the user experience is one I know well and appreciate.
I don’t care for the camera, for the jailbreaking, for the “any software” approach, for the “no flash” bummer (I can see why some people would be upset but frankly I’d get rid of the blasted thing already, and I’ve developed for the platform in the past, I know a thing or two about it), for all the things one might think of as shortcomings. They’re not part of the experience as Apple as conceived it and I’m one to appreciate the way they do these things.
It’s not a letdown per se, it’s just a matter of cups of tea.
I like the idea of a full-color, media-rich book reader, but, like the author, I cannot find a niche for the iPad between my iPhone and MacBook…not at $499. I guess I’m back to thinking about adding a Kindle to my list of gadgets.
I do not own one peice of apple hardware in my house. I love there computers dont get me wrong but the iPhone has never really done it for me. The Nexus 1 was a brilliant phone and the fact it came unlocked was a really clever thing for google to do because they know how everyone feels about AT&T!!!
When i first heard about the new slates that were coming out soon i thought “now is the time for me to go out and purchase something from apple” And then they announced the iPad!! What a let down.
If no-one has seen the specs for the HP Slate then i recommend checking it out. The fact that it doesnt even have a webcam on the front, well i have no words for!! I will not be buying one off these and will now have to wait for the New iPhone which sorces tell me will be announced mid April!! Everything an iPod touch does, this does. It just has a bigger screen. Still cant multi task, I can do that on a $300 Laptop!! I know the media over hyped it as always but im very disapointed in apple this time. I will just have to stick to windows and my Nexus for now!!!
got an iphone and love it
the kind of ipad i’m ready for is :
- getting alle the ipad features PLUS
- one capable of INKING to really take notes on the fly, even if a stylus is needed
- both cameras, visio capabilities….
- a multitask beast
- running BOTH iphone apps AND mac softs
- and of course PHONE and SMS ready
OR
it might be a WINDOWS 7 machine as well because they might get all these features faster than apple
Very pretty but without multitasking, it is little more than what I already have on my iPhone. With multitasking, I’ll replace my laptop.
The iPad seems to be a rushed product that is on par with the AppleTV. I see it as a device that serves a purpose, but a purpose very few people will utilize. I have an AppleTV and while I love the device, it is really very limited in what it can do. Add on the fact that it hasn’t been updated in several years! Now the iPad is similar. Mobile internet browsing, email, games, reading…yeah, that’s about it. But is that really necessary when so many of us already have that on our phones/laptops? I can’t see myself lugging around an iPad that is nearly the size of a piece of paper just to do the same thing my iPhone does. Thanks, but no thanks Apple. This is one Apple product I’ll pass up (own a MacPro, Macbook, MacMini, 3 iPhones). And this is one event that truly disappointed me.
Absolutely agree with the article. The iPad does not fit anywhere in my life. Sure, it’ll be hard to resist holding one… but no way am I paying money for it.
Right now, the big gapping hole in my tech life is reserved for a MacTablet – full OSX, pressure sensitive pen input, 12-15″ screen. Yes, my expectations were too high for this event, but as a “professional artist” or some such thing – I’m horribly dissapointed (and horrified at a name indistiguishable from “iPod” in the vast majority of English dialects, what is Apple thinking?).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFNQE_TzQNI
All this time I am hoping for ipad to show up, now… this is really a big joke! I agree man, this is just a large size iPod touch with a big screen!
No thank you!
this device may make sense if apple can secure the right ebook content deals.
but for me it’s just too big. something about halfway between the iPod touch and the 10″ iPod, sorry ipad. I bought the iPod touch primarily to be an ebook reader and it sucks for PDFs (mainly because PDF is a crappy format)
if Dell bring out their tablet I may get one.
other than that, the lack of a camera is stupid, and it should have gps as well
I couldn’t agree more, i have a 15.4″ lenovo on which I do most my work on it was a bit of a hassel carrying it around so I got me a verey nice Dell mini with a 10.1″ screen, 4 USB slots, 4in1 card reader, VGA slot, a whapping 160 G of storage (which I e tend using my 320G external HD), web cam, wi fi, fully functional blue tooth, I have a nice USB dongle for 3g connectivity, all this for 400$ ( Nd by the way I live in egypt where these things don’t come cheap) so can any one give me a reason to buy a 64G ( that’s the largest and the most expensive) device with a closed OS and no connectivity or comatibility to 3rd party devices unless aproved by apple and it does nothing more than my iPhone and may my life more and more controlled by Steve jobs, I’d be tottaly out of my mind and a dumb fashion freak which I’m not and I don’t intend to be
What a waste of Apple R and D, or I should say a lack of. Ipad brings NOTHING new to the table. Where is the camera? A after thought perhaps? And the memory? Geesh! Come o. Apple- in this age if computing how could you offer less than 100 gigs? And they want us to watch movies? Really, we can’t even plug in a USB for extra storage/devices. For a few, that’s right, a few more dollars get a MacBook. Perhaps the next generation ipad will satisfy?
I think that the iPad, as of now, is lacking quite a bit…BUT, I also think that it is a GREAT stepping stone (or stepping tablet) for future upgrades!
Patience though.