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iPad= I don’t: Why I don’t want an Apple Tablet?

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anti-apple-logo2So, yesterday was THE day.  The all-powerful Steve Jobs delivered his latest creation unto the masses.  All hail Jobs and his tablet, the iPad.

Well, I have had time to digest everything.  I read all the blogs.  I spoke to friends in the tech industry as well as just friends and family.  I meditated on the subject. And well, I think I have come up with my thoughts on the iPad.

Very simply….I DON’T. I don’t want an iPad. Take that Steve!

I was NOT impressed by the iPad.  I really wasn’t.  After all the hype and speculation, I was really expecting something earth changing, something that would change how I use computing on the daily basis, something that would make me start an iPad saving account.  I didn’t get that.

Here are my thoughts in no particular order as I saw the keynote yesterday:

  1. Its an overgrown iPod Touch. I have one of these already so why do I need another one.
  2. Its a toy.  Its a fun shiny toy, but its a toy. A TV/DVD/MP3/e-reader/toy.
  3. Why do I need one?  I have an iPod Touch and a laptop (well several including netbooks, but you get my point).  They work very well and do what I need, and don’t cost me anymore money.
  4. Who is the audience for this?  Aside from Mac fans?

I understand that this device is supposed to fill in the gap between an iPod Touch/iPhone and a laptop.  But, was there really a gap to fill in the first place? I am sure other vendors are trying to figure that out as well.  The Apple iPad is supposed to fill the void and bring about a whole new niche market for tablet computing.  I don’t think so.  Its a toy!

Ok, it plays videos, music, reads ebooks, web surfs, etc et all.  This means is an entertainment device.  Ok, that is great.  But ,as a replacement for my other devices?  No, I dont think so.  I can’t see me trying to do any “real” work on this, no matter what Steve and Phil said about running iWork.  I cant see even using MS Office for Mac on it, or Documents to Go. The  touchscreen keyboard would drive me nuts after a while, and while you can, for $79, hook up a physical keyboard to it, why would I?  Its supposed to be a TABLET! Portable with NO keyboard.

And on that note, if its a real tablet, where is the stylus?  If Apple had included a stylus and a Mac version of Microsoft’s One Note application, then I would have been impressed and said “OK, I’ll buy one!”  If that functionality got built in, can you imagine the applications?  Students, educators, doctors, lawyers, etc etc…all would be able to use this for all sorts of things!  Apple would counter and say you can do that now with just an iPhone and your finger, but its not always that easy to control.

Who is going to buy this?  I asked my non-tech friends, you know, the ones this is targeted at, if they wanted one.  Most of them said, “Meh.”  This means “No”. They already have devices that do all of this, why do they need another one?

I just don’t see it.  Who knows?  Maybe I am wrong and the iPad will eclipse the iPhone in sales and in 5 years I will have to use one at my next job.  But for right now, I think I’ll stick with my iPod touch and laptop.  I still love my Mac products, just not enough this time to sway me to buy another.

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Osiris

    01/28/2010 at 9:00 am

    Nicely said, another author said apple may have created the biggest wait and see device of all time. In its current iteration Dont Want is about right but Apple have shown determination in the past and this device has no where to go but up. Couple of cameras, USB, SD Reader etc. Thats three generations worth right there.

    On the software side of things developers for the iphone have produced some pretty interesting apps, this same capacity for this overgrown iphone and some multi-tasking may produce some interesting results in the future.

  2. maati

    01/28/2010 at 9:01 am

    I can tell you what the problem with the iPad is:

    Usually, every new Apple product delivers something new, something unique. The iPhone was old technology with a new user interface. The MacBooks are just laptops, but in an Aluminium case with a stunning trackpad. Every Apple product usually brings something new to the table.

    The iPad doesn’t. Not one single thing. We’ve seen slate PCs of the exact same shape before and we’ve seen mobile internet devices running Windows CE or Android long before. So nothing new here.

    Well, if the iPad doesn’t bring anything new, it must at least be better, right? No, not at all. When you look at the devices that have been available before, you’ll discover that there’s lots of them that are better than the iPad in almost every area. Look at the Archos 9 PCTablet: It mustitasks, it lets you take handwritten notes, it lets you enjoy the real internet, it supports every type of news or book reader application. Besides the battery life, there’s really almost no drawbacks, but lots of advantages. And when you go on long trips, nothing stops you from carrying another battery.

    And that’s just one example.

    They declared this thing “magical” and “revolutionary”. Truth is, it can’t even beat the stuff that’s already been available for years. That’s not magic, that’s disappointing.

    By the way, look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJWBRGcZitg

    Add a digitizer to this, install OneNote, and you have what a tablet really should be. Almost the Microsoft Courier, which would really be the ultimate tablet device.

    The iPad is just disappointing and it’s one of very few Apple products that bring absolutely nothing new to the table and can’t even beat products that have been existing for years.

  3. Raphael

    01/28/2010 at 9:01 am

    The first blog post, that mentioned the missing stylus. Most of the time I use the stylus to take notes and the fingers just to scroll and sometimes to click.
    Without a stylus the iPad is useless. I don’t need such a big device to view photos and videos. And “the best way to surf the web” as Apple says is definitely not possible without flash.

  4. Chris Hickie

    01/28/2010 at 9:19 am

    I don’t think Motion has much to worry about from this.

  5. Absolutely NoOne

    01/28/2010 at 10:17 am

    All there is left to say is, “Exactly!”

  6. syn

    01/28/2010 at 11:30 am

    I couldn’t agree with you guys more. I’m usually first to get it or at the very least, first to wish I could get it. This turned into a huge disappointment that could not live up to all the hype. It’s a JooJoo/CruchPad.

    I was a little worried about Amazon and the kindle but after seeing this, Apple blew it. If rumors are try and Amazon has a color Kindle in the works, they have a huge chance to get it right and take a even bigger lead. Amazon also has a great chance to integrate their own movie rental and music sales business into their next kindle to compete.

    I see a lot of potential here for Amazon to completely steal Apple’s thunder. Amazon needs to learn that aesthetics is also a very important part of the user experience.

    I was really hoping Apple pulled it off. They didn’t, now I’m looking at the HP and a few other models they can do it all for me. If only the hp TM2 was lighter.

    I guess you can’t win them all.

  7. GoodThings2Life

    01/28/2010 at 11:57 am

    Well said Amy! Well said!

  8. Gavin Miller

    01/28/2010 at 1:06 pm

    @Maati

    That glass multitouch capacitive display at the pricepoint is bringing just as much new to the table as the Macbook example you gave.

    I’ll certainly be demoing one of these and reserving judgement. As ever, an Apple product polarizes opinion. Those who don’t like it REALLY don’t like it, those that do, really do! Good post from Tech Gent about town, Stephen Fry.

    I still believe that Devs will bring out some special stuff for this device, just as they have with the iPhone. Still lovin’ my old TC1100 and Win 7 though. ;-)

    https://www.stephenfry.com/2010/01/28/ipad-about

  9. Antimatter

    01/28/2010 at 3:27 pm

    “Who is the audience for this?”

    Consumer whores. It’s makes it super easy for you to buy, to horde, to consume media. Everyone I’ve heard who say they want this, want it for sitting around and watching videos or browsing the Internet.

    Apple could have released a device which revolutionized the way we think about content creation. Instead it’s all about media consumption and buying from the iTunes store.

  10. Billytickets

    01/29/2010 at 5:16 am

    I still think the developers could make the device a hit, It does need a webcam there will be many cool docking stations for it and i can see a company like Sonos writing so ccok custom music management systems for it.

    Web designers will buy it, what would be better than to pitch a client a new site this this cool tablet running 3g.

    I also see the Ipad as being a great entertainment piece for kids in the car on a long trip, navigation, info, buying tickets, eCommerce, and in the kitchen for recipes

    Billy
    Tixx.com

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