On Wednesday Steve Jobs launched the iPad amid great hype and claimed the device would plug the gap between laptops and mobiles.
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At the launch Mr Jobs said the device would be used for browsing the web, sharing photos, reading eBooks and watching movies. Those who went to see the launch were apparently suitably impressed. The reactions following its release though have been, to say the least, mixed.
In my opinion, it is probably worth waiting until at least version 2 by which time Apple will iron out the flaws just as they did with the iPod. Apple will also drop the price considerably about six months after launch so early takers will pay a premium to be the first on the block with the new toy.
The main problem that people have focussed on is that the iPad is like a scaled up iPhone or iTouch and like both those devices, it lacks card slots and comes without a USB port – making it extremely difficult to transfer documents and information from an external drive on to the device.
The flash drive makes the device super slim, light and robust (there is no hard drive whirring away inside) but does severely limit its storage capacity. The basic model comes with just 16GB of storage and even the top-of-the-range model only has 64GB.
Instead of a USB port, the iPad has an iPod connector, meaning that users will have to purchase one of the many adapters on sale in order to use a non-Apple product with the iPad.
Despite being marketed as the most innovative product in the world of netbooks, users of the iPad will only be able to download apps from App Store. This means that unlike other laptops and netbooks which allow any type of external software to be downloaded, with an iPad users will only be able to get hold of software after it has been approved by Apple and added to the App store.
As a result of all these shortcomings, the iPad has become the focus of a lot of negative comments both in the press and on the Internet. For whatever reasons, people have invested a lot of time and resources into lambasting the product. The pictures above taken from the net are just some examples.
What drives people to do this? Just what do they gain by yet again knocking Apple for introducing a device that we all know will become commonplace in just a few years time. Just like we all call all vacuum cleaners Hoovers, in years to come we will all be calling touch screen tablets- iPads.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the iPad will spawn a miriad of imitators just as the iMacs, the iPods and the iPhones did. The imitators will all claim that there devices are better but in truth they won’t be because Apple just have a knack of providing the best user experience and that is what gets up all these people’s noses. Never mind what it can’t do, concentrate on what it can do and do so well.
With a new netbook and an iPod touch already, I can’t justify buying an iPad – I just wish I could!
1 comment:
I don't think people really have issue with the product, I think it's the only way or venting frustration about the two things that Apple does better than anyone else - hype and fanboyism.
What we had with the iPad was a product launch of a tablet computer. Whoopy-do! And yet we have a review on BBC News by Stephen Fry and the product launch was a top three story on BBC News. A TOP THREE story. For a product launch.
Sure, it's a new product to them, and they're a big firm. A bit like BMW making say...a bicycle. If BMW did a product launch for a bicycle do you think it would make a top three story?
It's just a tablet computer.
And that's what is getting people riled. People need a way to express their 'so what' factor.
And once again, just like the ipod and just like the iphone Apple are working hard to make people think that they've invented the tablet computer. All they've done, just like with their other stuff, is taken an existing concept and given it a 'nice' user interface. And I say 'nice' because I'm really not that sold on apple's UI. I have an ipod and I don't particularly like it (I don't use it). I've used OSX and don't particularly like it. I've used an iphone and don't particularly like it. And I've never found any of them to be that glorious phrase that Apple love to ladle over everyone and everything...intuitive.
So whilst I'm certainly not a hater I'd be very happy if Apple could carry on making their products without the hype and hoopla that the Apple fanboys love to fuel. And I don't call MP3 players ipods and I don't call mobile phones iphones and I sure as hell won't be calling tablet computers ipads.
But I wish them all the luck in the world. And in the meantime I'll carry on using my desktop computer (which ten years ago people assured me that nobody would be using anymore) and working with products that really have changed the way I do things...usually all from Google. :)
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