January 28, 2010

• After reading articles and watching videos about the Apple iPad, it turns out that while it may pretty much stunt the growth of the eBook reader market (like the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes & Noble Nook), it's really not a replacement for the laptop; which a lot of people assumed it would be. Apple is gearing for the iPad to be this device that all households will have, that will be the substitute for photo albums, books, newspapers, magazines, portable music/video players, calendars, e-mail reader, maps, oh and it runs apps plus games that run on the iPhone / iPod Touch. THAT'S pretty much it right? Oh wait, it's suppose to be this magnificent portable web browsing device as well, but with the lack of Adobe Flash functionality, forget about watching videos from websites like hulu.com, or play many of those Facebook games, or simply navigate through any website that integrates flash in some form. eerrmmm, that's a big issue as far as I'm concerned.

  Other issues I have with the iPad that's convincing me not to get one...
  1) No multi-tasking. Sorry it's inexcusable, and I've said this about the iPhone as well.
  2) No Cameras. Would have been nice for video conferencing.
  3) The necessity to use adapters to connect other devices to it. Talk about a hassle.
  4) Wait, what's that? There's no USB or memory card ports on this thing!
  5) It's still going to be reliant to Apple's App Store. All software has to be Apple approved, which has proven to be problematic, or at least annoying.

  Sure, I admit that a future version of the iPad might solve all these issues and be everything we hoped for, but I'm talking present tense here. Whenever I compare the prices and capabilities of the iPad to the prices and capabilities of a netbook or laptop, it really makes me wonder why I need this Apple tablet. The only current reason I can see to own one really, is purely for aesthetic purposes. In the end it really is just an overgrown iPod Touch. So basically all the reasons why I never got an iPod Touch still applies to the iPad. I'm going to pass on this gadget or similar products for now, until the idontknowwhen future when books, newspapers, and magazines can really only be found in these types of devices.

  p.s. the name "iPad." Seriously Steve Jobs? You should have seen this video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFNQE_TzQNI

  • 5:34 pm
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