RSS FeedMy Take on the iPad
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:54PM 
In case you hadn't heard (he said with a fair amount of sarcasm), Apple announced its tablet PC, the iPad, the other day. Since we're drowning in post-announcement commentary, the likes of which we've not seen since we found out who shot J.R., I'll just stick to the top-line stuff here.
Overall, I like it. It's sleek, simple, and ... Apple. While some of the negative post-event buzz has been that it's an "oversized iPod Touch," I say, is that a bad thing? The iPod Touch (and iPhone) is awesome. Why not have a larger version of these mega-hit devices for bigger browsing, bigger e-mail-checking, and bigger content-consuming? The iPad seems like the perfect "schlep-around-with-you-everywhere" device.
PROS:
- Super thin and super light
- Touch keyboard that's like the iPhone/iPod Touch, only full-sized
- Expect some pretty cool iPad-sized apps coming down the pike
- Really good battery life
- Great new iTunes experience
- Cool print content experience, like the NY Times they showed
- Fingerprint-less screen
CONS:
- No SD card slot built-in
- No USB (not even USB micro)
- No built-in GPS
- No camera
- No drag-and-drop file management
- No file creation -- only viewing (I'd love to be able to edit documents and presentations with it.)
- No OLED screen (seemed an obvious choice at this stage of the game)
- No 16:9 aspect ratio for viewing wide-screen movies
- Touch keyboard (for those of you who won't give up your Blackberry-style keyboards)
Let's face it, at this point, Steve Jobs could have taken a dump on stage, and people would be ooh'ing and aah'ing, their stock would have gone up 5%, and David Pogue would be fawning all over it. In the end, Apple does do these product innovations pretty well. They haven't stumbled in a long time. Bottom line ... I want one, and so do you.
apple, ipad, iphone, ipod in Technology 
Reader Comments (4)
I do too, want one. I've been wanting a Kindle or an E-Reader. I'm a sony girl, which is why I was stuck on getting one. Now, I have a feeling those e-readers will drop down in price so I'll get BOTH!!! :) Now the question is: what size?
Dude, Apple stock has taken the giant dump. Down about 8% since the "it's only $499" bump the other day. That's right everyone, keep selling down the stock. It's worthless. I don't want to buy more before launch day. I'm selling, too. I promise. Seriously, it's so overvalued ...
I totally agree with you that the big iPod Touch approach was best (Check out my blog post iPad: 'Only' a Big iPod Touch?).
Regarding your cons list, both SD and USB are available in the Camera Connection Kit. They are little dongles that plug into the Dock port. There is also a physical keyboard dock for people who absolutely need physical keys. Also, the new iWork apps for iPad let you create and edit documents, not just view them.
I've been thinking about the 16:9 screen and I think it was best for them to stick with 4:3. Think about trying to type with a widescreen aspect ratio. In portrait mode, the keyboard would be super skinny and difficult to use. In landscape, the keyboard would take up most of the screen. For everything except video, I think the 16:9 would be pretty useless.
I think Apple's stock drop is temporary. Like the recent stock jump of Ford, it's based on short-term news. The fact is, Apple's financials are super-strong right now in a down market. I would greatly hope that in the next 2-3 months, Apple could make some surprise tweaks to the iPad to address some of these concerns. Regarding the USB issue, I think people would prefer to run around with the iPad and just plug in wherever without having to bring multiple accessories.
I agree on the 4:3 design. For what is essentially a monitor, I don't think the on-screen keyboard would really work at 16:9. I think I've just gotten used to not liking to watch 16:9 movies on a 4:3 screen.
AAPL is already climbing back up. I should have picked some more up when it dropped, but I had a Lou flashback and decided against it. With iPad sales and the possible introduction of iPhone to Verizon this summer (the latest rumor), they could be in even better shape though.