“Too expensive.” “Nothing new.” “Not enough features.” These are just a few of the sentiments echoed over and over again on message boards all over the Internet as the news about Apple’s latest product came in. The date on those posts? Oct. 23, 2001, the day Steve Jobs and Apple introduced the iPod to the world. And yet, for all the vitriol, the iPod went on to become one of the most successful products in history. Could the iPad be set to do the same?
I understand if you’re already sick of hearing about the iPad, but since this device is being touted as a viable gaming machine, I figure I should say a few words. And, since hating and criticizing this device seems to be the most popular use of most people’s time, I figure I’ll start there. First of all, I’m not crazy about the price. At $499, it’s a pretty safe bet I won’t be ordering one in when it becomes available in March. Second, the display is fine by me at 9.7 inches, but what’s up with the 4:3 aspect ratio? Third, the lack of Flash support in the Web browser is pretty far from what I would describe as “the ultimate Web browsing experience.” I’m glad the YouTube app is there, but the inability to get the most use out of the vast number of other sites out there that heavily rely on Flash is going to make for a rather lousy Web browsing experience. Fourth, no multitasking. You can only have one app open at a time. This is, perhaps, the worst offense of all.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, it’s time to discuss what I like. As a couch-surfing ’Net addict, I want to be able to curl up on the couch with my dog on my lap. I want to be able to kick back, log into Google Reader and read my favorite blogs at a comfortable distance without a hot, heavy device slowly roasting my junk while a bulky keyboard constantly gets in the way and makes holding the device a tedious, awkward affair. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a device like the Kindle or Nook, but with a vivid, color display, plus the ability to use the Web, play games and have access to thousands of other apps? Suddenly, $499 doesn’t seem like such a bad price. But could I do better?
My first reaction to the iPad was to try and do better. I immediately hit eBay and started going through all those tablet PCs, PDAs, netbooks and other Internet devices that have come and gone just to see if I could find something comparable to the iPad at half the price. As it turns out, I could. Machines with similar specifications running Windows XP go for around $200 and up. Any less and you start getting into junk you really don’t want — obsolete hardware, cosmetic damage, missing components. And that’s probably the thing that bothers me most about the iPad. It’s like everyone forgot that tablet PCs already exist. Of course, they said the same thing about the iPod and the Macintosh. Mp3 players with hard-disk drives already existed when the iPod came out, and the Macintosh was far from the first personal computer, but the iPod and Macintosh still had something else to offer that, obviously, a heck of a lot of people wanted. You can have a full operating system, multitasking, easily replaceable batteries and any browser you’d like with support for Flash at half the price of the iPad, but you aren’t getting the tight integration of the available apps, the multi-touch and motion-sensitive features or the all-important Apple look and feel that the iPad will boast.
It depends on how much you want to spend and how important owning a status symbol is to you. But isn’t that how everything is?
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