iPad – Love It Or Hate It
As an interested party, I’ve been keeping up on all the hoop-lah regarding Apple’s impending iPad launch. This post is intended to express my opinion and personal interest in a tablet iPad. Let me start by saying I am not an Apple fan boy (image to left was created to incite sarcasm as opposed to express position). I consider myself brand agnostic when it comes to technology (OK, maybe not in the case of cameras where I lean toward Canon). I’ve been following the tablet market for years, watched Mr Jobs unveil his latest wares, and pre-ordered my very own.
The blogosphere is very hot-and-cold on the iPad…actually, mostly cold. It seems that even though Steve Jobs stated where he feels this product fits in the market (between a smartphone and a laptop), people can’t seem to grasp it’s usefulness. Those who have a laptop, regard it as pointless, especially those with a netbook. Cost seems to be another factor. $500-$800 is no small entry fee for a ticket into a confusing tech marketspace.
I get all that. This product fills a niche market. For those people (like me), this is the PERFECT device (I’ll get into that more in a bit). For those not in-the-niche, it just doesn’t make sense…and proponents can’t seem to convince/sell them on it either. At least not yet.
Additional iPad bashing includes things like:
It’s first-gen, wait for v2 and pass on the bugs. I get this, believe me I do. However, here is my stance: The OS isn’t new, the device is somewhat (IMO) an iteration of the iPhone/iTouch. The chip/screen/etc…are carry-overs. I see this from a reliability perspective as evolutionary. Will Apple release v2 with all sorts or cool features that I’ll want. I’m sure of it. If so, I will eBay my iPad in a year and get an upgrade. Apple products have traditionally done fairly well in the residual value department.
The price will drop shortly after it launches. Maybe. But so does ALL my tech gear! My $1,500 laptop purchased a year ago is worth about $500 now if I’m lucky. Lots of the naysayers are citing the iPhone release and it’s $200 price drop 30 days following launch. Hmmm. Again, no one knows what the market will do in the segment following the iPad launch. I think Apple is pricing this device already at a competitive price and lower than initially expected. Would I be upset if it dropped $50-$100 a couple months after I buy it? Maybe. $200? Probably. Will is cause me to wait? No!
It’s just a big iPhone/iTouch. Is that bad? I LOVE my iPhone! It has changed how I stay connected. It wasn’t my first smart phone. I’ve had others. I like to equate it this way; When I had my previous smart phone, it was convenient to perform about 50% of the functions of my laptop. Meaning, for 50% of the things I wanted to do, I didn’t need to schlep into my office and grab my PC. The iPhone took that percentage up to 80. The iPad? Possibly 95%.
I already have a laptop. :-/ My laptop, as nice as it is, isn’t always convenient. I don’t like to read text for an extended period of time (it gets hot). Movies are good, but not easy in a hotel room or on a plane. taking in and out of sleep mode for a 30 second mail check…really?
Why would I want to surf 80% of the Internet (lack of Flash support). Honestly, this bothered me at first. Then I thought back to how many times in the past year has not having Flash on my iPhone impeded my experience? Maybe twice. Is it a factor? Yes. A big one that will deter me? No.
There will be other/better tablets releasing soon. I hope so! I love competition, it drives innovation. But I have to go with experience on this one. Apple takes the gold star for hardware/software integration and ease of use…ie: polish. It will work! Are we (am I) confident that the Windows devices will be seamless? No, that’s proven through history. Chromium? Come on, it holds tons of promise but is still in its infancy. I am very confident that the iPad will look/feel/perform like that of a veteran device on day one!
No camera? come on… This bugs me the most. I was so hoping to be able to Skype with my family from this device. Maybe v2. 
…
Honestly, I’ve been wanting (and waiting) for a tablet device for about 6 years now. Up until now, there hasn’t been a device that meets MY requirements. Up until now, tablets have been laptops with swivel screens and maybe pen-based screen support. 2010 is going to be an exciting year for tablet devices, and Apple is leading the way. Will they ultimately win? dunno. Will they have the best device? dunno. But I will tell you what I’ve been looking for and what I like in this device:
Instant on. Sounds silly right? I mean, is waiting for the lappy to come out of sleep mode really that bad? YES IT IS! I’m on my couch watching TV, commercial comes on, I want to pop in, check mail, a few other things and pop out. Time is of the essence!
Handiness (word?). Compact, easy to carry, easy to hold/use, battery not always dead (like my laptop).
Convenience. OK, I guess this is similar to “handiness”, but I travel, this device will make consuming media (incl. movies) soooo much better when traveling. Again, if you don’t travel frequently, this wouldn’t be a requirement for you. Load up my movies, books, magazines, newspapers (still waiting to see what the acceptance will be for this) and I have easy access to all my content at the airport, on the plane, in the hotel, etc…
eBook/eMag/ePaper/eThis/eThat. I held off in 2009 in buying an eReader. I realize it’s the way we are heading from a book reading perspective. I couldn’t get my head around black-and-white. For books, it’s cool. But I want to consume all my media on the same device and can’t imagine the magazines and newspapers not being in color. Think of the potential here. Books/Mage/Papers can evolve into Harry Potter-like moving pictures and videos. Book edition updates that don’t result in having to throw away the old version….just install the ‘update’. The potential here is enormous…and exciting.
It’s a big iPhone/iTouch. Again, I love my iPhone. Some tasks can become tedious on the small screen though. I can now remote desktop and not have to scroll the screen, web pages will render better and more completely, the world of mobile gaming changes with these new resolutions.
…
My goal for this post isn’t to convince YOU that this is a device you must have. It’s simply to help in understanding WHY some people are excited for the iPad. I know expectations are high. People will expect high sales volumes. I don’t think we will see that. This device could possibly land on a future 10-worst-Apple-failures like Apple TV. But you know what? I know some folks who have Apple TV and don’t consider it a failure. In fact, they love it. Why? Because it meets a need, solves a problem for them. That’s all this is. It’s another device that may not be something accepted by 80% of the public, but meet (and hopefully) exceed the needs and expectations of the millions of people within this niche market Apple is bravely addressing before all others. Don’t hate it for that.
March 13th, 2010 in
Tech | tags:
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As an interested party, I’ve been keeping up on all the hoop-lah regarding Apple’s impending iPad launch. This post is intended to express my opinion and personal interest in a tablet iPad. Let me start by saying I am not an Apple fan boy (image to left was created to incite sarcasm as opposed to express position). I consider myself brand agnostic when it comes to technology (OK, maybe not in the case of cameras where I lean toward Canon). I’ve been following the tablet market for years, watched Mr Jobs unveil his latest wares, and pre-ordered my very own.
Yes please. Pre ordered
Totally agree with your point of view Hoody. I have two Kindles (v1 and v2) and I love the eReader concept and I also have an iPhone and laptop etc – Like you, I travel extensively and love the idea of having an all-in-one application. Transitioning from newspaper to email to book to movie on a long flight with the touch of a button is significant feature. I don’t buy the “…wait for v2 to get the bugs out…” lets face it – this isn’t Microsoft. Apple has proven time and again they know how to QA for a clean release – we have 3 Mac’s, 2 iPhones, AppleTV in addition to 2 pc’s and an HP media server. I NEVER have issues with my apple products – I can’t say the same for the rest of the paper weights in the house.