The Apple iPad revealed. What now?
I was wrong on plenty of things regarding this tablet computer. Some of the things are disappointing, but I’m happy I’ve taken some time to digest it a bit, to listen to some arguments. I think Apple’s iPad is pretty darn cool. It *might* be something I’d buy, but I can’t say for sure just yet.
I’m going to start with this statement. I’m relieved that I now know what this is. The build-up was just ridiculous. But I think that the suspense was valuable because people put forth so many ideas, they may have even encouraged innovation by other organizations to meet needs.
I think the iPad will be a good computer for people of every age to read and learn. I think most media companies will like it because it encourages the consuming of their information, books, films, and audio. And it’s created to be hyper-convenient to purchase those materials via this mainstream channel.
People were hoping for more than the iPhone of course. And the lack of camera surprised some. I think I don’t mind it not having an onboard camera as long as a durable one can be connected. I think it might be better as a peripheral actually, then it could be pivoted to see the subject best for whatever use case, chatting or games.
One area that does bother me right now, but I hope for resolution is the lack of a dedicated drawing program. I thought for sure that one of the most important ways to justify the existence of a device like this is to throw down with designers. In a way, I think Apple owes the design community something like that because the design community supports them. People were mentioning they were surprised about a lack of stylus. I kind of agree, but I want it known that a stylus does exist that can work with these capacitive screens. How the device will handle a sharp input, I don’t know. And that’s too bad, because it’s a niche opportunity. But I think it’s something Apple probably wants other companies to handle, Adobe of course and smaller companies.
Sounds good right? Well yes but still I go back to this intended as a consuming device.
What else is missing? Well I said in my earlier posting that I expected the device to have a real operating system, not just the iPhone OS. Well I was wrong. And that means it doesn’t really have the ability to support programs and utilities outside approved app store apps. Will this matter to most people who can find useful programs in the 150,000 large app store? Nope, they’ll be fine. And in fact, for every lost hobbyist, there will be hundreds or thousands of users who are given more than they need at prices they don’t mind, in a closed platform they don’t mind.
The good news is, plenty of other devices predating and developed concurrently are going to work for hobbyists. And these will gain a lot from the iPad. The envelope must be pushed. And it’s happening in price, weight, battery life, user experience and more.
What’s hot? As much of a bugger it is for me to say, the app store is really hot. Because it is a market where a lot of people can get involved. Sure it’s closed off, but it’s not 150,000 strong by keeping people out. It’s quite open too. And somehow non-public apps will be made as this device and platform evolves if certain businesses want to take advantage.
What else is missing? I think a lot about the possibilities of a really strong voice recognition to complement a handwriting recognition where one could produce text to share these ideas almost as quickly as with a keyboard.
So after seeing the real thing, will I get it? I’m torn, I mean the price points certainly make it more fun, but given that the potential for the Android devices, the battery life potential of Pixel Qi screen tablets and Ebook Readers and it’s hard to part with the money if I don’t have a killer drawing program. And I want the It’s a good idea if one were to skip this device that they might keep an eye on the app store still. Because that’s where one might find exactly what they’re looking for.
It’s very exciting. A few years ago, there were plenty of devices that would fail and never return. One might think this wasn’t something people wanted and would go away before it reached a potential. You get the feeling now though that we are definitely inching towards the right version for most people in this form factor. It’s happening now and just like all other technologies, it will keep getting better. It will get to the point where you will see too many reasons to buy one. They present many opportunities for in-home control over networked devices, energy settings or other monitors and smart features.
February 5, 2010 at 7:07 am | computers, design, mac | No comment
