My $0.02
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have undoubtedly heard about the latest offering from Apple – the iPad. I would also venture to say that since the product was announced last week, you’ve probably heard a lot of negative feedback. Though it’s a bit off topic, I thought I’d throw my two cents in on the matter
(Disclaimer: I have been accused of being an Apple ‘fan boy’ occasionally, so I’m sure I’m somewhat biased)
I love the iPad. Plain and simple. I think Apple has truly come up with a game changer. Sure, it’s bigger and more unwieldy than an iPhone. Yes, it’s not as powerful as a desktop computer and it’s running a crippled operating system. Big deal. It’s not supposed to replace the iPhone or the desktop computer. Apple is trying to introduce an entirely new product category with the iPad.
I’ve been getting paid to work in the computer industry since 1990. I’ve owned a computer since as early as 1984. I currently have three computers at home and I’ve had an iPhone since the day they came out. I also plan on getting on iPad the day they come out. Why? Because I think it really is a revolutionary device that will give me a better user experience doing several things that are important to me.
For one, I am an avid reader. I almost purchased a Kindle or Nook on several occasions over the past twelve months, but held out in the slim hope that Apple would come out with a new product that would revolutionize how people interact with “print” media. It appears as though the iPad has done just that. I’m not exactly thrilled about buying my books through iBooks (Apples online book store). I’d rather purchase my reading material through Barnes & Noble. Great news – Barnes & Noble already has an iPhone app for reading eBooks and it’s fairly safe to assume that will be updated for the new iPad interface. I’m also quite excited to see what kind of apps the publishers can come up with for viewing their content. Video and print together on one screen? I’m hooked.
If I’m not reading, I’m probably browsing the interwebs. Whether checking the latest scores, catching up on the news, or researching a topic that interests me, I spend between two and three hours a day browsing the internet ‘for fun’. With a 9.7″ screen offering 1024×768 resolution, the iPad will be a perfect device for me to accomplish my browsing. Sure, the iPad doesn’t have Flash. That’s fine with me. Having been in the internet field for the past twelve years, I have a love/hate relationship with Flash as it is.
I’m not a hard core gamer, but I like to get my Freecell on from time-to-time. While I don’t have the patience to fully tackle Half-Life 2, Doom 3 or any of the newer titles out today, I still like to exercise my mind with some puzzle/logic fare. While the iPhone provides a nice, simple interface to do this, the iPad will blow the doors off in respect to casual gaming.
Without going into great detail, I was also impressed by the claim of 10 hour battery life. Ten Hours?!? Watching a movie on a cross country flight won’t be a problem. The addition of their iWork suite of applications at an affordable price was a great idea (think Microsoft Office, but for the Mac). Having the ability to work on word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations on the iPad is bigger than you think it will be.
Finally – the price! At $499, Apple has really positioned this for the masses. Apple has always been a premium company. Their hardware has always been spectacular but the price has often put it outside the mainstreams hands. Case in point, I don’t remember the source, but Apple has a 90% market share of the PC’s over $1000. And now they have a premium casual computing device under $500? Schweet!
But you know what? This device won’t be for everyone and that’s “ok”. I would never own the iPad as my primary source of computing power. I also wouldn’t use the iPad to write War and Peace. It’s not going to replace my cellphone. Everyone has their own requirements and for me, the iPad makes a lot of sense.
So put me in the “pro” iPad camp. I think it’s going to be a revolutionary device and I can’t wait to get my hands on one!
