So, iPad! YAY! I haven’t watched the press conference Apple threw today, so I have only been able to read what others have writen about the new iPad introduced to the world today. Here are a few of my thoughts on this “revolutionary” device:
Simply put: it’s a lot of overblown hype. I guess more specifically I mean that the hype it is getting too much hype. I’m not saying everyone who loves all the features and demos shown today are wrong, but the overall “buzz” for this is overblown. Essentially, in my mind, this is what the Kindle should be, and once again Apple has shown the way to the world about how exactly to lead the world in every electronics category you enter.
Operating Systems? Leads. Hardware? Leads (but I understand both of these go hand-in-hand). Smartphones? Leads. Portable music devices? Leads. And now? They will lead in the “medium sized application delivery system” category, that they just created. The only they don’t lead in is servers, and that’s just an opinion, I don’t have any numbers to back that up.
The Kindle now belongs to this category, as does Barnes and Noble’s new device. These devices are now painfully behind what Apple has introduced here today: a gorgeous color, multi-touch screen, with full iPhone/iPod touch application support, and the same, rock-solid portable OS that is found in the iPhone and iPod touch.
This all combines to be one awesome package, and is proof, yet again, that Apple is on top of their game.
Now that I’ve said that, here’s the problems I find with this:
This is essentially what the iPod touch SHOULD have been from the very beginning. All the other iPods are better portable music player values then the iPod touch. Sure, a case could be made that the iPod touch can and will kill the Nintendo DS, and the Sony PSP, but the issue with that for me is that now there will be little to no market for an iPod touch.
No one is going to want to make games for the iPod touch that is designed for the small screen, when the same effort could be made to expand the experience on a larger screen. Most games require an internet connection, anyway since they are anticipating being run on an iPhone anyway.
Now, though, the devlopers of apps have 2 clear targets: iPhones (and by association the iPads with 3G) and iPads. Games will be designed to run at the max resolution, and some productivity apps will be designed to run exclusively on iPads.
But logistics aside, who is going to use these? Travellers, for one, as they can now watch movies, listen to music and play games from their seat either on the train, or plane, or taxi cab. This experience will be AMAZING too. A gorgeous screen to watch movies and music videos and TV shows.
But how many people regularly fly anymore? Take the train? Not many. As I blogged about earlier, when I lived in the Bay Area, I rode the train often, and loved spending my time playing the PSP. But that’s a PSP, not this large, bright $500 “STEAL ME!” sign. Not that I expect the worst in people, but all it takes is one bad Apple (pardon the pun) to ruin the bunch, and this device seems a little too flamboyant to take out in public.
So that leaves long-distance travel. And again, who does that regularly? At MOST I fly a couple times a year. I don’t go on Amtrak, and I don’t take Greyhound. So for me (and millions of people like me) this iPad is a catchy and kind of cool device, that will never satisfy my needs at $500.
Perhaps if this were the price of a PS3, then I maybe could justify the cost of purchasing it, but as it currently stands, I would rather spend a couple hundred more dollars, and get a full-fledged laptop, and I know I’m not in the minority on this.
Yes, it has some cool features, and yes it looks sharp, great, and Apple continues to demonstrate itself to be a trand-setter, but I don’t see how this is “revolutionary” at all. It’s just a bigger iPod touch, and as such has a few new bells and whistles to go with it. That’s it.
There will be the obvious migration to your local Apple store to pick one up, and your obvious fanboys will pick one up, but I don’t see how this will benefit the average consumer in any meaningful way.
We’ll see!