28 Jan
I’m in total agreement that the iPad is one desirable piece of kit — well, except for the name thing. The iPad’s design is elegant, the size reasonable for a device designed to surf the web and handle e-mail and e-book reading. I really want to buy one… However, it’s not without it’s shortcomings, and did you expect more than an oversized iPhone?
The good stuff…
The prices: Leading up to today’s event, pricing rumors were all over the show, but most estimates were in the range of £700 to £1000. So it was quite a shocker to learn that the iPad would start at just £309 for a 16GB Wi-Fi model. Let’s put that in perspective: it’s the same price as a 32GB iPod touch just two years ago, and only £150 more than the current 32GB touch, despite having a much larger screen, more powerful hardware, and more features. But perhaps the more telling comparison is that Amazon’s similarly-size Kindle DX, with its non-color, non-touch-sensitive screen and much more limited functionality, is priced at around £400. So the iPad seems like a bargain in comparison.
External keyboard support: Macworld editors have been aching for Bluetooth keyboard support on the iPhone since the first model was announced in January 2007. Despite the small screen on the iPhone and iPod touch, being able to use an external keyboard for “real” typing tasks would make the device much more useful, and even let us leave our laptops at home for some trips. Sadly, with each new version of the iPhone OS, we’ve been disappointed by this omission.
The iPad’s huge screen, which has the potential to be great for working with email and text, Apple didn’t disappoint. Not only will the they sell a dedicated Keyboard Dock, which holds the iPad upright while providing a full-size (but no-keypad) Apple aluminum keyboard, but the iPad will also work with standard Bluetooth keyboards. I am very, very pleased.
iWork for iPad: If the iPad really was just a big iPod touch, certain segments of the tech-buying public may not have seriously considered purchasing it. But with the announcement of iWork , the iPad became a device that will also let you create, edit, and present Keynote presentations; work on spreadsheets and word-processing documents; and create newsletters and other basic page-layout documents. And support for Microsoft Office documents means you can import and work with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. It remains to be seen how well iWork for iPad handles these types of files, and what features it does and doesn’t support, but with a real “office suite,” a 9.7-inch screen, and the aforementioned support for external keyboards, the iPad is a much more capable tool than its smaller sibling—and for many people, possibly a laptop replacement.
ePub support: Most people expected the iPad to double as an e-book reader. But Apple’s announcement that the iPad’s iBooks e-reading app will support the ePub standard was big news. Adopted by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) as an open-standards-based format for digital books, ePub allows publishers to create books in a single format for distribution to various e-book resellers and for use on any device that supports ePub. With more and more publishers and hardware vendors adopting the ePub standard, this news means it will be easier for publishers—big and small—to make their e-books available for the iPad and other e-readers.
(Questions still remain, however: Will Apple apply FairPlay copy protection to books you purchase through the iBookstore? Will you be able to import unprotected ePub documents into the iBooks app? We’ll be working on the answers to these questions going forward.)
Bonus surprise: the iPad name: OK, so “iPad” was on many lists of possible names, including my own. Nevertheless, it was a bit of a surprise. As I noted in that article, you could argue that iPad is too close to iPod, that it sounds a bit, well, rubbish. On the other hand, I also think: ‘iPad’ a simple, tablet-inspired play on the known-everywhere-in-the-world iPod name. ‘Pad’ would be a good brand for a tablet-style device that lets you explore and save your creative ideas.” But Apple went with it, and on the whole, it’s already growing on me.
Unfortunately, there are a handful of shortcomings with the iPad that I have to think about before I buy the tablet.
The bad stuff…
No video camera: The lack of a camera surprised me alot, it almost seems like an intentional omission, so that Apple has something neat to show in “iPad 2.0.” Which is really frustrating! A device with a large, gorgeous, full color screen, a 1GHz CPU, wireless and 3G internet access…and no way to hold a video chat? Shocking!
No multitasking: If there were a video camera and you COULD have a video chat, it would be very useful to leave the iPad version of iChat running in the background, otherwise, you’d be quitting and launching it all the time. Notifications are nice, but not nearly as nice as simply leaving the software running.
Support for Flash: I love Flash… it has it’s down falls, but certainly has it’s place for certain sites/apps/software. It used to take up to 80 percent of the CPU in a 2.66GHz Mac to render a 400×300 Flash game, but with the advances in Flash and AS3 this is simply not the case.f So yes, I know Flash isn’t an easy add-on, but Adobe are waiting, I’m waiting, and maybe you are too. I know it kills battery life. But like it or hate it, Flash is still a large part of the Web experience today for many people are wanting this feature, and not just for those seeking Flash games.
True GPS only available only with 3G model: This bit should be noted with a disclaimer, because Apple’s iPad specs page isn’t very clear about this, “surprisingly”. However, based on comparing that section to that of the iPhone specs page, I think the 3G chipset is the same as the one in the iPhone, which means you’d get the true GPS chip with the 3G-enabled iPad.
So basically, if you want to take full advantage of those maps, you’ll need to pony up the £100 or so 3G fee, because that fee buys you not only access to the 3G network, but a true GPS chip as well. Without the 3G chip, you get only an approximate location based on wireless device locations and a digital compass.
Video limitations: While the iPad can play 720p video, it can only output (at best) 576p and 480p, so no using your iPad to send the output of a 720p video to your high definition television. Related to this issue is the puzzling resolution of 1024×768! In a world where everything is headed to widescreen, the iPad is reverting to the older 4×3 standard. Sure, it means apps that are run in double-size will fit the screen better, but it also means thicker black bars on pretty much every movie you watch.
As I said, I really do like the new iPad. I’d love to buy one; it looks like an excellent surfing, e-mailing, and movie-watching machine. However, there are too many things on the list above that mean I won’t be purchasing the first-generation iPad. The lack of a video camera and chat capabilities, and the lack of Flash support are two things I really think Apple should have sorted for it’s realease. So for me, I will be reaching for the laptop more often than not, so I might as well just keep using that for my casual Web, e-mail and video chatting needs. But with just a couple extra features, I can certainly see an iPad in my future.
