Last week, after months of speculation, Apple Inc. unveiled its iPad table computer to decidedly mixed reactions. Some hailed iPad as a brilliant, industry-redefining device, certain to save print media while simultaneously selling tens of millions of copies, like iPod and iPhone.
Others snickered at the name, immediately dismissing iPad as either a dumbed-down computer or an awkwardly overgrown iPhone. That is, a product without need or niche. At this point, negative opinions about iPad seem to be Louder and more prevalent than positive ones. Some of that negativity is backlash to the frenzy leading up to iPad’s launch. Apple isn’t helping when it calls iPad “magical” and “revolutionary.” But what is it?
Superficially, iPad does indeed resemble a large iPhone or iPod touch. It has a 9.6-inch multi-touch screen, is a 1/2-inch thick, and is made of aluminum and glass. Like the iPhone, the iPad has just four physical buttons. It can run most of the 140,000 apps in the iTunes App Store, just like an iPhone or iPod touch.
While it can run those apps (more on that below), out of the box it’s primarily designed for reading books, newspapers, and other content, surfing the web, playing games, and enjoying media such as YouTube videos, HD movies, music, photos, and TV shows. You can also use iPad to send email, touch up photos, edit documents and spreadsheets, and view PDFs. You hold iPad in your hands like a clipboard or book.
If you know how to use an iPhone or iPod touch you’ll know how to use the iPad. Like the iPhone, the iPad has a software keyboard. Early reports say this keyboard is fine for composing short emails, updating Facebook, and basic text editing, but probably isn’t ideal for complex word processing. Apple is offering two external keyboards to help with that.
All versions of the iPad have built-in Wi-Fi, while three versions also have 3G wireless capabilities. AT&T offers iPad users two different 30-day, no contract 3G data plans for people out of reach of a Wifi signal.
It should be possible to make VOIP and Skype calls from iPad, as it now is with 3G and 3GS iPhones.
Notable features lacking on the iPad include a camera or webcam, SD card port (though Apple is offering an adapter for SD cards), support for Flash, and true system multitasking. It’s surprising that iPad lacks a camera. It’s a likely addition to the next generation iPad. Multitasking is also likely a feature in the next version of the iPhone operating system (which drives the iPad.) If iPad supported multitasking now, it would likely have far fewer skeptics.
For many people, the lack of Flash will be iPad’s major shortcoming. For now, this means no Hulu.com. Web standards are moving from Flash video to an open standard (led by companies such as YouTube), but this won’t happen for a couple of years. In the meantime, perhaps Apple and Adobe will settle their differences and bring Flash to iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that.
iPad is not designed to do everything you’d do on a traditional computer; instead, as Steve Jobs has said, “It has to be far better at doing some key things.” It will be an exceptional, full color ereader; not just for books, but also newspapers and magazines. As of this writing, the base iPad costs just $10 more than the Kindle DX, but has far more features. Indeed, if Apple simply said it was launching and ebook reader with the iPad’s features, I believe public acclaim would be very high, and we’d be seeing far fewer negative reactions to it.
iPad will also be a great gaming and media consuming device. A certain type of mobile professional will appreciate the simplicity of the iPad design, along with its considerable wireless abilities. The iPad makes an excellent digital planner, with calendar, contact, and Microsoft Exchange support built in. Certainly many doctors, lawyers, and teachers have been hoping for a simple, streamlined device (simpler than a notebook) for accessing digital documents.
But the real killer feature of iPad is its ability to run nearly any of the 140,000 apps in the iTunes App store. Many of these apps will be much more useful on iPad’s 9.6-inch screen than the iPhone’s 3-inch screen. The apps let you make the iPad want you want it to be. I know a videographer who uses his iPhone as a teleprompter, digital clapboard, script reader, and storyboard tool. Imagine the utility of doing all that on iPad’s larger screen? The iPad was announced months before shipping to give developers a head start in developing new, iPad-specific apps. Those iPad-specific apps will define the iPad’s real potential.
So, is the iPad truly a revolutionary device, or just a toy for Mac fans? Based on its potential utility, it’s not a toy. But based on its specs, it’s not a revolution like the iPhone was. Instead, it’s a step toward a new kind of appliance-like computing. You just turn it on and use it. You keep it out on your coffee table or desk for instant access. You download inexpensive, specialized apps as you need them. And you do it on a device that’s easier to read then a cell phone, but more casual than a notebook computer.
As a step in an evolutionary process, iPad will certainly give rise to interesting competing products in the future, just as iPhone paved the way for great new smartphones from Google and other companies. Who knows, you might read about those devices on an iPad someday.
