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Every year, oceans of gadget junk are pumped out to the tech market. Thousands of boring desktops, gimmicky cell phones and generally dull devices are produced, marketed and sold to easily impressionable, perpetually unsatisfied consumers across the globe.
However, on rare occasion, a fledgling tech company creates a product that redefines innovation itself, a product that forever changes the way we think of computing and communication.
The iPad is not that product.
For the cave dwellers out there who haven’t heard about it, the iPad is Apple’s newest device, introduced late in January and set to be released sometime in April. With the same gorgeous and flavorful design as the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad joins Apple’s portable tech family as the obese, deficient younger brother.
At first glance, it looks like a ground-breaking device and a true game-changer, but upon further investigation, it becomes apparent that Apple’s new baby is nothing more than an iPod with a larger screen.
The first and foremost problem with the iPad is this notion that it is the absolute best way to experience the Internet. Apparently being able to see an entire page without scrolling is something of a big deal, as if using the scroll wheel on a mouse or pressing the down button is a task too difficult for the average computer user. What Apple isn’t telling you is that the browser on the iPad doesn’t have Flash support, which means you won’t be watching any Hulu or listening to any Pandora stations. Of course, you can always waste your money, time and disk space on an app that lets you do what you can do on a normal computer for free.
So you’ve just downloaded Pandora Radio from the App Store — problem solved right?
Not really, because every time you need to do something other than listening to Pandora, you have to exit the application. The iPad, like the iPhone and iPod Touch, is not capable of multitasking. Multitasking means exactly what it sounds like it means: It’s the ability to do more than one thing at once. It’s being able to surf the Web while chatting on AIM. I’m only explaining this because multitasking is so common in computers that the average, not-so-nerdy computer user might not even think about it. Without the ability to do more than one thing at once, the quality of user experience declines significantly regardless of how high the quality of the applications on the device. It’s simple.
Software limitations like these are big problems, but the the bigger issues with the iPad lie under the hood.
Most computers have a few standard ports for connecting displays and peripheral devices, such as cameras and music players. The iPad has no standard ports; instead, there is one proprietary docking port. It’s the same port on the bottom of the iPhone. If you want to upload pictures from your camera or take music from a different media player you’ll need to buy Apple’s over-priced connection changers. The iPad is too revolutionary to use the standard USB that practically every peripheral device on the market uses.
Most computers have two main input devices: a keyboard and a mouse. At this point you might be giving your newspaper the stink-eye, because you’re probably saying to yourself,
“Well duh, Ben Badio, it’s a tablet! It’s not supposed to have a keyboard and mouse!” Well some call that an innovation, but it’s really just another limitation. No matter how cool it seems, having to touch the screen with your fingers weakens the overall computer experience.
Those of you planning on buying iPads or other tablets can expect serious wrist cramping and finger fatigue, not to mention sore fingertips from poking a piece of glass over and over again. When it comes to ease and precision of use, the keyboard and mouse combo always prevails. It’s just the way computers are supposed to be.
So yes, the iPad is a brick with Internet, but please, don’t blame Apple. It’s not like Apple is doing something that has never been done before. Keyboard-free touch-enabled devices have been attempted by a number of companies. In the early 2000s, a number of PC manufacturers tried to market tablet PCs running a special version of Windows XP. They failed to sell a significant number of devices. Back in the ’90s, a touch-enabled device called the “Newton” was produced and unsuccessfully marketed by none other than Apple.
The iPad is not their first attempt.
The reason these tablets fail is that a tablet is not a very functional device. The tablet market is a mirage. Tablets seem like the future because they aren’t conventional, but what many don’t realize is that those typical conventions are what make computers so easy to use. Tablets don’t do anything a typical notebook can’t do, but they can’t do a lot of what a typical notebook can do. What you get with a tablet is an in-between device. It’s a missing link in the evolution of the computer that should remain missing.
If you are really looking into buying an iPad, I suggest getting a netbook. Netbooks, with their compact sizes and low prices, are the true future of mobile computing. For less than $499 you can find a netbook with Wi-Fi, a 3G connection, a high-capacity hard drive, a couple USB ports, a VGA port for displays, and best of all, a keyboard and mouse.
In other words, spend your money on a real computer.
67 comments
Very good job. Do not be deterred.
The iPad is not a computer. It is the next step beyond a computer and does real things for the rest of us.
It will be wildly successful among those who do 'get it'. You're stupid. I bet you don't know sh*t about computers.
The iPad is not a computer. It is the next step beyond a computer and does real things for the rest of us.
It will be wildly successful among those who do 'get it'.
Saying that only Apple fanboys will buy the iPad ignores the fact that the vast majority of iPods, including the Touch, are purchased by Windows users, not OS X users. Those folks packing a MacBook might be fanboys, but the label won't stick to very many iPod users.