Yes, Seriously. - Jan 28th, '10
Let me expand on why I feel the iPad is a dud.
First of all, I agree it is a great device. If you are sure you're going to buy an ereader, this might be sort of a slam dunk, depending on how the DRM, portability, and compatibility work.
But Apple hyped this as literally the greatest device they had ever worked on. Let's say that again. Apple hyped this as literally the greatest device they had ever worked on. And in that context this device is sort of a turd. IPod/iTunes filled a massive need in the electronic media landscape and forced the music industry to change course at a time where they were suing everyone who tried any sort of change at all. The iPhone led the way in terms of making smartphones a powerful tool of the masses, rather than the all business Blackberry or the clunkwear Palm/WinMo phones. I didn't want either of those, mainly because I hate the Apple sandbox, but it was easy to see them as game changers.
But if the iPad is going to be a full featured media pad which is the greatest device they had ever worked on, it needs to have more of the obvious features. Like these -
- It needs to plug into my home theater and be a networked media hub.
- Anything on my DVR/PVR needs to be on my iPad.
- It needs to be a next gen gaming platform. Not just a larger screen for iPhone games.
- It needs to play my DVDs and Blueray discs.
- It needs to have Netflix or something on that scale built in.
- Flash, networking, HDMI, multi-tasking etc, all need to work.
- Plenty of storage. (seriously? 16GB? That's a toy. My Droid does 32GB.)
- A camera for video phone calls. GPS for social apps.
- Direct USB connectivity for cameras, printers, etc.
Those seem obvious given the hype. And that doesn't touch the usual suspects of Apple deal breakers like no access to the battery.
The final straw for me is that all of those obvious features are already available on tablet computers, with many of them having a full keyboard as well. Yes, the iPad is lighter and the battery lasts longer. But that doesn't make it the greatest thing Apple every worked on. Hell, my Droid already does everything thing the iPad does, it's just smaller.
Bottomline - This is a great device, but it's just a bigger iPod Touch. If I needed a dedicated ereader I'd likely buy one. But since I can do all it does and more on a tablet, it would make more sense to just buy a new laptop/tablet. The iPad is either too big and I'd rather carry a smart phone, or it's too short on features and I'd rather carry a laptop.
16 Comments
Comments:
Do you really have 32gigs in your Droid? lol
Yup, and they do that with every big yearly release. Whee, marketing. That's how stuff sells. No one is really surprised when there are problems and areas to critique.
The thing is, for me the alternative - the droid - is too small a screen for many of the things its trying to be. It'll never be more than a toy camera or a too small gaming machine. I need a bigger screen to actually manipulate photos (not to mention a better camera) and the games are just mini games, I won't look to play anything more. With a larger screen I'd actually have been interested in the Gameboy. And the biggest killer for the droid as a reader - just way too small. Page turning gets tedious. But it's something I'll deal with until something better comes along. And for me something better will have a bigger screen. I use the droid's phone function the least of all its abilities.
I don't hate the droid - I find it incredibly useful, but to me it's also still a version that could use a lot of improving upon. It's better than my last phone by far - but in need of a lot more work.
So as I said before - the iPad isn't there yet, and neither are the other ebook readers. Neither was the iPhone, version one. And we wouldn't have a droid now if the iPhone hadn't shown other developers the way to go, where to compete. Without this kind of overly trumpeted gadget we wouldn't have the competition that'll make a better products. As I said, go early adopters.
But for me if tech is supposed to make it so that I can carry less - here I am, still carrying my droid, plus my superior point and shoot, plus a book, plus a magazine if I go anywhere. (I never travel with just one piece of reading material.) I'm just wishing that I could carry 5 books on an electronic device. But then, that's not a new wish for me. I've been looking at ebooks for the past decade and waiting for them to hurry up and get practical. So the waiting thing, I'm used to it. And I use the droid to read when I'm stuck in a line somewhere unexpectedly.
Well...... no.....
But the Device will happily take a 32GB card as soon as anyone sells them. They are expected to be available next month.
If someone was going to buy an iPad rather than a laptop, I'd say that's a good and legitimate reason to buy one. But given that a laptop does everything an iPad does, plus a lot more (will the iPad play Warcraft?), it's never going to be my choice. This just seems like a device for people who want to carry yet another toy everywhere.
I'm not looking for the one device to do everything. In fact I'd still rather be able to talk on a separate phone gadget while working on a computer or iPad. But I'm also not needing the thing to be constantly hooked online. I could easily see saving up articles to read from online and then reading them later.
Actually the MAIN thing about the iPad that's giving everyone hope - the fact that it's supposed to use files that aren't locked into just use on this one device. That'll be something I'm watching really closely. I don't want to suddenly be screwed by having a bunch of ebooks I can't read anymore just because I change ereaders. That's actually more important to me than the other whistles and bells - because it's what all the other ebook readers are doing a crappy job of currently - having files readable on all devices.
It locks down files you buy on it, on it won't play files from other sources. That's not 100%, but it's there.
I'll pay for content if you make it open, cheap, and easy to pay for. But if you want to lock things down I'd rather just steal them frankly. DRM doesn't increase revenue, it increases stealing. Yes, it's true, people will pay more for things they can get for free if the system plays fair. Ironically, iTunes is the app that proved this.
So far other ebook manufacturers haven't made the publishers understand why consumers would want to make backup copies and also use the same ebooks on different readers. The trick is to see if Apple can change this.
And again - this is why I'm not an early adopter.
And it might be great for her anyway, since she does actually read lots of books on her computer and phone. I just think other solutions blow the iPad out of the water.
No, it's not suppose to be a notebook/netbook, but I see that as a main weakness. Something this big (yes I said big) should have more functionality. The fact that it can't be a networked media hub and DVR seems odd. As does the limited hardware hooks for game developers.
And, I admit it, I, like Hitler, wanted a game changer. Something like the Microsoft Courier. If that thing does eBooks, movies, music/podcasts I may have to buy one just for the cool factor. It will be funny if Apple's game changer is a big iPod, and Microsoft's game changer is Yoda's Moleskin.
My eyesight isn't too great either - and of course there's the market for folks 20 yrs plus older than us who also have vision issues - until a device really addresses that it's also losing a market. The Kindle had a bunch of issues for people with poor vision/near blindness/blindess, even though it touted its ability to have the text read aloud be friendly to that demographic - in fact it wasn't really.
I have to admit, I really love following this sort of tech. Even as I tap my foot and wish they'd hurry up with a better product.
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