After such hype and momentum about the Apple tablet, the iPad has disappointed many. “It’s just a bigger iPod Touch”, “Why would I want this in addition to my MacBook and iPhone?” are two of the biggest issues here. Gadget nerds around the web are disappointed in Apple’s latest creation, and even some Apple fanboy are skeptic. There are of course some clear thoughts in this dense cloud of doubt…
Joshua Topolsky, Editor of Engadget:
There’s no question that much of what the iPhone and iPod touch do translates nicely here, and there’s no question that some of the tweaks made to native iPad apps are impressive, but nothing I saw made me sit up and think, “Wow, I need this.” It’s telling that the most intriguing user experiences shown off today were the iPad versions of the iWork suite. iWork? If Steve Jobs hoped to answer the question about why we need this third device, or how it’s better than a netbook, he didn’t make a compelling case. Where is video chat? Where is multitasking (honestly, only one app at a time for a device of this size and speed)? Why is the lock screen so embarrassingly empty? Why are there no active widgets to fill that huge homescreen space? Where is the expansion of the multitouch user experience? And seriously, where are the media partnerships?
Darren, at Engadget:
You’re going to call me bitter, or just overly harsh. I don’t care. The iPad is, in my mind, one of Apple’s biggest misses. If it were positioned as the second coming of the e-reader, it’d be a runaway hit. It can do everything the Kindle can, but it adds a color display, multitouch gestures, a killer battery and a processor that’s quick enough to play back video. It’s (at least) twice the price of a Kindle, but it’s roughly twice the device. If Apple would’ve marketed this as its play in the reader sector, I would’ve been duly impressed.
Luke Hayman, giving 5 ways the iPad will revolutionize the way we read news:
For as long as I’m been alive, publication formats have been getting smaller. First, oversized magazines like Life and Esquire either disappeared or switched to conventional formats to save money on paper and mailing. Then editorial content started moving online, shrinking to fit computer screens and then even smaller for PDAs and 140-character tweets. The iPad represents the first time this trend has been reversed. Instead of smaller, more low-res content, we have the chance to get bigger, brighter, sharper content. Designers used to making it smaller may have trouble learning to go the other way.
Nilay Patel, at Engadget seems a little more enthusiastic:
Maybe I’m too much of an optimist — you know me, the happy optimist, right? — but all this instant negative reaction to the iPad just conjures up memories of 2001, when Slashdot famously dismissed the iPod as “lame.” I’m far from sold on the iPad as it was presented today, especially without the ability to multitask, but there’s a lot of potential there — the promise of this thing isn’t necessarily in what it can do out of the box, but what it can do once app developers start feeling out the boundaries of a multitouch user interface on a larger screen.
Walt Mossberg’s initial impressions:
So, the iPad is more than just a giant iPod Touch or iPhone, even though it looks like one. But the question is, will that be enough to get consumers to shell out for it, and make it part of their daily lives? Or will it be a niche product, like Microsoft’s Tablet PC or Mr. Jobs’ own Apple TV?
Kyle Meyer nails it:
Think of your parents. They probably aren’t terribly tech savvy, but you buy them a laptop anyway. A laptop is a very powerful device even with average hardware specs, you can do a lot with it. But the ability to do a lot comes at the price of reduced usability. Introducing more choices means more mental hurdles to jump. To us (the geeks), these hurdles are skipped, we’re used to computers and we don’t even think when using most basic functionality. The iPad removes all of these choices, and as a result, increases the inherent usability of the device for those who normally have to jump those hurdles.
John Gruber chimes in, all amazed by the speed:
Lastly, there’s the fact that the iPad is using a new CPU designed and made by Apple itself: the Apple A4. This is a huge deal. I got about 20 blessed minutes of time using the iPad demo units Apple had at the event today, and if I had to sum up the device with one word, that word would be “fast”.
[…] Apple now owns and controls their own mobile CPUs. There aren’t many companies in the world that can say that. And from what I saw today, Apple doesn’t just own and control a mobile CPU, they own and control the hands-down best mobile CPU in the world. Software aside (which is a huge thing to put aside), it may well be that no other company could make a device today matching the price, size, and performance of the iPad. They’re not getting into the CPU business for kicks, they’re getting into it to kick ass.
Lastly, as Jack Amick puts it:
We are on to Stage 2 of Apple launches, when everyone complains. Wait till Stage 3, when everyone buys one.
Milind’s Thoughts
I’ve never really liked notebooks. All I’ve ever used the MacBook for was surf the internet, and when forced to, a little bit of coding is as far as I’ll go. I’ve been waiting for an Apple tablet, and now that I see it, it fits in totally with what I’ve wanted. It’s cheap, does internet really well, and will be an awesome media consumption device. I don’t expect to use it to play games (I don’t even use my iPhone for that), nor would I think of doing heavy graphics work on it. As of right now, the iPhone is more of an internet communicator to me than a phone. Given the iPad, the iPhone will act as a backup for when I can’t carry my iPad along. To read up on my Instapaper queue, weed through my feeds with a slick RSS reader, and reply to email, is just what the iPad was made for, and I want that.
One of the reasons why everyone is disappointed with the device, is because it looks like a larger version of the iPod Touch, and that would be boring. But, that’s pretty much expected; to quote Aayush, “There’s only so many ways you can do a touchscreen device with a no buttons”. The iPad is all about software, and Apple has shown that with redesigned native applications like the wonderful Calendar application. And this is just the beginning, because the iPad will be all about the App Store again. The only thing I’d complain about, is the lack of multi-tasking of any kind. Given the larger user interface, and the ability to run existing iPhone apps, it would have been great to run a couple of apps simultaneously, floating around like widgets. The biggest surprise, was the insanely cheap pricing. Everyone expected Apple to price it somewhere around $800-$1000—at $500 for the base version it’s a steal! Rest assured, I’ll be getting one. The only question remains, is whether I’ll be able to hold off until the second generation iPad—given how much better Apple’s second revision usually is. I don’t think I will.
But what about everyone else? Will the iPad be a raging success as the iPhone and iPod Touch? Yes. Maybe not in that order of magnitude, but it’s not going to be a slow moving product like the AppleTV. What gadget nerds don’t realise, that Apple’s way of connecting with its users is not by a sum of its parts, but by what it can do. The iPad is insanely cool, way better than a netbook for internet surfing, and at that price it’s definitely going to be on everyone’s mind.
Preshit’s Take
When it comes to any impending Apple product launch, there are always expectations. This time, with the tablet, the expectations were huge. The internet went crazy churning out rumors and speculating what the tablet could be. But expectations always often lead to disappointment and so, I personally didn’t have any expectations from the event. I had a gut feeling this was only going to be about the “latest creation” and that’s what it turned out to be.
Looking at the tablet, I’m not impressed. But I’m not disappointed either. There is nothing technologically outstanding about the tablet, but with Apple, it has never been about that. I feel the tablet brings a good match of hardware (as a whole, not the technical specifications) and the software (have you looked at the UI?). I completely agree with Kyle Meyer (as linked above), on which type of target audience will fall for the tablet. I can see exactly how this would fit great in my own house. Sure, my iPhone 3GS can achieve much of these things already, but with a much larger screen size. I work independently from home, so unless I’m coding or working on an article, much of my time is spent on the couch with the 3GS in my hands. The tablet gives me all that, but with a much bigger area to work on. Checking emails, browsing the web, clearing up the piling RSS subscriptions, reading e-papers (I’ve already stopped subscribing to physical newspapers), etc. I can also see how my father will gel with the use of this device. He’s still a Windows user (yeah, shame on me), so him relaxing on the couch while going through the news, or watching the news videos on this will be terrific. The use case of a “tablet” just fits. I know I’m getting one.
The question really is, will it be the first generation one!?
Notes:
- I refuse to call it the iPad. See how I call it “the tablet” throughout? And I know it’s not just me.
- The price. At $500, it’s a steal. Should be around 29K for India.
- The App Store. Give it some time. It’ll blossom.
Your thoughts
Do let us know. What’s your take on Apple’s latest and greatest? Any plans on buying it on launch day, or is there some missing feature that makes it not worth owning?
