Once again, Apple has chosen a rather poor name for a new product. The idea of the name makes sense, but the real world perception has proven it a poor choice.
I can’t help but think that surely these brilliant minds-behind some of the most well designed and developed products-saw this coming?
the good
The overall look is nice, as it should be. The screen size is about right, it’s thin, light and seems fast. There is some really nice UI work espically in the iBooks app as well as in iTunes and Mail. I think the inclusion of the portrait and landscape mode was important and the new A4 chip looks promising.
the bad
The use of the flash drive is nice, but 64GB won’t last long. The iPhone(esque) home screen looks weak and undeveloped. And the big ones, no multitasking, locked app store. This means you can’t run two apps at the same time, and your limited to what gets approved by Apple. There is the lack of any USB ports and no camera?
the verdict
I think the idea is nice and hopefully round 2 will bring some improvement, but the iPad is a glorified iPod Touch. If you want to watch movies and play with your favorite iPhone/iPod Touch apps on little bit larger screen then I guess this is it, or you could just fork over another couple hundred bucks and get twice the storage and machine with a MackBook Pro.
Maybe next time Apple…
4 Comments | Filed in Apple
February 1, 2010
oh sir. i believe once you feel it in your hands, the same hormone induced by chocolate(and you know…), will do unimaginable things to your body.
February 1, 2010
I agree with you, it’s just a big iPod Touch. The inability to multitask and limited apps doesn’t surprise me. Being a gateway for a bunch of internet related stuff, a camera for video conferencing definitely would have been nice. But it’s innovative, it’s a step in the right direction, and Microsoft didn’t come up with it, so it gets two thumbs up from me.
February 1, 2010
It needs to be a replacement computer (not an UX extension device) for it to truly change the way we use computers. It’s premature and a gimmick. @ Patrick, i agree the lust factor comes into play, but gadget porn always leaves you wanting more ; ) . Basically, this should have been the concept for the new MacBook Air.
February 1, 2010
Patrick, you would be exactly right. Seeing is believing.
I do agree though that a better combination of the Air and iPad would have probably produced quite the portable machine that everyone was hoping for. We shall wait & see.