Friday, January 29, 2010

iPad...would I actually buy one?

Image representing Steve Jobs as depicted in C...Image via CrunchBaseThe frenzy over the release of the iPad has now settled down a bit, giving rise to more logical analysis of the product. Steve Jobs has coaxed us into believing that the iPad is an almost perfect product which bridges the netbook-smartphone gap. Now I've been asking myself a question, would I actually spend my money to get an iPad?

Erm...first up, its looks awesome! Its sleek, its stylish and from the looks of it, its very user-friendly. Browsing the web seems to be quite easy, and the touch screen is well...awesome to say the least (since Apple is using the same precision touch screen as the iTouch and the iPhone). The iTunes integration, the iBook Store, iWorks all seem to be really cool stuff. And it comes with that 'Apple' tag!

On the other hand, the cons cannot be overlooked. It suffers from the same problem as the iPhone, the absence of multitasking. Now if you're into third party apps (most of us are), then the absence of multitasking can be a bit of a problem.
The screen is not exactly widescreen, neither is it 4:3. So, I really dont know how widescreen videos would look on the iPad.
The absence of Flash support is something which will bother all of us, surely. I mean, can you imagine browsing the web without Flash?
It features no HDMI port. This should not be a dealbreaker but frankly speaking, quite a few netbooks these days feature an HDMI port and that could come in pretty handy sometimes.
This is my biggest problem, the maximum flash memory the iPad supports is 64GB. Tell me something, if you plan to watch movies from your hard drive should 64GB suffice? After all, a few MP3s can occupy a few GBs.
The real deal, some say, is the AT&T data plan which comes with the iPad. But since that plan is only applicable in the US, I wouldnt give much importance to it.

In conclusion, its a mixed bag really. Stunning looks, great interface, mediocre functionality and connectivity.

Will I get one? I think I'll wait for a second version of the iPad.

1 comment:

  1. There has been so much written about the iPad, I really can't believe it. I am still sat on the fence too, I know I would use it, but I think until you have actually had a demo with it and tried it yourself, you can't decide for sure. I do want one, but do I actually need one?

    It would be very useful to show my artwork on, that's for sure, so I could argue that fact for needing one, but then again I could get a Macbook, which would also run Design Apps. I already have Photogene, which is like a cut down version of Photoshop for the iPhone, so there are bound to be other apps released - it's just a question of how good they will be.

    I am pretty sure I will get an iPad, it's just a question of when.

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