So the world and its dog were looking towards San Francisco last night. Steve Jobs once again went on stage and unveiled yet another product that regardless of its quality or functionality would sell simply because of the badge that it was embossed with. Or is that too harsh?
This particular piece of tech is called the iPad, and from $499 you can pick up a wi-fi enabled touch screen that in both looks and function resembles an iPhone/iPod Touch. EA Mobile’s Travis Boatman described it as like “holding an HD display up to your face.” He went on to say “it’s really cool”, no doubt talking about it’s 9.7 inch display, full capacitive multi-touch, 1Ghz A4 chip, 3G options, Bluetooth, accelerometer and compass. Although the final feature on that list has me thinking more of Swiss Army Knives than of Apple.
That’s an awful lot of kit that they’ve included in its 0.5″ thick housing, but for me it’s what it’s missing that is just as important. Just like the iPhone, there is no multitasking, so no browsing the web whilst running app, and also like its phone cousin it does not offer support Flash and can only run programs downloaded from the App Store. Though the most wince-inducing is that you have to buy an adapter to be able to plug a USB device into it; the cheek of you wanting to use your own devices with their product.
The lack of multitasking alone turns me off to the idea, and the exclusion of Flash and limited applications in my closed/UNIX-based Netbook was the whole reason I recently formatted it and put on XP. In my opinion, for the same money (prices range from $499 for wifi and 16GB version to $829 for 3G and 64GB) you could get yourself a very nice netbook that could be capable of quite a bit more.
However the iPad is not for me. Those who are savvy with technology will no doubt already have enough devices for access the internet on strewn about their house that another, no matter what the branding, would be considered a step too far. Where the iPad comes into its own is for those more casual users you simply want a movie viewer, photo album, web browser, basic email client, music app and/or game platform that they can use from the comfort of their sofa. No matter how small you netbook, it’s incapable of “curling up” with such a device thanks to the need to use keyboard and touchpad; the iPad is altogether more conducive to the concept.
Speaking to a good friend of mine, his daughter is already fully aware of how to use an iPhone. Although still under the age of two, the concept of touching, dragging and sliding is now so natural to her that when approaching a television with Media Centre blazing away on its screen she is confused that the icons cannot be moved about in a similar fashion.
We have already glimpsed their vision of the future with the iPhone and the iPad seems to be the next step; for those who a keen in the concept but want it on a scale that is deemed less fiddly. And with the horizon littered with similar concepts of improved tablet PCs and Microsoft’s Courier – also unveiled last night and resembling a touchscreen filofax – Apple once again are attempting to get out ahead of the pack and sell us their vision through smooth lines and sleek interfaces. Although they may have piqued my interest, like so many first iterations of a product it sadly still has too many kinks for me to be truly interested. Roll on version 2.0.
I make my living as a programmer at a British games developer. In my spare time I try and spread myself between writing, gaming, goalkeeping, rolling dice and keeping my hair blue. Somewhere around that my wife and rabbits fit in. Disclaimer: the views expressed are my own and do not neccessarily reflect those of my employer
do you think its possible that we are seeing a shift in the technology market that mirrors the gaming market? by this i mean the advent of Casual technology users…..”tech-heads” for lack of a better terminology, use laptops/net books for a multitude of uses like games/marketing/networking/programming etc whilst listening to music and browsing the web, we demand alot from our little machines all at the same time. The majority however are more casual users, they may type up the odd word document, send an email, go on social networking sites. But they are not asking to do these things all at once. I think the ipad could be geared more towards the people who want something easy to use and pretty that isnt as technologically flexible as a “tech-head” would want. what do you guys/girls think???
Where would you keep it? i’m always loosing my Laptop around the house, would need a bell on it or somfinklikethat!.
I think its impressive technology, but so was the iPhone, but i think i’d still pick up a book, i stare at screens all day as it is… Mac, Laptop, Xbox, TV, DVD, Bluray, my Glasses…
Saying that, Bejewelled 2 on that badboy would make my life complete.
I’m not buying one, well I would if i had the pockets of Jobsie.
Funnily enough, Majikel, that thought occurred to me too. I suppose that so much tech has built up around the hardcore that “casual” hardware is a light relief to some. I suppose my old UNIX OS on my netbook was testement to that with it’s locked down OS with its big friendly buttons and that you couldn’t break.
Mike, expect to pay a pretty penny for an iPad sock. Hopefully they use really chunky wool and look like a scaled up version of the iPod versions
Sheep, your opening line was spot on, not too harsh at all. I just can’t see any point in this what so ever. I have heard some people say that this is a step in the direction of the demise of print. They say thinks such as “Why go to a shop and buy a paper when you can download it?”. To that i say: haven’t you people heard of paper boys?!! Having said that, there probably is some truth to Majikel’s comment but to me this piece of technology is totally pointless. If the price was more competitive it may make more sense, but really, I’m happy with the size of my iphone’s screen thanks!
It might be pointless to us Wee Fella, but it makes a whole heap of sense for a lot of people. It embodies all the functionality that most users want from a laptop – i.e. web browsing, email, pictures, music, video – rolled up into a neat little Apple glossy package. Agreed with Majikel on that one.
It’s not for me, mind you. I’ll keep the laptop with a physical keyboard, taverymuch. However, I can certainly see the appeal for the audience they are aiming at.
Ah who am I kidding… I’ll probably buy one.
Idiot that I am.
Well, I’m a “tech-head”, and I want one! Just because I’m a geek, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a nice, friendly interface. Of course, I need a “proper” computer to do more meaty things on (primarily extended typing sessions and tasks requiring multitasking), but the iPad looks like it could do quite a lot already, especially with third-party apps.
It certainly represents a step forward for bringing computing to more people though. Full personal computers (including Macs) are very complicated compared to the iPad, and the casual user doesn’t get a lot more useful functionality for that complexity. I think flexibility is slightly the wrong word: the iPad can be anything a developer wants it to be, pretty much. The only thing I can see that really puts a “proper” computer ahead is the multitasking thing. Apple still has yet to solve that one, but I’m sure they will soon, if only on the iPad.
I just can’t stop thinking about Bejewelled 2 on this thing.
How does it charge? got a super massive doc?
From this Gizmodo it seems that there will be a 10W USB-to-AC adapater included in the box. Although I can still see some people trying to get radio alarm clocks with docs to charge this thing overnight.
I think it was misstep for Jobs to compare this to a netbook, because functionally the two are a world apart. I can certainly say that this would be brilliant for casual web browsing, email and for the emerging market of electronic comics.
The lack of multitasking, flash and the extensive back catalog of existing productivity software available for desktop grade operating systems, means in my opinion it’s not in the same category as a Netbook or small laptop, at least in its current form.
I think it looks like a cool device, but I see it as being the technological equivalent of a coffee table book. That said I’m sure there is a market out there for the less tech-literate.
There are at least 50 tablets out there already and more coming. Personally I’d quite like one that operated on the Thin client model, bit of ram and enough oomph to run an embedded browser,storage on SD card, everything else run remotely on the cloud or on a optional little server box that offered up the kind of services we expect from a media streamer or NAS appliance these days.
While quite tempted by devices like the Archos9 or the iTablet, Atom/Windows powered devices are just not delivering the battery life one might expect from a portable device. ARM SoC devices are efficient little designs that are perfect for this sector, we don’t need full versions of Linux or Windows but a fully featured OS optimised for the hardware and tasks at hand.
As with the great unwashed, however, they don’t pay attention until there is an equivalent product that’s usually all black/white and has a piece of fruit attached to it somewhere so those 50 have slipped by unnoticed.
A few MS execs round here used to wander round with tablets so I’ve liked the idea for a while. At the time they were lacking the touch support to make them truly wide reaching, though. I hear Win 7 now comes with that as standard so that could be an avenue that some manufacturers could try and exploit.
The issue, though, as you say, is battery life. Which is strangely the reason I don’t have an iPhone. Recharging my phone every day is a little over the top for me, personally, but recharging a laptop after 3-4 hours whilst not ideal is at least the norm.