The wait and hype are now over. The Apple iPad is now official and real. Steve Jobs is alleged to have said something to the effect that this was the greatest thing he had ever worked on. Why is it that I can't see how this is anything more than a mega iPod Touch?
So first off, it does look beautiful. So does the HP slate that Steve Ballmer showed off at CES. The purported 10 hour battery life is rather impressive. That said, I am at a loss as to why this device is compelling...especially when Mr. Jobs described it as "Way better than a laptop."
Two words: How so? Sure, it can run over 100,000 applications, but how many of those will be even more compelling on a 10" screen? I will say however that being able to connect a keyboard to the iPad is very nice - but that's not something that other vendors couldn't do.
I do have some questions though, that I guess will only be answered "in time."
- There had been rumors that we'd be seeing iPhone OS 4.0 during this event and that it would finally bring multi-tasking. Sadly, this did not happen - which means that from an enterprise perspective...from a enterprise mobility management perspective, the iPad is just as limited as the iPhone. Are we ever going to see multi-tasking on the OS?
- Then there's the email system. Is it the same as what can be found on the iPod Touch or iPhone? If so, that's a good thing, if only because the device can be managed by either Microsoft Exchange or third party solutions.
- Also, why do I have to pay $10 for the various applications that are available in iWorks? I think the iPad would be somewhat more compelling had those apps been bundled in...but they are still not Microsoft Office (love it or hate it, it's still the defacto standard for office productivity).
- Furthermore, why is it that the 3G option will cost me an additional $130? I'm sure that a Gobi chip costs less than that. (personally, I was surprised to hear that Apple partnered with AT&T on this one, as opposed to Verizon Wireless).
- Why not just put a full blown version of OS X on the device? I understand that there are so many apps available for the iPhone, but I can't help but feel that there was more that could have been done with OS X vs. iPhone OS.
These things brings me to my final point. I think the iPad is a disappointment. David Pogue disagrees with me, but he clearly knows more than I do. If tablet or slate PCs are going to make it, I would argue they should provide the functionality of a traditional PC with a user interface like what we have found in the iPad. HP's new slate does some of that. I can watch videos (in iTunes), I can surf the web (and see Flash)...and choose which browser I want to use, and use all the applications I have been using for other productive and fun tasks. I feel as if tablets/slates that have a "desktop" OS are in the end going to provide greater potential than what can be done with the iPad.
