Apple iPad: The Aftermath

Just as predicted, Apple announced the iPad today.  If you weren’t following the announcements, it is a thin device with a 9.7” screen that is more-or-less a big iPod Touch with some new software added to it. 

Things I Like

• The web browser on the iPad is going to be its killer app.  With a large high resolution screen and true tabbed browsing, this is the device’s best potential use. 
• The email app looks nice too.
• The book reader is going to be nice for casual lookup of short passages of text.
• The device can run existing iPhone software at either native or double resolution.
• The photo viewer is nice.
• The IPS LCD panel is going to have a great picture (for an LCD).
• If it can really achieve 10 hours of battery life, this is impressive.
• Apps written in the future can take advantage of the larger screen.

Things I See as Problems

• The on-screen keyboard is going to be tedious to use.  Primarily because (1) your fingers can’t feel the keys to know where they are, and (2) because the keys are touch sensitive you can’t rest them on the screen, meaning you’ll have to hover your hands over the device.  This makes writing emails and documents something you’d prefer to have a real computer for.
• The new iWork applications are going to be next to useless if you don’t have the optional dock and keyboard.  Nobody is going to write papers, or create spreadsheets or presentations without a real keyboard.
• The fact that Apple did not add multitasking (running two apps at the same time) really reduces the possible functionality of this device.  You can’t listen to Pandora and write an email at the same time, for example.  They REALLY need to fix this for both the iPad and iPhone.
• The Maps app is a good idea, but this doesn’t have a real GPS, so its kind of useless for navigation.
• Getting your own photos and videos onto the device requires going through a computer.  Or in the case of photos, with an optional connecting cable to connect to a limited selection of cameras. 
• The device is too large to carry around with me.  It’s going to get left on the couch all of the time, because that’s the only place a device like this makes much sense.  If I’m out and about I’m going to need the full capabilities of a notebook computer.  So the iPad stays home.
• Reading long books isn’t really going to be a great experience.  Our eyes prefer the non-backlit look of paper over backlit screens when staring at a device for long periods of time. Reading of newspapers and (someday) magazine articles should be fine.
• The device requires a computer for setup and maintenance, as well as more permanent storage.  If Apple is trying to replace a computer (which seems to be their aim) they shouldn’t require a computer.
• The device seems a little bit expensive for being just a large iPod Touch.  I’m glad to see the entry price at just $499, but its 16GB storage isn’t enough if people expect to store much video content on it, especially if it is high definition.
• This is not a device suited to the educational market.  Nobody is going to take notes on an on-screen keyboard (nor does the book reader seem to support that anyway), and I doubt that many people will carry the dock and keyboard with them.  A notebook computer makes so much more sense in that application.  Since it is going to require a computer anyway, this isn’t a good educational solution.
• While the device is not locked to AT&T, AT&T’s network is the only one that really lets you take advantage of the 3G radio in the 3G-equipped models.  They should have offered Verizon and T-Mobile as options as well.  At least the data plans aren’t too expensive.
• I’m going to list multitasking a second time.  A device with a screen this big shouldn’t be limited to running one app at a time.  This is a major failing on Apple’s part.  I really hope they fix this.

Prediction Results

So, how did I do on my predictions from last night?

Tablet (iPad)

• Large iPod Touch, with emphasis on electronic book and multimedia.  Pretty much correct.  I didn’t predict that they would have iWork available for it (their Office-like product), but I guess they need to have some sort of justification for some business use of the device.
• No e-Ink screen, uses conventional LCD.  Check.
• Tool for students and readers: They didn’t really focus on the educational use of the device other than to mention that textbooks will be available on it.  They did make a big deal of the new iBooks software for it, making it a reader.  Half credit.
• WiFi & 3G connectivity. WiFi was right, 3G is available, but AT&T only.  I predicted we’d see Verizon as an option, which we don’t.  No carrier subsidies (or even contract).  40% right.
• Priced $700-900.  Actual pricing is $499 to $829 depending on storage and whether you get it with the 3G radio.  So I was $200 too high on the low end, $70 too high on the high end.
• Available March-April.  Wi-Fi only version coming end of March, 3G version coming end of April.  Bingo.
• Name won’t include “i.”  Wrong.  I was hoping they’d abandon that.  iPad is a terrible name, though, especially if you’ve seen the MadTV skit.
• No stylus.  Yep.

iPhone

• No significant changes for the iPhone.  Check.
• New 3.2 version announced.  Yes, but for the iPad only for now.
• No 4.0 announcement.  Check.
• No new hardware.  Check.
• No announcement of coming to new carriers.  Check.

Mac

• No new iMacs or Mac Mini.  Check.
• Refresh of 17” MacBook Pro.  Nope.  Wrong.
• Solid State Disks option for all models.  Nope.

iPod

• No iPod announcements.  Check.

Software

• iLife suite upgraded to 2010.  Nope.
• iWork suite upgraded to 2010.  No.  But announced for iPad.
• MobileMe updated for tablet.  No announcements made.  But I still see this coming before long to allow iWork to synchronize over the air.
• iTunes updated to 9.1.  Nope.  Or at least no announcement.  I bet it will be for when the iPad is actually released.
• Streaming content announcement.  I predicted it wouldn’t be made now, but will be made before long.  Correct on no announcement, but no score.

I told you so…

If you go back and read my July 26th post, I was pretty much dead on on what the Apple tablet device was going to be.  I should have stuck with that post as my official predictions; I was closer in that post 6 months ago than I was in last night’s.  I gotta quit listening to the media.