Ideas Maverick Blog by Preetham Venkky

Before I get onto some serious iPad bashing (and maybe let slip a few glorifications), I must say that the $499 price is a tease. The iPad seems to be a product which was released hurriedly and without much thought, Maybe the marketing team got into development without much consultation with R&D, or maybe they were working backwards from a pre-determined price point; whatever the case, the iPad is not a paradigm-shifting product. So let’s start with the discussion then:

iPad Brand Name

What the hell were they thinking? It’s the worst brand name to come out of the Apple stable. I was personally rooting for iSlate which sounded more sleek, slick and Apple-ish. Tweeple have already begun parodying it with alternate names like iTampon:

@BruinGirl2001: Will the next version of the #ipad come w/wings? will there be a model called the #itampon?

It’s gone to the extent of ‘iTampon’ becoming a trending topic on Twitter; nothing can be more insulting. We netizens would like to see somebody’s head roll.

iPad Screen Size

9.7-inch. Large screens are nice and it is competitively larger than the Kindle DX. But the one big question is, are they competing with the Kindle? Technically speaking they can’t, for the simple reason that Kindle is an e-ink reader while iPad is LCD/O-LED based. On the plus side, we’ve now got colour for those of us who weren’t entirely impressed with B/W readers to begin with. But it will be difficult to use iPad as an e-book reader on a bright sunny day or in rooms with strong backlighting.

At a resolution of 1024×768, the screen’s worst property is its 4:3 aspect ratio. All current displays are being shipped in 16:10 or 16:9 widescreen versions. iPad’s 4:3 aspect ratio is a step back. This will only make the job of web designers and programmers that much more difficult. Not to mention, a lot of screen real-estate will be wasted while watching movies, TV shows and videos.

iPad OS

I have no idea why it took Apple two years to develop the iPad. There is very little work done on the iPad OS since it’s not very different from the iPhone OS. If it’s meant to be a product between the iPhone and MacBook, then the OS should’ve been more Mac OS than iPhone OS. While the OS can be complimented for its simple clean interface (touch-enabled), where it misses out on is:

a. No multi-tasking – You can’t run more than one application at a time
b. No TSR program support – You can’t run small applications in the memory
c. No external device support – You can’t use optical/pen drives, printers etc.
d. No file system browser – You can’t browse and access files independently
e. No multi-user support – You can’t manage multiple users or accounts
f. No flash support – You can’t access websites built using flash

In simple words, the iPad OS is not meant for a full-fledged computing device. The OS is a far cry from being able to support a Netbook or a Tablet PC.

iPad Market

Is there one? If it’s a competition to the Kindle, then we need to wait and watch their positioning. As I see, there isn’t a market for a large iPod Touch and that’s exactly what the iPad is. If the product doesn’t add more than 10% to Apple’s revenue, then it wouldn’t have garnered a mass appeal.

iPad Ergonomics

I’m extremely disappointed to report that the iPad is the most user-unfriendly gadget to come out of Cupertino. With no docking support in landscape, using it in portrait makes little sense. Absence of a groove for a strong palm-hold makes it substantially risky to move around with. Glossy reflective screen does more harm than good. No camera or webcam would mean no video interactions. 8-finger typing is neither here nor there.

iPad Pros

While there’s little to be excited about when it comes to the iPad, there are a few technological advancements:

a. 10-hr battery backup
b. Intuitive multi-touch gestures
c. Custom Apple A4 processor
d. Easy-to-use GUI
e. Newly launched iBookstore

Conclusion

iPad is just an over-sized iPod Touch. The most thoughtless gadget yet from Cupertino. But at $499, it might have hit the sweet spot – The Ultimate Tease.

So what do you think about the iPad? Will you buy one? Share your views in the comments.