The Apple iPad - Anand's Analysis
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 27, 2010 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Will it Work...Literally
Today my issue with the iPhone (and netbooks for that matter) is that they are very limited when it comes to productivity. I don’t have a good solution if I need the performance, usability and capabilities of my notebook, but want something lighter to carry around with me. You could always get a CULV notebook or from Apple something like the MacBook Air, but that’s still a notebook. There is no perfect blend of notebook functionality with smartphone portability. If the iPad can achieve that, at least in the same manner that the iPhone did for smartphones, then I will consider it worth the hype.
Achieving that goal requires a delicate balance of the right UI, the right hardware (including ergonomics) and the right functionality.
The UI looks clean and snappy. Apple’s biggest omission here appears to be multitasking support. One of the most frustrating things about using an iPhone is its inability to do two serious tasks at once. Email + Web browsing, Pandora + anything. You get the point. This is perhaps a temporary issue. The iPad runs iPhone OS 3.2 as of today. The next major release of the iPhone OS, version 4.0, is expected to add multitasking support. This could presumably make its way onto the iPad later this year (or early 2011?).
Yeah that looks super comfortable...
The hardware looks good. It remains to be seen whether or not it’s actually comfortable to hold a 1.5 lbs tablet while you type on it. Although Apple has a couple of accessories that look to address that issue:
 |  |
 |  |
The software keyboard looks like it could work well, if it’s combined with the same sort of predictive trickery that the iPhone uses. I’ve been asking for the sort of tablet the Enterprise crew (Star Trek, not the server market) carried around. The iPad’s interface, at least what I’ve seen of it, has the most potential to deliver that sort of experience. The iPad UI could be something that feels like it was made in 2010, not 2002.
The functionality is also a big unknown. When the iPhone first launched its killer apps were the ones that Apple made for it. While the App Store is far more mature now, the iPad will need some key functionality for it to be a productivity device.
Porting iWork ($9.99 per app) to the iPad was necessary. The fact that Apple did this right off the bat indicates that at least someone over there knows that the market for a $500 - $900 toy is slim. But we need more. We need things like Photoshop for the iPad. Dare I say that we even need a port of Microsoft Office?
At CES everyone talked about tablets and eReaders being huge at the show. I saw a lot of neat devices, but nothing I’d want to go out and buy. The iPad is the first one I’ve seen with potential. And much like the iPhone before it, whether you like it or not is irrelevant - it will at least pave the way for other companies to emulate and improve upon the design.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
155 Comments
View All Comments
autoboy - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
I've got a powerful notebook connected to real monitors I take between home and work, my blackberry on the go, and my netbook around the house and when I'm traveling.Yes the netbook sacrifices performance while traveling, but it is a full PC when I need it, and a long lasting casual web browser when I'm on the couch. Because the iPad is just an upscaled iPhone, it will never be able to replace my notebook while traveling. The netbook can. So, instead of carrying a heavy notebook with limited battery, my phone, AND a iPad for casual entertainment, I can carry just my phone and my netbook while only losing a bit of all out performance.
NullSubroutine - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
I'm going to have to agree with you about wondering this is going to fit in peoples lives. Personally I have a powerful desktop and a once top of the line 17" laptop, I don't have a smart phone or such device as I don't travel or move around all that much, nor do I have a workplace that would sync will with it.I do have a PSP (slim 2000) I use for occasional trips, so I can watch movies, listen to music, or play some games. For me this device could be something that could fit well because I don't have a very mobile laptop nor a smart phone.
However it doesn't take the place of my portable media device, as it doesn't watch movies outside of the iTunes store, and can't display its graphics to a larger screen (like a laptop could). To me this devices sacrifices far too many qualities (really it is versatility) with low end laptops or net books while not really enhancing what current things do. It really is just a bigger screened iTouch/iPhone, which really doesn't appeal to me.
What this needs is more multimedia capabilities. More connections, ports, software support (or allow developers to add more) for file types, and playback of something more than just 720p content.
ltcommanderdata - Thursday, January 28, 2010 - link
If it's anything like iPods or iPhones, then multimedia content doesn't have to come from the iTunes Store. It should be able to play non-iTunes Store music or video although some re-encoding might be necessary.The iPad now actually has officially sanctioned external monitor capability as part of the SDK from early reports. You'll need the proper cable to connect to the dock though.
OBLAMA2009 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
the tablet format does have some appeal for internet surfing. just not having to fold a laptop open makes you more likely to use it for light surfing. but it still needs mobile wireless and a faster boot upOBLAMA2009 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
o phuck they are offering att wireless 3g for 15 a month or 30 unlimited. that is a pretty good deal. maybe this thing will sell, but ill still wait for the ipad s versiondeputc26 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
Given it has 20.833x the battery capacity of the iPhone, I'm going to go ahead and guess that the IPS screen is a huge e- hog. Especially if speculation that the A4 is a 45nm single-core chip is correct. (and Apple would have said if it was dual core I think). Waiting for the OLED model with 15hr bat life.deputc26 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
Edit: Nice write up Anand, exactly what I was hoping you'd cover, really just verified I hadn't missed anything, the SOC was the big question for myself as well.autoboy - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
Agreed. Thanks Anand. Always a pleasure to read your opinion. But, I have to disagree somewhat. This post was really easy on my netbook while listening to pandora and editing my word documents.gusc3669 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
The product seems to have potential (in future versions, perhaps). While this may appeal to couch potatoes everywhere (myself included), without actually seeing in its full glory, it seems too much like an expensive, high-end netbook. Perhaps it will be able to run some better apps once they are designed for it or be used instead of a textbook in classes. I'll just have to wait (a few years) and see.Lonyo - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - link
There's a just under $500 Netbook out there called the Asus Eee T91.It's a netbook, but its also a tablet.
Given that the $500 price point is hittable by existing netbook tablets which run a full OS with multitasking capability, it doesn't really seem unreasonable that going forward there will be more products in this class.
Also with the one month standby time, I expect my regular laptop might be able to get close to that with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Using hybrid sleep they can wake up instantly from sleep mode and be instantly ready. I would assume that a function like that would be workable into the iPhone OS for the tablet, and basically have a similar function.
Given the fact that it doesn't really need to be on, unlike a phone which needs to be ready to take calls etc, it seems like an off bt with power to RAM type mode would make sense to give tremendous standby time.