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
AmbroseAthan - Thursday, January 28, 2010 - link
But it doesn't destroy the iPod touch in every way. The reason I want an iPod touch is music in my pocket (or any other MP3 player). The iPad does NOT offer this in any way. The only solution is too buy an iPad + an MP3 player, so I now have two devices again. The power of the iPhone/touch was that they gave you the internet and the apps in a pocket sized form factor.Personally, for the same price, and general size, as an iPad I can buy an Acer 1810T, have close to the same battery life, gain a keyboard, HDMI out, etc etc. Combined with my Touch, I can now do everything an iPad / MP3 player can do, I just am able to do almost all of it better, the exception possibly being e-reading. But, my Kindle does e-reading, and uses e-ink, so the iPad has no chance on winning the reason people use Kindle's, readability.
AmbroseAthan - Thursday, January 28, 2010 - link
But it doesn't destroy the iPod touch in every way. The reason I want an iPod touch is music in my pocket (or any other MP3 player). The iPad does NOT offer this in any way. The only solution is too buy an iPad + an MP3 player, so I now have two devices again. The power of the iPhone/touch was that they gave you the internet and the apps in a pocket sized form factor.Personally, for the same price, and general size, as an iPad I can buy an Acer 1810T, have close to the same battery life, gain a keyboard, HDMI out, etc etc. Combined with my Touch, I can now do everything an iPad / MP3 player can do, I just am able to do almost all of it better, the exception possibly being e-reading. But, my Kindle does e-reading, and uses e-ink, so the iPad has no chance on winning the reason people use Kindle's, readability.
heulenwolf - Thursday, January 28, 2010 - link
You're right, its the first in a whole new breakthrough category. Its called the coffee-table computer: http://agcrazylegs.blogspot.com/2010/01/ipad-its-c...">http://agcrazylegs.blogspot.com/2010/01...ts-coffe...T2k - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
Stop talking BS, only to plug your crappy-lame-clueless blog.MANY devices are available already, Apple is simply trying to re-badge an idea as theirs, as always..
dotroy - Monday, February 1, 2010 - link
You should shut your lame mouth. How old are you ? 12 ? Atech is not a clueless blog you idiot. iPad is not a re badge. Atom based net books all face trouble: "Try running Win7" on it and fire up photo shop let see you productivity. These days I have stopped reading blog comments because there seem to be lots of child out there who does not read the article and even after reading the article they do not undersatnd what is being said ..so they just be lame as usual.Symelian - Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - link
""Try running Win7" on it and fire up photo shop let see you productivity." - this is a totally inappropriate example - it's like saying that a crap car can't win the Le Mans - it wasn't built for that so ofc it will not be able to take it - why don't you try and render graphics (Maya/3DSMax) and so on and ofc it will run like crap ---> it's a NETbook - it's not a desktop computer and if u expect it to perform as one it will fail miserablythe main thing for me against ever getting an iPad is the lack of multitasking - that's an absolute deal breaker for me without exception - it's 2010 and no multitasking? no tnx ....
dotroy - Thursday, February 4, 2010 - link
it's 2010 and no multitasking? no tnx .... that is either a lie or ignorance. Do you own a iphone ? iPhone can do multitasking for native application (Listen to music, read email) and you can add multitasking for any app if you use "backgrounder" app from Cydia. You can try it , if you actually own a iPhone.piroroadkill - Tuesday, February 2, 2010 - link
He's probably talking about real tablet PCsT2k - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
xxxafkrotch - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
So breakthrough, that it came out over a year ago from Archos.