I was excited for today. I nearly took the day off so that I could get into the excitement around what was expected to be the iSlate or iTablet but instead was shown the iPad.
Here’s what I like about it:
- The form factor is good. It’s light and thin.
- It seems to be a pretty powerful ‘near-mobile’ device
- The price is a LOT better than what I thought it would be
Here’s what I don’t like about it:
- It doesn’t support flash
- It doesn’t have a camera
- It doesn’t take an SD Card and doesn’t seem to have any USB plugins
Here’s the problem with all this. The device they debuted today is no longer an actual mobile device to me anymore. You can’t put it in your pocket or a purse. This puts it in my ‘near-mobile’ category.
What do the other ‘near-mobile’ devices have? USB ports, media card slots, a camera [some], upgradeable battery, and Flash capability. I’m sorry, but even though your app store has 140k apps it doesn’t mean that I want to depend on the Youtube application every time I want to watch a video someone put up. If they uploaded via Vimeo or a thousand other flash players you’re just plain out of luck.
They brought the iPhone into another market. It’s not a phone and it’s not a netbook. However if they want it to be more than just another media device it needs more capabilities.
Yes, the newspaper and print media industry may benefit from having this device as an option for content, but they will have specific apps designed for use on the platform. I won’t be able to go to New York Times’ website and view videos that appear on the pages. Instead I’ll be forced to use an app.
This guy’s not buying (and I was considering it).
–dez