Why I loathe the iPad and everything it stands for
Mikey 24 comments Poll
With the iPad being considered by many (including yours truly) as a useless, unusable over-priced gimmick which 'bridges a gap' that doesn't exist, my attention has turned to other offerings in the tablet arena, and the one that stands out the most is HP's up and coming Slate.
Unlike the iPad, HP's slate runs on Windows 7, which means you'll get the things you're used to having in any other Windows platform, such as multi-tasking, expandable memory, upgrade-ability and the ability to install 3rd party applications without any restrictions just for starters. These standard features alone are absent on the iPad and iPhone for that matter.
(HP's Slate, slated (sorry) for a 2010 release)
It will also have a full internet experience, not the broken one the iPad offers. I have to say that as much as I respect the man, I'm really disappointed at Steve Jobs' propaganda regarding the iPad internet experience, saying "It is the best browsing experience you can ever have...Way better than a laptop" while conveniently leaving out the bit about Flash not being supported (seriously - video from the horses mouth here).
Apple fans will likely say the iPad will be more successful, and they may be right. But successful doesn't necessarily mean better. The iPhone is proof of that, undoubtedly being the most successful mobile phone in history despite it having a feature set that pales in comparison to many other mobile phones. If vast numbers actually meant anything, Brittany Spears could be considered a credible artist.
Some will also say any tablet that comes with Windows will be subject to the 'horrors of using Windows', which is very 1998 thinking. I'll be first to admit Windows used to be a dog, but XP was awesome, I never had any real issue with Vista, and virtually no issues at all with Windows 7. The idea of a tablet running Microsoft's latest OS is pretty damned exciting.
But, even if Windows was a horrible platform to use (which it isn't), I'd take the imperfections of freedom rather than a platform controlled by the software equivalent of a communist regime, any day of the week. Funny how that worked out for Apple, given their supporters used to accuse Microsoft of being the software commies.
Anyhoo, I make no apologies for my disregard towards Apple's latest product. Even many Apple supporters are upset with the lacklustre device Steve Jobs has offered his disciples this time. And I don't blame them. But if Apple's history is anything to go by, the iPad with all it's failings will probably be a resounding success, and I wish them continued happiness.
I'm saving my money for a tablet that matters.
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Matty
Saturday 30th January 2010 | 07:17 PMGood point well made Mikey. Would have been so much nicer if it was just a tablet version of my MacBook.
It does look snazzy though, even if the designer was possibly just looking at an iPhone through a magnifying glass.
...in response to this comment by Matty. Cheers. Now that would have been fine - and pretty darn impressive I might add.
bias FTW
Saturday 30th January 2010 | 07:30 PMYou couldnt be any more biased bill gates fanboi. Go back to your windows and leave apple to the pros.
...in response to this comment by bias FTW. Thanks for the 'interesting' comment. You must be a genuine credit to your cause. Keep it up :-)
Mark
Saturday 30th January 2010 | 08:00 PMNot so sure we should be so cynical, especially those in the web industry. Check out http://yehudakatz.com/2010/01/27/the-irony-of-the-ipad-a-great-day-for-open-technologies/
Rich web apps are well supported on iPhone/iPad meaning that you can make icons to your fav web apps and bypass the app store approval process. Plus, with native video support, canvas and other html5 thingos we are almost coming into an age where Flash loses its dominance. YouTube native video trials have begun, more following suit...
...in response to this comment by Mark. Excellent read, but not everything needs to be a web app, and certainly not everything can be a web app. Flash will lose it's dominance for sure and I hope one day it dies completely.
At the end of the day Apple will still dictate what software you can and can't install on their closed system. It is as I mentioned the software equivalent of a communist regime.
In an Apple world, I couldn't write an app and give it to anyone - even for free - bypassing the Apple store. Ironically Windows offers the greater freedom, where we can install anything we want without having to get approval from Microsoft. And why should we? What apps we want to run is no-one else's business except our own.
Imagine if the iPad and iPhone didn't have such a restriction?
andrew
Sunday 31st January 2010 | 07:39 PMit got bagged by a comptuer geek in weekends paper..
so surely apple must have known it would get knocked?
Ben Thomas
Monday 1st February 2010 | 11:50 AMI am actually really excited about the iPad, because it's a massive improvement on my iPhone, and much more suitable than my netbook (Asus EeePc 901).
I mainly use my iPhone to read news and watch videos while commuting, which is nearly 2 hours every day. The iPad is simple compared to a normal tablet PC. It shouldn't have all the features of a regular PC.
I think the touchscreen interface is much more suitable when browsing media, so the iPad is perfect in that regard. If you want to do typing, get a more conventional tablet PC, IMHO.
BitBurn
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 01:32 AMAnother columnist/blogger that just doesn't get it...
It's not about the device (number of ports, peripherals, etc.)
it's about the MOJO baby!!! it's all about the ecosystem!
Now, of course there may be more "complete" packages elsewhere. I mean, the iPod is not the top selling mp3 player because it's the best device; it's the top selling mp3 player because it's got what no other device has: A strong ecosystem. Same for the iPhone...hey, I bought mine a year and half ago and it still is the hottest-coolest smartphone out there. Why? Not because it's got more features than others. In fact, it doesn't at all! It's all in the ecosystem! iTunes Music Store and the App Store.
Now don't get me wrong, I ain't saying Apple products are s***ty either. I am just saying that their stuff is not about the number of ports and the best hardware peripherals.
Papa
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 04:16 AMYou guys will like this link...
http://theflashblog.com/?p=1703
Trent Greguhn
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 04:37 AM...in response to this comment by BitBurn. Yeah, it's all about what the hipster movement is into right?
Nevermind getting a better phone or pad or whatever, if no one knows about what it can do or what it is what's the point? Everyone knows what an iPhone is so everyone wants one.
Superficial nonsense.
BitBurn
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 05:40 AM...in response to this comment by Trent Greguhn. Well, come on, Apple does make very good products. Sure, if you start comparing products by the amount of features you get for your money, then Apple may not be for you.
I don't think is superficial nonsense, I'm saying for a lot of folks it doesn't matter the lack of USB/SD and locked-in environment. For a lot of people there's something trustworthy and comforting about a locked-in environment and Apple gives them just that - Great devices in a nice working ecosystem (iTunes/App Store).
...in response to this comment by Papa. LOL. That's what I've been saying.
the being
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 06:42 AM...in response to this comment by BitBurn. "I'm saying for a lot of folks it doesn't matter the lack of USB/SD and locked-in environment. For a lot of people there's something trustworthy and comforting about a locked-in environment and Apple gives them just that"
Yeah totally. Who can be bothered swapping out ram, upgrading the CPU and adding peripherals for the future. Upgrades are for idiots. If I want to REALLY upgrade, I just throw away my PC and buy the next model. Now THAT'S convenience.
As long as I look cool and everybody knows that I have one, and it matches the colour scheme of my lounge, yeah I'm happy. That's what it's all about.
:-)
...in response to this comment by BitBurn. "I'm saying for a lot of folks it doesn't matter the lack of USB/SD and locked-in environment"
There's a name for those people. They're often referred to as the underwhelming minority. Do a survey asking if people prefer upgrade-ability/future-proofing in any device /pc or not, I think we all know how that survey would turn out.
Trent Greguhn
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 08:44 AM...in response to this comment by the being. "As long as I look cool and everybody knows that I have one, and it matches the colour scheme of my lounge, yeah I'm happy. That's what it's all about."
This is exactly what I was talking about.
I'm sorry BitBurn but there is no REAL place for people who "don't mind going without" the things you mentioned. As Mikey referred to they're a minority and if anything they're only the people who don't know better.
And you can't REALLY be supporting a closed app service right? I mean, it sounds like you're saying, "Yeah, the government doesn't let us go do what we want at night due to curfew, but it makes us feel safe."
The iPad is horribly crippling and unneccessary. This is from a completely functional point of view. But for all of those out there who care about form more than function, and more than both form married to function, then by all means, go buy the iPad.
Peter
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 10:30 AMWhat gets me is these apple fanboi's are saying, oh its (USB/SD/multitasking etc) not in the first version it'll be in the next version and I'll get that. IMHO with todays technology progress the way it is, this is simply not good enough. These things should be there, if they dont work properly or are as robust as they should be (read crashes) then thats one thing, but to leave them out altogether and then for people to accept *shakes head* that this is OK is frankly piss poor and ridiculous.
Imagine getting a new model car without a radio/cd and the manufacturers saying oh we wanted to see what the reaction would be, we'll put it in the next version, but you wont be allowed to upgrade, you'll have to buy next years model.
disclaimer: I have an iphone and I love it - though I do feel like people will think I'm being a show off when I get it out to do a task.
...in response to this comment by Peter. Agreed. Steve Job's can't in good faith claim the iPad to be a Netbook replacement when it doesn't do even do half of what a Netbook can.
Video camera? Denied. (People don't like video chat and conferencing!)
Multitasking: Denied. (People don't like running more than one program at a time!)
Flash: Denied. (People don't like video and apps in web pages anyway!)
Plugin any USB powered device: Denied. (People don't like adding peripherals!)
Physical keyboard: Denied. (People prefer to hunt and peck on a screen!)
Freedom to install any software you download from anywhere: Denied. (People prefer to have a corporation choose which software they can and can't use!)
aries
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 02:44 PMWhat I don't understand is people's blind devotion to inferior products that are only slated as 'cool' because they look nice and have some snazzy gimmicks about them.
For the life of me I simply cannot see a single reason why I would buy something like an iPad. Maybe I'm just not rich or cool enough to throw the best part of a thousand dollars into the wind just to be like the popular kids at school?
Mark
Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | 04:30 PMI personally can't see what the hype was about, with Steve calling it "the most important thing I've ever done". I've never looked at an iPod Touch and said, "I wish it was too big to fit in my pocket". There doesn't seem to be any new compelling features, in this first iteration at least.
Marvin the Martian
Wednesday 3rd February 2010 | 05:23 AMIf this post is correct, the issues with Google are now understandable. They are going to release their own version of the iPad that will run on Chromium and unlike the iPad, it will multitask:
Papa
Wednesday 3rd February 2010 | 07:04 AM...in response to this comment by Mikey. "Physical keyboard: Denied. (People prefer to hunt and peck on a screen!)"
Oh you can get a keyboard, but it has to be the Apple docking station of course...
Jeff Chapman
Thursday 4th February 2010 | 12:28 PMTo echo much of what has been said before, there are plenty of reasons to hate the iPad, but it's a certain bet that there are plenty of people who just don't care about all that.
Kind of like people who buy a Kindle. You know that it's completely proprietary, and that your content is locked into that format. But for so many technologically illiterate people, they may not care. As long as all of that is completely transparent to them, and the product fulfills some basic needs of theirs, they will spring for it.
Phil H
Saturday 30th January 2010 | 06:56 PMAs with other new devices, I'll watch and see what happens. Apple are breaking new ground, along with several other companies, and the first devices will always bring up many "Oh I wish it could do this" situations.
It'll get improved and refined but will never ever be perfect. I love my Mac (it's just more suitable for my needs than Windows is) but I wouldn't get a full iPod or iPhone because I couldn't use them as a backup for my music, because of the over-zealous copyright limitations. I'd consider an iPod Shuffle though, because it's not really suitable for backup or sharing anyway.
As for Windows, XP was a pretty solid OS that is just showing its age now - not bad for something that's centuries old in computing terms. Will disagree with you on Vista, though - I've helped a couple of people sort out problems on their machines and it's vile.
My flatmate's laptop always starts up with at least 3 error messages, and I know a lot of people argue that "it's the user's fault - if you know what you're doing it works fine", but that's exactly the point. If you have a system that most people will be using, it needs to be idiot proof.
I'm yet to play around with Windows 7, but I understand it's Vista with a couple of extra features and lots of the bugs fixed. In which case it's probably quite good.
I'm quite interested to hear rumours about a Microsoft tablet having two touch screens - so presumably you could use it as a laptop with a keyboard on one screen, or with two desktops.
The thing is, there *is* a gap in the market somewhere inbetween phones and laptops - more and more these devices are capable of doing the same sorts of things, so more and more there is a device "spectrum" where the lines are blurred, and people will get the combination of different devices that happen to suit them.
I'm also interested to see what will happen with eReaders - as much as some people are claiming the Kindle will now die, it's a very different device to the iPad, with a main dedicated function which allows it vastly superior battery life.
It's fascinating to watch the jostle for position - this is the start, no one should be expecting Apple to have produced something that wins the war today.