Apple announced its “latest creation” today and I have to say, I am not excited as I thought I would be. I have been warming up to the idea of netbooks but I am not embracing this technology at the onset.
Steve said today in his keynote:
“…the problem is that netbooks aren’t better than anything!”
I tend to disagree with this statement. I think netbooks are great for bringing to class and taking notes, especially for those who have primary machines 15″ and larger. However, I don’t see what problem Mr. Jobs’s new device solves. To me, it does a mediocre job of viewing photos and videos. It can not run multiple applications at the same time so it is not comparable to a notebook or even netbook as far as productivity goes. They built a new storefront to purchase e-books from the device but who wants to read a book on a backlit display?
It seems to me that Steve and company have a very advanced technology in their multi-touch hardware and iPhone software and decided to try to apply the tech to a new market. I just don’t believe this device does an adequate job of solving any problems. At school today there was a lot of talk about the device. One student told me he was going to get it to take notes at school. 1) the iPad has no pen input because of the capacitive touch screen so it really has no better note taking capabilities past text entry on the virtual keyboard. 2) if the device were sitting on a desk during a lecture, it would be much more ergonomic to look at a vertical laptop screen then looking down at a surface perpendicular to the desk while typing. 3) with the virtual keyboard in landscape mode you lose a ton of screen real estate. 4) it does not support flash, which means it won’t be able to display some of the web’s most dynamic content such as Hulu. 5) it has no multitasking, need I say more? I’m sure they will sell some of these iPads to the hard core mac fans that will buy anything with an Apple logo on it but past the enthusiasts, I really don’t see this device taking off, save a few niche applications of the technology (restaurant menus?). Me? I’ve still got my eyes focused on Asus and their eee t91 and soon to launch t101 multi-touch tablet netbooks. A much better value for a device with so many more uses.
