addition to the TechRepublic 10 Things blog, Debra Littlejohn Shinder has published an article titled "10 reasons why I will be passing on the iPad." Some of his reasoning is sound, but a lot 'of his points are easy to refute. It's worth watching in its place and the points it seeks to do, because it is indicative of a widespread lack of understanding not only of dell'iPad capacity, but also its consumer base is intended.
1. There is no physical keyboard
[Removed] / / [removed] [removed] [removed]Debra is correct that the iPad has no physical keyboard. But what she fails to explain is that not only Apple sells a pool of keyboard for the iPad, the device can also be combined with any existing Bluetooth keyboard. Apple's reasoning for not including a physical keyboard on the iPad is even more pressing for the iPhone, because unlike the iPhone, which at least has the ability to associate with the iPad a physical keyboard. In order to put a physical keyboard on the device itself, there are two options: maintain the iPad the same size and the sacrifice of one third of the properties of the screen, or increase the size of the iPad beyond what some (including which Debra) already considered cumbersome to include a keyboard.
landscape orientation, the virtual keyboard of the iPad is almost the size of a conventional keyboard, too, so you type touch will be a challenge, it's a fair bet that typing on the iPad will be much faster and easier than the high-end thumb of 30-35 WPM typing many people (including myself) made on the keyboard of the iPhone much smaller. The lack of a physical keyboard for the iPhone is not measurably affect its sales, the iPad is not likely to suffer a lot of lost sales in this, let
.. (Note: Some people have asked for a source on the matter Bluetooth keyboard, especially my statement that you can use any BT keyboard, not just Apple models wireless During his hands-on with the iPad following the announcement of the device, Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica has determined that "You can use any bluetooth keyboard that you want instead of the Apple keyboard dock. You could use the case / stand with the existing Bluetooth keyboard. You can not use a bluetooth mouse, though.)
Check the other nine points, clicking on the link below to read more.
2. One size does not fit all
Debra argues that if the iPad would be a niche device, positioned between a phone and a netbook, you should have a screen size somewhere between the two. - In other words, smaller than a 9.7 screen, however, that does not like Steve Jobs positioned the iPad at all during the keynote, Jobs Keynote slides clearly showed the iPad fill a gap between the iPhone / iPod touch and a 13-inch MacBook. E 'shocking that in one sentence iPad Debra complains about being too big to fit in your pocket, while in the next sentence that extols the virtues of the Sony VAIO Netbook X, which are almost exactly the same size - in terms of weight and thickness anyway. . X VAIO has a 11.1 "16:9 screen, which makes it actually a bit 'larger than the iPad Another thing about the VAIO X is a bit' bigger iPad: the price, which starts at 99 - far more expensive, even the most expensive iPad.
While it is true the iPad not fit in your pocket, it is still much more than a MacBook Air. Stephen Colbert even managed to pull one out of his coat at the Grammys, as well as the iPad is larger than an iPhone, it is far from bulky monster many people are trying to claim it is.
3. It runs a mobile
OS /> One thing that many experts can not explain is that the iPhone OS is actually an adapted version of OS X for a touchscreen device. No, there is no bar of the Finder, Dock or menu. No, there's Exposé, Spaces, Time Machine o. But the foundations of the iPhone OS are exactly the same as the version of Mac OS X. So when people complain about the iPad will not run OS X, I'm really longing for OS X features such as those I have already said - - the bar of the Finder, Dock, menus, etc. However, none of those features of OS X are particularly suited to a touchscreen device, especially one with a 9.7 screen Tablet PCs that run the full version of Windows have already demonstrated the perils of travel. an operating system intended for a larger device with a traditional point-interface and-click, and, therefore, almost all these devices have failed to gain traction in the market.
Debra and others also mention. iPad lack of multitasking as a strike against it on this point, at least, I agree with them, while iPhone OS already allows limited multitasking between applications from Apple. - Telephone, Messages, Mail, Safari and iPod can run simultaneously in the background - third-party applications are still limited to alternatives such as push notifications, limiting multitasking makes a kind of sense on devices like the iPhone 3G, with limited power processing and RAM memory available on the iPad these technological limitations do not. fly like an excuse. It can be argued that by failing to multitasking on the iPad makes it easier to use for her grandmother and other non-techies, but also limits the potential usefulness of the device. Of course, the iPad is not positioned as a replacement for a MacBook, but can also perform one or two third-party applications in the background would make the device much more versatile.
Personally, I'd be very surprised if Apple did not introduce at least a limited form of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0. Of course, I also said the same thing last year on iPhone OS 3.0, so who knows. One point that bears mentioning, however: despite the introduction of iWork for the iPad, Apple is still pushing the device as a platform for media consumption, not as a productivity platform. To get any serious work done! Apple still expects you'll use the main computer, in the case of a MacBook or iMac computer.
4. Not enough memory
The most important question to ask at this point is: "Who?" Debra said that the 64 GB model may be of sufficient capacity for their own purposes, but she grouses for the price of that model, comparing it with less netbook with "four times the storage." I must say that I am perplexed by the decision of Apple's top output capacity to 64 GB dell'iPad, especially considering that is where the iPod touch currently out plans. A 128 GB iPad would be very tempting indeed;. Unfortunately, given the price of memories flash also, it would probably cost more than 00
But what does it mean you can store 64 GB? In my case, a 64 GB iPad to hold my entire music library 39 GB - 19 days worth of music - more than my entire iPhoto library of more than 7000 photos, which, if optimized for screen dell'iPad, would probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 GB, more or less one or two GB. At my most app-crazy that I had about 2 GB of apps on my iPhone 3G, and space "Other", presumably including the operating system itself takes up little more than 1 GB. Added up, which is equivalent to 47 to 64 GB. In my case, that leaves more than 15 GB of space for storing documents, videos, and so on. Let's say that I store my entire My Documents folder on the iPad (I would not - I use iDisk and Dropbox for this) - 4300 documents taking up little more than 2 GB of space. Now we have 13 GB left for video and more. Even though I left a 3 GB buffer for any reason whatsoever (including accounting for the difference versus GB GiB), which still has 10 GB of space for video - enough to store 10 movies of two hours at a decent bitrate, or almost an entire season of a television series of one hour.
Let me break it again - a 64 GB iPad Business:
- 19 days />
- More than 100 applications
- A 2 GB My Documents folder of 4300 items
- 20 hours of video
- Approximately 3 GB of space left for anything else (temporarily stored photos, e-books, accounting for the difference between binary gigabytes versus decimal gigabytes, etc.)
Sure, there are people out there with the libraries of music, and photos of my greatest, but most of my Mac using friends only have, on average, 1,500 items in their iTunes libraries, thousands of photos, and perhaps three pages of applications on your iPhone . 64 GB might not seem like much on paper but in practice, can pack a lot of media around. Unless you're going to spend several weeks at a time away from your main computer, the iPad would be able carrying around enough means to keep almost everyone entertained for days.
5. No HDMI output or camera
Debra credits can not be dell'iPad video output to an HDTV without an HDMI connector. This simply is not true, with a VGA adapter, you can output the iPad full 1024 x 768 video signal to a HDTV. With a connector component, you can send a signal or a 576p PAL signal to 480p NTSC TV. Okay, okay, it's not high-definition 1080p video, but where are you going to find the video of that resolution anyway (as well as Blu-Ray and Bittorrent)? I must admit that it would be nice to have at least 1366 x 768 video, but I bet that the vast majority of consumers are not going to worry even the iPad hooking up their TV at any time is much easier to just put the screen on my knees and watch a movie on itself instead iPad />
Another
Debra brings up the aspect ratio is 03:04 iPad, which is less than ideal for the video. This was supported all over the internet, even here at TUAW, but as many have pointed out, the 03:04 aspect ratio is ideal for almost every other function on the iPad except video, books, documents, web pages, and All photos are placed much closer to a ratio 03:04 or 04:03 to 16:09. Using a ratio iPad of 16:9 on the device would not only be bigger than it already is, it would also leave all other forms of support on the device at a disadvantage compared to the video. The iPad
lack of camera is a point of Debra and others have pointed out against the device, but, like multitasking, this is a point on which I disagree. A rear-facing camera like the iPhone does not make much sense on the iPad - would be a bit 'cumbersome trying to take pictures or video with a device of this size, like trying to hold on a MacBook Air to take photos with his iSight. Most people probably have a camera standalone point-and-shoot that it would take more pictures and / or video camera back towards hypothetical dell'iPad however, and you can upload those pictures directly on the device or the connector of the camera-specific iPad or SD card reader. But a front camera for video conferencing certainly would have been a killer feature. Apple apparently thought so, too, because it actually included a space for exactly iPad a camera, and then withdraw it for reasons known only to Apple. If the company is expecting to introduce next-gen iPad a camera or pulling a switcheroo as big as he did with the original iPhone - which was originally due to ship with the scratch-prone plastic face iPod before, but has been replaced with scratch-resistant glass in almost six months between the announcement and release - no one can say
.6. There are no USB ports
Debra main complaints against the lack of USB ports that can connect a flash drive or a USB keyboard. As far as the keyboard goes, I have already mentioned that you can buy a keyboard dock or use a Bluetooth keyboard. As for not being able to connect a flash drive? I can understand why some people might want to do - dell'iPad expanded storage, file transfer, etc., but I'm willing to bet that for most people this will not be a problem. While I run the risk of sounding like Bill Gates' infamous "640K should be enough for anybody," saying so (though in fact never said that Gates), 64 GB of space on a device like the iPad would really suit the needs Most people '- at least the next two years, however. As for file transfer? I can think of a number of existing cloud-based solutions, the simplest of which is the e-mail. No, it is possible to transfer several gigabytes of files at once by e-mail or "cloud," but most people do not transfer data much all at once, even a handful of times with a portable device, very less on a regular basis.
I'm not going to go full fanboy and say that's a good thing the iPad do not have USB ports. In fact, I am a bit 'with Debra and others who want in on this Apple included at least one USB port. While I probably will not use the door very often (if at all), it definitely falls into the category of "nice to have." I've been an iPod user for almost five years and a member of iPhone for a year, and I can count the number of times that I needed / wanted a USB port on one of those devices is not exactly my fingers ... but I must admit that I might sing a different tune, with a device the size of an iPad. But for the most people can to buy the iPad, ie non-geek, non-techie, "I just want internet and music and film" People, they're probably not all USB ports to fail.
7. There is no flash memory slot
No, the iPad has no flash memory slot. You can purchase an SD card reader attached, however, while Debra and other rail against the added cost of the connector, arguing that to achieve the "functional equivalent of a netbook, you may end up spending a bundle." Many of the same arguments for or against USB also apply in this case, most non-geek is not going to lose a slot for SD at all. Transfer files via SD cards stink in 2010 of "sneakernet" We thought we abolished with dot matrix printers and 2800 baud modem, let's just say that most users are going to have photos or video on their SD cards, most users are going to wait until when they get home to their main computer to upload the files, and most users are not going to care that the iPad missing an SD card slot any more than they care about the iPod is missing one. If nothing else, the subject of an SD slot is much weaker than the argument for USB.
8. The price is not right
Debra contends the iPad "costs twice as much as the Kindle and other ebook readers." This is flat-out false. I 9 iPad costs almost double what the standard Kindle, but compared to any other e-readers out there, pricing is extremely competitive dell'iPad, after taking into account all the things that makes the other players iPad iDon 't. A Kindle DX 9, for example, while cheaper than the cheapest iPad, does not have a color screen, has only 4 GB of storage, does not have a touchscreen, does not use applications, are not e-mail, music and so on and so forth. The price of the iPad is the only aspect of the device a few pundits have complained, in fact, the price of Wall Street and other financial analysts
doing somersaults. not even have to compare the iPad similar products of other companies' to see how good a deal it is. The 16 GB costs more than a 0 iPad Touch 8 GB iPod. 0 What you get twice the capacity, a much bigger screen and better quality, more powerful CPU, better Wi-Fi, including 802.11n, greatly improved battery performance, a loudspeaker and microphone, and, Finally, access to a host of applications designed to exploit dell'iPad larger screen and higher performance. A 32 GB iPad 0 has the same price difference compared to a 32 GB iPod touch, as well as the 64 GB model. Once you add another 0 for 3G wireless, the price difference widens, but he does the utility device - the wireless broadband access anywhere you have a 3G network available, which, as iPhone users already know, is invaluable
<. br /> Debra compare fully equipped 9-out 3G-enabled iPad "a powerful portable and compact running an operating system to all intents and multi-task and that has USB and Ethernet and SD, 4 GB of RAM and 250 GB of storage. "The" real operating system "you are talking about is not OS X, however, and the laptop is talking about is definitely not manufactured by Apple. That might not make a difference for a lot of people, but if you're already in "Macs cost too much" field, it's no wonder iPad does not hold much appeal compared to that of running Windows Home Edition, plastic, bargain-bin laptop from Dell or HP as it is almost certain to stop working in two years or less. Yes, I recognize the sound of that phrase very fanboyish. No, I do not apologize for that. cheap laptops are exactly that: cheap. Call it elitism, fanboyism, drink Kool-Aid, no matter: I would love to better withstand failures dell'iPad those of "powerful", but oh-so-cheap laptops from other manufacturers
. 9. E 'locked in
"You have to buy applications from the App Store," says Debra. Yes, you do: from a store that has more than 140,000 applications available, most of them for free, and capable of doing almost everything. I hate the App Store for some reason? Fine. Jailbreak it and instead use Cydia. Apple may not want you to do this, and they can go out of their way to prevent this, but if you're thinking of jailbreaking already, that's not going to stop you, right?
A noisy minority of people like to complain about "vendor lock-in" when it comes to the iPhone / iPod / iPad, even if those same people have likely been playing around with video game systems from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft for decades - all platforms with "vendor lock-in" even more pervasive and insidious than the Apple platform. What these people do not seem realize is that the same vendor lock-in is what keeps the mobile platforms from Apple to be riddled with viruses, malware and more than the code shit. "Security through obscurity" may be a valid (ish) issue that I rely on the Mac, but with 75 million people, more with the iPhone OS is a very high profile target for virus writers. That same "walled garden" that supporters of Linux and open Internet "evangelists complain about is what keeps the iPhone platform to be a nightmare unusable. Yes, the App Store approval process has in many cases is a pain in the nether regions, but things are improving - the applications that might once have taken days or weeks to get approved now get through the approval process in a matter of hours. It is the App Store sales "lock-in" of the iPhone hit one iota? No. In fact, sales of the iPhone makes sense out after the arrival of the App Store.
Yes, "Apple as Gatekeeper," George Orwell gets fans annoyed. But someone has to keep the gate, because the moment the iPhone OS becomes a true "open platform" as some people are married, which is at the same time the Russian mafia to hijack your iPhone away from a basement in Vladivostok, so just download that "Siberian Honey" app from the dark alleys Internet.
Other aspects of the dreaded "lock-in" Debra worried that they are full of falsehoods. "I can not run Skype to make phone calls," with the iPad, she says. "We're not cutting into the market the iPhone, after all." Say what? This must be new to the Skype team, which is already investigating a specific app iPad Skype. Must be a first for Apple, too, which no longer limits the use of VoIP over 3G. "Nor can download Flash to be installed on the browser, which means you do not stand by and watch those videos to YouTube." Say what again? Since the iPhone / iPod touch / iPad unable to watch YouTube videos? Oh right: never having. No, you can not put flash on the iPad, but according to our informal poll, 75% of people plan to buy one or do not care or are even glad Flash is not making an appearance.
hardware lock-in? " Debra says that "you can not even remove and replace the battery yourself," which was true for every iPod since 2001 and has not stopped people from buying them by the millions. She goes on and says, "if you were to fly to Australia and wanted to bring along an extra battery for extra long flight, forget about it." Um. A two second search on Google for "iPhone external battery" may have been a good idea. Also, speaking for personal experience, if you stay awake for a full flight across the Pacific Ocean, you're going to have much more pressing problems to worry about the battery of your iPad, for example, the fact that you're going to feel like you hit by a truck after the plane lands. Take it from someone who knows. Trans-Pacific flights are better spent in blissful unconsciousness
10. The network
Yep, dell'iPad 3G network is only available on AT & T's ... if you live in the United States. If, like me, you live in what is known informally as "the world", this argument against buying a 3G-enabled iPad contains the water for you. But we remain to the States for a moment and analyze the topic of Debra against AT & T's network. No, AT & T is not in all (or maybe even none) 's favorite American network, but the pay-as-you-go, fully contract-based plans available free for the iPad are very compelling price. You can get 250 MB of data to .99 (not Debra claims in his article), which is more than sufficient to use random data. 250 MB does not sound like a lot on paper, but that's what my iPhone plan started here in New Zealand. I never once went more than about 100 MB of data usage per month until I started using iPhone tethering, and I'd consider my use of data rather robust. The 'Unlimited' AT & T plan in a month is a bargain and even better, even if "unlimited" means only 5 GB, you're not going to burn that much data unless you are using the connection every hour waking of the month.
Debra argument against these plans is that it's another bill to pay on top of your phone bill, but that's the beauty of plans iPad: without a contract to commit, you can cancel the plan whenever you want. If you begin with the month of the plan "unlimited" on the iPad, only to discover the use is not topping 250 MB, instead of being tied to this plan for another 23 months, you can do downgrade the plan. If you find that you do not need 3G coverage at all, you can always buy the Wi-Fi only iPad. "You wish you good luck in finding those points Wi-Fi hot," Debra says in response to that idea, that sounds about right for us in New Zealand, where the Wi-Fi is as rare as gold, but it makes much less sense in the U.S., where Wi-Fi is usually only a library or a bar away.
If you absolutely must have 3G on the iPad, you do not absolutely have to use AT & T, and are willing to spend twice for the privilege of going with Verizon, you can always hook up to the iPad MiFi ( possible - we wait until dell'iPad actually released before we know if this will work or not). Furthermore, not only because the iPad is not available on Verizon right now (now now now) does not mean you, Apple and Verizon are reportedly "still talking" to bring the iPad and / or iPhone through the network.
We arrived at the end points of Debra ten, but not until the end of mine. My last point, that sums it all: as the Mac, like the iPod, and like the iPhone, iPad is not for everyone. It is not for me - despite all the words I have just spent defending it, I'm not buying an iPad until next year at the earliest, and only if I decide against replacing my current aging MacBook Pro with the same computer rather than an iMac / iPad combo.
The bottom line is that the iPad can not be everything to everyone. It is not intended to replace a real Mac or PC - is designed as an extension of an ultraportable larger device, and an interface with a much simpler and more intuitive, a "computer for the rest of us" if you like. And make no mistake: Debra Littlejohn Shinder for each for each "open internet" geek screaming "vendor lock-in" whenever the name of Apple is that, for every "no multitasking, no flash, no sale" techie, contempt for each expert who shrugs and says, "It 's just a great iPod touch" At least one person who has been waiting for a device like the iPad, and those people are the ones who will make it a success. Whether you like it or not, the iPad is indicative of the future direction of computing. />
But, just for the sake of argument, let's say that we are able to cook on a laptop a lot "better" than an iPad, a dream device that has USB, 1080p output, a removable battery, runs the full version of OS X has a front facing camera, does not depend on AT & T, is not "locked" to the App Store, has a physical keyboard, widescreen display formats, and has more than 64 GB of storage. What could such a device? We
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