If you’ve opened an internet browser, read a newspaper or generally left your cave in the last couple of months, you’ll almost certainly be aware that Apple launches its iPad upon the USA tomorrow. Marketed not so much as a piece of consumer electronics as an aspirational messiah device that will change your life and make you a better person, the iPad is almost guaranteed to succeed, even if we in the UK have to wait a little longer to get our hands on it.
I don’t doubt for a moment that Apple’s slate will be a masterclass in hardware design; sleek, shiny and immensely covetable. Equally, I’m sure that it will be just as accomplished in the UI and functionality stakes, in so far as it will do exactly what Apple have designed it to do extremely well indeed.
Despite that, I won’t be parting with my money when the iPad eventually finds its way over to Blighty later this month. Here’s why:
1. I’m not an early adopter.
Let’s be clear – I’m a huge fan of new technology and love nothing more than getting to grips with the latest devices. But I usually wait a few months before I actually spend hard-earned cash on a new shiny. There’s the obvious benefit of prices falling after the initial release (less of a factor with an Apple product, naturally) but early models can be less reliable (think how many launch Xbox 360s are still in active service), as well as being being more expensive.
2. It’s the first iteration of the product
Closely linked to the perils of early adoption, it’s inevitable that within the space of a year, a new, more fully-featured version of the iPad will be announced. I was burnt by the original iPhone – I bought one four or five months after release and two months later the 3G was announced at a lower price and with a better feature set. When the basic iPad model comes with 3G and a respectable amount of storage, I’ll be much more likely to take the plunge.
3. It’s a little on the expensive side…
Which brings us to the fact that the iPad is certainly not cheap. We don’t know how much exactly it’s going to cost in the UK just yet but £399 seems a good ball-park estimate. And that’s for the basic 16 GB model, not the significantly more pimped-out 3G-enabled 64GB version. Apple products have always been priced at a premium but when a couple of games consoles, a well-specced laptop or a 37-inch 1080p TV can be picked up for around the same price, it makes me stop to consider if it represents real value for money.
4. It can’t multi-task
Like the iPhone, the iPad only allows one application to be open at a time, the integrated iPod aside. While it does offer some improvements over its smaller cousin, the iPad is still not capable of true multi-tasking. This is the real deal breaker for me. I need to be able to hop from browser to email client to terminal window to e-book instantly and without worrying about having to save my work at each step or waiting for apps to reopen. I’m genuinely baffled as to why the iPad can’t do this.
5. Create vs. consume
I work in media, so I create content almost as often as I consume it. The simple fact is that while the iPad has a limited set of creative functions, it’s really not all that well-suited to the role. A netbook meets my needs as a creator far better; it’s light and portable, has a fully functioning keyboard, far greater storage capacity and full range of applications for my chosen OS. While it lacks the grunt of a fully-fledged notebook or desktop, it provides a perfectly serviceable workstation when needed. As if to prove a point, this blog post was composed entirely on a netbook, including all reference reading and image-editing. I think I’d struggle to put everything together as quickly or easily on an iPad.
The best is yet to come
Let me reiterate that I am entirely convinced that iPad will be a very successful product. I’m also sure that, sooner or later, I will buy one. But now isn’t that time. The iPad’s main function is media consumption and, as a creative, I need a device that can do more, especially at the price Apple are asking. My hope is that by the time iPad 2.0 is announced, the software will have evolved and entirely new possibilities will be opened up, just as the App Store accompanied the launch of the iPhone 3G. Until then, I’m afraid my money will be staying firmly in my wallet – even if the sight of a friend or colleague playing with their shiny new tablet makes me sick with envy.
I’ll let you touch mine.
That sounds rude, you’re lucky you didn’t get flagged as spam!
Seriously though, it’s going to be a lovely piece of hardware I’m sure but at that price it just doesn’t do enough for me. I’ll be watching it closely and hoping for a pricedrop or iPad 2.0 fairly quickly but for now I’ll just keep my head down and avoid all the Twitter love that’s going to break out over the weekend.
The only reason id by one is so I could play plants versus zombies anywhere in the flat….which seems like a bit of a luxury. Besides i just got a shiny new kindle!
I’m slowly coming round to the idea of getting one this summer, despite this post. If nothing else, the netbook’s relatively greater utility is outstripped by the lounging-on-the-sofa browsing potential of the iPad. Plus, it’s shiny.