So is that it? A touchscreen tablet?
And $130 extra for a version with an embedded 3G module. So much for predictions that HSPA modems will be "as cheap as WiFi" within a couple of years.... And unless I've missed something, there isn't even a normal USB socket so you can use a regular cheap 3G dongle. I guess it would work OK with a MiFi-type modem though.
And what was Jobs thinking with a non-standard "microSIM" format? It's not like it's a small form-factor device that can't take a normal SIM card. So now you can forget about going on holiday and buying a cheap local SIM with data access in most countries in the world - I really can't see the thousands of small stores in India or Portugal or Mozambique or wherever stocking multiple SIM formats.
Sorry Apple, I'm unconvinced. It's vaguely useful & cute, but it doesn't seem to be a new product category to me, and the connectivity options look severely flawed.
(Oh, and before the rabid Apple fanboy contingent jumps on me for criticising their sacred purveyor of gizmos, I should mention that I would have finally got around to getting a 3GS iPhone today, had O2/Carphone not had such a ridiculous requirement to *mail in* for a number port. More on that saga another time. The iPhone makes sense to me, the iPad doesn't).
Dean Bubley's Disruptive Wireless: Thought-leading wireless industry analysis
8 comments:
I could not agree more with your comments. It's a lot bigger than an iPhone/iPod touch, not much smaller than a MacBook, and lacking the functionality of basic netbooks.
I was really hoping for a laptop replacement. The lack of a USB port kills that dream.
I'm not anti-Apple at all. This was typed on my iPhone.
So you're suprised that Apple take a standardised product and put some proprietary mechanism in so they can double the price??
Even Apple agree with your assesment: According to Steve Jobs iPad - starting at $499 - is a piece of Junk :"We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that." Oct 2008.
Here, in the US, $15 and $30 per month for limited and unlimited data access is the best price by far. Verizon charges $60/month for a dongle.
My considered opinion is now FAIL. Apple has gone from "benevolent dictatorship" to "customer contempt".
It's been hanging out with Mobile operators for too long, and has picked up their habit of sticking fingers in their ears and going "ner, ner, ner, ner" while their customers tell them what they want.
No Flash, no USB, no memory card slot, no multi-tasking, silly Micro-SIM, expensive 3G module, pointless form-factor.
It's designed to meet Apple's needs (don't cannibalise PC sales) and not customers' expectations
Agree with complaints above, but they sound very similar to initial iPhone complaints: slow network, closed device. Apple fixed them in v2 and BOOM. I predict same will happen here.
Significance of yesterday's product release: First step towards keyboard-less PCs. Sounds crazy to have a computer without a keyboard? I thought it sounded crazy to have a computer without a floppy drive when Apple first did that.
Its not all bad! It does have two options for an external keyboard: there is the iPad's own keyboard dock accessory and it will also connect to the Apple Bluetooth keyboard.
As far as USB connectivity is concerned, the iPad Camera Connection Kit has a USB port to which you can connect a camera's USB cable, (so maybe you could also connect a hard drive or flash drive) and there is also a card reader.
2 questions:
1. Where [physically] is anyone going to use this silly thing?
2. What are they actually going to be doing on it [that they can't now do BETTER on the thing in their pocket or desk/lap]?
As far asI can tell, the IPad is a way of surfing the Internet when you're watching the telly.
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