Technolust and hype
I suppose one of the defining traits of being a geek is some kind of hardcore technolust. Ask anyone, I'm a sucker for any kind of gadget, the slinkier the better. Thankfully budgets have prevented me from snapping up the latest mobile phone like a weekly communion wafer - though I'll evangelise for hours on the wonderful HTC Magic I have, but when it comes to gadgetry that I Really Need To Buy Right Now, then Apple have been a mile ahead of the field.
As I'm sure you know, Apple unveiled its latest piece of tech yesterday - the new tablet sized multimedia device, the iPad. A 10" keyboardless screen, the iPad is an iPhone, except, well, bigger. It runs the same OS, the same apps. It has the same multitouch, keyboardless interface. It has iTunes built in and connects to the iTunes store. It runs games and you can download books.
Response has been comparatively underwhelming. "Is that it?" a million keyboard warriors cry. But then they have been whipped into a frenzy by rumour and counter rumour, by faked photos. (Incidentally, why would people fake photos of the device - even well known bloggers with reputations to protect (presumably) were blogging that they had one, it did cool things like face recognition depending on who was holding it, it would cost $999 and so on and so forth*.
So when the iPad was finally unveiled, it was to a fair bit of disappointment. Lets face it, nothing was ever going to live up to the hype, but the device itself is, well, a bigger iPhone. More grunt from the processor, obviously a bigger screen but very familiar. It also has a number of flaws.
First is a lack of connectivity - instead of a million plugs for USB, video, network, whatever, there is just the now familiar iPod dock. No webcam or microphone. Want a connector for your USB device - then buy the Apple adaptor. You can browse your photos on this thing, but only if you buy the Apple SD card reader, or sync it to iTunes. That is rubbish.
Second, the OS. The iPhone OS cannot, or rather, does not multitask. Basically, if you are running a web browser and then want to switch to the photo gallery, then there is no way the two are open at the same time. This isn't the biggest flaw in the world when it comes to a phone, but on a netbook sized device, you kind of expect to be able to move between applications.
Another flaw is in the browsing experience. The iPad (and the iPhone) do not run Flash. Now love it or hate it, Flash is fairly ubiquitous. Again, I can understand the reason for Flash not being on the device, in that Adobe are famously bad coders and their Flash player on OS X is the pungent turd in a large dungheap. But lack of Flash isn't a drawback on a phone - but it is on a larger screen.
The capacity isn't big enough either. There are three sizes of storage available, 16Gb, 32Gb and 64Gb. Now considering my two year old iPod Classic is packing 160Gb, that is pretty tiny. I know solid state drives aren't cheap, but I figured 128Gb would be available.
And of course, we get to the price. The base model, 16Gb and wi-fi only is $499. That will probably translate to about £429 in UK money. Not bad. But the top of the range 3G, 64Gb model is $829. Finger in the air, £699. Now, what kind of laptop can you get for £700. A bloody good one, I would say. And that price looks even worse when you consider that it doesn't have a camera (no video calling) and although you can stick the device on any mobile network, that data plan is going to cost you more.
So, a pup then? It is underspecced, overpriced and aimed at a niche that no-one is sure exists.
And yet.... and yet
A quote or three
All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.
I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently!
Why oh why would they do this?! It's so wrong! It's so stupid!
hey - heres an idea Apple - rather than enter the world of gimmicks and toys, why dont you spend a little more time sorting out your pathetically expensive and crap server line up?
Not exactly "revolutionary". With the economy in its current state, You'll be able to pick up MP3 players for peanuts soon. The Archos Jukebox does the same thing and it's not blowing off the shelves either. $399 is just too much for an MP3 jukebox. Sorry Steve, this isn't it...
That was the reaction by Mac fans to the iPod. Shows what the blogosphere know, really. The iPod was overpriced, underspecced compared to the competition and went on to take over the world.
And if you think that is a one-off, then how about the iPhone. I was using 3G a year and a bit before the iPhone came out - in 2G only. It took what, another year, to be able to do MMS, functionality that had been around for half a decade. So in short, underspecced, underpowered and... well, you know.
So lets look at the iPad again. I've got one, in the living room, just hanging around connected to my Wi-fi. I'm not sure what is on the telly tonight, so I pick up my iPad and browse the tv listings. Sod all to watch, so I've subscribed to the Guardian and there is todays paper, looking like a paper, except with pinch zoom and page turning, accompanied by music from iTunes. I see an ad for a movie, complete with embedded video trailer, so I decide to see it, and book tickets through the cinemas website. Now email has come through, so a quick skim through that...
Now all this can be done on a phone but the screens are comparatively small and fiddly. Or I could use a laptop or netbook. Except they are clamshell, and faffy and using the OS with a trackpad or mouse is a bit annoying in comparison to a few swipes and taps at the iPad. I'm beginning to get where Apple are coming from - it is a device for making little things easier.
Is that worth four hundred quid? No, not really. But can you see where I'm going? The iPad is a device with possibilities. I think it is quite a risky move, and could easily go the way of the Apple TV. But if a mobile network in the UK decide to subsidise it in the same way they do with the iPhone, say a 24 month contract including data and a price of £249. Didn't stop the iPhone, did it?
* By the way, the guy posting that claimed afterwards he was joking and not bullshitting and hyping in search of hits.
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