A Path Less Trodden

.. he’s a very naughty boy.

You’d be forgiven in believing the second coming was imminent such was the frenzy surrounding the recent much leaked, much hyped launch of the Apple iPad.  Now I’ll admit that I’m not immune to the über cool aura that surrounds all that emanates from Cupertino these days (I’m a PC user but have an iPod, an iPhone and a Mac Mini), but my initial reaction to the iPad was, well, disappointment.

After watching the official video on the Apple site I changed my mind and thought - hey that’s kinda cool. I don’t quite know what resonated with me when watching the video, probably the subliminal ‘ buy this and your life will be cool’ message!

Now the dust has settled and on further reflection I’ve changed my mind again (!) and there are things about the device that really don’t meet my expectations. After the brilliance of the iPod and iPhone I feel let down to be honest and the iPad leaves me with a sense that Apple missed a trick with what could have been a step change in mobile computer technology. Let’s start with the statement Jonny Ive uses in the official Apple video :

I don’t have to change myself to fit the product. It fits me.

Hey Jonny, you used iTunes lately? That is a truly awful piece of software with a unintuitive interface and doesn’t work the way I do. I want to drag and drop my stuff to and from device like I do on OSX and Win XP, not use the clunky library concept and sync nonsense. I mean, for Pete’s sake, the libraries aren’t even compatible between MAC and PC.

Then there’s the iBook thing. I’m a bit ambivalent about this one. I read a lot and love books, They sort of become friends, but they do take up space. Also when I go abroad I like to travel light so can  only take a few books so having a device that could hold hundreds of books would be a boon. Then I considered. Am I going to be OK with an iPad on the beach? Mmm don’t think so. Does it look like it might survive me dropping it. Mmm No. Does it look sturdy enough to survive air travel? Mmm No.

Then I found out that iBook is only available in the US so I don’t need to consider this aspect at all!

OK it looks a neat way of watching movies. I downloaded and watched a movie on my iPhone last time I flew to France and that was a really good experience.

Then there’s the multi tasking thing. I know this is rumoured to be in the latest OS, but until it’s available my Netbook is travelling with me. And what’s with no webcam capability, no SD slots, no USB. Man is this going to one expensive piece of limited kit!

Never mind Steve. ‘Always look on the bright side of life ta da ta da…’