The big event is over and the chances that you read my thoughts on the release of the iPad are slim indeed, but I am going to put them out there anyway...for posterity.
So how did the event begin? Steve jumped right into demoing Safari by browsing a website that required Flash. Guess what happened? Nothing. That's right folks, still no flash support. You can say what you want about Flash sucking or not sucking, but the fact of the matter is that every day I follow links on my iPhone from my email or tweets that lead me to nothing because my iPhone (and now the iPad) lack support for Flash. FAIL
I new there wouldn't be enough memory in this new device and Apple did not destroy my prediction. The high end model has only 64gb and the low end has an embarrassing 16gb! Of course Apple can't include an SD card slot because that would mess up their price points. FAIL
The Home Screen on the iPad just looks goofy to me. I think it's because there aren't enough icons per row. While the device is a glorified iPhone, it doesn't need to look like they just pixel doubled the Home Screen. FAIL
In the midst of all the fun, someone had to remind me of one of the biggest negatives of the day. Not only are there not dual cameras on the iPad, there are no cameras on the iPad. DOUBLE FAIL
AT&T as the data provider? Is that a joke? FAIL
I'm not sure this is a bad thing, but it is at least a little disconcerting that the iPad using Apple's own silicone. As a friend of mine pointed out, this is probably just somebody else's chip branded by Apple, but it gives me the willies all the same.
It wasn't all bad. I am quite excited about iBook and the iBookstore. The mobile versions of iWorks are interesting, and watching movies on this thing would be very cool. Heck, as an ebook reader the iPad may be worth the price when compared to every other reader on the market. I would have liked to have seen iBook and iBookstore for the iPhone, but I guess that would pull people away from the iPad.
I guess the best thing about the iPad was the price. I would never in a thousand years thought that Apple would sell this thing for under $1,000 let alone $500. Sure, the $500 iPad is Wi-Fi only and sports a massive 16gb flash drive, but for Apple that price is amazing.
I am about as close to being an Apple fanboy as you can get without actually being 100% fanboy. Before I started writing this post I was fairly excited about the iPad, but when I look back on what I took away from the event I have to say that I'm a little more than disappointed. I'm fairly confident that this device (or at least its ancestors) will do very well, but I can't say I would buy one even if I had the $500 burning a hole in my pocket. Who knows, maybe it will FAIL? Doubt it.
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