Everyone is talking about Apple’s new toy and I can tell you I’m not the only person disappointed. We were all waiting for a tablet computer than ran a full operating system and knocked us out with multitouch controls. We wanted a $1,000+ computer that could replace our MacBooks from time to time and actually be a feasible couch computer. What we got instead is a larger iPod touch with a bit more horsepower.
It doesn’t do ___!
This was my first complaint. It doesn’t seem to do multitasking, no camera, hardly any storage, no file system, I could go on. But after the initial shock of such a crippled device I came back down from hatesville. The reason the iPad doesn’t have the stuff mentioned above is because it’s not a computer, it’s a tablet. That last sentence might not make sense but just think about it for a minute. This is a new platform, and Apple knows what they are doing.
Don’t get me wrong, I will never buy an iPad. It isn’t what I want. In the next year however it may mature into something I lust over. We saw the possibilities of this device with the introduction of iWork for the iPad and I can bet more is coming down the pipeline. The race to the bottom for the iPhone AppStore won’t be as aggressive on this device. I can see OSX like applications being developed for this device, coming with it OSX like abilities, and not to mention the same prices.
The future
The iPad isn’t what I want but it’s going to sell like hotcakes. The price seems high but compared to what? I remember when people were double fisting the 1st gen iPhone at $600 a piece. Yes, I just said double fisting. At $499 unlocked these babies will sell. I don’t feel like they are a netbook killer, yet. You can still pick up at Dell Mini10 for $300 and a Nook for $259, my ideal setup. We’ll see how rapidly the applications mature on the iPad and I believe the software is what will make this thing take off like a rocket. When there are a few killer apps in the AppStore (MIDI Controller anyone?) let me know how much of a flop you think it still is.
Accessory is not made to work with iPhone
This annoying popup appears every time I plug my iPhone 3G into my iPod dock. Sure, I could buy the iPhone dock but why when I already have a dock that essentially does the same thing. I quickly looked for a way to disable this popup and found a few guides, unfortunately they all had consequences. The only guide that blocked this popup made the service it replaced crash constantly. This made the crash reporter run the entire time at about 50% CPU utilization. Luckily Apple realized this popup is very annoying.
This error message is quite annoying.
After a few days of hitting “No” every time I docked my iPhone before I went to bed I noticed that the popup just goes away after about 15 seconds. This is on 3.1.2 firmware so I’m not sure if it was included in earlier firmwares. I mean sure the fact that I can’t disable the popup annoys me but since it disappears automatically I can at least ignore it.