You hear that? That's the sound of the end of another big day in the Apple world. And now it's time to take a step back and really go over what happened today, compare it to what we thought and give an honest assessment.
That's where I come in. I'm also going to incorporate some questions from Twitter into this. And, after you are all done reading, please leave me your comments and questions.
That's where I come in. I'm also going to incorporate some questions from Twitter into this. And, after you are all done reading, please leave me your comments and questions.
A special thanks to each and every one of you for following along with me today. I always appreciate your support. And, if you'd like to see my reaction live as it happened, check out this clip from Marcus Leshock of WGN-TV.
My overall summary
I like it. There are plenty of negative reviews out there - more negative reviews than I had expected to see. But I really like it. I like the fact that it's truly more than just an overgrown iPhone or iPod touch. I think it really is as Steve Jobs said - fills the space between an iPhone and a laptop. There are a lot of people out there who say that netbooks are better. I have never seen a netbook that hasn't been butt ugly. And I have this thing against ugly computers - I won't use one. If that sounds snobbish, I'm sorry - but I prefer the style and elegance and most importantly, the ease of use - that Apple provides. Are there things I don't like? Sure. Plenty, actually. And I'll get to those. But overall, I'm very happy with what came out of Cupertino by way of San Francisco today.
Some things that I like:
1. At $499 to start, that's actually a very fair price. No one predicted a price point of $499. Not even me. I said $599 was the sweet spot but even I wasn't sure that would ever happen and started to nudge upward. But an intro price at $599 is huge because it will help sales. Sure, it goes up from there, but it's a nice place to start.
2. No contract needed for 3G. You had me at no contract. The fact that there's an option for 3G and you don't have to sign a cellular contract to take advantage is great. And the fact that there are two flavors of 3G -- one at $14.99 for 250 MB and one at $29.99 for unlimited data - is huge. No one likes contracts. And if you decide you can do without 3G, well, that's ok too.
3. 1.5 pounds, .5 inches thick. Thin is in! I wish the bezel around the screen wasn't so thick, but that's how these things are - and it will get thinner with time. Not that the bezel is a deal-breaker, of course. Now where was I? Oh, yeah! 1.5 pounds! That's crazy awesome. And .5 inches thick. Wow.
4. Optional traditional keyboard will silence all those virtual keyboard haters (talking to you, BlackBerry users) For all the iPhone virtual keyboard haters, now you have a choice. If you want a real keyboard with a dock, well, you have one. It makes it less portable, but how you use it is up to you. Kudos to Apple for providing the option - I truly didn't expect that to be the case so it was a pleasant surprise.
5. Powerful alternative for people who need something more than an iPhone or iPod touch and less than a laptop. I use my iPhone for a lot of things. And I use my laptop for a lot of things. I feel like the iPad falls right in the middle where I want it. I feel like it would be easy to use at my desk and also on the couch. I like that option. I like knowing there's something in between.
6. You gotta love looking at photos on this thing. The screen is so crisp and the look is just undeniably Apple. You can tap or pinch to open a stack of photos and then flipi through the pictures and zoom in and out - all those things you are used to doing on an iPhone. And with the Apple Camera Connection Kit, you can import photos from a camera or SD memory card.
7. Things that look great on the iPhone look even better on this screen. The iPod app and the iTunes store look beautiful.
8. The App Store plays so nicely. iPad will run almost 140,000 apps from the App Store. And there's a section of the App Store that focuses on apps designed just for the iPad.
9. iBooks. Once you download the app, you can purchase books from inside the app. And then you'll see whatever you've purchased on your bookshelf - which looks amazing! And in typical Apple fashion, just tap on the book and it opens for you. Simple.
10. The iWork apps are great and they work with the ones on your Mac. At $9.99 each it's a pretty decent deal. Hopefully a package deal will be worked out - no point in buying separately, but separate is a nice option.
Some things that I like:
1. At $499 to start, that's actually a very fair price. No one predicted a price point of $499. Not even me. I said $599 was the sweet spot but even I wasn't sure that would ever happen and started to nudge upward. But an intro price at $599 is huge because it will help sales. Sure, it goes up from there, but it's a nice place to start.
2. No contract needed for 3G. You had me at no contract. The fact that there's an option for 3G and you don't have to sign a cellular contract to take advantage is great. And the fact that there are two flavors of 3G -- one at $14.99 for 250 MB and one at $29.99 for unlimited data - is huge. No one likes contracts. And if you decide you can do without 3G, well, that's ok too.
3. 1.5 pounds, .5 inches thick. Thin is in! I wish the bezel around the screen wasn't so thick, but that's how these things are - and it will get thinner with time. Not that the bezel is a deal-breaker, of course. Now where was I? Oh, yeah! 1.5 pounds! That's crazy awesome. And .5 inches thick. Wow.
4. Optional traditional keyboard will silence all those virtual keyboard haters (talking to you, BlackBerry users) For all the iPhone virtual keyboard haters, now you have a choice. If you want a real keyboard with a dock, well, you have one. It makes it less portable, but how you use it is up to you. Kudos to Apple for providing the option - I truly didn't expect that to be the case so it was a pleasant surprise.
5. Powerful alternative for people who need something more than an iPhone or iPod touch and less than a laptop. I use my iPhone for a lot of things. And I use my laptop for a lot of things. I feel like the iPad falls right in the middle where I want it. I feel like it would be easy to use at my desk and also on the couch. I like that option. I like knowing there's something in between.
6. You gotta love looking at photos on this thing. The screen is so crisp and the look is just undeniably Apple. You can tap or pinch to open a stack of photos and then flipi through the pictures and zoom in and out - all those things you are used to doing on an iPhone. And with the Apple Camera Connection Kit, you can import photos from a camera or SD memory card.
7. Things that look great on the iPhone look even better on this screen. The iPod app and the iTunes store look beautiful.
8. The App Store plays so nicely. iPad will run almost 140,000 apps from the App Store. And there's a section of the App Store that focuses on apps designed just for the iPad.
9. iBooks. Once you download the app, you can purchase books from inside the app. And then you'll see whatever you've purchased on your bookshelf - which looks amazing! And in typical Apple fashion, just tap on the book and it opens for you. Simple.
10. The iWork apps are great and they work with the ones on your Mac. At $9.99 each it's a pretty decent deal. Hopefully a package deal will be worked out - no point in buying separately, but separate is a nice option.
11. 802.11n wireless. Thank the lord.
That said ... there are quite a few things that I don't like:
1. iPad? Really, Steve Jobs? Really? That's the best you could do? iPad? Of all the possible names, I had really hoped this wouldn't be it. Turns out, readers actually thought this would be the case, but I was hoping for Magic Slate or MacTablet. Folks in this office are making fun of the name in very uncomfortable ways. Right now, I hate the name, but I will say this. In 2001, everyone made fun of the name iPod. 250 million iPods later, we seem to be pretty forgiving.
2. Where's the multitasking we were promised? There are certain things you can do - like listen to your iPod while reading a book. But without true multitasking, you can't listen to WunderRadio while reading a book. You can if that station is streaming on Safari, but that's a band-aid, not a fix. A processor this powerful should be able to handle multi-tasking. Personally, I don't think it's the ability - I think it's the battery life that suffers with multitasking and until Apple can work around that, we'll be stuck.
3. No HDMI Out UGH! I was hoping all along that there would be a wireless connection to our TV. Not only didn't we get that, we didn't get an HDTV connection at all. If there was a way to interact with our HDTV, this would be a viable replacement for Apple TV. Instead, we still have the awkwardness which is Apple TV and no means of connecting two very important devices in our home. I'm hoping that comes someday, but that really should have been in this version. Just to be clear - there's a connector that will let you output to TV but it should have been more seamless.
4. No widescreen? Really? Kind of. You can double tap during a movie to see it in either fullscreen or widescreen. It may not be as wide as we were hoping, but movies will look pretty nice on it anyway.
5. Dude, where's my camera? I just wanted a front facing one for video iChat. That would have made this thing amazing. It didn't need a true camera - taking a photo with a tablet would be awkward to say the least. But if this had video chat, everyone would want one of these things - grandparents, families of soldiers overseas, etc. It's a missed opportunity. If it's about price, I understand, but make it an option.
6. Hello? Adobe? Yeah, we're not interested in your Flash. I understand that it's slow and limiting, but no Flash on my iPhone drives me insane. Every time I try to go to a restaurant Web site and I get that blue question mark I want to scream. I can't have a great Web surfing experience without Flash. I don't know what the deal is Steve, but you've got to either get over the big fight with Adobe or just find an alternative. The way it is now isn't working.
7. AT&T only for 3G. Here we go again. Earlier I talked about how awesome it is that there's no cellular contract required. It is awesome and Apple and AT&T should be commended. But now we've got the same issue again. AT&T's 3G service has been less than great for iPhone users and now we'll have more devices clogging the network. If there's one thing this tablet needed it was Verizon. And to add insult to injury, the iPad is unlocked but you can't use it on T-Mobile. So what good is unlocked? Perhaps it helps overseas, but here in the states we're missing out.
Overall, that's my take - there's lots of stuff I like, lots of stuff I don't like and things I wish Apple would have thought of. But you know what? No device is perfect in the first iteration. We said the same thing about the iPhone and while we've come a long way, we still have plenty of complaints. As we go, the iPad will improve and I'll be here keeping track.
And now for the million dollar question - will I buy one? Right now, I'm undecided. I'm not undecided because the cons outweigh the pros, I'm undecided because iWife and I are saving up for a condo. I told her that the iPad would have to do some amazing things related to our new home to get me to buy right away. Because there's no HDTV connection that would make this a substitute for an Apple TV, I'm likely to wait. But I'm certainly interested in it and will likely have one someday.
