The iPad: Did Apple jump the shark, or is it a tablet for the masses?

Well, iPad day has come and gone, and with it the dreams of many an Apple fan, if our internal emails here at rgbFilter are any indication. In the weeks leading up to the announcement of the new iPad, there was all kinds of rampant speculation. Will it be iPhone OS, or OS X? How big will it be? Will there be a stylus? Will it magically kill both other ebook readers and netbooks in one fell swoop?

If you followed the standard commentary, not just in the tech press, but from mainstream media looking to get a few more hits because of the rabid consumptive nature of Apple fans, you’d think that Apple had something bold up its sleeve. Maybe it WILL crush all in its path…

What the iPad is:

“Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price” – actual cringeworthy iPad slogan

Yes, that is the keyboard.  Beyond the obvious “It’s a giant iPod Touch” comments, there’s little to say, because it’s a giant iPod Touch.  To be more specific , the iPadA 9.7 inch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio and resolution of 1024×768.  It’s powered by a 1 GHz class chip from Apple’s own PA Semi and runs the iPhone OS 3.2.  Input is all done via the same multitouch that iPhone and iPod Touch users are familiar with.  Even the home screen is a blown up version of the iPhone’s icons, though now you can change the background, which many breathless tech reporters were happy to announce.

It features the iPod connector, and if you’re lucky enough to need USB or SD card slot support, you can simply plug in the appropriate dongle (sold separately).  Although it plays back HD video, the screen resolution is lower than 720p, and there’s no external connector to output HD content to a TV or monitor (at least in the first generation).  Wait for a software update and an all new HDMI dongle.  I can’t believe I’m talking about 4:3 screens and port dongles in 2010, but here we are…

But I’ll pause right there.  Below are the opinions of each of us (alphabetically), on what may or may not become a revolutionary device.

Alex: Another apple product that I would never buy. It’s too stripped down, yet, especially for the 3G models, way too much money. They should have made a 10″ Macbook Pro tablet, with a proper pressure sensitive screen for content creators to work on, and a lower end 7-8″ version, without the pressure sensitive screen, a standard Macbook, both versions running OS X with a custom tablet interface on top, and if they wanted to leverage iPhone apps they could have used an emulator — and WTF were they thinking when they decided on a 4:3 screen, and no external connections apart from the dock!

Dave: Apple’s iPad tablet unveiling left everybody dazed and confused.  Not the revolutionary mobile computing device that every tech/gadget-head was clamouring for years from Apple.  It is simply a giant iPhone-based e-book reader with added computer-like functionality (read –  not a real computer!).  I for one was really, and I mean REALLY, disappointed – and I generally love Apple products (excluding the MacBook Air)!  No built-in wacom-like pen support, HDMI, USB, or any port except for the 30-pin dock connector and a headphone jack.  No OSX even!  What’s up with that?  At least it does have built-in WiFi n.

With no multitasking abilities, it can only let you use one feature or App at a time.  However, you can add a USB or a SD card port with an extra adapter you have to buy (booooo!).  Even though you can watch HD video content on the iPad, with separate connection cables/adapters (sold separately) you can only watch SD 480i/480p on a TV (Ed note: it does support a whopping 1024×768 via a separate VGA dongle which you can buy).  It’s iPhone-like ability to run downloaded Apps does add functionality, extending the iPad beyond that of a simple e-book reader, but it looks like a crippled computer.

On the positive side, it’s 9.7-inch IPS (In-Plane Switching) LCD screen looks great, and its multi-touch looks to be as fast and responsive as the iPhone, and Apple has allowed VOIP provider Skype into the App Store.  With access to the App Store, iTunes Store and the new iBook Store, you too can download/buy whatever Apple sees fit to sell/censor for you.  Let’s hope Apple doesn’t pull a Kindle and start erasing the downloaded apps or digital books you bought if it deems “inappropriate” (Ed note: Apple HAS done this in the past).  As I was going through all of its features, I was struck that I was not the target market for the iPad.  This was later confirmed when I found out that my Mom wants one after seeing it on the news;  seriously, MY MOM, who’s not even a casual computer user!  Hmmmm…

Doug: What Apple has done, in essence, is NOT directly challenge the netbook and e-book reader market, but try to convince the average consumer (and consumer is a word Apple LOVES), that they don’t need either.  They’ve certainly made one of the most stylish smartbook tablets out there, and getting in on that market in the nascent stages.  It’s absolutely preposterous to think that a non-multitasking, walled garden development product can replace a netbook or a thin and light laptop, especially when it lacks a keyboard, which is essential for actually getting ‘stuff’ done.  The true disconnect from reality is when Steve Jobs called it the “best web experience”, even though the Safari mobile browser doesn’t support standards such as Flash (more on that in a minute).  Similarly, for avid readers, though the iPad simulates page turning quite nicely, it’s saddled with an LCD screen, which is much harder on the eyes than an e-ink based device (not to mention that the lowest end iPad costs much more than a Kindle).

The other takeaway from this is that Apple’s long term goal isn’t just to be a product category leader, or provide a truly portable computing experience, but to funnel as much digital content through their walled garden as their bandwidth allows.  The new deals with book publishers, which raises the price of e-books, and gives Apple a healthy 30% cut of all sales, is just one harbinger of walled garden computing in the future.  The continued lack of Flash on the iPhone OS is another example of that.  Besides video, Flash is also used for web based games and applications by millions of casual gamers every day.  Since Flash is ‘open’ in the sense that anyone can use it for free, if Apple were to allow Flash on the iPhone, it would become a Trojan horse for non-Apple approved functionality, and functionality that Apple can’t sell to the consumer.

And that’s what you are.  You’re not a user, a geek, a fanboy or a person.  You are a never ending credit card number.  A disproportionate number of the slides at the iPad launch were about how many people have given Apple their credit card number, and how many apps they moved through their store.  The presentation was clearly aimed more at developers and content providers, enticing them to the iTunes walled garden for all their digital delivery needs.  Personally I’ll stick to the jungle, where everything is just a quick google (or bing) search away.  Besides, things evolve in more interesting ways in the wild.

John: Apple did the exact opposite of everything they needed to do to make their tablet a success. This product is layers of retarded, this coming from a guy who loves apple tv, hows THAT for perspective?

Ryan: The iPad would be interesting with a full version of OSX, at least SOME IO, and a 16:9 screen. Anything less than that and they’re creating a niche product for a niche that does not exist, and ignoring the precedent set by competitors at CES, wherein it has been proved that a tablet device with a full version of an OS is a perfectly viable thing. The 1GHz A4 proc (aka Cortex A9) is plenty powerful enough to support a desktop-like experience, and plenty power-sipping enough to still let the battery last a very respectable 5-6 hours; both of which are more than you need on a device as unnecessary as this one. So no Multitasking and No Flash is a conspicuous oversight.

I feel like the iPad would be a great product had they not called it a personal computer and called it exactly what it is:  a PMD with a browser.  Then all they had to do was price it accordingly (sub $350 for the 16gb with 3G) and it might have been a winner. But this is by NO means a “tablet computer”, just as the iPhone is in NO way a “desktop-like experience”.

Conclusion: I think it’s clear by all our thoughts that the iPad is certainly not for anyone here at rgbFilter, but then again, most of us use notebooks or netbooks and the iPad is a lesser beast.  We’re not the key demographic, but the real question is, will the average consumer be lured in by the giant iPod Touch, at it’s given price point when seeing the slew of other products out there.  Many devices in the ‘in between’ tablet market were shown off running operating systems from custom Linux GUIs, to Android to Windows 7.  There’s still a couple of months to wait before seeing how this market shakes out, or if it even becomes a mainstream market in the first place.