Technically Me

After Apple’s January 27th announcement of the iPad, there came a wave of criticism about the new device, with many weighing in about its lack of a few key features that seemed like glaring omissions during the presentation. I weighed in myself about the iPad in my article for In Tech Today (“iPad’s Indentity Crisis“), raising some of the same questions that have been on many people’s minds, as well as the question of if the device will be able to find its place in the market or simply become a somewhat successful side product, like the Apple TV, until a second or third generation iPad is released.

When compared with the features and value of most current netbooks, the iPad comes up short as it is currently configured. It lacks a video camera for video conferencing, which is regarded as a standard feature in most laptops and netbooks these days, it has no standard built-in SD card reader for expanding the device’s storage capacity, it has no built-in USB ports or other standard built-in connection ports, it doesn’t allow the user to multitask, and its Web browser doesn’t support Flash. Lacking one of these features would be bad enough, and could be tolerable even at the iPad’s starting price of $499 for the Wi-Fi only version. When you add all of those missing features together, though, it’s no wonder why everyone was so surprised. The missing features automatically took the iPad out of the running as a serious alternative to carrying a laptop or netbook, and cast it as mainly a large iPod touch, doing mostly the same things the current version of that device is already capable of. Definitely not a “game changer” in the market, and definitely not as feature rich as other tablet PCs. Its A4 chip may give it the power and speed it needs, but that alone can’t make up for what it lacks.

On the e-reader front, the iPad comes up short as well. Devices such as Amazon’s Kindle solve the problem of eye strain while reading e-books on a screen. It’s one of the features most current e-reader owners like about their devices. The iPad, on the other hand, is backlit, making it no more comfortable for long periods of reading than reading from any laptop, netbook, PC, or smartphone screen. Books may look nice as their animated pages turn, but reading is about reading, and the device that does the best job of letting you do that wins.

All of that being said, you have to wonder if Apple debuted the iPad too soon. It certainly seems like it. At $499 for the base model with 16GB and no 3G, it’s not a “must have” item by any means. If you already own a laptop, netbook, iPhone, or iPod touch, you’ll probably find yourself asking if you really need it at all. At $829 for the maxed out 64GB model with Wi-Fi and 3G, which would be the most useful version for this type of device, it becomes even less appealing. If some of those missing features had not been missing, though, the story could have been quite different. It just feels like the iPhone style OS was used more for convenience, rather than to give the iPad true functionality. If nothing else, it should have been modified to allow for multitasking, and the browser should have been allowed to have Flash support, but maybe there just wasn’t enough time. Its hardware deficiencies seem like they are related more to hitting a certain price for the device, or intentionally leaving space to try to sell future upgraded models, rather than simply being an oversight. Maybe Apple should have held off debuting the iPad until component prices were low enough that they could add in the hardware that’s missing now, while still being able to hit the price they were hoping for.

Ultimately, the iPad’s success will hinge on whether or not Apple issues sufficient OS updates quickly enough to address some of the features users want to see. The iPad’s success will also depend on how quickly developers bring out useful apps, designed specifically for the iPad, that take full advantage of the device’s features. The iPad’s strengths lie in its ability for users to customize the device with apps that will suit their needs. A gamer wanting to use the iPad mostly for its entertainment features, for example, is likely to have a much different set of apps than someone who wants to use the iPad mostly for business. It’s that customization that Apple should key in on.

Make no mistake, Apple will release future versions of the iPad that will include most of the features the current model is missing, and more. It’s just a shame that Apple didn’t see fit to do that with this version of the iPad. Instead of releasing a new product that many are thinking they might want at some point, Apple could have released a product that most would have felt they must have. The iPad has the potential to be a single device that can outdo similar types of products that are currently in the marketplace, just not this time out.

Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear any thoughts or comments you might have.