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iPad: Why it isn’t for me
January 28, 2010 | 9:56 am
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By Paul Biba
I’m an Apple fan—the owner of a MacBookPro and MacBook Air and a compatible home network—and I’ve gone through tons of iPad stuff.
Should I buy one? My preliminary conclusion is, No. Here’s why:
–The iPad will make a lousy ebook reader. What good is a reader with only 10 hours of battery life? You certainly can’t use it when traveling – you can’t even get to Hawaii, Japan or Australia on it. One major benefit of e-ink devices is that their batteries last forever. A couple of weeks on my Kindle and Sony if I’m careful with the wireless. If I go away for a week or more I don’t even need to bring a charger. I just can’t see using such a short-lived device like the tablet.
–Second, the iPad uses AT&T as the 3G carrier. In the New York area, where I live, AT&T’s service can, charitably, be called horrible. Dropped calls are common and if you go into the City you can pretty much forget about getting 3G service, and the iPhone’s constant searching for a 3G connection drains the battery at an alarming rate. When you are with any large group of people who have iPhones, such as at Digital Book World, the concentration of phones in one area is guaranteed to kill AT&T’s 3G and it is common for not only data service but also phone service, as well, to become blocked. At DBW I got a kick out of all of us iPhone users bitching to each other about how our phones didn’t work. What use will you get out of the iPad’s Safari browser in this environment?
Nope, at least for the present, I’ll keep my money and hope that the iPhone becomes available on Verizon. If it does I’ll use the cash to break my contract with AT&T and get a new iPhone (even though my 3GS is almost brand new) on Verizon’s network.
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Comments:
@Paul — You forgot to mention the other iPad shortcomings when it comes to ebooks: no annotation, no bookmarking. The iPad came, I saw, I wasn’t conquered. I have never bought an Apple product because I never saw anything that made it compelling to me, and the iPad keeps that streak alive. I may be the only person who isn’t impressed by Apple styling or software, but I’m not, especially not when combined with the price structure.
But then I’m probably the only person who uses their cell phone to make and receive phone calls only; never texted, never surfed the web, never retrieved or sent email, never took a photo, with my cell phone and never cared. I just see smartphones as another money sucker-upper.
Definitely doesn’t sound like the device for you. But I think it will fit a lot other people. (I don’t think the iPad is perfect.)
How many people read for 10 hours straight without recharge access? If you fly to Japan with it are you going to be reading the entire time? Maybe you do, but I have to take breaks (and naps!). I’d mostly use it at home, so I could plug it in every night if need be. (Average users aren’t a business traveler.)
I think it’s an excellent ebook reader because it’s not just an ebook reader. There’s only so much market you’re going to get for dedicated ebook readers in a world where fewer people now read books. There’s growth in devices that serve multiple functions.
Touchscreen is a major plus. Also that the application looks like a book, the pages turn by hand, etc. This makes for a better bridge between paper and ebooks.
I think the device could be a major boon for ebook reading. I’d certainly like to get my hands on one. I don’t need 3g, so that’s not a concern for me.
Paul don’t buy anymore laptops or cell phones because you will be so upset they don’t even last 10 hours.
Most advanced consumer technology that is useful and people want to buy has this type of limitation.
Oh and I hate AT&T too but with the iPad there is “no contract” so the AT&T 3G can be purchased or canceled without significant penalties unlike the iPhone.
Anyway you keep on with the Kindle and it’s extremely limited use and appeal. At least I won’t have to compete with you to buy an iPad.
As noted above, AT&T is not the exclusive provider, they’re just the first to offer the service.
Also, given the plethora of eReader apps already available, and the goldrush shortly to follow, it stands to reason that if you want specialized functionality like annotating, bookmarking, etc., someone will build an iPad App (and accompanying bookstore) to provide it. That seems a better bet for having your needs met than a single-purpose device that is locked into only one store.
We still don’t know if any iPad ebook app will be allowed to compete with the Apple bookstore. The bookstore will presumably also be available for the iPhone, so all its existing ebook apps may get banned too.
I agree with the others that 10 hours is a completely non-issue for most people. How often are you actually going to be in a situation where you are reading for 10 hours straight without being able to plug in and repower the device? Also, if other eBook applications are allowed on the iPad (and there are signs that this will be possible – see the message about Kobo) then virtually any disadvantage against a Kindle (and others) is lost. Personally, I can’t see how anyone would pay for a Kindle DX (or any other high price dedicated eBook reader) when they can get a iPad for essentially the same money (or less). In my mind eInk on larger dedicated eBook readers is completely dead and it will be very interesting to see how Amazon, Sony and others deal with this. If Amazon ports Kindle for the iPhone to the iPad (or it just “works”) then I can’t see any reason to get a Kindle at all, at least this version of Kindle with eInk.
I believe David Crotty is correct. Other developers will come in and take care of the Reader Software problems. (Give Kobo’s iPhone app a spin and see what you think of it. Shortcovers for the Pre is a disaster; Kobo for iPhone at least works reasonably reliably, but it’s barely better than nothing. It must have been designed by someone who doesn’t actually read long-form texts.) (Although whoever it is may believe they do. A lot of people who don’t read long-form think they really do.)
Oh. And if I’m really into a book, I will forget to charge — yes, even after ten hours. And I am away from opportunities to charge for many hours at a time. And I don’t know about iPad, but my iPod touch *drains* over time, whether I’m using it or not. This is not a problem with my Kindle.
Seen this: It’s kind of a scream.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2010/01/ipad_apples_way_of_reaching_ou.html?sc=fb&cc=fp
The commentary on Slashdot is worth a peek as well, although there is (as one would predict) *a lot* of it.
Size and weight are big negatives for me; a 6 inch “iPad” that weighs as much as my Sony Reader at about 300 g and that would be my next device when the Reader dies; if you need pdf’s, comics, magazines and such on the go, I agree that the iPad could be great – and Kindle DX is dead unless it really improves – but for a fiction reader this one is way unwieldy, while for casual browsing on the go the iTouch which I always have with me in a pocket and the abundance of free Wi-Fi is good enough
It might be a good netbook replacement for me (I use a netbook when I teach) but I am keeping my Kindle for text to speech, dictionary use and the ability to read on a clear, paper-like medium without extraneous distractions.
So far I haven’t seen anything that indicates that the iPad can handle pdf’s, or indeed any non-purchased text material. If the processor were x86 compatible, you could presumably use the superior Foxit pdf reader, but no go. For a backlit e-reader, I still believe that yellow text on a black background is a necessity.
Regards, Don
Well, the mail app lets you view PDF attachments but iBook is a question mark, apparently.
So far the iBook screens I’ve seen are too cute by half and the screen is way too busy for me. I prefer a black screen with nothing but text and swiping a screen to page just isn’t my style; I’ve tried it on my tablet PCs and it breaks the immersion.
There is one big assumption out there that needs answering right away: *will* Apple allow competing reader apps onto the iPad. Kobo and others may be working on them but until I hear Apple welcome them with open arms I’m not holding my breath.
Nice pic, BTW; yes, a scorpion is always a scorpion…
I think iPad is targeting these three areas: 1)Netbook replacement, 2)textbook market/iTunes U and 3)a trojan horse to build up iWork’s market.
The textbook market needs heavy-duty annotation and note-taking, preferably with synchronized audio recording. Absent a future application entry, the iPad as announced falls flat there.
As for netbook replacement, the bulk of netbook sales run in the $250-350 range and it is by intent a price-sensitive market. The only way iPad factors in the Netbook race is as an excuse for apple protecting MacOS price points and keeping their laptops in the $900-and higher range.
The iPad will play best as a combo media-player web-pad for the home and as a large-format partner to the iPod/iPhone. It may play out as a premium home theater remote for Bluetooth remote control setups or for a home automation control panel, too.
But it really isn’t much of competitor for Atom Netbooks. Not with its limited RAM capacity. (Note they only publicize the Flash storage capacity.)
As an appliance it is competitive; as a low-end computer it isn’t.
Felix, I think you’re right that this is not a replacement for a Netbook for someone who needs the actual functionality a Netbook provides (though Jobs makes the point that a Netbook is essentially a crappy cheap Notebook and if you need that functionality you’d be better served with a Notebook). Apple’s bet here is that there’s a large population buying Netbooks who don’t make use of that functionality. They’re buying them because they’re cheap and can do the simple things they need–browse the web, answer e-mail, update Facebook, watch a movie. The iPad is meant to do those simple things better at a similar price. If you need much more than that, this is not a device for you.
Think of a family of 4 with one PC in the house. Mom keeps kicking you off the computer to check her Facebook page, daughter Susie wants to watch videos of her favorite band on YouTube, son Timmy wants to play video games. As a secondary device for the needs of that family, this may make more sense than a Netbook.
@David Croty that scenario might work…
…in a vacuum.
But the iPad will be contending with a flood of me-too generic application pads (all cheaper), netbooks (ditto), and full-blown (not really crappy) full-function notebooks (same price).
Plus iPhones and iPods.
In other words, Apple is competing with itself for the role of the *third* or *fourth* computer in the house and Internet access is already ubiquitous these days in households that are affluent enough to afford iPads. That isn’t going to sell the iPad.
Note I’m not saying it will be a failure; just that it will have to sell on the strength of what it can do *well* (media playback) not what it does poorly (homebound internet access, computer functions).
Its a large format iPod touch more than anything else; it will sell (or not) based on the marked for that kind of device.
Speaking strictly from the reading perspective, the iPad will do the following:
1. email
2. most ebooks, free & otherwise using various Apps
3. blog reading, aided by Readability
4. magazines/newspapers, aided by calibre/Stanza/apps
5. internet article reading, aided by Instapaper
6. RSS, aided by Byline (I hope) and other apps
It is a one stop fairly portable reading appliance, packaged in a user friendly form. Assuming that 10 hours battery life is correct for reading, that will be fine. Just set it in its charger at night. General home wifi is enough for readers – constant access is not as important as predictable access. 3G – probably of no importance, except perhaps road warrior types. And if your eyes get tired, there are audiobooks.
The 16 is probably enough, but I’ll probably get the 32 just to be safe.
@Felix
The market has flooded with cheaper and more full-functioned mp3 players and touchscreen phones, but that doesn’t seem to have derailed the iPod/iPhone train. I’m not sure I would called it a 3rd or 4th device, but at least a secondary one is fair. I think you’re right to think in terms more of a consumer appliance than a computer, but that’s long been Apple’s philosophy, to push things in that direction. Consumers have very different priorities and buying preferences for appliances than they do for computers–they seem a lot less forgiving of the sorts of flaws inherent to Windows, and just want their toaster/remote control to work.
And to get metaphysical on you, is the iPad a big iPod Touch, or is the iPod Touch a scaled-down, stripped-down iPad? One wonders which device came first in Apple’s research labs.
@ David Croty, I think we’re saying pretty much the same thing. The iPad is taking flak because its an appliance not a computer.
My point is that netbook buyers *want* a computer. They also want it cheap. Without “cheap” there is no netbook market.
Appliance or not, the iPad isn’t cheap.
(Apple never does cheap.)
Ergo its not going to sell into the netbook space.
Whatever space it carves out for itself will not come out of the netbook market just as those cheaper MP3 players that have not gone away because of the iPod.
Apple plays in its own arena with no logical competition. They don’t sell features or value; they sell emotion and style. Everything else comes after the sale.
I think I’m beginning to see what might be the genius of the iPad. What I mean is this:
I look at the iPad as a one-stop reading device, as I wrote above. So I’m looking low-end, no G3.
But here’s a comment from another web site:
“It’s Apple’s netbook – no hard drive, 64gb, lightweight, long battery life, built-in 3G, voice via the Skype app for iPhone/iPod Touch. I’m definitely buying one, because I can do everything I need to do on a business trip with this thing, yet it’s slimmer/lighter/has more battery life than my MacBook.”
Clearly, this guy is looking at the iPad as a totally different device from what I see.
I suspect if I were more knowledgeable about gaming, I’d see a gaming device in the iPad. If I were an audio/video guy, I’d see a media iPad.
Remember the parable of the blind men & the elephant? The iPad’s the elephant for a whole bunch of different blind men.
@Felix–
I think the difference in our statements is in how we’re defining the “Netbook” market. You’re assuming the entire market does indeed want a “computer”. Apple is making the bet here that a sizable chunk of that market wants something simpler and they’re just buying Netbooks because they’re the cheapest closest thing. And that enough of them will pay a little more to get a device that better fits their needs. So while it may not sell in the “Netbook space”, it may take away a sizable portion of that space to create something new.
And I’d argue Apple does cheap pretty well with the iPod Shuffle, which dominates the low end of the market.
Also, if you think Apple sells merely on style and emotion, you don’t understand the benefits of good design, nor the high quality of their hardware and software. I’m not sure why some people can’t accept that notion, and stick to decades-old cliches and prejudices, particularly given the huge presence of Apple in scientific research, a market that surely isn’t buying hardware based on emotion. Apple offers powerful, high quality Unix-based computers with arguably the best interface available. Dismissing Apple based on an inaccurate stereotype of its users says more about the basher than the products being bashed.
I’ve read criticisms on sites all over the Internet. This device has as many problems as there are critics. But, it’s not what it can’t do now, it’s what it can do, and that is more than any other dedicated mobile information gathering device. And it’s all about what it will do in the future and the iterations to come. We haven’t heard Steve’s last gasp yet. Wait until the doors open at the Apple stores on April Fool’s Day (that seems to be the date of availability) and watch for the the numbers who line up with their plastic ready to buy…..