Microsoft Courier
Posted on 04/07/2010 9:07:53 PM PDT by myknowledge
Why you should wait for the next version.
The iPad may be the web's darling and the genesis of a new product category but its shortcomings and some ugly bugs are rearing their heads within days of the product's release.
For all its geek gadget appeal and innovation, a look at the spec sheet and Apple's support forums reveal a less than perfect device.
Here's a dozen reasons to not buy an iPad.
1. No USB
Lacking USB input, the iPad becomes a locked down device where the only peripherals you can use are ones that link through Apple's proprietary dock connector. And in case you didn't pay Apple enough for your iPad, they get a cut of every accessory as that port is licensed.
Without that USB port, you can't easily hookup a keyboard, mouse, digital camera, USB modem or any other useful add-on.
2. No presenter notes
The Mac faithful have been waiting for years for a decent portable presentation solution and they were all betting on the iPad.
Sadly, the iPad has failed to deliver. Keynote for the iPad lacks a bunch of its desktop versions' features including the ability to playback video on slides and some visual effects. And there's no way to display presenter notes on the iPad while it's connected to a projector.
3. Can't connect to wireless projectors
For a device that's being sold on its connectivity credentials, the iPad is unable to connect to the latest projectors in any way other than with Apple's optional cable.
4. Dealing with Office files
At the iPad's initial announcement, Apple made a big deal of the availability of their iWork productivity suite. Now users are fuming that they can't open Microsoft Office files and are finding all sorts of basic features missing.
Users have found that they can't create spreadsheets in Numbers and then export them for sharing with colleagues as Microsoft Excel files. Pages can import and export Word's formats but lacks support for headers and footers, footnotes and other essentials.
Keynote is causing grief with reports of poor font support, broken animations and video playback. Worse still, some edits on the iPad, when synced back to a desktop Mac, result in the loss of critical elements such as speaker's notes.
5. Flaky WiFi
One of the most active threads on Apple's iPad forums deals with weak WiFi connections with users reporting fluctuating signal strength on their iPad even where their notebooks are reporting full signal strength.
In some cases, connections are getting completely dropped and users need to re-enter WPA credentials to reconnect.
Some users have found that even when they have a reliable connection that performance is poor.
One user posted results from the speedtest.net app both on his iPhone 3GS and the new iPad. The iPad download speed was rated at 1.83 megabits/sec whereas the iPhone 3GS download speed of 14.77 megabits/sec was more than eight times faster.
6. No SD slot
Many people were hoping to use the iPad as a way to backup photos while travelling. For that, they''ll need to stump up for Apple's iPad Camera Connection Kit. The lack of an SD slot means that you need this pair of connectors that convert the dock connector to either an SD slot or USB port.
7. No camera for video calling/Skype
This is one of the biggies. Why would Apple think that that a mobile computer and communications device wouldn't be used for video calling? Incredibly, images of the iPad's internals reveal that there's a place for a camera on the top edge of the display but Apple deliberately chose to omit it.
All of this makes us think that iPad 2.0 will have a camera, making us a tad cynical about Apple's intention to get early adopters to stump up for a second iPad in the not too distant future.
8. Weighs 2.5x what a Kindle does
If the iPad is all about portability then why does it weigh so much? Amazon's Kindle comes in at 290g but the iPad weighs about 700g - more like a middleweight than a lightweight.
9. No file system access
Most handheld and portable devices appear as an external storage device when connected to a computer. That makes them handy for grabbing files from a colleague's computer. However, to copy files to the iPad's Document Manager, you'll need to use iTunes or get the files emailed to you. You can't even browse network file shares.
10. iBook Store might not have any material in AU
Remember the two or three years when there was no iTunes Store in Australia? It seems that we'll be destined for the same with the iBook Store.
Until Apple does deals with local publishers, only those with a US iTunes account will be able to buy books. On the upside, Amazon have a Kindle app and there's also Stanza for buying books locally so you can avoid being locked into another part of Apple's content ecosystem.
11. Micro-SIM
On one hand the use of the Micro-SIM might seem like another example of Apple being an early adopter a new standard. Or, perhaps, it's a way for Apple to keep their carrier partners happy by blocking customers from using the SIM cards from their 3G modems or mobile phones.
Either way, there's no way you'll be able to get a 3G capable iPad without at least buying a new SIM card from your carrier.
12. No printing
A portable computer that can be used on a local network, but can't talk to printers - what was Apple thinking? Everyone knows that there's no such thing as a paperless office and that being able to print documents is useful. It's not that it can't be done, as third parties have sprung up with printing solutions. But to not have it natively built into the iPad is damn annoying.
LOL - looks like you had bad aim on that one.
>>LOL - looks like you had bad aim on that one.<<
They can’t all be winners :)
If that is the case then I believe the iPad is in a very small niche market. Just thinking about recent and near-term future trips... It means I'd have to lug along a netbook/notebook computer, a cellphone/smartphone, an MP3 player (not strapping the iPad to my arm at the gym), maybe an eBook reader... So remind me again just what I would need an iPad for if I have to have all these other bits of technology along to get my job done?
As for the shortcomings listed...
1. No USB
6. No SD slot
Apparently solved, rather inelegantly, by having an external adapter. Not only an additional cost, an additional wear item, something else to lose/forget, and also creates a bottleneck at the limited resource (the sole connector on the iPad).
2. No presenter notes
3. Can't connect to wireless projectors
4. Dealing with Office files
12. No printing
These are software issues and can (will?) be corrected. However, until they are corrected these faults significantly reduce the utility and usefulness of a device without much (any) to spare.
5. Flaky WiFi
Maybe a hardware (chip and/or antenna) issue, maybe a software driver issue. Not good in this day and age when smart phones, notebooks, netbooks, and iPods routinely connect. This says maybe they rushed the iPad to market before all the engineering and QA testing was complete and all issues addressed.
7. No camera for video calling/Skype
As noted, probably just a marketing decision - something to bring out on a subsequent model as a new/additional feature. We've seen this tactic before.
8. Weighs 2.5x what a Kindle does
I have a hard time pinging them on this. I don't think the iPad and Kindle are aimed at the same market.
9. No file system access
11. Micro-SIM
This is a serious omission. If the iPad really is all about "beautifully displaying content" then why are they making it so hard to get content onto the device? Give me WiFi, bluetooth, USB, and standard memory card access!
All in all, I see just about zero compelling reasons to even consider an iPad. I have other devices that do everything it does (many apparently better). The iPad lacks features and capabilities that would require bringing along these other devices anyway. So...
A couple of those points are just false.
No keyboard except the dock connector keyboard. The iPad can use bluetooth keyboards.
Can’t print. If I can use an app from HP to print to a wifi printer with my iPhone, there’s no reason why they won’t make an app to print from the iPad.
Still doesn’t help justify it for me, but there are plenty of real reasons to complain about.
Tablets have been tried many times. Please... I checked one out today at a best buy and didn’t hear angels singing at the experience. It’s
got potential with it’s screen size, but I won’t lose any sleep not having one. To go along with the very resonable concerns in the lacking dept in this article, add lack of flash support to the list. And that’s a big one considering how many heavy content sites use it. Considering the price and package, I’ll wait for atleast v3 to even justify it’s existence.
I wonder what that "something" is? How many "content consumption" scenarios are out there that require no input? Browsing FR is clearly not one of them, since I'm typing this on a real keyboard that is part of a real notebook computer.
So perhaps it's good for reading books? But iPad doesn't work outdoors, and is heavy, whereas Kindle (for example) works everywhere and is much lighter.
Perhaps it's excellent for watching movies on Internet? But there is no Flash support. Ok, there are sites that work without Flash, but do you really want to watch a full length movie holding the 1.5 lb thing in front of you for an hour or two?
Browsing the Web - that (again ignoring absence of Flash) is probably doable; however this is only marginally better than a phone, and probably worse than a {net,note}book. If you are on the go, outside, you probably have your cell phone with you, so you use that. And again the iPad's screen is unreadable under sunlight. If you are indoors, like at home, you want to sit down - you might as well do it in front of your laptop. There are very few situations when you want another computer that you can carry around. Maybe you want to have one in bathroom :-)
So if Apple indeed has some new market in mind, it should come out and reveal the secret, because all I hear so far is a "game-changer" tag, but nobody tells me what the game is.
Microsoft Courier
As tablets go it’s a great product. The problem is with the fact that it’s a tablet.
For the majority of uses, for versatility, for easy of viewing and just general ease of use, a clamshell design like a netbook is much better. I’m typing this on a laptop (on my lap) - I can adjust the viewing angle of the screen to any angle I desire and it will stay there by itself. both my hands are free to type on a real keyboard, the screen doesn’t have any annoying smudges.... Once people start using it all these shortcomings will hit home and sales will peter out. At which point Apple will come out with a “cool” netbook - maybe a smaller MacBook Air with both a real keyboard and touch screen? Maybe a clamshell that separates? $400? That would be a winner.
So the problem is not with the iPad per se, but with the tablet format.
I think if they made the screen on the iphone/ipod touch just a bit bigger, higher res, and faster processor in it, it would totally do away with the tablets.
I have an iPhone and it pretty much serves the purpose of a tablet. Wish Safari reformatted text for auto line wrap to make the smaller text easier to read (Android does and Opera mini is supposed to as well). And like I said, if the screen was a bit bigger (there’s room even in the current iPhone size) I would never look at a tablet.
One advantage of a clamshell design is that it is its own cover. You close the lid and the product is as safe to transport and handle as it will ever be. Tablets, especially those with large, fragile screens, require some sort of hard sleeve to protect the glass. Otherwise it will crack. And once you have this and that accessory, the next thing you need is a backpack to carry all that. Clearly iPad is not supposed to be carried far - perhaps only between the kitchen and the dining room. As it is, iPad is a purely indoor device (especially without cellular connectivity.)
And iPad is strangely made so that it doesn't sit flat on a desk; its bottom is concave, and reviewers said that it "whirls" on the desk as you try to use it. A notebook, on the other hand, usually has little rubber feet, and once you put it on a desk it just stays there. Apparently Apple never envisioned anyone putting iPad on a flat surface; it is supposed to be held in hands, always. A shining example of putting looks ahead of function.
Apple guessed right with the name - that was funny for about 36 hours, now the iPad name is completely identified with the device and the media sniggering has vanished.
Do you seriously think Apple's human factors engineers didn't spend thousands of hours working on the exact design best suited for media consumption?
Probably the iPad isn't optimal for sitting at a desk reinstalling drivers or diagnosing blue screen errors - I don't know. I doubt they tested that. :)
For all the talk about the “Mac cultists” there is a healthy anti-Mac contingent on FR. For whatever reason they are heavily invested in the iPad failing.
I’m indifferent to Apple products. I certainly enjoy my iPods, but I think people get a little too orgasmic over their iPhones. I’ve never owned a Mac, mostly because I can get by with the aggravation of a PC for several hundred dollars less than a Mac.
A thirteenth dozen reason to not buy an iPad.
Reason #13 - Apple succumbed to Obama's boycott attempts to silence Glenn Beck.
>>Apple guessed right with the name - that was funny for about 36 hours, now the iPad name is completely identified with the device and the media sniggering has vanished.<<
I know — I always go for the cheap laugh.
But, seriously, unless and until they make massive improvements, not just address the limitations in the OP, the iPad will end up on the same pile as the PC Jr and the name will be remembered more like my graphic.
iWeary of unimaginative marketing hype that prefixes an “i” or an “e” to every product. iThis and eThat is really stale. Attaching a prefix does not turn a pigs ear into iSilkPurse.
My brother has one and it’s awesome. I often used my iPhone at home because I was too lazy to fire up my laptop. iPad is a basically a more useful iPhone when you’re at home with the same awesome UI. Tech nerds including me are always pissed at Jobs because it’s obvious Apple could create the ultimate device (I dream of a factory iPhone that does all the stuff my jailbroken iPhone can do) instead of keeping the focus on simplicity. But the complaints ignore what the iPhone does extremely well, i.e., UI, app store, finish, etc. and that stuff no other device can touch.
I don't need to think and guess - we have the device already available. All we need to do is to try it and see if it is best suited for media consumption or some other task. Apple may spend thousands of hours on this or that, but it will be all wasted if customers, in the end, don't like the product. That's because people judge the product, and not the labor that went into making it.
Probably the iPad isn't optimal for sitting at a desk reinstalling drivers or diagnosing blue screen errors
It's hardly a challenge to find something that iPad is NOT optimal for :-) I still haven't seen a wealth of examples where it is either optimal, or at least beats the competition.
My personal set of such iPad-ideal uses consists only of checking the weather while drinking coffee in the morning, or perhaps reading some news in bed. Those situations benefit from an instant-on, portable tablet with hardly any input (or output.) Everything else is better done by other, existing (and cheaper) solutions, primarily by a notebook (or a desktop). We [humans] simply don't like to work standing somewhere and holding a notepad; we prefer a desk, a chair, a large monitor (or two), and a fast computer that is loaded with everything that we need. We also don't like to watch a movie standing somewhere and holding the iPad in hands - that's ridiculous. We watch movies on a TV, while sitting in comfortable chairs or on a couch; and we don't need to worry about battery life or CPU performance in either of those cases.
iPad, by its very mobility factor, is ill suited for uses where mobility is neither needed nor wanted. Its sweet spot must exist in (a) a mobile market, (b) that is primarily of media consumption type, and (c) tolerant of iPad's size and weight. iPod found its niche easily, being just a small music player. But iPad is too large to be always carried on a person, and using it as a music player is foolish at best. So again, what is that magical "optimal use" of iPad that is, hopefully, of this world?
I got $1000 from my employer to buy tech. I don’t need a new computer and planned on purchasing a few odds and ends until someone suggested an iPad. I’ve been reading about it since it came out and think it’s not quite what I want.
On one hand, I work in an environment in which all the cool kids have all the new technology and I don’t want to be seen as the old fogey. : )
On the other hand, I dislike Apple and have no problem no purchasing this thing.
On the third hand, maybe a Kindle?
Any thoughts? Kindle? iPad? Just get what I was planning to get and forget about the big toys? I have to use the money within the month, so I can’t wait until iPad 2.0.
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