The Occidental Weekly

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of Flickr/Paul A. Chapel

Last Wednesday, Apple unveiled the iPad, a top-secret product that they have been working on for years. Tech-lovers across the globe eagerly awaited this unveiling only to be disappointed: Apple's latest innovation is . . . a giant iPhone. The iPad is a large tablet device with a 9.7-inch touchscreen, and it runs the same software as the iPhone and iPod touch.

Apple is trying to promote this new device as a gadget in a whole new category, a hybrid between a smartphone (such as the iPhone or Blackberry) and a laptop. Its size (weighing 1.5 pounds) and processing power (1 Ghz) fall between the two types of devices.

It looks like a large iPhone from the front (complete with the one home button in center), and the back is made from the same aluminum as the latest MacBook Pros. It's an intriguing, slick and sexy device, but it's hard to see why anyone would want to buy one, at least right now.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the iPad is that it shares many of the iPhone's limitations. Like the iPhone, the iPad cannot multitask or run more than one program at a time. It has a sealed-in battery, meaning that the consumer can't carry spares to get extra juice. When the battery in the iPad finally dies, you'll have to take it to Apple to get replaced.

The iPad also doesn't support Flash in its Web browser, which means that users will not be able to access certain Web sites or watch streaming videos (unless they download the Youtube app). These limitations categorize the iPad's capacity as closer to those of a phone rather than a full computer.

In fact, in many ways, the iPad does less than an iPhone. It does not have a GPS chip or a camera. A cellular connection can be installed on the iPad for $130 dollars extra at the outset. The iPad can't even function as a phone, so this connection is for internet data only and it costs $15-30 a month.

In addition to being a larger version of an iPhone, the iPad's biggest problems are its price and its usefulness. The iPad costs $499-$829, depending on how much memory you choose and whether or not you get it with a cellular modem.

To contrast, for $300 to $400, it is now possible to get a netbook - a full computer (minus a cd/dvd drive), without any of the restrictions or limitations that the iPad has. The latest netbooks are running Windows 7, have 10-inch screens and full keyboards, don't weigh much more than the iPad and have comparable battery life (the claims for both are 10 hours, though in actuality it's usually less than that).

To be fair, netbooks are less powerful than other laptops, but the things that they struggle with - such as editing batches of photos in Photoshop or playing HD Hulu - are things that the iPad can't do in the first place. It's hard to justify buying an iPad when you can buy a machine that does more and costs less.

That being said, the iPad does have some nice benefits and features. The iPad is compatible with almost the full catalog of iPhone apps (now numbering more than 140,000), so it has a lot of software available. These apps include games, news readers, social networking and IM clients, to name a few.

Additionally, Apple has rewritten its software to be more powerful and better adaptable to the big screen. The e-mail app now displays the list of your e-mails in a sleek sidebar and features pop-up menus to let you manage your e-mail more easily.

Similarly, the photo app has a totally new interface that looks more like iPhoto on the Mac than the photo app on the iPhone. These programs show that the iPad is capable of running software that bridges the gap between phone and laptop.

The Web browser isn't too different from that of the iPhone, but the big screen lets you view and read a full page in the Web browser without having to zoom in. Being able to swipe and touch your way around the internet on a 10-inch screen is the number one attraction of the iPad. There is also a new ebook program - cleverly called iBooks - that lets you buy and read ebooks on the iPad. It's both visually sharp and convenient, but the books cost more than those from other ebook stores such as Amazon's Kindle store.

The iPhone was a revolutionary device - it literally allowed people to carry the internet (and not some limited mobile version) in their pocket. When people wanted to look something up or had a few minutes to kill, they could surf the Web in a way that paralleled browsing on a computer. Such a feat wasn't possible to that extent on other phones or small devices up until that point.

The iPad, however, is essentially an iPhone that cannot make calls, and an overpriced netbook without a keyboard. Not to mention it is way too big for a pocket - you're going to have to throw it into a bag. And if you're going to be carrying around a bag, why not bring a laptop instead? Apple will no doubt be improving its newest innovation, but as of now, the iPad does not seem worth the money and inconvenience.

Article Tools