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The New IPAD debut
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The new Apple IPAD is being introduced tomorrow, April 3, 2010. It has gotten a lot of hoopla. It will be a significant player to be sure, but Apple made some mystifying decisions regarding it. Here are some of them: They have no multi-tasking. This is very strange and harks back to Apple's slow adoption of a basic computer technique that allows users to run two or more applications at the same time. What reason they had for doing this is unknown. It harks back to 1950's technology and also is much like the way the Apple Classic used to run. Steve Jobs does make mistakes. For example, he brought out a beautiful computer called NEXT with no colour, when colour was clearly the new standard. No multi-tasking has turned off developers big time. They just can't understand it. Is it because they could rush out the device or do they really intend to cripple it on into the future? The operating system will be much simpler, but developers don't like single tasking. Users will find it odd too. The second strange decision is not to support a USB port out of the box. Why? This one will come or sure. The docking station will come later too. The on screen keyboard is too cumbersome for power users, but kids use thumbs now, anyway and they will adapt easily .Apple says they will come out with their own keyboard addition soon. Of course if you start adding too many features, it starts to look like a laptop PC with a very nice screen, but limited scope. Apple has refused to support the popular Flash technology from Adobe. This seems to be a turf war wherein Apple will wait for HTML5. They might be right on this new standard, but the device will draw a blank on present 'flashy' web sites.
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The much vaunted page turning aspect of the IPAD works very well and quickly, but it's still not close to a real book on the couch. What's more is that the web has invented a new way of getting information across that is not in the mode of page turning. It's hyper-linking in depth. Whether or not lots of books will be sold to be read on the IPAd remains to be seen. E-books have been around a long time now with limited popular appeal. Will it be a reprise for print based newspapers? It seems unlikely because the same problems still plague print based media. The Internet is killing many papers and magizines and the IPAD will not help the New York Times sell online content. People expect the Internet to be free. You have to be a hard core NY Times reader to pay for it online, when so much news is available elsewhere. They allow a peek mode for limited use. It's like looking over somebody's shoulder. Will it replace the laptop? It is a good bet that it won't unless it is loaded with applications that allow people to do real work. It could be used effectively for video and surfing because its screen is very good and the battery is supposed to last 10 hours making waits in the airport more tolerable. Developers enthusiasm has dropped 58% lately mostly due to the lack of multi-tasking. This needs to be overcome It's a beautiful device with a great looking screen. Would I buy one for between $400 and $600 sans peripherals? Probably not because of the lack of applications and no ability to multi-task. This type of device sells so it will do just fine. Google and Microsoft have their own plans too.
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