I want an iPad

I want one now…not.

A new Apple product is always an exciting design moment. iMac, iPod (I have owned one since 2002), iPhone, iTouch …and now iPad. Of course when I saw the photos of this sleek, sexy machine, I wanted to get my hands on one. Now. Then the reviews started coming in, and I started reconsidering (there is also, alas, the small matter of budget…) In the end, reason won the day, with two sets of considerations which will help me hold on a little bit longer before I splurge…

Interactivity aspects: Several reviews mention the lack of some fundamental native apps. No alarm clock if you turn the device off, no calculator, no weather, no voice memos – all of which one has gotten used to with the iPhone/iTouch. The device also does not allow multitasking, which might be something of an issue, and one that might not get addressed in future versions. Much more problematic for the browsing experience, there is no support for Flash – yet over 95% of websites use it in some way or other, so that the browsing experience will inevitably suffer. Some sites will be entirely unusable, others will have black holes equivalent to broken links. Last but not least, the lack of USB or SD-card slot (though they can be bought as extras) is an issue for connecting all sorts of third party peripherals.

Physical ergonomic aspects: this tablet format is too heavy to hold and manipulate with one hand, unlike the iTouch or iPhone. So it is meant to be used either on a table, or on ones’ knees. But if I hold it flat on my knees I need to bend over to read it. If I hold it slanted with both hands, I will get tired quickly. If it is on a desk, the viewing angle also is not optimal – I will need a stand of some sort. Moreover, it would be a nice touch to provide tactile feedback for the keyboard, since this is a device on which users will be typing “properly” (unlike the iTouch or iPhone where one tends to do one-fingered or thumb-typing).

Apple has been known in the past to deliberately withhold features in the first release in order to spin out the lifecycle of its products. This allows the company to capitalise on the early adopters prepared to shell out for the “first”, and then come out with a “second”, often more fully featured (say, a camera? The latest version of mobile OS X?) and better priced (read “cheaper”) version for the mainstream users. So that’s where I’ll be this time round: when the iPad2 comes out possibly late this year or early next year, watch this space…