Apple today announced its much hyped product iPad. Steve Jobs introduced the product as something in between iPhone and McBook. When he explained this, it made perfect sense to me and by the time presentation ended I wanted to get one. Price point for 16 GB device is $499 and it seems reasonable for a multi touch device with sharp OLED display, Apple A4 processor and wifi connectivity. A flurry of application that seems to attract you at once are incorporated in the device and many more better applications and games would be developed in future. Most attractive application would be iBook which makes iPad direct competitor to Kindle.
Here are the two main reasons that made me change my mind:
Do I really need a device between iPod touch (which I own) and a laptop? I looked for its usage and tried to see which all situations I will need an iPad. When I am commuting I use my iPod to listen to music/podcast etc. When I am in cafe, college etc I use iPod to browse and do normal internet work. For all complex tasks I use my laptop. Where does iPad fit? I can’t use it to listen to music, so I will have to carry iPod and I can’t work on some essential software if I use iPad. An argument can be made about web applications taking over desktop applications but I still prefer my old style keyboard to be used. iPad has a dockable keyboard but is it easy to carry it all the time and when at home why not use laptop?
Many people called it Kindle killer but I don’t see that happening. Undoubtedly reading books on a colored screen would be pleasure but it will cause significant strain on eye. OLED is good for shorter reading periods but prolonged usage will cause serious strain. Kindle not only will provide E Ink based display which is much more pleasant to eyes. Kindle despite being black and white, and with poor UI will score better. Adding to that would be Kindle’s content deals with publishers and recently released SDK that will help developers come up with better tools.
I am happy that device came up, it will not revolutionize the industry but will push industry to come up with better devices. We will have a surge of eBook readers soon in market as well as help in raising standards for Netbook. Another added benefit would be that Kindle’s prices will come down and I am waiting for that day.
