Andrew Gormley

There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion… Even if it’s wrong.” That’s kind of been my stance on all the hubbub surround Apple’s latest “magical” device, the iPad.  I’m usually pretty good about keeping my comments reserved on such matters because I realize there are a lot of both haters and fanboys when it comes to all things Apple, but I feel like I need to step up to the plate on this one and shout from my little soapbox on the internet because, quite frankly, I need to be the Yin to the Yang of articles titled “17 Things Wrong With the iPad”, “Newton 2.0″, and “ROFL, IPADS VAGINAS ZOMG!”

First Things First: What It Is

It’s not a phone, it doesn’t have a camera, and half of the models won’t feature a persistent data connection — assertions of it being a giant iPhone or iPod Touch¹ are mainly from an aesthetic standpoint.  On the flip side, it’s less than a laptop: no physical keyboard (without the special dock OR an Apple Bluetooth keyboard from what I understand) and no fully-featured version of OS X. I’ve read from event attendees that when you plug the iPad in to sync, you’re actually able to browse through the folder structure a la the iPod Disk Mode of yesteryear, so we sway towards the laptop side of the fence.  It is obviously running a variant of iPhone OS, so we then swing back into this middle area, which is exactly where Jobs positioned it from the get-go.

Who Is It Good For?

I will admit that my initial reaction differs greatly from my feelings on the device today and a lot of that was based on speculation that the iPad was going to cost somewhere in the range of $1000 to $1200 dollars. For a grand, the iPad would’ve gone the way of the G4 Cube or the iPod Hi-Fi.  However, for half of that price it becomes a significantly more appealing device for a lot of people, myself included.

The first group I could see gobbling this device up would be media connoisseurs. Not necessarily people who frequently purchase media online (though I’m sure that will be the case), but rather people who have a massive collection of movies, music, eBooks, or even iPhone apps that want this stuff on-the-go or just at arm’s length:

• You want the answer to the Final Jeopardy question before that snarky-ass Trebek?  Pick up the iPad and Google it.
• Want something to do while you’re on the can?  iPad + The New York Times app should be handy.
• Bored on your hour-long train ride to work? Go ahead and catch up on your favorite TV show to ease the pain.
• Could you imagine if Logitech made a Harmony app for it? Best. Universal Remote. Ever.
• So forth and so on…

Another group of people who might dig this device are the casual computer users.  One of the first things I thought when I saw it was “Mom would friggin love that thing” and I’m pretty that most parents (hell, even some grandparents) could get accustomed to the iPad right quick. The learning curve for the most used tasks: web browsing, sending/checking email, and maybe the occasional game are so minimal and intuitive that I’m sure moms and dads would have a solid understanding in less than a day.

The third and final group are the ones that seem to be scrutinizing it the most.  The media professionals that thought this tablet was actually the third set of commandments never brought down from Mt. Sinai. They’re yelling about DRM and iPhone OS and AT&T and so many other nuancical things, which are all valid concerns, but there’s the simple fact that none of the yellers have even used the damn thing. I can see writing up a well thought-out list of pros and cons after using a demo unit or even just playing around with one in an Apple Store, but the fact remains that all of these people crying foul about how locked down the thing is haven’t even seen one outside of the Keynote video. I would estimate that 25% of them will completely change their tune after holding one in their hand and using it for 10 minutes.

Here’s a list of actual uses I could see as possible for a media professional with the iPad:

• A photographer showing off their portfolio or recently-taken on-site photographs
• A video editor preparing to show dailies to a director/producer
• A web designer showing off photo comps OR working website demos in Safari
• As a presentation tool to ensure none of your fancy Keynote animations are lost in the shuffle

I’ll admit that’s not the greatest list at the moment, and true all of those things are easily accomplished with a laptop, but keep in mind that this platform is in its infancy from a developer standpoint. I’m sure we’ll be inundated with a slew of apps that will allow us to do things faster and better, just like on the iPhone itself.

Flash Flood

Perhaps the astute noticed that I left out all of whining over lack of Flash support. The amount of people that are upset by this is ri-god-damn-diculous. I never thought twice about whether or not this tablet would support Flash, my assumption was always “No, and that’s a good thing.”

Flash has been a good platform for delivering video up until the recent advent of HTML5, which offers a far superior implementation in terms of ease of use and overall user experience (no plugins required, above all else). YouTube and Vimeo, two of the largest video sites on the internet, have embraced this open standard and the implementation is flawless  It’s not an accessible platform on it’s best day and soon even animations will be able to be fully supported with the CSS3 standard, so I can’t imagine that Adobe will have such a stranglehold in the online video and “rich UI” market for much longer.

For the one or two things that Flash does well, we must recall the egregious offenses some Flash developers are responsible for, not the least of which are: god-awful, seizure inducing banners, walk-in advertisements, and sites that are 100% flash-based (cue subtle nods to most restaurant websites). Advertisers have gotten so out of hand that people have come up with solutions like ClickToFlash and AdBlockPlus in order to combat the onslaught.

Think of Flash as roller coaster cars that have finally reached the top of the first hill. Once half of them have gone over the edge they’ll pull the remainder down pretty rapidly.

Technically…

The iPad is a very capable machine. Without regurgitating all of the specs featured on Apple’s page, it was easy to see just by watching the demos that it’s a much fuller experience than what’s currently achievable on the iPhone. The custom chip created by Apple’s own manufacturer is clocked at 1Ghz, which doesn’t sound like a lot by today’s multi-core multi-processor standards I realize. Though I’m sure when paired with a perfect storm of cache, RAM, and a fast hard drive (in this case, the fastest: SSD), you get a lot of power in a little device. To put this in perspective, the iPhone 3GS uses the last generation of the same processor clocking in at 600mhz and most definitely less cache. Double the speed of the 3GS and you’re in the ballpark of the iPad.

Summing It Up

After doing a little bit of research on the device from a technical standpoint as well as hearing what attendees had to say after the hands-on demos, I think it’s safe to say that despite a harsh words from the Apple fanatics who thought this device would somehow change the entire world for the better, it might actually sell better than anyone anticipates. I, personally, can’t wait to try one out for myself… At which point I’ll be more open to hearing out the fact-based ramblings and rantings of the unhappy campers.

1 – I have the overwhelming urge to injure anyone who calls it an “iTouch” and I don’t know why.