Archive for January, 2010

Do I Want an iPad?

Friday, January 29th, 2010
Do I want an iPad?
It depends on which of the two voices in my head that I listen to . . .
The voice that says I want one has a pretty simple argument.  It says:  ”Last week you really wanted a Kindle.  This is a Kindle, but with color, web browsing, music, video, and thousands of apps.  Surely that’s worth a few hundred dollars more.  What’s to think about?”
The other voice is also compelling.  It says:  ”You carry around a laptop in your backpack.  The laptop has all of those things, and you use it to get work done.  You also carry around a smartphone which gives you pocket-sized email and web browsing.  With your laptop and your smartphone, why in heck would you need this ‘in-between’ thing?”
If you’re only looking for a eReader, it’s still hard to top the Kindle.  Spending a few hours reading from the iPad’s backlit LED screen cannot be as nice compared to the Kindle’s paper-like glareless screen.
In a few months, I can see myself in a coffee shop or an airport gate, watching an iPad owner typing on a BlueTooth keyboard, staring at a propped up iPad tethered to a power outlet to preserve the battery.  I’ll wonder why they aren’t using a laptop.
If the iPad were a new model of iPhone or iPod we’d all be laughing.  If it had a fold-out keyboard and Apple called it a NetBook Mac we’d be similarly unimpressed.  If it was only an eReader, it wouldn’t compare well with Kindle.
It’s the perfect companion, however, for the DMV line, the Doctor’s waiting room, the coffee shop, the auto repair shop, or anywhere else where you’re jonesing for today’s newspaper or wishing the TV would be showing something other than John & Kate Plus Eight.
I can certainly see why people who don’t carry around a laptop or a smartphone might be attracted to this strangely named new toy.  But what about people like me, power users who live on the early part of the adoption curve? And that’s exactly the conflict.  Power users don’t need it.  Early adapters must have it.
We’ll see which voice wins . . .

by Brian Leach

Do I want an iPad?

It depends on which of the two voices in my head that I listen to . . .

The voice that says I want one has a pretty simple argument.  It says:  ”Last week you really wanted a Kindle.  This is a Kindle, but with color, web browsing, music, video, and thousands of apps.  Surely that’s worth a few hundred dollars more.  What’s to think about?”

The other voice is also compelling.  It says:  ”You carry around a laptop in your backpack.  The laptop has all of those things, and you use it to get work done.  You also carry around a smartphone which gives you pocket-sized email and web browsing.  With your laptop and your smartphone, why in heck would you need this ‘in-between’ thing?”

If you’re only looking for a eReader, it’s still hard to top the Kindle.  Spending a few hours reading from the iPad’s backlit LED screen cannot be as nice compared to the Kindle’s paper-like glareless screen.

In a few months, I can see myself in a coffee shop or an airport gate, watching an iPad owner typing on a BlueTooth keyboard, staring at a propped up iPad tethered to a power outlet to preserve the battery.  I’ll wonder why they aren’t using a laptop.

If the iPad were a new model of iPhone or iPod we’d all be laughing.  If it had a fold-out keyboard and Apple called it a NetBook Mac we’d be similarly unimpressed.  If it was only an eReader, it wouldn’t compare well with Kindle.

It’s the perfect companion, however, for the DMV line, the Doctor’s waiting room, the coffee shop, the auto repair shop, or anywhere else where you’re jonesing for today’s newspaper or wishing the TV would be showing something other than John & Kate Plus Eight.

I can certainly see why people who don’t carry around a laptop or a smartphone might be attracted to this strangely named new toy.  But what about people like me, power users who live on the early part of the adoption curve? And that’s exactly the conflict.  Power users don’t need it.  Early adapters must have it.

We’ll see which voice wins . . .

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