COMMENTARY: Apple Introduces the iPad
Women Bloggers Cringe at Name; Detractors Knock Lack of Camera, Similarity to Amazon's Kindle
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor
One would think I'd be jumping up and down with glee at the Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 media event that saw Steve Jobs introduce the iPad in San Francisco.
One would be totally wrong. I'm not an iPhone user and I wished Apple had introduced a netbook, rather than what appears to be an iPhone on steroids or a challenger to Amazon's proven Kindle e-book.
(Full disclosure, I'm a fan of dead tree books, most of which I get in the form of review copies in my role as as a book reviewer. I don't have a Kindle and don't intend to get one).
I've been a devoted Macintosh user since 1987; my current Apple desktop is an iMac and I love it. I also have a Toshiba Satellite laptop and an Acer Aspire One netbook. For a couple of years I owned a Macintosh laptop, but I sold it to a friend who lusted after it and I haven't replaced it; I was hoping for a MacNetbook in the $500 range, about the price of the iPad. I'm not into texting and my cell phone is a Motorola TracFone -- because I hate monthly contracts. I buy the minutes I need when I need them.
Apple and MacMall have both sent me e-mails trying to get me to plunk down $499 for an iPad when it goes on sale in a month or two.
Unlike all three of my computers, it doesn't have USB built in: USB connectivity is through a dock connector; component and composite video through dock connector (with AV cables, sold separately); audio through headphone jack.
It doesn't have a keyboard, something I want and need. Call me a caveman or Luddite, but I'm not a touch screen fan. Of course, you can hook up a keyboard to the iPad when it's docked; one of the photos I saw on Google showed a member of the news media using such a combination. I know iPhone users who love their gizmos and I respect that -- it is after all, the Apple of SmartPhones, but I'm not about to sign up for an expensive contract with a phone company.
It doesn't have a built-in camera, like my iMac...one blogger suggested that Apple left off the camera because it would make users look fat!
Women bloggers cringed at the name, which conjures up thoughts of a monthly event for them. Monica Hesse of The Washington Post is one...Here's a link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/27/AR2010012704268.html?hpid=topnews
Like all Apple products, it looks great, at least judging by the photos and videos I've seen. Apple products are always the coolest looking kids on the block.
The iPad is about a half-inch thick, weighs 1.5 pounds, has a 9.7-inch multi-touch screen and comes in three versions with 16GB of flash storage for $499, 32GB for $599 or 64 GB for $699 with Wi-Fi. The iPad will also come with 3G at $629 for 16GB, 32GB for $629 and $829 for for 64GB.
AT&T will be the service provider, offering two wireless plans: Up to 250 MB per month for $14.99 and $29.99 for unlimited data, A 3G plan with AT&T will cost $130 more than a standard Wi-Fi plan.
The new device will play iPhone apps at their original size or double the resolution, but developers will need to update their apps if they want them to show full screen.
Bottom line: I -- and Apple -- coulda had a iV-8 netbook. That's what we need and want, Mr. Jobs.