Thursday, January 28, 2010

Why I'm Not Getting an Apple iPad



So Steve Jobs has finally unveiled his portable touchscreen computer, the iPad.

I did a Blogger search at the top of the page & my first post on this blog about the possibility of an Apple branded tablet PC was in 1996 - 4 friggin years ago! That is an epoch in 'computer time'.

It is definitely a cool device that makes me feel like I'm actually living in "The Future". It's basically an upscaled iPhone that is more suited for applications like Internet & digital books. What is really interesting is the huge potential for improvement now that the initial version has been produced.

However... as cool as I think this creation is, there is no way I'd buy one right now. I'm a professed Mac computer fan, but I'm not an insane Apple junkie. Besides sounding like how a person from Boston would pronounce "iPod," there are significant reasons an "iPad" isn't in my immediate future.

First of all, I don't need one!

Second of all, there are too many limitations in this Alpha version & that loses most the appeal for me. Not being able to multi-task between apps is weak. Not supporting Photoshop, Illustrator, or 3D software is major dealbreaker because I'd want to be able to use them if I'm using this great touchscreen computer. It has some paint app called Brushes, but I'd have to try it out before saying it wouldn't be useful.

Third, I'm not trying to spend hundreds of dollars, given issues #1 & #2.

Fourth, I usually don't buy the 1st version of anything.

Even though it may currently not be worth the money to some (like me), & other touchscreens have already been on the market, it is still a pretty amazing piece of technology. Apple has been successful at projecting their products as cutting-edge, yet intuitively functional.

This is the computer that I have long realized would eventually be pervasive once Apple functionality was applied.

For what it's worth, in my opinion the next revolution in computers will probably be wearable computers w/ eyepieces or retinal bionic implants. (...the iEye?)

After that... the Apple iThink!





After that, the phenomenon we call mankind will experience "i∞", which looks like this.

1 comment:

McCulley said...

Paul,

There will be a third party app that will give you the ability to turn your iPad into your home computer. You will be able to do all your drawing programs on your iPad even though the real processing will be done by your main computer.