Is iPad Specs Good?

First week of april 2010, Apple released its first tablet computer, named iPad. Analysts argue that the newborn baby is not as appealing as Apple's previous products, such as iPhone and iPod Touch.

InformationWeek lists these weakness of "upcoming" Apple iPad:

- No Adobe Flash

- Not equipped with a camera

- No multitasking

- Small screen size (9.7 inches)

- No Mac OS

- Storage capacity isn't big enough

- Battery not easily replaced

- No HDMI port

I myself, was quite disappointed with the specifications. Honestly, I imagined doing video call with iPad's camera. I thought that would be cool and productive. But alas, it won't happen.

But later, looking at the "big picture" of this product, I think it is quite reasonable why Apple designed iPad as it is now.

1. Tablet computers "destined" to be close to its user.

Even closer than a laptop / netbook! We tend to "hug" tablet computers and not to put it inside our backpack. We do not want our tablet to heat fast. That's why Apple didn't put monster processors inside iPad (like those in desktop or laptop computers). Multi-gigahertz processors tend to heat quite fast and consume quite a bulk of battery life. That's also become the reason why there is no Flash in iPad (as Apple had claimed).

2. More mobile than laptops.

Not as video player (no HDMI port). I think Apple wanted to place iPad in different segment than MacBooks (that's why no camera). The target markets are super-mobile businessmen and hard-core mobile gamer. If they put all the features from laptops into iPad, what makes it different from non-tablet computers, then? The "mobile" attribute demands it to be as compact as possible (battery not easily replaced and small screen problem).

3. Later development

Later after releasing iPad in US, Apple announced the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0 that supports multitasking. This is how they answer demands of multitasking in iPhone OS. And about the last one (not big enough storage capacity), I think Apple will release bigger capacity models for iPad, if the market demand it later.

As for now (mid april), iPad hasn't available in my place (Indonesia) yet. And it seems to be quite a while before first shipment, for Apple prioritize their consumers in US. I really hope iPad can change the way we compute and play. What do you think?

The First Monkey

19-04-2010