The Apple iPad: Last of the Mohicans

January 28, 2010

As Chingachgook declared in front of the British troops that his son is the last pure-blooded Mohican, so has Steve Jobs explained last night in front of the waves of journalist, bloggers and gadget lovers, that the iPad (although it hasn't got a very inspired name), is Apple's last creation....to date.

Bravely confronting the scourges of journalists equipped with complete Twitter and live blogging weapons, Jobs, alone on the battlefield, had a single weapon in his hands: the iPad. To us, it looked like a fairly large and sparkly iTouch. But moving on, we expected to hear and witness all the great things the Apple Tablet, oh well, scratch that, the iPad should have been: new and revolutionary user interface, designing tools and media for artists, and so on. Instead, we got this rather disappointing device that, although has a huge potential for future development and add-ons, is currently something that can not convince users that they need it.

While Jobs said in his keynote presentation that the iPad should revolutionize and replace netbooks, we don't really see how this can be done with the actual configuration of the Pad. The screen and resolution are just great, the speed of the processor is wonderful, there are no interruptions in browsing, swiping, flipping through pictures of any kind, but with all these features, the iPad lacks some pretty basic stuff, like multitasking, camera (front or back), or Flash support. While it has slim and neat design, it requires plenty of bulky adapters if you want to use an USB 2.0 port or camera. The Wi-Fi and 3G versions that will ship later this year, will cost extra amounts of money, so the starting price of just $499 will reach something around $800.

The iPad will not replace any netbook in its same price range, and as for e-reading devices, well, let's just say that reading on its bright LED screen is not the same thing as reading on an eye strain-free e-ink device. If you would want the iPad just for online magazines and e-books, just wait for a color e-ink reader that comes with Wi-fi. Beside, e-readers' average size that are available at this point, are much more easier to handle and carry around than this iPad. With its approx. 10 inch height, I don't see a lot of guys wearing man purses of this size around, except backpacks of course.

I think we should wait for Apple's improvements on the iPad, including maybe a name change. Even iMohican is better. Please? As such, I think Job's battle is just beginning, with yesterday's keynote as the starting point. The iPad has a lot of potential and it would be a shame to have it wasted in all the media hype created around it. Publicity isn't enough (not even) for Apple anymore. In the meantime, check out engadget's first hand-on video and the overall tech specs of the iPad. See you later, guys and keep those fingers crossed for the Microsoft Courier!

What is has:

Dimensions: 9.56 inches ( around 25 cm) in height;
                        7.47 inches (around 19 cm ) in width;
                        0.5inches (around 1 cm in depth).

Weighs: 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) for the Wi-Fi model; 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) for the Wi-Fi + 3G model;

Display: 9.7 inch diagonal LED glossy widescreen multitouch display with fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating (it doesn't get smudgy from fingerprints)

Resolution: 1024x768

Capacity: 16 GB, 32GB, 64GB flash drive

Connectivity: Wi-fi model: Wi-fi ((802.11a/b/g/n), and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
Wi-Fi + 3G model: UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz), GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology, Data only

Location: Wi-Fi, Digital compass, assisted GPS and cellular for the Wi-Fi + 3G model only.

Battery: built-in 25 Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
               10 hours lifetime for audio, video playback and web browsing

Input and output: dock connector
                                3.5mm stereo headphone jack
                                built-in speakers
                                microphone
                                SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model only – for the 3G card).

What it doesn't have:

USB port
Flash support
Camera
Multitasking (one app at a time)
HDMI output

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