So the cat is out of the bag and it’s called an iPad. So to replace the sound and fury based on sheer speculation, we have 60 days of speculation based on a set of specs, a demo and the very brief hands-on by a small collection of journalists to look forward to.
The media punditry is depressingly predictable with Paul Thurrot et al convinced that it’s abject failure because it’s not a PC, the Open Source crowd claiming that closed environments will ultimately fail, the Apple faithful claiming it’s the greatest thing since [insert coolest thing ever].
Conversations at my office clearly reflect the political ideology of the individuals before any clear-eyed rational discussion is possible.
From a quick review it seems like the iPhone all over again, but there is a big gap between the cell phone user market and the tablet/small computing market so I think we’ll have to take the long view on the success issue. At the very least, wait until it’s available for sale.
I’m still mulling over just how well it’s going to do and why, which I’ll save for another post, but the demos and the spec sheets present a few interesting questions that I’d like answered.
Whither GPS?
A key component of the iPhone seems to have gone AWOL on its big brother. Part of me sees this as understandable since there’s no camera. What? No camera? What about all the cool video chat rumours that were floating around?
I suspect that Apple had a number of good reasons to leave out the camera since you’d look like an idiot holding the iPad up to take pictures. (can you say disintermediation?)
As for the front facing camera, a fixed camera would be useless in something that tends to move a lot since you’re likely to be holding it with your hands. Until they design a camera with integrated facial identification so that it follows you within certain constraints, I think we can leave that out for now. However, Apple never puts everything into the first version so they can have something new to announce for the next version.
But getting back to the GPS, I wonder if the TomTom kit’s Bluetooth connection provides the GPS data or whether it’s just for audio. If I could run Navigon or TomTom by being paired with the car kit and a very custom dash mount, this would be the double whammy to the regular GPS market. Definitely something to test out once it becomes available.
However, it does pose the question about all of the location aware applications that we’ve been hearing so much about recently for the iPhone. I think it reinforces the idea that Apple sees you using this in familiar surroundings more than out and about ( which was made evident by the style of the presentation - the first time I’ve seen all the demos done from a big comfy chair).
Which keyboard to use?
Another fuzzy one that isn’t immediately clear is Bluetooth keyboard connectivity. The docking keyboard looks pretty snazzy, but a little awkward in a carry case (unless it folds in some way that’s not immediately obvious). Can I prop it up and use my existing wireless keyboard?
Much ado about nothing
I’ve seen a few articles about the fact that ActiveSync connectivity is not listed in the spec sheet, which worries a few of the business iPhone users out there. I strongly suspect that this since is not aimed at the business road warrior they simply didn’t bother putting it front and center on the marketing material. It’s still in there, based on the theory that it’s listed as iPhone OS 3.2 which will eventually make it’s way onto iPhones. Otherwise it would have a separate name if the development trunk were that distinct.
Tethering? Does the iPad swing both ways?
The elephant in the room that nobody dares mention anywhere near AT&T. The iPhone OS supports tethering via bluetooth and USB from the 3G connection. I’m not in the US, but if I had a $30 data plan that would be awfully nice to use for tethering. Then of course I have to ask the question in the other direction. I have a tethering option on my Orange iPhone contract which I use with my MacBook, but will the iPad be able to use a tethered connection from my iPhone? It’s a critical question when I review which model to buy. Wifi only would be just fine if I can use the iPhone tethering when I need to instead of paying the premium for the 3G hardware and a separate data plan.
A complementary point here is that it appears that you can activate directly from the iPad and cancel the same way with the AT&T deal. I’m thinking that this will be a godsend to international travellers as long as AT&T will take their credit cards. You’re here for a week or two on vacation or business? Activate your iPad with an unlimited data plan for a month and keep in touch with everyone without breaking the bank and have access to the AT&T Wifi at the same time. That’s an option that just rocks out and I can see it being a major seller for the canadian snowbird population.
Where’s the filesystem?
I loved the iWork demos and have to admit that despite the naysayers about iWork, I’ve been burnt so many times by Office:Mac that I’ve moved to using Office in a Windows virtual machine when I absolutely have to, and the rest of the time I use the iWork applications and export to Office formats as required. I am very curious about the workflow involving iWork on the iPad. How do you get files into it? Email attachments? File server access? How do you get them off? How does it scale? The demo showed each application with 3 documents and I have many more than that on the go at any particular moment so I’m curious to see how that will work.
Hybrid apps?
I’m still a little fuzzy on this one here regarding app functionality. Are apps hybrids that you buy once and can run on the iPhone and the iPad with appropriate UI adaptations? Or will there be separate markets for iPad apps and iPhone apps? I need some clarification on the practical aspects from both the developer and the consumer viewpoints here. I can see some of the ad supported free apps being hybrids requiring only one download that works on both, but that some developers will split their apps into MyApp and “MyApp for iPad” in order to generate revenue for the extra development work.
Please note that the preceding questions are just that, questions. They are not criticisms, but merely the information gaps I’m trying to fill to truly understand just how people (possibly me) will be using this device in the near future.
Related posts:
iPad round 2 - AT&T vs Verizon
iPad round 3 - Thoughts and reflections