Donald Rossberg

Let me start by saying this, I am not going to bash all Apple products.  I am not anti-Apple but I do have to admit that the release of the new Apple iPad has me scratching my head.  When I first heard the concept of a what was then referred to as the Apple Tablet, I was very intrigued.  I had envisioned a tablet type device that was essentially Mac OS-X in a slim, sleek and highly portable device.  Instead all Apple has managed to do with this release is place the iPod Touch on a copier and enlarge it.

Apple has done a great job in the past with creating sleek, innovative and easy to use products.  This product however shows absolutely zero signs of innovation.  It almost seems like they have created a product just for the sake of something new, as if it is unfinished.  As I thought about this device I have come up with a short list of items that give it an epic fail status…

1. NO MULTI-TASKING:
   Seriously! Apple wants me to purchase a device that only lets me do one thing at a time.  This completely defeats the purpose of technology.  Having things like Pandora, and an E-Book reader are great but what about those of us who like to do more than one thing or who were hopping for a true net book replacement.  Would it really have been that difficult to create a “net book” or “tablet” version of OS-X for this thing?
2. LOW STORAGE SPACE:
   16GB of space on a flash drive is not a bad deal but on a computer that is supposed to let me play HD video and music and photos etc… that is a joke!  I realize that there are higher level options but even the highest option of 64GB is still insane for this type of device.  This is the first mobile device that you actually would want to watch a movie on and yet it can’t hold much in the way of media.  64GB should have been the entry level amount at least.
   
3. NO ETHERNET or HDMI PORT:
   Again, that is the point of a multimedia device that doesn’t allow me to connect it to an external display and give a presentation or watch one of my movies.  Apple had tried to tout this as a net book replacement but the lack of Ethernet and HDMI ports on a HD device make this nearly worthless.
4. NO FLASH:
   Okay so not only is this device supposed to replace my laptop but its supposed to do it without flash?  Give me a break, whats the point of surfing the web if half the content isn’t viewable?

I do believe there is a place in the market for a device that is in tablet form with a full operating system on it.  My largest complaints about this new device is the lack of multi-tasking and the ridiculously low amount of standard memory.  Had Apple released this device with either OS-X or a slimmed down version of it along with WiFi, I would probably be singing its praises.  It is too bad that Apple ignored this platform’s potential and instead made a glorified version of the Amazon Kindle.

It is almost if Apple is trying to see just how stupid their customer base is by touting this as “new”.  Come on guys, release this as the device it is capable of being instead of a remake of your existing product line.

Better luck next time Apple.