Apple’s iPad just a giant iTouch?

Posted by New Media Philippines in Interesting Posts Jan 28th, 2010 | no responses

Steve Jobs launched the iPad today during his keynote speech in the Mac event. A lot of people have been talking about this product for months now and you could literally feel the electricity in the air as Jobs walked up and got on stage. Once again Jobs delivers a powerful and flawless performance! He was able to hype up the crowd and he definitely played their emotions pretty good. I was glued to the live stream for more than an hour watching the entire talk. However, wow that the dust has settled and the emotional euphoria is a no longer at it’s peak, let’s have a no nonsense look into this “magical and revolutionary” product. Is there truly space for a product that’s in between smart phones and netbooks? I have both so it will be really interesting writing this blog entry.

Based on his presentation, here are my reservations on the iPad:

- Browser doesn’t support Flash which is a major problem. No Farmville! Hahaha!
- No mention yet if the iPad will support Microsoft Office applications
- There’s no USB drive for the iPad to transfer data
- There’s no SD slot. Can someone confirm this? I just heard this on Twitter.

Now here are the things that got me really excited:

- More than 140,000 available apps similar to the iPhone and more
- Newly developed and customized version of iWork for the iPad
- The best calendar/PDA system I’ve seen so far
- Amazing multi touch features
- Great for showing pictures and videos to friends
- Can dock with an external keyboard
- iBook looks very promising. Looks like the Kindle now has a strong competitor

The iPad will be selling for $499 US for the standard version. You add $130 for the 3G model. Apple will start selling this in two months in the US and around 90-120 days for international. Plus taxes, this will probably cost around P28,000-P30,000 in the Philippines.

Now the question is if the iPad is worth P28,000-P30,000 bucks?

If the iPad won’t support Office then there’s a big chance that I’ll overlook this until that it has that functionality. iWork is cool and all but most people still prefer using Office applications. The absence of the USB port is also a major let down since I wont’ be able to transfer files on the go (if there’s no internet and I can’t email).

With all of that said, I’d have to give it a thumbs down for that price tag. Don’t get me wrong. I am sooooo tempted to buy one as soon as it starts selling in the Power Mac store at Podium. I also agree with Jobs that this is a insanely nice gadget. The design and UI is flawless but it needs more muscle in terms of functions. My brain just can’t process and accept the idea of paying the price of two PS3 units for a giant iTouch. Maybe if they bring the price down a bit or if I have a sudden excess of money then I’ll consider getting one.

It’s a nice to have, not necessarily a need. Anyway, I still have my Macbook Air. Hahaha. xD

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