By SteveJack
First of all, let’s get the niche out of the way: I’ll be buying an iPad because the iPhone is just a bit too small to use for blogging (it can be done, just not as well as I would like) and my MacBook Pro is too much to carry around when all I really need is an iPhone with more screen real estate.
So, that’s why I’ll be buying an iPad with 3G and 64GB because you can never have enough storage and, hey, it’s a write-off. (And, no, I don’t love the name. I would have gone with “iTouch” if only to teach a lesson to everyone who’s ever incorrectly referred to an iPod touch by that name. It would have been fun to say, “Go back and revise those 3.27 million articles where you wrongly used ‘iTouch,’ m’kay?” Oh, well, a missed opportunity. Instead, we lucky iPad owners will get to endure feminine napkin comments from jealous anti-Apple ignoramuses and sixth grade boys.) But, as usual, I digress.
Now, who else might be buying an iPad?
• Older people: You see them all the time squinting at their iPhones and iPod touches and/or holding them at arm’s length. That’s sad enough, but they’re also usually the very same people can’t quite seem to master pinching to zoom in and out and/or scrolling. They want to see websites and their email. They’ll want iPads.
• Couch potatoes: Really, not just couch potatoes, but anyone who finds themselves parked in front of much larger TV screens with their iPhone/iPod touch in hand surfing, texting etc. They’ll want iPads for that instead.
• Frequent fliers/commuters: iPad is thin, light, and makes for a better movie watching experience, plus it has an iPod, and a web browser, and your email, and your calendar, and your newspaper, and your novel, and iWork, etc. An iPad is a no-brainer.
• Readers: Books, magazines, newspapers, etc. Look for Kindles to take eBay by storm. Apple will sell iPads to print consumers by the metric ton.
• Gamers: You like playing games on your iPhone and iPod touch? You’re gonna love them on your iPad.
• Navigators: Beyond iPad’s new and improved Maps app, I can’t wait to put my Tom Tom or Magellan app on my iPad and I bet other iPhone/iPod touch navigators can’t either.
• Kids: For movies, TV shows, music, games, etc. in the car and everywhere else, too.
• Students: Textbooks, word processing, spreadsheets, and everything else I’ve already mentioned above.
I could go on, but come to think of it, maybe it would be easier to think of somebody who wouldn’t want an iPad?
• Let’s see… Somebody who only runs Photoshop or AutoCAD or Final Cut Pro while on-the-go and who never reads a book, magazine, or newspaper; who never watches movies, TV shows, or listens to music; who never plays a game, not even a casual one while waiting for an oil change; and, who doesn’t surf the Web or use email.
See what I mean? The iPad has a larger target audience than some people might think. And starting at just $499?! Seriously, Apple’s iPad prices are – channelling Jerry Carroll – INSAAANE!!!
And, oh, BTW, Twitterers, the iPad’s bezel isn’t “too wide.” The iPad’s bezel is its handle. It’s where your fingers grip the device without covering the content on the screen, no matter which way you’re holding it. Give Apple some credit; they’re not Microsoft, they think things through.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
I will buy one, but the system requirement of 10.5.8 will turn off my dad. He is one of those mac users who think they should be able to have a machine run for 5+ years and not have to upgrade anything.
Exactly right!
You know why I won’t be buying one? Because, I have an iPhone. And my phone can make calls…somtimes…and fit’s in my pocket.
Not yet. It’s already a great device, but I’ll wait for a model with a web cam.
Of course I’ll be buying one..
I REALLY do wish that it had a built in video camera for iChat though..
The lack of camera is my only real disappointment with the iPad.
I really disliked the iPad but after reading this it makes sense, a portable tv.
I think everybody is missing the point. the ipad is the perfect device between a laptop and iphone. well thought out as usual by steve and aaple. i’ll buy the 499 wifi first to use around the house. leave it on the coffee table to grab anytime a family member wants it. pick it up with my coffee in the morning check the calender, read some news, control my appletv, sync all my apps, browse some photo’s and use it as a book reader instead of flopping open the laptop. iwork is gonna be awesome. you know apple, before you know it they’ll make deals with tv co.’s and have a subscription model before the end of the year. they’ll incorporate a camera and ichat in the future. A lot of people think Steve is a genius, I know he doesn’t think that from personal experience but he does have good taste and knows what he wants and has the co. to pull it off. he said this is the beginning of a strong product year and I agree.
evil monkey, tell your dad to get an old windows machine.
My wife has already told me she wants one for the kitchen! I will have to buy all her favorite cookbooks all over again – score one for the publishers and one more for Jobs!
A lot of businesses do not allow cameras. Especially the gummint.
Well the gummint is the worst excuse for a business.
This thing about the webcam wanting.
Are these all the young beautiful people who want this? Everybody I know don’t like their iMac’s webcams and never use it.
The shriek, “Eeeeek! I look HORRIBLE! Turn it off! Quick!!”
Anybody over 40 cringes at a webcam… unless they look like George Clooney; I’m sure you all do.
For the rest of us a webcam is traumatizing!
the only things that disappointed me were:
1. Still AT&T;only? i realize it is an unlocked GSM based system.
2. No build in camera… for iChat, although i realize 3rd-party will fill in this gap, but who wants to carry extra stuff around
nice surprise:
1. price… not bad at all
2. Ability to upload pix from the camera.
3. Everything running smoothly on an Apple designed chip, no graphics card required
going forward:
– looks like FireWire will be dead for sure. It is too bad Apple asked too much regarding licensing. USB3 & Fibre will surpass it. Alas, FireWire was ahead of its time.
Well, my stock options arent anywhere on fire. If anything the time decay has been devaluating my 2 positions with AAPL options. I can only hope the FED not raise rates to keep this rally going… if only for me to exit my short term option.
hopefully, AAPL breaks through 215 overhead… then i have a real chance to bank some nice coin.
I will get one to replace my Hackintosh.
@ stucktrader,
Hey! AT&T are the only ones to announce a plan for the iPad so far.
NO camera and NO webcam for ichat-ing with family in another states.
NO way!!!!!!!!
i’ll buy me a 300 bucks netbook.
“For the rest of us a webcam is traumatizing!”
——————
I’m not talking about the singles/dating service webcam uses.. I’m talking about families.. My family is in several states and we use iChat on a regular weekly basis.. My family doesn’t care if the other’s hair or makeup is not done! Seriously…
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I’m so glad that it doesn’t have Flash OR a camera.
Go Chucky! Say hi to the Flintstones, I’m sure they’re getting a netbook, too…
HS grads… They’ll be getting ’em.
Kids… Rents’ll be buying ’em.
Photographers… Buying them..
Santa… For the kids… Oh, yeah.
Wife… Yup.
Parents.. Their own too.
Lots and lots of them…
COOLNESS
Not getting it. I have an iPhone that currently does more than the iPad. I’ll wait either for a price drop (let the early adpoters pay the tax) or version 2 which wil fix most of the shortcomings.
Developers will make this sing. It is going to usher in a new era though it’s easy to see how the current model already has a few missing things.
Star Trek is upon us and personal computing is changing rapidly. Notice how the desktop seems so unnecessary did si many things suddenly? Mobility is it. And M$ is screwed.
MDN Word “possible,” as in “I told it was.”
I was a bit underwhelmed, at first, but watching the entire event has made me a believer. The possibility of coupling the device to a desktop as a touchpad input is intriguing, as well. That is especially considering the touch iWork apps.
I think the clincher is that it doubles as a picture frame while charging.
I’ll buy one. I have a kindle and it is ok, but touch screen reading on my iPhone is superior. To have that for a bigger screen… And my kid can watch movies on it for car rides. And I like cool gadgets, and this is the coolest to come out for a while.
Well, I guess I’m one of the 2 people on the planet who WON’T be buying the iPad. I have a MacBook Pro 15″ which does everything I need and does it well (with a bigger screen than the iPad) and a multi-touch trackpad. And I have an iPhone for calls etc.
I’m also not a huge book reader or game player.
As beautiful as it is, I just don’t need this…