“‘It’s a magical, revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,’ waxed Apple CEO Steve Jobs, as he unveiled the long-awaited iPad in January – possibly Apple’s worst-kept secret,” Dan Warne writes for APC Magazine.
“As I said in my previous opinion piece on the iPad, ‘magical, revolutionary’ it is not – it is, on a hardware level, more-or-less just an oversized iPhone,” Warne writes. “But you can’t deny that it has a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that whispers ‘buy me, buy me – you want me (even though you’re not quite sure why!)'”
“Bill Gates got it totally wrong – he infamously predicted they would be ‘the most popular form of PC sold in America’ by 2006 – a spectacularly wrong estimation by any account,” Warne writes. “The thing is, tablet PCs running regular software like Windows and Office have never offered any benefit over regular PCs with a keyboard and mouse. In fact, they offer a worse user experience.”
Warne writes, “Steve Jobs’ iPad, on the other has a finely tuned set of advantages… the iPad is all about software. Forget the sleek form factor – that’s just a prerequisite. Ironically, it’s the software and services that Microsoft never ‘got’, that Apple totally does get… Apple’s total package, ready to roll from April, is going to be what ensures the iPad’s success.”
Warne writes, “I want one. Do you?”
Full article here.
After trashing the iPad before Steve Jobs’ presentation was even over, Paul Thurrott now writes for SuperSite for Windows, “My initial impression of the iPad was decidedly negative, but as I noted in Part 1 of this preview, much of that was due to horrible live blogging from the launch event.”
MacDailyNews Take: Good excuse, Paulie.
Thurrott continues, “If you listen to Windows Weekly, you know that I’ve been wishing for an iPod touch-like device that was bigger… The iPad is interesting to me in this vein because I’m already a big consumer of iTunes ecosystem content, and I’m certainly eager to see what the eBook and eNewspaper experience is like on the device… It’s another way to consume iTunes content. That alone is interesting. It really is.”
“But again, for me, it’s all about video content, and it looks like the iPad is exactly what I’ve asked for. I can and will quibble about the details. It’s unclear why this thing doesn’t have a sleek 16:9 screen and smaller edges. I think it should have not one but two cameras. I’d really, really like to see SD expansion capabilities, and think that the current six model lineup is too much. And the storage capacities are too small: This thing should start at 64 GB and go up from there,” Thurrott writes. “But you know what? Whatever. I still want one.”
Full article – don’t bother – here.
Thurrott also blogged that his users were Lemmings for buying one. He said and I quote “Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Buy an iPad”. February 8th.
Which is it ya tool?
readers..not users…but whatever…he is still a tool.
Paul, just shut the fsck up.
Thurrott still doesn’t get it. All of his suggestions – removable storage, multi cameras, different screen – they all move the iPad closer towards being a PC.
And how ridiculous would a 16:9 screen look when you try to use the thing vertically? The man’s an idiot.
He’ll never get it. He’ll never understand. If you can’t carry 8 battery packs with you it’s no good.
As developers (application & peripheral) begin to push the envelope on iPad’s abilities, more people will see the potential & want in on the action. Media folks thrive on knee-jerk reaction, only to have to take a step back when they consider the bigger picture.
Thurott also likes to brag that he loves his Mac Book Pro running Windows 7. What a ‘tard.
Leo LaPorte’s constant Mac evangelism grates on Thurott during their WW podcast, and it’s really kind of funny to watch.
Paul The-rot is an analyst????
Start at 64GB and go from there. He has that much content that he has to have loaded into the iPad at one time?
Thurott is now offically back on his medication.
How long will it last? Sadly, not long enough.
For the record, the Kindle DX, which seems to be a pretty good competitor, has much less memory (4GB).
Anything on the iCal for Paul’s early reactions to the iPhone/iPodTouch, of which he now thinks glorious thoughts (except wants it bigger)?
“In fact, they offer a worse user experience.”
Microshits thinking about user experience? Do they even know what that phrase means?
“I think it should have not one but two cameras”
Maybe Thurott needs to grow ONE brain…
… and maybe 2 nuts for balance.
Idiot writers still have jobs and survive because idiot readers and investors actually pay attention and put credence in their clueless baseless articles
IDIOCRACY