“Doggone that Walt Mossberg! His recent piece on drawbacks of the iPad was supposed to put to rest his supposed reputation for bias toward Apple products by pointing out the places where the device has been left vulnerable to honest criticism,” CouchGuy blogs.
“Unfortunately, he seems to have missed a number of things that make the iPad 2 a less-than-ideal device,” CouchGuy writes. “Your CouchGuy, however, is not afraid to speak truth to power.”
• Disappointing Movie Performance: First of all, it doesn’t even come with any movies! Not even one little Hollywood blockbuster! Pop open your new iPad and there’s nothing to watch!
• Inconvenient touchscreen: The iPad screen still requires you to touch it to make it work. It is not just a matter of failing to eliminate those messy finger marks that appear on the iPad screen. The iPad 2 still puts wear and tear on your fingertips from all those touches.
• Not an outstanding value: Here’s the unkindest cut of all. The iPad 2 costs money! Yes, if you want it, you’ll have to buy one. (Well, not Mossberg, probably. Maybe that’s why he was so easy on it.)
Full article with even more ways that iPad 2 falls short of perfection here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, Walt, you’re now being openly ridiculed.
Related articles:
Time for Walt Mossberg to hang it up? – March 11, 2011
Mossberg reviews Apple iPad 2: Moves the goal posts; lighter, thinner, more powerful – March 10, 2011
What’s wrong with Walt Mossberg? – MacDailyNews, October 22, 2009
Walt, Boca’s calling.
Wait, you have to actually HOLD this thing. Design defect!
I can’t believe you avtually have to turn the device on. That is a major product defect.
You can’t fold it.
Well you can… But only once.
If you can’t fold it you can bend it.
Darn it, I was expecting my iPad2 for free. Now I have to find some money to pay for it. What the hell was Steve Jobs thinking? I can not afford both the smart cover and and IPad2
And thus, the new Dvorak is born…
Ouch! Hope Walt doesn’t read MDN! Dorkvak, move over Waltdroid is coming!!
It doesn’t polish my shoes???
That’s it! Not gonna get one! 🙁
You mean I won’t be able to write on my iPad 2 “tablet” using chalk???!!!
Epic fail.
It still won’t control my Jet Pack!
You got a jetpack?!?!
All I got was this lousy t-shirt.
That was fun! Really fun.
It is only that way that we can notice the level of imbecility or bias, intentional or not, that some of us can easily reach some times.
Ha!
LOL
Wait…!! I though they’re were gonna install it inside my head so all i’d have to do is think what I wanted it to do.?1?!?
Freakin’ Apple!
Well I guess I’ll have to settle for loving they’re products…though I was really hoping i’d be able to MAKE LOVE to one of them finally.
No thats google , there the ones that know what your thinking.
I’m holding out for the auto-levitating iPad with vision control. I heard a rumor from a Taiwanese manufacturer of some electronic stuff that it’s coming out in time for back-to-school.
… havin a GUUD tahm! You all know … know … that these problems are real, if truly inconsequential, so what’s your beef? It’s also fairly obvious that he considers these problems to be inconsequential – the sort Apple should work on next time around rather than the kind where the competition did it better. The iPad 2 has stepped to the head of the pack, even ahead of the original, but it isn’t perfect. It could have been better. If you go shopping expecting “perfect” you might be disappointed while if you are only seeking “the best” you should be thrilled.
What … you want Walt to write “The iPod 2’s the best” 240 times then collect his paycheck? How would YOUR boss respond to that?
Real if inconsequential?
If they were inconsequential, they’re not worth noting as drawbacks.
More importantly, are they real? No Flash: well, Flash doesn’t exist for this size/form factor yet.
No LTE: well, nobody has LTE yet, but Motorola promises you can have it Real Soon Now. No word yet on how many minutes of battery life you get with it turned on.
Battery life is only marginally better than what Apple claims! What a major drawback!
Seriously, man, Walt jumped the shark on this one. There’s no defense.
There’s an iPod 2 now? I want one. Please let us know the pros and cons of this device so we can make an intelligent decision whether to buy or not.
I see your point. it would be like MTV presenting itself as channel that played non-stop music videos and played only crap reality shows all day and night. why would we expect them to play music videos
The reincarnation of Mr Magoo.
How did its blending characteristics improve? I might otherwise skip iPad 2…
It makes a crappy boomerang.
Yes to the boomerang, and if they ever remake the movie Goldfinger, the character Oddjob could use an iPad 2 to slice off heads instead of his hat.
Apparently, it can not cure cancer either.
That’s OK, there’s a MacBook out there that could, if the owners could ever find the thieves that stole it. (Boy I bet they wish that someone would invent a way to back up your computer. All that work to cure cancer, and no way to save it to a remote drive or online. If you could invent some backup system or internet-based sync method — for, I don’t know, around $100 — we could get this cancer thing licked!)
Even if an iPad could cure cancer, the thing would probably just get stolen anyway, and be used to play Angry Birds or make some new soundtrack on GarageBand anyway!
Stay “Tuned” my friend! 2011 will be an exciting year. Walt or not!
No entertainment news blocker.
The biggest question Uncle Walt has left unanswered is can you lay a line of coke on the iPad 2 & vacuum it up like Charlie Sheen’s nose. As in have you noticed that his right nostril is twice the size of his left nostril and is that the result of shoving an entire iPad up his nose.
I’d like Mr. Smartypants Mossberg to answer that riddle.
I feel for Walt Mossberg – the attacks from rabid, frothy mouthed, wide eyed and maniacal Androidals would make anyone want to avoid them.
Nah – he’s a chicken. 😉
I’m worried since there doesn’t seem to be any used or re-furb market for these.
The fact that the pricing remains the same leads one to believe that there aren’t any actual upgrades on the device.
It seems to be a device that encourages the purchase of a Mac, or other Apple products. Subterfuge!
There’s only a choice of colors is on the side of the device that you actually look at.
The HDMI dongle seems to ridicule those who don’t already own and HD TV.
I probably won’t be able to get my hands on one for weeks.
I could go on . . . goin’ on.
The iPad 2 can, however, defend itself against Mossberg and other hacks. It does so by flying of the shelves faster than Apple can make them, while the ill-named Xoom collects dust and maybe even a little Moss(berg).
I thought Apple was going to pay me 599 dollars to take an iPad?!
This does not settle well for me. No pay, no take. I will just wait for Microsoft to pay me like Nokia.
Walt M. You SOB! You did not inform of this less than customer friendly company called Apple. I am simply appalled by your lack of Critism of apple.
The next thing you probably forgot to tell us that Apple will not provide an Apple Genuis 24/7 to follow me around in case I have a question. Yea right!
WAIT A MINUTE!
this thing runs on ELECTRICITY?
Oh man… THAT is a problem…