So like most of the tech world, the last week of January, I was glued to the net searching for iPad information.  Rumors had leaked and the World was expecting what many were calling the iSlate.  Early the morning of the Keynote  I saw a blurry photo of what looked like a huge iPhone.  I was hoping that it was much, much more than that.  After the Keynote was over, I was left pondering if it was at all, anything more than a large iPhone, without the ability to be a cell phone! I have had much fun bashing it on Twitter and Facebook!  I despise the name! the iPad sounds so much like a new Johnson and Johnson feminine napkin! And I bet next year, they reveal one with a bigger screen and call it the iPad Maxi! But then, you get to looking at what it's capable of doing and suddenly you can't help but notice what it's not capable of doing! For years, Apple has knocked the "Netbook" category of PC computing.  their argument has been that the netbook is not a good computing experience.  And who can argue that smaller screens and cramped keyboards are not exactly positive things about netbooks? But when you take your typical $350 Netbook and compare it to the iPad, you realize just how much MORE capable a netbook is right out of the box. Web, email, Instant Messaging, Skype, and you can do them all at the same time, because Netbooks can multitask! Yes, give Apple credit for a beautiful screen and multi-touch ability, to easily move from landscape to portrait, and back to landscape.  But no multitasking for the iPad. No camera! I feel that Apple has totally missed the mark with this product! It could be so much more!  But that is me . . .  And not my wife!

Two days ago, she forwarded a flyer to me that Apple had mailed to her, telling me she was saving her money now for the new iPad. She just loved it!  She mentioned the eBook reader as the largest selling point to her. And she just loves the App store on her iPhone. And then I remembered her iPhone. I bought her the iPhone after she had owned a long string of my smart phone hand me downs. Before her iPhone, she spent time with two Palm Treos and the HTC TyTN II.She complained about them being too complicated. She liked having her email on her phone, but found most other applications not worth the effort.  But she took right to her iPhone. And I have seen  her do things on it that have really impressed me. While we were driving across the Country, she looked up hotels, close to where we were going, checked the ratings, and booked one, all on her iPhone! If I haven't made this clear, let me just say, "Geek" is never a word I would use to describe my wife. Before her iPhone, she loved her 4 gig iPod. Apple has done a great job of making my wife a fan.  When I pointed out, that the original iPhone couldn't do video, 3g data, or GPS like my Windows phones could, she didn't care. Because her iPhone did other cool stuff, and did it with flair. And I think that is what I, and many others might be overlooking in this new device. The appeal of the iPad to the the non-geek.

So my wife really doesn't care that it can't Skype. She doesn't care that it doesn't have a camera, and that it can't check her mail while she is listening to Matchbox 20.  That it has no IM abilities out of the box.  She only see's it as big version of a device that she already loves! She even noticed that the AT&T data plan seems reasonable. I am sure that she sees herself reading her favorite books, and surfing the web, and playing her word games. All things that she does "One App at a time".  What I didn't like about the iPad are exactly the things that she loves. Because of this, I am betting the iPad is going to be a successful product for Apple; in spite of what I think  of it! And I am betting there are a whole lot more non-geeks who are thinking like my wife. And lets face it.  There are still more non-geeks than geeks in the world we live in.

Comments

Add New Search

I Agree Michael Robison (68.52.16.xxx) 2010-02-03 06:12:24 Bro, I couldn't agree more. While I am sure I will not order one during the 1st Gen of the iPad, it will eventually happen. There are certain things, such as a camera, that I am waiting for. However, I will say that Apple, in grand fashion, has done something with "Sexy" flair! I'll be anxious t actually put my hands on the new iPad and see just how great it is. It'll be that moment when I decide it's a must have. Reply | Quote 0   0

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Website:
Title:
UBBCode:	-color-aquablackbluefuchsiagraygreenlimemaroonnavyolivepurpleredsilvertealwhiteyellow -size-tinysmallmediumlargehuge
Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.12

Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.

---