Andrew Watson

Apple iPad

Posted on 27. Jan, 2010 by Andrew Watson in Hardware

Today was the launch of one of the most awaited and expected products ever – the Apple iPad. As expected it has typically gorgeous form factor, a clean and inviting user interface and not a bad price point. Superficially it is a great concept.

However, the more I look at this and cut my way through the superlatives flying from Steve Jobs voice, I become more and more disappointed. I’m not an Apple fanboy, but I am a big fan of the internet and the places that web2.0 are taking us. I was hoping Apple would take us there quicker, in the same way the iPhone has brought ‘smart’ phones, or rather usable ‘smart’ phones to the masses.

The two most disappointing points for me were:

• No multi-tasking
• No flash

I am not sure that Apple agree either are core browsing experiences, but I am afraid they are. Online is moving nearer and nearer to ‘cloud’ based computing. It makes sense and I am sure is here to stay. However if we move everything online, that means we need to pull everything down at some point. I like to surf the web, download my gmail, listen to last.fm and if I do not understand the context of a word use dictionary.com. I often use Wikipedia to cross reference something I am working on or reading. Why does Apple not seem to understand that?

So how do I accomplish such trivialities at the moment ? I have a laptop – and yes I hear you, big and powerful, no battery life… but hang on… I probably use my Palm Pre more… connect to wi-fi at home or abroad and can use multiple applications?!? Surely OSX is more powerful than WebOS?

Finally – when will Apple realise a complete web experience includes Flash? Can Apple not just live with control of itunes? Do they have to control apps to? That to me can be the only reason Apple are struggling to allow Flash onto the iPad or iPhone, with Flash – why would gamers build game apps for Apple, when they can build one flash game for Apple and the world ?