Why I will not be getting an iPad
Menstrual pad jokes aside, I was thoroughly disappointed of Apple’s long awaited tablet PC announcement. I can see what they were going for in the iPad, and it all seems like a great idea, but there’s simply nothing that I need it for that isn’t already fulfilled by another device. A portable, touchscreen based, web browsing device with the backing of a huge app store is great, and I’d love to have one of these if it would simply fit into my pocket so that I could take it anywhere with me… oh wait, that’s right, I already have one of those. Now, I don’t want to attack the Apple brand, there are a lot of things about them that I do not like, but I can always count on them to deliver a great user experience in their devices, and Apple products always look sexy. I’m just finding it difficult to see what I can do with an iPad. It’s not quite a full-fledged computer, but it’s a bit more than an iPhone, and yet loses the portable edge that the iPhone has to offer over netbooks.
Another similar product that might be worthwhile to check out once it hits the market is the JooJoo formerly known as the CrunchPad before Fusion Garage walked away with the product and left TechCrunch out of the equation. The benefit being, that it’s Linux-based, and is likely to be more useful than the iPad. The JooJoo claims full HD support, and is capable of streaming from websites like Hulu. It appears to be just as slim as the iPad, with a larger screen, albeit less memory, but unlike the iPad it’ll likely have an expansion slot. Also unlike the iPad, the JooJoo will have a built-in camera!
I’ll buy the first tablet that has a hybrid OLED/E-Ink capacitive touch screen, internal flash memory, expansion slot, built in HD video camera, with 3g (or 4g) data, and built on an open platform. I’m hoping that Google decides to enter this market, and that they get it right.
