The iPad: A Must-Have?

"magical" device. That's what I t ried to look at t he iPad in the context

Apple chief executive Steve of all t he questions I received on Twitter, as

Jobs ca lled t he new iPad. well as the general confusion I still see swirlAnd

Apple execs said it so ing around t his tablet. It's not a replacement

often that I began to imag- for the iPhone or iPod touch, nor wil l it supine

pixie-dust falling from the ceili ng of t he plant your go-to laptop. Steve Jobs wants it

Verba Buena Art Center, landing gently on to sit in the middle. I can see t hat. The device

our throbbing skulls, slowly but su rely lull - feels like middleware.

ing us into the belief that Jobs and company It's really not for phone calls, has no physi -

had introduced something otherworldly. cal keyboard (you can buy one as an acces-

Even hours later, I'm having trouble sort - sory) or a mouse. And once you handle t he

ing out my feel ings. I saw t he demos, heard iPad, you quickly realize t hat it's way too big

t he words and even had some hands-on for any pocket. The iPad's size alone ensures

time with the iPad. It is gorgeous. But I'd say t hat this won't enjoy iPhone-like ubiquity. At

it is more practical than "magical." about 9 inches and 1.5 pounds, you'll take

Smoke and Mirrors?

Steve Jobs' assertion that the existing 75

million iPh o ne and iPod touch customers

already know how to use this device

runs counter to the idea of magical. Magic

is something we don't understand and can

scarcely believe. Like Jobs said, we know

t his product.

When I t ried it out, I spent zero time figuring

out how to use it. The iPad works exactly

like an iPhone, for heaven's sake. Nothing

enchanted about that.

< 2 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION MARCH 2010

it out when you' re on the couch, riding the

t rain, and probably on the airplane.

This Reader Won't Save Publishing

I tried readi ng The New York Times on t he

iPad, complete with embedded video. It

was nice, but not revolutionary. This device

has zero c hance of saving the publishing

industry. Like any digital platform, it offers

an evolutionary possibility to beleaguered

pr int publications, but I saw nothing t hat

made me say, "This is it!"

As expected, the iPad is a readi ng device.

The iPad works exactly like an iPhone, for

heaven's sake. Nothing enchanted about that.

I have to say that the execution of the enti re

e-book experience, from t he f lipstand cover

to the iBook store,looks great. As I "flipped"

t hrough a book on the iPad, I kept comparing

it to my Kindle, which is not as easy

to do as you might think. In a nutshell, t he

iPad's gesture-based page-turning is simply

awesome.

Other Nice Features

The nearly- full -size vi rtual keyboard was a

pleasant su rprise, not only because Apple

included it, but because it seems to work

so well. Forget thumb -typing; t his device is

too big for that, but when I set it down on a

table, l was able to type quite nicely.

The biggest story here may not have been

what you can do on the iPad o r even the

excellent $499 entry-level price. For me it

was Apple's under-the-hood innovation. As

I predicted, Apple introduced its own chip,

probably using its internal PA Semi team

to build the do-it -all A4. ln my brief handson,

I typed, browsed the Web, checked out

photos, read books and watched full-screen

video. It never hiccuped.

What's Missing

Apple didn't deliver on every wish. There's

no camera, a surpr ising omission for somet

hing I sti ll think is aimed at people who like

to create. Something else Apple left out of

the iPad: Verizon! Apple has doggedly stuck

with AT&T, an announcement that produced

t he only audience groan of the whole event.

(For more on this, see Sascha Segan's col umn

on page 40.) But t he biggest disappointment

for me is the lack of a sty lus.

Apple did show off an updated "Brushes"

app, which lets you use your fingers to pai nt

and d raw professional-level art. That's nice,

but t he artist in me wants a d rawi ng implement.

Other t hings t he iPad is missing, such

as a camera, will eventually be added.

Reaching a Verdict

My perspective may change once we put

t he iPad t hrough the ringer. Gaming looked

good in the demo, but what kind of restr ic tions

will Apple be putting on these apps?

And the rated battery life is o nly under

optimal situations (and how wil l that rated

life hold up a year or two from now?). As

for durability, I'd say it's about as durable as

any other Apple product, but if you drop it

face down on concrete-well, that could be

a different story.

Bottom line: If you feel like there's a hole in

your life and you've identified it as t he space

between your smart phone and your laptop,

t he iPad is the product for you. For t he

rest of us, who have done t hings li ke invest

in an Amazon Ki ndle and more traditional

netbooks, t he decision may be much, much

tougher.