Yes fellow Apple fan boys and geeks alike, today is the day for the WiFi only version of Apple’s iPad. When the initial announcement was made on this apparent “groundbreaking” product many techies were busy pointing out the flaws of the device. “No camera, No multitasking and No external slots or ports” were among many of the tech worlds grumblings. I’ll have to say I agree with them on that. Apple is a company that has been known to provide a new product that has one groundbreaking feature but leaves out standard features that are found on other devices.
But lets look at what the iPad is going to do. With e-book readers starting to gain more and more attention Apple has taken the e-book reader and made it well.. beautiful. Thats one thing Apple always does and does well. Make things look great. And the iPad does look great with its bright and large screen and slim form factor. Some say that the iPad will save print media. I would say I do not share that same sentiment. With colleges like Seton Hill giving every fall enrolled student an iPad and delivering all student course materials to the device I feel Apple’s definitely going to have a foothold in the e-book market. Whats really going to make this device successful is the app store. Which before launch of the iPad already has over 1350 unique iPad applications.
Yes, I feel Apple’s new iPad will be a success but I will be waiting to the 2nd or 3rd revision to get the standard features Apple is leaving out on the initial launch. If you recall it took years to get MMS on the iPhone and getting multitasking took 3 revisions of the device.
My advice, wait and wait some more. Unless you are independently wealthy and can throw away an extra $600 year over year for a new revision, then go for it.
Diaries of an aging Drummer 