First, let me say this. Yes, it’s a funny name, but so was Wii. “Would you like to come over to my house and play with my Wii?” Beavis and Butt-Head are terribly entertained to this day, but the rest of us got over it. It’ll pass.
Okay, now on to the heart of the matter. I think the iPad is a really really neat device, and I think I want one. I’m not entirely sold, for three reasons.
Tertius: No Flash support. I would like Flash support, even though I know HTML5 is a better way to do streaming video and the main use of Flash right now is for banner ads that AdBlock and AdThwart can’t filter out. There is some cool Flash stuff out there, like Homestarrunner.com, that I want to be able to experience. This is not a dealbreaker, though.
Secundus: No camera. I know there might be one, but I’ll be surprised if it’s in the first model. I think the camera will be in the second iPad. If I’m wrong, then this objection disappears.
Primus: AT&T. Seriously, Apple? With this much time to learn how inadequate AT&T’s network is, you should know better. The fact that you could get an awesome deal on the pricing only has real value if the network actually ****ing works, and far too ***ing often, it doesn’t. It drops calls all the time, delivers crap for bandwidth and is generally craptacular. And you know it. You sold out the existing userbase to get the new users on board, damn you.
If it turns out that there’s an iPad with Flash support, a camera and access to the Verizon network, then I’m in. Well, that or a really cool D&D app. If Wizards of the Coast actually gets their shit together and releases a competent multi-player app that uses the fabled Game Table and incorporates iPad support, then I’ll probably buy 5 of the damned things.
Totally agree!!!! I also want one, but probably won’t get one due to the same issues you bring up. Mainly, AT&T’s network…their network sucks!! I thought they listened to their customers, but on this product, not sure they have.
A nice Settlers of Catan or Dominion multiplayer game would probably do it for me, too.
I’m waiting to see how the Bookstore shakes out. Kindle books are useless to me if I can’t also display them on my computer. If Apple’s Bookstore gives me a more user-friendly experience, annotatable, with inexpensively-enough priced books, I’m in.
(I predict a run on man-purses, though.)
@Mike – Magic: the Gathering would be good as well.
@Cathy – I’m cautiously optimistic about the bookstore. I’m unimpressed by Kindle to date, at least the hardware and the look of books on the device. Prices are also too high, but that’s not so much a Kindle problem as a legacy industry not realizing the potential of digital distribution.
I have a Kindle, and like the matte screen. I also have the Kindle app for my iPod Touch, and DISlike it for reading; the backlit screen is hard, and I can’t read it in the sun.
If the iPad’s display is like the iPod Touch’s, only bigger, then the Kindle is better, in my opinion. For a reading experience, anyway.
I tried a Kindle about a year ago, and found it un-booklike in a way that bugged me. I didn’t feel like I could read a book on it, although I didn’t have a real opportunity to try, just a few minutes with a friend’s Kindle.