Why I won’t be buying an iPad any time soon
For the last couple of months now I've been holding back on a buying decision: Kindle versus Apple's New Goodie. Of course, when I first decided to hold back on my ebook reader purchase it was when news of the new Apple gadget first started cooking furiously and when it was still known as an iSlate. It looked like the New Gadget would be a Kindle killer so I decided to hold back to see what the future held.
Now, thanks to Steve Jobs, we now know that the new Apple goodie is called a iPad 
and it seems very cool with lots of great technical specifications described in detail all over the net.
But I have to explain why I won't be buying an iPad anytime soon - and why I think Amazon's Kindle will get my hard-earned dough.
Don't get me wrong. I think the iPad is droolicious.
It's got everything that Apple is known for: great design and clearly some pretty whizz-bang functionality. But, having watched the launch videos this morning and read through the early morning hands-on reviews from those who have already played with the iPad, I have to wonder if, this time, Apple have foregone function for form.
According to Jobs, the iPad is positioned as a bridge between smartphone and laptop. It's not a netbook (which he clearly disdains). It is clearly intended as a serious player in the ebook market. But, this in-betweenness could well be its greatest flaw. If we evaluate it on the terms Jobs' offered the consuming public, then we can see that this may not be the device to be celebrated as converged media manna from heaven that we all expected:
- It doesn't have a USB port - this just seems to be a crazy oversight. The beauty of any portable device such as this is to be able to connect other gadgets to it like your camera, videocam, a keyboard (should you not want to tap away on a virtual keyboard on the screen). I write constantly as a media professional and as an enthusiastic blogger. I can see myself using a virtual keyboard for web searches and brief emails, but for serious work you need a serious input device. (Update: apparently they sell a separate custom adaptor which gives you the functionality of a USB port. Looks like a keyboard docking station also sells separately. See point 7 below and watch how that price is going to bloat rapidly)
- The browser doesn't support flash apparently because Apple simply do not like the technology. So why would I want to use a device with a browser which eliminates my ability to view large swathes of web content? I wouldn't.
- It doesn't utilise e-ink technology or any analogue which provides that ink-on-paper feel for which the Kindle is famous. I would imagine this is pretty crucial to it being considered a serious ebook device, even more critical for Apple considering that the iBook store that launches with the device is clearly central to Apple's revenue and business plan with the iPad.
- The entry-level models don't include 3G, only wireless connectivity. I have a home wireless connection so I could utilise this quite comfortably there. But what's the point of it being so portable if I am unlikely to be able to use it practically anywhere else as an internet device? For most South Africans a device like this without 3G would be pretty useless.
- The solid state drives offer limited size with the largest being 64GB - pretty puny by today's standards and expectations.
- No multi-tasking!
- Price: the entry level model is twice as expensive as an entry-level kindle. The top end - with 3G and thus more useful - costs four times more than a Kindle.
- It's three times heavier than a Kindle 2, weighing about 700g.
So, that's my 15c worth. The iPad seems to be the first step towards total media and functional convergence for a portable media device. It's a big first step, to be sure, but there's still plenty of distance to cover, I think.
For now, I think I'll stick to my laptop as a workhorse for my day-to-day needs, my blackberry for true mobile web connectivity and email - and I think I'll buy myself a cheap Kindle so I can cart my favourite reads around and consume them comoftably.
At least until generation two of the iPad emerges. Then I'm in!
