I am feeling iSad...I wanted to be iGlad

By Teejay Valerio (January 28, 2009)

I don't need to bore you guys with merely repeating the facts conveyed to us during yesterday's keynote. I will assume that you, the reader, have already watched the keynote in its entirety (or at least read a liveblog or two).What I would rather discuss here are my impressions and concerns regarding Apple's foray into the tablet world. It won't release for at least 60 days; yet unfortunately, living in Canada we probably won't see it till late summer/early fall.




I will be the first to admit it. I had a first-class ticket on the Hype Train leading up to the January 27th event. I really, really wanted Uncle Steve to knock my socks off. I purposely cushioned my lower chin with cotton in anticipation of my jaw hitting the floor. I busted out my Emergency.Keynote.Snacks (ECK's for short), settled down on my chair and proceeded to watch as Steve came out onto the stage with his signature jeans, white sneakers, and black turtleneck. He looked quite healthy, so that was a good start. Things were looking up!

Less than 25 minutes into the presentation... I started scratching my head. I looked down at my iSocks: they were still on. I checked my iChin: it never did make contact with the ground. In short: I just wasn't floored.
My main question was thus: "Just who was Apple trying to sell the iPad to?".

Let's take into account a couple factors:

1) Most people I know own a cellphone (actually the majority own a smartphone).
2) Some of these very people also own laptops (netbooks too).
3) Apple has a negative attitude towards netbooks in general. "Cheap computers" basically.

The thing that puzzles me the most is who exactly is the target demographic that Apple is trying to reach? There will always be the Apple Hardcore that purchase ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that Apple puts out, so that takes them out of the equation. Early Adopters (like myself) are usually among the first on the bandwagon as well. After that.... who's left? It's hard to see the average joe dropping 400-800 bones on a device that doesn't fit into their pockets, and will mainly be used at home when they feel too lazy to flip on their desktop or laptop. I guess the lure of using this as a washroom distraction might make the iPad appealing enough for some, but c'mon... really?

The tablet market has definitely been a niche market over the years. There has been an availability of Windows based tablets on the market for the good portion of the last decade. Mind you, some of these were slow, clunky and generally pretty expensive.

Apple has been very good at biding their time and only entering a market when they know that they can dominate it: MP3 players and Smartphones to name a few. The tablet market....... it's unproven, and in reality the question is: Are people ready to make this a mainstream way of consuming media? For Apple's sake, I certainly hope so.

I'm not going to bother writing about the pros and cons of the device. You can find those on any tech sites that have had their hands-on with the unit. Of course the initial waves of reaction were a mixed bag of positives and negatives (I believe the emphasis was more on the negative). Would I buy it if it came out tomorrow? For the way that Steve insulted netbooks in his presentation, the lack of features in the final build and the exorbitant pricing of a 64gb unit with 3G (I mean, why bother buy anything less than that without internet availability anywhere?), my answer today would be a resounding NO.

I do want to point out that it wouldn't really be fair to give the iPad my final verdict without having had the chance to play around with one for myself. If Robbers (I mean Rogers) can pull their head out of their asses and release this sometime this year, then maybe I won't have to venture down to Buffalo, N.Y come this June!

So.............................Is the iPad really just a giant iPod touch? At this point: Pretty much.
Give me my multitasking and an integrated USB port, and I might change my tune :)