Last week on Memeburn Matthew Buckland wrote a piece entitled “5 reasons why the iPad is a fat waste of money“, and it was subsequently passed around on Twitter. Now, the iPad is not perfect, granted. In the past I mentioned my top 10 grievances with the iPad (which are mostly now fixed with the new software update), but not once would I say it is a waste of money. In fact, I believe it is a very valuable platform, and (excuse the cliche) a good indication of what the future of computing is all about.
Here is my opinion on Matthew’s reasons for stating that the iPad is waste of money:
1) It’s too expensive. OK, the iPad starts at $500 for the entry level Wifi one, and $630 for the 3G one. True, first generation devices are typically more expensive, and yes the iPad 2G will most probably be cheaper, granted. But even at $500 the iPad is still coming in at a lower price than similiar devices which are only being released 8 months after the iPad. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is coming in at a higher price, despite having a smaller screen and plastic construction. And this is not a Android vs iOS thing – in terms of cost and build quality, the iPad looks like pretty good value in my opinion. (If you want an Android user’s opinion of the iPad, read our review) And do not try to compare it with Netbooks either, the iPad is pretty cutting edge technology compared to the highly commoditized netbook market.
2) No Front Camera. Have to agree with that one (even though I do not miss it at all). I think they need to do it.. not that they want to do it. The Facetime camera would be perceived “nice to have” feature, and would probably be part of the next iPad. Apple’s renewed focus on video calling should be a good indication of that. Rear camera – yes, I would like one to quickly take pictures of slides in meetings. Even though lifting up the iPad to take a photo will probably look a little silly.
3) No USB port: This was one of the big criticisms of the iPad when it was announced, and somehow most of those critics have calmed down. Why? Because we are living in the cloud era – our media does not have to be stored on our devices. Case in point – I use Dropbox on my devices, and just like that I have access to all my files.
In terms of video – just use ZumoCast. You can instantly watch videos that are stored on your network, or alternatively, quickly select the video ou want to take with. Also – if you forget to bring with a file, you can always download it from anywhere, provided you have an internet connection connected to your PC. That seems pretty easy to me.
If you want to transfer files for safekeeping on your iPad, you can use iTunes and select files to do that. iTunes is pretty common these days, so just carry around the dock connector cable. Those are pretty common these days as well.
4) Not enough capacity. True, 16GB might not be enough if you are a big media gatherer, but it is most certainly enough for people who will use the iPad as a simple internet device. But 32GB and 64GB is plenty for people who have a lot of music and photos. If you are someone who has a very large photo library I would think that 64GB is awful lot of storage for it – remember, iTunes compresses (or “optimizes”) images to a little more than 1MB per photo before storing them in the iPad photo library as well.
5) Flash support. Yes, this is one of those areas that some people feel the iPad has fallen short. But be honest – how often do you access Flash-only websites? I do not like to have Flash on my mobile devices – in fact I also switch it off on my laptop as well using a Firefox plugin. Why? Because 90% of Flash usage on the web is for intrusive, animated ads. I can do without those, thanks. And online video is already quickly changing to H.264 format.
Like Matthew mentions – yes, there will be a new iPad around April next year, if Apple does stick with its yearly upgrade cycle. I would like to see if Apple would indeed drop the prices somewhat, and also if they will keep the current iPad next year as a lower cost version (like they currently do with the iPhone 3GS). If I do have to choose a reason not to get an iPad, it would be this – if you are someone who would look longingly at iPad 2G once it arrives, maybe you should wait. But by no means is it a waste of money.
