 "Photo: Apple")
Fanboys swoon over it. Naysayers attack it. A small rebel alliance defends it apologetically. The subject of all this conflict and debate? The Apple iPad.
Near the end of February Apple unveiled its much-rumored new device, a tablet computer bearing the questionable name of “iPad.” The iPad stands to compete in the netbook and e-reader markets since it shares some functionality with both.
Although Apple has not yet started shipping the device, and relatively few people have actually had the experience of using one, it seems no one who has fingers and an internet connection can resist sharing their opinion of the iPad.
From one blogger who claims “deep down, you know you love the iPad and will someday own one,” to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who reportedly told the Associated Press that the iPad was “a bigger iPod touch” with “no surprises,” everyone has something to say.
Between the average blogger and the average video game company president, iPad opinions run the typical gamut from rabidly defensive to coolly indifferent, or even scathing.
The problem is that most of this nonsense is based on just two things, the writers’ pre-existing feelings, and their reaction to an official demo video that is less than a half-hour long.
With all that noise, it’s hard to find anyone who’s speaking plainly, honestly, and from some point of less bias and more qualification. There are a few websites, like the device-happy engadget.com, that actually take their positions based on hands-on experience with the iPad.
Engadget has some interesting and potentially valuable observations, noting that the iPad feels “pretty weighty in your hand,” the speed of the CPU is “blazingly fast,” and the touch keyboard is “not quite as responsive as it looked in the demos.”
It’s interesting to note that while Engadget makes a good, valid point with its statement about the keyboard, the majority of Engadget’s negative conclusions were restatements of technological facts that can be verified without using the iPad.
For instance, Engadget commented that iPad has “no multitasking...no camera...[and] no flash.” With the possible exception of multitasking, these are things we knew as soon as Apple announced the iPad because they made the specs available online on the same day.
Thankfully, technology reviews — no matter how many of them exist -— probably don’t have the final say on whether the iPad will soar or bust.
That’s up to the mass public, who will be able to have an iPad shipped to them beginning late this month.
Be the first to comment on this article!