I love the idea of the iPad. I know it's nothing overly new--the iPhone was an amazing new piece of technology, they revolutionized touchscreens and created multi-touch--whereas the iPad is more of a mix of things--not really revolutionizing anything. Aaron Vronko from Rapid Repair may have said it best "the iPad is ... not way better than any other device that has come before it ... based on what was shown. It’s not a better e-Reader than Amazon’s Kindle, its not a better computer than the MacBook Air, so far there is not one thing that’s better than everything else.
As a vagabond, I'm drawn to the idea of a laptop that is so small, easily available, and doesn't have moving parts (no top to open and close--can literally be used like a magazine). In this the iPad is like a dream. Functionality, on the other hand, leaves just a couple of things to be desired. So like Mac, to be so very, very close to everything I want, and yet coming up short. I'm sure there's a perfectly apt sports metaphor that would fit nicely, but not being a sports guy, I can't think of it. Maybe something about striking out on the bottom of the ninth? (that's a thing, right?)
My biggest, BIGGEST problem with the iPad is almost identical to one of the first problems I had with the iPhone. When I bought my iPhone I was hoping I'd be able to entirely replace my computer with it. It's so functional, it seems like it could be a perfect substitute. But sadly, no. The iPhone, like the iPad lists a computer under system requirements! In order to activate it, and, to restore it after a crash are the two primary reasons why you need a computer. Unlike a laptop or desktop, you can't just put in the recovery CD and re-format. Nope, they require a computer. So if I buy an iPad thinking I can replace my laptop with it, if it ever crashed I'd be in big trouble. I suppose I could take it to a mac store and ask them to restore it, but I'm not 100% sure they'd do that.
If I were independently wealthy, I'd be much more inclined to buy an iPad and replace my computer with it. Mostly because a big part of what I use my laptop for is torrenting to watch tv shows I missed (since I don't have a tv, and Hulu doesn't always carry all of them). I know the iTunes store has individual tv shows for sale pretty quickly after they air (at least I think they do...I can't say as I've ever researched it since I'm not willing to pay $1.99 to watch a tv show), as well as movies, music--everything! If I was willing to spend decent amounts of money, I'd totally buy the iPad and then watch all my movies and TV shows through the iTunes store and stop using bittorrent and Hulu. Or, better yet, if netflix were available (you know, their instant streaming) and/or iTunes offered a monthly subscription service (all the streaming tv, movies and music you want for one low price!), I'd be all over it.
Why they couldn't fit a tiny little DVD burner in there too is beyond me. That would be PERFECT! I could rent a DVD from redbox and watch it on my iPad, and then return it. Actually, if they offered unlimited downloads with subscription, I guess I wouldn't need that. Wait, I take that back, what if I'm somewhere with no wifi and no cell signal and I want to watch a movie. Yeah, I'd want a DVD player. Plus, it would be nice to be able to burn files to a disk, or at the very least put them onto a usb port so I could transfer them to another computer. I imagine the iPad will have some kind of MS Office capabilities, or some other office-type program. I suppose I could do everything with email, but sometimes you just want portability.
Really the biggest things I do with my laptop--office programs, internet surfing, watching media--are all available on the iPad. I also would like them to make an Adobe Photoshop program that would work on it--I know that's asking a lot since Photoshop takes a lot of CPU power--as well as being highly functional. But that's it. Seriously. Just about all I use my laptop for is surfing the net, writing things, media, photoshop, and bittorrent. And would be happy stopping using bittorrent if iTunes offered a subscription (and wasn't missing things I want to watch--like they currently don't have the amazing British tv show Hustle--which was very disappointing).
So let's recap--the only 3 reasons I can think of why I won't be buying an iPad:
1) Needs a computer.
2) Doesn't offer iTunes/Netflix subscription service (and I'm not independently wealthy).
3) No DVD burner (or even USB for data transfer!)
That's it! That's how close Mac came to replacing my laptop with an iPad. To do you one better, I'd probably even scrap my iPhone if the iPad met those three requirements. I bet someone could easily create a jailbroken app (once they jailbreak the iPad--which you know is going to happen) that would allow VOIP even when not on wifi (programs like skype currently allow VOIP to work--but not via the edge or 3g network). I could totally carry it around with me everywhere, listen to tunes with my bluetooth stereo headset, use the VOIP app to make calls when I need, and probably set up a voicemail account (those are pretty cheap) that would push notifications to me on my iPad whenever someone called. I wonder if there's a way I could get texts too...
Oh, I guess a couple of the things I mentioned I'd like my iPhone to do would be nice too--like have a bigger hard drive, have a webcam for videoconferencing, and be able to be used with whatever carrier I choose (I'm not certain, but I imagine the 3g version will only be available on AT&T like the iPhone). But none of those things would be prohibitive.
I bet they'll make a DVD burner adapter for it--so that might not be too big an issue. And if they do allow video streaming sites like Hulu & Netflix to work, then maybe I would be okay with the lack of iTunes subscription service too... Hmmm...
Post Script: I really like the carrying case for it (above).
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