After spending the past six months talking myself out of an iPad, I finally talked myself into one.
I’ve been following the tablet scene since Apple first released the iPad, and it has become apparent to me that, at least for the time being, no one is going to step up and directly challenge Apple. And I had really hoped that somebody was going to.
The iPad has a 9.7″ screen. I’d prefer a larger one (8.5×11″ would be perfect), but it appears that manufacturers are instead moving toward a smaller 7″ standard. The Samsung Galaxy, Dell Streak, and RIM PlayBook (?) all sport 7″ screens, and if you believe the latest rumors out of China, next year’s iPad 2 will come in a 7″ size as well (no word yet as to if the larger 9.7″ size will be discontinued or not). The iPad 2 will probably sport at least one camera (front facing, I’m guessing), but between my iPhone’s camera and my Pentax K-x, I just can’t imagine needing a third at my disposal.
Playing non-Apple-approved video formats has always been a pain in the butt on Apple products — and no, I’m not willing to re-encode hundreds or thousands of DivX files to mp4. A week or two ago, VLC (the video player most known for “playing pretty much anything”) was ported to the iPad, and it plays native DivX files wonderfully. It’s still version 1.0 and it has some issues, but it works and I’m happy.
I don’t like how Android updates are tied to specific hardware makes and models. I have a few early-adopting friends with Android phones who can’t upgrade and run modern programs. And after seeing the video of Samsung Galaxy running Windows 7 (which went so poorly that I believe Microsoft has had the video pulled from YouTube), I’m convinced that Windows 7 as it stands today is not the tablet OS of the future. With a front end? Maybe. It’s just not natively a touch-friendly OS.
I actually pre-bought my Kindle back before they were released. It was a good e-reader, but I thought some of the unit’s other features were lacking. I also got tired of converting PDF files over one at a time to read them on my Kindle. (Amazon eventually added the ability to natively display PDF files on the Kindle … but the print was so small, I couldn’t read them.) I also bought an Acer netbook, which was a better computer than the Kindle, but a worse e-reader. As it stands, I think the iPad will replace them both. I’ve already sold the Kindle, and the Acer is on the chopping block.
As with any gadget, time will tell whether or not the iPad fully integrates itself into my life, or if it becomes “one of those things I bought that one time that sounded neat.” I’ve already started filling iBooks with PDF files and the kids are enjoying some of the free games I installed, so I’m hoping to get quite a bit of use out of it.
I don’t know about Apple portable devices, but on the Mac, playing DivX files hasn’t been a PITA for years. Back in the day, before a proper compatible codec existed, it was necessary to convert DivX files with DivX Doctor before being able to read them on a Mac (which made them unreadable with today’s Macs).
Lockheed is having a promotion around their wellness program right now and at the end of October there will be a drawing for one of five iPads. I’m participating because – hey, maybe I’ll get a free iPad. Maybe I’d spend the money for one, but I’m rather detesting Apple as a corporate entity these days so if I can get a freebie out of it that would be better.
I think you are absolutely right about Android updates tied to specific makes and models which may lead to confusion for many consumers. Or at least high tech consumers who care about those things. The average consumer may be more loyal to a phone brand than the OS it is using. Android’s recent surge in the market may have more to do with their acceptance by manufacturers than the consumers. Hard to say.
I’m not happy that my phone is stuck at Android 1.6 (because I can’t play Angry Birds on it) but it’s unlikely that I’ll switch to an iPhone or Blackberry. I’ll just switch to the latest Android phone when I can do a full upgrade in April of 2011. Cheapest option, by far.
Love the photo