So here’s my thoughts on Apple’s new iPad.
The name is not that great, Slate or Tablet would have been better although one could argue that these are too generic. Sorry to see no camera, and I think another USB port would have added to its functionality (more devices it could hook up to). And then there’s the rigmarole with the App store and the limited iPhone-like multitasking.
It’s a game changer despite these limitations. Why? Because the future, which the iPad has finally opened up (at least to my view), is awesome.
Imagine when auto manufacturers include docking stations for this. Instant carputer. Imagine a docking station for this in the back of a car seat’s headrest. Instant car entertainment system. And then the fact that one could just undock it and take it with them when they’re done traveling – pure awesomeness there. It’s the little digital consuming platform that everyone secretly needs.
Some may argue that it doesn’t have a very good business application and that laptops are much more flexible and powerful. And I would say, for digital creation – yes. But for digital content consumption? A laptop is overkill. In fact an iPod touch does digital media consumption much more effectively then my laptop. But web browsing and reading on an iPod touch is…well, small. And so the iPad addresses this with a larger screen. The iPad could be that perfect digital companion for the professional. Imagine an iPad (or even iPhone) application that would record and transcribe audio. Doctors, lawyers, management – even college students – could then take an iPad around and capture their meetings, lectures, or whatever it is they need to capture. Then transcribe that audio into useful digital text that could be utilized by other systems within the individual’s workflow. Now also imagine an app that used a special stylus (“the horror!!!” you say – but think of a plastic pen-like object with something that would work with the touchscreen tech). Now imagine an app that would save images of your scrawls written with this stylus. Later you could get these images OCRd into useful digital text (probably by transferring the images to a more powerful machine for OCR and then re-uploading the now-digitized text to your iPad). None of this “try and recognize my handwriting right now” approach. I think this approach to hand writing has potential and the iPad could actually make it very palatable for end-consumers to use.
Although at first glance the iPad doesn’t look like much, I’m seeing glimpses of the future and it’s freaking awesome. Now I only wonder why earlier Tablet PC’s never showed me such promise?