I’m glad the original Moses tablet was more revolutionary, cause this was just a disappointment.  I had been casually following the iPad rumors and was interested in what Steve Jobs was going to announce today.

Jobs’ track record over the years has been one of the best in the consumer electronics world.  You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s had a larger influence on the CE world than he has.  From all the rumors that have been floating around, this tablet was supposed to be IT.  The pinnacle of Jobs’ design life.  From a hardware point of view a case can be made for that claim.  But the software side of the iPad is what kills it.

Jobs has essentially blown up the iPhone OS and enlarged the size of the screen.  There doesn’t appear to be any major changes in how the OS works,  which is the downfall of the iPad.  What works for a 3.5″ screen does not necessarily translate to the same experience for a 9.7″ screen.  The biggest drawback to Jobs’ decisions on the iPad’s OS is the lack of multitasking.

A reasonable case can be made that a user doesn’t need to be able to multitask on a phone, but on a tablet there is no excuse to exclude this ability.  From everything I’ve read the iPad is extremely fast and responsive and I believe most people would gladly give up a slight boost in speed by allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously.  I use a Palm Pre and one of the main reasons I use that phone is for it’s multitasking abilities.  I have found the multitasking to be extremely convenient and time-saving by being able to have, for instance, Google Maps running alongside my email program or browser.

I’ll list a couple cons & pros of the iPad and then go into a little more depth.

Pros-

• OLED Display
• Hardware Design
• Battery Life – compared to notebooks

Cons-

• Battery Life – compared to Kindle
• Multitasking
• Camera
• Wireless Data
• USB Ports

On the plus side, the iPad is a beautiful device.  Jonathan Ive, Apple’s design guru, came through in flying colors with the hardware.  The choice, although not a hard one, to go with an OLED display was smart.  OLED is the current leader for small, affordable displays.  And the battery life, my jaw dropped when Jobs announced that it had 30 days standby time and 10 hours of video use on a charge.  Compared to notebooks this is exceptional in a device this slim.

On the negatives I won’t bother with multitasking again, but the choice to not include a camera is stupefying to me.  I cannot see any logic to not include a camera of some sort besides maintaining niches for each of Apple’s products.  The lack of USB ports I believe was based on the decision of form over function.  Apple would rather have a beautiful device even if it means losing some important functionality.  I wish Apple would have included at least one USB port just so that I could hook up my Clear USB modem and surf the web, that would be a mobile internet experience to fit the Apple ecosystem.

And battery life, yes I know it was on the pro list, but if you compare the iPad to the Kindle, it doesn’t compare.  Jobs seemed to try to position this device as a competitor to the Kindle with many added features, but one of the killer features of the Kindle, or any E-Ink display, is the outstanding battery life.  Most people could easily go a month without needing to charge their Kindle, not so with the iPad.

One major problem I see with the iPad is not inherent in the design or software, it’s in the choice that Jobs made.  His choice to use AT&T as the 3G wireless data provider.  From numerous studies across the US, AT&T is viewed as the largest deterrent for people who are considering buying the iPhone.  AT&T has notoriously bad 3G coverage.  Of the three major wireless carriers in the US, they have by far the worst 3G coverage.  It’s so bad they’ve  sued other companies for advertising their own horrible 3G coverage.

I believe the overriding reason Steve Jobs chose to stick with AT&T is because of a huge wad of cash they shoved in Apple’s pocket.  While that in itself is not such a dastardly thing, what is shocking is that Jobs always harps on user experience being king.  That’s why he doesn’t allow multitasking on the iPhone, that’s why Apple has a strict application approval process for the App Store, that’s why all Macbooks now have a unibodies with non-removable batteries.  It’s all in the endless goal of improving the user experience.  But he chooses to stick with AT&T when they are the largest cause for complaints on the iPhone?  I wonder how much his ideals cost him?  Maybe it’s time he does retire if his jesus-juice is running so low he has to compromise his ideals.

I hope that the disappointment that is being expressed about the iPad will cause Steve Jobs to reconsider a few of his design choices and release an updated design that includes multitasking, camera, USB port and different wireless data provider.  With those four changes I believe the iPad would receive much higher reviews and much higher sales numbers.

Disclaimer: I am a proud user of a Palm Pre on Sprint, I own a first gen iPod Touch, I have Clear WiMax Internet, I used to be an AT&T customer before I got my first smartphone.

Till Next Time