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The iPad, Part Two: The Reality

By Mark Lucas

So Steve Jobs finally revealed his big secret last week. Ladies and gentlemen, Apple gives you the iPad! It is, essentially, a giant iPhone with a little more kick. The question now is, does the iPad live up to consumer expectations? Reviews are mixed, but before we can leap into the criticisms, we have to take a look at the product itself.

Here's what this bad boy has under the trunk:

•1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip.
•Built-in 25 Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery that can deliver up to 10 hours of Web surfing on a Wi-Fi connection.
•16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash drive.
•The option of 3G connectivity.

Now, you can't get away with talking about the iPad without talking about the screen, which is essentially the point of the entire device. The LED backlit screen is 9.7 inches in diameter, which is a tad smaller than was expected. The resolution, which is 1024x768, is a little bit of a disappointment, seeing as how it makes this device "technically" hi-def, but not the stunning 1080p that we have come to associate with widescreen television. The screen is coated with a special oleophobic coating, that is resistant to those lovely fingerprints we're used to seeing on some older model iPhones, so that's nice. And, like the iPhone, the screen is multi-touch.

Its plusses are clear. It has a big screen that will allow for a more realistically-sized keyboard. Check. It's clearly faster than even the iPhone 3G, especially when it comes to switching from portrait to landscape mode, and it seems (at least in the presentation given by Jobs) to be free from the kind of lag the iPhone has. Check. It only weighs about a pound, and it's only half-an-inch thick, making it much more portable than the average laptop. Check. Like almost all Apple products, it is simple to use, which is their saving grace, always. Check. You can dock it to a real keyboard. Super-check. In addition, it came in way under what was expected to be its price, at $499 - for the knock-down model. Check ... kind of.

Here's the downside to this thing.

First off, it doesn't have a camera, which seems like it would have been a no-brainer to include. You can't make a call on the thing. It still won't support Flash, which is something that would make these things fly off the shelves like tickle-me-Elmo. They've saddled it with a "bigger looking" version of the iPhone software. Apple has still strangled app designers with its insidious clearing process (which doesn't seem to root out programs that make farting noises, but does prevent people from cranking out some really useful stuff.) Oh, and Apple and AT&T are still locked at the lips, which has always overrun its networks, even with the current devices. Oh, - and this is just a b-tch from a male writer - it's small enough to fit in a large purse, but not in a pocket, so any guy with one will have to carry around a bag. This would shift focus to women on the go, except they named the thing iPad, which Twitter annihilated as a name from the get go, because of its association with feminine hygiene products.

So why have Jobs and his crew made these glaring oversights? Because Jobs and his crew aren't idiots. They know that if the thing has a camera and makes calls, or if it worked as well as their other laptop computers, then no one would buy iPhones or MacBooks ever again. If they let Flash in, no one would go to the iTunes store to buy shows, because they could just watch them on Hulu or some other site for free. Who knows, maybe they'll have a change of heart, but that's the biggest reason I think you shouldn't buy one. Apple isn't going to make the perfect iPad on the first shot. Why would they? Then they can't sell you the improved model later. They do this all the time folks, and that's the name of that iTune.

Originally Published: February 3, 2010

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