I'm breaking a few rules here to share my feelings on the long anticipated iPad. Rules? Well, some unwritten ones on blogging I feel are good practise: never write when angry, don't write about anything the rest of the world is, don't write anything you're likely to change your mind on in the near future... Anyways, I was disappointed by the new iPad, perhaps a little angry. I thought it would be amusing to share my immediate reaction, as this was not the device I hoped it would be. It seems far more like the device Apple wants me to want. It makes a lot of sense to them - every possible aspect is plumbed into their store. They call it "magical". It's going to make them lots of money.
What wasn't so magical for me:
iPhone OS - I was hoping for something a bit more heavyweight with some flexibility. I'm bored of this environment where everything is controlled. Plus it looks ridiculous scaled up on the iPad - the same little icons in the same configuration. Stupid looking. Not optimised at all. There's so much that could have been done here.
No multitasking - Bizarre. I don't get this one at all.
iWork - "Loved by millions" apparently, used by few I say. Now the suite of apps are sold separately (I wish they'd offer them separately on OSX). New UI. Whatever. This is not a killer feature.
Scaled up apps - An intermediate, whilst developers hurry to optimise existing iPhone apps for the iPad. That looked really crap.
Apps, in general - These pretty much define the device. Most are shit on the iPhone, and now there are a whole bunch of new things to do badly all over again. Pessimistic, yes. But I'd like this to be a more serious device, where apps which are rated as the "most amazing app you'll ever need" are actually that, instead of just another throwaway once you're bored of it
Games - I don't think there's actually that many good games on the iPhone, and none are especially important. The touchscreen and accelerometer don't do the gamer any favours, unless the game is built specifically for the platform. I really hope we see more than just another port from EA.
No Flash - It's fine not to have it on the iPhone, but not at this scale.
No stereo speakers - Small point. Movies, music etc. It sounds nice in stereo.
iBook - Maybe one day I'll get into this, but until then I'm not paying money for a text file.
Data plans - Ugh. Can't one "unlimited" plan cover all my data needs?
The keyboard dock - Wow. When fanboys doodle up this sort of thing, I always mock them, as Apple would never stick a keyboard onto a touchscreen. But they did. They actually did it.
What would have been magical:
Unicorns shitting rainbows
So why is acceptable to expect so much from Apple? Well, it's not really. They produce fantastic items at an incredible rate. It's just that everyone else produces such junk. Try naming just one other "slate" device launching this year? They're all pointless. So, Apple has to carry the flame, to actually make things better - and the better they make things, the more I want perfection. This is the wholly unrealistic pursuit of a designer. Anger is a very twisted form of enthusiasm.
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