I was surprised at the lack of a camera, but it might be impractical as a video chat tool. Cost was also a likely issue, and Apple is always judicious about their feature sets. Historically, they've usually waited to release new products until every bit of the included technology is affordable and worthwhile. For instance, there were hard drive based digital music players before the iPod, but they were pretty awful. At the same time, they manage to move the computer industry forward by adopting new standards (USB, DisplayPort, LED-backlit screens) and dropping old or harmful ones (floppy drives, parallel ports, Flash) before other tech companies.
This definitely seems to be the jack-of-all-trades device for people whose needs are between an iPhone and laptop (the downsides of netbooks are for another post). With a standby time of up to 30 days, I'd love having one around if I needed to look something up quickly, update my schedule, or show someone a few YouTube videos without dragging them into my office. That said, iPhone/iPod Touch owners, all of whom have computers to sync them to, probably don't need this middle-ground device. I currently only have an iMac, so I would find the iPad useful to carry around, and I'd spend plenty of time in the iBooks store as well.
I can't help but be reminded of the little datapads on
Star Trek, so I'm sure an enterprising modder will make an iPad
LCARS interface. (
Get it for Windows)
Unlike the iPhone, where you're locked into a two-year contract at $30 a month, AT&T will offer two iPad data plans: $15 a month for 250MB of data, or $30 a month for unlimited data. These are pre-paid, no-contract rates, and you can activate service at any time right from the iPad itself. So you can, say, enable 3G service before a big trip and cancel service when you get back.
Of course, these plans get you 3G service with AT&T--the mention of which drew audible groans from those in attendance at Apple's event. But the other part of the 3G surprise was that 3G iPad models will ship unlocked. Which means you should be able to plop in a SIM card for another GSM 3G network provider and avoid AT&T altogether, as well as use your US iPad overseas by buying a prepaid SIM card. (Update: It's actually a Micro SIM card, which not all providers currently offer.)
On the subject of missing features, another trait I've noticed from Apple is that, while they push the newest technologies, they also take
new product lines somewhat slowly. Carefully. Making sure they get the basics right before adding more features. Prototyping and testing to death until they find the absolute best way to do any given thing.
Remember how iPhone OS 1 was revolutionary yet simple? It didn't even have copy & paste, because they hadn't figured out the best way to do it, and didn't want to include an inferior method just so users would have to re-learn the new way in OS 3.
Camera support is not far away; There are hints of it in the SDK. As for extra hardware features (SD, USB without dock adapters), I'm sure they will arrive if there is enough consumer demand and they create a sufficiently smooth interface. It's as much about the
content as the hardware. Dealing directly with file structures is something they are trying to
move users away from:
Outside of savvy computer users, the idea of opening a file by searching through hierarchical paths in the file system is a bit of a mystery. Add in the concept of local and cloud file servers and things really get confusing.
Apple has already taken some steps to hide complexity in the file system in Mac OS X; Spotlight search was supposed to make a file's location almost irrelevant, while apps such as iTunes, iPhoto, and Photo Booth now present their databases of content in media folders within the 'Open file' panel, rather than forcing users to slog through the underlying file system. The Finder, iTunes and iPhoto also allow users to wirelessly share content between different systems via Bonjour-discovered file shares that pop up automatically whenever another system sharing files is sensed on the network. All things considered, it's important to keep perspective. The iPad is just starting its long line of increasingly capable models. The iPhone was there once, and now it's ubiquitous. I've witnessed group dynamics where people assume every touchscreen phone they see is an iPhone, and they are surprised when the owner reveals it's just a lookalike from Sprint or HTC. Just as it has always been with digital music players that aren't iPods.
Three product lines that people didn't know they needed, until everyone around them depended on their capability and convenience. This hasn't happened yet for the iPad, but
it will. Not to the same degree as the former two, because it's not pocket-sized portable; You won't see many iPads at the gym or bus station. On the other hand, the slick new
office apps make it more business-friendly than an iPhone, and the larger screen is more practical for videos or frequent web browsing.
There is plenty of early iPad opposition around the web, mostly from those who believe
operational complexity equals quality. It's all reminiscent of what we heard during the iPod and iPhone launches.
I calculate it took about seven minutes, give or take, after Steve Jobs finished introducing the shinypretty iPad before the whiny attacks on the wondergizmo began flooding in, how it didn't have this or that expected feature, how it can't do live video chat, doesn't have Flash, the bezel is too big and it won't double as a meat thermometer, how it doesn't really revolutionize much of anything despite how it's, you know, this gorgeous 1.5-pound slab of aluminum and glass that works flawlessly and can perform roughly one thousand tasks in a more fluid and astonishing way than any device of its kind in history.
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