10 Reasons Why The Apple iPad Is The Jack of All Trades And Master of Not Many

After all the hype has died down and the dust has settled, what’s left? The Apple iPad is a jack-of-all-trades but not a specialist at any of these as it has pros and cons in each area.

It may look stylish… sort of. But good looks only get you so far and let’s take a look at why we feel the need for a table PC device and how the iPad stacks up…

1. iPad for Browsing Experience

Pros:

• Great rendering and speed

Cons:

• Not Adobe Flash compatible so large chunks of the web are missing
• Virtual typing is at its best so far on the iPad but not comparable to a physical keyboard

2. iPad for E-books

Pros:

• Beautiful looking iBooks application with good functionality

Cons:

• Screen glare and dodgy brightness control
• Heavy and doesn’t feel bookish
• Kindle app is getting better reviews than iBooks
• E-books fairly expensive on iBookstore

3. iPad for Games

Pros:

• Beautiful vivid screen colours
• Lots of iPad games being launch through the App Store
• Processor is quick enough for the job
• Fun to control by tilting the device and good multiplayer abilities

Cons:

• Button in the way and graphics don’t compare with other games consoles
• Screen reflection
• Heavy device if gaming for longer periods

4. iPad for Apps

Pros:

• Extensive iTunes App Store choice and market place

Cons:

• Expensive and many apps not worth that money
• No multitasking currently
• Apps have been rushed and so are fairly buggy at the moment – this will improve with time

5. iPad for Movies

Pros:

• Crystal clear picture on a vivid colour screen
• Good selection of TV and movies on iTunes
• Reports of video streaming using apps such as Netflix are positive

Cons:

• HD wide screen leaves black blocks at top and bottom of the film
• Screen reflection
• Screen attracts smudges

6. iPad for Email

Pros:

• Intuitive user interface
• Easy to set up

Cons:

• Typing takes a bit of getting used to
• Multiple email accounts can’t be controlled through single interface

7. iPad for Photos

Pros:

• Easy to use application
• High quality screen presents beautiful pictures
• Easy to pass around to share photos

Cons:

• No camera on the device – probably impractical for taking pics but would have been good for video calls
• Viewing photos from iPhone on iPad highlights poor quality of iPhone camera
• Have to buy an accessory to read a cameras SD card direct to device – not integrated

8. iPad for Personal Organiser – e.g. calendar

Pros:

• Slick and intuitive device

Cons:

• Too big to carry with you instead of your personal organiser or phone organiser

9. iPad for Typing Documents

Pros:

• Near full size virtual keyboard takes a bit of getting used to but is best attempt on a tablet PC yet
• Typing for short emails and documents is fine

Cons:

• iWork suite is very buggy and basic
• No file system on device yet
• Not built for touch typing

10. iPad for Listening to Music

Pros:

• Great iPod-like function and massive selection on iTunes
• Same intuitive support from iTunes mechanism for getting music on the device
• Can sync immediately with your existing iPod music library

Cons:

• Too big and heavy to replace iPod
• Ships with very average headphone quality

Apple iPad Overview

I’m not saying the iPad is poor in any of the areas above, in fact it’s pretty good. It’s just if you’re looking for a device that will be excellent at everything – almost “magical” – then we’re not there yet.

All in all we have a mixed bag. The iPad is very good at email, using as a calendar and personal organising. Music is strong too but you’d never buy a device at this cost just for those elements. The iPad is a good all-rounder… a jack-of-all-trades and does each reasonably well.

If you want a device that’s portable, easy to use and pretty good for web surfing, watching films, running apps, playing games and reading e-books then it’s good but not perfect. If you’re serious about one of these areas and want a device that handles one of them amazingly then it’s not spot on… yet.

If you think of this in context of the tablet PC world then this is indeed “revolutionary”. No one has actually delivered a tablet that’s better than the iPad. There are hybrid netbook tablet PCs that do some of this stuff better but these are bulkier.

Outside of Apple, the only key players to launch a true tablet PC device so far are Archos and Fusion Garage, and we know the limitations of the Archos 9 and JooJoo devices.

Don’t expect perfection just yet but there’s plenty of room for someone to come in and blow this market away. We’re already starting to see improvements on the horizon for the iPad with multitasking coming for iPhone 4.0. This will be available as a download onto an existing iPad and is expected to come in the autumn.

For the time being, the iPad is out and sitting on top of the tablet PC pile – for all the new players planning to launch this year, it will be the one to beat.


Image Source: Apple

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