Why I need an iPad
There’s been so much talk about the iPad over the past few weeks; mostly by myself – so much so in fact that the guys in the office; my 7 year old son; my wife; the girls in the cafe – are all sick to death of me talking about it!
So I stopped.
Actually, no I didn’t.
I ordered mine on Monday at 05:19am:
My iPad is due on Friday 28th May – exactly 14 days from now!
Orders must be high because since I ordered mine, the due date has been pushed back to June 7th for those who didn’t get in early.
Anyway – I came across this article in the Telegraph titled: “10 reasons why I won’t be buying an iPad”, so I thought I’d respond with my version:
10 reasons why I can’t wait to get my iPad!
I’ll be using the same titles, taken from the Telegraph article:
1. I don’t need one:
Actually I do.
Picture this:
Get up – and access my email in seconds. Don’t even need to bother opening my laptop. That takes at least 60 seconds (unless you have a PC then say 5 minutes).
Read the papers while eating breakfast without appearing rude by bringing my laptop to the breakfast table.
Walk to the station (leave my heavy laptop and power cable at home) – iPad in my bag.
Read Godel, Escher, Bach – The eternal Golden Braid – on my iPad. It’s far too big and heavy to carry!
Catch up on any breaking news on the Sky iPad App as I pull into the station.
Arrive at meeting and plug my iPad into the projector – give presentation using keynote (way better than PowerPoint).
Talk about iPad for first 15 minutes.
Check and answer emails before leaving, following successful keynote.
Watch a movie on the way home on the train.
Get home relaxed – hand iPad to my son to play some games on then leave on the coffee table still charged.
2. No Flash:
Thats probably a good thing! See this open letter on Flash by Steve Jobs
Apart from issues with battery life, reliability, security and performance – Flash was created for PCs and Mice. I prefer more modern technology 😉
3. Open source is gaining a foothold:
That’s true and all very well. But I don’t care – I’m happy with open standards like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
4. Price:
See 1 above. It’s worth every penny! Just think of the increases in productivity!
5. Missing camera:
I don’t want to turn it into the biggest camera in the world. I have an iPhone for that!
6. It’s style over substance:
It’s beautiful!
7. No multitasking:
Haven’t you been listening to the news? It’s out in June as part of the OS upgrade
8. Lack of compelling content:
What more do you need? There are thousands of Apps available – just look at these.
– Popular Science
– The Wall Street Journal (see my next blog on the reason why the IPad could just save newspapers)
– Epicurious
9. It’s not a laptop replacement:
Actually, it is!
I have a keyboard (built in – or even wireless)
Word processor
Spreadsheet
I can run presentations off it
Why break my back carrying a laptop around?
The article goes on to suggest:
“The iPad is not a computer in the truest sense of the word“.
Now that’s exactly why I want it
I DONT WANT A COMPUTER!!!
10. Things will only get better:
And indeed they will – on Friday 28th May when UPS arrives with my shiny new iPad. I think my life is going to change forever!
I’ll keep you all posted on how I get on with it! My next post will be made from my iPad somewhere more comfortable than my desk.
oh – here’s a picture of the case I ordered while waiting for my beautiful shiny new productivity enhancing iPad to arrive:
